Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20
It is Satan's practice to convince people that what God calls good is actually evil and what God declares evil is, in fact, good. Satan persuaded Adam and Eve that their disobedience, rather than their obedience, would guarantee a full life. They believed him and immediately began to experience sin's consequences! Despite the absurdity of Satan's logic, he continues to deceive people into doubting what God has clearly said. King Saul sought Samuel's affirmation for the sacrifice he had offered, even though he had acted in direct disobedience to God's command (1 Sam. 15:13). Ananias and Sapphira expected praise from the early church for their offering, though they were blatantly lying (Acts 5:1–11). An Amalekite soldier sought David's gratitude for killing Saul, God's anointed king (2 Sam. 1:1–16). We, too, will face the temptation to call something good that God has declared wicked. We may be persuaded that we can accomplish more good by lying than by telling the truth. We may claim that we are mobilizing Christians to pray for someone in sin when, in fact, we are spreading gossip. We may assert that we are following God's will in our job when, in fact, we are striving to pursue our own ambitions. We will also be tempted to call evil that which God declares is good. God says it is good to love our enemies, yet we might decide our task is to hold them responsible for their actions. It is so important to hold ourselves accountable to God's Word. God does not need us to find exceptions for His commands. He requires our obedience. - Blackaby Experiencing God Day by Day
I grew up in the 70's and 80's. Had lots of those who were my peers going on about what they would enjoy about Hell. About the drinking, and partying they would be doing. That those 'famous' rock stars sang about. Sex, drugs, and drinking. Living it up in the afterlife with nobody to tell them its wrong.
Was reading a post yesterday that someone wrote and it horrified me. If anything it provoked me to a form of probably righteous anger. Lying about Hell and at the same time lying about my God.
This is an excerpt from that post:
Why is hell so awful? One it was created for Satan and his demons. Secondly because people don’t realize that hell is the absence of God. the reason why there’s no air in hell it’s because God is a breath of life. There is no peace in hell because God is the prince of peace. There is no comfort in hell because God is the comforter. There is no love in hell because God is love. Hell is darkness because God is the light. What people don’t realize is on earth they get to experience a lot of the good qualities of God, they of course get to experience bad things on earth as well. If they do not choose God on earth they do not get to experience his goodness in eternity. Hell is total separation from God. So if you like the beautiful things on earth you should choose God because that’s who God is. God doesn’t send people to hell. He wishes none should perish. But we are already headed there if we do not have Jesus. God made a way to keep us from going there, we just have to accept and choose that free gift. Choose Jesus.
The Reality of Hell, spoken by Jesus Christ Himself, goes directly against what this person wrote.
God is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent. Perfect and everywhere at once. Holy in His perfect self, Creator of everything.
Luke 16:19-31 "Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, enjoying himself in splendor every day. And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed from the scraps which fell from the rich man’s table; not only that, the dogs also were coming and licking his sores. Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s arms; and the rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades he raised his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his arms. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set, so that those who want to go over from here to you will not be able, nor will any people cross over from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I request of you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not come to this place of torment as well.’ But Abraham *said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”
To go into everything that is wrong with that person's views would take much more time than it's worth. In all Spiritual things, go to the Scriptures. Do not take human opinions as truth if they do not align with the Word of God. There was even a Church in the New Testament whom would not even take the Apostles word for anything without looking it up for themselves.
Suffice to say, there are demons in Hell, but its not their domain. They are sentenced to be there as punishment for disobedience to God's command.
God IS present in Hell just as He is in every single atom of His creation. There is no place, in the physical or spiritual world where God does not inhabit.
Hell is not devoid of air for the simple fact that breathing air is irrelevant to people with no physical bodies. They indeed will breath whatever God provides for a spiritual being in that environment.
Hell is not dark, that is without light. Read again what Jesus describes. You don't describe features and such of things you cannot see.
There's very little truth, very little, in what that person posted.
Hell is a holding cell of sorts until the Final Judgment Seat of Christ Jesus at the end of the thousand year reign of Christ Jesus. When there is a set time when the physical world gives up the dead bodies of all who rebelled against God, they are recreated into perfect bodies and reunited with their spirits, that have been in Hell. Having been found not to be in the Lamb's book of Life, they are cast into the lake of fire. Hell itself is cast into the lake of fire.
Hell, for all the billions of people in it right now is exactly as Jesus describes it.
People there are not enjoying themselves. They aren't partying, living it up, having unending sexual adventures. There's no endless supply of beer. There's everything that Jesus said was there.
Satan, as Jesus said, is a liar and the Father of lies.
People will be convinced to tell others the lies they hear from their Father, the Devil.
Satan himself will, along with all others who deceived mankind, be cast into the lake of fire.
Hell is not the absence of God in any way. I am convinced that Jesus Himself meets all who die. Either to welcome them to His Heaven or to take them to their choice for not choosing salvation in Him. To Hell.
Jesus spent 3 days and nights in the heart of this earth. Spent those days with all who had died looking forward to that moment when the words spoken in the Old Testament would come true. That He was there to take them to Heaven. Consider this also my Dear Reader, for those 3 days, because up until He took them the afterlife had a good place to wait in peace, and had the Hell side for the unbeliever to wait in torment, billions cried out to Him not to leave them there. They too now fully understood their reasons for being in the Hell side. They looked at the one whom they rejected.
My Friend, the only unpardonable sin in this life is to reject salvation in Christ Jesus alone for salvation.
All other religions will send you to Hell. Jesus said of Himself that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through Jesus. That is to say can enter Heaven except through Salvation in Christ Jesus alone.
Hell isn't ever going to be seen by a believer in Christ Jesus.
There is no such thing as Purgatory. There's no waiting area similar to this world to wait for a second chance. There are no second chances after you breathe your last.
Jesus is coming again soon, as soon as His Father says it's time.
You want nothing to be more important than knowing whether or not you are saved.
You cannot afford to be wrong. One saved you are always saved. As Paul wrote in the book of Romans. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
If you are unsure, if you have believed his lies, please stop right now and look up the Romans Road to Salvation. You have been granted time only while you are granted the right to breathe by God Himself. You may die today, so might I. We know not when Jesus says our time is up.
We know not when He will return.
We DO know that everything written in the Bible has been found to be true. Even Scripture says that let God be found true and every man a liar. God's truth about life and death is the truth.
It's true that Jesus came, lived, died, to save sinners like you and I.
It's true that everything right, pure, and Holy is in Heaven.
It's equally true that Hell is exactly what Jesus said it is like.
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