Pastor Jack Hyles said years ago that, “Heresy
is creeping into our fundamental churches by the hour!” He was
absolutely correct! I am disturbed when I learn of Baptist pastors who teach
that backslidden Christians will suffer temporarily in the Lake of Fire. And
it disturbs me when I hear pastors teaching that our Lord Jesus died and
went to burn in the fires of Hell, which goes against the plain statement of
Christ on the cross in Luke 23:43, “To
day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
Could our Lord have been referring to Heaven? No! Here's why—Jesus exclaimed in Acts 2:27, “Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” Matthew 12:40, “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” We have just read the incontrovertible, uncontestable and plain truth from the inspired Word of God that Jesus DID NOT go to Heaven after drying on the cross. So where did Jesus go during the three days and three nights after He died? By cross-referencing the three preceding passages of Scripture, the diligent Bible student who rightly divides the Word of Truth can only conclude that there must have been a literal place called “Paradise.”
The Holy Bible says that Jesus went to Hell, which is the Greek word Hades. We learn from the true story in Luke 16:19-31, of the rich man and Lazarus, that Hell (Hades) is compartmentalized. On one side there is the place of TORMENT, and on the other side there is the place of PARADISE, and a “GREAT GULF” fixed between them the Bibles says in Luke 16:26, “And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.” Some preachers mock at the expression, “Abraham's Bosom,” but this is what God Himself called the place of Paradise in Luke 16:22-23, “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”
Thus, “Abraham's Bosom” is a term of endearment, not a literal place. Galatians 3:29, “And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” All of God's promises to Israel in the Old Testament apply to born-again believers. The Scriptures are very plain that there is neither Jew nor Gentile in Christ. Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” No unsaved Jew will ever enter into the Kingdom of God, and no saved Gentile will be left out! No unsaved Jew will escape the fires of Hell, and no saved Gentile will miss the blessings of Heaven!
Our precious Lord Jesus Christ did not go to burn in Hell after leaving the cross, He went to the place of Paradise. That is the plain teaching of Luke 23:43. This is not strange doctrine, it is solid Bible doctrine! Furthermore, according to Matthew 12:40, which I quote quoted to you, Jesus spent three days and three nights in the “HEART OF THE EARTH.” I think this makes it clear that Christ literally went to the inward parts of the earth, which is where Hell is located. Hell is always referenced as being downward in the Bible. Isaiah 14:9, “Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.”
Some Bible students believe that Jonah died and went to Paradise for three days and nights, but I disagree for a couple reasons"
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Jonah was doing a lot of praying and thinking while in the whale's belly. Jonah 2:1, “Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly.” This ole boy was having a personal one man revival, I'll tell you for sure!
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Jesus said that Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the whale. Matthew 12:40, “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Also, there is another piece of Scriptural evidence that a place called Paradise exists. John 3:13, “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” At the time Christ walked this earth, NO MAN had ever ascended up to Heaven the Bible says. Well, if the saints didn't go to Heaven in the Old Testament, then where did they go? The man of God, Enoch, was taken that he should not see death. The prophet, Elijah, was caught up into a fiery whirlwind (firenado) into heaven (2nd Kings 2:11). The word “heaven” in 2nd Kings 2:1 and 11, refers to the sky, not the celestial city of Heaven. We must not go by human logic or what seems reasonable, but by the plain teachings of the Scripture. The Bible plainly tells us in John 3:13, spoken by Christ Himself to Nicodemus, that NO MAN before Christ had ascended up into Heaven. Since Elijah ascended up into “heaven,” the Lord could not have been referring to the same place, or the Scriptures would be in error. The Holy Bible is never wrong!!!
So Jesus clearly meant that no man had ever ascended up into Heaven where God is seated on His throne. The only logical conclusion, based upon Scriptural evidence, is that a literal place existed in the Old Testament, where saints were held until Christ ransomed them. This place is Paradise, which is located in Hell (Hades), as evidenced in the true account given in Luke 16:19-31 of the rich man and Lazarus.
To clarify, I am NOT talking about
the ungodly
Roman Catholic heresy of Purgatory, which is a manmade doctrine
fabricated by Gregory the Great in 593 AD. There is no temporary place of
punishment for believers. Once a person dies, it's over! You either “DIE
IN THE LORD” (Revelation 14:13), or else you “DIE IN YOUR SINS” (John
8:24). Once your spirit and soul depart from the tabernacle of your
earthly body, your eternal fate is sealed, and it cannot be changed by
anyone, not even God, lest He break His Word.
Please Don't Go to Hell
Oh, my dear reader, I wish you could know my heart, but you cannot. I am immersed with nothing but a desire to help others in the Lord. Some people are their own worst enemies, and you cannot help them, and that always grieves my heart. More than anything I want you to KNOW that you have eternal life and that your sins have been forgiven. ...
John 3:16-20, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”
In
the preceding Scripture, we see the need for repentance. Humans are sinners
by nature and by choice. The Holy Bible teaches that mankind because of his
love for sin (evil) won't come to the light of the Gospel to be saved.
Repentance is when a person acknowledges being a guilty sinner in the
sight of a holy God (Romans 3:19-20), and that person turns to the Good News
of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen (1st Corinthians 15:1-4)!
Repenting and believing are ONE ACT, not two. You don't repent AND believe;
but rather, you repent TO believe. If you get this truth wrong, you will
go to Hell. To repent as a separate act is manmade reformation, which
constitutes human effort (works) for salvation. Grace plus anything crosses
out grace!
We are saved by BELIEVING, not by REPENTING; but no one has ever believed who didn't also repent! Repentance is an automatic thing, so that you don't even need to mention the subject when witnessing to a lost person. 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.” In the Gospel of John, which is God's Gospel tract, the words “believe” and “believed” and “believeth” are mentioned 87 times, but the word “repent” is not mentioned even once! That is because the person who BELIEVES the Good News (Gospel) of Christ crucified on the cross, buried and resurrected three days later, has also repented.
There is NO SUCH THING as a person who believes but has never repented. I hear corrupt preachers, like Pastor Charles Lawson, teach that if a believer is still living in willful sin, it may be because they have never repented and are not saved. That is unbiblical! A man who believes is saved, period, end of story! I am so sick of meddlers changing the Gospel in an attempt to force people to live right. God's salvation doesn't work that way! Repentance is simply “a change of mind” unto the Gospel itself. How do I know if I have repented? Look, if you have trusted Christ's sacrifice on the cross as the only payment for your sins, believing that He raised up from the dead the third day, you have repented! You are born-again by the Holy Spirit of God!!!
Perhaps you don't believe in Hell. If that is so, I say to you kindly Sir or Mame, you are A FOOL! Are you willing to take that eternal risk? Are you willing to gamble with eternity? Think about that. And if you do one day go to Hell, my words will haunt your soul for ever, because I was the best friend you ever had, warning you of the fiery judgment to comes in a burning eternal Lake of Fire without love, without anybody to care about you, without hope, without a single drop of water to quench your unquenchable thirst!!! Please don't be stupid! Billions of fools are already burning in Hell. Will you join them? Not me buster, no way, my faith is built on nothing less, than Jesus Christ and His righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name...
My hope is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
2nd Corinthians 5:21, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” The perfect sinless Lamb of God, Jesus, because as sin for you and me, suffering a horrifying death as a criminal. He did that for you and me! I do not claim to understand it all, and there is no way anyone ever could. How could the Son of God pay for the sins of billions of people in one event on a cross? What you must keep in mind is that Jesus was not a sinful man, He was perfect. If Jesus hadn't dismissed His Spirit, He would have lived forever. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Jesus never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). J
esus bled, suffered and died on the cross, so that you wouldn't have to be punished for your sins in Hell for ever and ever! If you go to Hell someday, you'll have nobody to blame except yourself! Please get saved before it is too late. Death can come at any moment!
