"The Lake of Fire!

"

A Scriptural Journey Through the Lake Burning with Fire and Brimstone, Which is the SECOND DEATH Sometime in the last half of the first century AD, the apostle John (whom Jesus loved) was on the Isle of Patmos when he found himself "in spirit on the Lord s day." Among his many remarkable visions he saw this:

Revelation 19:20, "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone."

Rev. 20:10, "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."

Rev. 20:14-15, "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

Rev. 21:8, "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 burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."

Concerning the "Second Death," John also has this to report:

Rev. 2:11, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death."

Rev. 20:6, "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."

And finally this one:

Rev. 14:10, "...and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb."

These are all the Scriptural references in the entire Bible that mention the "lake of fire and the second death."

Theologians and clergymen by the thousands have been telling the world that this lake of fire is little more than an eternal torture chamber. It is the final HELL of eternal separation from God accompanied by unfathomable pain, torture, and despair.

We have been told that there is absolutely no possibility of ever being rescued from this hellhole of suffering and human misery where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth, as real fire barbecues their bodies, and while worms will be eating their flesh. This hideous scene is to continue day and night for trillions of billions of quadrillions of centuries upon centuries--for EVER!

We are told that those who will spend eternity in this prison of pain have themselves chosen to spend eternity there - that God doesn t send anyone to hell, but that people actually choose, themselves, to go there. Even a fool knows that no person would ever choose such a fate, but theologians must somehow get God off of the hook of responsibility, for surely this place exists and will continue to exist for eternity they assure us.

Famous TV preachers like John Hagee tell us that "...every boy and every girl who dies without knowing Jesus Christ spends an eternity in a city where the fire is never quenched and the worm dieth not." And Mr. Hagee adds, "AND IT S JUSTICE!"

World renowned pastor, educator, and theologian Dr. James Kennedy tells the world that for a man in India who told a lie, and for a man in the Islands who stole chickens by night to feed his family, their sins will put them into the tortures of an eternal hell, even if they never heard of the name of Jesus Christ their only possible Savior. And Dr. Kennedy adds, "HELL IS FAIR!"

Does the Word of God actually and literally teach such a hellhole of eternal torture in fire from which there is no redemption ever? Don t be too sure till you have read this paper and compared it with Scripture. That the Scriptures do speak of a "lake of fire which is the second death" there is no denial. However: What is it?

Where is it?

When is it?

Why is it?

Who will go there?

Is it an actual place?

And How long will it last?

What actually takes place in this lake of fire which is the second death?

Is John s vision to be taken literally?

Does this lake of fire and second death serve no purpose other than to vent God s frustration and vengeance on most of humanity which He Himself created?

Would a loving God really create billions and billions of people which He knew in advance He would torture for all eternity?

If ninety to ninety-five percent (a ballpark statistic used by many theologians) of humanity is destined for this atrocious destiny, how could any sane person worship a god who would design and carry out such a vile and eternal nightmare on so many billions of helpless and weak creatures?

The Scriptures answer all of these questions, and the answers are not even in the same universe with what has been popularly taught by theologians.

Some have even taught that God and His Saints will actually derive happiness and pleasure from this fabled eternal torture and misfortune of the majority of all humanity that has ever lived.

Men are bold and audacious in how they characterize the very nature of God Almighty. I heard just tonight on one of the major news channels that Saddam Hussein enjoys his leisure by watching videos of men being tortured! Most of us shudder at the very thought of anything so satanic and evil. And yet ... and YET, many theologians (and Christian lay members as well) would put God Almighty and our Lord Jesus Christ in the base company of such depraved minds! God have mercy on them all; they know not what they say!

FIVE GENERAL SCENARIOS

Let s look at five general possibilities for the interpretation of this lake of fire and second death. The teaching comprising the largest number of adherents (Christian Fundamentalists) state that the lake of fire is indeed literal fire, but that the second death part is figurative or symbolic seeing that its victims never actually become literally dead or even unconscious, but rather they interpret this second death as separation from God.

Their explanation of their belief, however, contradicts the idea that the lake of fire is literal. They teach that the lake of fire is literal fire that burns like real fire, but they then contradict the literalness of this fire by teaching that it doesn t actually burn up anything: It just causes INSANE PAIN. But really, can a fire that doesn t actually burn up physical, material things, be called a literal fire? And although I ve

heard many state that this metaphor is literal, this group certainly denies the literalness of the second death because they don t believe they ever die and lose consciousness.

It is a physiological impossibility for a literal fire to cause pain on the nervous system of a person and yet never actually kill them and burn them up if the fire is applied etrnally. Furthermore, real fire does not cause symbolic or figurative death--real fire causes real death.

Others (as the Jehovah's Witnesses) teach that both the lake of fire and the the second death are symbolic and not literal. They believe that this metaphor is a "word picture" that does not represent a place or condition of literal torment in literal fire. However, they believe that it does picture or represent the total annihilation of all those who are judged and are not granted salvation.

This teaching is certainly billions of times more merciful than the Christian fundamentalist theory, however, it too is unscriptural as we shall see. Not to mention the fact that it would prove our heavenly Father either unable or unwilling to save most of His own children.

What kind of an eternal example would that be for those who are saved? Does God really teach us to "train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Prov. 22:6), but that God Himself is incapable of training His children in the way that they should go and that most of them WILL DEPART FROM IT?

Does God really teach us to "LOVE OUR ENEMIES" while God Himself "HATES OUR LOVED ONES" by destroying most of them for all eternity? This teaching is also blasphemous.

Still others teach that the "lake of fire" is figurative, but that the "fire" part of the symbolic phrase "lake of fire" is literal fire which will burn up its victims. So they interpret this as a symbolic "lake of fire" which is made up of a literal lake and literal fire. And that the second death is literal death so that its victims will be killed by this literal fire in a literal lake, which then becomes a symbolic "lake OF fire."

However, this group has a unique twist to their teaching. They believe that when the victims are thrown into the lake of fire, they have already gone through the white throne judgment and have turned to God, are now righteous, have accepted Christ as their Lord, but they must die a second time anyway. Why? I don t know!! I am at a loss as to how Rev. 21:8 would fit into this theory,

"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 burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death."

They don t sound too converted to me at this point in time when they enter the lake of fire.

This group then believes that at the consummation of the ages (just as they have died a second time), they will be resurrected a second time, but this time to immortality and life with God in His Family. Though maybe not quite as blasphemous, this teaching is still unscriptural and foolish.

I know of no group who teaches that the lake of fire is figurative, but that the second death is literal. Such a doctrine would be akin to literally drowning in symbolic water.

And so that leaves one more combination, and that is that the lake of fire is figurative or symbolic and that the second death is also figurative or symbolic. I am one of a very tiny group who is of this latter persuasion.

It is the only way that these Scriptures on the lake of fire and the second death will harmonize and not contradict the rest of God s Word. Furthermore, God plainly tells us in chapter one, verse one, that an angel "signified" this whole "Revelation of Jesus Christ" contained in this book. He "SYMBOLIZED" it, for that is what "signifies" means--to make known by signs, and signs are symbols. Therefore it can t be literal.

THREE FALSE ASSUMPTIONS

Fundamentalist Christians are the largest group who hold three bedrock doctrinal teachings, which are really only assumptions, regarding the lake of fire: The "lake of fire" part of this verse must positively be taken LITERALLY.

This lake of fire and second death are just other terms for HELL.

All the wicked, unsaved, and unbelieving sinners will be consciously TORTURED in this lake of fire hellhole by having their flesh barbecued FOR ALL ETERNITY, which is said to be "the second death."

Are any of these three assumptions true or Scriptural? Absolutely and unequivocally NOT!

In our journey we will clearly see that these verses are NOT to be taken literally, and they do NOT represent a place called hell, and God will NOT torture anyone for all eternity.

We will also see from the Scriptures that God never punishes for the sole purpose of torturing. God always punishes and chastises for the ultimate purpose of correcting, righting, amending, changing, fixing, rectifying, redeeming and saving. That God can and will accomplish these things with every creature in heaven and earth is fully substantiated by hundreds of Scriptures in His Word.

And there are no Scriptural doctrines or teachings to the contrary. NONE! This IS the Good News Gospel which precious few on this earth have ever heard. It is God s "WILL" that all mankind be saved (I Tim. 2:4), and God s "will" WILL be done (Matt. 6:10 and Isaiah 46:10-11)!

But seriously, don t these Scriptures (at least in the King James Bible) sound like the beast, the false prophet, Satan, and all who are not found written in the book of life will be tortured for ever and ever in the lake of fire and brimstone which is the second death? Granted, in King James translation, it does definitely sound that way. But when we remove a few unscriptural assumptions, a few pagan traditions, and a couple of totally mistranslated words, words that never appear in the Greek manuscripts, we will discover an even more profound love that God has for His creatures, rather than some monstrous god of eternal hatred which has been concocted by theologians and promulgated through bad translations for centuries.

LITERAL OR SYMBOLIC?

In many cases it is not difficult to determine whether a verse is literal or not. But, since we use figures of speech so often we tend to forget that much of what we say daily is not literally true. Many of us would hardly be able to carry on a conversation if we had to drop out of our vocabulary every word and every phrase we speak that is NOT LITERALLY TRUE. The English language, as well as all other languages, is just filled with symbolic and metaphorical phrases.

The first eleven verses of Chapter one in Revelation are an introduction regarding where, how, and what John is going to record for us. Much of this introduction can be taken literally, however, not all. Beginning with verse twelve, we are confronted with one symbol after another for the remainder of the entire twenty-two-chapter-book.

Everything written in Revelation is true, but most is not literally true.

The fact is there are many many truths in the Bible that are not literally true.

Jesus "said" that the bread He gave His disciples at the Lord s supper was His body. Yet, Jesus Himself explains in other places that this was not literally true. He gave them literal bread, and not His literal physical flesh. What that bread represented, and symbolized, was indeed, His body--but not his physical body.

Jesus said that the words that he spoke were SPIRIT (John 6:63). Jesus Christ changes not. His words are STILL spirit and they certainly were spirit when John wrote the words of Christ regarding His unveiling or revelation. Just as we physically feed on physical bread for PHYSICAL LIFE, thus also we spiritually feed on Jesus Christ s spiritual body for SPIRITUAL LIFE.

Understand this! Some think that by accepting the Scriptures as they are given (in the case of Revelation that means AS SYMBOLS), that somehow this "spiritualizes away" the teaching. What? It is the "spiritual" aspect of these symbols that IS THE REAL THING; THE REAL UNDERSTANDING! Physical things "pass away" whereas spiritual things are eternal! The very FACT that this book is written in "symbols" is proof positive that the understanding of them is SPIRITUAL and not physical or literal.

Symbols, metaphors, and parables ARE NEVER LITERALLY TRUE! But they powerfully demonstrate SPIRITUAL TRUTHS!

"This is the second death--the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:15 and 21:8) is a metaphor that is no more literal than "Jesus taking the bread...said, Take, EAT. This IS My body" (Mat. 26:26).

Paul did not instruct Timothy to "STUDY" the scriptures if a mere casual reading is all that is necessary to comprehend its many deep and profound teachings. On the other hand, I believe that those who have "studied" God s Word are able to open up much understanding to those who are not called to teach (even babes, or minors as our Lord stated).

I want to quickly show my readers just how impossible it is to assume most of God s word is literal.

Again I state: All God s Word is TRUE, however, much of it is figurative language which is not literally true to fact, but rather in what the figurative language of symbols, metaphors, and parables represent.

If the following section is too heavy for you, just skip to the next heading.

BIBLICAL FIGURES OF SPEECH

Here are some of the fully substantiated figures of language used in Scripture. I borrowed many of these examples from an appendix in the back of The Concordant Literal New Testament.

We will begin with FIGURES OF LIKENESS which include: similes (when something is like, or as something else, it is a simile rather than a metaphor) metaphors (where one thing is said to actually be something else) as in, "all life is grass" I Pet. 1:24. Therefore, the subject of this paper IS a metaphor and CANNOT be literal: John says, "...the lake of fire, This IS the second death" (Rev. 20:14), and "...the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which IS the second death" (Rev. 21:8) implications parables (there are many, the shortest one being, "Physician, heal Thyself" Luke 4:23)

allegories (as in the two women standing for two covenants, Gal. 4:22-28) visions (as in a sheet let down from heaven, Acts 10:11-16) signs (as in the sign of Jonah the prophet, Matt. 12:39) types (as in Adam corresponding with Christ, Rom. 5:12-21) shadows (as in the law being a shadow of good things to come, Heb. 10:1) examples (as in the tabernacle vessels being examples of what is in heaven , Heb. 9:23) images (as Christ is the image of God, Col. 1:15) impersonations or personifications (where things are spoken of as persons) condescension's (as where God takes on human attributes) diminutives (as in "little women, heaped with sins" II Tim. 3:6)

There are FIGURES OF ASSOCIATION which include: association or metonymy's appellations (as when a quality or office is used instead of a proper name, as in "Son of Mankind" instead of saying Jesus Christ) compound associations (as "the word of the cross" I Cor. 1:18, which has to do with Christ s shameful and agonizing death) near associations (as in a phrase that is partly literal, "Then went out to Him Jerusalem [that is the people of Jerusalem]", Matt. 3:5) retention's (this one is too complicated to explain, but I ll give you an example, "the tablets of the heart" II Cor. 3:3) circumlocutions or periphrasis (what is "circumlocution"? Well, it s a descriptive phrase in place of a name in order to emphasize the association. Examples, "the product of the grapevine [though not named is, wine]" Matt. 26:29, "the city of David [though not named is, Bethlehem]" Luke 2:11, enigmas, and symbols (where a known object or something else is used to typify something else, or even an intangible quality such as love, power, beauty, etc.)

Here are many of the words from the book of Revelation used as SYMBOLS:

candlesticks horses locusts beasts birds animals dragons heads horns teeth tails eyes mouths wings hair feet hands foreheads odours books gold seals crowns names cities

nations kings tongues Nicolaitans Antipas Armageddon Balaam Balak Abaddon Apollyon Babylon Sodom Egypt Jezebel book of life tree of live water of life hours days months seasons rod of iron sickle bow blades

swords reap harvest grass trees thrones garments robes signs images wonders marks numbers vials trumpets winds rivers lakes seas waters clouds floods mountains islands lightnings

voices thunders earthquakes hails songs winepresses grapes wine balances wheat barley oil eyesalve pebbles manna wreaths palm fronds whores harlots fornications keys doors temples synagogues pillars

rich poor blind naked hot cold lukewarm blood deaths fire sulfur brimstone smoke sun moon stars

And even heaven and earth are used as symbols in this great book of symbols.

There are also FIGURES OF OMISSION which include: omitted nouns (as in "the wicked [people is understood]," "the blind [people]," "the rich [people]," "the poor [people]," "the twelve [apostles is omitted but understood]) omitted verbs (as in incongruous omissions like, "Milk I give you to drink not solid food" The omission of "to eat" is understood, as one does not "drink solid food" I Cor. 3:2)

unfinished sentences (the King James usually finishes sentences that are unfinished in the Greek, such as, "As I swear in My indignation, If they shall be entering into My rest___!" Heb. 3:11) omission or non-sequence (as in "These which you are beholding___there will be coming days..." Luke 21:6)

I did not include this basic listing of "figures of speech" in the Scriptures, just to fill another page. It is most important to understand that the study of the Scriptures is not the same as studying a high school or college text book. It is far different. School text books, as a rule, would not contain even one percent of the figures that I have presented here. And if we do not have even an elementary understanding of these many and varied figures of speech, we will hardly be in a position to TEACH God s Word to others.

It is the height of naivety to believe that whenever someone shouts, "My King James Bible SAYS... ", that what follows will be non-refutable Scriptural proof of that person s doctrinal preference. Thank God that:

"...no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation" (II Pet. 1:20).

The Scriptures themselves really do interpret other Scriptures. This is true for interpreting prophesies and doctrinal issues.

PARABLES ARE NOT LITERALLY TRUE STORIES

The parables of Jesus are certainly true, but they are not literally true. Example: one cannot possibly put a "beam" (a large piece of lumber) in or out of one s eye, Mat. 7:3-5. The moral of this parable is certainly a great truth. The symbols used to teach that truth (namely a large piece of lumber in one s eye) is, of course, not literally or possibly true. The beam represents a huge character flaw, not foreign matter in one s eye. It s a figure of speech.

We also use such figures dozens of times a day without even realizing it. We say such things as "Don t cry over spilt milk" although we are not literally speaking of crying, nor are we speaking of milk, but rather of a disappointment that has caused sadness.

When we show our respect for our country's flag, we are not even thinking about respecting a piece of cloth, but rather the nation that the flag represents. A flag is a symbol that represents a nation. A band of gold is just a band of gold, but a wedding ring is symbolic of something much larger, something huge, something GRAND!

Who "wears the pants" in your family? Has "the cat taken your tongue" lately? Can you "carry a tune in a bucket?" Do you follow the "spin doctors" with their commentary on the "movers and shakers" in Washington, DC? Where do you stand when "the tire hits the road?" Do you know for a fact that "the early bird gets the worm?" Does "a stitch in time save nine?" Are any of your friends "square?" Is it "cool" to eat chili on a hot day? Do people turn "blue" when they are sad? Do cowards really have "a yellow stripe down their back?" Are you "worth your salt?" Do you know people who are "pigeon heads" and "hot heads?" If people realized that "silence is golden," maybe they would stop "breaking your ear drums." Do you think that I am just "pulling your leg?" And just when will "hell freeze over?"

All languages have many, many figures of speech that are not literally true. And God also uses symbols, figures, idioms, metaphors and parables, over and over in His Word--hundreds and hundreds of times!

I know of very few who will believe it, but it is true nonetheless, that Jesus taught the masses in parables and parables ONLY so that they would NOT understand the message He was giving them (See Matt. 13).

Figures, parables, metaphors, and symbols are in many ways like poetry. Take the phrase, "No man is an island" from one of my favorite poems. How wonderfully worded and true are those words?

Or this line, "Every man s death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind."

How many unsaved friends do you have? Will YOU not be diminished for all eternity if they are not saved? Will GOD not be diminished for all eternity if billions and billions of His creatures are not saved but are rather separated and tortured in some hellhole of fire?

Elementary school children are not likely to understand such a poem as "No man is an island." They would say, of course no man is an island, neither is a man a house or a car or a telephone pole either.

Yet this is the same childish mentality that many theologians use in interpreting Scripture such as the lake of fire and second death.

For all too many, these marvelous Scriptures have no meaning beyond the literal meaning of the literal words. And so, for most, the Word of God remains a giant enigma. How sad!

Right now, here in Miami, it is "raining cats and dogs." Or is it really? It sometimes rains real fish, but cats and dogs? But if it ever does rain cats and dogs, I ll eat my hat.

Some of these things are extremely elementary and others are extremely complex. God told Daniel that the wise will understand. It is not wise, but foolish to insist that countless symbols in the Bible are literal.

With that all said, let us now see that most of what is said in this marvelous book called Revelation is not literal, but symbolic.

My King James Bible says:

"The Revelation of Saint John the Divine."

And then verse one says,

"The revelation of Jesus Christ..."

Which is it? It is, of course, the latter, seeing that the title is merely man s interpretation which is obviously wrong. The book of Revelation is a revelation OF Jesus Christ. It is not just a revelation from Jesus Christ, but a revelation of or about Jesus Christ. It is a revelation of HIM!

Most of my life I believed that the book of Revelation was a literal prophecy about events that will happen at the END OF THE WORLD! Prophesies that had virtually no meaning for those who have lived during the past two thousand years since it was written. But for most of my life, I WAS IN ERROR!

Now for a most important understanding. Just how was this revelation to John to be recorded and preserved? Notice it:

"...and he sent and SIGNIFIED it by his angel unto his servant John" (Rev. 1:1)

What does it mean to "signify?" Certainly this prophecy of the revelation or unveiling of Christ was written down (ver. 19), but it means more than just that. To "signify" has to do with signs and symbols. From my Webster's Twentieth Century Dictionary p. 1541, first definition of signify:

"to make known by signs or words"

First definition of sign:

"any symbol ...that represents an idea"

That which, being external, represents or signifies something internal or spiritual.

The synonym for sign is: symbol.

There is no mistaking this language. The book of Revelation is written in SYMBOLS! So what is written externally, on paper, in symbols, has a SPIRITUAL meaning and application.

Let us now see the symbolism of this prophecy. I will pick out some of the most obvious things that would be impossible to understand literally.

Notice that in verse ten John informs us that,

"I was IN THE SPIRIT on the Lord s day..."

And then he begins to tell us what he hears and sees. Now the very fact that he was "in the spirit" on the Lord s day conclusively proves that he was not literally there! Let us never lose sight of this fact: John WRITES what has been SIGNIFIED (WITH SYMBOLS) the things that he SEES and HEARS IN A VISION--IN SPIRIT!

Beginning in verse twelve John starts to tell us what he saw and heard,

"And I turned to see the voice that spake with me ... his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass ... And he had in his right hand seven stars and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword..."

NONE of what I underlined is literal. Have you ever "seen a voice?" All these things are symbols that stand for other things. And God immediately gives us proof positive of this in verse 20,

"The mystery [this is not literal--it was a mystery until God tells us that one thing really means or represents another and DIFFERENT THING] of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars ARE THE ANGELS OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest ARE THE SEVEN CHURCHES."

The stars are not literal and the candlesticks are not literal. In the first 20 verses of Revelation we can find eleven statements that are not literal, but rather symbolic. They represent truths that are presented in symbols. The literal language is not the literal truth being presented. The statements themselves do not teach us the truth OF the statements. We must look elsewhere in the Scriptures for the interpretation.

Now chapter one was pretty easy as God told us just what some of those symbols represented. But there are dozens and dozens more symbols in this book of Revelation that are not explained in the verses that follow immediately. How shall we understand all those symbols. First of all, without the spirit of God, the answer is we will never understand these symbols. But guided by God s spirit, God can show us in other places in His Word what these mysterious symbols represent. It is God Who provides us with "ears to hear and eyes to see."

Now look at chapter two:

Verse 5, Will God literally punish the church of Ephesus by removing a literal candlestick? NO! Removing a literal candlestick would be no great loss to anyone. But from what we learned in verse 20 of chapter one, the candlestick IS one of the churches . So Christ is threatening to REMOVE THE WHOLE CHURCH, not some piece of furniture or candlestick from the building of a church.

Verse 7, Is the tree of life a literal tree that one literally eats?

Verse 9, Was the church in Smyrna literally in poverty and literally rich at the same time? Does "synagogue of Satan" mean a literal synagogue where Satan has a Rabbi teaching the Law to a congregation every Sabbath day?

Verse 13, Is a name something that one literally holds fast to with one s hands?

Verse 16, Will Christ literally do battle by using a literal sword which He literally keeps in His mouth? Or do we not read in another place in God s word that this "sword" IS God s Word? (Heb. 4:12).

Verse 17, Will Christ reward the faithful with a literal little white stone? Can t we see that the stone and the name written in it represents something else? Something of much greater value?

Verse 20, Was the harlot Jezebel literally in the Thyatira church? Literal Jezebel died CENTURIES before this book was written by John. Jezebel in the physical represents or symbolizes a SPIRITUAL condition in the church of Thyatira.

Verse 22, Will Christ literally throw literal Jezebel into a literal bed where she will literally commit adultery with literal men?

Verse 23, Will Christ kill literal children of the literal harlot, Jezebel?

Verse 27, Will the saints beat the nations with a literal rod of iron into literal small pieces like broken pottery?

Verse 28, Will Christ give the literal morning star to His saints? Where would they put it? What would they do with it?

Chapter 3:1, Was the Sardis church literally alive and literally dead at the same time?

Verse 4, Were members of the Sardis congregation wearing literally soiled clothing?

Verse 7, Is there literally a metal key of David that is needed to open a literal lock?

Verse 12, Will Christ literally turn people into stone pillars in the temple?

Verse 16, Will Christ literally spit the church of Laodicea out of His mouth?

Verse 17, Were the members of the Laodicean church literally poor and literally blind and literally naked without clothing to wear? Are there not other Scriptures that tell us what it means to be SPIRITUALLY "poor, blind, and naked?"

Verse 18, Did Christ try to sell Laodicea literal gold? What would they do with the gold? What, pray tell, would Christ do with the money?

Verse 20, Does Christ literally knock at the doors of our homes and then come in and eat a literal home cooked meal and pecan pie with us?

Is it necessary for me to go through this entire book verse by verse before we can fully realize that this book is written in figurative, symbolic, and metaphorical language?

Let s look at just a few more:

Chapter 4, Was a literal trumpet "talking" with John?

Chapter 5, Is Jesus Christ literally a "Lion," an "animal?"

Chapter 6, Are these literal "horses?" Do the literal stars of heaven fall on the earth? The smallest known stars are a million times larger than the earth.

Chapter 7, Were angels literally holding back four "winds" on four literal "corners" of the earth? I thought the earth is round without corners? Can one literally wash his clothes "white" in red "blood?"

Chapter 8, Will an angel cast a literal mountain burning with fire into the sea?

Chapter 9, During the fifth trumpet will it literally be impossible for mortal men to die?

Will there be literal locusts shaped like "horses?" Locusts that literally have "hair like a woman, teeth like a lion, and breastplates of iron?" LOCUSTS with breastplates of "iron?"

Chapter 10, Did John eat a literal book? That was literally sweet in his taste buds, but literally bitter in his stomach? Why would anyone "eat" a literal book?

Chapter 11, Are God s two witnesses that prophesy, literally two olive trees and two candlesticks? But if we study Zechariah 4 we can determine what is meant by "two witnesses."

Chapter 12, Will there literally be a pregnant woman "clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars?" Was this same woman able to literally "fly into the wilderness with wings of an eagle?"

Chapter 13, Will there be a literal lamb that will speak like a dragon? Just how do dragons "speak" anyhow?

Will people be literally tattooed with marks (bar codes, swastikas, Social Security numbers, implanted with computer chips or one of a hundred unscriptural marks being suggested by fundamentalist prophets) in their hands and on their foreheads so that men cannot buy or sell ice cream or automobiles without these marks? Self-appointed prophets of doom haven t a clue as to what this mark of the beast really is or the number of his name. I have already been barred from buying and selling recently because I refuse to brandish this "mark of the beast"!

Chapter 14, Does Babylon cause all nations to literally drink of the wine of the literal wrath of her fornication? I thought wine came from grapes not wrath (of course there is that famous novel, The Grapes of Wrath).

Chapter 15, Are the seven last global plagues and catastrophes really contained in seven literal tiny gold vials or bottles?

Chapter 16, Is Jesus Christ going to return to this earth as a literal "thief"? Will every island and mountain on earth literally disappear?

Chapter 17, Will there really be a woman who will ride a literal scarlet coloured beast, having seven heads and ten horns. Can whole nations literally fornicate with a harlot? But here once more in this chapter God does reveal to us who this beast is and what the symbolic horns represent which again

proves that ALL OF THESE THINGS are not literal but symbolic and represent things other than what is being described.

Chapter 18, Will the entire social, political, and economic system of the world literally collapse in just one hour because one literal city (Babylon) is destroyed?

Chapter 19, Will a literal prostitute "corrupt" the entire earth? Will a literal "lamb" marry a literal "wife?" Will the King of the universe really wear clothing dripping with literal "blood?" Is God s wrath a literal "winepress?" Will literal armies of heaven follow Christ to earth riding on literal "flying horses?" No, NONE of these things are literal!

Any theologian or preacher on international television would be laughed to scorn if he were to preach a sermon trying to prove that all of the above Scriptures are to be taken absolutely literally. Such a sermon would be seen as foolish by nearly everyone. No educated man in the Word of God would ever dare to present anything so STUPID!

And yet ... and YET, when we come to verse 20: will a literal beast and a literal false prophet be cast alive into a literal "lake of fire burning with brimstone?" How do these same theologians and preachers answer? They answer: "Yes, of course they will be thrown into a literal lake of fire, because THIS IS LITERAL."

Chapter 20, Will the devil, the false prophet and the beast be cast into a literal lake of fire and be literally tortured day and night "FOR EVER AND EVER"?

And will all those not found written in the book of life be cast into a literal lake of fire? Answer: "Yes, THIS TOO IS LITERAL, ABSOLUTELY LITERAL," shout our fundamentalist friends once more.

Chapter 21, And will the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, be cast into a literal "lake of fire burning with brimstone?" "Yes, Yes, A THOUSAND TIMES YES, THIS IS SOOO LITERAL, ABSOLUTELY TOTALLY LITERAL" shouts every red-blooded fundamentalist worth his salt!

Amazing. Absolutely amazing--the power of the carnal mind to self-deceive. Why are fundamentalists totally sure that these verses on a lake of fire are literal? Well, of course, they aren't sure; they just pretend to be sure. They desire with their whole heart and being that this lake of fire is real fire. Why? Because the eternal torture of billions of men and women and boys and girls in some fabled hellhole doesn t "diminish" them one iota! They want people who don t believe as they believe to have their flesh barbecued over fire and brimstone for all eternity. The very idea gives them great joy. And it makes them proud. They have no love for sinners as God does. They hate sinners. They hate unbelievers. They love only themselves. They pronounce CURSES on me for quoting Scriptures that show God will save everyone. They highly disapprove of God being the saviour of the whole world. They won t hear of it; they won t have it! They don t approve of a God Who would save everyone by bringing them to repentance, and purging them, and turning their hearts to God. If God were to save everyone through the purging of his SPIRITUAL FIRE, then they could not wag their fingers at all these people sizzling and popping like bacon in a hot skillet saying, "I told you so, I told you so..." for all eternity. Hussein and Bin Laden are not the only ones out there with depraved religious minds.

God did not write nineteen whole chapters of Revelation giving us symbol after symbol and metaphor after metaphor, and then in chapter 20 switch to writing in literal language with literal meanings.

The book of Revelation was "signified" by the use of signs and symbols. Signs and symbols always represent or mean something other than the sign or symbol itself. We are all familiar with symbols and signs so that we should never be confused as to what a sign or symbol is or is not. A red and white striped barber s pole is not a barber shop, neither is it a barber, but it is a sign or symbol that immediately conveys to our understanding what it represents--namely a barber shop with a barber.

There are many more Scriptures that will prove that this lake of fire has a much more benevolent purpose than barbecuing human flesh for all eternity for the sheer sick and depraved entertainment of Christian Fundamentalists.

Be it known however, that the lake of fire and the second death DO INDEED picture something spiritual that relates to or has some properties of, LITERAL FIRE and LITERAL DEATH. Without some similar properties, the metaphor would be meaningless. I have read some extremely complex definitions of a metaphor which were totally wrong. A metaphor is where one thing is said to BE something else. Here s a Scriptural example: "All flesh is grass" (I Pet. 1:24). That s simple enough. Now then, is that statement by Peter true? Yes, of course, it is true. Is it literally true? No, it is not literally true. Then how do we know for sure what there is ABOUT this metaphor that is true? If a metaphor is not literally true, how is it true at all?

MAKING THE SIMPLE COMPLICATED

Reading some theories about the meaning of metaphors causes me to think of the man who when describing the feats of a circus performer stated: "He performs feats of ease with the greatest of difficulty." It is absolutely amazing how theologians can make relatively easy to understand principles seem most difficult. I will now show you an exercise of just such grammatical gymnastics. It s just three very short paragraphs, so indulge me and I will try to simplify the whole thing immediately thereafter.

Here then is a complicated example from "Concordant Studies--The Lake of Fire" page 9:

"The lake of fire is the second death. That is, the lake of fire is the cause of, or the agency which produces, the second death. This represents that. The idea is, the lake of fire--by figure of association in which the cause is put for the effect--represents the second death. This is a compound figure. That is, it incorporates more than one figure of speech. In such a case as this, is itself is also a figure of speech. Instead of its literal significance (which denotes existence), is, as a symbolic metaphor, means represent. The concept is this: Part A represents Part B; thus Part A symbolizes Part B. As a symbol of Part B, Part A itself has become a figure."

From page 10:

"The lake of fire, which, by virtue of being its cause, thus, represents the second death." "In the interpretation of a metaphor, the goal is to take note of the essential way in which the symbolic subject is like the literal predicate. Indeed, if in the presence of a symbolic, subject-expression, the meaning of the predicate-expression were itself unknowable--which would be the case if the predicate expression were a figure of speech--it would be impossible to note the likeness between the two."

And finally, from page 11:

"When one thing (or things) which represents another thing, is finally said to be that other thing, whether or not the representative thing itself is a literal entity, in any case, that which it finally represents consists in a literal expression and is a literal entity." (Italics is author s throughout).

Okay, did you get all that? I want to just borrow a few statements from the above explanation of a metaphor and see if these things be so or not. Trust me, we will get through this quickly: "The lake of fire, which, by virtue of being its cause, thus, represents the second death.

"...the symbolic subject [the lake of fire] is like the literal predicate [the second death]."

When one thing (or things) [in this case the lake of fire] which represents another thing [in this case the second death], is finally said to be that other thing [the second death], whether or not the representative thing itself is a literal entity [second death], in any case, that which it finally represents consists in a literal expression and is a literal entity [a LITERAL second death]."

KEEPING THE SIMPLE , SIMPLE

Must we all be theologians with a 150 IQ to understand these things? That leaves me out.

Let s just take a couple of very simple metaphors from the Scriptures and apply the above conclusions to them. Here s a simple one:

"All life is grass" (I Pet. 1:24).

Can we apply the first deduction made by the author quoted above? Let s try it:

"All life is [that is, REPRESENTS] grass."

No, this is clearly not true, anymore than all life REPRESENTS trees, or all life REPRESENTS worms, or any other thing! We can certainly use the word "represents" with reference to metaphors, but not in the way the above author does. It is wrong to say that the subject of a metaphor "represents" the predicate, and it is equally wrong to say that the predicate of a metaphor "represents" the subject. Neither is true.

However, both the subject AND the predicate TOGETHER, do "represent" something. And THAT S why it is called a metaphor rather than a statement of fact!

What about number 2: The subject of a metaphor is symbolic, while the predicate is literal Let s try this out on our sample metaphor:

"All [SYMBOLIC] life [the subject] is [LITERAL] grass [the predicate]."

No, that doesn t work either. How in the world can "symbolic life" BE "literal grass?"

And now number 3: Is it true that the subject of a metaphor must "represent" something that "...consists in a literal expression and is a literal entity"? Nope. Not true. All life is not LITERALLY grass! PEOPLE are not grass, ELEPHANTS are not grass, BIRDS are not grass, FISH are not grass, BACTERIA are not grass, and a thousand other forms of life are NOT literal grass! Am I going too fast for anyone?

Earlier I stated that most believe one of the following:

The lake of fire is literal and the second death is literal, or the lake of fire is literal but the second death is symbolic, or the lake of fire is symbolic (with literal fire) but the second death is literal.

I believe that the lake of fire AND the second death are both symbolic and figurative language.

Is it true that one part of a metaphor must be literal or there is no way to understand the metaphor? No, that is not true. Let me give you an example that I doubt many have really meditated on:

"Now at their eating, Jesus, taking the bread, and, blessing, breaks it, and, giving to the disciples, said, Take eat [this bread], This [bread] IS my body" (Matt. 26:26).

The greatest minds in theology have haggled for hundreds of years over this metaphor that Christ used at the last supper. Does the bread literally turn into the body flesh of Christ when we eat that bread as the Catholic faith demands? What a silly question. IT S A METAPHOR! And the idea that one of the two parts of a metaphor must be literal is likewise silly.

In this metaphor, the bread is a symbol. Is there anyone who cannot recognize that Christ used bread from the table as a "symbol" of something? Then when used as a symbol, neither can it be any longer literal. Is there anyone who cannot recognize that Christ used His own body as a "symbol" of something? Then when used as a symbol it neither can be any longer literal. That being said then, the bread is symbolic AND Christ s body is also symbolic! Jesus used literal "bread" from the table and used the literal words "my body." When Jesus picked up the bread and broke it, no one thought that He was talking about CHEESE! When Jesus said, "my body," no one thought He was speaking of His clothing or His shoes. Everyone at that table knew what "bread" was and what Christ s "body" was. However ... HOWEVER, Christ used the words "bread" and "my body" in a METAPHOR! He said, "Take eat, this [bread] IS My body." That my friends is a METAPHOR! And as a metaphor, neither the bread nor Christ s body is to be taken literally! "I am the BREAD OF LIFE..." (John 6:35).

We do NOT eat physical bread to partake of the symbolic or spiritual life-giving food of Christ s body. Nor would we be partaking of spiritual or symbolic bread by eating Christ s literal flesh and blood body. Can we not see that neither part of a metaphor must always be literal. The bread is used as a symbol because literal bread is called the staff of life. Christ s body is used in this metaphor because our spiritual nourishment comes from no other source but Jesus Christ. They say that we are what we eat. When we partake of the real staff of life--the spiritual food of Christ s body, we ourselves BECOME the very body of Christ ourselves!

Here s the Scriptural proof:

"I am the BREAD OF LIFE..." (John 6:35).

"For we, who are many, are ONE BREAD, ONE BODY, for we all are partaking of the ONE BREAD" (I Cor. 10:17).

"The Jews, then, murmured concerning Him, that He said, I AM the Bread which descends out of heaven." (John 6:41).

"I am the living Bread ... Now the Bread also, which I shall be giving for the sake of the life of the world IS MY FLESH" (John 6:51).

But just as most are totally blind regarding the meaning of Scriptural metaphors today, they were also ignorant of Christ s words when He spoke them:

"The Jews, then, fought with one another, saying, HOW THEN CAN THIS ONE GIVE US HIS FLESH TO EAT?" (John 6:52)

They also thought that metaphors were LITERAL! Christ is the Bread that came down FROM HEAVEN, not the bread that comes from wheat out of the ground. Christ is NO LONGER flesh and blood. He has been raised with a SPIRITUAL BODY

I Cor. 15:44, "...it is raised A SPIRITUAL BODY."

Besides "flesh and blood CANNOT inherit the Kingdom of God."

We partake of Christ s spiritual body, not literal flesh, blood and muscle protein.

If we fight and argue as the foolish Jews did over what part of metaphor must be literal, we will learn nothing. If we can t understand a simple metaphor as "Take eat, this [bread] IS my body," how will we ever understand "The lake of fire which IS the second death?"

I don t wish to belabor this point, but it is of paramount importance and sometimes if we would hunger and thirst after righteousness, there is definitely some labor involved.

The easiest way I know to explain a metaphor is to simply state how metaphors are used, and it all becomes rather simple. If Peter s statement that "all life is grass" is not literally true, then why say it? Why use it? Because when we understand metaphors, they speak volumes about a subject in just a very few words--much like poetry. "All life is grass" means that all life is like grass IN CERTAIN WAYS. That s it! That s just how simple it is. Life is like grass in certain ways, in that it is fragile, easily killed, short-lived, here today; gone tomorrow, etc. But, on the other hand, ALL life is NOT like grass in certain other ways. Not all life is attached to the ground, unintelligent, and colored green! Am I going too fast for anyone?

PHYSICAL FIRE VERSUS SPIRITUAL FIRE

Without realizing it, those who defend a literal fire in this judgment of God will have a very hard time showing that anyone can be "tormented day and night for ever and ever" in a literal fire. If the fire is literal, then the idea that anyone could be tormented for ever and ever is totally impossible! How so? We will see.

Notice who is thrown into this lake of fire: "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet ... These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone" (Rev. 19:20).

If the beast and false prophet are humans, then a real lake of fire would BURN THEM UP making it impossible for them to be tortured for ever and ever! If the beast and false prophet are supernatural, superhuman, or spirit in nature, then physical fire CANNOT HARM THEM in any way. So, if the fire is literal, it can serve NO useful purpose!

"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire..." (Rev. 20:10).

As this is Satan, he is a spirit, and therefore CANNOT be tortured with REAL FIRE! Real, physical fire has NO effect on SPIRIT! Since God "makes His angels SPIRITS; His ministers a FLAMING FIRE" (Psalm 104:4), it isn t likely that the Head of the "sinning angels" would be the least bit hurt by literal fire!

"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written

in the books, according to their works. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:12 & 15).

"The dead, small and great" are mortals resurrected to judgment and are still mortal. Therefore physical fire will BURN THEM UP, hence there can be NO torture or torment for ever and ever.

So now what will our fundamentalist friends do with this evidence? Real, physical, literal fires, BURN UP physical bodies! And, real, physical, literal fires CANNOT burn or harm spiritual bodies! Sorry, but that s just the way it is!

But these verses say that there is "fire" and that those in it are "tormented." So what kind of fire are we talking about and what kind of torment are we talking about? First, the fire.

If this lake of fire is not real, physical, literal fire, is there then such a thing as "figurative fire" or "spiritual fire?" I m so glad you asked. As a matter of Scriptural fact, yes there is such a thing as "figurative and spiritual fire." Let s start with the most profound Scripture regarding spiritual fire. As we all know, "God IS SPIRIT" (John 4:24). But have you never read:

"For our God IS A CONSUMING FIRE" (Heb. 12:29)!

God has shown Himself to be not only a fire, but a CONSUMING FIRE all through the Scriptures. You will be amazed how often God speaks of fire in bringing judgment on humanity. ALL IS OF GOD, II Cor. 5:18, Rom. 11:36, Eph. 1:11, etc. God IS a consuming FIRE.

God IS this lake of fire!

But since it is not literal fire, what does it burn? What does it consume? -- It is the "works of the flesh" that made sinners of those thrown into the lake of fire in the first place. And we shall see from the Scriptures that it is these very works of the flesh that are consumed in this lake of fire. And don t think for a moment that it is not a most painful and tormenting experience to have one s carnal mind with all

its ungodly passions, thoughts and deeds, burned clean and pure by the consuming fire of God s Holy Spirit!

God doesn t change. He will use the same method in the day of judging at the white throne as He uses on US. Although the intensity will get considerably more severe for those who blaspheme till the end.

We are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8). However, that does not purge us from all our filthy thoughts and deeds. No, there is more. There is also a consuming FIRE that God uses on us:

"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is JESUS CHRIST. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, WOOD, HAY, STUBBLE; Every man s work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed BY FIRE; and the FIRE shall TRY EVERY MAN S WORK of what sort it is. If any man s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man s work shall be BURNED, he shall SUFFER LOSS; but [pay close attention to this BIG BUT] BUT HE HIMSELF [the one who had his works burned and consumed in God s consuming fire] SHALL BE SAVED [What will save him?], yet so AS BY FIRE" (I Cor. 3:11-15)!!!

Ah dear readers, can we begin to understand the workings of God? God consumes with fire, the wood, hay and stubble in our lives. The things that don t deserve to continue. But he REFINES the gold, silver, and precious stones (those doctrines and godly character traits of God s spirit that abide the fire). It is figurative language, it is an analogy, it is a parable, it is metaphorical (where one thing is called another thing). Our lives have either qualities of character (which are likened to gold and precious stones, things of value to refine and retain), or gross lacks in character (which are likened to wood, hay, and stubble and which are not worthy to retain or preserve).

And just as real literal fire is used to refine and purify gold and precious metals, so God s SPIRITUAL FIRE refines and purifies us from our sinful and carnal nature. And likewise, as real literal fire is used to burn up wood and stubble, so God s all consuming SPIRITUAL FIRE will consume and burn up all the impurities in our life. These things MUST DIE. This purging is the SECOND DEATH. And whether the person God subjects to His consuming fire has many good qualities or none, the person himself shall be purged, purified, and SAVED BY GOD S ALL-CONSUMING SPIRITUAL FIRE!!! We just read it in God s Holy Word. How can any deny it? Every person who has ever lived will be subjected to the cleaning fire of God s spirit.

God is the JUDGE (Rev. 20;12). NOT Satan. This judgment throne is "WHITE" not black! God judges in righteousness.

"He shall judge the world with RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Psalm 96:13)

"Because He [God] hath appointed a day, in which He will judge the world in RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Acts 17:31)

Next I present a Scripture that many fundamentalists hate. I ll bet if you attended a fundamentalist church, you never heard a sermon on this verse. We read that God has appointed a day (a period of time) in which He will "JUDGE" the whole world. Revelation 20:10-15 IS THAT DAY OF JUDGMENT! Now we know that those not found in the book of life will be put into FIRE, and they will be TORMENTED. This is certainly part of this judgment. But it is not literal fire. Literal fire burns up physical things and literal fire cannot harm spiritual things. So what does the fire do or accomplish? MUCH!

This judgment in Revelation 20 IS that worldwide judgment spoken of in many prophecies. But is the purpose of this worldwide judgment to torture people by burning their flesh in real fire for all eternity? Is that HOW God judges in "righteousness"? Absolutely not. We just read where God burns up our fleshly WORKS, and this is "tormenting" for sure. But God does not torture our flesh for all eternity. Don t get me wrong, there will be severe chastisements on those who despise God and His Savior and His Gospel. But out of their ashes will come salvation. Here is another marvelous Scripture which answers what happens to sinning humanity when God JUDGES THE WORLD in righteousness.

"For he [GOD] bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low, HE LAYETH IT LOW, even to the ground, he bringeth it even to the dust" (Isa. 26:5)

Make no mistake, God will judge the wicked with great severity. However, ALWAYS FOR A BENEVOLENT PURPOSE:

"With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when Thy judgments are in the earth, THE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD WILL LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Isaiah 26:9)!!

There will come a time when those who only knew how to blaspheme the name of God, will come to LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS. They will not just "hear" of righteousness, no, they will actually "LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS"!

The whole book of Isaiah speaks of judgments on Israel and on the nations. But the end of all these judgments is SALVATION TO ALL. Notice Isa. 45:22-23,

"Look unto me, and BE YE SAVED, ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness [as in, For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; Who WILL HAVE ALL MEN TO BE SAVED, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth, I Tim. 2:3-4] , and shall not return, That unto me EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW, EVERY TONGUE SHALL SWEAR" (See also: Phil. 2: 9-11 & I Cor. 12:3).

God s words will NOT return empty or void. When God speaks, it will be done. When God wills, it will be done. When God desires, His desires WILL BE DONE:

"Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, MY COUNSEL SHALL STAND, and I WILL DO ALL MY PLEASURE ... I have spoken it, I WILL ALSO BRING IT TO PASS; I HAVE PURPOSED IT, I WILL ALSO DO IT" (Isa. 46:10-11).

Oh the blasphemy of those who teach that God s most heartfelt desires WILL NOT COME TO PASS, but will utterly fail!!! Jesus Christ is not the potential Savior of the world; He IS THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD!!! HE WILL SAVE THE WORLD!!!

How many self-appointed, bible-thumping, doomsday, fire and brimstone, eternal torture in hell preachers believe these verses in Isaiah? Not one that I know of! Most Christians have never been taught the Scriptures that I am giving you. These things are despised by many who call themselves "Christian." And yet, God s Word is FULL of such statements of God s salvation to all. THE REAL ORIGIN OF SIN

I heard a world-famous televangelist say in his sermon that it was never God s intention that Adam and Eve disobey His command and sin by eating of the forbidden tree. Most Christians would agree. They think God did not want Adam to sin; and Adam did not need to sin. If Adam had not sinned, we would all be living in a giant Garden of Eden to this very day. We would be in perfect health, there would be no sorrow, we would have pleasure twenty-four hours a day, we would never die, we would be happy and God too would be happy.

If Adam had shown just a little restraint the world wouldn t be in the giant mess it is in today. Oh really? Well, why then didn t Adam exercise restraint? What went wrong? Did the first humans malfunction? Was there a flaw in their original design? God was the Designer; is God to blame? Not according to Christendom. Is He at least responsible? Not according to Christendom. But why not?

Now listen carefully. Here is wisdom beyond its years. When a scientist creates an experiment or machine that malfunctions, is he responsible for the malfunction? Yes. Does he hold the experiment or machine responsible? No. Does he hold God responsible? No. Okay.

Now then, according to Christendom, when God creates an experiment or machine that malfunctions, is He responsible for the malfunction? No. Does He hold the experiment or machine responsible? Yes. Does He hold man responsible? Yes. See the wisdom?

I have just shown you one reason why God calls the WISDOM of this world STUPIDITY!

"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness [Greek: stupidity] with God. For it is written, He takes the wise in their own craftiness" (I Cor. 3:19).

First, Christendom assumes that God s creation of humans malfunctioned -- it did NOT!

Second, they assume that God is not responsible and does not take responsibility -- He DOES!

One unscriptural assumption added to another unscriptural assumption does not equal a Bible Truth!

Few indeed have ever stopped long enough to consider that just maybe God intended for the world to be in the hellish mess that we find it. Not for all eternity, but for the present, for a period of time, for a great purpose. It just seems so wrong to Christian thought to believe that God would have purposed such an evil and unhappy world. But look at the alternative. Are we to believe that God tried (albeit unsuccessfully) to make a good creation, but was unaware of its potential to run amok? And ever since, God must therefore either lack the love for humanity to straighten it out, or He lacks the power and ability. But either way it disowns God s sovereignty and presents us with a God Who either CANNOT or WILL NOT STOP THE INSANITY! They would have us believe that God s solution to rid the world of sin and evil is to torture most of humanity in fire for all eternity.

The whole idea is blasphemous. If a carnal-minded human can take responsibility for an invention that malfunctions, I submit that God is bigger and more responsible than puny man. Be it known to all that God takes full responsibility for His creation, and absolutely nothing in His creation is malfunctioning. Here s the proof:

If a thousand Christians were given the assignment to write an essay describing the world as it was after God completed it, but before man sinned, I am positive that we would get one thousand essays describing the unbelievable beauty, harmony, and perfection of all creation including man and beast. However, would such essays be based on the Scriptures? Let s look at a little understood Scripture.

"For the creature [and/or creation itself] was MADE subject to VANITY NOT WILLINGLY, but by reason of Him [that s God] Who HATH SUBJECTED the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the BONDAGE OF CORRUPTION into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the WHOLE CREATION groans and travails IN PAIN until NOW" (Rom. 8:20-22)!

Wow! Did you know that Scripture is in the Bible? Have you ever meditated at length on its meaning? This one Scripture does much damage to Christian doctrine. From a strictly carnal-minded approach, this Scripture is devastating. Let s see what these words entail from Strong s GREEK DICTIONARY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT:

VANITY: empty, profitless, vain, transientness [temporary], depravity [wickedness].

BONDAGE: slavery, subjection, subserviency.

CORRUPTION: shrivel, wither, spoil, ruin, deprave, defile, destroy, decay, perish

GROAN: moan, calamity, be in straits, murmur, grief, grudge, anguish.

TRAVAIL: pangs, to pain together, travail as in birth.

PAIN: anguish, toil for daily subsistence, starving.

The force of these verses in Rom. 8:20-22 is inescapable. It was God HIMSELF Who subjected the whole creation to vanity, and He didn t ask anyone s permission before He did it. And it is only God Himself Who will deliver the whole creation from the bondage of corruption, pain, and suffering. Make no mistake about it: God is the Creator of evil, and He takes full responsibility for the deliverance from the consequences of all the evils that have caused the creation to "groan and travail in PAIN until NOW" as Paul describes. God takes responsibility for the temporary failures of creation so that He can take all the credit and glory for its successes.

And most of the glory that God will receive is from the glory that He gives to all mankind.

It was not possible for Satan NOT TO SIN -- he was created for the express purpose of being God s Adversary, and so, of course, he was a sinner "FROM THE BEGINNING"!

It was not possible for Adam and Eve NOT TO SIN -- they were created for the express purpose of being molded into the "image of God;" and so of course, they had to eat of the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil or they would have NEVER reached this first spiritual step in becoming LIKE GOD (in His IMAGE,) a step of paramount DIVINE REQUISITE:

"And the LORD God said, Behold [consider, to perceive, to know, to understand], the man is BECOME AS ONE OF US [Hebrew for God is elohiym which is the plural of elowahh, hence us ], TO KNOW GOOD AND EVIL..." (Gen. 3:22).

Knowing "good and evil" is one of the most essential requisites in being formed in the image of God. To truly "know" both good and evil they HAD to partake of its source, which was the "TREE of the knowledge of good and evil," which then DEMANDED that they SIN in order to obtain this "knowledge." NO OTHER TREE IN THE GARDEN POSSESSED THIS NEEDED KNOWLEDGE!

And so it was GOD, and none other than GOD, Who intended from the beginning that Satan and man SIN! That does not make God a sinner, for a sin is a "mistake," a "missing of the mark," a "falling short of the glory of God," and God has NEVER MADE A MISTAKE OR FALLEN SHORT OF TOTAL PERFECTION! God knew what He was doing and how things would turn out BEFORE He created ANYTHING! "Declaring the end from the beginning..." (Isa. 46:10). Satan and man are "accountable" for their sins, because they sinned willingly from their heart, but God takes "responsibility" for their sins, and therefore had already provided them a Saviour BEFORE the foundation of the world:

"But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was FOREORDAINED BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, but was manifested in these last times for you" (I Pet. 1:19-20).

"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb [Christ] slain from the FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD" (Rev. 13:8).

Is anyone so naive and blind as to believe that God had prepared a Lamb, a Sacrifice, His SON, to be slain for the sins of the world at a time when theologians would have us believe God didn t even KNOW there was shortly coming such a thing as SIN? God knew; God is smart! It was God Who created the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was God Who placed it right in the middle of the garden to catch Eve s eye. It was God Who made the tree particularly attractive and desirable. It was God who placed in the humans the desires and passions that would CAUSE them to partake of the forbidden fruit. It was God who placed Satan the serpent in the garden to tempt Eve and fill her head with the glories of enlightenment. It was God Who had ALREADY made preparation for their salvation through the slain Lamb of God.

Only ignorant and foolish theologians would ever charge God of being ignorant of the conduct and behavior of His own creation. It was not the temptation or deception entering INTO Eve that caused her

to sin and bring separation from her Creator and God. It was what was already in her that caused her to sin. Proof:

"For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies" (Mat. 15:19).

Notice it: "And when the woman saw [in her heart] that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eye [in her heart], and a tree to be desired [in her heart] to make one wise [an idol of the heart], she took [ For out of the heart proceed ... thefts... ] of the fruit thereof, and did eat" (Gen. 3:6).

Did you notice that last phrase "...and did eat"? It was not the "eating" of the fruit that made her a sinner -- she had ALREADY sinned by looking, lusting, and fantasizing about her potential wisdom. It was AFTER she sinned that she "did eat."

The good news is that all of our suffering is for a grand purpose and will ultimately bring huge rewards. Just two verses before, Paul tells us how God subjected the whole creation to these many evils and he gives us this comforting thought:

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time [ groaning and travailing in pain together until now Ver 22] are not worthy to be compared with the GLORY which shall be revealed in US" (Ver. 18).

ONLY GOD IS RESPONSIBLE

I am going to cover considerable Scriptural material in this series that many may not think directly relates to the Lake of Fire-Second Death. Trust me, it does. It will be of little value for me to just technically prove from the Scriptures that God does not eternally torture anyone in the lake of firesecond death, or anywhere else for that matter.

In the light of today's spiritual darkness and global apostasy, it is most needful to understand some basic spiritual truths before launching into a word-for-word explanation of the dozen or so verses related to the lake of fire-second death. We will do that, but before we do, we are going to learn a great deal

about God, life, death, the Scriptures, the purpose for our existence, and the destiny of the whole human race. All in one paper? I ll try to hit the high spots.

Most Christians have a one-sided and often evil concept of judgment. They think of it primarily as a negative and horrible thing that wicked people must go through before being sentenced to some fabled fiery hellhole of torture and eternal damnation.

Judgment is not reserved exclusively for the wicked, nor is it a one-sided sentence of doom. There are many problems with the orthodox teaching of judgment. Much emphasis is placed on a few Scriptures taken out of the context of all of God s counsel regarding judgment. The subject is too large even for this paper. However, I will try to present both sides of judgment.

Judgment has both a positive and a negative side. That, is judgment itself contains both. The result of the two faces of judgment, however, I am happy to report, will not perpetuate the dual masks of comedy and tragedy for all eternity, but rather a "smiley face" for all.

If people could only see that God is not a carnal-minded human as themselves. He is GOD -- The Great Creator, Sustainer, and Saviour of all -- GOD! God has a plan, a procedure, and a purpose for this creation. Precious few have even a basic understanding of what it is. Nothing in creation is out of control from God s perspective. Nothing ever surprises God or catches Him off guard. God does not view the activity of His creation from His celestial vantage point unaware of what people will do next. God knows all in advance. God doesn t just know what "will" happen in the future, He causes all that will happen in the future. God IS the future. God is the Alpha and the Omega -- He IS the beginning; He IS the end, and nothing can be different from what God says MUST BE.

We have got to get away from the "God allows certain things" mentality and syndrome. God CREATES, God DESTROYS, God HEALS, God KILLS, God CAUSES, God BRINGS ABOUT, God SAVES. God does not "allow" things that He has not foreordained to be! This popular doctrine among the religions of the world is utter unscriptural foolishness. The teaching suggests that man does things that God had no previous knowledge of, does not approve of, wishes would have never happened, but nonetheless, He "allows" them. Certainly He "allows" them in as much as He does not "disallow" them, but this still begs the question as to their true origin. God is the Creator, not Satan.

"For OF Him, and THROUGH Him, and TO Him, are all things: to Whom be glory for ever. Amen" (KJV Rom. 11:36).

"Seeing that OUT of Him and THROUGH Him and FOR Him is all..." (Concordant Version).

Does this also include EVIL?

"That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside Me, I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, AND CREATE EVIL: I the LORD do ALL THESE THINGS" (Isaiah 45:6-7).

There are many many things in life that are very hard to accept and deal with in our weakened spiritual state. I cannot, after all this time, get the images of the Twin Towers collapsing on thousands of people, out of my mind. Or maybe even worse, the men, women and children in the four planes that knew they were destined to a violent disintegration in fire! I get teary-eyed every time I think of it. It is extremely traumatic to contemplate. And now another shuttle disaster! One at the hands of evil terrorists; the other an accident, fate, providence? But what is gained by trying to take all of these things out of the realm of God s responsibility? God and God only has the "ability-to-respond." Man is not running God s creation, God is. How can anyone doubt it?

We all have our own personal financial, health, social, mental, and spiritual trials in addition to thousands of other problems in our home, community, state, nation and world which can easily overwhelm us if we are not well grounded. Do we think all these things just invented themselves and brought themselves into existence? I tell you No; these are all the design of an all-wise God.

People freely admit that God knows every sparrow that falls, the individual names of one hundred billion billion stars, and the number of hairs on five and one half billion people s head at any given second of the day, but that He is, nonetheless, just not concerned with the smaller details of your life.

FATE OF THE SHUTTLE VICTIMS

Let s reflect for a moment on the Space Shuttle. It was heart-wrenching to say the least in realizing that there were seven astronauts in that shuttle which we all watched dozens of times from different videos tracking its re-entry. Some of them on board were professed Christians. But for sure one, Col. Ilan Ramon, was a Jew who did not profess Jesus as His Saviour. So when the rubber hits the road, where does Christian doctrine stand on Col. Ramon s eternal destiny?

Did not all of Israel show extreme remorse over their fallen Son and Hero? Yes they did -- I saw them myself! Did peoples from all around the world show remorse for his death? Yes they did. Did people all over America show remorse and profound sorrow over his death (along with the others, of course?) Yes, we all saw it on national TV. Did you show remorse for this Jewish Astronaut who gave his life in service to his country? I am sure you did. And I can testify to the fact that I certainly did and still do. Regardless of his religious affiliation, was not Col. Ramon a brave, smart, loving, astronaut and family man? Now then, what about God? Does God love Col. Ramon as much as his family, friends, and country did? What happens to fine young Jewish men like Col. Ramon when they die without accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour? According to Christian theology, where is Col. Ramon now that he is dead? You will now see some of the reasons why I breathe and why I write these papers.

A FAMOUS THEOLOGIAN S VIEW OF THE GOSPEL

Christendom teaches that when a person dies in his sins, without repenting or accepting Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour, that person is then doomed to the damnation of the fires of hell for all eternity! And it matters not whether that person was a loving husband, a loving father, or a fearless hero for his nation. According to this immutable Christian doctrine of eternal torment, Col. Ramon is right now burning and suffering unspeakable torture in the fires of some eternal hell. Why? Because he was Jewish and not Christian by religion, that s why. Would these Christian theologians and preachers get on international television and tell their audiences that since Col. Ramon was Jewish that he is now burning in the fires of an eternal hell, and that God will never, ever let him out or ever show the slightest mercy on him? Not in a million years. Does anyone believe that the words "hypocrite" and "coward" are inappropriate here?

Let me give you a few quotations regarding the gospel from world famous preacher, teacher, author, and theologian, Dr. James Kennedy. All italics are Dr. Kennedy s.

"This is the light of Christ. It is the light of grace, and it is not incumbent upon God to extend it to everyone. Let us make it very clear that it is not incumbent upon God to extend it to anyone."

"Therefore, the light of Christ is not extended to everyone..."

"And thus we see the exclusivity of the Gospel..."

"But because God extends it [the light of Christ] to some does not mean He must extend it to any other."

"He [God] doesn t have to be gracious or merciful to any guilty sinner..."

"So the idea that God owes to everyone some offer of mercy is totally foreign from [to?] the Bible."

"The great Charles Spurgeon said that the amazing thing is not that everybody isn t saved; the amazing thing is that anybody is saved."

"Heavenly Father, I pray that your Spirit will give us a clear vision of the plight of the lost -- those who are on their way to eternal perdition, to damnation forever."

The above quotations are from a Sermon by James Kennedy, A.B., M.Div., M.Th., D.D., D.Sac.Lit., PhD., Litt.D., D.Sac.Theol., D.Humane Let., entitled: What About Those Who Have Never Heard? Without a doubt, this is the most blasphemous and evil sermon I have ever heard in my 62-year life! But are we not learning that even these bad sermons that blaspheme God s character are also God s intention? His greatest enemies and adversaries always included "the shepherd," the "Scribes," the "priests," and those inimitable religious leaders in every era -- The Pharisees!

I thought that it was fitting and a nice gesture of our President to state that although the astronauts did not make it back to earth, his prayer was that they are "ALL SAFELY HOME!" He is of the Christian faith, but he did not assign Col. Ramon to the fires of hell for his Jewish non-Christian faith. I believe there are many Christians that wouldn t touch the despicable doctrines of a James Kennedy with a ten foot pole. It s true; they are safely home. They are all in God s keeping. They are all asleep (there are dozens of Scriptures that say that the dead are sleeping until resurrection) awaiting the resurrection of the dead.

And those that were not believers will be judged. That judging will involve the lake of fire which is the second death. But does that mean that Col. Ramon and any other nonbelievers will be tortured for all eternity? Remember that fateful day when all of our hearts went out to Col. Ramon s and his six companions? Remember how that NASA and our whole nation would have done ANYTHING at ANY expense if we could have saved them? Remember how you felt? But the big question to answer now is how will GOD feel when Col. Ramon stands before the judgment seat of Christ?

Will God hate Col. Ramon for being deceived and not accepting Christ as his Saviour? Will God teach Col. Ramon His truths so that he too can know the Truth (Jesus) and be set free? Or will He throw Col. Ramon (along with ALL his Jewish family members and the WHOLE NATION of Jesus rejecting Jews) into a lake of fire that will torture their flesh with steel-melting fire for all eternity? Do the high priests of Christendom really have Scriptures that contradict the hundred or so Scriptures I have quoted in this present paper? Is there a single Scripture in the entirety of the Bible that actually says God will torture anyone for all eternity? There is NO such Scripture and NO such thought. You will all see the proof before this series is finished.

The fate of Col. Ramon according to the teaching of Christendom is inescapable. Since he rejected Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour, he is right now this minute screaming his guts out in the fires of hell in agonizing pain and terror far worse than the horrors of his space shuttle breaking up and burning upon re-entry into the earth's atmosphere! That, my dear readers, is what their teaching demands. Will Col. Ramon go from burning up in reentry, to burning in hell until judgment, and then be transferred to the lake of fire to burn for all eternity? Is this mercy s destiny? This is unscriptural insanity.

I am not out of touch with the realities of real life. I would be happy to swap war stories with any of you. I know that there are many things in life that are hard, and painful, and difficult to endure. Why are these things here, who is responsible, and where will it all end? There is a way to understand these things from God s perspective. He has not left us in the dark as to the source, meaning, and purpose of all the evil in the world today even though things are often difficult to emotionally and spiritually accept.

I do not hesitate to add, however, that there are also many wonderful and beautiful and loving things in the world as well. I trust most of us don t have too much trouble dealing with the beautiful and loving side of life. It is the painful side of our human experience that is sometimes difficult to believe has a reasonable purpose for its existence. Even our Lord, Who was involved in the creation of all things (Col. 1:15-20), and knew the purpose of all things (Eph. 1:11), and knew that He was to be the Savior of all mankind (I Tim. 2:4), and the Saviour of all creation from vanity, slavery, and corruption (Rom. 8:21),

nonetheless, when seeing Jerusalem headed for utter destruction because of rejecting Him and His gospel, He WEPT over it (Luke 19:41!) God has pity on weak and foolish humanity, whom He Himself has created that way.

Either God Himself is the Creator of good and evil and all that is and will bring about a total healing, restoration, and perfection of all there is, or, God is not the Creator of good and evil and all that is, and therefore is not responsible for the mess the world is in today which supposedly will end with most of humanity going to hell in a hand basket to suffer -- insanely suffer -- for ALL ETERNITY! All Scripture and sanity itself tells us the former is the Truth. Christendom and insanity tells us that the latter is the truth.

DID GOD CREATE AN UNPREDICTABLE WORLD?

Here is one of the most profound Scriptural Truths that you will ever learn. GOD is the originator and Creator of the entire universe and everything that is in it! GOD is responsible for the entire universe and everything that is in it! And to say otherwise is both unscriptural and foolishness.

There are only three possibilities as to why things are the way they are;

Why there is evil and tragedy in the world;

Why people do evil things to other people;

Why the innocent must suffer at the hands of the wicked;

Why people are born with debilitating defects;

Why the whole world lies in spiritual darkness and paganism;

Why billions live and die without ever hearing the name of Jesus Christ their Creator and Saviour;

Why men are often tortured by providence and nature itself which operates completely and independently apart from any man.

When we understand these things we will understand the lake of fire and second death, and a thousand other things that happen in our lives today as well as in the lives of all humanity since Mother Eve!

THREE POSSIBLE ANSWERS

ACCORDING TO ATHEISTS: The human race is the byproduct of a blind, unintelligent, accidental, evolutionary process started billions of years ago by a humongous cosmic BIG BANG. Therefore NO HIGHER POWER is responsible for anything. If anyone believes this, then the Scripture speaks to YOU when it says:

"The FOOL has said in his heart, There IS NO God " (Psalm 53:1).

ACCORDING TO CHRISTENDOM: The human race and angelic messengers are the perfect creation of an all-wise, all-powerful, all-knowing, undeceivable, untrickable, unfoolable, intelligent, and loving GOD. That s the good news. Here s the bad: God s first and most perfect specimen created out of the combined intelligence, power and wisdom of a perfect God, was a great spirit archangel they call, Lucifer. (Incidentally and Scripturally, "Lucifer" was never a proper noun or name for anyone)!

The Christian teaching is that before God ever created the first man, this perfect archangel whom Christians call Lucifer, went bad! He was perfect but he turned bad! He turned into a bad angel (excuse me, archangel.) Did God create him to turn bad? No. Did God know that he would turn bad? No. Did God wish that he hadn t turned bad? Yes. But was there anything God could do about it? No. Why did God s first and greatest creation to that time malfunction? How can a PERFECT creation by a PERFECT Creator ... malfunction? "Houston ... WE HAVE A PROBLEM"! God doesn t have a problem; Christendom has a problem. And it is the BIGGEST single problem in all Christendom! It is huge. It is this very Satanic LIE that has given birth to the most evil doctrines on the face of the earth in the history of the world!

According to this Christian theory [hypothesis,] the very first thing that The Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Creator God made, not only malfunctioned, but turned into a DAMNABLE, DIABOLICAL DEVIL! This devil has ever since, relentlessly wreaked havoc on every facet of God s creation which will consummate with a lake of fire that will continue to insanely torture most of the human race for all eternity! Salvation is pictured as God s nearly vain attempt to salvage but a few from the grasp of this colossal cosmic experiment gone amok! God s Spiritual Frankenstein Monster has turned on Him and His children. And it has already been predetermined that Satan will be the final Victor when all the marbles are counted. Not a pretty picture. This is the god that the world of paganism is supposed to put their eternal confidence in! A god who cannot or will not protect his own children from this cosmic wolf in sheep's clothing. (Small "g" intended.) And you think I am too hard on the doctrines of Christendom? You have no idea.

Hence it is Satan that is supposedly responsible for introducing evil into the world. Satan supposedly chose to disobey God and therefore we also must choose, on our own, by our own power, as to whether we will follow and obey Satan; or follow and obey God. This is the Christian position on this matter of good and evil.

ACCORDING TO GOD AND THE SCRIPTURES: Don t get me wrong, Christendom did not originate this theological problem (Satan did;) they merely continue to parrot the original author. Satan LIES! Yes he does. He is a LIAR, and the FATHER of lies and he has ALWAYS been that way since his CREATION (John 8:44). Satan was NOT "Lucifer" (a supposed perfect archangel) from the beginning; Satan was "Satan" from the beginning. Satan is an EVIL creature. He has been an evil creature from his very creation. Satan is not the result of a Godly experiment gone wrong! Satan is functioning PERFECTLY as God s adversary. Satan is essential to the purpose and salvation of the whole human race. That is why God created him in the first place.

WHENCE SATAN THE DEVIL?

According to Christendom, Satan created himself. He was supposedly a perfect archangel and then CHANGED HIMSELF INTO A DEVIL. Is this Scripturally true? Who created Satan?

You are of your FATHER the DEVIL [the GREAT DRAGON, OLD SERPENT, the DEVIL, and SATAN {Hebrew for Adversary -- I Pet. 5:8} Rev. 12:9], and the lusts of your father ye will do... He was a murderer FROM THE BEGINNING, and abode not in the truth [from the beginning], because there is no truth in him [from the beginning]. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar [from the beginning], and the father [the beginner] of it" (John 8:44).

"Now the SERPENT was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD GOD had MADE..." (Gen. 3:1) God "made" this serpent which TALKED with Eve as an articulate, intelligent creature. Satan did not possess this serpent of the field, Satan was this serpent! Satan doesn t possess snakes! Satan himself was CREATED A SERPENT. Even Paul acknowledges that it was "the SERPENT" that deluded Eve, and not some other creature possessing a snake (II Cor. 11:3).

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between THY SEED and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Gen. 3:15).

This serpent that shall bruise the heel of Eve s seed (singular seed -- Christ) is clearly Satan the Devil who also has seed, "thy seed." Jesus said, "You are of your father the Devil...?" (John 8:44). Satan the Devil has "seed"; he is a "father;" a father has children and followers of like nature. No literal snake ever produced a seed that bruised the heel of Jesus. Snakes do not "eat dust" but Satan dines on mankind "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour [Greek: (lit. or fig.) gulp entirely, swallow up] I Pet. 5:8). And he seeks to devour mankind who are "dust" of the earth ("...for dust thou art...." Gen. 3:19).

"By HIS SPIRIT He hath garnished the heavens; his HAND has FORMED THE CROOKED SERPENT" (Job 26:13). God garnished the heavens by His SPIRIT, because they are a thing of great glory, beauty, and splendor. But the crooked SERPENT God formed by His "hand" -- at ARM'S LENGTH. Thus indicating it was something necessary, but not of His HEART AND SPIRIT! Satan is called "the crooked serpent." This word crooked comes from a Hebrew word that is not translated "crooked" anywhere else in the Bible. The word in Hebrew is bariach, and it means "a fugitive," Strong s #1281. And "fugitive" is from the Hebrew word nuwa, Strong s #5128, among its several meanings are: "to [go] up and down," and "to and fro," and to "sift." Remember that God names things according to what they are and what they do:

(A) "And the LORD [is this a high enough authority for everyone?] Said unto SATAN [not a heretofore archangel,] Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going TO AND FRO in the earth, and from walking UP AND DOWN in it" (Job. 1:7 and 2:2).

It is the "crooked [fugitive] SERPENT" SATAN who goes "TO AND FRO" and "UP AND DOWN" in the earth! God created Satan for this purpose.

(B) "And the LORD said [is this a high enough authority for everyone?], Simon, Simon, behold, SATAN [not a heretofore archangel] hath desired to have you, that he may SIFT you as wheat" (Luke 22:31).

It is the "crooked [fugitive] SERPENT" SATAN who "SIFTS" men like wheat! God created Satan for this purpose.

"Behold, I have created the smith [that s me] that blows the coals in the fire, and that brings forth an instrument for His work, and I have CREATED THE WASTER TO DESTROY" (Isaiah 54:16).

["waster" -- Hebrew: shachath, decay, ruin, batter, cast off, corrupt, destroy, lose, mar, perish, spill spoil -- UTTERLY WASTE, #7843, p. 115, Strong s Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary].

God created the "WASTER," not the archangel who later supposedly became Satan, but from the BEGINNING God said He created "The WASTER" and He created him "TO DESTROY." Now then, WHOSE role is it to "destroy" the flesh of man so that the spirit may be saved?

"In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one UNTO SATAN for DESTRUCTION of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (I Cor. 5:4-5).

It is SATAN who was created from his very beginning to be "the WASTER to DESTROY" men s flesh (carnal mindedness) so that they learn not to blaspheme (I Tim. 1:20). Satan started with Adam and Eve and he isn t finished YET!

"And no marvel [Gk: to wonder with ASTONISHMENT]; for Satan himself is transformed [Gk: meta schematizo, transfigure -- to change the outward form or appearance, to make GLORIOUS] into an ANGEL OF LIGHT" (II Cor. 11:14).

I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded you, though you have not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there none beside Me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, AND CREATE EVIL: I the LORD do ALL [even the creation of evil and even the creation of Satan] THESE THINGS" (Isaiah 45:5-7).

Satan is evil, God created evil, God CREATED SATAN!

"He that commits sin is of the DEVIL [Gk: Adversary, Satan] for the Devil SINS FROM THE BEGINNING. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the WORKS of the Devil" (I John 3:8). So was it AFTER a supposed "Lucifer archangel" metamorphosed into Satan that he sinned, or did Satan the Adversary sin "from the BEGINNING?

Can the high priests of Christendom ever get anything Scripturally correct? They cite Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 (I will write a paper on these two chapters in the near future) as proof that Satan was once a perfect and glorious archangel.

They claim that a PERFECT AND GLORIOUS LIGHT-BRINGING ARCHANGEL CHANGED HIMSELF INTO SATAN THE DEVIL, whereas we just read in the divine, inspired, infallible Word of God that contrariwise, it is SATAN THE DEVIL WHO HAS TRANSFORMED HIMSELF INTO A PERFECT AND GLORIOUS ANGEL OF LIGHT! The Scriptures teach the diametric opposite from what Christendom is teaching. But it is mandatory that they teach this lie, because it is mandatory that they deny every Scripture that says GOD CREATED EVIL or EVIL CREATURES! It doesn t fit their theology. They must find a way that allows God to torture billions of people in fire without being evil Himself or even responsible for doing so. The origin of

sin and evil must be placed on the creature rather than the Creator. This way the creature is responsible for everything and the Creator is responsible for nothing!

And so it is stated that men CHOOSE to go into the lake of fire and suffer eternal pain, and God s hands are tied by a doctrine that Satan has planted into the hearts of all men everywhere. An idol of the heart of such magnitude that men will DIE to preserve it. Deceived humanity has perceived this idol to be of the greatest value of anything that can ever reside in the heart of man including the Holy Spirit of God!

And just what is it, specifically, that gave this fictitious archangel the ability to metamorphose himself into a devil? Which thing also then permits God to torture humanity eternally in fire, without it being His fault? Which thing also empowers man with the ability to thwart the VERY WILL OF GOD ALMIGHTY?

THE ILLUSION OF FREE WILL

Here it is, the magical source of man s imagined deity. It is, of course, "HUMAN FREE WILL." Or, as in the case with Satan, "SATANIC FREE WILL." And just what is human and satanic free will? It is a fictitious power that Satan and all humans imagine they have, which gives them the power to make choices that have NO CAUSE. Do not mistake what I have said. Choice is not the power to MAKE choices. We all have that power. Choice is a power of the brain, mind, and spirit. It is a logical functioning mechanism. Even a sophisticated computer can "make choices" based on other data at its disposal contained in its memories. But making choices is not ... I repeat is NOT, judging, determining or selecting something BASED ON NOTHING!!!

The first edict of the physical universe is "CAUSE AND EFFECT." There cannot be an effect anywhere in the universe, on earth, in a laboratory under strict controls, or in the mind of a human being that does not have A CAUSE! It is axiomatic! It is not debatable! It is a LAW OF GOD! And therefore, the most lawless of all lawless conceptions possible is that man can make choices and decisions that are NOT BROUGHT INTO EXISTENCE BY EITHER INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL CAUSES AND FORCES!!! It is, in fact, an attempt at nihilism of the very laws of physics. And so theologians, philosophers, and the world s greatest wisdom thinkers would have us believe that free will is a power even greater than God Himself, seeing that even God does not think things, or create things from NOTHING! God does NOT operate the universe by decisions based on nothing and therefore having no cause.

"In Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who works [Greek: is operating ] ALL things after [after what? His free will?] ... After the COUNSEL of His own will" (Eph. 1:11)!

Nor does God create things out of NOTHING:

"...IN [Greek is in not by ] Him [Christ] is ALL CREATED, that in the heavens and that on the earth..." (Col. 1:16).

"For OUT [the Greek is out not of ] of Him and THROUGH Him and FOR [Greek is for not to ] is ALL" (Rom. 11:36).

So creation is "IN Christ," but "OUT of God." Not out of "nothing." The universe consists of the things of God s already eternally existing SELF. God is SPIRIT (John 4:24). And what is matter but invisible spiritual power and energy?

"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that THINGS which are seen [physical matter] were not made of things [were they then made of nothing? NO] which DO APPEAR" (Heb. 11:3).

There it is. God made everything out of things that DO NOT APPEAR [invisible things] not out of things that do appear [physical things], and this is because GOD HIMSELF IS INVISIBLE!

"Now to the King of the eons, the incorruptible, INVISIBLE, only, and wise God..." (I Tim. 1:17).

God follows His own spiritual laws. "Free will" sounds like a marvelous and magical thing -- it is rather, however, the god of stupidity. It is the height of man s foolishness and human wisdom. It is both ungodly and unscriptural! It is an affront to the Sovereignty of God. Man and Satan are not deities that can operate independently of the Creator! The theory is a hoax, a farce, a sham. Its only reality is as an IDOL OF THE HEART which will be burned out of every son whom God scourges.

Of course all theologians are quick to point out that man does not possess total free will. Man's will is obviously limited we are told. Oh really? So it is "limited free will" that Satan and all humans possess, is it? Does no one ever bother to question the contradictions of Christian doctrine?

"Iimited, a. restricted," Webster s Twentieth Century Dictionary, page 963.

"free, a, without restriction," Webster s Twentieth Century dictionary page, page 682.

Does everyone know the meaning of the word "contradiction?" Only Satan could convince otherwise intelligent people that they have a "limited" -- restricted, "free" -- without restriction "will." For sure man has a will; however, it is anything but FREE!

"For it is GOD which works in you both to WILL and to DO of His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13).

"To will" requires a "work" of GOD! We all choose as we choose because there are things and forces and situations by the millions beyond anyone s control that CAUSE US TO CHOOSE AS WE DO! It matters not that you cannot see or feel the cause. It is there and it does its work on you. And when causes make you choose, then that particular choice could not have ever been otherwise. God is the great CAUSE of all there is. I know Christians by the hundreds of millions deny it and deny God's Word that teaches it. That unbelief and lack of faith, however, does not change the facts of God s Word or the laws of physics.

That God creates good and peace there is no question. That

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James. 1:17),

There is also no question about it among Christians. That God is the creator of evil and preordained the sin of Adam, however, is believed by virtually no one.

And so it is that neither man nor Satan can do anything contrary to the intention of God. God has a will that includes a final destiny of total perfection of His whole creation. God has set man and Satan (his very name means adversary) AGAINST HIS OWN WILL for a period of time. But during this period when everyone goes against God s will, God INTENDS them to do so. And when God no longer "intends" for there to be any more adversaries or enemies opposing Him or His will, He will remove all such opposition (See I Cor. 15:21-28). ALL OF GOD S WILL, WILL THEN BE DONE!

Therefore it should come as no shock to us when we learn that even the destruction and crucifixion of His own Son was God s INTENTION from before He even created the world:

The Kings of the earth stood up, and the Rulers were gathered together against the LORD, and against HIS CHRIST.

"For of a truth against Thy Holy Child JESUS Whom THOU [God the Father] hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel [God anointed them ALL for this purpose], were gathered together, For to do whatsoever THY HAND [the very HAND OF GOD], AND thy counsel [God works ALL according to His counsel Eph. 1:11] determined BEFORE [God predestinated His Son s crucifixion before the foundation of the world Rev. 13:8] to be done" (Acts 4:26-28).

And so we see that ultimately, behind the scenes, it was really God the Father Who planned and brought about the Crucifixion of His Own Son! We are all accountable for the death of His Son, because He died on OUR BEHALF and for OUR SINS which we voluntarily sinned, but it is God Himself Who is RESPONSIBLE for His Son's Death. And God takes responsibility. And He takes responsibility for EVERYTHING that happens in His creation and universe! Therefore God will bring all things back to restoration and perfection. It is so sad that this grand truth is so violently opposed by the enemies of the Cross.

There are three Scriptural reasons for this evil doctrine of eternal torture in a lake of fire:

"The heart [of carnal unconverted mankind] is DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS, and DESPERATELY WICKED: who can know it" (Jer. 17:9).

"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which DECEIVES THE WHOLE WORLD..." (Rev. 12:9).

"Because the carnal [natural] mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Rom. 8:7).

The inconsonant, incongruous, inconsistent teachings of Christendom are bewildering. All my life I have heard that God hates SIN, not the SINNER. Why then, according to Christendom, doesn t God save the sinner and abolish the sin? Wasn t that the purpose of God in the first place? "Behold the Lamb of God, which takes [Greek: is taking ] away the SIN OF THE WORLD" (John 1:29). "And He is the propitiation [to be favorably inclined to the sinner because of the sacrifice for him -- merciful] for OUR sins: and not for ours only, but also THE SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD" (I John 2:2). As Christ died for the sake of all sinners and paid the penalty for all the sins of the whole world, why does Christendom teach that these same sinners for which Christ died must still be tortured for eternity?

Now don t all e-mail me at once, telling me that they go to hell in a hand basket because they DID NOT REPENT OF THEIR SINS for which Christ died. It is concluded by modern religious theory that most of humanity have DIED IN THEIR SINS, neither having repented nor accepted Christ as their Lord and Saviour. And this is their simple (albeit totally unscriptural) answer as to why most of the human race will be tortured in a hellhole of fire for all eternity! For they know not the Scriptures, nor the Plan of God, nor the Wisdom of God, nor the Power of God, nor the Sensibility of God, nor the LOVE OF GOD.

I know that many people think I am too hard on Christian heresy. That s because I love them. Would you not show a little "hard" tough love to your children if they were taking mind-destroying DRUGS? Well it is my opinion that Christian heresies are mind-destroying drugs as well. This ministry is a love/hate ministry -- love for all God s creatures and hate for all the spiritual mind-destroying heretical drugs out there on the streets and on the air waves around the world.

Trust me when I say: When one learns the Truth about our All Wise, All Powerful, All Loving God, the unscriptural theories regarding an eternal hellhole of eternal torture will vanish like the dew in the morning sun. I believe there will be some who will already come to know the truth about the lake of fire-

second death long before we ever get to chapters 20 and 21 of Revelation. Before we get there I want to teach you a few things about God and His love for humanity.

NEVER FORGET THE LORD S PRAYER

I am now going to give you a Scripture to ponder while you read the remaining installments of this paper. A Scripture that most clergymen avoid like the plague. A Scripture that even if they quote it, they will not explain it. A Scripture that debunks the heresy that a sin against an infinite God demands infinite punishment. A Scripture that should shut the mouths of all those who continually condemn me for ever suggesting that God will eventually save all sinners, even the Hitlers and Bundys of the world. A Scripture that proves God loves sinners even while they are yet sinners. A Scripture that proves one doesn t have to prove himself "worthy" of God s love before God gives His love. A Scripture that proves God knows in advance that He will save the very worst of sinners and indeed ALL sinners long before they ever even think of repenting.

First we have to find the world s worst sinners -- no, even worse than you. Check these out:"I am innocent of the blood of this JUST PERSON" (Mat. 27:24)

"They ALL [priests & citizens] say unto him" (Ver 22) "WHY, what evil hath He done?" (Ver. 23)

"let Him be crucified"

"let Him be crucified"

"Jesus answered ... The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them" (Matt. 11:4-5) "crucify Him" "Come unto me, all ye [sinners] ... I will give you rest" (Mat. 11:28) "I [Jesus] have compassion on the multitude [of sinners]" (Mat. 15:32) "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost" (Mat. 18:11) "And great multitudes followed Him; and He healed them" (Mat 19:2) "Suffer little children...to come unto Me" (Mat. 19:14) "crucify Him" "Who can be saved?...with God all things are possible" (Mat. 19:25-26) "crucify Him" "I am the Good Shepherd..." (John 10:11) "crucify Him" "crucify Him" "crucify Him" "crucify Him" "crucify Him"

"God anointed Jesus...who went about doing good..." (Acts 10:38)

"crucify Him"

"And the multitudes ...cried... Hosanna to the SON " (Mat. 21:9) "crucify Him" "And they [same multitudes as 21:19] all say ... (27:22) "let Him be crucified" "...to you all ... the entire people of Israel ... Jesus Christ ... whom" (Acts 4:10) "Then answered all the people ... His blood be on US... (Mat. 27:25) "you crucify"

"crucify Him"

"And they [everyone -- you, me, all of us," (Mat. 27:35) "CRUCIFIED HIM"

Now then, are you ready for the Scripture? Are these cruel murderers of the very Son of God evil enough to be counted the worst of the worst sinners who have ever drawn breath? Even more evil than Ted Bundy?

First, does anyone doubt that God the Father ALWAYS heard Christ s prayers? "Father, I thank thee that Thou HAST HEARD me. And I knew that thou HEAREST ME ALWAYS..." (John 11:41-42). Okay then, here s the Scripture:

"And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they [everyone -- you, me, the WHOLE WORLD] CRUCIFIED HIM..."

But before our Saviour died, He prayed this prayer:

"FATHER ... FORGIVE THEM ... for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:33-34).

Meditate on that verse for a few hours -- or years! My prayer is that not one person reading this paper will ever forget this verse and Christ s prayer for the forgiveness of the world's worst of the worst sinners, before any of them even thought to repent.

Now if any of you, in your holier-than-thou self-righteousness, feel that you had no part in the death of your own Saviour, Who died for you and your sins, you will still have to contend with the fact that God honored Christ s prayer by forgiving those who did, literally, crucify Him, before they ever repented or accepted Him as their Lord and Saviour. Do you think that just maybe our Lord knows something about the future judgment of these, as of yet unrepentant murderers, that is not taught in Christendom today?

"FORGIVE THEM, for they know not what they do." Was this just a benevolent gesture on Christ s part that has no real meaning? Do we believe that Jesus God and Father turned His back on this prayer? Will God answer "THE LORD S PRAYER?" Don t the theological giants of Christendom have Scriptures written in figurative, metaphorical, and spiritual symbolism, that if ignorantly taught to be literal, will contradict our Lord s prayer? If it is not possible for God to forgive sinners before they repent, then our Lord s prayer is doomed. It was then a prayer in vain. Jesus prayed in vain. His Father never heard Him. Doesn t it just grind on your spirit to even hear such stupid and unscriptural conjectures?

Millions of times a week people around the world repeat what they believe to be "The Lord s Prayer" (Mat. 6:10-13). Matt. 6 is not the "Lord s prayer." He didn t "pray" that prayer. It was a very short outline of what we are to pray for. But this verse in Luke 23:34, really is, "The Lord s Prayer!" Jesus really DID ... PRAY ... THIS ... PRAYER! Unlike the hypocritical Pharisees, Jesus did not make a habit of praying in public. He commanded us to pray in the private closet of our hearts. Other than blessing the bread when feeding the multitudes, Christ seldom prayed in public. But hanging in total agony on that Passover cross, He prayed in public. He prayed for the whole world to hear. And that is because His prayer was not for Himself, but for the whole world!

I will make a wager right here and now that the figurative symbols and metaphors in Revelation are obviously not to be taken literally, but that our Lord s Prayer in Luke 23:34 IS to be taken literally. Do I have any takers?

"Forgive THEM..." There is no mistaking who the "them" are in this prayer.

World famous preacher John Hagee teaches the world that the Jews did not crucify Jesus, but rather the Romans did. Is that who the "them" is in our Lord s Prayer? The ROMANS? Give me a break. Maybe that s why Christians everywhere believe that had they been in Jerusalem on that fateful Passover nearly two thousand years ago, they would have never consented to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ! Peter too thought that he would never deny his Lord (Mat. 26:34).

Since Christendom refuses to do it, I will now show you the real meaning of The Lord s Prayer.

WHO IS ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS?

True, the Romans did crucify Christ, but so did the Jews, so did you, so did I, and so did John Hagee as well, and I will now Scripturally prove it.

"For he is NOT a Jew, which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God" (Rom. 2:28-29).

"For WE ARE THE CIRCUMCISION, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh" (Phil. 3:3).

Who are the true circumcision which then becomes the True Jew? Paul says "we." As soon as we know who the "we" is, we will also know who is the "them." Paul was writing to the Philipians, who lived in Philippi, a Gentile city in N-central Macedonia. So these Philippian converts were both Gentiles, and true Jews ("we [Philippian Gentiles] are the circumcision -- Phil. 3:3, which are the true inward Jew -- Rom. 2:28-29, the true "Israel of God" -- Gal. 6:16).

Now then, let us see the plain Scriptural truth as to who the "them" are that Jesus asked His Father to "forgive." For whomever the Father "forgives" will certainly not be tortured in an eternal hellhole of fire.

In Acts 3:6-8 Peter asks Christ to heal a man. The whole city was privy to this miracle. Peter speaks to the crowd:

"Ye MEN OF ISRAEL [that s us, WE are the "Israel of God" the "True Jew"] ... Jesus, Whom ye [that s US] delivered up, and DENIED [along with Peter] Him ... For ye [that s US again] DENIED the Holy One and Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and KILLED the Prince of life ... And now, brethren, I am aware that through IGNORANCE [ for they know NOT what they do ] ye did it, as did your rulers ...

The priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees ... Annas the high priest, and Ciaphas, and John, and Alexander ... Ye RULERS of the people, and ELDERS of Israel ... Be it known unto YOU ALL, and to ALL THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom YE CRUCIFIED..."

Why did the HEATHEN rage, and the PEOPLE imagine vain things? The KINGS OF THE EARTH stood up, and the RULERS [see I Cor. 2:8] were gathered together AGAINST the Lord, and AGAINST His Christ ...

"For of a truth AGAINST thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, WITH THE GENTILES [that s US, ALL NATIONS] and the PEOPLE OF ISRAEL [that s also US], were gathered together, For to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done [CRUCIFY HIM]" (Acts 3:12-4:28).

Sorry, but John Hagee s "Romans only" theory has just bit the dust. So again: Who crucified our Lord and Saviour? And who is it that are to be forgiven because they know not what they do? "YOU ALL," "ALL THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL," "THE HEATHEN," "THE PEOPLE," "THE KINGS OF THE EARTH," "THE RULERS," and "HEROD, PONTIUS PILATE, WITH THE GENTILES!!! Do you still think your name is left out of this list somehow?

The whole world is accountable for crucifying their Saviour Jesus Christ. But as it was done in "ignorance" (for they know not what they do), the whole world will be forgiven. So what do these things have to do with the lake of fire? Everything! I am trying to show you the mind of God. This is the way God thinks, and feels, and forgives, and LOVES! Since you haven t learned these things in Sunday School, or Wednesday night Bible Study, or Sunday sermons, or even theological seminary, I am showing you them now. Weigh God s Words very carefully.

The worst sin ever committed by the worst sinners in the history of the universe, was the cruel beating and crucifixion of Jesus Christ -- the Perfect Man and Son of God! Does anyone really believe that Ted Bundy s crimes were worse than Crucifying the Son of God? Did the men immediately responsible (ultimately I ve shown that we ALL were responsible) for His crucifixion show any remorse or repentance except Judas? Yet, Jesus Christ asked God to "forgive them" at the very time that they showed no remorse whatsoever.

Will the Father HEAR these words and ANSWER these words of Christ s prayer? Are these just the sentimental words of Jesus that will not be heard or answered by a HARSH God in Heaven? Just Whose "words" are these, anyway? Where did these words of Jesus "forgive them" really come from?

"Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the FATHER IN ME? The WORDS that I speak unto you I speak NOT OF MYSELF; but the Father that dwells in Me, HE DOES THE WORKS" (John 14:10).

Or was this doctrine of "forgive them for they know not what they do" before they ever repent, a doctrine of Christ that God did not approve of?

"Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is NOT MINE, but HIS THAT SENT ME. If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of GOD, or whether I speak of myself " (John 7:1617).

Any questions as to WHOSE words these were? It is not only our Lord s prayer, but it is the will of God the Father to forgive them all (US all) for none of them "knows what they do."

My detractors cry out, "They do TOO know what they do; they have REJECTED their Saviour; they deserve to BURN IN THE LAKE OF FIRE FOR EVER!" But you see, God is not like men who DELIGHT in the eternal death and torture of the wicked.

"As I live, saith the Lord God, I have NO pleasure in the death [including the second death] of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?" (Ezek. 33:11).

Killing people for their sins is NOT PLEASURABLE FOR GOD! But it is needful -- for a season.

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die ... a time to kill, and a time to heal..." (Ecc. 3:1-3).

God does not delight or take pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that he TURN from his way and LIVE! But neither Israel (nor the Gentiles) knows how to "turn" from their ways. It takes the "goodness of God" to "turn" people. I know that all the billions of "free-willers" in the world poke fun at such an idea that mankind of themselves can do nothing: "...for without Me ye can do NOTHING" (John 15;5). But as for me, I don t believe men anymore; I believe God. "Turn, turn, turn" says the Lord God. But how shall Israel "turn" when they have no such power or ability? Will Israel (all Israel) ever "turn" and be saved and LIVE? Not by anything they can conjure up in their phantom of free will. Enter GOD:

"For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant [but the WORLD is ignorant and deceived -- God created a special creature to accomplish this very purpose, Rev. 12:9] of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until [remember there are seasons ?] The fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so ALL ISRAEL SHALL BE SAVED [how so, I thought they have to turn from their wickedness and sins, Who will turn them?] As it is written, There shall come out of Zion The Deliverer, and shall TURN AWAY UNGODLINESS [ evil ways Ezek. 33:11] from Jacob [that s Israel]: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS (Rom 11:2527) [it will be pretty hard to torture people for all eternity for sins that they NO LONGER HAVE!!!]

Am I going too fast for anyone? This is not rocket science. These Scriptures are easy!

Who is it that "turns away" ungodliness from Israel? Must sinners really, by themselves, by their phantom "free -will," by their own power, by their own choice, by the goodness that lies within them (I speak as a fool), by their self-concocted love of God -- "turn away from ungodliness?" Get serious. What is the only thing in the universe that can ever bring a person to repentance? I ll tell you, if you promise to never ever forget it!

"Or are you despising the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing [here s that ignorance thing again -- Satan who DECEIVES the whole world] that the GOODNESS OF GOD leads you to REPENTANCE" (Rom. 2:4).

Once again we are brought back to the CAUSE OF ALL -- GOD!

And so, it is the "Deliverer" (Christ the Lord,) not man s free will, which "turns away ungodliness" from Israel. Let s continue the thought:

"As concerning the gospel, they [Israel] are enemies for your sakes [the casting away of Israel, Ver. 15]: but as touching the election [the sure thing that God had predetermined long before there ever was an Israel] they are BELOVED for the Father's sake. For the GIFTS and CALLING OF GOD are without repentance [changing]" (Vers. 28-29).

"Forgive them" are the very words and the doctrine of GOD THE FATHER! So the truth is we have Jesus Christ and God the Father BOTH agreed that "FORGIVE THEM, for they know not what they do" WILL BE ANSWERED, ACCOMPLISHED, AND DONE! God s words went out of God s mouth in this prayer for the whole sinful world to hear, and God s words do not return to Him VOID (see Isaiah 55:11)!

Are you believing all these Scriptures that I am giving you? Or are you one of those who thinks he has other Scriptures that contradict all these Scriptures I am giving? My whole purpose is to point you to God s Words. When I come to a Scripture that is not properly translated, I will point that out also. So far, I believe, all of the Scriptures I have presented speak for themselves.

And it is self-evident that these Scriptures contradict a plethora of doctrines being taught by the high priests of Christendom.

Will God somehow change his mind toward this world of sinners which crucified His Son when they are raised at the great white throne to be judged? Forget all the Scriptures for the moment that some of you just "know" contradict this prayer. Concentrate on this prayer, and we will go to the theirs later. Right here IS the mind of God. Right here IS the attitude of forgiveness and love that God has for sinners -- the world s worst sinners! Why does most of the world of Christendom refuse to believe our 'LORD'S PRAYER' which really has its origin in the will of the Father? Because it is TOO GOOD! Many will not tolerate a God THIS GOOD!

Is God fickle? Is God all-forgiving one day at the cross, but then CHANGES into an unforgiving IndianGiver at the white throne judgment by taking it all back?

"I am the LORD, I CHANGE NOT; therefore ye sons of Jacob [Israel] are NOT CONSUMED" (Malachi 3:6).

"But He [God] is in ONE MIND, and who can TURN HIM? And what His soul desires [I Tim. 2:4 & Isa. 46:911], EVEN THAT [whatever He wills or desires] HE DOES" (Job 23:13).

"Jesus Christ is the SAME yesterday, and today, and for ever [Greek: for (into) the eons also ]" (Heb. 13:8).

No, God is not fickle: forgiving today, cursing tomorrow. Forgiving the worst sinners in the whole world while they are yet sinning is the mind, attitude, and love of God! Any theologian who tries to tell you that there are Scriptures that contradict this Scripture (whether it be a Scripture on the lake of fire or any other Scripture,) is a liar and a deceiver. "Forgive them [even the theologians who deny the Christ Who died for them] for they know not what they do."

And so our Lord s Prayer WILL ... BE ... DONE! Thank God!

A FEW THOUGHTS REGARDING CHRISTENDOM

Understand that when I use the word "Christendom" I am making reference to Webster s second definition, "The world of Christianity." World in the Greek New Testament is kosmos meaning the system or orderly arrangement of the whole or some part of human society. And so it is this world or system of doctrines and beliefs promulgated by the clergy and theologians of the institutionalized church that I make reference to when using this term. I am not making specific reference to individual members of the "Christian" church who may or may not hold dear to their hearts all of the doctrines of mainstream Christendom. It is sadly true that many who profess Christianity do not know or understand the doctrines of those they follow.

So let it be known that Christendom is made up of dozens of millions of wonderful, sweet, loving and kind people. Many if not most of our neighbors, friends, relatives, and immediate family members are professing Christians. And we love them all! God loves them all! Sadly, however, much of their doctrine and religious beliefs have no basis whatsoever in the Sacred Scriptures. At times I fear that some might mistake my total aversion toward unscriptural Christian doctrines as a sign of my feelings toward those who promulgate these teachings. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you could look down into my heart, you would know that I harbor no ill toward any brother or sister. All will be in God s Family; All will be purged, purified, and perfected, so why have any animosity toward any during this process? We

must ALL be processed -- "there is NONE that does good [before God processes him,] no, not ONE" (Rom. 3:12).

Much of Christendom is a religious system of beliefs that are both unscriptural and contradictory -- at times even evil. Often when I quote a Scripture (even without commentary,) people will say to themselves, "Well that can t be. OUR church teaches something totally different." And so they will reject the words of God and continue to cling to the traditions of men. For that reason, let me give you just a few examples of the unscriptural contradictions of traditional Christendom in the hope that God will open the minds of at least some of my readers. Trust me when I say that all this information is going to be most helpful in understanding the lake of fire and the judgments of God.

THEY SPEAK WITH FORKED TONGUE

Most all Christian theologians would claim to believe the first statement of Scriptural Truth that I present below, especially when I cite a Scripture verse with it, but they will then contradict and refuse to teach the second statement of Truth. Here are a few examples:

Do they believe the fire in I Cor.3:15 burns mans works, but not the man himself? Yes.

But do they teach that this same fire in Rev.20:15 also burns works, not the man? No.

Do they believe that God is the Creator of ALL? Yes.

But do they teach that God created EVIL as He says in (Isa. 45:7)? No.

Do they believe that God is absolutely and totally sovereign (Eph. 1:11)? Yes.

But do they teach that God exercises sovereignty over man s supposed "free" will? No.

Do they believe that Jesus Christ IS the Saviour of the whole world (I Jn 4:14)? Yes.

But do they teach that Jesus Christ will SAVE the whole world? No.

Do they believe that presently Christ only has immortality (I Tim. 6:16)? Yes.

But do they teach the truth therefore that men s souls are mortal and not immortal? No.

Do they believe that the original manuscripts of God s Word were inerrant? Yes.

But do they teach us that the King James translation, which they say is "inerrant" has gone through THOUSANDS of error corrections since 1611? No.

Do they believe that the soul that sins shall DIE (Ezek. 18:4)? Yes.

But do they teach that souls of deceased sinners are actually DEAD? No.

Do they believe there are many cults today that need exposing? Yes.

But do they teach that Christendom, by its OWN definitions, is also a cult? No.

Do they believe that Sodom is "suffering the vengeance of eternal [aeonian] fire? Yes.

But do they teach that Sodom will be restored to their former estate (Ezek. 16:55)? No.

Do they believe in a future resurrection of dead people back to life (John 5:29)? Yes.

But do they teach that a resurrection is imperative for dead people to live again? No.

Do they believe the first half of I Cor. 15:22 that "For as in Adam ALL die?" Yes.

But do they teach the last half, "even so in Christ shall ALL be made alive?" No.

Do they believe that "...the end of the world [Gk: aion -- age]" ends in Mat. 24:3? Yes.

But do they teach that this same "aion -- age" in Matt. 25:41 & 46 will also end. No.

Do they believe that Jn 3:13 & Acts 2:34 are truthful Scripture (II Tim. 3:16)? Yes.

But do they teach this truth that "NO man," including David, has gone to heaven? No.

Do they believe ALL God purposed, spoke, and willed (Isa. 46:10-11), He will do? Yes.

But do they teach that God s "will" to save all, I Tim. 2:4, etc., will be done? No.

Do they believe that Satan lied when he told Eve, "thou shalt not surely die?" Yes.

But do they teach the truth that sinners really do DIE at death as God has stated? No.

Do they believe that the Apocryphal books do not belong in the Bible? Yes.

But do they teach us that the 1611 so-called "inerrant" King James Bible contained fourteen such books, including "Tobit," "Judith," "The idol Bel and the Dragon"? No.

Do they believe that Christ is totally responsibility for our salvation? Yes.

But do they teach that "no man can" come to Christ of himself (John 6:44)? No.

Do they believe that Satan is the greatest sinner of all? Yes.

But do they teach Jn. 8:44 which states that Satan "sinned from the beginning?" No.

Do they believe Christ really died for the sins of the world? Yes.

But do they teach that Jesus Christ was dead when they placed Him in the tomb? No.

Do they believe the many Scriptures that liken death to "sleep?" Yes.

But do they teach that dead people are unconscious, "sleeping" till resurrection? No.

Do they believe that the last enemy to be destroyed [Gk: abolished] is death? Yes.

But do they teach that ALL death, including the second death, will be abolished? No.

Do they believe that all things are possible with God (Mark 10:27)? Yes.

But do they teach that it is possible for God to save nonbelievers after they die? No.

Do they believe that every tongue in heaven and earth will confess Jesus as LORD? Yes.

But do they teach that the Holy Spirit inspires this sincere voluntary act (I Cor. 12:3)? No.

Do they believe that good and evil are both in the same tree of knowledge? Yes

But do they teach that good and evil both come from the same root source? No.

Do they believe that God absolutely "knows all" (I John 3:20)? Yes.

But do they teach that God knows in advance ALL who will reject Christ? No.

Do they believe that God s love will never fail (I Cor. 13:8)? Yes.

But do they teach that God s love will never fail in saving the world He loves? No.

Do they believe the apostles spoke in foreign languages in Acts 2:4-11? Yes.

But do they teach that of the hundreds of thousands who claim to speak in tongues today, not one of them can speak in multiple languages which they did not already study? No.

Do they believe that the masses did not understand Christ s parables (Mat. 13:13)? Yes.

But do they teach that Christ purposely didn t want them to understand, (Vs. 14-17)? No.

Do they believe the Old Covenant contained the Ten Commandments (Deut.4:12)? Yes.

But do they teach a New Covenant which contains a much higher law (Heb. 8:8-9)? No.

Do they believe that God created all the spirits and messengers of heaven? Yes.

But do they teach that God also created Satan who was always His adversary? No.

Do they believe that loving our enemies means doing good and not evil to them? Yes.

But do they teach that God will never subject His enemies to eternal torture and evil? No.

There seems to be no end to the Scriptural contradictions of Christian beliefs. But we can learn from their mistakes. It is good for us that God makes us dig deep for the precious gems of His word. It really is like searching for hidden treasure. And I have never found a hidden treasure in God s Word that has disappointed me. Each new discovery brings more appreciation for God and His plan of salvation for all. JUDGMENT BY FIRE MUST BEGIN AT THE HOUSE OF GOD

GOD S TWO AREAS AND ERAS OF JUDGMENT

Before God brings a final judgment on the entirety of the world, He must first perform 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" inhabited earth] in righteousness..." (Acts 17:31).

Most have at least heard of this judgment even if they have no solid understanding 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 believers, 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..." (I Pet. 4:16-17).

What do you know about this judgment on the house of God. Do you know anything specific? Well, don t feel too badly, most people don t. Apparently theologians and clergymen don t know too much either, seeing that it is not a popular subject to teach. If they had even a superficial understanding of God s judgments on the house of God, they wouldn t interpret the great white throne and the lake of fire as some hideous act of divine eternal terrorism. These two judgments have much in common.

Just what is this human life on earth for, anyway? -- Why are we here? -- What is our purpose? -- What is God s 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. Contrary to all Christian belief, the Bible reveals (as does elementary science), that dead people are DEAD. What a revelation! That s 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 life from the dead when He returns to judge the world in righteousness? How can the dead be living in heaven or hell when they haven t as yet been judged as to where they should be living in the first place?

THE BELIEVER S 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? Doesn t God judge non-believers with fire, but not believers? This only sounds strange to you if you have never been taught the Scriptures.

"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.

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 self-righteousness and laziness and weakness and hypocrisy and wickedness and pride 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 Kingdom 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 ARE COMING OUT!!!

JOHN THE BAPTIST: John the Baptist said that Jesus would be baptizing repentant 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 not worthy 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 man s 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 man s work of what sort it is" (I Cor. 3:13).

With such noble and august witnesses, does anyone deny that the repentant, converted, dedicated, believing Christian will escape being "revealed," tried," "salted," and "baptized" by FIRE? 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 MAN S WORK ... shall be revealed by FIRE."

And there is absolutely NO DIFFERENCE when it comes to the non-believers:

"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. 20:11-13).

And are these non-believers judged differently from believers who are "revealed, tried, salted and baptized IN FIRE?" Just HOW are these non-believers judged in the book of Revelation? How are the "...fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars..." JUDGED? Answer: "...In the lake WHICH BURNS WITH FIRE..." (Rev. 21:8)!

Is this "fire" in the book of Revelation DIFFERENT from the fire that tries the works 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 non-believers:

STRONG s Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, page 219, #4442, pur; a primary word; "fire" (literally OR FIGURATIVELY. Pur is 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 judgment seat of Christ I Cor. 3:13 and 15;

(3) of the fire of DIVINE JUDGMENT upon the REJECTERS of Christ, Matt. 3:11 (where a distinction is to be made between the baptism 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 in Strong s Concordance. In my Strong s Exhaustive Concordance that I purchased over forty years ago, it has but one line after the Greek word pur. It states that pur is "fire" either (literal or figurative), fiery, lightning. That s it. So when I purchased the NEW Strong s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible last week, I was pleasantly surprised to see the expanded definitions, especially with reference to this word "pur" -- FIRE. I learned 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 of Strong s. I won t do that, but let s 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 in Strong s ARE examples of figurative usage of the word fire. And of the 500+ times the word 'fire' is used in the Bible, hundreds of times the word 'fire' is used in a figurative or symbolic sense.

I call your attention to the statement in Strong s (1b) "In Rev. 3:18 it [fire] is SYMBOLIC, 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, and PRODUCES what 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 GLORIFY HIMSELF! God s consuming SPIRITUAL fire (remember that "GOD IS SPIRIT" Jn. 4:24) does the "producing," not the saint,

"For HIS ACHIEVEMENT are we, being created in Christ Jesus..." (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 [you are] not obtaining [it from God]?" (I Cor. 4:7 Concordant 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 of Strong s cites seven more Scriptures that are used symbolically and figuratively to demonstrate "the holiness of God, which CONSUMES ALL that is inconsistent therewith." It doesn t consume their physical bodies, nor does it burn their physical bodies to produce pain, but it "CONSUMES" all that is not consistent with God s 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 cannot burn pride and vanity out of one s 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 God s spirit to burn away evils that have their origin in the realm of spirit.

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 ETERNITY! And what, pray tell, does this infinite mountain of eternal pain accomplish? Why it is "justice" cry the high priests of Christendom!

Webster s Concise Dictionary p. 392, justice n. 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 advocates of the Christian Faith!

BACK TO SPIRITUAL BASICS

God gives us perfectly simple and understandable examples of HOW He deals with 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 chastised. Continuing:

"Furthermore we have had fathers of our FLESH which corrected 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. 12:9-11).

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 spiritual 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 inanimate and uncaring. God s spiritual fire is caring and loving.

There it is. There s the gospel; there s the purpose for human existence; there s 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 God s spirit and are being saved NOW. All the rest of the world s sinners will also be called, given faith, brought to Christ, repent, receive God s spirit and will be saved LATER. And God uses the same method to convert and save both groups of sinners. That s 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 manner. Christ does not literally "baptize" (IMMERSE) His saints in REAL PHYSICAL FIRE. It would burn them all up, and there wouldn t be any saints or believers! Likewise we saw in Part I that the "lake of fire" is also symbolic and used in a metaphor to describe a SPIRITUAL TRUTH. More on this later.

And so we are assured that EVERYONE will be "revealed," "tried," "salted," and "baptized" "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 God s 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:

Fire CHANGES things. Fire brings about molecular changes in the materials that are burned. God s spiritual fire will make changes in our mind, heart, and spirit.

Fire PURGES. In times past if a building were diseased and rat-infested, 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.

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 themselves against God.

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 understanding such as the Love of God and the Sovereignty of God, and salvation of all.

No one teaches us more regarding the fiery trials of life than the apostle to the nations, Paul. Paul was "revealed, tried, salted, and baptized" in God s "CONSUMING 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 WHOM I AM CHIEF." (I Tim. 1:15)

To volunteer to teach the gospel to the Gentiles, He merely shined a bright light in Paul s face to get his attention. Here are just a few revealed events in the life of Saul 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 compelling 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).

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. God s Holy Spirit did not inspire Paul to "blow hot air" to make himself look artificially humble! Paul (Saul before his conversion) really was THE WORST SINNER 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 out-sin Paul. NO ONE has ever been able to out-sin 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 time" but the apostle Paul. Jesus Christ had to fill that position two thousand years ago for our understanding of upon whom the ends of the ages are come! Here s the proof:

The phrase "beyond measure" in the KJV (Gal. 1:13) is translated from the Greek word hyperbole and has two primary usages:

"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 of glory."

The Greek translated "exceeding" is huperbole, and means TRANSCENDENT. Transcendent describes something that is highest, incomparable, consummate, matchless, preeminent, sublime, perfect, unequaled, unparalleled, and unrivaled! In other words the highest possible degree. Nothing is higher than that which is huperbole -- TRANSCENDENT!

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

"For you hear of my behavior once, in Judaism, that I INORDINATELY persecuted the ecclesia [church] of God and ravaged it." (Concordant Literal New Testament).

Inordinate describes something that is excessive, exorbitant, extravagant, unreasonable, and too much. Now here s the kicker: "Inordinately" is translated from the SAME GREEK WORD huperbole which is also

translated "transcendently"! (For more details on this see my paper entitled Paul s Thorn in the Flesh Identified).

Here then is the Biblical truth of this matter. To the degree that "transcendently" describes the HEIGHT of God s goodness and glory, so likewise does the word "inordinately" describe the HEIGHT of evil that Paul perpetrated on the Church of God. God s transcendent (huperbole) goodness and glory are UNPARALLELED! Likewise, Paul s inordinate (huperbole) slaughter (murders) and threatenings are also, UNPARALLELED! God s Word does not say in vain that Paul was the CHIEF, FOREMOST, PREEMINENT (very, very WORST) of ALL 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 suddenly 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 9:3-6).

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? Don t 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 CENTURIES?

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 didn t He choose a mediocre sinner like James or John to be His apostle to the Gentiles? Why did it have to be THE WORLD S WORST SINNER? What did our Lord prove by using the world s worst sinner that He couldn t have done by using a lesser sinner? MUCH!

I have heard people say that "God won t 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 INFINITE GOD! Here s the answer as to why God needed to chose the world s WORST SINNER to be the apostle to the rest of the world:

"Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting" (I Tim. 1:16).

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, all-embracing teaching in this verse. Let me quote it from the Concordant Version:

"But therefore was I shown mercy, that in me, THE FOREMOST [the worst sinner ever] Jesus Christ should be DISPLAYING [publicly] ALL HIS PATIENCE [yes God has patience with even the worst of sinners], FOR A PATTERN, of those who are about to be believing on Him for life eonian"

Jesus Christ chose Paul, the WORST, CHIEF, FOREMOST, PREEMINENT SINNER THAT EVER LIVED (huperbole), to be put on PUBLIC DISPLAY for the whole world to see Jesus Christ demonstrating ALL HIS PATIENCE, for a "PATTERN" 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!!!

Here s the lesson: If Jesus Christ can bring to repentance, and convert, and save the WORLD S 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 converting, 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 evey 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 was "astonished" (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 didn t strike down Hitler with a blinding light from heaven, but guess what? HE WILL YET DO IT! And when He does, Hitler will sob like a babbling idiot! 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 carnal-minded, God-defying men and women VOLUNTEER real fast!

I am wearied by the countless times people have told me: "God will NEVER 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 the middle 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 Christ MAKE His will PAUL S 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 hate-filled accusations about what God can and cannot do! God went AGAINST the will of Paul (Saul), and God MADE His will PAUL S WILL in a matter of SECONDS. But Christendom teaches that God doesn t do such things. It just isn t right. It just isn t God s way. WELL, YES, IT IS RIGHT, AND IT IS GOD S WAY, AND HE WILL DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN UNTIL ALL HUMANITY IS SAVED!

And so we learn that God converted the world s 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 includes the whole world, for the Scriptures plainly tell us that it is the whole world that is accountable for Christ s Crucifixion, even though it was performed by the express 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 humanity. But at God s choosing, they will all melt as Paul did in the blinding light of God s 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 kingdom 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?

Was he volunteering to wear thousand-dollar suits, $500 shoes, $20,000 Rolex watches, drive $80,000 automobiles, live in multi-million dollar multiple homes, fly in private executive jets, and collect millions and millions and millions of dollars of poor people s money to promote the gospel of prosperity and worldliness?

Did our Lord tell Paul that his ministry and calling would be a "walk in the park" with never-ending comforts and pleasures, having medals and honors bestowed upon him by the leaders and dignitaries of pagan nations, living in a five and a half-million dollar mansion large enough to be a luxury hotel, while feasting like a fat king in the opulence of Babylonian extravagance?

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

Was Paul s 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.

Let s "get real" as they say.

"For I will shew him [Paul] how GREAT things he must SUFFER for my name s sake" (Acts 9:16).

In II Cor. 11:22-28 we learn that Paul suffered the following:weariness deaths thirty-nine lashes stoned shipwrecked journeys flogged with rods

jails

blows

day & night in swamp dangers of robbers

dangers of rivers

dangers of his race dangers in wilderness toil and labor fasts vigils

dangers of the nations dangers in the city dangers in the sea famine and thirst dangers from false brethren

cold and nakedness

"Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me 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 being tortured and punished in a Christian hell.

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 materialism 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 God s purpose to discourage 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 also make a way to escape [Gk: sequel ] that you may be able to bear it" (I Cor. 10:13).

I'll let you check all the many Scriptures of comfort that God gives us even while we are undergoing all our trials and sufferings. Here s 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

God s judgment on the world in the 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 joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we SUFFER with Him, that we may be also glorified together" (Rom. 8:17).

"That no man should be moved by these AFFLICTIONS: 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. 2:1-4, Concordant Literal New Testament).

Then he tells them that they too are "appointed" to such like sufferings and afflictions. 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. 1:5-7).

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 aren t 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 followers 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 TRIBULATIONS that ye endure; Which is a manifest token [display] of [of WHAT?] ...OF the RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT [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 man s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth 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 followeth after Me, IS NOT WORTHY OF ME" (Matt. 10:36-38).

What does God consider a "reasonable" sacrifice to become members of the Family and Kingdom of God?

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your BODIES A LIVING SACRIFICE, holy, acceptable 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 necessary to teach youngsters in Sunday School

these deeper truths of God, but if we adults are to ever go on to maturity in Christ, it s 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, separate thoroughly, to withdraw, discern, judge] OURSELVES [members of the called-out 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 word krino as 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 sentence] with the world" (I Cor. 11:32).

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 God s saints. We are judged by being "chastened of the Lord." What does that mean? "Chastened" is from the Greek word paideuo and here is what it means: "to train up a child, i.e. educate, or (by impl.) discipline (by punishment): -chasten (-ise), instruct, learn, teach" (Strong s Greek Dictionary p. 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 are "judged" by God, and the vehicle that God uses to do this judging is "chastening." In other words, we are "judged" by 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! Let s 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 salvation. It is one of those truly wonderful words of blessing. But just how does it operate 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 us how love actually functions?

We learned that "...when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord" (I Cor. 11:32).

Chastening defines how it is that God judges us. Now then, we are about to learn one of the most remarkable spiritual truths in the whole Bible:

"For the grace of God that brings salvation hath appeared to all men , teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world [eon or age]" (Titus 2:11-12).

Here then is the remarkable parallel between God s judgment and His grace:God "judges" us by "chastening" us! (I Cor. 11:32) "chasten," Greek: paideuo #3811 God "graces" us by "teaching" us! (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 THE SAME WAY!!

"Judging" is CHASTENING (Strong s #3811), and "gracing" is CHASTENING (Strong s #3811). It is the SAME WORD!

"Grace" is not a stagnant feel-good noun -- it is also a verb -- that is, it does something; it accomplishes something; it produces something of great value in the believer.

"Teaching" accomplishes something essential in making man into God s very image.

The next verse tells us what it "teaches" us: "denying ungodliness and worldly lusts... living soberly, righteously, and godly!" Just the words "living godly" will cover every single thing that God EVER ASKS OF US -- EVERYTHING. "Living GODLY" covers every possible act of faith, love, and obedience that anyone could ever conceive of.

When God uses the SAME WORD to describe something that He wishes to accomplish, 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 (Titus 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 non-believers at the great white throne? Why? God changes NOT! God is NOT a respecter of persons. 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 thoroughly 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: krino in I Cor. 11:32 by chastening 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 God-inspired Greek words have one meaning when applied to God judging and gracing believers now, but then have a totally different meaning when applied to as yet non-believers in the day of judging? Do you? Well, regrettably, many do think that God is fickle, inconsistent, and a respecter of persons. Can you for once in your life begin to use your God-given 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, instructing, and educating. And God "graces" us also by this same "chastening" (paideuo) which does not change meaning from one Scripture verse to another. Notice how other translations render this word paideuo in Titus 2:11-12:

"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 word paideuo #3811 can 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 ungodliness ..." No, the force of this word is to DISCIPLINE, TRAIN, INSTRUCT, SCHOOL AND TEACH. Let s at least have the sensibility of a ten year-old. 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 think they will EVER "learn their lesson?" I, of course, speak as a fool.

All of these aspects of paideuo are with a view to amendment, correction, and setting right, not merely punishment for punishment s sake. A father chastens his children with a view to amendment and correction, not for the sole sake of CAUSING PAIN! Why do we think carnal-minded human fathers are a billion times more noble and merciful in the disciplining of their children than God is in the disciplining (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 Father. It is heresy on a level with hypobole -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 God s 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 God s "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 (have partiality) with regards to persons. With those two thoughts in mind, what is accomplished 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] ... BRINGS SALVATION" (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 Scriptures I am presenting and makes them all void and of no effect? I have heard of such short-cut formulas, but God s Word knows nothing of them!

Notice:

"Being CONFIDENT of this very thing, that He [that s Christ] which hath begun a good work in you WILL PERFORM IT until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6).

And when Christ's

"... JUDGMENTS are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world [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. That s 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 don t follow their short-cut-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 Christian 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? That s 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, wherewith 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 of God, 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 the ONLY SCRIPTURE IN THE ENTIRETY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT that uses the word "punishment" with reference to punishing sinners!

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

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

II Peter 2:4 & 9 should both be "chastening" as it is the same Greek word kolazo and not timoria which means punish.

The KJV uses "punished" in verse nine, which should be "chasten," and ironically it doesn t even translate the Greek word kolazo (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 didn t 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 doesn t necessarily "prove" anything, it s 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 "abundance of God s 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? That s 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 Son "...the sure MERCIES OF DAVID" (Acts 13:34). You see, David s heart spoke such an abundance about God s mercies, that God said of him:

"...I have found DAVID the son of Jesse, a man AFTER MINE OWN HEART which shall fulfill all my will" (Acts 13:22).

Three hundred and thirty to ONE! Probably doesn t mean a thing. Just an observation.

By the way, even among those who love the doctrine of eternal torment, no Scripture 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 GOOD TIDINGS [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 [that s the whole world], and ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH [that s everyone] SHALL SEE THE SALVATION OF OUR GOD" (Isa. 52:7 & 10).

I am wondering if most of my readers have ever even heard of this verse or knew that 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 won t forget the one Scripture with regards to punishment. All those Scriptures are true. They are not, however, God s final judgment 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 declaration of Almighty God WILL NEVER EVER HAPPEN! Well, be it known, that they LIE!

Here s 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 NOT return unto me void [unfruitful, negated, ineffective, ineffectual, 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" (Isaiah 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 to learn and believe, let s 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 46:9-11).

Nothing can hinder God s words or declarations. Even the things that are perceived to be hindrances to God s will (such as the lake of fire and the second death), are not hindrances at all, but rather are the very instruments for the accomplishment of His will. God has a ONE HUNDRED PERCENT GOSPEL, AND IT S 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 I don t want to pile too much on you at once here, but there s more. As you can see from the definition above, the word "chastened" is paideuo, and is not too severe. Even if involving some punishment, the whole thrust of the word is to train, educate, discipline, instruct, etc. These are all good things not to be feared. But there is 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 scourging 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 word mastigoo and here s its definition: "to flog (literally or figuratively) -- scourge" Strong s Greek Dictionary, page 46. And what does "flog" mean?

"flog 1. To beat severely with a whip or rod." Page 531 American heritage 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 and many 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. However, the chastening of God s 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 self-will does not want to leave peaceably! It takes the very presence of Jesus Christ to dispel the beast of humanistic self-determinism, 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 you bastards, 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 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. 12:7-11).

So it is essential that we accept God s chastisement which is how He "judges" us.

The reason we are not "condemned" with the world is because we accept God s 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 comparison, is there? Trust me when I say, "For there is no respect [Gk: partiality] of persons with God" (Rom. 2:11).

Doesn t the "second death" part of the "lake of fire" seal their fate forever?

Isn t it true that God will never, ever pressure anyone to accept Jesus Christ?

Isn t it true that even God Himself doesn t know why some people reject His Sacrifice?

Didn t God predestine us to be saved but predestined those in the lake of fire to be damned?

Isn t 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. 8:38-19 substantiate the teaching that death separates God from sinners, eternally?

Isn t 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?

Let s face it, isn t the lake of fire something we will never understand until it comes?

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 don t want us to lose track of the verses we are endeavoring to explain from other Scriptures. So let s 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 that wrought 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).

"And the sea gave up the dead which were in it [is this speaking of dead sailors who drowned in the ocean?]; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them [is death and hell a place or a realm? And how can HELL deliver up their DEAD -- we are assured by Christendom that those in hell are VERY MUCH ALIVE and SUFFERING?]: and the dead were judged [does judge mean SENTENCED TO HELL FOR EVER?] every man according to their works" (Rev. 20:13).

"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire [wait just a minute; Christendom tells us that death {separation from God} and hell represent what the lake of fire actually IS, so how pray tell can they be cast INTO the lake of fire?]. This is the second death [Ah, here is the real key to understand this whole enigma - -the SECOND death is not a repeat performance of the FIRST death]" (Rev. 20:14).

"And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire [where they are BURNED UP? TORTURED FOR ETERNITY? Or JUDGED -- set RIGHT?]" (Rev. 20:15).

"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 of fire which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Rev. 21:8).

One can check a hundred translations of the Bible, and there will be little deviation from the verses cited above. The King James Version is about as accurate a translation of these verses as there is. Most versions are very close to the KJV, word for word. But there are about a dozen Bible Translations that differ most significantly on five little words. The most heretical and damning doctrines of Christendom completely melt away with a proper translation of these five little words: eis tous [for the] aionas ton [of the] aionon. So we have "for the (something?) of the (something?)." When we find out what the aionas and the aionon is, we will have totally demolished the most vile, evil, damnable religious doctrine in the history of the world!

Later in this series I will prove this so completely, so understandably, so simply, that a child will be able to understand it. You should never be deceived by Mystery Babylon the Great ever again.

Now we learned from Scripture that if we would volunteer to have God judge us 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 tribulation, sorrow, affliction and suffering. These things are God s judgment on believers to 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, according to Paul) and take up OUR cross and follow Christ into persecutions that start in our own household, then He doesn t 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. There are trials! The word "trial" in the New Testament is translated from the Greek word dokimion and 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 HEAVEN AND IN EARTH to repentance and humble submission to Jesus Christ (Phil. 2:9-11, Rom. 10:9, I Cor. 15:25). But forgiving sin, pardoning sin, justifying our sinful 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 it or not God WILL ... MAKE ... US ... PERFECT!

"He [God] chooses us in Him [Christ] before the disruption [foundation] of the world, we to be HOLY and FLAWLESS [PERFECT] in His sight..." (Eph. 1:4).

"You, then, shall be PERFECT as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mat. 5:48).

"I in them, and Thou in Me, that they [that s 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." That s not true:

"For it became HIM, for Whom are all things, and by Whom are all things, in bringing many [that s us and the rest of the world] sons unto glory, to make the CAPTAIN of their salvation PERFECT [how?] Through SUFFERING" (Heb. 2:10).

Yes, maybe no one but Christ is perfect now, but it won t always be that way. Paul knew that it was a process and that it would be ultimately God s 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 the PERFECTING OF THE SAINTS..." (Eph. 4:11-12).

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

"Herein is our love made PERFECT, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He [Christ] IS, SO ARE WE 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 and salvation.

There is a giant reason why most professing Christians do NOT suffer persecutions. They may have social, health, and financial problems, but persecutions? 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, God s 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 not greater 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 SUFFER PERSECUTION" (II Tim. 3:12).

GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE

God has a way of making imperfect people perfect. It is called FIRE! Whether purging 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 purpose for the "Lake of Fire."

Fire changes combustible things (even undesirable things) into useful heat and energy.

Fire changes the quality of precious stones, gold and silver by purging out the impurities, thus making them perfect.

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

Let s 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. Let s 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 doesn t say.

Are they KILLED, do they die? It doesn t say.

Do they ever COME OUT? It doesn t say.

How LONG does this lake of fire last? It doesn t 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 burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Rev. 21:8).

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

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

Do they ever COME OUT? It doesn t say.

How LONG does this lake of fire/second death last? It doesn t 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 DOESN T! 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 resurrection? How do they KNOW all this stuff for sure? Well, of course, THEY DON T KNOW! They ASSUME! They SPECULATE! And some of them lie.

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 DON T! You have all heard of things being "waterproof" and "fireproof," well now I am attempting to make my readers "LIE-proof" forever! One only needs to understand a half dozen absolute spiritual truths, and that person will be "LIE-PROOF" for ever! Let me give them to you quickly, and we can discuss them in greater detail as we go:

GOD IS LOVE

GOD IS SOVEREIGN

CHRIST S WORDS ARE SPIRIT

MAN S WILL IS NOT FREE AND INDEPENDENT OF GOD

THE GREEK WORD AIONIOS NEVER MEANS ETERNAL

GOD WILLS TO SAVE ALL MANKIND

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 one which 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 don t start e-mailing me just yet -- I ll 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 SPIRITUALLY 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 tribulations 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!

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 heart and 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 God's 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, well-off and very HAPPY!

I am really excited about installment IV coming next. I will show you a Scriptural 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 I m afraid, do exactly the OPPOSITE of what these Scriptures tell us we must do if we are to understand SPIRITUAL THINGS. PART IV

UNDERSTANDING SPIRITUAL THINGS

I received e-mail from a detractor this week that said, "You will never understand the Bible until you come to see that everything in the Bible must be taken literally." The truth is that it is hard to read more than a few verses in most parts of the Bible without coming across some figurative, symbolic, idiomatic, or metaphorical language, none of which is literal. Matt. 1:1, "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the SON OF DAVID, the son of Abraham." Was Jesus literally the "son of David?" No, (literally) He was more like the twenty-sixth great-grandson of David. So even in the very first verse of the New Testament we are met with language that is not completely literal. And in the last book of the New Testament, Revelation, we have a whole book of symbols, figures, and metaphors. And the material between Matthew and Revelation is a mountain of spiritual instruction and teaching.

PARABLES, PARABLES, AND MORE PARABLES

Christ spoke ONLY in parables when talking with the masses, "ALL these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in PARABLES; and without a parable spake He NOT unto them" (Matt. 13:34). We need to pay strict attention to the Words of God. They are precise and pure (in the original manuscripts), but so many just refuse to believe what they read. Jesus only taught to the multitudes IN PARABLES! Nothing else, just PARABLES! How many believe that? Of course, any who would contend that much of what is written in the Scriptures is figurative rather than literal language will be accused of "spiritualizing away" the Scriptures. In reality, by not understanding spiritual things, it is they, the accusers, who are guilty of MATERIALIZING AWAY the Scriptures!

It is the physical that passes away. Only the Spiritual is eternal. And so it is impossible to spiritualize "away" anything, because once something is spiritual it is eternal and never goes away.

And so the grand teaching and spiritual understanding of such things as the "lake of fire" are literalized and materialized down to something ghastly and horrible rather than something marvelous and glorious. How can any human being with even an ounce of human compassion believe that our Heavenly God and Father is going to operate some hellish version of Saddam Hussein s torture camps for all eternity? Every parent who had a POW in Iraq is worried sick over the condition and treatment of their son or daughter in Saddam s camps. Seriously, do we think that these same parents would be happy and filled with godly joy if one of their sons or daughters were in some fabled eternal torture chamber, of God s Hell? Do any who delight in such satanic teachings ever really meditate on these demonic teachings? No, of course they don t. No one is THAT evil.

PARABLES ARE SPIRITUAL

What were those parables that Jesus taught? A parable is a story that contains in figurative or symbolic language a higher moral or spiritual truth. Parables are HIGHER, SPIRITUAL, GLORIOUS teachings of ETERNAL things. Literally they are of little consequence; spiritually they are of enormous consequence. But without knowing what the symbols represent in a parable, no one could ever understand the higher meaning. Therefore the multitudes of people did not understand the teaching of Jesus Christ, because He did not explain the meaning of the symbols to the masses, only to His disciples in private.

Many people have tried to tell me that parables are to be taken literally. What they don t realize is that they are talking about square circles. The very reason a parable is called a parable is so that we will know for sure that whatever is contained in the parable IS NOT LITERAL. Parables require spiritual understanding. Some require little (albeit some) spiritual understanding. Example: The Parable of a Beam in One s Eye. There are few believers who would not understand the meaning of this parable, although they might not practice its teaching. Others such as The Parable of the Prodigal Son requires much more spiritual understanding, as there are many more spiritual truths contained in this story. And probably the most complex of all parables is the parable of Lazarus and the Rich man. (See my fifty-page explanation of this parable on this site).

I remember seeing Charlie Brown cartoons many years ago that had two levels of humor written into them: One very simple and easy to follow for little children; and another higher more sophisticated level of humor to keep the adults entertained as well. Unfortunately all too many Christians can only view

parables on the level of very little children viewing Charlie Brown cartoons. The higher meaning is totally missed, and/or not believed.

A simple example: "Another parable spoke He unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." Jesus didn t explain this parable, so what does it mean? Most certainly understand that leaven (like yeast) put into dough will cause the dough to rise through fermentation. But what is the spiritual application of this parable? Paul tells us that, "Know ye not that a little leaven leavens the whole lump" (I Cor. 5:6). But who believes this parable? According to Jesus, the kingdom of God is like this parable of the leaven and the lump. The kingdom of God moves and works throughout the entirety of the universe until the WHOLE of God s creation is brought under its influence. But who believes it?

The time comes when Jesus Christ will turn over the kingdom of God to His Father: "Then comes the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power that GOD MAY BE ALL IN ALL" (I Cor. 15:24 & 28b). Then the whole lump will be leavened with God! Everyone ALL. This parable is not literal. The kingdom of God is not literally "leaven in a lump of dough! These teachings are SPIRITUAL! They teach GREAT SPIRITUAL TRUTHS! Every parable teaches a spiritual truth. Unless you understand the parable of the leaven and the dough, you don t understand the gospel. Because the leaven in the dough is like the kingdom of God and Jesus came preaching the "GOSPEL" OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD! You see, if the leaven does NOT leaven the WHOLE lump, then it is NOT "like the kingdom of God." Anything that does not involve the whole (everyone) cannot be "like" the kingdom of God. For anything to be "like" the kingdom of God it must involve the whole, the all, everyone, all mankind. Therefore Jesus said that the kingdom of God is "like" leaven that leavens the WHOLE LUMP! Aren t these little parables just MARVELOUS?

ISAIAH WAS NOT A FALSE PROPHET

It is paramount that whatever Isaiah prophesied, that it be true and be fulfilled. Jesus did not contradict the prophecies of Isaiah by coming up with a game plan to thwart the original purpose for God giving Isaiah the prophecy in the first place. Yet there are those who would suggest just such a thing.

Christ spoke in parables only so that the multitudes would not and could not understand his words! I heard popular TV personality and film-maker, Matt Crouch (son of Paul Crouch, president of TBN), state that Christ taught in parables so that the people could and would understand and perceive, and therefore could repent and be healed. In other words, it would mean that Christ came to contradict and

nullify Isaiah s prophecy! But no, Christ came to "fulfill" the prophecies, not MAKE VOID and NULLIFY the prophecies. Listen to His own words: "Because it is given unto YOU to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to THEM it is NOT GIVEN" (Matt. 13:11).

Now then was it "given" or "NOT given" to the multitudes to "know the mysteries of the kingdom"? That s right, it was NOT given. Continuing:

"Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing SEE NOT; and hearing they HEAR NOT, neither do they UNDERSTAND. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye [ ye means everyone all of you, not just the singular you ] shall hear, and shall NOT understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall NOT perceive: For this people s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be CONVERTED AND I SHOULD HEAL THEM. But blessed are your eyes [the disciples only] for THEY SEE: and your ears, for THEY HEAR" (Matt. 13:13-16).

Jesus then explains the parable to His disciples only, "Hear ye [all of the disciples only] therefore the parable of the sower" (Ver. 18).

Jesus had just told the multitude this parable of the sower and his disciples heard it also, but neither group understood the parable, so He turned to His disciples in PRIVATE and instructed them in the meaning of this parable.

"ANOTHER parable put He [Jesus] forth unto them..." (Matt. 13:24)

"ANOTHER parable put He forth unto them..." (Ver. 31).

"ANOTHER parable spake He unto them..." (Ver. 33).

"ALL these things spake Jesus unto the MULTITUDES IN PARABLES; and without a parable spake He NOT unto them: That it might be fulfilled [FULFILLED, not NULLIFIED, as Matt Crouch contends] which was

spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open My mouth in PARABLES; I will utter these things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. Then Jesus sent the multitude AWAY, and went into the house: and His disciples came unto Him, saying, DECLARE UNTO US the parable of the tares of the field. He said and answered unto them [the disciples only] ..." (Matt. 13:34-37).

Not only the multitudes, but the apostles and disciples also did not understand Christ s teachings. They had to be instructed in private. And yet ... and YET, we are told continually like a broken record that the whole Bible must be taken LITERALLY. What is NOT literal cannot be taken LITERALLY. How hard can this be? A parable is still a parable (that is, figurative and/or symbolic words and language which point to a higher spiritual truth than the words themselves portray) even if the words themselves sound like they could be taken literally. The Scriptures say that Christ spoke to the multitudes in parables ONLY. We should stop fighting the Scriptures and believe Him.

"To him that has an ear to hear, let him hear" is the declaration throughout the Scriptures, but only those whom God has granted hearing and understanding will ever grasp the meaning. People don t understand the spiritual, they are afraid of the spiritual, and therefore, they want everything to be literal so that their carnal mind can be satisfied.

DISCIPLES DID NOT UNDERSTAND CHRIST S PARABLES

Notice this: "And He [Jesus] called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: Not that which goes into the mouth defiles a man but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." Even though Jesus said, "hear and understand" neither the multitude NOR the disciples understood! Once again: "Then answered Peter and said unto Him; Declare [Greek: decipher, explain] UNTO US THIS PARABLE" (Ver. 15). Peter didn t understand this parable, the apostles didn t understand, the disciples didn t understand, the Pharisees didn t understand, the whole multitude DID NOT UNDERSTAND! Now not all parables are explained in the Scriptures as this one is. Did Jesus ever explain a parable by stating that it is to be taken literally just as His words are stated? No, NEVER! Parables are not literal stories of historical events or literal stories of prophetic events. Parables ALWAYS have a higher meaning than the literal words themselves.

In those few parables that our Lord explained and preserved for us in the Scriptures, He always assigned another and different meaning to each word or part of the parables. Every word or part of each parable stood for something other than the meaning of the literal words. Why then does the church today (ignorantly or intentionally) teach that those parables for which we were not given an explanation, are

to be taken LITERALLY? The parable of Lazarus and the Rich man in Luke 16 is only one of the parables for which Jesus gave us no explanation at the time He taught it.

These hypocritical Pharisees were spiritually BLIND and the multitudes that followed them were also spiritually BLIND! Jesus said they were "BLIND leaders of the BLIND." Should we expect that things would be any different in our day and time? Are not many of the religious leaders in the world today blind? And are not the followers of these blind leaders also blind? Shall they not "both" therefore "fall into the ditch?"

The main thing that I want you to see in these Scriptures regarding the parables is that Jesus Christ did not go around the countryside teaching huge crowds of people spiritual truths by the use and means of simple little farming analogies. He taught, they listened, they understood NOT, they went back to their homes, and their lives were affected very little. Although Jesus did not heal most of them of their spiritual sicknesses, he did heal them of their physical diseases, and for this, many were most thankful and thought of Him as a great and godly man. The Pharisees and other such ilk, of course, only despised our Lord s every word and deed.

Now then, why would Jesus Christ spend years traveling the countryside teaching in parables so that the multitudes of people He reached would not understand a word He was saying? Consider if Jesus had either (1) Explained His parables and teachings so that they could and would understand, or (2) Just simply taught them in plain language what He wanted them to hear and know without all the parables and symbolic figurative language, then they would have heard and understood and perceived and repented and been converted, and Jesus would have healed them and saved them. But Jesus didn t want them to repent and be converted and healed and saved (at that time)! Why? Doesn t Christ realize that according to Christian teaching, no person can be saved after he dies without being saved before death. Has no one ever told our Lord about this adamant, unmovable, unrelenting dogmatic divine doctrine of Christendom? Apparently not, seeing that our Lord is going to save many times more sinners after death than before death!

SINNERS SAVED AFTER DEATH

Receiving salvation after one dies is a total impossibility according to Christian teaching. The Scriptural reality is that most of humanity will be saved in judgment after death. It is only the Firstfruits that are saved in this first life before the resurrection to judgment

Now there were many who did believe that Jesus was a man sent from God, and they followed Him. But why? Mostly because of His miracles and healings. They were taken in by His miraculous works. On one occasion Jesus said the multitudes were more interested in the miraculous bread that filled their belly rather than any spiritual food they could have received. But, just as quick as many were to follow Jesus, likewise, many quickly turned from Him. When Jesus told them that, "the flesh profits NOTHING" and "the words that I speak unto you, they are SPIRIT" (John 6:63), they decided they had enough of this Man: "From that time MANY of His disciples went back, and walked NO MORE with Him" (John 6:66).

And what do we see happening today? I heard again last night Creflo Dollar giving yet another version of the only sermon I believe he has, on how to get rich on this world s materialism! Over the past year or two I have come upon Mr. Dollar probably thirty or forty times while flipping through the channels. I have never once heard anything pertaining to the gospel of Jesus Christ come out of his mouth only messages of how to cash in on worldly materialism! Albeit, I must confess that I cannot take more than about five minutes of his preaching at a time. Apparently he believes that materialism is spiritualism! I have nothing against Mr. Dollar. He is a fine looking young man with lots of energy and personality, but I do not believe that he has a clue as to what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. The "treasures" that Jesus spoke of were not houses, cars, jewelry, and money. The treasures of heaven are SPIRITUAL.

And so we have those who were called of God and understood some of the good things of the kingdom of God, but then turned away from Christ. We have whole multitudes that heard Christ preach for years and never understood a word He said, and died that way in their sins. And we have whole nations of people who have never heard of the name of Jesus Christ. What will happen to all of these multitudes and nations that died in their sins not being worthy of the kingdom of God? God will JUDGE them, and they will all be saved! That s what Jesus Christ is HE S A SAVIOUR HE SAVES! He s the best Saviour there ever was or ever will be. Contrary to popular Christian teaching, Jesus Christ is very good at what He does. He is a PERFECT SAVIOUR. No one will be lost when Jesus sets His hand to SAVE THE WORLD! You can take that to the bank.

TWO STUPID ARGUMENTS

I hate to waste precious space and time on stupid things, but I feel an urge to tell you about an argument and an analogy that Christian detractors of the Truth continually send to me. I often mention in my writings and in answer to e-mails, that Jesus Christ is THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD, and therefore, WILL SAVE THE WORLD. This should be axiomatic to even the youngest and newest minor in Christ, but sadly many Christian veterans of a half-century do not and cannot believe it.

One analogy that I have been given several times to prove that Christ can be the Saviour of the world, and yet NOT SAVE THE WORLD, goes like this: "When a fireman goes into a burning building to save trapped people, what happens if these trapped people refuse to be saved? Is the fireman not still a fireman simply because some do not wish to be saved?" Here we see the foolishness of the carnal mind at work desperately grasping for straws to support an unscriptural theory that Christ TRIES to save everyone (just like a fireman tries to save those trapped in a burning building), but is unable to save everyone because many REFUSE to be saved. Therefore Christ is STILL a Saviour even if He doesn t save everyone. See the logic in this analogy?

See the utter foolishness in this analogy:

Only an insane person would prefer to be burned in literal torturing flames of fire rather than to be saved by a fireman! I have been told by Christians many times that most of humanity will CHOOSE to be burned in the pain of literal hell fire for all ETERNITY, rather than to be saved by Jesus Christ! THEY LIE!

Any fireman worth his salt will save men, women, children, and even cats, dogs, and other pets, WHETHER THEY WANT TO BE SAVED OR NOT. Imagine a mother being told by a fireman that he left her little girl back in a burning building because the little girl didn t want to be rescued by a fireman?

Jesus Christ does not suffer the limitations of a fireman! Jesus Christ IS GOD! God does what He WILLS, and God wills to save all humanity (I Tim. 2:4 and Isaiah 46:9-11). Such stupid analogies themselves condemn the wicked and carnal minds of those who purpose them.

And I have a whole folder full of this inane argument from detractors of the Truth (I will paraphrase as different ones contain different aspects of the same argument): "Well if everyone is going to eventually be saved, as you teach Mr. Smith, then why should those of us who are following Christ now, not just go out and live it up? Why shouldn t we go out and fornicate, get drunk, steal, kill, or do anything we want? Why not just enjoy life and have a happy time? Why should we obey God or pray or go to Church, or be concerned for other people now if we are all going to be saved later anyway?"

This is not an isolated argument I get many such e-mails. Sometimes I just reply by saying: "Sir, it is not even necessary for me to answer your questions you have answered them YOURSELF! You yourself have condemned your own darkened and unintelligent heart by the very stupid and foolish questions you ask. You prove to yourself by asking such things, that you do not really love your fellowman or God. You would PREFER to live a wicked life of selfish carnality and a continuous quest for physical pleasures of the flesh. You truly do not see the value of living a righteous, godly, and spiritual life. You condemn yourself as being unworthy of the Kingdom of God."

So here we have people who claim to believe in Jesus Christ and the goodness of God, who nonetheless, utterly condemn my teaching that Jesus Christ will SAVE THE WORLD, and often state that it is "I" who will be tortured in hell fire for all eternity for denying that there is such a place of eternal torture. Yet they themselves would prefer to live an ungodly life of sin and pleasure rather than to serve God from the heart out of love. I believe I have the mind of Christ when I say that all such attitudes will be judged in God s consuming fire.

TURNING THE SPIRITUAL INTO THE PHYSICAL

Who really believes that "the flesh profits NOTHING?" or that "the WORDS that I speak unto you, they are SPIRIT?" I am sure that most of my readers are answering, "Well I believe these statements of Christ!" Well I hope you do, but I am afraid that many still think that "the lake of fire which is the second death" is literal even though we just read where Christ Himself says, "the WORDS that I speak unto you, THEY ARE SPIRIT?" Who do you think spoke those words, "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death?" Was it not CHRIST?

If you have a King James Bible, open to the book of Revelation. Here is what my KJV says in big bold letters at the top of the page: "THE REVELATION of St. John the Divine." But you see that title for this book is the invention of the translators. There is no such title in the Greek manuscripts. Now then, read the first verse of Revelation one: "The Revelation of JESUS CHRIST..." So we see that this book of Revelation is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and NOT that of "St. John the Divine." Furthermore, I don t think John would approve of anyone calling him "DIVINE."

The words that the lake of fire is the second death are a revelation of Jesus Christ, and Jesus told us that His words are SPIRIT. Not only are the words "lake of fire" and "second death" figurative, symbolic, and metaphorical, but since this is a revelation of Jesus Christ Himself, they are of necessity also, SPIRITUAL!

Christendom thinks it understands the words of SPIRIT which Jesus spoke, but does it really? Notice the context of these statements of our Lord. Jesus told the Pharisees and multitudes and disciples that He was the bread of life come down from heaven. Jesus again used bread at the last supper to SYMBOLIZE His FLESH which we are to eat in order to have life. The real, literal bread was a symbol of HIS SPIRITUAL FLESH.

So what is it that Christians by the millions do every morning in churches around the world? They take communion by eating real physical bread, which they have been told has now been turned into real physical flesh protein of our Lord s physical body! First of all, Christ s BODY IS SPIRITUAL, not physical, ("It is sown a natural body; it is raised a SPIRITUAL BODY" I Cor. 15:43, and "Now this I say, brethren, that FLESH AND BLOOD CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD" 15:50). In other words, they take something physical (bread); magically metamorphose it into something else physical (namely flesh); and think they have comprehended and achieved something SPIRITUAL.

Christ gave us word symbols to show us a higher spiritual teaching, namely that eating bread which gives physical life is symbolic of eating the real bread of life from heaven, the SPIRITUAL FLESH OF JESUS ("eating" and "flesh" also being symbolic of something else), which imparts SPIRITUAL LIFE.

The large crowds of people who listened to Jesus speak have long since died, and they died in their sins never having understood what it is to be converted, healed, and saved. They never have eaten of Christ s spiritual body. One of the main reasons why, "...for WIDE is the gate, and BROAD is the way, that leads to destruction [not eternal torture], and MANY there be which go in thereat" is because Christ did NOT open up to the multitudes the "narrow way" to understanding, repentance, and salvation.

THE THREE FESTIVALS AND THE SALVATION OF ALL

There is a beautiful type in the Old Testament that clearly demonstrates when and in what manner all these Unsaved masses will be saved. This Old Testament type is illustrated all through the New Testament, but the blind and unperceiving eyes of Christendom have for the most part failed to see it, believe it, or teach it.

The American Heritage College Dictionary: "type n 6. A figure, representation, or symbol of something to come, such as an event in the Old Testament that foreshadows another in the New Testament," p. 1485. There are many such types beginning back in the the first chapter of Genesis.

Here are just two examples: The Passover in ancient Israel was a type of its true fulfillment to come in our Lord's crucifixion, "Purge out therefore the old leaven that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened [but now speaking spiritually]. For even Christ our PASSOVER [Lamb] is sacrificed [crucified] for us " (I Cor. 5:7). And James 1:18 clearly demonstrates the foreshadowing of the firstfruits harvest by saying: "Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a KIND of firstfruits [of the Spring Harvest] of His creatures [not farm products]." It is also important to note that whenever the word "first" is used, it always suggests more to follow -- there is never a Spring harvest without a following Fall harvest. We will now consider three of the Old Testament types that center on the harvest seasons.

In ancient Israel there were three times in the year when all men were to appear before God:

THE WAVE SHEAF (Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover): "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf OF the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest ... And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the FIRST year for a burnt offering unto the Lord" (Lev. 23:10-12).

COMMENT: This wave sheaf of the very first of the firstfruits is a type of our Lord Who was the perfect Lamb without blemish offered in the Spring on Passover. "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the FIRSTFRUIT of them that sleep" (I Cor. 15:20). Jesus is not the entire firstfruits but rather "the firstfruit OF them that sleep." He is the firstfruit OF the firstfruit or more precisely the "wave sheaf OF the firstfruits." Firstfruit is a term that pertains to agriculture and harvesting. It was never a theological term until introduced into the New Testament with regards to a small number who would be saved prior to a much larger number to be saved later.

THE FIRSTFRUITS (Feast of Weeks): "All the best of the oil , and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the FIRSTFRUITS of them which they shall offer unto the Lord, them have I given thee ... And whatsoever is FIRST RIPE in the land which they shall bring unto the Lord, shall be thine..." (Num. 18:12 & 13). "And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O Lord, has given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God" (Deut. 26:10).

COMMENT: The type in the New Testament of this Old Testament symbol is the Believer. Notice what James tells us, "Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of FIRSTFRUITS of His creatures" (James 1:18). Now a very important point: How far down the road in prophecy can we go until we reach the end of the firstfruits? In Rev. 7:4-8 we read of the sealing of the 144,000. These are a different group from the great innumerable multitude, which no man could number, from every nation and tongue spoken of beginning in verse 9.

In Chapter 14:1 & 4 we are told specifically who these 144,000 are: "And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with Him an hundred forty and four thousand [notice that the innumerable multitudes from all nations is not mentioned here] ... These are they which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins [as in the Bride of Christ]. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, BEING THE FIRSTFRUITS unto God and to the Lamb" (Rev. 14:1 & 4). So every believer from the Apostles to the 144,000 just prior to the return of Jesus Christ to establish His reign on the earth, is called and likened to FIRSTFRUITS! So what does this have to do with the lake of fire? EVERYTHING! Everyone saved before the Day of Judging is likened to firstfruits, so there will be no more firstfruits after the white throne judgment.

Paul tells us in Rom. 8:23, "And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the FIRSTFRUITS of the Spirit..." Nowhere do we read of the "LASTFRUITS," but whenever something is FIRST we also know there is something to follow. Nor are there any references to any "ONLYFRUITS." The firstfruits are clearly not the ONLY fruits! Follow this very closely now, for you are in for a big shock when you understand the type in the fall festival of Tabernacles the great fall harvest.

THE END-OF-THE-YEAR FEAST OF INGATHERING (Feast of Tabernacles): "And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou has sown in the field and the FEAST OF INGATHERING, which is in the END OF THE YEAR, when you have gathered in thy labours out of the field" (Ex. 23:16).

"Thou shall observe the FEAST OF TABERNACLES seven [number of perfection] days, after that you have gathered in your corn and your wine: And you shall REJOICE IN YOUR FEAST, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the widow, that are within your gates [that s just about EVERYONE, wouldn t you say?]. Seven days [here s that perfect number again] shall you keep A SOLEMN FEAST [a very important feast to God] unto the LORD your God in the place which the Lord shall choose: because the Lord thy God shall bless you in all your increase, and in all the works of your hands, therefore you shalt surely REJOICE" (Deut. 16:13-15). Here truly was a festival in which EVERYONE, every single person in all Israel, and also did you notice, "the STRANGER" who was NOT an Israelite could really REJOICE! THIS FESTIVAL WAS THE HAPPIEST TIME OF THE YEAR! Do we think it will have no fulfillment in God s grand plan of salvation?

"Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, the fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the FEAST OF TABERNACLES for seven days unto the LORD. On the first day shall be an holy convocation: you shall do no servile work therein. Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the EIGHTH DAY shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by FIRE unto the LORD: it is a SOLEMN assembly; and you shall do no servile work therein" (Lev. 23:34-36). Why is the profound and marvelous truth of this festival not taught in its proper chronological order by the prophets of Christendom? How is it even possible to avoid seeing the powerful and glorious consummation of God s salvation in this Fall Harvest Festival? Why is the truth of this GREAT FEAST being hidden from the eyes of the world? What is it that they are trying to hide from us? God s Word will show us.

JESUS TAUGHT THE PURPOSE OF THE FALL HARVEST

The eighth day of this Feast of Tabernacles was called "The Last Great Day of the Feast." Jesus Christ Himself came to the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem and spoke on the Last Great Day:

"In the last day, that GREAT DAY OF THE FEAST, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If ANY MAN thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of LIVING WATER" (John 7:37-38).

At what point in future prophecy, will Jesus Christ CUT OFF the invitation to all and any who are athirst to drink of His LIVING WATERS? Our Lord NEVER cuts off the invitation to drink of the living waters. These waters (a symbol for God s SPIRIT) will be available until every creature in heaven and earth is saved:

"And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the FOUNTAIN OF THE WATER OF LIFE FREELY" (Rev. 21:6).

"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And WHOSOEVER WILL, let him take the WATER OF LIFE FREELY" (Rev. 22:17).

And this declaration is made just five verses before the END OF THE BIBLE!

But don t be deceived, Jesus Christ IS the "tree of life" in the Garden, and NO ONE can partake of that tree of life except he first pass the through the "FLAMING SWORD" that points in all directions and guards the tree of life. Remember, "Our God is a CONSUMING FIRE" (Heb. 12:29).

So Tabernacles celebrated the great Fall harvest, the largest harvest of the whole year. It was this great Fall harvest that would sustain Israel through the winter months. There were far more products to be harvested in the END of the year than in the Spring of the year. Therefore this same type must carry over into the New Testament.

So here is where we are. There were THREE great festivals in the yearly calendar of Israel:

"THREE TIMES in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which He shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread [which included Passover], and in the feast of weeks [firstfruits], and in the feast of tabernacles [the time of the great fall harvest]: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty" (Deut. 16:16).

First comes the wave sheaf, the very first of the firstfruits, on Passover, during the feast of unleavened bread. This represents CHRIST, the very first (wave sheaf) OF the firstfruit, our Passover sacrificed for us.

Second was the Feast of Weeks when the firstfruit of the land was harvested. This represents US, the FIRSTFRUIT to enter God s Kingdom. James says WE are the firstfruit of God (James 1:18).

Third came the great Fall harvest, the Feast of Tabernacles, a much much larger gathering, where ALL THE FALL HARVEST was gathered in! What does this Feast picture? This was the time of true REJOICING FOR EVERYONE. Absolutely EVERYONE. No one was left out of this great and final festival of the year:

"And thou shalt rejoice IN THY FEAST [of Tabernacles, the fall harvest], YOU, and your SON, and your DAUGHTER, and your MANSERVANT, and your MAIDSERVANT, and the LEVITE, the STRANGER [GENTILES], and the FATHERLESS, and the WIDOW, that are within your gates" (Deut. 16:14).

NO ONE was EXCLUDED! EVERYONE was INCLUDED!

And so we see in the New Testament that these three festivals of ancient Israel are really TYPES in God s master plan of salvation. Christ the FIRST of the firstfruit. Then believers, the FIRSTFRUITS. And then the great FALL HARVEST.

But wait a minute. We know that Christ was the First of the firstfruit to be resurrected to life. We also know that all the believing saints who are to reign with Christ at His coming are the rest of the firstfruits. So where then does the great fall harvest of souls come into God s family? When have you ever been taught about the great fall harvest, which excludes no one but includes everyone? There is a reason why you haven t heard the truth of these Scriptures in Christendom.

According to Christendom THERE IS NO GREAT FALL HARVEST OF SOULS at the end of the ages!

That s right, they say there will be NO Fall Harvest in God s Kingdom. Just how do they account for such a thing? Is God such an inept and unskilled Farmer that He has a total crop failure when Fall harvest time comes, or will He just BURN THE ENTIRE HARVEST in the eternal fires of some fabled hell?

ENTER THE PROPHET BENNY

An interesting thing happened yesterday when I was scanning the channels looking for the latest news. Benny Hinn popped up on one of the channels, and so I stopped momentarily and heard the announcer

say that Mr. Hinn was ready to complete his study on the Feast of Tabernacles. Now how coincidental can this be? Of course it was no coincidence at all as God is operating all according to the counsel of His own will (Eph. 1:10-11). Since I was writing on this very theme myself, I thought that I would listen to what Mr. Hinn had to say. I then heard something that I have never heard before.

I am well aware of the fact that Christian doctrine does not teach that God will bring in the entire Fall harvest of humanity, but how do they explain it away? I had never heard the orthodox answer to this problem. Well, don t you know, Benny Hinn (teacher, author, evangelist, healer, prophet, and raiser of the dead) had the answer. (Can t say for sure that his answer is the orthodox one or not, but I ll pass it on anyway). He said to his audience that what he was about to tell them would shock them. Even I was on the edge of my seat. I could hardly wait for this new revelation. What could it be?

First he quoted from Daniel nine about the 70 weeks prophecy and from Amos, and then came his shocker. He said that God was going to do something that He had never done before. God was going to do something completely unheard of heretofore. He was going to perform a most unusual miracle. And just what is it that God will do? His audience was just glowing with anticipation. I could hardly wait myself. He next quoted his proof text for this most unusual miracle from God. And here it is, King James Version, Joel 2:23:

"Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for He hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month."

Well there it is! Did you catch that most incredible and momentous miracle of miracles? You don t see it? Well, actually, I didn t either until he explained it.

The key to his marvelous revelation is found in the words, "...the former rain, and the latter rain in the FIRST MONTH." I will now present to you Prophet Benny s insight into this phrase. He said that in the near future, God will send the former rain and latter rain, all in the FIRST MONTH of the year. Thus, (and here Prophet Benny takes a little interpreters license) the former rain really represents the former harvest or Pentecost (firstfruits) and the latter rain represent the Fall harvest (Tabernacles), so both the spring harvest of firstfruits AND the fall harvest of ingathering will BOTH TAKE PLACE IN THE FIRST MONTH OF THE YEAR! So therefore there will not be a separate huge fall harvest, just one harvest in the first month only. And both of these harvests combined will NOT include all the produce of the field,

ONLY THAT PORTION which is lucky enough to get harvested. This supposed spring and fall harvest combined, in the first month, will be but a small portion of the entire crop!

Wow! What prophetic understanding! What a fantastic miracle! What divine revelation! What spiritual insight! WHAT A CROCK!!

I am afraid I will now have to Scripturally depose Benny the prophet. (Actually, I kinda like Benny; he s a charming guy with a pleasant personality, and always seems to have a smile on his face; but don t believe everything he says).

Notice that I italicized the word month in each reference above. If you have a King James Bible you will notice that the word "month" in Joel 2:23 is in italics. This means that in the Hebrew manuscript from which this verse was translated, there is NO WORD "month" in verse 23. The translators inserted the word month thinking they would make the meaning of the verse clearer, when in reality, they turned the verse into a contradiction. It should read, " the former rain, and the latter rain as in the first." Period. It is not speaking of "the first month," but "as in the first" or "as before" or "as in the beginning." Notice a few credible translations of this verse:

"Rejoice in the Eternal One your God, for the early rain He has given you amply, the winter-rain he has poured upon you, and sent the latter rain as of old" (A New Translation By James Moffatt).

"Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice In the LORD your God; For He giveth you the former rain in just measure, And He causeth to come down for you the rain, The former rain and latter rain, at the first" (The Holy Scriptures, The Jewish Publication Society).

"And, you sons of Zion, be joyful and rejoice in Jehovah your God; for He will be bound to give you the autumn rain in right measure, and He will bring down upon you people a downpour, autumn rain and spring rain, as at the first" (New World Translation, By New World Bible Translation Committee).

"Then, sons of Zion, exult! And rejoice in the LORD, your God! For He will give to you the former rain in just measure, And He will bring down for you the downpour, The former rain and the latter rain as at first" (Concordant Version By Concordant Publishing Concern).

"Rejoice, O people of Jerusalem, rejoice in the LORD your God! For the rains He sends are tokens of forgiveness. Once more the autumn rains will come, as well as those of spring" (The Living Bible, Holman Illustrated Edition).

"And you, O children of Zion, rejoice, and be joyful in the Lord your God: because He hath given you a teacher of justice, and he will make the early and the latter rain to come down to you as in the beginning" (The Holy Bible, Douay Confraternity).

"Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before" (New International Version).

"O children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God; for he has given the early rain for your vindication, He has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the later rain, as before" (The New Revised Standard Version).

Does anyone see the word "month" in any of these translations? That s because God never inspired the word "month" to be used in this verse. So clearly this verse is not speaking about having a spring and fall harvest all in the same first month of the year! How conveniently Prophet Benny thought he had wiped out God s whole Fall Harvest of billions of souls by extrapolating a false prophecy and unscriptural doctrine from one non-existent word!

No, my dear readers, the firstfruits are but the beginning of the harvest, and there is to follow the full fall harvest of all humanity. God said that this end of the year fall harvest was a time of REJOICING. One could hardly rejoice over throwing the entire fall harvest of humanity into some hellhole of eternal fire!

THREE TIMES there was a great festival to God wherein, by the use of types, God showed mankind His plan of salvation. The PASSOVER, the FIRSTFRUITS, and the FALL HARVEST. These three festival types in the Old Testament were to have their fulfillment in future realizations of these types.

EVERY MAN SAVED IN HIS OWN ORDER

I Cor. 15:20, 23, 24 presents us with the type and fulfillment of the three harvest festivals:

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the FIRSTFRUITS OF [the rest of the firstfruits awaiting resurrection in His presence] them that slept ... But EVERY MAN [all mankind, the WHOLE human race] in his own ORDER: Christ the firstfruits..." (The Wave Sheaf of the very first of the firstfruits).

"Afterward they that are Christ s [those who are now saved] at His coming [the rest of the firstfruits that are sleeping and those alive waiting]. (The Firstfruits, the Spring Harvest).

Then comes the END [The Fall Harvest, the Feast of Tabernacles]. " and the feast of INGATHERING [of the Fall Harvest], which is in the END..." (Ex. 23:16). What did Jesus say would happen in "the end," at the "end of the Feast," "the last day," "the last great day of the feast?" "In the last day, that GREAT DAY OF THE FEAST, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If ANY MAN thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of LIVING WATER" (John 7:37-38).

THEN COMES THE END

I Cor. 15:24 says, "Then comes the END " "The end" of what? Just what is it that "ends" in "the end?" Does the earth end? Does the universe end? Do we end? What ends in the end? "Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ s at His coming [Gk: His presence]. Then comes THE END..." (II Cor. 15:24). Let s look at a few verses before we come to "the end" in verse 24:

Verse 20:

"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept."

Comment: Contrary to popular teaching, there was no heavenly welcoming committee of men and women who became firstfruits BEFORE Christ became the FIRSTFRUIT. No, there were no saints welcoming Christ back to heaven. Christ taught:

"And NO MAN has ascended into heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven" (John 3:13).

Jesus Christ was the FIRST. Ask your pastor if this verse really is true, that "NO MAN" has ascended into heaven. This would then mean that Lazarus and Abraham in the Rich man parable also were NOT IN HEAVEN as most teach that they were, wouldn t it?

Among the very last few words that Christ uttered on this earth were these:

"I am Alpha and Omega, the BEGINNING and the END, the FIRST and the LAST" (Rev. 22:13).

So yes, Christ is the first of the firstfruits. He is the first of EVERYTHING, He is the very Creator; and He is the last, the end, the CONSUMMATION of God s plan of universal salvation.

Ver. 21-22: "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For AS in Adam ALL die, EVEN SO in Christ shall ALL be made alive."

Comment: First I want to show you that the word "alive" in this verse is a word that is used with reference to imparting immortality, and not just mortal life. The Greek word is zoopoieo, and it means to give life beyond the grasp of any future death. Notice how it is used in Rom. 8:11, "But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead [Christ was raised to immortality, not back to a mortal life] dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken [zoopoieo] your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you." So clearly God does not give "mortal" life to our "mortal" bodies, seeing that we already have mortal life. No, He imparts IMMORTALITY to us. And this is exactly what Paul tells us in I Cor. 15, "For this corruptible [body] must put on incorruption [spiritual], and this mortal [dying or dead

body] must put on IMMORTALITY [Gk: DEATH-LESS-NESS]" (Verse 53). And to whom does Christ grant immortal "zoopoieo" life? Answer: "ALL." The very same "all" who die in Adam are the very same "all" who are given life IN CHRIST.

It is also noteworthy that it is " IN Christ ALL " and is not restricted to only, " ALL IN CHRIST " as many have tried to twist this verse to mean. They say it is only all those who are "in" Christ. But that is not what this verse says. It says "in Christ ALL." That is the order of words. This verse is not speaking of those just the "all believers" who are said to be "IN Christ." No, this verse is speaking about the very same "in Adam ALL" who die become the very same "in Christ ALL" who are made alive. And although this particular verse does not say that "all" are now "IN Christ," it does most definitely say that "in Christ," the "ALL" shall be shall be "made alive." "Made alive" does not prove they are "in" Christ or that they are "saved," only that they have been given immortal life. Then comes JUDGMENT. But don t think that therefore there is no Scripture that says they will eventually "ALL" be "IN" Christ, because there is:

"That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one ALL [ things is not in original] IN Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even IN HIM" (Eph. 1:10).

Christ first raises ALL to mortal life. At a later date He gathers this same ALL into Himself. The "in Christ ALL" (I Cor. 15:22) then becomes the "ALL IN CHRIST" (Eph. 1:10). Every creature in heaven and earth will be ONE IN Christ! I hope you can believe that.

Ver. 23-24: "But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ s at His coming. Then cometh the end "

The King James starts a new sentence and a new verse with the words, "Then cometh the end " It should, however, be a continuation of the previous sentence. There are three items in view here, not just two. The Concordant Version has a better rendering of this:

"Yet each in his own class: the Firstfruit, Christ; thereupon those who are Christ s in His presence; thereafter the consummation "

One, two, three. So there are three orders or classes that synchronize with the three festivals of harvest, and not just two classes that synchronize with Prophet Benny s first "month" of the year only theory. Notice them: "The Firstfruit, Christ" (The Passover, The Wave Sheaf).

"Thereupon those who are Christ s" (Pentecost, the Firstfruits)

"Thereafter the consummation [the end]" (the final Fall Harvest of Ingathering in the end of the year).

These three match perfectly with the three types of harvest in the Old Testament. So yes indeed, there will be a fall harvest at the end, at the CONSUMMATION. Now the rest of verse 24:

" thereafter the consummation when He [Christ] shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power."

Notice that Christ does not rule "forever and ever" as is popularly taught, but rather delivers up the kingdom to GOD His Father. But He does this after He puts down ALL RULE AND ALL AUTHORITY, AND ALL POWER. Who/Where? EVERYONE/EVERYWHERE! "That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together [just like the fall "ingathering of the harvest"] in one ALL [ things is not in the Greek] in Christ, both which are IN HEAVEN, and which are ON EARTH, IN HIM" (Eph. 1:10). And so here is our Scripture which clearly states that "ALL" in both heaven and earth will become "ONE IN Christ." Now they are no longer just given life in Christ, but now they are SAVED, they are "one in Christ!"

Notice that there is coming a "GATHERING TOGETHER OF ALL IN ONE [Christ]." And that this gathering together of all in one consists of ALL IN THE HEAVENS AND ALL IN THE EARTH! Who then is left out? NO ONE! These ALL in heaven and earth are not gathered "under" Christ, but "IN Christ!"

Let s read it again. A verse this important and all encompassing cannot be over emphasized:

"That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together IN ONE [just as in harvest time] ALL IN Christ, BOTH WHICH ARE IN HEAVEN, AND WHICH ARE ON EARTH; IN HIM."

Now then, when "ALL" in both heaven and earth are gathered into one "IN Christ," absolutely no one is left out. This is also in perfect harmony with other Scriptures regarding the salvation of everyone in both the heavens and the earth, and even those dead and six feet UNDER the earth. Next book, Phil. 2:9-11:

"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE should bow, of [those] in heaven, and those in earth, and those under [all who have died] the earth: And that EVERY TONGUE should confess that Jesus Christ IS LORD to the glory of God the Father."

Sometimes when something is important God gives us a SECOND WITNESS:

"I HAVE SWORN BY myself, the word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto Me EVERY KNEE shall bow, EVERY TONGUE shall swear" (Isaiah 45:23).

And when something is really important God even gives us a THIRD WITNESS:

"For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, EVERY KNEE shall bow to me, and EVERY TONGUE shall confess to God" (Rom. 14:11).

It is futile to say that I Cor. 15: 22 means only the all who are "in" Christ will be saved, even though the order of words is clear in all translations. It is not "all IN Christ" that is spoken of in this verse, but rather "in Christ ALL" that is spoken of. But later, after resurrection, after judgment, "in the dispensation of the fullness of times," we learn that, indeed, it is "ALL in Christ" and now the "ALL" is EVERYONE IN HEAVENS AND ON THE EARTH ALL OF GOD S CREATURES!

By the way, for all those ultra-stubborn ones who say that, yes, all will bow their knees, and if they don t God will break their knees and force them to confess that "Jesus is LORD," let me present this Scripture:

" no man CAN SAY that Jesus is the Lord BUT BY THE HOLY SPIRIT" (I Cor. 12:3b).

Oh that Christians would learn to stop fighting and contradicting the Scriptures.

So then, "in Christ ALL" shall be made alive with immortal and incorruptible life; ALL both in the heavens and in the earth shall be judged (set right), and then all in the heavens and all in the earth will bow and confess that Christ is LORD of their lives; and ALL in both heaven and earth will be gathered together in ONE "IN Christ." This is the great fall harvest. This is the meaning of Tabernacles. This is the grand and glorious note on which the ENDS OF EONS climax!

TO BE "IN CHRIST" IS SALVATION

What does it mean to be "IN Christ" seeing that ALL IN HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL BE "IN Christ?"

"Therefore if any man be IN Christ, he is a NEW CREATURE: old things are passed away; behold, ALL things are become new."

How many will be reconciled "IN Christ?"

"To wit, that God was IN Christ, reconciling THE WORLD unto Himself, NOT IMPUTING THEIR TREPASSES UNTO THEM " (II Cor. 5:17 & 19).

Of course, how could it be otherwise? Jesus doesn t make just "some" new creatures from the old, no, He makes "ALL THINGS NEW." And we all know this verse:

"There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION to them which are IN Christ Jesus "

How many will be IN Christ? We read it: "ALL." There is coming the time when there will be no more condemnation IN ANYONE ANYWHERE! Praise God and BELIEVE IT!

WHEN IS IT TOO LATE TO BE SAVED?

But are these Scriptures believed? In the "the end," in "the last day ," in that "GREAT DAY OF THE FEAST," can "ANY" man really and truly drink of Christ if he is thirsty, or will it be TOO LATE?

"If ANY MAN THIRST, let him come unto Me, and DRINK."

What about the Rich man in the parable who said,

"...be merciful to me [is God a God of mercy?] and send Lazarus that he should be dipping the tip of his finger in water and cooling my tongue..." (Luke 16:24).

Can this Rich man come to Christ and "drink"? Ask your pastor. The answer will probably be, "NO, he cannot come to Christ and drink, because for him IT IS TOO LATE."

"TOO LATE?" The "END," the "END of the Feast," "the LAST day," "the LAST great day of the Feast," is, "TOO LATE?" NO! The LAST great day of the feast is NOT too late. The LAST GREAT DAY OF THE FEAST IS WHEN Jesus said let "ANY MAN" freely come and drink of the water of life:

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the END ... I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the WATER OF LIFE FREELY" (Rev. 21:6)

"In the LAST DAY, that GREAT DAY OF THE FEAST, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If ANY MAN THIRST [even the Rich man] LET HIM COME UNTO ME, AND DRINK" (Jn. 7:37-38).

In the parable of Lazarus and the Rich man, we find the Rich man being Judged, so he has not as yet partaken of the water of life, but he will. And so the church today has relegated this marvelous type of the fall harvest of rejoicing into an eternity of grieving. They see no need to SAVE the harvest. Their message is to BURN AND DESTROY THE HARVEST! To them the Fall Harvest is not worth saving; to them the Fall Harvest is EVIL, and needs to be burned in fire for all eternity. This is decidedly not the way God

views humanity in the end time of harvest. It seems that the greatest minds in theology today cannot understand the simplest analogies, types, and parables in the Scriptures?

GOD THE FARMER

Think about these things with a little bit of sensibility and reverence for God s desires. Oh how we demean the very God we claim to worship. For millennia man has tilled the ground, planted seed, cultivated, sweat and toiled in anticipation of a GOOD CROP. You can t count the times that Scripture talks of food, produce, oil, olives, figs, corn, wine, cattle, milk, honey, seedtime and harvest. The ideal setting being a land filled with happy children , peace, health, and PLENTY! Our Lord said that God His Father is a "Farmer" ("My Father is the Farmer" John 15:1)

Now it is indeed acknowledged by the church that God will have a small spring harvest of firstfruits, but when it comes to the FALL harvest, the really BIG harvest, The Greatest Farmer in the Universe, will not have a bumper crop but will rather have a TOTAL CROP FAILURE! Or more precisely, He BURNS THE ENTIRE FALL HARVEST. Does this blasphemous teaching sound to you like God is being exalted as the Greatest Farmer in all the earth? An all-wise, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving Farmer Who can cultivate and produce a perfect and complete Fall Harvest? Why would our Father s Son, Jesus Christ, liken His Father to a Farmer, knowing in advance that His Farmer Father will produce fall harvest that is worse that the worst of human farmers?

The spring harvest is the harvest of those firstfruits that have entered into the straight and narrow gate. The fall harvest is the harvest of all those who went the wide and broad way into destruction. Destruction is not the final destiny of the nonbeliever. Being DESTROYED, PERISHED, and LOST are all conditions awaiting SALVATION, and are not conditions to be eternally punished! All, absolutely ALL, who are not in the first resurrection are in a condition likened to: "lost," "perished," or "destroyed." Contrary to orthodoxy these conditions are NOT hopeless:

DESTROYED, PERISHED, AND LOST

DESTROYED: Is being destroyed a condition from which there is no salvation? Jesus said,

"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to DESTROY both soul and body in hell [the Greek is "gehenna" NOT hell. It is gehenna fire, Mat. 5:22, not hell fire ]" (Matt. 10:28).

Is there no salvation from this "destruction" in gehenna fire? Notice that they are not "eternally lost" in gehenna fire, but they are "DESTROYED" in gehenna fire. Their condition is that of being DESTROYED. This is not a hopeless condition or even our own Lord would have been put into a hopeless condition.

"Jesus answered and said unto them, DESTROY this temple, and in three days I will raise it up ... but He spake of the temple of His BODY" (John 2:19 & 21).

Later they did destroy Jesus Christ and sure enough three days later God SAVED Jesus from that destruction.

Notice what Job said with relation to being "destroyed":

"Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet Thou dost DESTROY me" (Job 10:8).

Yet Job knew that God would yet save him. In Jeremiah 18 God tells Jeremiah to go down to the Potter s house and observe him at work. Jeremiah sees the potter destroy a marred work in his hand and refashion it into something useful. This we learn is an analogy of how God would "destroy" Judah (Ver. 7), and yet save him in the end. God will refashion all of marred (destroyed) mankind into glorious sons of God!

PERISHED: Can a person perish and still be saved? Of course. Even "righteous" men can perish,

"All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a JUST MAN that PERISHES in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongs his life in his wickedness" (Ecc. 7:15).

One more,

"The RIGHTEOUS PERISHES, and no man lays it to heart..." (Isa. 57:1).

Perishing is not something that can cut off God s arm of salvation.

LOST: Can a person sin, be lost, die, and then be saved? Certainly. Let s look at one of those parables of Jesus that Christendom thinks of as easy to understand little stories, when in fact they don t even begin to understand. You all know the story contained in the parable of the Prodigal son so I won t read it all, but let me give you the "truth" of this parable.

God is the "Father" in this parable, and the Prodigal is EVERY SON WHO HAS GONE ASTRAY.

"And when he had spent all ... And when he came to himself ... I will arise and go to my father ... I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight ... And am no more worthy to be called thy son ... But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring hither the fatted calf ... For this my son was DEAD, and is alive again; he was LOST, and is found. And they began to be merry" (Luke 15:14-23).

This man SINNED, he was LOST, and he SPIRITUALLY DIED! Do we ALL spiritually DIE? "AND AS IT IS APPOINTED UNTO MEN ONCE TO DIE..." But isn t this speaking of the PHYSICAL death of our bodies? No it is not. The second part of the verse gives us the answer as to which death this is,

"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but AFTER this the JUDGMENT" (Heb. 9:27).

Notice that "judgment" comes after this death, and not before. We already learned that JUDGMENT is upon the house of God NOW! Each individual Christian in every generation is judged NOW, in THIS life, BEFORE he physically dies! And so the "death" that all men must partake of before judgment is SPIRITUAL DEATH. Notice:

"And I saw THE DEAD, small and great, STAND before God" (Rev. 20:12).

How pray tell can the physically dead, stand, if they are dead?

So here then is the order of things. The Prodigal Son SINNED, he was LOST, he spiritually DIED, and then? And then he was JUDGED! Where and when was he judged? In the hog pens of a far alien country, that s where. God had to bring him out of this alien county (Mystery Babylon the Great) with all its "riotous living" (Luke 15:13). And so it was that God JUDGED this Prodigal with the beasts and swine of Babylon until he "came to himself." (Ver. 17). Seems to me that God sent King Nebuchadnezzer into the fields with the beasts to live like a beast, so that he too "came to himself." God has not warned in vain to

"Come out of her [MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH] my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Rev. 17:5 & 18:4).

He that has an ear, let him hear.

And so this Prodigal SINNED, was LOST, and spiritually DIED. Surely he is outside of the realm of salvation now. No, he is in the perfect realm FOR SALVATION. How many millions of times this parable of the Prodigal Son has been read, but how many times has its truth ever been understood and perceived? This prodigal was, according to his father, "DEAD." And it was after his father said that he was "dead" that he welcomed him back, forgave him, exalted him, and rewarded him! Now who says one can t be saved after death. It is after death that most of humanity will be saved.

May God finally grant you to SEE SOMETHING SPIRITUAL! Parables are NOT literal, that s why they are called "parables" instead of "history." This parable pictures the carnal mind going the way of the flesh. What are the wages of living a riotous life in the alien land of lustful Babylon? Is it "life and joy in the holy spirit?" I speak as fool. Here is the wages of riotous and carnal living in the hog pens of Babylon: "For the wages of sin is DEATH..." (Rom. 6:23). SPIRITUAL DEATH! What must happen AFTER we spiritually DIE? "JUDGMENT!" The spiritual DEAD must be JUDGED. Does judging CORRECT the spiritually dead sinners? Yes it does. That is what the parable of the Prodigal Son is all about. God s "ways and means" ALWAYS WORK!

"...For when Thy [God s] JUDGMENTS are in the earth, the INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD WILL LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Isa. 26:9)!