the "lake of fire" series part 3

8/7/2019 The "Lake of Fire" Series Part 3

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CONTENTS

PART III: JUDGMENT BY FIRE MUST BEGIN AT THE HOUSE OF GOD1

Gods Two Areas and Eras of Judgment.........................................................1

The Believers Judgment by Fire......................................................................2

Back to Spiritual Basics...................................................................................6The Call of Paul................................................................................................9

For What Did Paul Volunteer?.......................................................................13

When Grace is a Verb......................................................................................18

Punishing vs. Chastening...............................................................................22

Punishment and the Gospel...........................................................................24

Grace and Judgment......................................................................................25

Keep These Scriptures in Mind......................................................................28

Becoming Perfect.............................................................................................30

God is a Consuming Fire...............................................................................32

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PART III:

JUDGMENT BY FIRE MUST BEGIN AT THE

HOUSE OF GOD

Gods Two Areas and Eras of Judgment

Before God brings a final judgment on the entirety of the world, He must first per-

form another judgment on another group of people. This judgment is going on right

now. The world is totally unaware of this judgment, although it has been going on

for two thousand years. It is happening behind the scenes. Only a relative few are

participating in this judgment by fire, and they are all volunteers!

We know for a fact that there is coming a WORLDWIDE judgment on mankind,

for Scripture has stated such:

Because He hath appointed A DAY, in which He will JUDGE

THE WORLD[Greek inhabitedearth]in righteousness...(Acts

17:31).

Most have at least heard of this judgment even if they have no solid understand-

ing of what it is all about or its primary purpose. We will have a great deal to say

about this judgment later. But first we will take a look at another judgment almost

universally unknown in the world of Christendom. It is a judgment that involves be-

lievers, NOW!

Peter, who was given many keys to the kingdom, introduces this judgment to us:

Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed;

but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the TIME IS COME

that JUDGMENT MUST BEGIN AT THE HOUSE OF GOD...(IPet. 4:1617).

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2The Lake of Fire Series

What do you know about this judgment on the house of God. Do you know any-

thing specific? Well, dont feel too badly, most people dont.

Apparently theologians and clergymen dont know too much either, seeing that it

is not a popular subject to teach. If they had even a superficial understanding of

Gods judgments on the house of God, they wouldnt interpret the great white throne

and the lake of fire as some hideous act of divine eternal terrorism. These two judg-

ments have much in common.

Just what is this human life on earth for, anyway? Why are we here? What isour purpose? What is Gods purpose for the Christian?

As children we are taught that Christian people live; they die; their souls go to

heaven. Bad people live; they die; their souls go to hell. Live, die, go to heaven or

live, die, go to hell.

So I guess this earth is a giant soul factory. But the truth is that Christian

souls do not go to heaven at death, neither do wicked souls go to hell at death. Con-

trary to all Christian belief, the Bible reveals (as does elementary science), that

dead people are DEAD. What a revelation! Thats right, boys and girls, living people

are ALIVE and dead people are DEAD. This is not rocket science!

If ALL the dead are either alive in hell or alive in heaven, who, pray tell, is God

going to resurrect back to lifefromthe dead when He returns to judge the world in

righteousness? How can the dead be living in heaven or hell when they havent as

yet been judged as to where they should be living in the first place?

The Believers Judgment by Fire

Well, yes, it does appear that there is a judgment on the house of God, but certainly

not a judgment by FIRE, is there? Doesnt God judge nonbelievers with fire, but not

believers? This only sounds strange to you if you have never been taught the Scrip-

tures.

Beloved, think it NOT STRANGE concerning the fiery trial

which is to try you, as though some STRANGE thing happened

unto you(I Pet. 4:12).

Peter makes it sound as though going through fiery trails is the norm rather

than the exception. The New Testament is filled with the fiery trials of the Saints.


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Part III: Judgment by Fire Must Begin at the House of God3

Now I hope that none will be offended at my next few statements, but if so, so be

it. Unless God Almighty through the purging power of His FIERY SPIRIT, is

BURNING OUT the lusts and passions and vanity and haughtiness and greed and

selfrighteousness and laziness and weakness and hypocrisy and wickedness andpride and materialism and cynicism and depravity and carnality in your life, then

Jesus Christ is not choosing you to reign with Him as the Sons of God in the King-

dom of God to bring all Heaven and Earth to repentance and salvation!

And I will tell you on the authority of Jesus Christ and all the Holy Scriptures,

that anyone who teaches and takes delight in thinking that God would ever torture

anyone for all eternity, will NEVER BE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD WITH SUCH

AN ATTITUDE!

Such damnable character flaws of the mind and spirit are going to be burned out

of us all! God will either BURN OUT these filthy impurities from our hearts and

minds NOW, or He will BURN THEM OUT IN THE LAKE OF FIRE, but either

way, make no mistake about it, THESE THINGS ARECOMING OUT!!!

JOHN THE BAPTIST: John the Baptist said that Jesus would be baptizing re-

pentant believers with fire.

I indeed baptize you with water unto REPENTANCE: but He

that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am notworthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, AND

WITH FIRE(Matt. 3:11).

JESUS CHRIST:

For EVERY ONE[sinner and saint]shall be salted with FIRE

(Mark 9:49).

APOSTLE PETER:

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of

gold that perishes, though it[your faith]be TRIED IN THE

FIRE, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the

appearing of Jesus Christ(I Pet. 1:7).

APOSTLE PAUL:

Every mans work[including believers]shall be made manifest;for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed BY

FIRE, and the FIRE shall try every mans work of what sort it

is(I Cor. 3:13).


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With such noble and august witnesses, does anyone deny that the repentant,

converted, dedicated, believing Christian will escape beingrevealed, tried,

salted, and baptized byFIRE?These Scriptures are undeniable! Whatever

this fire is, it is going to be used ON EVERYONE. These four Scriptures have the

believer specifically in view, but it says and includes EVERYONE shall be salted

with FIRE, and EVERY MANS WORK shall be revealed by FIRE.

And there is absolutely NO DIFFERENCE when it comes to the nonbelievers:

And I saw a great white throne And I saw the dead and

the dead were JUDGED according to their WORKS and

they were judged EVERY MAN according to their WORKS

(Rev. 20:1113).

And are these nonbelievers judged differently from believers who arere-

vealed, tried, salted and baptized IN FIRE?Just HOW are these nonbelievers

judged in the book of Revelation? How are the...fearful, and unbelieving, and

the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and id-

olaters, and all liars...JUDGED? Answer:...In the lake WHICH BURNS

WITHFIRE...(Rev. 21:8)!

Is this fire in the book of Revelation DIFFERENT from the fire that tries theworks of believers in the book of I Corinthians? NO. The word fire used in the four

examples above concerning believers, is the SAME word fire used in the book of

Revelation concerning nonbelievers:

STRONGsGreek Dictionary of the New Testament,page 219, #4442,

pur;a primary word;fire(literally OR FIGURATIVELY.Puris used

(besides its ordinary natural significance):

(1)of the holiness of God, which consumes all that is inconsistent

therewith, Heb. 10:27; 12:29; cf. Rev. 1:14; 2:18; 10:1; 15:2; 19:12;

(1a)similarly of the holy angels as His ministers, Heb. 1:7;

(1b)in Rev. 3:18 it is SYMBOLIC of that which tries the faith of

saints, PRODUCING WHAT WILL GLORIFY THE LORD;

(2)of the divine judgment, testing the deeds of believers, at the judg-ment seat of Christ I Cor. 3:13 and 15;

(3)of the fire of DIVINE JUDGMENT upon the REJECTERS of


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Christ, Matt. 3:11 (where a distinction is to be made between the bap-

tism of the holy Spirit at Pentecost and the fire of divine retribution;

Acts 2:3 could not refer to baptism); Lk. 3:16.

End of quotation, (All CAPS emphasis are mine).

I was quite amazed to see this broadened definition inStrongs Concordance.In

my Strongs Exhaustive Concordance that I purchased over forty years ago, it has

but one line after the Greek wordpur.It states thatpuris fire either (literal or

figurative), fiery, lightning. Thats it. So when I purchased the NEW Strongs Ex-

panded Exhaustive Concordance of the Biblelast week, I was pleasantly surprised to

see the expanded definitions, especially with reference to this word pur FIRE. Ilearned the use of the word fire in Scripture the hard way I had to research.

We could easily spend twenty pages just commenting on the examples used in

this expanded version ofStrongs.I wont do that, but lets take a brief look at a few

enlightening items: First, we learn that this word can be, and is, used figuratively.

And in fact, the first five examples given inStrongsARE examples of figurative us-

age of the word fire. And of the 500+ times the word fire is used in the Bible, hun-

dreds of times the word fire is used in a figurative or symbolic sense.

I call your attention to the statement inStrongs(1b)In Rev. 3:18 it [fire] isSYMBOLIC, of that which tries the faith of saints, PRODUCING WHAT WILL

GLORIFY THE LORD! (CAPS emphasis mine).

I just love it when Christian Scholars will occasionally just absolutely nail a

Scriptural Truth. Notice this beautiful and profound Scriptural Truth: The symbolic

fire of Rev. 3:18 tries the faith of the saints, andPRODUCESwhat will GLORIFY

THE LORD! ASTOUNDING!

Carefully note that it is not the believer who produces these glorious things,

but it is the SYMBOLIC FIRE that produces them. And just who is this symbolic

fire? It is, of course, GOD For OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE.(Heb.

12:29)!

Therefore it is GOD who PRODUCES qualities in the saints that will GLORI-

FY HIMSELF! Gods consuming SPIRITUAL fire (remember thatGOD IS SPIR-

ITJn. 4:24) does the producing, not the saint,

For HIS ACHIEVEMENT are we, being created in Christ Je-

sus...(Eph. 2:10).

Now what have you which you did not OBTAIN? Now if you

OBTAINED it also[from GOD]why are you boasting as though


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[you are]not obtaining[it from God]?(I Cor. 4:7Concordant Literal

New Testament).

All is of God(II Cor. 5:18).

The One who is operating ALL in accord with the counsel of

HIS will(Eph. 1:11).

Etc.

In statement(1)the editor ofStrongscites seven more Scriptures that are used

symbolically and figuratively to demonstrate the holiness of God, which CON-SUMES ALL that is inconsistent therewith. It doesnt consume their physical bod-

ies, nor does it burn their physical bodies to produce pain, but it CONSUMES all

that is not consistent with Gods holiness. And these are the things of the heart,

mind and spirit! It is not the body that needs chastisement and purification, it is

the MIND, HEART, AND SPIRIT that needs purification from unholiness. You can-

not burn pride and vanity out of ones heart with REAL FIRE (besides the advocates

of torturing with real fire for all eternity admit that it accomplishes NOTHING). It

takes the fire of Gods spirit to burn away evils that have their origin in the realm ofspirit.

This teaching is so absolutely elementary that it seems strange to even have to

explain it. And yet, many of the greatest minds in theology today have not a clue as

to these simple spiritual truths. All over the world Christian leaders continue to

teach that the way God will deal with people who have wicked and carnal hearts,

minds, and spirits, is to BURN THEIR FLESH IN REAL FIRE FOR ALL ETERN-

ITY! And what, pray tell, does this infinite mountain of eternal pain accomplish?

Why it is justice cry the high priests of Christendom!

Websters Concise Dictionaryp. 392,justicen.1.The quality of being

just, fair, or impartial; evenhandedness.

So first and foremost we are told that burning billions and billions of men and

women, and boy and girls, in fire for all eternity is QUALITY! QUALITY? HELL

IS A PLACE OF QUALITY? Just how sick can the human mind get, and just how

low can the human heart sink? And this not from infidels, but from the leading ad-

vocates of the Christian Faith!

Back to Spiritual Basics

God gives us perfectly simple and understandable examples of HOW He deals with


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our sins and faults. In Hebrews 12:6 we read:

For whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every

son whom he receives. If you endure chastening, God deals

with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father

chastens not?

Of course when we ask this question today, the answer is not so obvious as back

when the writer of Hebrews asked it. Less and less children are chastened by their

fathers today, and look at the disastrous results. But ideally a son should be

chastened chastened, not BEATEN! Maybe I need to investigate this matter one

day. Just maybe those who teach the hardest for an eternal hell of pain are those

who were physically molested and beaten as children, rather than lovingly chas-

tised. Continuing:

Furthermore we have had fathers of our FLESH which cor-

rected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much

rather be in subjection unto the Father of SPIRITS, and live?

For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own

pleasure; but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of

His HOLINESS.

Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but

grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit

of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby(Heb.

12:911).

This is not difficult to understand. Our fathers in the FLESH have corrected us

with rods, straps, belts, sticks, paddles, and the back of their hand. This was done

for our teaching and correcting. And it worked,...we gave them reverence...

Now then,...shall we not MUCH RATHER be in subjection unto the Father

of SPIRITS...?

Our Heavenly Father is NOT FLESH, but is the Father of SPIRITS! God is

SPIRIT. God is working with our SPIRITUAL life. God does not chasten and correct

us believers in Christ Jesus with physical rods, straps, belts, sticks, paddles, and the

back of His hand! So how is it that God our Father of spirits accomplishes on a spir-

itual level what our physical fathers tried to accomplish on a physical level? Verse 29

gives us the answer:For our God is a CONSUMING FIRE!

As trash is burned and precious metals are purified by the use of LITERAL and

PHYSICAL fire, so God burns our spiritual trash and purifies those qualities of

character worth saving by His SYMBOLIC and SPIRITUAL fire. Physical fire is in-


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animate and uncaring. Gods spiritual fire is caring and loving.

There it is. Theres the gospel; theres the purpose for human existence; theres

the plan of God. God is forming man into the very image of Himself. This requires

not only a knowledge of good and evil, but an experience of good and evil. God

provides both. He is calling just a few select ones out of this world now, and He will

call the remainder of the human race later.

Some sinners are called, given faith, brought to Christ, repent, receive Gods

spirit and are being saved NOW. All the rest of the worlds sinners will also be

called, given faith, brought to Christ, repent, receive Gods spirit and will be saved

LATER. And God uses the same method to convert and save both groups of sinners.

Thats because God CHANGES NOT and God is NO RESPECTER of persons, and

God WILLS to save all mankind, and God will perform ALL HIS WILL, PURPOSE,

AND PLEASURE!!

All of the above verses regarding fire are used in a figurative and symbolic man-

ner. Christ does not literally baptize (IMMERSE) His saints in REAL PHYSICAL

FIRE. It would burn them all up, and there wouldnt be any saints or believers!

Likewise we saw in Part I that the lake of fire is also symbolic and used in a meta-

phor to describe a SPIRITUAL TRUTH. More on this later.

And so we are assured that EVERYONE will berevealed, tried, salted,andbaptized in FIRE.And these fiery trials as Peter calls them go on for a

lifetime. If it were real, physical fire, all believers lives would be short indeed. God

is SPIRIT, and God is a CONSUMING FIRE. It is Gods SPIRIT that is likened to

fire. The spiritual teaching in this symbol is to recognize what real fire accomplishes

and to then use that as an analogy as to what God DOES TO US (or more properly

FOR US).

Fire does a number of things:

1. Fire CHANGES things. Fire brings about molecular changes in the materi-

als that are burned. Gods spiritual fire will make changes in our mind,

heart, and spirit.

2. Fire PURGES. In times past if a building were diseased and ratinfested,

they would purge away the filth by burning it down. We are to be purged

from all our diseases of sin and carnality. Jesus Christ paid the penalty of

sin for us, but now God wants to get at the root and core of what caused us

to sin in the first place. We all need desperately to be CHANGED and

PURGED.

3. Fire BURNS UP combustible materials that have no value in saving. God

will burn out of all of us the straw, grass, and stubble, which represent evil

and wrong doctrines, idols of the heart, and philosophies that exalt them-


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selves against God.

4. Fire PURIFIES things of value which we do want to retain. The analogy is

used in the Scriptures of purifying gold by fire to make it more beautiful

and more valuable. Gold represents the highest doctrines of spiritual un-

derstanding such as the Love of God and the Sovereignty of God, and salva-

tion of all.

No one teaches us more regarding the fiery trials of life than the apostle to the

nations, Paul. Paul wasrevealed, tried, salted, and baptizedin GodsCON-

SUMING FIRE,and yet never a single hair on his head was ever singed.

The Call of Paul

When Jesus desired to ask the worst sinner who had ever lived (that would be Paul):

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that

Christ Jesus came into the world to SAVE SINNERS; OF

WHOMI AM CHIEF.(I Tim. 1:15)

To volunteer to teach the gospel to the Gentiles, He merely shined a bright light

in Pauls face to get his attention. Here are just a few revealed events in the life ofSaul before God turned him into PAUL:

Now Saul[Paul], yet breathing out THREATENINGS and

SLAUGHTER against the disciples of the Lord...(Acts 9:1):

And I[Paul]persecuted this way unto THE DEATH, binding

and delivering into prisons both men and women(Acts 22:4).

And I PUNISHED them OFT in EVERY synagogue, and com-

pelling them To BLASPHEME; and being exceedingly mad

against them, I persecuted them unto strange cities(Acts

26:11).

For I am the LEAST of the apostles, that am not meant to be

called an apostle because I PERSECUTED the church of God

(I Cor. 15:9).

For ye have heard of my conversation[behavior]in time past in

the Jews religion, how that BEYOND MEASURE I persecuted

the church of God, and WASTED it(Gal. 1:13).


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Most people believe that when Paul said he was the chief of sinners he was just

blowing hot air trying to play super humble or something. That he was so spiritual

that he equated persecution of the church with being the grossest sin of all time.

Not so. Gods Holy Spirit did not inspire Paul to blow hot air to make himself lookartificially humble! Paul (Saul before his conversion) really was THEWORSTSIN-

NER THAT HAS EVER LIVED IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD! (Including

Hitler!)

There is a very important reason for understanding how gross a sinner Paul

really was. There is a paramount reason why you will NEVER be able to outsin

Paul. NO ONE has ever been able to outsin Paul. Men like Hitler and Hussein may

even come close, but no one will ever hold that infamous distinction of being the

chief, preeminent, foremost sinner of all timebut the apostle Paul. JesusChrist had to fill that position two thousand years ago for our understanding of

upon whom the ends of the ages are come! Heres the proof:

The phrase beyond measure in the KJV (Gal. 1:13) is translated from the

Greek wordhyperboleand has two primary usages:

1. TRANSCENDENT as found in Scriptures such as II Cor. 4:17

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us

a far more EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL [eonian]WEIGHT ofglory.

The Greek translated exceeding ishuperbole, and means TRAN-

SCENDENT. Transcendent describes something that is highest, incom-

parable, consummate, matchless, preeminent, sublime, perfect, un-

equaled, unparalleled, and unrivaled! In other words the highest pos-

sible degree. Nothing is higher than that which ishuperbole TRAN-

SCENDENT!

2. INORDINATE as we read in Gal. 1:13,

For you hear of my behavior once, in Judaism, that I INORDIN-

ATELY persecuted the ecclesia[church]of God and ravaged it.

(Concordant Literal New Testament).

Inordinate describes something that is excessive, exorbitant, extravag-

ant, unreasonable, and too much. Now heres the kicker: Inordinately

is translated from the SAME GREEK WORDhuperbolewhich is also

translated transcendently! (For more details on this see my paper en-titledPauls Thorn in the Flesh Identified).

Here then is the Biblical truth of this matter. To the degree that transcend-

ently describes the HEIGHT of Gods goodness and glory, so likewise does the word


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inordinately describe the HEIGHT of evil that Paul perpetrated on the Church of

God. Gods transcendent (huperbole) goodness and glory are UNPARALLELED!

Likewise, Pauls inordinate (huperbole) slaughter (murders) and threatenings are

also, UNPARALLELED! Gods Word does not say in vain that Paul was the CHIEF,FOREMOST, PREEMINENT (very, very WORST) ofALL SINNERS WHO HAVE

EVER LIVED! He really WAS.

Now then, what do we read next after all these threatenings and slaughter?

And as he[Saul]journeyed, he came near Damascus: and sud-

denly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And

he fell to the earth... And he TREMBLING AND ASTONISHED,

said, LORD, WHAT WILL YOU HAVE ME TO DO?(Acts 9:36).

By all Scriptural indications, it probably took no longer than 30 seconds before

Paul was fully committed to His New Lord. Do you reckon Jesus could ever do such

a thing again? Or, was this incident a mere fluke? Dont you fancy that Jesus could

possibly convert one of the lesser sinners of the world (say Ted Bundy) in maybe 29

seconds? Or 28 seconds? Then why do you suppose that the High Priests of

Christendom are teaching the world that there are billions and billions of LESSER

sinners that Jesus CANNOT convert in 29 seconds or 29 QUADRILLION CENTUR-

IES?

I did not use up a couple of pages here just to tell an interesting story from the

Bible. It is more than just an interesting story, it is an amazing and marvelous

story, and it portends profound hope for a lost and sinning world. Why does Paul tell

us that he was the chief of ALL SINNERS? Why did our Lord choose this worst of

sinners to be His apostle at this particular time in history? Why didnt He choose a

mediocre sinner like James or John to be His apostle to the Gentiles? Why did it

have to be THE WORLDS WORST SINNER? What did our Lord prove by using the

worlds worst sinner that He couldnt have done by using a lesser sinner? MUCH!

I have heard people say that God wont save me; I have committed too many

horrible sins for God to ever save me! And I have heard and had people personally

tell me that God will never save men like Ted Bundy or Adolph Hitler because their

sins were so evil and so many. Oh, how we humans love to put limitations on an IN-

FINITE GOD! Heres the answer as to why God needed to chose the worlds WORST

SINNER to be the apostle to the rest of the world:

Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Je-

sus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to

them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlast-

ing(I Tim. 1:16).


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The King James really does not do justice to this verse at all. Most have read

right over this verse and never saw the profound, universal, allembracing teaching

in this verse. Let me quote it from the Concordant Version:

But therefore was I shown mercy, that in me, THE FORE-

MOST[the worst sinner ever]Jesus Christ should be DISPLAY-

ING [publicly]ALL HIS PATIENCE [yes God has patience with

even the worst of sinners],FOR APATTERN, of those who are

about to be believing on Him for life eonian

Jesus Christ chose Paul, the WORST, CHIEF, FOREMOST, PREEMINENT SIN-

NER THAT EVER LIVED (huperbole), to be put on PUBLIC DISPLAY for the

whole world to see Jesus Christ demonstrating ALL HIS PATIENCE, for a PAT-

TERN that will be repeated over, and over, and over again billions and billions of

times for all those that Christ will likewise bring to repentance at any second He so

desires!!!

Heres the lesson: If Jesus Christ can bring to repentance, and convert, and save

the WORLDS WORST SINNER THAT HAS EVER LIVED in about 30 seconds,

then that drunken cussing uncle of yours (the one you believe is going to hell for all

eternity), is NO MATCH FOR THE CONVERTING POWER OF JESUS CHRIST!

And ALL OF THE LESSER SINNERS of the world also are no match for the con-

verting, saving power of Jesus Christ. Once the Giant of all sinners has been

conquered, converting the sinning MIDGETS will be an easy task!

Has no one ever considered what would happen if God were to strike down Hitler

with a BLINDING LIGHT FROM HEAVEN? Do you really think he would shake his

fist toward heaven in total human defiance? Well, if you do, you think as a fool! Paul

despised the Church of the Loving God. He hated it with every fiber of his being. He

went to great length and personal hardship to seek out and TORTURE the Saints of

God. But when God struck him down with a blinding light from heaven, Paul

trembled(Greek,tremo, dreadful and terrifying FEAR), and wasastonished

(Greek:thambeo,to stupefy, astound, amaze, astonish), and melted like jelly in the

noonday SUN!

And some would suppose that Hitler or any LESSER sinner would do otherwise?

Well, God didnt strike down Hitler with a blinding light from heaven, but guess

what? HEWILL YET DO IT!And when He does, Hitler will sob like a babbling idi-

ot! He will violently shake and tremble in UTTER DESPAIR AND TERROR, and he

will REPENT, make no mistake about it!OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE!

God has ways to MAKE carnalminded, Goddefying men and women VOLUNTEER

real fast!

I am wearied by the countless times people have told me: God will NEVER


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make anyone do anything against their own free will. Oh, really? Show me the

Scripture. Show me the SCRIPTURE!! Are any so STUPID as to believe that on the

very day that Paul was on his way to Damascus to persecute and torture the Saints

of Jesus Christ with nothing else on his mind, but he paused for a moment in themiddle of the road and thought to himself, You know, I think that I will not go to

Damascus today and persecute Christians. I believe that I will right now exercise

my free will and repent of all these sins and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ whom I

have been persecuting. Yes, I think I will do that right now, BEFORE IT IS TOO

LATE. Is THAT what the Word of God says? IS IT? Or rather did not ChristMAKE

His will PAULS WILL in mere SECONDS?

So many ignorant people just do not see that they are BLASPHEMING the very

name, nature, and character (LOVE) of God by their demeaning and hatefilled ac-cusations about what God can and cannot do! God went AGAINST the will of Paul

(Saul), and GodMADEHis will PAULS WILL in a matter of SECONDS. But

Christendom teaches that God doesnt do such things. It just isnt right. It just isnt

Gods way. WELL, YES, IT IS RIGHT, AND IT IS GODS WAY, AND HE WILL DO

IT AGAIN AND AGAIN UNTIL ALL HUMANITY IS SAVED!

And so we learn that God converted the worlds worst sinner in a matter of

seconds. We learned that The Father inspired Jesus to pray:Forgive them, for

they know not what they do.We also learned that the them in this prayer in-cludes the whole world, for the Scriptures plainly tell us that it is the whole world

that is accountable for Christs Crucifixion, even though it was performed by the ex-

press foreordained will of the Father.

Now then, what do these marvelous and profound Scriptures accomplish in the

hearts and minds of those who are teaching eternal torment? Nothing. Absolutely

NOTHING! These Scriptural truths have NO effect on the hearts of those depraved

persons who delight in the prospects of an eternal hellhole of torture for most of hu-

manity. But at Gods choosing, they will all melt as Paul did in the blinding light ofGods noonday Sun!

For those few of you whom God is beginning to speak to through His spirit, it

should now start to become clear that nothing can thwart the will of God which is to

SAVE ALL HUMANITY. God has spoken it; He has willed it; He will perform it.

For What Did Paul Volunteer?

All who will have a part with Christ when He comes to rule this earth in His king-dom must volunteer for judgment now! Remember how Paul volunteered:What

will You have me to do?But just what was Paul volunteering to do?

Was he volunteering to be praised and adored by the public?


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Was he volunteering to wear thousanddollar suits, $500 shoes, $20,000

Rolex watches, drive $80,000 automobiles, live in multimillion dollar mul-

tiple homes, fly in private executive jets, and collect millions and millions

and millions of dollars of poor peoples money to promote the gospel ofprosperity and worldliness?

Did our Lord tell Paul that his ministry and calling would be a walk in the

park with neverending comforts and pleasures, having medals and honors

bestowed upon him by the leaders and dignitaries of pagan nations, living

in a five and a halfmillion dollar mansion large enough to be a luxury

hotel, while feasting like a fat king in the opulence of Babylonian extravag-

ance?

Is this the description of a successful minister of the Gospel?

Was Pauls message to all the Gentile nations that they had to give to him

(or they would be ROBBING GOD) ten percent of all their gold, silver,

salaries, or money, so he could flaunt his worldly and lavish lifestyle in the

faces of these poor Christian converts.

Lets get real as they say.

For I will shew him [Paul]how GREAT things he must SUF-

FER for my names sake(Acts 9:16).

In II Cor. 11:2228 we learn that Paul suffered the following:

weariness

jails

deaths

thirtynine lashes

stonedshipwrecked

journeys

dangers of rivers

dangers of his race

dangers of the nations

dangers in wilderness

toil and labor

blows

flogged with rods

day & night in swamp

dangers of robbers

dangers in the citydangers in the sea

dangers from false brethren

vigils

famine and thirst

cold and nakedness

fasts

Beside those things that are without, that which cometh uponme DAILY, the care of ALL THE CHURCHES! (2Co 11:28)

Add a little fire to the above scenario and we might conclude that Paul was be-

ing tortured and punished in a Christian hell.


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But Paul was not being punished, he was being JUDGED, and there is a

world of difference. Paul was being made STRONG. Paul was being molded into a

SPIRITUAL GIANT! And being trained, educated, purged, perfected into a spiritual

giant is NOT a walk in the park!

Was it just Paul that God singled out to endure such hardships and trials? No,

we too must partake of the same:

Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to

continue in the faith, and that WE[Christians, followers of Christ]

MUST through MUCH TRIBULATION[Greek:thlipsis affliction,

troubles, burdens, persecution, anguish]enter into the kingdom of

God(Acts 14:22).

Does your pastor teach that you must go through such things if you are to be a

follower of Jesus Christ and rule with Him in the Kingdom of God? Or does he teach

that if you are going through just such things that you probably need to get your life

in order and repent because you obviously have many, many sins in your life that

are bringing on all these troubles and therefore, you are not being blessed of the

Lord? Their prosperity gospel of worldliness and gross materialism is a travesty of

the gospel of Jesus Christ! I hear this prosperity gospel of worldliness and material-

ism every time I turn the TV on. But what do the Scriptures say?

Before I continue this train of thought, let me interject that although we are to

go through extreme hardship, persecution, and tribulations, God nonetheless

strengthens us so that we can endure these things. It is not Gods purpose to dis-

courage us. We have this promise from God:

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to

man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted

above that you are able; but will with the temptation alsomake a way to escape[Gk: sequel]that you may be able to bear

it(I Cor. 10:13).

Ill let you check all the many Scriptures of comfort that God gives us even while

we are undergoing all our trials and sufferings. Heres one more good one, however:

Blessed[Gk: HAPPY]is the man that endures temptation: for

when he is tried, he shall receive the CROWN OF LIFE, which

the Lord has promised to them that love Him(James 1:12).

It is most important that we consider, however, some of the many Scriptures that

relate to our suffering, afflictions, and persecutions. This is necessary if we are to

ever acquire a deep spiritual understanding of Gods judgment on the world in the


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lake of fire and second death. As we go through these many Scriptures, be aware of

the fact that we are not going through all these things as punishment. God is not

punishing us, He is chastening us, and there is a BIG difference.

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and jointheirs with

Christ; if so be that weSUFFERwith Him, that we may be also

glorified together(Rom. 8:17).

That no man should be moved by theseAFFLICTIONS: for

yourselves know that we are APPOINTED thereunto(I Thes.

3:3).

Paul suffered much to get the gospel to the Thessalonians:

...Suffering ...being outraged ...a vast struggle ...[why?]...We

have been TESTED by God to be entrusted with the gospel...

God, who is TESTING our hearts(I Thes. 2:14,Concordant Lit-

eral New Testament).

Then he tells them that they too are appointed to such like sufferings and af-

flictions. Paul praises the faith and endurance of the Thessalonians because of:...all your PERSECUTIONS and the AFFLICTIONS with

which you are bearing... which you are SUFFERING... you who

are being AFFLICTED...(I Thes. 1:57).

Now then, was this because the Thessalonians lived in a bad part of town, or bad

part of the world, or that they lived at a bad time in history? Or does God bring

these things upon all who would follow Christ in all ages?

Yea, and ALL[in every era]that will live godly in Christ Jesus

SHALL SUFFER PERSECUTION(II Tim. 3:12).

But arent all these persecutions and afflictions at the hands of evil men rather

than God? For sure wicked men commit many wicked deeds against the true follow-

ers of Jesus Christ, but who is ultimately responsible for ALL things, including the

tribulations and persecutions of believers? It is, of course, GOD

Who works ALL things after the counsel of His Own WILL

(Eph. 1:11).

So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for

your patience and faith in ALL YOUR PERSECUTIONS AND


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TRIBULATIONS that ye endure; Which is a manifest token[dis-

play]of[of WHAT?]OF the RIGHTEOUSJUDGMENT[Gk: just

judging]OF GOD!

And for what grand purpose?

that ye may be counted WORTHY OF THE KINGDOM OF

GOD, for which ye also SUFFER(2 Thes. 1:45).

Just how much are we expected to give up and suffer for Christ in order to be

worthy?

And a mans foes shall be they of his own household. He thatloveth father or mother more than Me is NOT WORTHY of Me:

and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is NOT

WORTHY of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and fol-

loweth after Me, IS NOT WORTHY OF ME(Matt. 10:3638).

What does God consider a reasonable sacrifice to become members of the Fam-

ily and Kingdom of God?

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that

ye present your BODIES A LIVING SACRIFICE, holy, accept-

able unto God, which is your reasonable service(Rom. 12:1).

Make no mistake about it; if you will follow Jesus Christ, you will experience

many of the hardships spoken of in these Scriptures. I am not saying that it is ne-

cessary to teach youngsters in Sunday School these deeper truths of God, but if we

adults are to ever go on to maturity in Christ, its time to get our heads out of the

sand!

The good news is that if we have a volunteering heart and accept the judgments

of God on our lives now, we will be sure to avoid the harsher judgment on the whole

world reserved for that day.

For if we would JUDGE[Gk:diakrino=THROUGH JUDGE, separ-

ate thoroughly, to withdraw, discern, judge]OURSELVES[members

of the calledout House of God], we should not be judged[Gk:

krino=judge, set right, decide, to try, condemn, punish]. But when we

are judged[the same Greek wordkrinoas used above with reference

to judging the wicked world]we are CHASTENED of the Lord,

that we should not be condemned[Gk:katakrino,an adverse sen-

tence]with the world(I Cor. 11:32).


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Pay close attention to the three Greek words,diakrino, krino, and katakrino,

used in this verse.

There is so much contained in this verse. There is a judgment now on Gods

saints. We are judged by being chastened of the Lord. What does that mean?

Chastened is from the Greek wordpaideuoand here is what it means: totrainup

a child, i.e.educate, or (by impl.)discipline(by punishment): chasten (ise), in-

struct, learn, teach (Strongs Greek Dictionaryp. 54).

Are you following this amazing use of words? You will now learn a marvelous

truth of Scripture that is not being taught in any theological seminary that I am

aware of anywhere in the whole world.

We arejudgedby God, and the vehicle that God uses to do this judging ischastening.In other words, we arejudgedby God by being trained up like a

child, by being educated, by discipline involving punishment, instructed, by

which we learn, and all these teach us WHAT WE SHOULD BE.

There is no doubt that some of this chastening can be harsh, sorrowful, and

painful. Much of it is not very pleasant and God admits as much to us. And it is not

possible for one single son of God to avoid this chastisement! Lets read it:

When Grace is a Verb

Grace means favor, a gift, to be cheerful, well, happy, graciously, freely, deliverance

from danger, and a dozen other benevolent qualities of peace, joy, goodness, and sal-

vation. It is one of those truly wonderful words of blessing. But just how does it op-

erate in the real world as we say? A definition does not tell us everything about a

word. We can, likewise, define love as, a deep, tender feeling of affection. But does

that definition tell ushowlove actually functions?

We learned that...when we arejudged, we arechastenedof the Lord (I

Cor. 11:32).

Chastening defineshowit is that Godjudgesus. Now then, we are about to learn

one of the most remarkable spiritual truths in the whole Bible:

For thegraceof God that brings salvation hath appeared to

all men ,teachingus that, denying ungodliness and worldly

lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this

present world[eon or age](Titus 2:1112).

Here then is the remarkable parallel between Gods judgment and His grace:

Godjudgesus bychasteningus! (I chasten, Greek: paideuo#3811


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Cor. 11:32)

Godgracesus byteachingus! (Titus

2:12)

teaching, Greek: paideuo#3811

WOW! Do you even begin to understand what you have just read? Whether God

JUDGES us (and later the wicked world), or GRACES us, He does it THESAME

WAY!!

Judging is CHASTENING (Strongs #3811), and gracing is CHASTENING

(Strongs #3811). It is the SAME WORD!

Grace is not a stagnant feelgood noun it is also a verb that is, it does some-

thing; it accomplishes something; it produces something of great value in the believ-er.

Teaching accomplishes something essential in making man into Gods very im-

age.

The next verse tells us what itteachesus:denying ungodliness and

worldly lusts... living soberly, righteously, and godly!Just the wordsliving

godly will cover every single thing that God EVER ASKS OF US

EVERYTHING. Living GODLY covers every possible act of faith, love, and obedi-

ence that anyone could ever conceive of.

When God uses the SAME WORD to describe something that He wishes to ac-

complish, it behooves us to study deeply what that word means, especially when

that word has to do with the very destiny of all peoples who have ever lived.

The subject of I Cor. 11:32 is JUDGING. The subject of Titus 2:11 is GRACE

AND SALVATION.

HOW does God judge us? BY CHASTENING (#3811,paideuo)! HOW does God-

s grace and save us? BY CHASTENING (#3811,paideuo)!

God JUDGES by chastening (I Cor. 11:32), and God GRACES by chastening (Tit-

us 2:11). By GRACE GOD JUDGES US and by JUDGING GOD GRACES US!

Gracing us by means of chastening, TEACHES US TO LIVE GODLY and brings

salvation. Judging us by means of chastening, also TEACHES US TO LIVE GODLY

and brings salvation!

It is high time we dispense with the hypocrisy.

When God JUDGES US THROUGH CHASTENING (I Cor. 11:32) it is for our

good and for our benefit and for our salvation. Why then do we think that God

changes character when He likewise judges the wicked, unjust, and nonbelievers at

the great white throne? Why? God changes NOT! God is NOT a respecter of persons.


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You read all of these Scriptures. Do we think the Scriptures LIE?

If you are not rejoicing over these profound and marvelous revelations, then you

must be spiritually asleep. I have just shown you one of the most remarkable truths

in the entirety of the Bible! You would do well to not read any further until you thor-

oughly grasp what has been presented here.

And again I ask, What does this have to do with the lake of fire?

EVERYTHING! I am not going to go into detail on this aspect of judging yet, but

suffice it to be said here that the judging (Greek:krinoin I Cor. 11:32 by chasten-

ing that brings godly living and salvation is also the very same judging (Greek:

krino) used in Revelation 20:12 with reference to the lake of fire.

Seriously, do many believe that these Godinspired Greek words have one mean-ing when applied to God judging and gracing believers now, but then have a totally

different meaning when applied to as yet nonbelievers in the day of judging? Do

you? Well, regrettably, many do think that God is fickle, inconsistent, and a re-

specter of persons. Can you for once in your life begin to use your Godgiven mind to

think for yourself?

This is an absolutely marvelous teaching. God judges us by chastening

(paideuo)us, which means, teaching, training, learning, disciplining, punishing, in-

structing, and educating. And God graces us also by this same chastening(paideuo)which does not change meaning from one Scripture verse to another. No-

tice how other translations render this wordpaideuoin Titus 2:1112:

Teaching us...King James

Instructing us...American Standard Version

Disciplining us...New Testament(Henry Alford)

And schooling us...The Centenary Translation(Montgomery)

Training us...The New Testament in Modern Speech(Weymouth)

Now it is true that the Greek wordpaideuo #3811can also mean punishment.

But punishment is not the main force of this word. Notice that none of the above

translations (nor any that I know of) translate this word, For the grace of God that

brings salvation has appeared to all men, PUNISHING us that denying ungodli-ness No, the force of this word is to DISCIPLINE, TRAIN, INSTRUCT, SCHOOL

AND TEACH. Lets at least have the sensibility of a ten yearold. Of what value is

disciplining, training, instructing, schooling, and teaching if it goes on forever and

ever and ever, and while being burned with fire, for ALL ETERNITY? Gee, do we


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think they will EVER learn their lesson? I, of course, speak as a fool.

All of these aspects ofpaideuoare with a view to amendment, correction, and

setting right, not merely punishment for punishments sake. A father chastens his

children with a view to amendment and correction, not for the sole sake of CAUS-

ING PAIN! Why do we think carnalminded human fathers are a billion times more

noble and merciful in the disciplining of their children than God is in the disciplin-

ing (chastening judging gracing) of HIS children?

There is a need for much repenting in the teaching of this vile doctrine of eternal

torment. This doctrine of eternal torture blasphemes the name of our Loving Fath-

er. It is heresy on a level withhypobole inordinate TOO MUCH! It is a damnable

teaching. And it is among the filthy trash of wood, straw and stubble that will be

purged out and burned out in Gods Lake of Fire from every person who teaches and

delights in this most disgusting of all disgraceful theologies of depraved men and

women.

Oh yes, there are things that are going to be burned out of existence in Gods

lake of fire, and this deplorable doctrine of eternal torment will be the first to be

abolished and death will be the last to be abolished and so, let it burn LET IT

BURN!

Remember that Jesus Christ does not change and that He does not respect (havepartiality) with regards to persons. With those two thoughts in mind, what is ac-

complished by the chastening of the Lord? He graces us by chastening and He

judges us by chastening. What does it always accomplish? Answer:

For the grace of God[that chastens us] BRINGSSALVATION

(Titus 2:11)!!

And all of this is of God. God judges, God graces, God chastens, and God brings

SALVATION!

Perhaps you have a shortcut formula which bypasses all these hundreds of Scrip-

tures I am presenting and makes them all void and of no effect? I have heard of such

shortcut formulas, but Gods Word knows nothing of them!

Notice:

Being CONFIDENT of this very thing, that He[thats Christ]

which hath begun a good work in you WILL PERFORM IT un-

til the day of Jesus Christ(Phil. 1:6).

And when Christs

JUDGMENTS are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world


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[the whole world]WILL LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS(Isa. 26:9).

As far as Christian theory goes, this Scripture in Isaiah might just a well be a

lie, for they say it will never happen. They teach that the whole world will never

ever learn righteousness and receive salvation. Thats because they neither believe

the gospel nor teach it. And so rather than bring the gospel of universal salvation,

they threaten the world with universal damnation in the fires of eternal hell if they

dont follow their shortcut formulas to material wealth and spiritual salvation. And

thus the name of God is being blasphemed among the nations (Rom. 2:24) to this

very day.

Punishing vs. Chastening

While considering all of the hellfire and brimstone material disseminated by Chris-

tian teachers, preachers, writers, and educators around the world, just how many

hundreds of times do you suppose the word punishment is used in the entire New

Testament with regards to sinners? Hundreds? Would you believe less than fifty?

Would you believe less than ten? Would you believe ONCE? Thats right, the answer

is one time.

Of how much more punishment[Gk:timoria], suppose you,shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden under foot the

Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, where-

with he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite

unto the Spirit of grace?(Heb. 10:29).

I can assure you that those who have committed the above crime towards the

Lord are few indeed. Most of humanity that will be judged in the lake of fire have

NEVER EVEN HEARD of Jesus Christ, let alone,trodden underfoot the Son ofGod, and counted the blood of the covenant, an UNHOLY thing, and done

DESPITE unto the Spirit of grace.Most have never even heard of such sins, let

alone committed them.

This is a most powerful Scripture to be sure, but it does not speak of eternal

punishment, and it is theONLY SCRIPTURE IN THE ENTIRETY OF THE NEW

TESTAMENTthat uses the word punishment with reference to punishing sin-

ners!

There are three other places in the KJV that the word punish or punished is

used correctly. They are Acts 4:21; 22:5; and 26:11 where it Saul (later Paul) is pun-

ishing not sinners, but members of the church, the followers of Christ.

II Thes. 1:9 should be translated, eonian extermination and not punished


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everlasting.

II Peter 2:4 & 9 should both be chastening as it is the same Greek wordkolazo

and nottimoriawhich means punish.

The KJV uses punished in verse nine, which should be chasten, and ironic-

ally it doesnt even translate the Greek wordkolazo(chasten) in verse four the

KJV translators left it out completely. I suppose the translators thought that it was

redundant to say, chastening judging. But then again, they didnt bother to look at

II Cor. 2:6 which should read rebuke (another Greek word,epitimia), not punish.

And lastly, I Pet. 2:14 should read vengeance ( still another Greek word,

kdikesise), and not punishment.

So in the case of punishment we have but ONE Scripture to deal with, and we

will deal with it.

This next fact doesnt necessarily prove anything, its just the way my mind

works. Jesus Christ said:

O generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good

things? For out of the ABUNDANCE of the heart the MOUTH

SPEAKS(Mat. 12:34).

I think we all understand that statement: What is heaviest and most dominant

on our heart is what we talk about the most.

Now then, my observation. We learned of the one time that punishment is used

in reference to sinners. Would you all be interested in knowing how many times the

opposite of punishment is used? Okay, the word mercy (ies, iful) is found in the

Bible over THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTY times! Could it be that the abund-

ance of Gods heart consists of many more MERCIES than it does of vengeance and

punishment?

Where do you suppose we find nearly a hundred of these occurrences? Thats

right, in the writings of King David. No wonder blind Bartimaeus

began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son OF DAVID, have

MERCY on me(Mk. 10:47).

God promised to give His Sonthe sure MERCIES OF DAVID(Acts 13:34).

You see, Davids heart spoke such an abundance about Gods mercies, that God said

of him:

I have found DAVID the son of Jesse, a man AFTERMINE

OWN HEARTwhich shall fulfill all my will(Acts 13:22).


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Three hundred and thirty to ONE! Probably doesnt mean a thing. Just an obser-

vation.

By the way, even among those who love the doctrine of eternal torment, no Scrip-

ture in the Old Testament has ever been brought forth which even vaguely defends

their theory.

Punishment and the Gospel

For all those who have never heard the real Gospel of God, here it is:

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that

brings good tidings, that publish peace; that brings GOODTIDINGS[that means gospel]of GOOD[not evil tidings of a Lord

who administers infinite acts of eternal terrorism], that publishes

SALVATION [not DAMNATION] The LORD hath made bare

His holy arm in the eyes of ALL THE NATIONS[thats the whole

world], and ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH [thats everyone]

SHALL SEETHE SALVATION OF OUR GOD(Isa. 52:7 & 10).

I am wondering if most of my readers have ever even heard of this verse or knewthat it is in their Bibles.

Now I am aware of the many Scriptures that speak of death, destruction, and

perishing of wicked people. And we wont forget the one Scripture with regards to

punishment. All those Scriptures are true. They are not, however, Gods final judg-

ment on the wicked. The final judgments of God will bring salvation to all and there

are no scriptures that contradict those saving declarations of Almighty God. God

has declared it; He has spoken it; His Word has gone forth: He has willed

Who WILL have ALL men to be SAVED, and to come unto the

knowledge of the truth(I Tim. 2:4).

Here then is a declaration of God from His own inspired Word. It is found in all

Bibles and in all languages on earth for all to see and believe. But the Church of

Babylon has tried to destroy this declaration and make it of no effect in the minds of

millions and millions of people around the world. They teach that this verse and de-

claration of Almighty God WILL NEVER EVER HAPPEN! Well, be it known, that

they LIE!

Heres what God says about His own words and His own declarations.

So shall MY WORD BE that GOES FORTH OUT OF MY

MOUTH[as in I Tim. 2:4 and a hundred Scriptures like it]; it shall


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NOT return unto me void[unfruitful, negated, ineffective, ineffec-

tual, inoperative, invalid, null, worthless, vain, unsuccessful], but it

SHALL ACCOMPLISH THAT WHICH I PLEASE, AND IT

SHALL PROSPER[bear fruit, benefit, do well, flourish, increase,

multiply, progress, make good]in the thing whereto I sent it(Isai-

ah 55:11).

Oh, the audacity and blasphemy of those who proudly teach that God cannot and

will not ever accomplish His own will, save five percent! Does Isaiah 55:11 sound

like only a FIVE PERCENT gospel that Christendom is preaching around the world

for TEN PERCENT of your money? Like those who crucified our Lord, they know

not what they say, and God will forgive them too. But for those who are ready tolearn and believe, lets see how God answers such utter foolishness:

Remember the former things of old:

For I am God, and there is none else;

I AM GOD, and there is none like Me,

Telling from the BEGINNING, the HEREAFTER,

And from AFORETIME, what has NOT YET been done,

Saying, ALL MY COUNSEL SHALL BE CONFIRMED,

And ALL MY DESIRE WILL I DO.

Calling from the sunrise, a bird of prey,

From a land far off, the man of My counsel.

Indeed, I SPEAK! INDEED, I WILL BRING IT ABOUT!

I formed. Indeed,I WILL DO IT(Isaiah 46:911).

Nothing can hinder Gods words or declarations. Even the things that are per-

ceived to be hindrances to Gods will (such as the lake of fire and the second death),

are not hindrances at all, but rather are the very instruments for the accomplish-ment of His will. God has a ONE HUNDRED PERCENT GOSPEL, AND ITS

FREE!

Grace and Judgment

For whom the Lord loves He CHASTENS(Heb. 12:6).

There is no escaping it. If you are to be a son of God you will be chastened. Now Idont want to pile too much on you at once here, but theres more. As you can see

from the definition above, the word chastened ispaideuo,and is not too severe.

Even if involving some punishment, the whole thrust of the word is to train, edu-

cate, discipline, instruct, etc. These are all good things not to be feared. But there is


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more, so we might just as well read it and get our attitudes adjusted to it. The rest

of the verse:

For whom the Lord loves He CHASTENS, and [AND]

...SCOURGES every son whom He receives[or is assenting]

(Heb. 12:6)

SCOURGES?No, not scourging! Does God show His love toward us by scour-

ging us? It is absolutely necessary. Scourging is definitely even more severe and

harsh than chastening.

The word scourge in Heb. 12:6 is from the Greek wordmastigooand heres its

definition: toflog(literally or figuratively) scourgeStrongs Greek Dictionary,page 46. And what does flog mean?

flog 1.To beat severely with a whip or rod. Page 531American her-

itage College Dictionary.

This word scourge in Heb. 12:6 which God performs on us, is the very same

word found in John 19:1 where it says they took Jesus and scourged Him. Now

then, will God literally BEAT SEVERELY WITH A WHIP OR ROD every son that

He receives? No, not necessarily, even though they did literally do so to Paul andmany other followers of Jesus Christ. Remember that the definition said it can be

literal OR figurative.

Many people have come to know Christ in their senior years, and God does not

literally beat every little old lady with whips and rods when they turn to Him. How-

ever, the chastening of Gods grace which we read about in Titus 2:11 can certainly

seem like a real flogging. God will chasten us until He drives out the beast in us.

The beast of supposed free will which is really selfwill does not want to leave

peaceably! It takes the very presence of Jesus Christ to dispel the beast of human-istic selfdeterminism, commonly called free will.

Although we are not condemned when God judges us, we nonetheless must be

chastened.

If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for

what son is he whom the father chastens not? But if you be

without chastisement, whereof ALL are partakers, then are

youbastards, and NOT sons. Furthermore we have had fathers

of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence:

shall we not much rather be in subjection into the Father of

spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us

after their own pleasure; but He for OUR PROFIT, that we


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might be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening for the

present seems to be joyous, but GRIEVOUS: nevertheless after-

ward it yields the PEACEABLE FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

unto them which are exercised thereby(Heb. 12:7 11).

So it is essential that we accept Gods chastisement which is how He judges us.

The reason we are not condemned with the world is because we accept Gods

judgment in our lives

There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION to them which

are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the

Spirit(Rom. 8:1).

But can we compare the judging that believers go through with the judging that

the wicked receive at the end of the age in the lake of fire. Surely there is no com-

parison, is there? Trust me when I say,For there is no respect[Gk: partiality]

of persons with God(Rom. 2:11).

Doesnt the second death part of the lake of fire seal their fate forever?

Isnt it true that God will never, ever pressure anyone to accept Jesus

Christ?

Isnt it true that even God Himself doesnt know why some people reject His

Sacrifice?

Didnt God predestine us to be saved but predestined those in the lake of

fire to be damned?

Isnt the reason why some people choose Christ and others Reject Christ an

eternal mystery?

Is there something about death itself that prevents God from saving a non

believer after death?

Does Rom. 8:3819 substantiate the teaching that death separates God

from sinners, eternally?

Isnt the lake of fire the most dreadful thing that God Almighty has ever

created?

Will billions of sinners purposely choose to be tortured in fire forever rather

than accept Christ?

Lets face it, isnt the lake of fire something we will never understand until

it comes?


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Is God as stupid and depraved as the theologians who try to bring Him

down to their level?

I will now answer all these questions in order: No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No,

No, No, and NO!

Keep These Scriptures in Mind

I dont want us to lose track of the verses we are endeavoring to explain from other

Scriptures. So lets take a quick review. There are only a half dozen things that we

should keep ever present in our minds as we journey through the Scriptures:

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet thatwrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them

that had received the mark of the beast[what is THAT?], and

them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive

into a lake of fire burning with brimstone[does brimstone make

the lake of fire burn HOTTER? Is fire without brimstone not hot

enough to burn and torture human flesh?](Rev. 19:20).

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire[I thought a lake contains water]and brimstone, where the beast

and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented[does that

mean TORTURED? Can spirit beings be tormented by physical fire?]

day and night[but there shall be NO NIGHT, 20:25]for ever and

ever[how long is THAT? Is ever AND ever something like TWICE as

long as eternity?](Rev. 20:10).

And I saw a great white[not BLACK]throne, and Him that sat

on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away

[where did they GO?]; and there was found no place for them [if

this is literal, then where pray tell did God PUT THEM?](Rev.

20:11).

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand[stand WHERE, both

the heavens AND THE EARTH fled away Verse 11]before God; and

the books[are these books like a daily DIARY from Walton Books?]

were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book

of life[why is this only ONE book?]: and the dead were judged out

of those things which were written in the books, according to

their works(Rev. 20:12).


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now that we would not need to be condemned with the world in the lake of fire. And

Peter tells us that this judgment (like the one the Thessalonians were going

through) must begin at the HOUSE OF GOD. We saw that it involves much tribula-

tion, sorrow, affliction and suffering. These things are Gods judgment on believersto try their hearts and prove them worthy for the Kingdom of God. Christ told us

that if we do not forsake all (even give our very bodies as a living Sacrifice, accord-

ing to Paul) and take up OUR cross and follow Christ into persecutions that start in

our own household, then He doesnt want us in the kingdom with Him we are

NOT WORTHY (at this time)!

Now if you are following these Scriptures closely you will see that we are to give

our bodies as a living sacrifice and endure suffering, affliction, and persecution. But

there is MORE! Oh NO, how much more can we take? What else? TRIALS. Thereare trials! The word trial in the New Testament is translated from the Greek word

dokimionand means TESTING. God is going to TEST us. Are you excited about

that? Me neither. However, it must be done. We must go through it. Peter tells us

the many trials and temptations are a heaviness to your hearts, but because we

know why we are going through it, we can, nevertheless, REJOICE!

Wherein ye GREATLY REJOICE, though now for a season, if

need be, ye are in HEAVINESS THROUGH MANIFOLD

TEMPTATIONS(I Peter 1:6).

Ah, yes, how sweet it is in the mouth (REJOICE), but how bitter it is in the belly

(HEAVINESS) (Rev. 10:10). But say, did you notice how LONG these trials last? For

eternity? Or for a season? Remember there is NO partiality with God. Later we

will see that those in the final judgment of lake of fire will also be there for just a

season not eternally!

Becoming Perfect

Jesus Christ DIED FOR OUR SINS, and that accomplishes the SALVATION OF

THE WHOLE WORLD, because God will eventually bring every creature in HEAV-

EN AND IN EARTH to repentance and humble submission to Jesus Christ (Phil.

2:911, Rom. 10:9, I Cor. 15:25). But forgiving sin, pardoning sin, justifying our sin-

ful past, or even redeeming our bodies and giving us incorruptible and immortal

bodies, does NOT make us perfect in deed and character!

God is PERFECT! And God wants His children to BE PERFECT! And believe itor not God WILL MAKE US PERFECT!

He[God]chooses us in Him [Christ]before the disruption

[foundation]of the world, we to be HOLY andFLAWLESS[PER-


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FECT]in His sight...(Eph. 1:4).

You, then, shall be PERFECT as your heavenly Father is per-

fect(Mat. 5:48).

I in them, and Thou in Me, that they[thats US]may be made

PERFECT in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast

sent me, and hast loved Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast

loved Me(John 17:23).

Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every

man in all wisdom, that we may present every man PERFECT

in Christ Jesus(Col. 1:28).

People are quick to say, Well, NOBODY is perfect. Thats not true:

For it became HIM, for whom are all things, and by whom are

all things, in bringing many[thats us and the rest of the world]

sons unto glory, to make the CAPTAIN of their salvationPER-

FECT[how?]through SUFFERING(Heb. 2:10).

Yes, maybe no one but Christ is perfect now, but it wont always be that way.

Paul knew that it was a process and that it would be ultimately Gods achievement:

Not as though I had already attained, either were already

perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for

which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus(Phil. 3:12).

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some,evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; For thePERFECT-

INGOF THE SAINTS...(Eph. 4:1112).

Say, did you notice that Christ was perfected through SUFFERING? Are we

not to bear our own Cross? If they hated and persecuted Christ, will they not do like-

wise to us? Do we think the Scripture says in vain,

Herein is our love made PERFECT, that we may have bold-

ness in the day of judgment: because as He[Christ]IS, SO AREWE in the world(I Jn. 4:17).

Paul tells us in I Thes. 2 and II Thes. 1 that suffering and persecutions are a big

part of the judgment that God uses to test us and to deem us worthy of His kingdom


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and salvation.

There is a giant reason why most professing Christians do NOT suffer persecu-

tions. They may have social, health, and financial problems, butpersecutions?

Hardly! Why is that? Do you know that more people suffer persecution from their

families BEFORE they become Christians than they ever do AFTER they become

Christians? Why do you suppose that is? Could it be that as Christians they blend

INTO society rather than STICK OUT?

I can tell you on the authority of Jesus Christ, Gods Word, and the Apostle Paul,

that unless you are SUFFERING real PERSECUTION, you are NOT a follower of

Jesus Christ nor are you living godly in Christ Jesus!

Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is notgreater than his lord. If they have persecuted ME, they will

also persecute YOU; if they have kept MY saying, they will

keep YOURS also(John 15:20).

And at that time there was a GREAT PERSECUTION against

the church... and they were all scattered abroad... except the

apostles(Acts 8:1).

YEA, and ALL that will live godly in Christ Jesus SHALL

SUFFERPERSECUTION(II Tim. 3:12).

God is a Consuming Fire

God has a way of making imperfect people perfect. It is calledFIRE! Whether pur-

ging or clearing a garbage dump, or refining gold and silver, there is nothing like the

purifying, purging, and perfecting power of FIRE!

What a marvelous metaphor God uses when He compares Himself and His Holy

Spirit with that of FIRE For our God is a consuming FIRE(Heb. 12:29).

There are so many marvelous qualities and mysteries of fire that multiple books are

needed to elaborate upon them. However, let me just interject a couple of points

here. Fire CHANGES things. This fact is most important in understanding the pur-

pose for the Lake of Fire.

1. Firechangescombustible things (even undesirable things) into useful heatand energy.

2. Firechangesthe quality of precious stones, gold and silver by purging out

the impurities, thus making them perfect.


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It is automatically assumed without any Scriptural proof whatsoever, that when

one is thrown into the lake of fire that (1) It is literal fire that causes physical pain

and torment. And/or (2) It causes physical death and annihilation. And/or (3) There

is no escape and it lasts for all eternity.

Lets be precise now and see what the Scriptures actually tell us about all those

sinning people AFTER they are thrown into a lake of fire. Rev. 20:10 only mentions

the beast and false prophet along with Satan the Adversary as being cast into the

lake of fire. No sinners are thrown in at this point. But after we are presented with

the great white throne in verse 11, and all the dead being judged in verse 12, we

come to verse 15 where sinning people are cast into the lake of fire. Lets read it:

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was

CAST into the lake of fire(Rev. 20:15)

Are they TORTURED by this fire? It doesnt say. Are they KILLED, do they die?

It doesnt say. Do they ever COME OUT? It doesnt say. How LONG does this lake of

fire last? It doesnt say.

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and

murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters,

and all liars, shall HAVE THEIR PART in the lake which bur-

neth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death(Rev.

21:8).

Is this group of sinners TORTURED by this fire? It doesnt say.

Are they KILLED, do they DIE in this lake of fire/second death? It doesnt say.

Do they ever COME OUT? It doesnt say.

How LONG does this lake of fire/second death last? It doesnt say.

So from these verses alone, what do we know for sure happens to these sinners

AFTER they are cast into this lake of fire? Nothing. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

Do either of these two verses SAY ANYTHING WHATSOEVER about what

takes place in this lake of fire/second death or how long it will last? NO! NO IT

DOESNT! NOT EVEN ONE SINGLE SOLITARY WORD NONE, ZERO, ZILCH!

Then HOW HOW PRAY TELL do all these Christian religions of the world

know for sure that the sinners cast into the lake of fire/second death, actually do

suffer in unbearable torture, and that this torture lasts for all eternity, or as others

say, they are annihilated for all eternity from which there will never be a resurrec-

tion? How do they KNOW all this stuff for sure? Well, of course, THEY DONT

KNOW! They ASSUME! They SPECULATE! And some of them lie.


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So there you have seen it with your own eyes. These Scriptures in Revelation 20

and 21 do not really, actually, factually, literally, say what theologians claim, do

they? No, they DONT! You have all heard of things being waterproof and fire-

proof, well now I am attempting to make my readers LIEproof forever! One onlyneeds to understand a half dozen absolute spiritual truths, and that person will be

LIEPROOF for ever! Let me give them to you quickly, and we can discuss them in

greater detail as we go:

1. GOD IS LOVE

2. GOD IS SOVEREIGN

3. CHRISTS WORDS ARE SPIRIT

4. MANS WILL IS NOT FREE AND INDEPENDENT OF GOD

5. THE GREEK WORD AIONIOS NEVER MEANS ETERNAL

6. GOD WILLS TO SAVE ALL MANKIND

7. GOD WILL PERFORM ALL HIS WILL

These seven spiritual truths will protect you from all unscriptural and heretical

teachings. And as you mature in Christ Jesus our Lord, you will only be required to

understand and believe one of the above spiritual truths. That would be the first onewhich covers ALL:GOD IS LOVE!

But there are other Scriptures in other parts of the Bible stating that God will

either torture or annihilate people for all eternity in real fire, are there not? No.

There are not. Now I am sorry if this disappoints some of you, but No, there are

not!

Now dont start emailing me just yet Ill cover all those verses that some of you

still think are real fires that torture or annihilate people for eternity.

And I do not want anyone to draw the erroneous conclusion that since we must

go through a plethora of trials, tribulations, suffering, and persecution, that all God

is interested in is putting us through a living hell. This is not the case at all. Each

and every trial and persecution that comes upon us is designed to MAKE US SPIR-

ITUALLY STRONG. And with spiritual strength comes PEACE, FULFILLMENT,

TRUE HAPPINESS, AND JOY.

How would you like to be supremely blessed well off fortunate and happy

for the rest of your life? Well, believe it or not, going through all the trials and tribu-lations and persecutions that Christ outlined in the Scriptures for all those who

would become His followers, is exactly how all of these good things can become

yours!


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I think all of my readers are mature enough to understand and firmly believe

that happiness does not come from the abundance of things we possess (although

those things have their place too). True happiness is from the inside out. Happiness

is produced from within, and not by things from without. True happiness is a heartand mind at PEACE! Have you ever noticed that every single epistle that Paul

penned has in the salutation: GRACE to you and PEACE from God, our Father,

and the Lord Jesus Christ? We have already learned that grace is Gods gift of not

only salvation, but a training, schooling, disciplining, chastising power that changes

our character from carnal to godly! And what is the result of all this? PEACE! Peace

of mind, peace of heart, peace of spirit. When God grants us PEACE, we are truly

blessed, fortunate, welloff and very HAPPY!

I am really excited about installment IV coming next. I will show you a Scriptur-al formula that will guarantee our understanding of such verses as the lake of fire

which is the second death. Without this formula given by Christ and restated by

Paul, one will never understand the truth or purpose of the lake of fire. In fact,

Christian theologians, and many Christians themselves Im afraid, do exactly the

OPPOSITE of what these Scriptures tell us we must do if we are to understand

SPIRITUAL THINGS.

bibletruths.com
http://www.bibletruths.com/http://www.bibletruths.com/

the "lake of fire" series part 3

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