Revelation 20:11-15, “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 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 the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 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.”
I was thinking this evening about a young man named John Edward Jones (1983-2009), who died a horrific death, stuck 150 feet underground nearly upside down in a cave. Here is his sad obituary:
John Edward Jones died November 25 in a caving accident in Nutty Putty Cave, Utah County. He was born January 21, 1983 in Sandy, Utah. John grew up and went to school in St. George, Utah, where he graduated from Dixie High School in 2001. John was an Eagle Scout and Senior Class President. He served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Quito, Ecuador. John later graduated from Brigham Young University and was in his second year of medical school at the University of Virginia. He planned and was working toward becoming a pediatric cardiologist. It was at BYU that John met his sweetheart, Emily Dawn Petersen, and they were married in 2006. SOURCE
I was horrified the first time I learned about this terrible tragedy, and I get shivers every time I am reminded about it. Poor John! My heart goes out to him so much. Dear reader, what if that were you in that cave? God forbid, what if that were me? I'd beg for a lethal injection long before rescuers decided I was unable to be rescued, I can promise you that! I cannot think of a more horrific way to die, than to be stuck hundreds of feet underground in a cave tunnel.
Known as “The Birth Canal,” while at home on a break from school to be a doctor, John longed to revisit this popular cave, where often during his teenage years he and his friends went exploring. But John had put on some pounds and grew into a man, not realizing that The Birth Canal hadn't grown, so John got trapped. 130 rescuers diligently laboured tirelessly for 3700 manhours to rescue John, but couldn't. He was too far underground, and rescuers didn't have enough time to work down that far in time to save him. It breaks my heart.
The preceding picture is frightening! It shows a hand grasping for freedom, because someone is trapped. As I thought about John Jones tonight, feeling pity and sadness that any human being should die such a horrific needless death, I thought about the reality of Hell. How much more tragic will it be, when someone dies in their sins without Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, and they have to spend eternity burning in the fires and torments of the Lake of Fire?
What saith the Scripture? Revelation 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.” You only need to tell one lie to be considered a "liar." Just one tiny sin is enough to keep a person out of Heaven. The only other place left to go is Hell. Sin must be paid for one way or another dear friend. Either we must spend eternity burning in the fires of Hell to pay for our own sins, or else we need a Savior. Thank God we have One! His precious name is Jesus, the virgin-born Son of God!!! John 1:29,
James 2:10, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” God's law is like a side car window. That is, even if you break it with a hammer, it will shatter into thousands of pieces. Car windows are intentionally designed that way, to prevent large chunks of glass from injuring people in a car accident. When the window breaks, it shatters into thousands of little pieces. That is the way God's law is, you cannot merely break it a little without being fully guilty and deserving of Hell. The reason why is because sin cannot enter into Heaven. God is totally righteous and hole, perfect in every way. God's holiness cannot allow anything defiled into Heaven.
You don't have to be good to get into Heaven dear friend, you must be 100% perfect in every way. Obviously that means NO ONE can be saved by human efforts
Romans 3:23-26, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
In the preceding Scripture passage we see the simplicity that is in Christ. God is THE JUSTIFIER of him which BELIEVETH IN JESUS!!! Dear reader, the inspired King James Bible warns that there is a literal place called Hell, where all Christ-rejecters will spend eternity suffering in fire, torments and no rest day nor night. 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.” ...
Psalms 9:17, “The wicked shall be turned
into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”
Psalms 9:17 has been changed and corrupted in the Devil's modern Bibles, to say "Sheol" instead of "hell." But dear reader, "Sheol" just means "realm of the dead." Yes, the Hebrew word is Sheol, but the 54 brilliant 1611 King James Bible translators wanted YOU to be able to understand the intended meaning of this Scripture. If the righteous and the wicked go to the SAME place, then this Bible verse makes no sense at all. Yes, the wicked and the righteous are both buried into the same earth, but clearly the Bible means something different in Psalms 9:17. We know this because the Bible warns that THE WICKED shall be turned into HELL (which is a horrible place of punishment for sin).
In these modern Bibles, which merely say Sheol, the reader is confused, wondered what "Sheol" even means. What does that even mean then, that the righteous and the wicked go to Sheol? That is silly and meaningless. The 54 King James Bible translators understood this truth, which is why they translated this Hebrew word as "hell." The wicked go to Hell, and all the nations that forget God. What the Devil's modern translators have actually done, is to attack and obliterate the doctrine of Hell. So you see, here is another critical reason why you should ONLY use the inspired King James Bible. All of the Devil's modern Bibles today have been corrupted, and not inspired by God.
The Bible warns everyone in Psalms 9:17, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” I am so thankful to be on the winning side by faith in Jesus Christ. What saith the Scripture? 1st John 5:4-5, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” I love that!!! Who is he that OVERCOMETH the world, but he that BELIEVETH that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God? John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” Oh how simple is the Word of God!!! Dear reader, in examining all these precious passages of Scripture, have you seen even the least mention of forsaking your sinful lifestyle to be saved? No, we haven't. The Bible repeatedly teaches to just “BELIEVE.”
Please remember what we read earlier from Romans Romans 3:24-26, “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” That is so simple, free and easy.
Let's also look at the words of the Apostle Paul in:
Romans 4:4-7, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.”
Abraham's faith (and yours too dear friend) is counted by God as righteousness!!! That means you don't have to “turn away from your sin” to be saved. Therefore, Bob Jones University (BJU) is of the Devil, who require people to turn away from their sin to be saved. That is not the Free Grace Theology taught in the Bible!!! Sadly, Pensacola Christian College (PCC) sinfully bids Godspeed to BJU. 2nd John 1:11, “For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” BJU sinfully bids Godspeed to devil-dog preacher, Pastor John MacArthur, who requires exchanging all that you are for all that Christ is to be saved. That is not the Gospel, not even in the ballpark. Somebody needs to preach with authority, as I am doing, or else the world will go to Hell.
My friend, salvation is a free gift from God, not a trade or reward or an exchange. Salvation is not a reward for the righteous; it is a gift for the guilty! Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith. Turning away from sinful ways would be a work. Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His work. If to “repent” means to forsake our sinful ways TO BE SAVED, but Jesus already paid for our sins by dying on the cross, then what are we repenting from? The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU. We must stay true to the simplicity of the gospel!! Repentance regarding salvation is a change of mind from unbelief to belief!!! We must earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 1:3).
Dear friend, some foolish preachers dismiss the battle over a Free Grace Gospel today, as versus Lordship Salvation, Calvinism and Wrong Repentance, as a mere ongoing harmless debate in theological circles. But I warn you, it is oh so much more!!! It is the difference between Heaven or Hell. It is the difference between YOU spending eternity burning in the fires of Hell in misery and loneliness without hope; or enjoying a new body fashioned like unto Christ's resurrected body (Philippians 3:21)a home in Heaven (John 14:1-3), enjoying all things given to you from God (Romans 8:32), and partaking of all the blessings of Heaven for eternity (1st Corinthians 2:9).
In the misery and torments of Hell, the man who had once been filthy rich upon the earth, couldn't even buy a drop of water (Luke 16:19-31). Yet, Jesus said even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than John the Baptist, who was the greatest ever born among women (Matthew 11:11). I don't know about you friend, but I want to be with Jesus in Heaven forever, not burning in Hell with the most hideous and evil of humanity forever!!! God is freely offering forgiveness of sin and eternal life to YOU as a gift. All you need to do to receive it is to take God at His Word, as recorded in the inspired Holy Bible. Simply BELIEVE the things which God has authored about His only begotten Son, Jesus! Just receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sin, believing that Jesus was buried, and raised up from the dead three days later, and you will be saved on the spot (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).
My heart breaks and I cringe, when I think about John Jones. He was only 26 years old, married, had a daughter, with his whole ahead of him life as a doctor; yet in one foolish decision to crawl into a tiny cave tunnel hundreds of feet beneath the earth, he lost his life. But even worse, John was a Mormon! Now, I love all people. I love Mormons. But Mormons errantly believe that to go to Heaven you have to be water baptized. Mormons errantly view Bible repentance the same damnable way that Bob Jones University does, as turning away from your sinful behavior to be saved. BJU teaches the same garbage as does the Jehovah's Witness cult. Hell is forever and ever! Please don't go there!!! The choice is yours alone to make friend. God desires for ALL mankind to be saved (2nd Peter 3:9). But you need to repent (change your mind) from unbelief to BELIEVE.
I don't know if John Jones went to to Heaven or Hell, but I can say upon the authority of God's Word, that he most definitely DID go to Hell if his faith was in the Mormon cult. You cannot add water baptism to your faith, otherwise it is not faith. You cannot add turning away from sinful bad habits, otherwise it is not faith. Romans 11:6, “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” Either you are trusting Jesus Christ and Him alone, apart from all else, or else you are NOT born-again at all and Hell will be your eternal doom.
My hope is built on nothing lessThan Jesus Christ, my righteousness;I dare not trust the sweetest frame,But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;All other ground is sinking sand,All other ground is sinking sand.
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