The main difference between Mormon heaven and Christian heaven is that in Christian heaven you get God because of Jesus' finished work; while in Mormon heaven you get god because of your works.
As we sat and discussed this reality with a young lady you could see that she was getting it. It wasn't a notion Evangelicals hold which was falling on deaf ears, no it was falling on listening ears, and from what it appeared they longed to hear more of this workless, grace-full gospel.
But time was cut short and it was time to leave.
So what happens to a missionary when they are so close to seeing one convert to Christ, but won't see it happen?
Trust.
The missionary must trust that God is sovereignly in control. The missionary must trust that God will bring his people to himself. The missionary must trust that, that one will be cared for by the Good Shepherd and brought to the fold of God. The missionary leans not on his own prowess in speaking eloquently but on God's Spirit to save completely.
The missionary must trust that it is for God to save and for man to proclaim.
There is a place only he can go; there is a place where only
love can lead; and there is a spot where we were bought.
It’s on the top of the Skull at the bottom of the pit, the
bottom of the cup, which last draught he drank. That detestable liquid that
sloshes around in the cup of pain, each drop mingled with eternity and
temporary, each sip as unquenchable fire and every taste death.
Death, death, death his laugh is haughty and his smile grim,
he sees the victim coming to his jaws, coming to his bite. His hunger is
unquenchable and his desire is to rip and slash and tear his victim limb from
limb and gorge himself on his blood. He plans it with pleasure and designs the
whole affair to be one of maximum suffering, of complete and utter agony, of
excruciating torment.
But lo, that victim he is consuming comes crawling back
through the throat of that dastardly devil, he breaks out the teeth his enemy
with sheer strength, he cracks and breaks the jaw of Death and puts his
mutilated head under his bruised foot crushing his head in finality.
The death toll Death typical rung sounded out but with a new
tenor, and a melody sprung forth. The sound of death had changed, for he had
not rung the toll, no, there was another who began the new song. The one who
death could not contain has sounded the first note in the chorus of his victory.
The orchestra has been sent to play the tune of salvation; the band sings on
and on and on the glory of salvation. The one who took down death and committed
Death to his grave and paid the price in full, the price we could not pay.
On high he reins flashing forth the glory of his fame.
Calling men and angels to proclaim the glories of his name.
Have you ever felt like God was tangibly around you? Like if
you were to reach out and grasp the air something invisible would be there to
grip your hand back? Or what about knowing for certain the purpose for your
being was to do a certain thing? Like if the calling or essence or epitome of
your life was to _________. Have you ever felt either of those feelings, rather
knowings?
I know these are big abstractions about the Christian life;
one’s calling and feeling the closeness of God. I know many folks don’t “feel”
God move or even think to terribly much about him, and that when they do think
of him it’s a him who looks more like them than Him.
But truth has always moved through the ages. There have
always been those who take up the banner of divine revelation and say with
their blood, sweat and very lives,“Let good and kindred
go, this mortal life also, the body they may kill, but God’s truth abides
still!” That death
meant life and life meant Christ; that hope shattered chains and set prisoners
free; that grace burned through hatred and love prevailed in darkness.
There are those in this time, in this generation who stand
strong rooted in the Scriptures that God’s truth still lives, breathes and will
fell the deviations of the devil. Yes, they will loose their friends and their
family. Yes, they will walk away from all to follow the call. Yes, they will
feel the tangible nature of the Almighty and the hold of the Comforter and the
embrace of nail scared hands. Yes, they will walk as sheep among wolves. Yes,
they will shut the mouths of lions and put foreign armies to flight and be sawn
in two and live destitute of whom the world is not worthy. And yes, yes, it
will be worth it all.
It will be worth it all to hear the saints and angels sing, “Holy,
holy, holy is the LORD God almighty who was and is and is to come.” It will be
worth it to hear the proclamation over all eternity, “Well done my good and
faithful servant.”
Yet, we must stand firm and be watchful and believe with all
of every breath of God-gifted life the gospel of Jesus, that he has become our
sin and we have become, by divine decree, his prefect righteousness. Indeed we
are the recipients of grace upon grace upon grace.
But beware for, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter
the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in
heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in
your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your
name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you
workers of lawlessness.’” (Matt 7:21-23)
Be sure of your belief. Be more than sure of the gospel. And be absolutely
sure that Jesus is your God-give hope, that Jesus is your Surety.
I've never really explained why my blog is called "Aspiring Spurgeon," which, I guess, is a huge over sight in the realm of the blogger types. So I'd like to take a couple posts and explain the name. First, however, I want to give you a quote from one of his sermons, then later we can jump into why a blog has a certain name.
"... The more vile a man is, the more eagerly I invite him to believe in Jesus. A sense of sin is all we have to look for as ministers. We preach to sinners; & let us know that a man will take the title of sinner to himself, & we then say to him, 'Look to Christ and you shall be saved.' 'Look,' this is all he demands of you, & even this he gives you. If you look to yourself you are damned; you are a vile miscreant, filled with loathsomeness, corrupt and corrupting others. But look here - see that man hanging on the cross? Do you behold his agonized head dropping meekly down upon his breast? Do you see his hands pierced and rent, & his blest feet, supporting the weight of his own frame, rent well-nigh in two with the cruel nails? Sinner! Do you hear him shriek, 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabbacthani?' Do you hear him cry, 'It is finished?' Do you mark his head hang down in death? See you that side pierced with the spear, & the body taken from the cross? O, come you here! Those hands were nailed for you; those feet gushed gore for you; that side was opened wide for you; and you want to know how you can find mercy, there it is, 'Look!' 'Look unto me!' Look no longer to Moses. Look no longer to Sinai. Come you here and look to Calvary, to Calvary's victim, and to Joseph's grave. And look yonder to the man who near the throne sits with his Father crowned with light and immortality. 'Look, sinner,' he says this morning to you, 'Look unto me and be saved.' It is in this way God teaches that there is none besides him; because he makes us look entirely to him, and utterly away from ourselves."
I bet you're beginning to see why this preacher from one hundred years ago has made an impact on me. It's exciting to get to tell you how God used this man in my life so long after his death.
This is the post about hell in its entirety. I would highly encourage
you to read this straight through, it will take a couple minutes, and there are a
few extra paragraphs that were not included in the other posts. At the end
is also a personal note, one that kept me studying and kept me writing while being tired of reading and thinking and writing about hell - it was hellish to allow
my mind to be consumed by thoughts of this terrible reality.
I pray this post will be helpful to all who read it. That in considering
hell it will spur you on to love, both of God and of man. To not spurn the
gospel of grace offered freely to us who justly deserve eternal hell - to both
believe with all our heart, strength, and mind the reality of God's love for us
in the gospel. That indeed Jesus has made peace between God and us rebels by
the blood of his cross.
Therefore read with an eye on the cross for your own sake and an eye on
your friends and family and remember Jesus' words on his way to the cross and
know he bore this in your place for your sins, "My Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as
you will.” Matt. 26:39
Last week I wrote a couple posts
about an interesting topic that I apparently jumped fully into, that is the
topic of annihilationism. This is the idea that hell will end for those
condemned there after a time – that rather than suffering for eternity those
damned will be annihilated, that they’ll cease to be.
It seems there are four parts to
the annihilationist’s argument (of the more than one hundred comments on my
facebook post you’d think there are at least four hundred arguments for it and
just as many against it), these are:
1) The biblical references for the
‘destruction’ of the wicked,
2) The inconsistency of an eternal
hell with the love of God,
3) The injustice or unfairness of
the disparity between sins committed in this life and the punishment of eternal
torment, and
4) That allowing evil to continue
in hell would mess with the perfection of the universe God will create after
the Judgment Day. (Order taken from Wayne Grudem)
Over the next series of posts I
hope to respond to this doctrine, not only to respond to it but also to make
clear both the biblical stance as well as my stance on this topic of the
eternality of hell.
However
before we begin to look more deeply at this topic I want to make one thing
absolutely crystal clear and this one thing should be at the front of our minds
whenever we are discussing or thinking about the topic of hell, namely that we
are thinking about the outcome for millions of real people.
Hell
is real, whether one believes in annihilationism or eternal hell, it’s still
real and will still be awful and real people will go there. Friends, family,
moms, dads, brothers, sisters, children will inhabit this terrible place where
God justly pours out his wrath on those who are not saved by the blood of
Jesus. This MUST be at the forefront of our minds as we think about this topic.
The wrath of God is real, and it will be – and is - unimaginable.
Let’s begin our talk of hell with the wrath of God. It is
appropriate to think about this at the beginning because it is precisely what
we are dealing with when we are talking about hell – for it is the wrath of God
that comprises hell and therefore it is primarily the wrath of God that we are
dealing with when we reflect on hell.
The wrath of God is one of the perfections of God, in other
words it’s one of his attributes, one of his characteristics. We should study
it because it gives us a fuller picture of who God is (if we didn’t it would be
like getting to know your friends without letting them talk about themselves).
“The wrath of God is a perfection of the Divine Character on
which we need to meditate frequently, “ for three reasons, “First, that our
hearts may be impressed by God’s detestation of sin… Second, to beget a true
fear in our souls for God (Heb 12:28-29)… Third, to draw our souls in frequent
praise to Jesus Christ for having delivered us from, ‘the wrath to come,’ (I
Thess 1:10)(A.W. Pink).”
It would seem that the wrath of God is a rather unfashionable
thing to talk about; it’s not often that folks preach sermons about how amazing
and terrible is the God we worship and use texts about the utter destruction
and torment of the wicked in hell as their preaching passage. However we must talk
about the terribleness of which hell is comprised. And quite frankly I think Jonathan
Edwards expounding on I Thess. 2:16 are much better words than mine here (don’t
be intimidated that it’s Edwards I modernized it),
“How dreadful the wrath of God is, when it is executed to
the uttermost. To make you in some measure sensible of that. I desire you to
consider whose wrath it is. The wrath of a king is a roaring lion; but this is
the wrath of Jehovah, the LORD God Omnipotent. Let us consider what we can
rationally think of it? How dreadful must the wrath of such a Being be when it
comes upon a person to the uttermost, without any pity, or moderation, or
merciful circumstances! What must be the uttermost of his wrath who made heaven
and earth by the word of his power; who spoke and it was done, who commanded
and it stood fast! What must his wrath be, who commanded the sun and it doesn’t
rise, and seals up the stars! What must his wrath be who shakes the earth out
of its place and causes the pillars of heaven to tremble! What must his wrath
be who rebukes the sea and makes it dry? Who removes mountains out of their
place and overturns them in his anger! What must his wrath be whose majesty is
so awful that no man could live in the sight of it! What must the wrath of such
a Being be when it comes to the uttermost, when he makes his majesty appear and
shine bright in the misery of wicked men! And what is a worm of the dust before
the fury and under the weight of this wrath, which the stoutest devils cannot
bear but utterly sink and are crushed under it. Consider how dreadful the wrath
of God is sometimes in this world only in a little view or taste of it.
Sometimes when God only enlightens consciences to have some sense of his wrath
it causes the stout-hearted to cry out; nature us ready to sink under it when
indeed it is but a little glimpse of divine wrath that is seen…. But if a
slight taste and comprehension of wrath be so dreadful and intolerable what
must it be when it comes upon a person to the uttermost! When a few drops or a
little sprinkling of his wrath is so dreadful and overbearing to the soul, how
must it be when God opens the flood-gates and lets the mighty deluge of his
wrath come pouring down upon men’s guilty heads and brings all his wrath to
sink them! ‘When his wrath is kindled but a little, blessed are all they that
put their trust in him. (Ps. 2:12)’”
(It’s a long quote I know) We must be aware that the wrath
of God is terrible and a part of his divine perfections and as such we must not
think to small of our God to imagine that his wrath will not be or is not
utterly horrifying. While it may not be the cool thing to talk about it is
indeed part and portion of the God we worship and therefore must be considered.
But while considering it we cannot think that his wrath is mixed with the same
limitations or imperfections that we have in our ‘wrath.’ Surely we are justly
angry at times be we are also imperfect and ignoble in our anger – but God is
not.
In studying God’s wrath we will see exactly what we are
saved from through the propitiatory death of Jesus who stood, “Between us
sinners and the thunderclouds of divine wrath… (J.I. Packer).”
Passages to look up on the wrath of God:
Ex. 22:18-24; 32:10-12
Deut. 29:23-28; 11:16-27
Ezra 8:22
Ps. 2:5-9
Nahum 1:2-3, 6-8, 14
Amos 5:18-20
Matt 16:24-26
Mark 9:47
Lk. 12:47-48; 21:22-24
Rom. 1:18; 2:5; 3:5-8, 24-25; 12:19; 13:4-5
Acts 17:30-31
Eph 2:3
I Thess. 1:10; 2:16; 5:9
II Thess 1:7-10
Heb. 10:28-31
I John 2:2
Rev. 6:16; 16:19
Now let’s get the brunt of what these posts are about. We’ve
seen that the wrath of God no matter where one stands on the spectrum of hell,
that God’s wrath is indeed terrible and should cause us to fear Him. We’ve also
seen that God’s wrath isn’t mixed with imperfections like our, that it is a
perfect wrath.
So how does this wrath play out in hell? It’s real, hell. We
need to know that above all else hell is a real place and real people go there
(remember, keep that at the forefront of your mind).
Edwards makes a good case in the last post that if a little
of God’s wrath is intolerable what must it be to experience God’s wrath to the
uttermost? But what is the term on God’s wrath, is there a limit, does it end?
No, God’s wrath against sin does not end. Biblically God’s
wrath against sin does not end (This should be enough). Logically God’s wrath
against sin does not end. Temporally God’s wrath against sin does not end. In
terms of glory God’s wrath against sin does not end. In terms of perfection
God’s wrath does not end.
I want to present this in two ways, first in terms of a
rebuttal to the four main arguments for annihilationism (a necessarily negative
light) and second in terms of why one must believe that hell is unending (a
necessarily positive light).
In the first post I listed the main arguments of
annihilationism as this:
1) The biblical references for the
‘destruction’ of the wicked,
2) The inconsistency of an eternal
hell with the love of God,
3) The injustice or unfairness of
the disparity between sins committed in this life and the punishment of eternal
torment, and
4) That allowing evil to continue
in hell would mess with the perfection of the universe God will create after
the Judgment Day. (Order taken from Wayne Grudem)
In this post I hope to offer a rebuttal to these arguments.
Mind you this debate has been going on for years and I do not expect to change
their minds in this one post, in fact I fully expect more arguments will come
to show. (Some good resource to read are: Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology
page 1146 about Hell, J.I. Packer Knowing God chapter on The Wrath of God,
James Boice The Foundations of the Christian Faith chapter on The Wrath of God,
Jonathan Edwards sermons Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, The Justice of
God in the Damnation of Sinners, Of Eternal Punishment and many others.) Many
of my arguments here are taken from Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology.
First the biblical references for the ‘destruction’ of the
wicked. References like Phil. 3:9; I Thess 5:3; II Thess 1:9; II Peter 3:7. “In
response it must be said that the passages of destruction do not necessarily
imply the cessation of existence.” (Hold on to your hats this part is a little
detailed and I’m no Greek scholar.)
In Phil. 3:9 and II Peter 3:7, “‘destruction’ is apoleia
which is the same as in Matt 26:8 to speak of ‘waste’ of the ointment. Now the
ointment did not cease to be, to exist; it was very evident on Jesus’ head. But
was ‘destroyed’ in the sense it no longer was able to be used on someone else
or sold.” This destruction is the type seen in these verses, not imply
annihilation but the simplicity of unable to be redeemed. Those who are in hell
are unredeemable; they did not believe the gospel of Jesus Christ and are bearing
the just eternal punishment of their sins.
In I Thess 5:3 and II Thess 1:9, “’destruction’ is olethros,
used also in I Cor 5:5 of delivering a man to Satan (putting him out of the
church) for destruction of the flesh – but his flesh did not certainly cease to
be when he was put out of the church…” So destruction is once again not seen as
ceasing to exist it is seen as being done away with in a permanent since.
Verses about the eternality of hell:
Matt 25:30-41, 46 see also Isa 66:4
Mark 9:43, 48
Luke 16:22-24, 28
Rev 14:9-11; 19:3; 20:10-15
I would highly recommend you look these verses up, especially the ones
in Revelation, which say things like “forever and ever.” All the verses are
linked for your viewing ease.
In the last post we looked at the first argument for the biblical
texts ‘supporting’ annihilationism. In this post we’ll look at the last three.
The second is that of the inconsistency that an eternal hell is to the
love of God. That For God to be truly loving then he would not damn any person
to an eternity in hell. However the same problem arises for the
annihilationists. In other words this is really a non-argument. It would be
unloving for God to damn anyone to hell forever, but it would be loving for God
to damn anyone to hell for a set time in such a way so as to annihilate them.
Do you see? On one hand it’s unloving to damn and on the other hand it’s loving
to damn is essentially the argument. (There is also another type of
annihilationism, called annihilationism proper or immediate annihilationism,
that is that upon death those unsaved completely cease to be and do not enter
hell at all. But this cannot properly be called punishment. Therefore it’s not
right because there would be no ultimate justice in the universe.)
Third is the inconsistency between the punishment and the grievance,
the sin committed. “The argument that eternal punishment is unfair wrongly
assumes that we know the extent of the evil done when sinners rebel against
God. (Grudem)”, “Sin against the Creator is heinous to a degree utterly beyond
our sin warped imaginations to conceive of….Who would have the temerity to
suggest to God what the punishment … should be. (Kingdon).”
Along this point it should be asked of the annihilationist if once a
person has entered hell and has served its ‘time’ is it then justified to be
annihilated? If the sin that was committed by this person is now dealt with in
their ‘time’ in hell, then why not let that person go to heaven? What is the
reason or point of annihilationism whatsoever if that person’s sins have been
dealt with fully in hell? (Grudem)
Fourth, that allowing evil to persist would be a corruption in God’s
perfect universe he creates after the Judgment Day. That hell exists in
eternity does not detract from the perfections of God’s universe, in fact it
enhances it. It forces us to realize that God has triumphed over sin perfectly
and, as Edwards said, to the uttermost revealing the glory of his justice and
the perfection of his wrath. That for all time his people will behold God’s
triumph over all evil.
On a side note before I end this particular post Grudem brought up an
interesting thing, one which I’ll post here as a warning – a shot across the
bow, if you will – of where, the dangers of fighting against the eternality of
hell could lead. “Because the doctrine of eternal conscious punishment is so
foreign to the thought patterns of our culture, and, on a deeper level, to our
instinctive and God-given sense of love and desire for redemption for ever
human being created in God’s image, this doctrine is emotionally one of the
most difficult doctrines for Christians to affirm today. It also tends to be
one of the first doctrines given up by those who are moving away from
commitment to the Bible as absolutely truthful in all that it affirms…”
We must believe that eternal punishment is true and just even though
it does hurt us to believe that there is a place that offers eternal
punishment. Even though the prospects of people going there is devastating.
This doctrine gives literal fire to our message of redemption.
Here I want to propose the arguments for the eternality of hell in a
positive light.
First it is biblical:
Matt 25:30-41, 46 see also Isa 66:4
Mark 9:43, 48
Luke 16:22-24, 28
Rev 14:9-11; 19:3; 20:10-15…
Second it’s reasonable:
If God is an eternal being and we have sinned against that eternal
being than it stands to reason that the just punishment for such a grievance is
an eternal punishment. We however are guilty of more than one sin, indeed we
are sinners are through and through. There is indeed justice for God in the eternal
damnation of sinners.
If God commands that we as his creation do not murder, that we do not
snuff out life in this reality, then how can God, who created the law, not be
subject to his own law and utterly destroy – annihilate, murder in completeness
of the word – people? It would seem that in so acting God must be unjust and
disobey his own decreed command and therefore not be perfect. In other words it
would mean that God is in fact not God and therefore not worthy of glory,
honor, praise, and eternal dominion.
If God’s wrath against sin terminates in the annihilation of a person
then what happened with Jesus? If Jesus bore the same wrath of God for sin for
Christians, as a non-Christian will bear to their annihilation then why was
Jesus not annihilated?
Third it’s traditional orthodoxy:
I’ll be the first to tell that just because something is traditional
that doesn’t mean it should be believed, you all know I’m a huge fan of the
reformation. But when it comes to orthodoxy these are areas, which must be
believed in order to have the gospel in its full potency. It is a good practice
to ask, “If this is doctrine is different or changed in any way does it change
the gospel? And if so how?” If the gospel is changed than the new doctrine or
changed doctrine should not be believed. Here, if hell is ending we loose much
of the potency of the powerful redemptive work of Jesus. Rather than saving us
from for all times from the wrath of God on sin, he only saves from the wrath
of God until the end of hell then after that… well that’s part of the question,
what does happen to those in heaven after hell is over? Is Jesus’ death still
effective? What happens to justification? What happens to redemption? What
happens to salvation after hell has ended? Are we still the redeemed and if so
what are we the redeemed from? Like the title of this post says, what the hell
am I saved from?
On this note is good to look at those who have believed this same
doctrine, has history vindicated their names against those who have been
proponents for other doctrines, names like St. Augustine, John Calvin, Martin
Luther, Charles Spurgeon, Peter and Paul. It is good to be in good company when
believing certain difficult doctrines. Here, if one were to believe that hell
has an end they would be in the company of Seventh Day Adventist or Jehovah’s
Witnesses, which are both commonly, referred to as cults.
In the last post I want to point out what believing in the eternality
of hell does for one’s Christian faith.
It seems odd to have a section that only highlights the benefits of
why one should believe in the eternality of hell. It’s crazy to think there are
pluses to this immense minus. But there are many.
First I would put this doctrine in my category of “Devastatingly Beautiful.” This is
where I put the doctrines that are so dangerous and devastating but also afford
and allow for such worship as cannot be brought by any song I’ve heard or sung.
The eternality of hell is devastating because real people go to a real
hell – forever. There are no second chances after death. In fact this life we
live has second chances every second. After death there is one place for those
who have spurned God’s call and shunned his righteousness and aimed to live
their own life without God. God mercifully gives them what they desire – an
eternity without his closeness. We cannot come to this dry-eyed or
bushy-tailed. This ought to take the wind out of our sails and crush us on the
rocks of devastation. People will die and they will suffer forever…
Think about that, people you know will die and they will suffer
endlessly. Think about their screams; try to imagine their pain. Now think
there’s away way out of that torment – that terrible suffering – a way has been
made to release you and them from your and their just damnation and his name is
Jesus! He bore that incomprehensible wrath in your place for your sins! Do you
love your friends? Of course, now tell them to be saved, redeemed by Jesus! At
the heart of the arguments on the limitations of hell is a dangerous plot to lose
the urgency of missions. Our dying world must be saved from the just torment of
eternity. And only God can save them from his own wrath through Jesus’ atoning
death.
Now think about the beauty of salvation! See the storm clouds of God’s
divinely just wrath poured out completely on Jesus – you see the only way that
Jesus could bear the eternal wrath of God is because he himself is a part of
the eternal Being. The only possible way for God’s entire eternal wrath to be
cleared from your name is if Jesus being fully God and full man stood and took
that wrath for you – it’s the doctrine of propitiation.
We cannot lull our friends or family into a false sense of security by
allow them to think hell is ending or that it is not going to be terrible. To
allow them to think such things would be like leading them there yourself.
Spurgeon said in Lectures to My Students something that has stuck with me for
years essentially it is this: Do not be a blind pastor leading you people
blindly to hell; an unredeemed pastor is like a blind man making claims about
beautiful paintings or a deaf man telling the world of Mozart, he cannot tell
the world of what he does not know. Therefore make sure you know and believe
the gospel lest you lead your congregation to hell and be greeted there by
their screams of torment, “You lead us here!” This will be the screams of those
we love if we do not tell them urgency and dangerousness of hell and the beauty
of the salvation of Jesus.
Ask yourselves what makes missions seem more urgent hell that is
ending or hell that is eternal? Ask yourself what makes God’s hatred against
sin more perfect hell that is ending or hell that is eternal? Ask yourself what
makes God’s salvation more inescapably beautiful hell that is ending or hell
that is eternal? Ask yourself what makes God’s glory so vast as to truly show
us that what we know of God is limited and finite hell that is ending or hell
that is eternal? Finally ask yourself what shows God’s way to be far higher
than our ways, hell that is ending or hell that is eternal?
As an end to this post, this post of hell, I want to add a personal note
(I really hope you watched the video). The glory of God is displayed clearly in
the death of Jesus - God in the flesh - that he stood in our place and bore an
eternity of punishment in his eternal Being. We are free because he has freed
us. Hell, this eternal suffering and torment that we should get for the rest of
forever has passed from us on to Jesus. Therefore the personal note that I want
to add here is simply this: BELIEVE!
Believe that God has and does love you personally! Believe that God does
love you unconditionally! Believe that God loves you irresistibly! Believe that
God loves us perseveringly! Believe that it is Jesus who has done all the work
you could never do and saved you from all that you deserve to bear – He literally
bore it in himself for you because of the deep, deep love of God!
If you do believe the gospel then believe it more and still and deeper!
After reading about hell it ought to stir your mind and pluck your heartstrings
to know that this damnable eternity is some people’s forever… Be broken! Be devastated,
but also turn to the cross of Jesus Christ and realize the full gorgeous beauty
of the gospel! That you are free from this proper damnation because of Jesus
and only Jesus!
“But now the
righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the Law, although the Law
and the Prophets bear witness to it – the righteousness of God through faith in
Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a
gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a
propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s
righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former
sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be
just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:21-26
It seems odd to have a section that only highlights the benefits of
why one should believe in the eternality of hell. It’s crazy to think there are
pluses to this immense minus. But there are many.
First I would put this doctrine in my category of “Devastatingly Beautiful.” This is
where I put the doctrines that are so dangerous and devastating but also afford
and allow for such worship as cannot be brought by any song I’ve heard or sung.
The eternality of hell is devastating because real people go to a real
hell – forever. There are no second chances after death. In fact this life we
live has second chances every second. After death there is one place for those
who have spurned God’s call and shunned his righteousness and aimed to live
their own life without God. God mercifully gives them what they desire – an
eternity without his closeness. We cannot come to this dry-eyed or
bushy-tailed. This ought to take the wind out of our sails and crush us on the
rocks of devastation. People will die and they will suffer forever…
Think about that, people you know will die and they will suffer
endlessly. Think about their screams; try to imagine their pain. Now think
there’s a way out of that torment – that terrible suffering – a way has been
made to release you and them from your and their just damnation and his name is
Jesus! He bore that incomprehensible wrath in your place for your sins! Do you
love your friends? Of course, now tell them to be saved, redeemed by Jesus! At
the heart of the arguments on the limitations of hell is a dangerous plot to lose
the urgency of missions. Our dying world must be saved from the just torment of
eternity. And only God can save them from his own wrath through Jesus’ atoning
death.
Now think about the beauty of salvation! See the storm clouds of God’s
divinely just wrath poured out completely on Jesus – you see the only way that
Jesus could bear the eternal wrath of God is because he himself is a part of
the eternal Being. The only possible way for God’s entire eternal wrath to be
cleared from your name is if Jesus being fully God and full man stood and took
that wrath for you – it’s the doctrine of propitiation - because only an eternaly Being could bear an eternity of wrath in on the cross.
We cannot lull our friends or family into a false sense of security by
allow them to think hell is ending or that it is not going to be terrible. To
allow them to think such things would be like leading them there yourself.
Spurgeon said in Lectures to My Students something that has stuck with me for
years essentially it is this: Do not be a blind pastor leading you people
blindly to hell; an unredeemed pastor is like a blind man making claims about
beautiful paintings or a deaf man telling the world of Mozart, he cannot tell
the world of what he does not know. Therefore make sure you know and believe
the gospel lest you lead your congregation to hell and be greeted there by
their screams of torment, “You lead us here!” This will be the screams of those
we love if we do not tell them urgency and dangerousness of hell and the beauty
of the salvation of Jesus.
Ask yourselves what makes missions seem more urgent hell that is
ending or hell that is eternal? Ask yourself what makes God’s hatred against
sin more perfect hell that is ending or hell that is eternal? Ask yourself what
makes God’s salvation more inescapably beautiful hell that is ending or hell
that is eternal? Ask yourself what makes God’s glory so vast as to truly show
us that what we know of God is limited and finite hell that is ending or hell
that is eternal? Finally ask yourself what shows God’s way to be far higher
than our ways, hell that is ending or hell that is eternal?
Last week I wrote a couple posts
about an interesting topic that I apparently jumped fully into, that is the
topic of annihilationism. This is the idea that hell will end for those condemned
there after a time – that rather than suffering for eternity those damned will
be annihilated, that they’ll cease to be.
It seems there are four parts to
the annihilationist’s argument (of the more than one hundred comments on my
facebook post you’d think there are at least four hundred arguments for it and
just as many against it), these are:
1) The biblical references for the
‘destruction’ of the wicked,
2) The inconsistency of an eternal
hell with the love of God,
3) The injustice or unfairness of
the disparity between sins committed in this life and the punishment of eternal
torment, and
4) That allowing evil to continue
in hell would mess with the perfection of the universe God will create after
the Judgment Day. (Order taken from Wayne Grudem)
Over the next series of posts (for the record there are seven of these) I
hope to respond to this doctrine, not only to respond to it but also to make
clear both the biblical stance as well as my stance on this topic of the
eternality of hell.
However
before we begin to look more deeply at this topic I want to make one thing
absolutely crystal clear and this one thing should be at the front of our minds
whenever we are discussing or thinking about the topic of hell, namely that we
are thinking about the outcome for millions of real people.
Hell
is real, whether one believes in annihilationism or eternal hell, it’s still
real and will still be awful and real people will go there. Friends, family,
moms, dads, brothers, sisters, children will inhabit this terrible place where
God justly pours out his wrath on those who are not saved by the blood of
Jesus. This MUST be at the forefront of our minds as we think about this topic.
The wrath of God is real, and it will be – and is - unimaginable.
“When shadows fall on us we will not fear we will remember.”
We’ll remember the call; we’ll remember the light at the end
of our dark night. We’ll remember the cross; we’ll remember the resurrection
and our subsequent salvation. We’ll remember the cost; we’ll remember blood,
the sweat, the tears, we’ll remember our fear now relieved.
We’ll remember the end of death and the first breath of
life; we’ll remember the beginning of our sanctification and the end of our
damnation; we’ll remember the beginning of all of forever of the life we’ll
live with God; we’ll remember the first glimpses of the glory of the King who
saved us and bought us with himself – for himself.
We’ll remember the God who did not delay but sent his own
Son to die for us because he loved us with a great love – so great that it
spelled then end of the end and the death of the grave. We’ll remember that our
help comes from the LORD the maker of heaven and hell and all that is between
them.
We’ll remember that neither death nor life nor things
present nor things to come, nor angels, demons, heaven, hell, Satan himself and
all the hosts of the man cannot separate us from the love of our God!
We’ll remember that all we are is nothing apart from him our
everything. We’ll remember that we have been bought with a price and that it’s
no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us. We’ll remember each breath is
grace and each second is a second chance, that each life encountered is a life
to be spoken into, that each life is a soul and each soul is eternal and each
eternity can be impacted for the King by his poor ambassadors.
We’ll remember the cost of the cross and the call of the
King. We’ll remember each step is faith and all faith is God’s. We’ll remember
that what we deserve we do not get and what we do not get is what we deserve.
We’ll remember that the closest to hell we’ll ever get is this life – this life
with all its raindrops and smiles, all its baby laughter and nephew hugs, all
is kisses of spouses and providences of God. We’ll remember the beginning,
middle and end of all of everything in our small little lives is the cross of
Christ, the empty tomb, and the love of God for us.
The other day (the one I wrote my last post on) I stumbled
onto an issue, which seems to be a great debating point inside the
church-world. My wife and I have done quite a bit of talking about that
particular issue (if you want to read about it go here). The comments to my
Facebook link are near 100 and are continuing right now (as I write… literally
I just saw another notification about it).
This is a world I’m quite familiar with, the one where
topics are hotly debated and heretics jump on the chance to have a fight with
orthodox Christians (Orthodoxy simply means basic Christian doctrine, the
reason orthodox doctrine are basic Christian doctrines are because without them
– or even without one of them – we loose the gospel. Things like the inerrancy
and authority of Scripture, God as Creator, the virgin birth, heaven and hell’s
eternality, the dual nature of Jesus that he is both fully God and fully man among others). But I ignorantly forgot
that not all Christians inhabit this world of debates about doctrines.
We don’t all sit around late at night on Facebook or
creating websites to advocate for our orthodox or non-orthodox doctrines. We
don’t all look at Hebrew and Greek and think, “Ah-ha my point is proven!” only
to have the same person comment back for the millionth time. And you might be thinking
that is a realm for pastors and kids that still live with mom and don't have jobs, or
men in white towers (funny how those last two are in the same sentence).
Yet there is a small child-like faith out there that must be
shielded from the wolves of false doctrine by pastors and the kids who love
good solid biblical orthodox doctrine and men in white towers. And solid
doctrine does not conform to what we want – even, or rather, especially if it
hurts - that’s why it’s a shield. It’s cold and is not nice, but what it
teaches us is warm and wonderful.
Doctrine teaches us about God, about his character and
glory. Good doctrine will always make God scary and glorious, holy and
beautiful, loving and vengeful, just and merciful, gracious and tender; it will
always end in God getting glory and us getting grace (eternity with him) or exactly what we
deserve (eternity in his wrath).
It is always under attack and always being slandered as,
“traditionalism”, or “conservatism”, or “the old way of thinking”, or my
favorite, “unbiblical.” There’s another swing in history happening, it happened
the last time hell was being used to slander God.
Last time is called the Reformation, when the Catholic
Church said hell would end if only you paid enough to the Pope; now it is the
old re-hashed theory of annihilationism that is coming to town to attack the side
of God’s character that is his infinite eternal just wrath on sin.
I’ll end it here for now, but it will be very interesting – I
think – to see what becomes of the debate between the orthodox view of hell
(the one the Bible clearly teaches) and that of annihilationism.
If I knew what to write at the beginning of this post then I'd write about it throughout, but I don't. India was wonderful, again. It was harder to leave this time than the first time (which I guess means this next time will be even more difficult). But it also let me remember things.
When I first became a Christian I wanted to be a missionary to anywhere. First I got to go to Israel with my senior class then to Egypt with some friends. Next was Uganda, but on the flight home from Uganda I remember distinctly being told - or lead - to know that my times of traveling had come to an end, that it was time to do work in Wichita.
And that's exactly what happened. As an intern I helped, by the sheer grace of God youth grasp the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. As a pastor at a church plant I saw God build his church and discipline me lovingly, growing me in my knowledge of people and my understanding of God.
But I'm not an intern anymore nor am I a pastor.
I can't deny he's leading me to something else. I can't fight the call on my life. I can't overlook the first desire of my heart, the one he had me set aside for a time.
My dad said it well, "Preach Jesus and him crucified and raised from the dead and ruling in grace and mercy."
This land where the words are different and the language unrecognizable. This land so far from home that east indeed has met west. This land of different customs and funny ideas. This land where we have gone and, though only for a little while, have become sojourners.
Rich Mullins sang about it, Abraham was one, Jesus became one, and so the theme runs with us - we are sojourners in a far off country. Where the customs are sin and the ideas are tied to our brokenness. Where to be a national is to be damnable. Not for sake of race or creed but because of sin. It is the plight of the world, the custom inherent in all everywhere.
For us here in India there is no where further away. To go any further east would mean to be closer to home and the same goes for west. But even that doesn't portray how far away from reality our sin has taken us from God. Our worlds of realities have been skewed and stretched and dismembered and disfigured so badly and completely that the only hope for any salvation or redemption had to be a Traveler from that perfect distant place. It had to be Jesus. Had to.
To leave the wonders of heaven to know the ways of men and to save them from those dastardly things they call "life." Those perishable hopes and dreams of fleeting nothing's and pithy longings of celebrity.
There is a place where none shall die and all will live; where tears are wiped away and sadness knows its end; where astounding is normal and unimaginable is seen; where the shadow of the real is touchable and the broken mirror in which we now see dimly is mended and we see our Savior face to face. There is a place and we call it "Home."
My phone lit up this morning with a notification about the CT shooting. An elementary school, really? Oh no... Innocent kids, the ones men should stand up to protect gunned down by a "guardian." There are no stories or realities more tragic than little children murdered.
First my mind rushed to hate & anger. Then it scurried to attempting to imagine a parent's pain. Then to thinking about my nephews - I'd kill to keep them safe. Last my mind ran to sin.
One time in lit class we watched Othello, something about that Shakespearian play terrified me. How Iago plots and plans for the death of his closest friend (who he considers to be his bitter enemy). It's conniving, it's cruel, it's sinful. What scared, and still scares me is knowing the same beast lives in me, I'm capable of such wanton cruelty.
The sinfulness of others - no matter how shocking, evil, or twisted - is the same sinfulness that dwells in each of us. I'm not saying we've all killed children, I am saying we've all hated (which Jesus says is just as damnable); I'm not saying we're all whores, I'm saying we've all lusted (which Jesus equates to adultery).
At the bottom of this all what I am saying is that we are all sin filled.
Yes, the actions done today are atrocious; yes, I feel an intense anger towards the man who kills kids (or any man who isn't a man); yes, I want to see justice done in this life & the next upon him; and yes, this is a devastatingly terrible thing (it's fitting today is cloudy & rainy in Wichita). But this should be a call to repentance from our own personal sins. The beast that dwelt in the gunman dwells in us all, we're all affected by the fall, sin is in us all.
So what now? After trying to understand the depravity of us (you, me, we), where do we go? To the only One who has always been free of sin, to God. To the center of history, to Jesus. To Him who fought the beast in us all and won, won for all who call him Lord. That's where we go today, the day when children were recklessly murdered.
2) There were tons of young ones there, I was shocked. Maybe I'm getting older?
3) Took Lil Loren to the Zoo yesterday. We ran all around cause no one was there (well he only ran around for half the time before his tiny legs got tired). And saw the tiger *rawr*
4) I finished classes and promptly slept for 10 hours.
5) Does anyone else use the armrest as a coaster rather than an armrest?
6) Going to India in a couple weeks. This trip could not be timed better. Adventure!
7) I've not been this chill in a long time.
8) I'm in that love-is-fake part of the break up stage... My cynicism loves it.
9) Continually relearning this, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord." I doubt I'll ever get too far past this, if at all.
10) It's nice to know everyone knows about the resignation, no more guessing or tip-toeing around.
This morning I read a letter to the church I worked at and help start over the past three years. In that letter I announced my resignation from being a pastor. It was and has been a difficult time for me to process through much of the weight, emotions, frustrations, and worries that have come with and been a part of this decision – a decision that has been developing over the past six months.
In short it is time for me to rest.To remember the gospel which for the past six years of my life has been either a semi-professional or professional job for me. But the gospel isn’t a professional calling. No, it’s so much more and less than that. It’s more because it’s what doctors and lawyers and bankers and moms and dads and college students and grad students and nurses alike cling to for hope and joy and peace. And it’s less because it’s the simplicity of child like faith and awe; because its burden is easy and yoke is light; because it’s the symphony of grace and mercy. The gospel isn’t some ware to be pervade or sold; it is the treasure in the field for which we sell all out of joy.
Many sleepless nights and desperate cries to the darkness (and my steering wheel) have filled my life these past months. Talks with family, friends, a counselor, my doctor, and the elders as well as the impressing leading of God have brought me to this grueling decision. It hurts to – for this next season - lay down the pastoral role. Do I still feel a deep and abiding calling? No, I feel a deep and abiding passion for proclaiming the gospel. Callings are good, they give a sense of direction, but it’d be better put to feel a burning passion for the gospel rather than a call for ministry. While a call to vocational ministry is desired, before any of that who-haw can be true there must be a love for the gospel of grace of which I am a partaker and chiefly in need of. That though my sins be great, my God is greater. That while my treachery runs deep, His love runs deeper. That in the midst of loss Jesus is my comforter.
Before I get into this’n it’s been freeing to say, “I was
wrong.” At the end of the summer I planned out the semester, 12 hours of
classes didn’t seem too bad. I’d taken a couple grad level classes before in
undergrad so it seemed like it’d be doable. Mom said it was too much – she was
right, I wasn’t.
It’s safe to say this has been one of the most difficult
semesters I’ve had. Sure some undergrad semesters were hard, and when finals
came they were really gross, but this one is taking the cake in the realm of
stress, tiredness and changes. There’ve been a few breakdowns.
Taking the workload from school, the job at the church,
fostering a new relationship and the normal things of life all together has
been rich and difficult. Rich because there’s much to learn and much to be
humbly amazed by; difficult because I’m prideful and thought I knew it all and this
has been three months of being wrong. (In some ways I feel like a raw blister -
hyperaware of failures.)
Yet there are three thoughts, which have made this semester
more bearable:
1) Bear your burdens well.
Sure
they’re heavy and sure they’re daunting, but they’ve been given to you by God to
bear, so bear them well. Be emboldened by the simple fact of knowing God – for
his own reasons – planned this.
2) It’s good to be carefree.
When
the moments of relaxing come, take them. Whether they’re on Skype, a phone
call, staring at the stars from my front porch, in a book, with the roommates, or
holding a sleeping nephew whenever and wherever learn to relax in a moment.
3) (This has been the most difficult to remember) your
biggest problem has been taken care of by Jesus.
This
one is beautiful. At the end of any day you can lay your head down on your pillow and
remember it’s not your education that saves you, your job that saves you, your interactions
that save you, but it’s Jesus’ death on a Roman cross two-thousand years ago that
has saved you.
Sure I don’t remember all of these all the time. But at the
end of my life – whenever that may be – this semester will be just a simple
dark place in the patchwork of life – the dark tiles of a mosaic without which
the picture is lost. You see it’s a perspective thing seeing life from the
vantage point of farther along.
Sunday's sermon was two things for me: 1) it was
refreshing to hear things that I love preached; 2) it was hurtful to see – in
my own life – my failure to be those things.
First, it was refreshing because as single men we need to
learn to grow up and be responsible. To take hold of our decisions and be able
to say, “Yes, I did that,” and if it was wrong to take the right blame and be
repentant in our confession of failing; and if it was right to not gloat it
over the heads of others.
To learn what it is to pay bills and keep and manage a
budget while working a job and learning about who you are in God. Aiming to see
Him glorified in all of life in work and responsibility as well as fun and
relaxing. Then, by the grace of God someday bring and woman into that, to learn
to love her well – in a God-fearing, God-trusting, God-exalting, Jesus-clinging
way.
Second, this hurt like a ton of bricks dropped on my heart. “Passive”
is scary word to me; I hate passivity – yet that is exactly what I’ve been in
almost every dating relationship I’ve been in. Sure it’s one thing to take the
lead when the person on the other side of the phone or the other side of your
cup of coffee doesn’t know you deeply, but it’s something else entirely to tell
a woman, “You’re not trusting Christ the way you need to be," or, "I've sinned against you by making you my idol."
The gut-wrenching reality is I’m not trusting Christ the way I need to be. Rather than knowing
my mantra (“My hope is built on
nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness”) to be true, I look into her
eyes and I’m more worried about making her happy than seeing God 1) honored, 2)
glorified, 3) followed.
So what’s a single man to do? (Time to speak to myself in a
third person kind of way.) He should aim at being so committed to God that a
girl cannot and will not sway him from seeing God glorified in his life. He
should be believing the gospel for all his passed failures and future screw ups. He should be
praying, “Make me a better man, one to love my God, one to follow him, one to
be in Jesus. To – one day – love a woman, to raise children, to be a
leader-follower. Help me be a better man; to leave my wants for hers, to leave
my needs for hers, to look to you for comfort and peace. Make me a better man
for your glory.”
