Bonnie Alba
Fury of HELL denied
By Bonnie Alba
"I greatly fear that the denial of the eternity of future punishment is one wave of an incoming sea of infidelity." Charles H. Spurgeon
If you read beyond the above quote, prepare to be challenged. Either that, or you will continue in your denial. In post-modern churches, you're not likely to hear much about the eternal Hell that awaits all of us. Right up front, God does not want you to go to the Hell he has prepared for those who reject Him. (2 Peter 3:9)
Up until the mid-19th century, warnings of Hell and God's final judgment were very much part of the Gospel message preached from church pulpits. Then the age of enlightenment, so-called rational reasoning, entered into the minds of men.
As this world view took hold among Western nations, this thinking influenced not only our political and educational systems, but crept into the thinking of theologians and then into the churches. The results were a kinder and gentler way of thinking about God and influenced preacher-teachers to diminish the Doctrine of Hell to the extent that it has almost disappeared from the Gospel message.
The post-modern humanistic, universalistic view of God as the God of Love "who saves everyone in the end" has numbed the consciences of believers and unbelievers alike to the God of Creation and All his attributes. What has been denied is that He is first and foremost the Holy God balanced by his Love, Justice and Righteousness; that He hates sin. His Love encompasses Mercy and Grace.
What most people know is that Jesus was "Love incarnate" — kind and compassionate, who did miraculous things like loving, reaching out, healing, feeding thousands, teaching about God. But what they don't know or deny is that Jesus talked about Hell more than Heaven. Whether directly or in his teaching parables, Hell was what he warned people about.
Long ago, Spurgeon made a very true and convicting statement, "None used stronger or more alarming language than our dear Redeemer concerning the future of ungodly men. He knew nothing of that pretended sympathy which will rather let men perish than warn them against perishing. Such tenderness is merely selfishness excusing itself from a distasteful duty."
Have preachers, church leaders thought about how peoples' attendance in churches has decreased not just because of post-modern influences that surround us? Why would people need to attend church if God is going to save them anyway. If, there is no Hell. If, God is Love and nothing else. Why would people see a need to attend church if they don't believe they're not going to face any punishment for their sins and unbelief.
Jesus issued a strong warning to Jewish religious leaders, "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the damnation of Hell?" (Matthew 23:33)
In the last few years religious surveys (Gallop and Pew Research) revealed that more people believe in Heaven than Hell — even among evangelicals. This is just a symptom of how churches have surrendered to a watered-down Gospel.
There are many reasons given for decreases in church attendance. But I think this might be the one main reason: Christian ministers have forsaken the total Gospel as Jesus preached — Heaven and Hell. It is why the diluted message makes no impact on the hearts of human beings who are centered in themselves and their hearts hardened to stone. The conscience of a people are untouched by guilt and fear of God.
We supposedly live in a kinder, gentler world though disbelief in and rejection of God surrounds us. The liberal theological thinking scorns a God of Justice while asserting that God "loves" us all and will "save" everyone in the end. Universal Salvation has entrenched itself in many denominations, even into the evangelical churches.
Today's God is more like a Genie in a lamp who grants the desires of our self-serving lives. He is mocked instead of feared and revered. Much like olden times of Nimrod and Babylon, God is ignored in favor of man raising himself up on his own godhood pedestal.
Spurgeon also said, "It is shocking to reflect that a change in the weather has more effect on some men's lives than the dread alternative of heaven or hell."
Nothing funny about my joke: In a local coffee klatch, a guy asks "Who believes in Hell anymore?" and one guy answers, "Those who are there."
What do you believe?
More reading on Hell:
Biblical Teachings on the Doctrines of Heaven and Hell, Edward
Donnelly, 2001, Banner of Truth Trust
Sermon by John MacArthur, www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/sg2304.htm
© Bonnie Alba
July 15, 2010
"I greatly fear that the denial of the eternity of future punishment is one wave of an incoming sea of infidelity." Charles H. Spurgeon
If you read beyond the above quote, prepare to be challenged. Either that, or you will continue in your denial. In post-modern churches, you're not likely to hear much about the eternal Hell that awaits all of us. Right up front, God does not want you to go to the Hell he has prepared for those who reject Him. (2 Peter 3:9)
Up until the mid-19th century, warnings of Hell and God's final judgment were very much part of the Gospel message preached from church pulpits. Then the age of enlightenment, so-called rational reasoning, entered into the minds of men.
As this world view took hold among Western nations, this thinking influenced not only our political and educational systems, but crept into the thinking of theologians and then into the churches. The results were a kinder and gentler way of thinking about God and influenced preacher-teachers to diminish the Doctrine of Hell to the extent that it has almost disappeared from the Gospel message.
The post-modern humanistic, universalistic view of God as the God of Love "who saves everyone in the end" has numbed the consciences of believers and unbelievers alike to the God of Creation and All his attributes. What has been denied is that He is first and foremost the Holy God balanced by his Love, Justice and Righteousness; that He hates sin. His Love encompasses Mercy and Grace.
What most people know is that Jesus was "Love incarnate" — kind and compassionate, who did miraculous things like loving, reaching out, healing, feeding thousands, teaching about God. But what they don't know or deny is that Jesus talked about Hell more than Heaven. Whether directly or in his teaching parables, Hell was what he warned people about.
Long ago, Spurgeon made a very true and convicting statement, "None used stronger or more alarming language than our dear Redeemer concerning the future of ungodly men. He knew nothing of that pretended sympathy which will rather let men perish than warn them against perishing. Such tenderness is merely selfishness excusing itself from a distasteful duty."
Have preachers, church leaders thought about how peoples' attendance in churches has decreased not just because of post-modern influences that surround us? Why would people need to attend church if God is going to save them anyway. If, there is no Hell. If, God is Love and nothing else. Why would people see a need to attend church if they don't believe they're not going to face any punishment for their sins and unbelief.
Jesus issued a strong warning to Jewish religious leaders, "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the damnation of Hell?" (Matthew 23:33)
In the last few years religious surveys (Gallop and Pew Research) revealed that more people believe in Heaven than Hell — even among evangelicals. This is just a symptom of how churches have surrendered to a watered-down Gospel.
There are many reasons given for decreases in church attendance. But I think this might be the one main reason: Christian ministers have forsaken the total Gospel as Jesus preached — Heaven and Hell. It is why the diluted message makes no impact on the hearts of human beings who are centered in themselves and their hearts hardened to stone. The conscience of a people are untouched by guilt and fear of God.
We supposedly live in a kinder, gentler world though disbelief in and rejection of God surrounds us. The liberal theological thinking scorns a God of Justice while asserting that God "loves" us all and will "save" everyone in the end. Universal Salvation has entrenched itself in many denominations, even into the evangelical churches.
Today's God is more like a Genie in a lamp who grants the desires of our self-serving lives. He is mocked instead of feared and revered. Much like olden times of Nimrod and Babylon, God is ignored in favor of man raising himself up on his own godhood pedestal.
Spurgeon also said, "It is shocking to reflect that a change in the weather has more effect on some men's lives than the dread alternative of heaven or hell."
Nothing funny about my joke: In a local coffee klatch, a guy asks "Who believes in Hell anymore?" and one guy answers, "Those who are there."
What do you believe?
More reading on Hell:
Biblical Teachings on the Doctrines of Heaven and Hell, Edward
Donnelly, 2001, Banner of Truth Trust
Sermon by John MacArthur, www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/sg2304.htm
© Bonnie Alba
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