24 March 2018

IF THERE IS NO HELL, CAN THERE BE A PLACE CALLED HEAVEN?

Now, think with me. If there is no hell, then we cannot believe in the Bible because hell is mentioned in the Holy Scriptures as being a real place. And, if the Bible is not reliable, God did not create the heavens and the earth as claimed in Genesis chapter one. Neither can we believe in God even though the Bible states that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God…” (2 Timothy 3:16). Additionally, we cannot believe in the Holy Spirit regardless of what the apostle Peter wrote, “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2:20, 21). Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:10-12, that, what he had received and spoke was from the “Holy Spirit.” And, if there is not a place called hell, how can we believe in the one who mentioned hell more than any person in the Bible. Did you know that the word “hell” (Greek, Gehenna) is found 12 times in the New Testament? In the book of James, we read that the “tongue is set on fire by hell” (3:6). Eleven times you will find the word “hell” mentioned in the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke. You will find expressions like, “hell fire” (Mt.5:22); “eternal fire” (Mt.18:8); “son of hell” (Mt. 23:15). Do you know who used the word “hell” and these expressions? It was Jesus Christ! If there is not a place called hell, how can we believe in the person called Jesus Christ, because He often spoke of that terrible place. If we do not believe in Jesus Christ when He spoke about hell, how can we trust Him when He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. “And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this”(John 11:25, 26)? Or, the beautiful and precious promise He made in John 14:1-3: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God believe also in Me. “In My Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so,I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” And then, there is that final and grand invitation extended to all who have believed in Him and have given their lives to Him: “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Mt. 25:34). My friends, can you not understand the fatal and final results of such illogical reasoning by rejecting the biblical truth that teaches there is a terrible place call hell? But thanks be to God that He is, that the Holy Spirit inspired the writings of the Holy Scriptures; and, Jesus Christ died for our sins so we could be saved. And, that by His grace, we have the precious promise of being with all the redeemed in heaven when this life is over. God does not desire that anyone should die and go to the awful place call hell (John 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9).

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