I have been accused of not talking about hell enough.
And that I do not believe that hell was meant to be the home of any human being.
What do I say to this?
Guilty as charged …
Truth is … to me hell is not even a place.
To me it's a far-off, unreachable destination … almost a fantasy.
To me it's as far off my radar screen as any destination ever can be.
To me, it is such a foreign concept that I hardly ever give it any thought.
So, you ignore what Jesus said?
No. I know that some scholars have said that Jesus taught more about hell than He did about heaven.
I say they are wrong! Totally wrong!
They are sincere … but sincerely wrong.
And ignorant!
Yes Jesus did talk about hell. And when we listen to what Jesus says, we must listen attentively. He doesn't just say things for the sake of saying things. His every word is loaded and thru. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels Mat 25:41
… prepared for who? And did you read Revelation 19:20?
But they are learned scholars!
Scholars who say that Jesus taught more about hell than about heaven, count the verses they find on "hell" and "heaven" and make all kinds of ludicrous assumptions.
I say they don't know the heart of Jesus and they don't know what He teaches, at all.
How can you say that and ignore hell?
Jesus is all about the goodness of God.
He is the very epiphany of the goodness of God, God in the flesh, healing every sick and afflicted person, casting out every demon that could torment his beloved, comforting everyone with a tear and broken heart … even onto death.
He conquered hell and holds the keys! and so says John: When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. Rev 1:17-19
Can someone substantiate what you are saying?
Well yes! I just showed you what Jesus said.
So, let me show you what Charles Spurgeon said in a a sermon delivered on October, 3, 1869. "... hell and death, terrible powers as they are, are not left to riot without government. Death is a land of darkness, as darkness itself, without any order, yet a sovereign eye surveys it, and a master hand holds its key. Hell also is a horrible region, where powers of evil and of terror hold their high court and dread assembly; but hell trembles at the presence of the Lord, and there is a throne higher than the throne of evil. Let us rejoice that nothing in heaven, or earth, or in places under the earth, is left to itself to engender anarchy. Everywhere, serene above the floods, the Lord sits King for ever and ever."
Here is a link to the full sermon that I will definitely recommend for further reading. Wow!
Here is a link to the full sermon that I will definitely recommend for further reading. Wow!
Where is the power?
It was when Jesus rose from the grave that His power was announced, His victory and then He went ahead and deposited that very authority and dominion inside of all those who would willingly receive Him by abiding in them with His Spirit, the same Spirit that raised Him from the dead.
So, you dispute the fact that Jesus taught more about hell than heaven?
Jesus taught more about the kingdom of God than anything imaginable. And he demonstrated it perfectly in everything He did and said … and He made us co-heirs in His kingdom and gave us back the very dominion that Adam had abdicated in the garden.
Jesus is the exact image of the goodness of God, being YHVH God Himself, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth Exo 34
So, you are saying … what?
Hell is no factor. In the equation of the Kingdom of God and what Jesus did to accomplish His victory for all eternity … for us to be with Him, hell is a non-factor.
It is negligible insignificant.
We don't need to teach or scare people with it. We don't need to use it as leverage to lead someone to God or even warn people that this is where they will end up if they willfully sin, because it is not.
Jesus said to go out and preach the Gospel. The Gospel is the extravagant-good-news-salvation-of-God. It is not the somewhat or almost Good News. It is the ALL-Good-News. 100% good and not one little ounce of bad news of Jesus and His accomplished work.
Can you prove it?
Well, Jesus sent us out to preach the Good News … not the bad news … ever!
Paul stressed it in so many words.
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? Rom 2:5
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” Rom 1:16-17
And Paul testified writing to Timothy But for this very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His perfect patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life. 1Tim 1:16
… and Peter saying The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. 2Pet 3:9
Jesus responded to Peter when he confessed Jesus being God Himself (homologeo - see this post). This what happened in Matthew 16:
When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
It clear. The proof of the pudding is in the eating!
HalleluYah!