What In Hell Do You Want?

From the pulpit to the pew to the front door, it seems like even the Church doesn’t want to talk about hell. People who insist that The Bible is worth ignoring truly amaze me: Hiding one’s head in the sand like an ostrich does not change reality.

After hearing the testimonies of some who say they have been there, you too may discover that there is absolutely nothing in hell that anybody wants! The discussion of hell only threatens those who are destined to go there, and not talking about hell won’t make the reality of it go away.

I thank God for like-minded believers who are continually digging in God’s Word on this subject. The well-skilled and deceptive preachers and teachers out here who insist that there is no hell and that the unsaved will not be sent to hell must be openly rebuked and refuted through the Word of God, because all the false prophets are doing is making folk more ready for hell than they are!

Many people speak the word “hell” quite loosely, in times past me included. We’ve even spoken of the term “hell here on earth” especially when the weather gets extremely hot and muggy like it is here in the South! We also speak of “hell in our homes” etc. Due to rampant satanic activity that we encounter in this life, indeed we face “hellish” conditions at times.

Thank God for the authority and divine enablement that Jesus has bestowed to each Believer in this life and the life to come:

“Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (Luke 10:19)”

Quite honestly, I’m looking forward to writing an article on this verse alone!

But let me assure you, there is no comparison between the temporary discomforts and persecutions from the Enemy that we endure in this life and what God describes the real hell as being.

Nowadays, we buy car insurance because it’s the law. But there used to be a time where we would buy it just in case something bad happens. Truly there is nothing more valuable than our eternal souls. Do we really want to take the chance that hell is not real?

God originally created hell for Satan and Satan’s demons. But people who allow themselves to be influenced by this kingdom of darkness will also find themselves there. Hell is real and I believe that God presents the existence of hell to mankind more so as a matter of fact than as a threat: not so much to SCARE us into accepting Jesus, but rather that we would see God as One who loves us so much, that He prepared the only way of escape from spending an eternity in hell.

In other words, we need to accept God’s description of us as being rebellious sinners who are incapable of saving ourselves from hell. And IF we're going to be saved, God is making sure that we know and appreciate WHAT we're being saved from. And thirdly, because of His love for us, He wants us to know WHO alone is doing the saving (Jesus)!

God created mankind in His own image and His own likeness, so surely He gets no pleasure by sending people He created to be tortured for an eternity in hell. But God is JUST. He MUST punish sin, otherwise He would not be God.

Since not everybody will choose to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives, the only alternative is a place totally void of God’s love.

The bible talks about how God's people love God because He first loved us. How did He first love us?

 “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (Matthew 25:34)” 

We who believe in God shout and celebrate the fact that before the foundations of the world were ever formed, God made a way for our salvation from hell in order that we would fellowship with Him forever!  God did for us what we could not do for ourselves.

The fact that God the Father prepared a way of escape from hell by sacrificing the life of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ as payment for our sins is proof of God's unconditional love towards us. If He doesn’t do anything else for us, He’s done enough!

Typically when Christians begin to witness and evangelize, for whatever reason we have a tendency to rush through this part if we deal with it at all.  But how can we talk about being saved without discussing what we’re saved from?  The discussion of hell is an absolute MUST.

However, having become more familiar with God’s nature of unconditional love over the years, I don’t believe God wants His people turning to Him for salvation JUST out of fear of going to hell.  Of course, if that’s what it takes then it’s better than not accepting Jesus at all.  But I believe God wants us to respond to Him with faith in God and a sincere love for Him rather than fear:

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (II Timothy 1:7)”

I believe God discusses the topic of hell in order to get Man’s attention.  God wants everybody to respect Him and to take Him dead seriously by acknowledging the dreadful existence of hell in order that we can truly appreciate WHAT He is saving us from, and respond to His great love for us by accepting the blood sacrifice of Jesus as payment in full for our sins. 

How can we NOT love the One who first loved us: The Only One who saves us from eternity in hell?

Since God offers so great a salvation, with everything that God has done to secure that salvation, have you ever considered how angry the Father must get when people reject the mighty sacrifice of His only begotten Son? How would we feel if it was our own beloved son who died to save others, and they simply scoffed at the notion?

But we’re not just talking about a human being dying to save others like our beloved soldiers in the military do, or like everyday heroes in law enforcement and fire departments do. Noble as these much appreciated sacrifices are, they do not compare to eternal God The Father sacrificing the life of Jesus who is also God.

As Man, Jesus died and was raised from the dead on the third day. But as God, Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world by spending the equivalent of an eternity in hell for every single person who would ever become saved! (Wrap your brain around that!)

What sense does it make for anybody to go to hell when Jesus has already paid that price? Rejecting God’s way of escape from this terrible eternal fate demands a retaliatory response from God! There’s a terrible side to our God that even Christians don’t want to talk about, and I no longer wonder why people find themselves in hell.

Thus begs the question: “What In Hell Do You Want?”

It's every human being’s responsibility to recognize that God has done ALL He can do to prepare a way of escape from hell, and yet God will not force us to accept that way of escape.

Mankind must choose to accept or reject God's only plan of salvation from hell. And NOT choosing Christ, not making the Kingdom of God as life’s #1 priority is still a choice (and a bad one at that)!

Although it is hurtful to us as Believers, I’ve come to find that we can't get overly offended when people are unable to see what we see. When unbelievers reject our faithful witness and sound biblical teachings, it’s because Satan has blinded their minds and it's not us whom they are rejecting but God Himself:

“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not; lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (II Corinthians 4:4)”

In essence, the ones who reject Jesus and the doctrines of the bible send themselves to hell! Due to their own unbelief, they leave themselves wide open to a deceptive and domineering satanic influence that only the Word of God and Love of God can break.

In this physical timeline in which human beings exist, from the eternal perspective God alone has the ability to know who is ultimately going to reject His love, and who is going to receive His love.  (This is totally God’s business, and none of ours.)  Based on that knowledge, it is God The Father’s prerogative to draw the ones whom He calls ‘the elect’. 

I personally believe that Jesus won’t return to rapture the elect until all those whom He has died to save have been reached.  In other words, the longer Christians drag their patooties, the longer we delay the Second Coming of Jesus!  Literally, God has all the time in the world and from His eternal perspective, He’s in no rush.  Thank God for His patience, His grace and His mercy!

But since no man knows the day nor the hour of Jesus’ return, based on the fact that the Body Of Christ is collectively sensing such an increased urgency to evangelize like never before; from our timeline perspective we know that time is quickly running out because Jesus is on His way back.

One of many tests for us as Believers in this life is whether or not we will fulfill our calling as missionary evangelists. Who else is going to perform the vital work of seeking and saving those who are lost?

Only the ones who have the unconditional love of God in their hearts and a sense of urgent passion to save lost souls that are definitely on their way to a burning hell.

The evangelization of willing souls was Jesus’ mission while on this earth, and we who represent Him in the flesh have the same mission until He returns. This calling is not just for preachers as many in the Church would like to believe and pass that responsibility on to. This is the mission of the ENTIRE body of Christ.

And since Believers do not have the predestinated eye of God to know who is going to end up in hell and who is not, while we live in these bodies of flesh, it's simply ours to seek and to save those which are lost (those within our sphere of influence), and to shake the dust off our feet with those who reject our evangelical efforts.

I hope this helps.   Lovers Of God, Keep Up The Good Work!

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