Romans 1:18-20 Bad News: The Wrath of God (#LetterToTheRomans)

"The wrath of God." Many people, including Christians, are either confused or afraid or denying this truth in the Bible altogether. But I would like to submit: If you don't understand the wrath of God, then, you can't appreciate (or perhaps don't know) the gospel of God. Let's start with, what is the wrath of God? #ServeToLead #PreachTheWord #TheWrathOfGod

To watch previous short studies of #LetterToTheRomans CLICK HERE  http://bit.ly/LegasiRomans 

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THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

 

Hell Has Disappeared and No One Noticed

 

By "disappeared" what Mr. Martin means is that nobody talks or preaches about the reality of hell anymore. On a rare occasion, a minister preached a sermon on this subject. The next day a young man came to see him dispute what he heard preached. He said to the minister, "I believe that there is a difference between what you and I believe about eternal punishment. I came here to settle this difference."

The minister thought for a while 🤔 and then turned to the young man and said, "There is no dispute between you and me. If you turn to Matthew 25:46 you will find the dispute is between you and the Lord Jesus Christ, and I advise you to go immediately and settle it with Him." #ServeToLead #HeavenAndHell #FaithAndDoubt

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Simple Book Review: "Inventing Hell: Dante, the Bible and Eternal Torment" (2014)

Inventing Hell: Dante, the Bible and Eternal Torment (2014)
by Jon M. Sweeney

First, not all the books that I read is what I agree with; and secondly, if I were to read only the ones that I already agree with, I’ll become the most close-minded person and unworthy orthodox. Always challenge your own assumptions and beliefs. The truth remain the truth but the way you perceives and comprehend it can be change overtime. That’s growth, not heretic.

Okay… the book. Well, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. Maybe I should reflect on it some more. For now though, my initial impression is a positive one. But I'm not sure that I agree with all that Sweeney writes. That we have misunderstood and misapplied the teachings of hell – I totally agree! That there is a clear development of the concept of hell through myths (especially, Greek mythology), Socrates, Plato, Hesiod, Virgil, the Old Testament, the New, Thomas Aquinas and even the Quran – will all the evidences in this book and elsewhere – I somewhat agreed (say 80%). The peak of this evolution of hell, the writer argue, is attributed to the greatest influencer of all: Dante’s Inferno. Durante degli Alighieri, simply called Dante, was a major Italian poet of the Late Middle Ages. He is famous for his work The Divine Comedy poet-trilogy [#1 Inferno (Hell), #2 Purgatorio (Purgatory), and #3 Paradiso (Heaven)].

By the way, none of this is particularly new for me. However, I'm not quite comfortable with the author's take on Psalm’s afterlife which is more hopeless compare to Paul’s afterlife version that is more optimistic, body-soul arguments, Plato’s influences in Jesus’s teachings, the allegorical nature of Satan and mythical concept of hell (one of it in which he said that ‘Hell’ is Christian’s term that may differ in nature, location and functions from ‘Sheol’, ‘Hades’ and ‘Tartarus’ which are used in Greek mythology) and with the actual influence of Dante on our more recent views of hell. Dante’s imagination of the underworld or the 9 circles of hell? Interesting, but get the hell out of here!

Sweeney writes explicitly that most of Dante’s sources were the stuff of myth, legend, philosophy, ancient religions and the politics of his day. But the good thing about this book is that he doesn’t start with Dante, he starts with Genesis. The bad thing is… sometime some of his arguments are not clear and very vague. Well, this book is divided into 13 chapters and a conclusion:

#1 In the Beginning

#2 The Ancient Underworld

#3 The Awful Underworld Psalm

#4 The God Hades

#5 Virgil and Myth of Empire

#6 When the Soul Went Immortal

#7 Plato and the Myth of Er

#8 Jesus, Hades, and a Pit Just Outside Jerusalem

#9 Inventing Holy Saturday

#10 Medieval Apocalyptic!

#11 Dancing on a Pin

#12 Dante with a Quran by His Side?

#13 The Sublime Order of the Universe

Conclusion: Is There a Future for Hell?

I like how he ends this book by asking the future for ‘hell’, his three complaints about Dante and his wrathful ideas, the connection of hell and religious violence (and how hell has inspired many people to do good. But out of fear?), his challenge on which God do we choose (can we do that?) and his faith as Catholic. “God is the real one,” he summaries, “the one I have come to know and understand, and that God has nothing to do with medieval Hell.”

[Actually price of this book is RM72.00, but I bought it from BookXcess for only RM17.90]

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Simple Book Review: "Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived" (2011)

Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived (2011)
by Robert H. Bell Jr. Trust

Rob Bell, author, speaker and former pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church is a controversial figure. He ignited many evangelical fundamentalists (maybe you!) when he questioned traditional theological constructs surrounding heaven and hell. I like to read controversial books from controversial authors such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Eugene Peterson, Brian McLare, etc. I’m agree 100% what they said and taught, but I would like to explore possibilities. I, too, like to question ‘standard’ Christian doctrines and theology.

Bell writes this book for two reasons #1 For those who have problem with “some version of the Jesus story” that cause them to “would never be a part of” it; and #2 For those who have “big questions about topics like God and Jesus and salvation and judgment and heaven and hell.” “I believe the discussion itself is divine,” Bell reasoned, “Abraham does his best to bargain with God, most of the book of Job consists of arguments by Job and his friends about the deepest questions of human suffering, God is practically on trial in the poems of Lamentations, and Jesus responds to almost every question he’s asked with… a question.”

Rob Bell first questioned about what we mean by “be saved” or “born again”, our ideas of heaven (not ‘somewhere’ there, but ‘here’ and ‘now’) and meaning of ‘eternal life’ and  ‘forever’ in the Bible. Then he discussed about hell by giving examples of church websites that declare that ultimately billions of people will spend eternity apart from God while others will be with God in heaven forever. “Is history tragic?” ask Bell, “Have billions of people been created only to spend eternity in conscious punishment and torment, suffering infinitely for the finite sins they committed in the few years they spent on earth?” Big question.

I like this one: “Many have heard the gospel framed in terms of rescue. God has to punish sinners, because God is holy, but Jesus has paid the price for our sin, and so we can have eternal life. However true or untrue that is technically or theologically, what it can do is subtly teach people that Jesus rescues us from God… Let’s be very clear, then: we do not need to be rescued from God. God is the one who rescues us from death, sin and destruction. God is the rescuer” (read again this last sentence). Simply put, in this book, Rob believes in the end God does get what He wants [to saved everyone, the world], that Good News is better told than just going to heaven or suffer in hell, and that loves finally wins.

Three things that I doubt Rob in this book, maybe I put it in three questions: #1 You talk about love and a bit of justice here and there, what about God’s holiness and God’s wrath mention in the Bible?; #2 I still don’t get the real picture of what heaven and hell is supposed to be like, what do you mean by “heaven and hell, here, now, around us, upon us, within us”?; and #3 Rob, why Jesus have to die on the cross? What He had accomplished?

I simply love his examples, nontechnical language, and many Bible quotations to support his statements (no matter how true or untrue, in context or out of context). This book make me think of my own theology and how I live my Christian life now. Book that make you think is simply a good book!

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus command Us to Go for Spiritual Surgery (Mark 9:42-48)

“If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where ‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched’”
(Mark 9:43-48, NIV).

I think this section of Scripture is a good illustration that people need to know what the Bible means, not just what it says. If Jesus’ commands above were to be taken literally, every believer alive would need to cut almost all part of their bodies. Which of us has never sinned with our eyes (lusting, coveting), hands (stealing, hitting), or feet (walking into trouble)? If we all did precisely what the Bible said in this case, we would need to line up for amputations service!

Jesus was using hyperbole (spell high-per-boe-lee). It is an exaggeration for effect and emphasis. You hear hyperbole every day: “I’ve told you a million times”; “I was so embarrassed I could have died”; “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.” The statements are not literally true but are overstated to drive home a point. The point that Jesus was driving home was that there are two ways to use your physical body – for God’s purposes or against God’s purposes. If your goal is to serve God, and yet your body do things that do not please God, your body is your enemy. Jesus wants you, His followers, to give your eyes, hands and feet – and everything else for that matter – to Him as well as your soul.

The Apostle Paul said it this way: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship” (Romans 12:1). God is not interested in watching people chop themselves to holiness, but rather He wants them to discipline their physical bodies to match their spiritual commitment to Christ. Thus, you must takes sin and its consequences very seriously (“hell where the fire never goes out”; “the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched”; scary!), as this passage shows.

It would have been nice if we can hear first-hand what the Master said and asking Him about what He meant exactly. But here is some good news: Today, wherever you go, His Spirit is within you and His Word is before you. Walk with Christ so that you can be more like Him. Nothing should stand in the way of faith. You must be ruthless in removing sins from your life now in order to avoid being stuck with them for eternity. Make your choices from an eternal perspective. Go for a spiritual surgery now!

Think: What sins you need to “cut off” and “pluck out” from your life
to be what God really wants you to be?

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus says Love and Hate are a Matter of Life and Death (1 John 3:14-15)

“If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them”

(1 John 3:14-15, NLT).

The Apostle John reminds us that in becoming followers of Jesus Christ, we actually “passed from death to life.” Proof of this is that: “we love our Christian brothers and sisters.” Showing love is vital evidence of our faith in Christ. It is the surest sign that we really do belong to God. To show hatred or indifference, on the other hand, is to be dead in a spiritual sense (read 1 Corinthians 13 about the nature of love).

We are also reminded here that we should show love, especially to God’s people, “our Christian brothers and sisters” in God’s family. One of the great benefits of being a Christian is that we never need to feel alone or rejected (but sadly, some people want to be alone). We are part of a family with relatives all around the world. And the bond of closeness that can develop is unlike that which happens in any relationship. Some of us are even closer to our brothers and sisters in Christ than our actual physical family! Indeed, God is our Father, Jesus is our older Brother, and fellow believers are our spiritual family. What a Big Family of God!

Just as we should look after the brothers and sisters in our earthly families, God wants us to look after and care for our new relatives – those who are in our spiritual family. This also means that when we try to think of ways to show love, we should not shut ourselves off from people nearby who are in need. Right in our communities some people are lonely or hungry and need clothing or attention. Love will do something about it. Love, the Greek word agape, is not so much a matter of emotion as it is of doing things for the benefit of another person, that is, having an unselfish concern for another and a willingness to seek the best for another [as explained in the Amplified Bible]. “Let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions” (3:18).

Let’s talk about the subject of hatred. The Scriptures speak strongly about it. John says that “anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart.” The outward act may be different. In one case (murder), we actually do physical harm to someone; and in the other (hatred), we may wish he or she were dead. Both are the same by God’s standards. Why? Because to God the inner feelings of murder and hatred are the same. And if we don’t deal with our feelings of hatred, we may end up doing great harm to others. Jesus says, “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell” (Matthew 5:21-22). That’s a serious matter, my friends. 

Do you have anger and hatred toward your brothers and sisters in Christ now?

Remember: “Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love makes up for all offenses” (Proverbs 10:12)

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Do Not Soften God's Word to Please Anybody

Jesus can bring you out of darkness to the Light

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household” (Acts 16:31)

Whenever I’m losing my focus, I’ll come back to my old friend. A good friend that was very faithful to his Lord. A friend that I cherish because he loves Jesus more than his life. A teacher, mentor and brother. My dead old friend that always remind me of what’s matter most in my life – Jesus. His name is Charles H. Spurgeon (1834 – 1892). These words of wisdom speaking to me about the urgency of Christ’s message to all people, why sometime we have to say what we need to say even if people may not like it. Truth is like that…

“Everybody says, ‘Be quiet about the wrath to come, or you will have everybody down upon you.’ Be down upon me, then! I will not soften God’s word to please anybody; and the Word of the Lord is very clear on this matter. If you receive not the Lord Jesus Christ, you will die in your sins. If you believe not in Him, you must perish from His presence. There is a day coming when you will die. After this, comes another day when you must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and all your actions shall be published, and you shall be judged for the things done in the body, whether they be good or whether they be evil. And then you shall receive the sentence of, ‘Come, you blessed,’ or ‘Depart, you cursed.’

Do you think we like to preach this? Do you think that it is any pleasure to the servant of God to deliver these heavy things? Oh, no! We speak in the bitterness of our spirit every often, but we speak because we dare not refrain. It is infinitely better that men should be told the truth than that they should be flattered by a lie into eternal ruin. He ought to have the commendation of all men, not who makes things pleasant, but who speaks things truly. Somebody is preaching of how to get people out of Hell. I preach about how to keep them out of Hell. Do not go there. Keep you clear of the fire, which never can be quenched. Escape for your lives; look not behind you; stay not in all the plain, but haste to Christ, the mountain of salvation, and put your trust in Him.”

[Taken from Spurgeon Gold by Ray Comfort (Bridge-Logos, 2005)]

Powerful. Very powerful message.

Loving. Bold. Truth.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Judas Was a Preacher

This quote is taken from Ray Comfort’s Spurgeon Gold (Bridge-Logos: Alachua, Florida, 2005. Page 10-11). Late Charles H. Spurgeon writes,

“Judas was preacher; nay, he was a foremost preacher. ‘He obtained part of this ministry,’ said the Apostle Peter. He was not simply one of the seventy; he had been selected by the Lord Himself as one of the twelve; and honourable member of the college of the apostles. Doubtless, he had preached the gospel so that many had been gladdened by his voice, and miraculous powers had been vouchsafed to him, so that at his word, the sick had been healed, deaf ears had been opened, and the blind had been made to see. Nay, there is no doubt that he, who could not keep the devil out of himself, had cast devils out of others. Yet how are you fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!

He that was as a prophet in the midst of the people, and speak with the tongue of the learned, whose word and wonders proved that he had been with Jesus and had learned from him – he betrays his Master. Understand, my brethren, that no gifts can ensure grace, and that no position of honour or usefulness in the Church will necessarily prove our being true to our Lord and Master. Doubtless, there are bishops in Hell, and crowds of those who once occupied the pulpits are now condemned forever to bewail their hypocrisy. You that are Church-officers do not conclude that because you enjoy the confidence of the Church, therefore there is an absolute certainty the grace of God in you.

Perhaps it is the most dangerous of all positions for a man to become well known and much respected by religious world, and yet to be rotten to the core. To be where others can observe our faults is a healthy thing, though painful; but to live with beloved friends who would not believe it possible for us to do wrong, and who, if they saw us err, would make excuses for us – this is to be where it is next to impossible for us ever to be aroused if our hearts be not right with God. To have a fair reputation and a false heart is to stand upon the brink of Hell.”

This is scary, yet it is the truth. Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Go to Hell and You Won't Find Any (Born Again) Christians There

A young man had been brought up in a home where God and the Bible were revered. Although the Gospel was often presented to him with loving urgency, he refused to believe and became increasingly rebellious. Finally he said, “I’m sick and tired of Christians. I’m going to look for a place where I can avoid them.”

His mother wept as he packed his suitcase and left home. He boarded a train, only to find that two passengers seated behind him were discussing the Scriptures. “I’m not going to stay here,” he muttered.

At the next stop he left the coach and entered a restaurant. To his dismay, some elderly women were talking about the return of the Lord. Knowing a ship was docked nearby, he decided it might be a way to escape the ‘religious chatter’ he encountered at every turn. But when the steamer embarked, he discovered that it was filled with happy young students from a Bible academy.

Thoroughly disgusted, he made his way downstairs to find the bar. Approaching the captain, he exclaimed, “Say, can you tell a man where he can get away from all these cursed fanatics?” The skipper looked up and said with a grin, “Yes, just go to hell. You won’t find any (born again) Christians there.”

These startling words caused him to realize his eternal peril and when he returned home, he received the Savior.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Valentine's Day: A Reminder to Love the Sinner (But Hate the Sin)

Long time ago I was struggle with Jesus’ words and actions. He said such thing as “[The sinner or wicked] will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:46, ESV). That is to say, the sinners will go to hell and the righteous will be with God in heaven. Amazingly knowing this reality, Jesus, throughout the Gospel stories always spend time with sinners and even hang on the cross with the criminals. He said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17).

Now, why does he do that? The popular answer would be because Jesus loves sinners and he desires to saved them from the eternal punishment of hell and make them righteous and have eternal life in Him. Cliché but true. But isn’t that answer also means that in order for Jesus to love me, I should be a sinner. And the worst interpretation of all is that it doesn’t matter if I keep on sinning because Jesus still loves me anyway. Cliché but false. The best argument, most biblical and faithful to the Scripture, the core attitude of Jesus toward this matter is that: Jesus loves sinners, but hate sins. Cliché but this is the truth.

This truth can only be applied to Jesus, the Son of God because only God can love beyond the wickedness of the sinner and only God can hate righteously. We often failed to love and hate in a godly manner because we ourselves are sinners. We can have the same attitude toward others only if we allow Jesus to lives in us and we in Him. Only if He is the Lord of our lives.

Let us, in the midst of this worldly-love celebration – Valentine’s Day – be reminded that God love us first and in respond "We love him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). And then in the same way, let us also be reminded to love sinners (the most loving thing to do is to tell others about Jesus and His work of redemption on the cross) and in the same time be reminded that we should never compromise and tolerate sins at the same time. Hate the sin but not the sinner. God helps us to love, Your way! Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

P.s: “Hate the sin, love the sinner” was made famous by Mahatma Gandhi. It is not from the Scripture. He probably paraphrase that quote from St. Augustine of Hippo’s “With love for mankind and hatred of sins." I don’t know from which context he said this, but when I use this quote I have God’s love in mind, Jesus’ words and deeds in the Scripture and from my own personal experiences when I encounter God’s grace and love in my life – changed me from sinner to saint.