hell
The Rich Man and Lazarus
Luke 16:19 (KJV) There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
A blog post can only introduce a topic but not cover it in depth. For more study on various topics, click here for links to various Christian ministries.
Depending on the ministry, there may be online church services, YouTube videos, podcasts, radio programs, books, teaching, or more. You have to seek out what they have.
Is True Religion Going Out of Business?
A question being tackled today is this: Is true religion going out of business?
Let’s start with the word, “business”. Jesus said he had to be or must be about his Father’s business. What is the Father’s business? It is the salvation of souls, which is why Jesus came.
I John 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed: that he might destroy the works of the devil.
II Timothy 2:25 in gentleness correcting those who oppose him: perhaps God may give them repentance leading to a full knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may recover themselves out of the devil’s snare, having been taken captive by him to his will.
The church is not a business in the same sense as the stationary store down the street or the cobbler’s shop. It does have income. It does have expenses. But the income comes from commanded tithes and offerings in the Bible. This pays for the expenses so the gospel can continued to be preached, whether in a building, through a missionary, though an outreach, by radio or by television.
God commanded the tithe to pay for the expenses of the church which is the local center through which the Spirit of God reaches out through the body of Christ to the community and world around it.
What is the business of the church?
The preaching of the gospel for the salvation of souls.
So going back to the question, “is true religion going out of business”?
The church has been affected by the culture of modernism. Modernism attempts to change the message of the Bible to make it conform to the standards of the world.
Progressive modernism wants to normalize sin.
The definition of sin has changed. It might be called hate speech. Alcoholism might be reshaped into the term “self medicating”. Anger might be called “dysfunctional”. Pedophilia might be renamed into “minor-attracted person” (MAP). Murder of babies is redefined as “woman’s healthcare”.
It is like having the gold standard for the Olympics, but because everyone is so out of shape, they lower the standard and change the terminology.
True religion still exists, but it is not a popular message, because it demands repentance, it demands change.
People don’t want to hear the truth if it requires change.
There is a joke that goes something like this. A doctor says to his patient, “The good news is that you are the perfect weight. The bad news is that you are one foot too short.”
A blog post can only introduce a topic but not cover it in depth. For more study on various topics, click here for links to various Christian ministries.
Depending on the ministry, there may be online church services, YouTube videos, podcasts, radio programs, books, teaching, or more. You have to seek out what they have.
Hell Fire Bible Verse
Luke 16:19 “Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. 20 A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was taken to his gate, full of sores, 21 and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. 23 In Hades,[a] he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom. 24 He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’
25 “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But here he is now comforted, and you are in anguish. 26 Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us.’
27 “He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house; 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’
29 “But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’
30 “He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’”
Here is a shorter version of an out-of-body experience one man had with hell. There are longer versions on the internet (at least at the time of this writing). This version is 8 minutes.
A blog post can only introduce a topic but not cover it in depth. For more study on various topics, click here for links to various Christian ministries.
Depending on the ministry, there may be online church services, YouTube videos, podcasts, radio programs, books, teaching, or more. You have to seek out what they have.
David Served God in His Generation
Acts 13:36 For David, after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell asleep, was laid with his fathers, and saw decay.
Judges 2:10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.
Generation after generation things change, “social mores” and customs change. They are changed by progressives. There is a saying in war, the victor rewrites history and our history books have been rewritten.
Societal change by the left, called “progressive” change, is based on the atheistic idea that man evolved from an ape. If man evolved from an ape, then there is no God to answer to, and the thought is eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.
I Corinthians 15:32 If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
Why worry about an afterlife and heaven or hell if you are a mere animal? It is not spelled out that way, but that is the undercurrent of an atheistic society and all that stems from it: education, history, literature, advertising, “truth” in journalism|propaganda, GMO foods, medicine, science, bribery, blackmail, etc., … down to what day of the week sports games are played.
So much of what has been happening has to be viewed through the long range view of history.
This nation was founded as a Christian nation. Like the nation of Israel, it has backslid. Like the nation of Israel, when a nation leaves God, it is chastening that drives the nation back to God.
This is true of a prodigal son. It is true of a prodigal nation.
The danger of losing sight of generational understanding is that when a generation dies off and has not properly taught the younger generation, if it has not been properly taught history, the younger generation can be hoodwinked by sly freemasons and communists who infiltrate churches and theological seminaries, producing theological interpretations contrary to the Word of God, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof, and in some cases, there is not even a form of godliness.
I was just listening to Ken Paxton, Attorney General in Texas. He makes a bottom line point. If a murderer won’t obey the law to not murder, the murderer is not going to obey the law to not own a gun.
I would add that if a murderer will shoot his own grandmother in defiance of “honor thy father and thy mother”, a murderer is not going to obey any gun laws.
The Founding Fathers understood that the freedoms offered in the Word of God sometimes had to be backed up with physical enforcement. Otherwise, you are expecting wolves in government to act as sheep.
There has been a divide in the church as to the understanding of the necessity for and right to self defense. Self defense is a doctrine in the Catholic church. I don’t know that it has been encapsulated that way in other denomination.
If there is never a need for enforcement against criminals, why is there a military at all? Why is there a police department at all? Why was WW II fought?
At some point, there has to be a proactive, offensive (used in relation to the idea of offense/defense) on-this-earth dealing with criminals and murderers and thieves.
A theme that is revisited more than once on this blog is that the secular idea that “what will be, will be” is an ungodly idea.
It is not correct theology.
To sit back and say “whatever”, is not Christian.
Parents have the obligation to train and take care of and protect their children. If that means going to school boards and making sure that there is armed protection in the schools, if that means making sure that there is one secured opening to the school that is locked unless the person knocking is permitted entry after being vetted, if that means using school funds for high tech equipment that can sense weaponry entering the school, whatever the best and brightest minds in self defense can lay out as a suitable course of action, then that takes the engagement of parents and school boards and whatever it takes to make that happen. And if all the individual in school boards and government are progressives who proclaim gun control while living behind privacy walled neighborhoods and having armed guards themselves, if they are the only people you have in local government, or school board, or Department of Education, then maybe if you want protection for your children you might have to run yourself. Or find a worthy candidate.
It’s too easy, and slothful, which is another word for lazy or complacent, to say, “whatever the Lord wants” while ignoring our own responsibilities.
Do I think that ultimately the answer is people coming to the Lord and having a change of heart and being born again? Yes, of course, that is the ultimate answer.
But until then, are you going to let criminals run rampart saying, “what will be, will be”?
A blog post can only introduce a topic but not cover it in depth. For more study on various topics, click here for links to various Christian ministries.
Depending on the ministry, there may be online church services, YouTube videos, podcasts, radio programs, books, teaching, or more. You have to seek out what they have.