Tuesday, February 28, 2012

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Hell


          Hell, Hades, Scheol[1], and Gehenna[2] all have just about the same meaning.  Lake of eternal fire’ or ‘Eternal Damnation’ would be the everlasting name for what most of us think of as Hell in the future.  Revelation 14: 10-11 essentially says:  smoke, smell of flesh burning, and fire forever; weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, and there is no hope.  As I have said before, the eternal separation from God may be the worst of all. 

          Habakkuk, David and I all ask God the same question. Why do you let the evil ones prosper?  Perhaps it is because, as some people say, there is some good in everyone.  Perhaps we just need to wait until God explains things to us, when we get to heaven.  The Bible says that all things are a part of God’s plan.  His wisdom is not for us to understand; as yet.

          Hell was prepared for the Devil and his followers (his angels).  It had to be expanded to accommodate the number of people who would knowingly reject His salvation.  “According to the History book, Lucifer was not satisfied to be just one of the top angels[3].  There was an ensuing power struggle between Lucifer and God.  As you might have guessed, God won and Lucifer and those who chose his side were expelled from heaven.  Today’s demons are the angels that chose the wrong side.”[4]  If you have not received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have rejected Him.

            The Bible talks about Hell 167 times and Jesus himself talked about Hell 33 times.  I know that humankind is extant with those who don’t believe in God, the Bible, the devil or anything else that doesn’t fit into their own view of what life should be.  I guess those who want to be left alone will be left to their own devices until that time when every knee shall bow[5]. 

          Who is going to eternal damnation?  Anyone, in today’s world, who dies without being ‘born again’, will.  Salvation, through the blood of Jesus, is available to anyone willing to accept this free gift.[6]

          I have one thing on my bucket list.  I want to know that all members of my family, my friends, and as many strangers as possible will be saved from eternal damnation.


[1] the Old Testament/Hebrew bible's underworld – Wikipedia
[2] Biblical term that has been interpreted as analogous to the concept of "Hell " – Wikipedia
[3] Isaiah 14:13-14
[4] Ricksrantings 5-14-2010 “Satan”
[5] Romans 14:11
[6] John 3:16, Romans 10:9
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Monday, February 13, 2012

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Satan And Us

        People say that the United States is not a Christian nation.  That is an outright satanic lie.  What they say is, we are a melting pot of all kinds of people and religions.   Here is how a melting pot works. Melting pots operate by the following:

1. Put everything into one pot

2. Apply heat

3. As the contents of the pot heat the pure substance sinks to the bottom while the impurities rise to the top.

4. The impurities are then skimmed off so that the pure of the wanted substance can be obtained.

We can see that in the formation of our nation, the Biblical purity of the Judeo/Christian principals were what was used as the basis for our laws, liberties, our rights and the formation of our government system.  The impurities were skimmed off, and the United States was created.  Since the God of the Bible was so instrumental in our founding, we can see why Satan is so determined to destroy us.

          “Satan is the personification of wickedness.  Satan, the Jetzer Hara (evil impulse), and the Angel of death are all one.”[1]  The Talmud explains that we should never rebuke Satan on our own, but to call on God Almighty to rebuke him.  Through Christ we are given the authority to rebuke Satan in the name of Jesus.  Again, from the Talmud, Satan can only be in one place at a time and therefore must have many emissaries to do his bidding, and that good angels accompany the righteous and evil angels the wicked. 

          “Satan has three functions: he seduces men, he accuses them before God, he inflicts the punishment of death.”[2] “The forces of good and evil (God and Satan) are at work around us at all times.  It is hard, sometimes, to rebuke the subtle forces around us in order to do the right thing.  We must keep the word of God constantly in our hearts, in order to allow the Holy Spirit to triumph.  If we should slip, we have the knowledge that our mistakes are covered by the Blood of Jesus.”[3]

“You can’t get rid of sin if you treat it like a creampuff instead of a rattlesnake.”[4]

          When you are confronted with truth versus fiction: choose truth.  As I have said before, the difference between ignorance and stupidity is that ignorance is the lack of information and stupidity is the lack of ability to use information.  In the movie “Forest Gump” he said, “stupid is as stupid does”.  It is my opinion that ignorance is not acceptable to the Lord and that most stupidity is self induced.  He didn’t design us to be stupid and even supplied us with all the knowledge we needed about Him, in the Bible.  He gave us the scriptures to point out our ignorance and sent Jesus to give us a way to overcome our stupidity. 

          Satan is not stupid.  Over his long existence he has gained a lot of knowledge, and the ability to use it.  He has been around longer than you,  seen more than you, knows the Bible better than you, and knows you better than you do.  He knows your desires and your weaknesses.  He, most times, will not tempt you with something that is obviously and blatantly against what you know to be wrong.  He will look for any opening to entice you with something that, on the surface, looks good, but is not the best that God has for you.  Once he has done this enough times, and you are used to being seduced in this manner, he will move on to bigger things, and other methods. 

          We need to flee from Satan’s three favorite types of sinful temptation:  idolatry, sexual immorality/youthful lusts, and greed.  Anything can become an idol if we place it above God in importance.  Fornication is the act of sex before marriage while adultery is the same act after marriage, when performed with someone other than your spouse.  One of the main reasons you don’t commit fornication and adultery is that The Lord said He would never leave you or forsake you[5]; do you really want to drag the Holy Spirit into a bawdy house?  Desire for your spouse is not lust; its righteous, God approved, yearning.  Greed could be said to be an inordinate desire for more.  The Lord said He would supply all of our needs; is this not enough.  I have heard it said that he who dies with the most toys wins.  Build your wealth in heavenly things rather than earthly toys.  As I heard Billy Graham say; I have never seen a hearse pulling a U-haul trailer to the graveyard. 

          It was a premeditated act when Jesus cleared out the temple.  He had stopped and made a whip out of chords before He attacked.  This is a prime example of righteous indignation.  When you see a wrong that is hurting God’s people, such as the apostate church or turning God’s house into a sales convention, it is an act of righteous indignation (anger) to act against that indignation like Jesus did.  It is our duty to fight and disrupt the Devil when he attempts to fight and disrupt the will of God.

          It was easier when we were kids to recognize good and evil.  In the cowboy movies (generally speaking), the good guys wore the white hats and the bad guys wore the black hats.  Today people who sit on the fence, instead of making a decision for one side or the other, are wearing grey hats.  Indecision is not the Lord’s will, and grey hats represent indecision[6].  If you come to the Lord, He will lift you off of the fence.  If you stay on the fence or fall off the fence, you will be lost[7].  We are offered the choice of life or death.  Please choose life: I would rather spend eternity, in Heaven, with you, than without you. 

          Jesus said He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill the law[8].  He also said He did not come to condemn the world, but to save it[9].  You are part of the world he came to save[10].  Satan would rather have you continue to sit on the fence or fall off of it.  Jesus does not condemn you, but Satan does[11].  


[1] Everyman’s Talmud pg. 54
[2] Everyman’s Talmud
[3] Romans 8:1-4
[4] Billy Sunday
[5] Deuteronomy 31:8, Hebrews 13:5
[6] Mark 9:40
[7] Revelation 3:16
[8] Matthew 5:17
[9] John 3:17
[10] John 3:16
[11] Revelation 12:10, Job 2:1, 1 Peter 5:8,
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