HEAVEN - HELL IN THE HERE AND NOW.

      WHEN DOES HEAVEN BEGIN? WHEN DOES HELL BEGIN? 
WHO or WHAT DETERMINES WHICH WAY WE GO?    MATTHEW LUCIO REFLECTS ON THESE QUESTIONS IN "SINGS OF THE TIMES Magazine November 2013 Issue

Many Thanks to both.

       "You are are new Pastor? Well give'em hell!"
         These are among the first words of 'encouragement' that I heard when I left the seminary to begin work at my first church. The laugh that trailed my friend's advice clued me in to the fact that the irony wasn't lost upon him.
      It really wasn't until that conversation that I began to wonder about how often we connect the idea of hell with out lives.
      While most people believe that no one experiences hell until sometime after death, we still insist on associating it with the present through a variety of idioms and proverbs: "War is hell," "I 'm going through hell," "It will happen when hell freezes over, " and "All hell is breaking loose."  On the flip side, we say things like: "This ice cream is heavenly," and "It's a match made in heaven."
      Even our everyday language is heavenly laced with statements of faith that we make without even thinking. Whatever this phenomenon may mean, it cannot be denied that heaven and hell have a foothold on our human imagination.

                                           LIVING THE AFTERLIFE.

      BUT, there's also an element of truth in our unconscious habit of making the afterlife a part of this life. The Bible is clear that the choices we make now already begin to transform us as we go through each day. We art told that if  we respond to God' s love, we will be like Him.
     1 John 4:17  "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world."  [j.b. all quotes from KJV.]

     Logically, we have to assume that the opposite is also true: The more we make choices apart from God, the less we will resemble Him [in character}. So, from that perspective, in a very real sense, the heaven or hell on our horizons shall begin in this life, and culminate in the life yet to come. Hell, or going into it, is not an abrupt and unexpected punishment for the wicked but the logical direction [j.b. can we say extension of life's choices each makes daily?] in our present lives? It's an environment of our own making, governed only by our choices and decision.

     The evidence of our choice of heaven or hell can be seen clearly  [by anyone who knows us. j.b.] When someone claims to be a Christian, the apostle Paul tells us to expect certain "fruits," or 'by-products' of a life committed to Christ. They are....
     Galatians 5:22-26 . "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another."

      Sadly, however most today fit within this warning of Paul's...
       Galatians 5:19-21 . "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance,[quarrelsome] emulations, [malice-jealousy] wrath, strife, sedition, [causing dissensions] heresies, Envying, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
      With but a few moments of inward reflection we should be able to judge self, and ask "Is my life trending towards these virtues, Paul wrote of, or am I with that he calls 'works of the flesh'?

      There can not be a doubt, that there is a huge conflict on earth between the forces of of good and evil, which can be reduced to a simple statement: " A battle between the principles of love and lust, selflessness and selfishness." [ Please know Christ did not suffer and die, for His own sake, but for ours! j.b.]  
      God's kingdom is a place where love is the principle governing ...force {if that word can be used}  or as Paul was guided to write it so beautifully.....
     Romans 13:10 . "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."

Note (j.b.) What Law? Exodus 20:1-17, God's Royal Law, the reflection of HIS character!Matthew 5:22  "But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."                                                                                                    The passage above is the spirit of the law, the word RACA, means fool, so even calling another a fool, in anger,can put you in danger of hell-fire, unless and until you seek him/her out, apologize and ask for forgiveness from that person, and then in prayers seek and do the same in Christ's name to your Father which art in Heaven! This will help you to refrain from such words in the future.

     In short, to love, is to know God, and the more we learn to love others, the more we will act as citizens of God's kingdom.

     Conversely, hell [on earth] is a place of restlessness, that results in selfishness, that results in loneliness, bitterness, anger, and finally absolutely no peace of mind, because such a mind is the playground for Satan! As usual God said it best......
     Revelation 14:11  "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. "
Note (j.b.) Revelation relies heavely upon symbolism, to "paint word pictures." Nevertheless, the Lake of Fire, shall come tp oass on this earth which shall burn up and reduce to ashes, all the sins and sinners. [Revelation 19:20;20:10,14-15.] Malachi 4:1  "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch."
Yes truth can be fearsome, but knowing the truth and living as God wants us to, all this can be avoided, that's what Freewill allows us to do, to chose how we live this life, according to God's way, or to Satan's way!
       WHY?
     Ezekiel 28:17-19 " Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more."
   So chose God's ways, and live eternally, or follow Satan, be reduced to ashes, and ever more be "Blotted out", for in the Hebrew this term means, "Never ever existed".  So all who will be "blotted out", will have willingly chosen this path! This is why the road to destruction is wide, so anyone can make a "U-Turn", even at high-speed. But the gate and path of Christ, is narrow!

    Yet, this restless begin long before anyone will be cast into the lake of fire's one and only time of use. Look,,,,,
      Isaiah 57:20-21  "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked."
Note (j/b.) Believers on the other hand, do know peace of mind, a far greater peace that the worldly can understand, for we take care of what we are able, and give the rest of our problems and worries to Christ to carry and solve! As all can understand from Isaiah, the wicked are like a storm-tossed sea, never at rest. Long before death seals their fate, because there can no repentance nor forgiveness asked for in the grave, as death seals our judgments. and none knows their own time of the end of life, so claim Christ today, right now!
      Please, let's be clear, the Bible isn't speaking here of a restless night, now and then, nor of getting enough sleep, but a lack of Spiritual Peace of mind. Hell, as per the Bible, is a spiritual atmosphere that envelops a person the further he or she moves away from God, until it finally turns into a physical reality, once God removes Himself from you and the world.

                           IS GOD PRO-CHOICE?

       SOME CHRISTIANS HAVE BEEN TAUGHT AND BELIEVE,  that God has Predetermined, in some cosmic lottery, who will or who will not, be in Heaven and who will, be cast into the fire. Therefore we each will live our lives as if we were automatically designated to so do!
    John Calvin, the Swiss Reformer, taught this as ," All [people] are not created on equal terms, but some are pre-ordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation; and accordingly, as each has been created for one or the other of these ends, we say that he has been predesignated to life or death.
    Note(j.b.) My sincere apologies to all within the Calvinistic Faith, but this statement is well, hogwash! It by-passes so many Bible verses to the contrary, and it totally ignored the God given gift of our free-will. We can chose to sin or not to sin, knowingly!

   However, on it's surface it can be understood for humans to accept as did Calvin by Paul's  words...
       Romans 7:14-15  "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I."

      Have not most of us also fallen short of our goal, to be consistently good? Is due to the fact that all  ALL are predestined to burn? If so please explain.....
     2 Peter 3:9  "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
     Romans 2:4  "Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?"
     1 Timothy 2:3-4  "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"

NOTE (j.b.) As you can read, from God's own words, these words of John Calvin are wrong! It is for this reason, I say, "Never take the words of man/men for the Word of God, learn this for self!" That includes this man, and the reason why you see all these verses, for God's point of view and not mine! Only God can see the future, and as most have trouble learning the past and know not even one second of any future, agree?

     Let's face it, to view Paul life, as John Calvin thought, Paul is destined for hell fire, yet we can tell that his life was NOT characterized by restlessness by separation from god, but by the fruits of heaven: love, joy, peace...
      Galatians 5:22  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,"
      Can we then say, "In God's perspective, hell is avoidable for everyone: it's path is chosen, by those who refuse God's entreaties to the contrary"?   YES or no?

     C.S. Lewis wrote: "There are only two kinds of people in the end, those who say to God 'Thy will be done' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done' " All those who end  up in the lake of fire, will have made a conscience choice to reject God and His ways. No human being, that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it, those that seek shall find.....
        Matthew 7:7  "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:"  + Luke 11:9 ; 15:8. John 7:34,36. Acts 17:27.

     On the other hand..... there shall come a time when.....
      Revelation 9:6  "And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them"

                                                            THERE IS NO NEUTRAL.

     All shall chose to obey God, or obey Satan via laws of men! The fact that heaven and hell are the result of the sum of our choices.MUST not lead us to think that life on earth is a perpetual "fork in the road", where we spend every waking moment of our lives having to make the decision which way to go. To view lives her as neutral is to ignore the fact that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God " Romans 3:23 The  sad truth is the human race has already walked away from God, and the fact that GOD call us to repentance shows our hostility towards heaven, right?
   Lewis also warns us of this fallacy in his book, "The Great Divorce", "Earth, I think, will not be found by anyone to be in the end a very distinct place. I think earth, if chosen instead of Heaven, will turn out to have been, all along, only a region in Hell: and earth, if you put second to Heaven, to have been from the beginning a part of Heaven itself."

Note: (j.b.) Please read Revelation 21-22 chapters, and learn that earth shall again be the Garden of Eden, so Lewis knew his Bible!

     We are all part of a cosmic conflict between God and Satan, between rest and restlessness. Only eternity can afford us the clarity of hindsight that will reveal fully the direction of our life choices, which perhaps we didn't see or perceive in the fog of our won mortality.
     Yet the truth is that we are all, on a path either to heaven or hell, even if we cannot, as individuals, fully accept nor appreciate the distance of each footstep. But we can tell by the fruits of our lives whether we are increasingly restless and empty inside, or whether we are brimming with peace and hope, saying with the psalmist...

    Psalms 34:8  O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

 AN EVERLASTING HELL?

     SPEAKING of those who reject God, the Bible says... Revelation 14:11  "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name."

     It, then becomes easy to understand, why many people believe this means that h ell is a place where those who refuse to accept the grace of God, will suffer pain..."burning in hell"... for the rest of eternity.
   This must be placed upon the doorstep of Biblical ignorance, as the Bible clearly shows....
     Revelation 20:9-10  "And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 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."
     And....
   
     Revelation 20:14  "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death."

The word devoured in red, in the Greek is katesthio ( kat-es-thee'-o) to eat down, lit/fig to devour!  So how can a "Devoured body" that has been reduced to ashes by a brimstone or sulfur fed fire, which burns extremely hot, can there be but a momentary level of pain until the person dies?
In the Bible when it speaks forever and ever, it means that no force can stop the action, until, the job's intent is finished! Sodom was burned by eternal fire, if it never when out why was it its location so long hidden, when the fire still burns?

                                                 An Everlasting HELL? 

      Speaking of those who reject God, the Holy Bible says. "The smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name." [Revelation 14:11]

   It is easy to understand why so many people believe this means that hell i a place where those who refuse to accept the Grace of God will suffer in pain---"burn in hell," for the rest of eternity.
   However, the Bible teaches thet when the world ends, fire will devour the devil and his followers [Revelati on 20:9]. DEATH itself will also be thrown into the lake of fire [Vs.14], and  we will then end up living in a clean and peaceful universe.
     Please note the word DEVOUR. How can someone or something still remain to be tormented forever, if it or they have already been swallowed up, which the word devour suggests?
      Malachi 4:1-4  "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts. Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments."

NOTE: (j.b.) Please inform me, as to how one can still feel pain, when one is nearly instantly reduced to ashes?  The is but yet another of Satan's lies, in his efforts to pain a wrong picture of God! Satan IS and does  what he accuses God of doing!

Want/need to learn more?
Visit a Seventh day Adventist Church, Any Saturday/Sabbath @ 9:15 Am. You just may be very glad you did.
Again many thanks to both Matthew Lucio and all the people at Sings of the Times magazine of Nov.2013.

Questions?...................Comments?
www.servant@frontier.com

Thank you for your time
John B.

www.blbn.com ------   www.3abn.org