Friday, July 10, 2009

Doctrine Of Devils: Redefining Hell

From http://www.markswatson.com/Prop30.htm

Doctrine Of Devils:
Redefining Hell



Many so called prophets have come up with many so called prophetic 'words' purporting to be from the LORD that Hell is not really Hell. Some of these individuals believe and teach that no one is really going to hell. They teach a universalism that says everyone will eventually be saved. Others teach a doctrine, not unlike the Jehovah's Witnesses, that Hell is not a place of Torment, and does not last forever. These so called prophets usually claim some 'new' revelation from a spirit claiming to be Christ, that contradicts those things that Jesus taught so clearly about Judgment, God's wrath and Hell fire.




Before we get into specifics lets get a little perspective on how and why Satan is using this lie to deceive many. A huge dynamic, political, ecological, religious and sociological shift is coming to the earth. It is part of the great deception that Christ warned about in the scriptures that will come upon the whole earth and will deceive most of the people including most professing Christians. This deception will teach a universalism that will cause many to believe on a False Christ, a False Messiah which will be given a short reign over planet Earth. This false Messiah will teach that the doctrines of Biblical Christianity and Gospel are 'incomplete' and are 'passing way'. This is necessary in order for Satan's man to bring in his New 'Golden'Age, or as some false Christians are now preaching, the Millennium. The subtle difference between what these false prophets are teaching about the millennium and what the Bible says about the it are two key events. One is the Second Coming of Christ, from heaven, with the Holy Angels. The second is the Judgment on all the wicked of the Earth who are left after the tribulation. These false prophets are cleverly attempting to do away with these two critical events in order to allow those who do not know the scripture to be fooled into receiving the Anti Christ as their 'Savior' during a lull in the Chaos during the Tribulation. He will gain power by using 'Peace'. The scripture clearly teaches that by peace, he shall destroy many. Paul says that he shall enter in with all deceivableness (II Thess 2:10). There shall be all kinds of signs in the heavens and lying wonders. He shall even cause fire to come down from heaven. This is a miracle that Elijah did in the Old Testament, and will undoubtedly be used to 'prove' that God is behind the Anti-Christ and his false prophet, who perhaps will even be masquerading as Elijah (see Mal 4:5). What every person who reads this must understand is that Jesus was very specific about the timetable. Satan is trying to muddy the waters to set up a deception that will (not might or could, but will) deceive most every man woman and child on this Planet. Despite the fact that Jesus was so remarkably clear, concise and emphatic on his return and the events preceding it, these false prophets are teaching something else.




Hell is a word used to describe the abode of evil spirits. One important Greek word found in the Bible translated as hell is Gehenna, it is used 12 times in Scripture and every time it is uttered by the LORD himself. It is described as eternal fire, hell fire, the unquenchable fire and the likes. In short it is the final place of torment for Satan and his fallen angels and men who follow their ways. The word comes from a place where trash and garbage was burned continually outside of Jerusalem. This is also known and the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:6 - 11:15 - 21:8 & 22:15). Another word used in the New Testament is Tartarus and it is defined as the place of punishment in the lower world. Other Words Found are Sheol. Many commentators have said that Sheol is merely the grave. This is clearly not the case. It is a place of departed spirits, both good and evil before Jesus Christ was resurrected and paid the ransom for sins. Usage for the word Sheol as only meaning 'the grave', turn many scriptures into nonsense.




The Bible clearly teaches that it is eternal in duration (Matt 25:41, Rev 14:9-14 - 19:20 - 20:10-15 Isaiah 66:22-24). While many false teachers make a pretty good attempt at describing Hell as the grave, the witness of Jesus Christ and the entire Word of God testify otherwise, consider when Jesus spoke of Lazarus and the rich man. Jesus told his disciples of this man who saw Lazarus (who died and was resurrected By Jesus). This man was awake, could see, speak and still had concern for his family, but he was in TORMENT (Luke 16:19-31), crying for mercy. Now many so-called teachers say that this is only a parable. That is not the case, first of all this verse is not preceded, as are other parables with, 'And Jesus spake unto them in parables saying...' Additionally, this parable has proper names for people and no other parable has that. These torments are eternal, this is true for those who take the mark of the Beast, the scripture says the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever and they have no rest day or night. This is the reality of Hell and this is a Biblical truth that Satan desperately wants to destroy. It is absolutely necessary to redefine hell in order to get Christians to accept the universalism that the coming religious system wishes to propagate. In no way can the Hell described in the above versus apply to simply and exclusively as the grave. They apply to the soul of man after he dies. One must keep in mind that men are cast into hell by God, not Satan, as popular folklore and Hollywood would have you believe. Additionally, Hell was not made for man, it was made for Satan and his Angels (Matt 25:41), man goes there only by his choice or through deceit.




Every person who is unsaved will finally be released from Hell at the end of the thousand years of Jesus Christ's Millennium Reign, but only to be Judged at the Great White Throne Judgment. (See Revelation 20:7-15) These versus show that those who are not saved are cast into the lake of fire and that they are in torment day and night forever and ever. This is what is known as the second resurrection. Both resurrected body and soul are cast into the Lake of Fire. Who goes to the lake of Fire?

The Fearful
The Unbelieving
The Abominable
Murderers
Whoremongers
Sorcerers (drug addicts and those who dabble in black arts)
Idolators
ALL (not just some) Liars



Many times these false teachers use Old Testament verses to support the idea that Hell is not a place of torment and it is not forever, they will cite a verse like, Proverbs 10:25, which says 'the wicked shall be no more'. This is simply a human expression that refers to the wicked will no longer be on the earth to trouble the righteous. It must also be kept fully in mind that a full revelation of God's eternal plan was not revealed to the vast majority of the Old Testament saints. Hence, some of the confusion about the word Sheol is the simple fact that the prophets of old knew of a place for departed spirits but were only given partial knowledge of what the place actually was. These saints only knew God had a plan for the wicked and he would remove them from the earth. The full Scope of God's Plan was revealed In Jesus Christ and he was most emphatic about the place called Hell. These errors and others like them are simply the result of not rightly dividing the word of Truth and a lopsided and unscriptural view of God's Character. It usually comes from a overemphasis on God's love and ignoring another equally important part of his character, his wrath. Love, love, love, is all you hear so many false teachers teach. 'God is so loving that...' Or 'he loves us so much that...' and on and on it goes. There are other parts of God's Character too; mercy, wisdom, grace, peace, jealousy wrath and even hatred (for sin an evil). These are ALL Traits of the most high God and one trait will NOT negate other parts of God's Character. God's Wrath was satisfied on Calvary's Cross, As was his Love, Mercy and his demand for justice. These are all part of God's Character and all will be made manifest in his creation and at the end of this present age. God is good make no mistake, Anger is only a holy anger against sin, the Christian should never think that God's love will excuse or forgive unrepentant sin which is rebellion. It will not, the only thing the unrepentant sinner will get from God is a perfect, eternal expression of God's Holy Wrath.




Hell is a place of unending horrendous torment. It is a place that Jesus warned about over and over again in the scripture. It is not a place to joke about or explain away. God showed the price for mans salvation on the Cross. God himself showed the ultimate expression of Love by sacrificing his Son on the Cross for us.




How can we expect to escape his wrath if we spurn God's Son, God's Love and God's Provision?







Home

Prophetic Page

No comments: