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The Difference Between Hell and The Lake Of Fire
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Sep 24, 2022 11:39:54   #
tbutkovich
 
There is a difference between ‘Hell’ and the ‘Lake of Fire’. They are not the same place. In most people’s minds these are blended into one, but that is not biblically accurate. We therefore need to distinguish these places from each other and define them clearly.

Hell

Hell is not the Lake of Fire. At this moment, as you read this, nobody is yet in the Lake of Fire. The first person to go into the Lake of Fire will be the antichrist, followed by the false prophet and then, 1000 years later, by Satan himself. This will occur in the future, after Jesus has returned to the Earth. It is not until after these enter it that the great mass of unbelievers will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. Thus, nobody is in the Lake of Fire at the moment. Yet, there are countless people currently in Hell. What then is Hell?

The simplest way to describe Hell is to refer to some of the words that are used in the Hebrew and the Greek of the Old and the New Testaments. The Old Testament uses a Hebrew word “Sheol” and the New Testament uses a Greek word, “Hades”. These both refer to the same thing. Until the time of Jesus, Sheol or Hades, was divided into two sections. One of those is what we now call Hell. This was for unsaved unbelievers. The other section was for genuine believers who lived in Old Testament times, i.e. up until the time of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Until then, any genuine believing Jew would go to the good part of Sheol or Hades which was set apart for them. This was given another name, i.e. “paradise” or “Abraham’s bosom”. It was not heaven, but it was a place where those people were sent by God to wait until the time of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

After Jesus came and paid for their sins on the cross, those believing Jews and also faithful believers in God before the time of Abraham such as Adam, Abel, Seth, Noah, Job, etc, were then taken to Heaven. That is where they are now. We are now required to put our faith in Jesus Christ and in the sacrifice that he made (in the past) on the cross at Calvary. However, the Jewish people and other believers in the Old Testament did not know that that was going to happen. Therefore, they had to put their faith in God to forgive and save them. That is what God eventually did do when Jesus, their Messiah, finally came.

The Jewish People did not have a full understanding of what exactly the Messiah would do. They had no expectation of the cross, or the death of their Messiah on their behalf. But they knew that their Messiah would one day come. Thus, when He did actually come, it was possible for those who had already died prior to then to receive their complete salvation and to have it more fully explained to them. They were then taken up from that temporary paradise, or “Abraham’s bosom”, to Heaven itself. That is where they have been since that time.

Therefore, from then on, since the time of the resurrection, when Jesus removed the Old Testament believers from it, Sheol/Hades has been populated only by unsaved people. Thus only the ‘bad’ section remains in operation. This is now where a person goes when they die, if they are an unbeliever and are unsaved. Our word for it is ‘Hell’. They go there to wait for the judgment at the Great White Throne which is to come in the future.

They have at least 1000 years to wait for the Great White Throne Judgment, even if they were to die today. The millennial reign of Jesus Christ on Earth will itself last for 1000 years and that period has not yet begun. Some people have been in Sheol or Hades, or what we now call Hell, for thousands of years already. We know from the Bible that the people in Hell are fully conscious and waiting for what lies ahead of them. They are therefore in a dreadful condition of torment, fear and anxiety, combined with extreme regret and bitterness. It is difficult to imagine what a harrowing place Hell must be.

Consider how it must be waiting for a judgment, from which you know that you will inevitably go on to the Lake of Fire. The only question is the precise degree of punishment that you will have to receive there. It is a terrible prospect. It should motivate us to give our lives now to tell others about Jesus while we, and they, still have the chance. Consider this important passage from Luke chapter 16. In it Jesus speaks about a man who was already in Hell:

Luke 16:19-31 (NIV)

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.

So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ ” ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”

Many people assume that Jesus is teaching a parable here when He speaks about the rich man and Lazarus. A parable is a story which is not literally true, but which illustrates a point or a message. Jesus told many of these, such as the parable of the sower, or the wheat and the tares, or the grain of mustard seed and so on.

However the account of the rich man and Lazarus is not actually a parable, even though some people wrongly assume that it is. Here Jesus is giving a true account which involves the real facts of two real men who had died. The people in parables were never given names. So, we learn from this literal account that Jesus gives in Luke 16 what Sheol/Hades was like at the time prior to Jesus’ resurrection, when it was divided into two parts. It is Hell that is being referred to in the next passage from Psalm 49. We are warned not to trust in or focus on financial wealth, because we cannot take any of it with us when we die:

Do not be overawed when a man grows rich,
when the splendour of his house increases;
for he will take nothing with him when he dies,
his splendour will not descend with him.
Though while he lived he counted himself blessed—
and men praise you when you prosper-
he will join the generation of his fathers,
who will never see the light of life.
A man who has riches without understanding
is like the beasts that perish.

Psalm 49:16-20 (NIV)

The rich man described in this psalm is pictured here in Hell (without his money) awaiting the final Great White Throne Judgment. That thought is meant to sober us.

The Lake of Fire

Just to clarify again, the Lake of Fire does not at present, have anybody in it. But in the end, there will be thrown into it not only the antichrist, the false prophet and Satan, but also all of the fallen angels that we know as demons. They fell with Satan out of Heaven when he rebelled against God. This took place before the world was created. At that time Satan had the name ‘Lucifer’ and was the most senior angel in heaven. He was, in effect, God’s Prime Minister. But his pride swelled up and he decided that he wanted to be like the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity. He envied the Son of God and wanted His place and started to look upon himself as equal to Him. There began in him at that time a hatred for, and a rivalry with, the Son of God that has continued ever since.

God exposed Satan’s rebellion, and threw him out of Heaven. But He did not do so until approximately one third of the angels in heaven at that time had joined with Satan to rebel against God. Because of this, they too were thrown out of Heaven. They now operate as demons, causing havoc on this earth. They do so through opposing and sabotaging the work that God wishes to do in our lives, particularly the preaching of the gospel and the saving of human beings from their sins.

Satan and his demons have pledged themselves to oppose God in all of this and especially to resist people’s salvation. They are filled with hatred and do all that they can to attack, undermine, deceive, demoralise and discourage God’s people.

The demons will, one day, go into the Lake of Fire for eternity. Indeed the Lake of Fire was originally created for them, not for us. It was intended for Satan and his fallen angels before any human being was ever created. Therefore those human beings who end up in the Lake of Fire are going to a place that was never originally intended for them.

It is regretful to have to dwell so long upon these very unpleasant and terrifying things. But, without doing so we cannot understand what the good news is, because Jesus Christ came to save us from these very things. Without realising how terrible they are, we cannot fully appreciate what a magnificent thing Jesus has done for us. He died on the cross to suffer all that punishment in our place. That enables us to be saved and to avoid Hell, the Great White Throne Judgment and the Lake of Fire. Please remember that God does not want anybody to go to Hell or the Lake of Fire. He takes no pleasure in condemning any of us:

Ezekiel 33:11 (NASB)

“Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’

Reply
Sep 24, 2022 12:10:29   #
kemmer
 
tbutkovich wrote:

Please remember that God does not want anybody to go to Hell or the Lake of Fire. He takes no pleasure in condemning any of us:

But he happily sends us there anyway. God’s funny that way.
🙄

Reply
Sep 24, 2022 12:26:19   #
keepuphope Loc: Idaho
 
kemmer wrote:
But he happily sends us there anyway. God’s funny that way.
🙄


YOU choose to go there,YOU want nothing to do with God, He merely gives YOU Your choice.

Reply
 
 
Sep 24, 2022 12:28:06   #
Forkbassman Loc: Missouri
 
kemmer wrote:
But he happily sends us there anyway. God’s funny that way.
🙄


God desires no one go to hell. He takes no delight in that. All men are made in His image but He gave us FREE WILL to choose how we live, what we do & who we worship or don’t worship.

Reply
Sep 24, 2022 12:35:04   #
RascalRiley Loc: Somewhere south of Detroit
 
tbutkovich wrote:
There is a difference between ‘Hell’ and the ‘Lake of Fire’. They are not the same place. In most people’s minds these are blended into one, but that is not biblically accurate. We therefore need to distinguish these places from each other and define them clearly.

Hell

Hell is not the Lake of Fire. At this moment, as you read this, nobody is yet in the Lake of Fire. The first person to go into the Lake of Fire will be the antichrist, followed by the false prophet and then, 1000 years later, by Satan himself. This will occur in the future, after Jesus has returned to the Earth. It is not until after these enter it that the great mass of unbelievers will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. Thus, nobody is in the Lake of Fire at the moment. Yet, there are countless people currently in Hell. What then is Hell?

The simplest way to describe Hell is to refer to some of the words that are used in the Hebrew and the Greek of the Old and the New Testaments. The Old Testament uses a Hebrew word “Sheol” and the New Testament uses a Greek word, “Hades”. These both refer to the same thing. Until the time of Jesus, Sheol or Hades, was divided into two sections. One of those is what we now call Hell. This was for unsaved unbelievers. The other section was for genuine believers who lived in Old Testament times, i.e. up until the time of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Until then, any genuine believing Jew would go to the good part of Sheol or Hades which was set apart for them. This was given another name, i.e. “paradise” or “Abraham’s bosom”. It was not heaven, but it was a place where those people were sent by God to wait until the time of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

After Jesus came and paid for their sins on the cross, those believing Jews and also faithful believers in God before the time of Abraham such as Adam, Abel, Seth, Noah, Job, etc, were then taken to Heaven. That is where they are now. We are now required to put our faith in Jesus Christ and in the sacrifice that he made (in the past) on the cross at Calvary. However, the Jewish people and other believers in the Old Testament did not know that that was going to happen. Therefore, they had to put their faith in God to forgive and save them. That is what God eventually did do when Jesus, their Messiah, finally came.

The Jewish People did not have a full understanding of what exactly the Messiah would do. They had no expectation of the cross, or the death of their Messiah on their behalf. But they knew that their Messiah would one day come. Thus, when He did actually come, it was possible for those who had already died prior to then to receive their complete salvation and to have it more fully explained to them. They were then taken up from that temporary paradise, or “Abraham’s bosom”, to Heaven itself. That is where they have been since that time.

Therefore, from then on, since the time of the resurrection, when Jesus removed the Old Testament believers from it, Sheol/Hades has been populated only by unsaved people. Thus only the ‘bad’ section remains in operation. This is now where a person goes when they die, if they are an unbeliever and are unsaved. Our word for it is ‘Hell’. They go there to wait for the judgment at the Great White Throne which is to come in the future.

They have at least 1000 years to wait for the Great White Throne Judgment, even if they were to die today. The millennial reign of Jesus Christ on Earth will itself last for 1000 years and that period has not yet begun. Some people have been in Sheol or Hades, or what we now call Hell, for thousands of years already. We know from the Bible that the people in Hell are fully conscious and waiting for what lies ahead of them. They are therefore in a dreadful condition of torment, fear and anxiety, combined with extreme regret and bitterness. It is difficult to imagine what a harrowing place Hell must be.

Consider how it must be waiting for a judgment, from which you know that you will inevitably go on to the Lake of Fire. The only question is the precise degree of punishment that you will have to receive there. It is a terrible prospect. It should motivate us to give our lives now to tell others about Jesus while we, and they, still have the chance. Consider this important passage from Luke chapter 16. In it Jesus speaks about a man who was already in Hell:

Luke 16:19-31 (NIV)

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.

So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ ” ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”

Many people assume that Jesus is teaching a parable here when He speaks about the rich man and Lazarus. A parable is a story which is not literally true, but which illustrates a point or a message. Jesus told many of these, such as the parable of the sower, or the wheat and the tares, or the grain of mustard seed and so on.

However the account of the rich man and Lazarus is not actually a parable, even though some people wrongly assume that it is. Here Jesus is giving a true account which involves the real facts of two real men who had died. The people in parables were never given names. So, we learn from this literal account that Jesus gives in Luke 16 what Sheol/Hades was like at the time prior to Jesus’ resurrection, when it was divided into two parts. It is Hell that is being referred to in the next passage from Psalm 49. We are warned not to trust in or focus on financial wealth, because we cannot take any of it with us when we die:

Do not be overawed when a man grows rich,
when the splendour of his house increases;
for he will take nothing with him when he dies,
his splendour will not descend with him.
Though while he lived he counted himself blessed—
and men praise you when you prosper-
he will join the generation of his fathers,
who will never see the light of life.
A man who has riches without understanding
is like the beasts that perish.

Psalm 49:16-20 (NIV)

The rich man described in this psalm is pictured here in Hell (without his money) awaiting the final Great White Throne Judgment. That thought is meant to sober us.

The Lake of Fire

Just to clarify again, the Lake of Fire does not at present, have anybody in it. But in the end, there will be thrown into it not only the antichrist, the false prophet and Satan, but also all of the fallen angels that we know as demons. They fell with Satan out of Heaven when he rebelled against God. This took place before the world was created. At that time Satan had the name ‘Lucifer’ and was the most senior angel in heaven. He was, in effect, God’s Prime Minister. But his pride swelled up and he decided that he wanted to be like the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity. He envied the Son of God and wanted His place and started to look upon himself as equal to Him. There began in him at that time a hatred for, and a rivalry with, the Son of God that has continued ever since.

God exposed Satan’s rebellion, and threw him out of Heaven. But He did not do so until approximately one third of the angels in heaven at that time had joined with Satan to rebel against God. Because of this, they too were thrown out of Heaven. They now operate as demons, causing havoc on this earth. They do so through opposing and sabotaging the work that God wishes to do in our lives, particularly the preaching of the gospel and the saving of human beings from their sins.

Satan and his demons have pledged themselves to oppose God in all of this and especially to resist people’s salvation. They are filled with hatred and do all that they can to attack, undermine, deceive, demoralise and discourage God’s people.

The demons will, one day, go into the Lake of Fire for eternity. Indeed the Lake of Fire was originally created for them, not for us. It was intended for Satan and his fallen angels before any human being was ever created. Therefore those human beings who end up in the Lake of Fire are going to a place that was never originally intended for them.

It is regretful to have to dwell so long upon these very unpleasant and terrifying things. But, without doing so we cannot understand what the good news is, because Jesus Christ came to save us from these very things. Without realising how terrible they are, we cannot fully appreciate what a magnificent thing Jesus has done for us. He died on the cross to suffer all that punishment in our place. That enables us to be saved and to avoid Hell, the Great White Throne Judgment and the Lake of Fire. Please remember that God does not want anybody to go to Hell or the Lake of Fire. He takes no pleasure in condemning any of us:

Ezekiel 33:11 (NASB)

“Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’
There is a difference between ‘Hell’ and the ‘Lake... (show quote)


>The first person to go into the Lake of Fire will be the antichrist<

Many have speculated that will be Trump.

Reply
Sep 24, 2022 12:42:05   #
keepuphope Loc: Idaho
 
RascalRiley wrote:
>The first person to go into the Lake of Fire will be the antichrist<

Many have speculated that will be Trump.


Read revelation and use a study guide for help and you'll understand how incorrect your statement is.

Reply
Sep 24, 2022 12:59:57   #
microphor Loc: Home is TN
 
RascalRiley wrote:
>The first person to go into the Lake of Fire will be the antichrist<

Many have speculated that will be Trump.


Your raging Hatred is showing again!

Reply
 
 
Sep 24, 2022 13:13:47   #
kemmer
 
keepuphope wrote:
YOU choose to go there,YOU want nothing to do with God.

You clowns think just because I don’t buy into all that complicated crap about hellfire and damnation that I don’t believe in God. All of that stuff is inconsistent with who and what God is. Every civilization invents all kinds of horrible fates for those who stray from the rules. It’s what humans do.

Reply
Sep 24, 2022 13:21:00   #
tbutkovich
 
kemmer wrote:
But he happily sends us there anyway. God’s funny that way.
🙄


Wrong again! God loves all his creation with the emphasis on “All!” He hates Sin! When we sin, we disobey the law of God and love Satan. Those who do not love God, love sin, love Satan and determine their own destiny.

One day you may see the light!

Reply
Sep 24, 2022 13:31:07   #
tbutkovich
 
kemmer wrote:
You clowns think just because I don’t buy into all that complicated crap about hellfire and damnation that I don’t believe in God. All of that stuff is inconsistent with who and what God is. Every civilization invents all kinds of horrible fates for those who stray from the rules. It’s what humans do.


Jesus said very little the day of His crucifixion when He willingly suffered and died for our sins. But the words God the Son chose during those six hours were powerful. Billy Graham once explored seven of those Biblically recorded statements during a 1985 sermon in Hartford, Connecticut:

“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
Reference: Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:24

What it means: Bystanders thought Jesus was calling for Elijah, the Old Testament prophet, from the cross. But really this comment is a callback to Psalm 22.

In this Psalm, David recognizes the holiness of God, just as Jesus is doing from the cross. “God cannot even look upon evil,” Graham explained in his 1985 sermon. “In that terrible moment … He was lonely, forsaken by His friends, and then a shadow comes for the first time since eternity began between God the Father and God the Son because God cannot look upon sin. In that moment [God] was laying your sins and mine on Christ. And Christ was suffering for us. In that mysterious moment, He was made to be sin for us Who knew no sin.”

Why it matters: During his 33 years on earth, Jesus had never known sin. He never told a lie or had an evil thought. “All of a sudden, all of that filth and dirt from your life and my life descended on Him and none of us will ever understand the mystery of that moment,” Graham said. “No theologian can explain it to my satisfaction at least. It was God’s great love for you that allowed His Son to take that suffering.”

“I thirst.”
Reference: John 19:28

What it means: This was a fulfillment of Psalm 69:20-21, where David says, “Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy but there was none, for comforters but I found none. They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.”

Why it matters: Jesus was thirsty, but once He tasted the wine mingled with gall, He wouldn’t drink it. Why? “Because it would have been a sedative,” Graham offered. “It would have taken away from of the suffering, and He was there to take all the suffering in absolute consciousness. For you. And for me.”

“Father forgive them. They don’t know what they do.”
Reference: Luke 23:34

What it means: Soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross and then gambled over His garments. People yelled and leaders scoffed. Still, Jesus looked on the people with compassion. Graham said, “72,000 angels pulled their swords, ready to come rescue Him. [But] Jesus said, ‘No. I’m doing it because I love them.’”

Why it matters: God’s original plan in the Garden of Eden didn’t require a rescue. “But we deliberately rebelled against God,” Graham said. “And God would not be God. He wouldn’t be just and righteous and holy if He came along and patted us on the back and said, ‘You’re forgiven.’ We had to die for our own sins or somebody who was qualified had to die for us. That person that was qualified was Jesus Christ, and He volunteered to do it. He died in our place.”

“Behold this woman. Woman, behold thy son.”
Reference: John 19:26-27

What it means: Mary, the mother of Jesus, stood near the cross with John, a friend and disciple of Jesus. “From that hour on, John, His friend and His disciple, took care of His mother,” Graham said.

Why it matters: Culturally, Jesus fulfilled his obligation to care for His mother after His passing. This statement also supports the idea that “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27). Graham further pointed out, “Jesus Christ on the cross was the cure for all our human severed and ailing relationships.”

“Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Reference: Luke 23:43

What it means: Jesus hung on the cross between two thieves. After hours of mocking and jeering, one thief started to notice something different about Jesus. He rebuked the other thief and then asked Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom. Jesus said He would.

Why it matters: The forgiveness and the mercy of God is so far beyond our comprehension that we can hardly talk about it, Graham said. “Yes that thief is going to be in heaven, and you’re going to see him. Jesus took him by the death of the cross. Two thieves. Which are you? Which cross are you on? The one that’s rejecting or neglecting or even making fun? Or are you the one that receives and accepts?”

>>Find peace with God today.
“It is finished.”
Reference: John 19:28

What it means: God gave Jesus a job to do, and that was to die on the cross.
“He’s the only man ever born to die,” Graham said. “That was why He came. We wonder why He didn’t feed everybody and heal everybody. He could have done it. That would have healed some bodies and fed some people that were hungry. And he did that out of compassion. But His real work was the cross and that’s why the cross is so important because there you’re dealing with eternity.”

Why it matters: Every single person has a decision to make regarding Jesus. “You see, the body is going to go to the grave, but your soul, your spirit—that part of you that lives forever—is going to live on and on and on and on and on,” Graham said. “Where is it going to spend eternity? Heaven or Hell? It will be decided by the cross, what you do about the cross. From the cross He’s asking you to repent of sin and receive Him as Lord and Savior”

“Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit.”
Reference: Luke 23:46

What it means: Jesus said these words with a strong voice as He willingly died on the cross. “He gave up His spirit to God the Father and in saying this He conferred upon every one of us the possibility of the gift of eternal life,” Graham said.

Why it matters: It cannot be stressed enough—nobody killed Jesus. He died willingly, offering Himself up as our only rescue from eternal separation from God. Graham continued, “We were lost. Confused without purpose and meaning in life, no assurance of a future life, and Jesus from the cross reached out by death and rescued us and we say to Him today, Lord and Savior. Are you sure He’s your Lord and your Savior?”

Would you accept Jesus Christ today as your Lord and Savior?

Reply
Sep 24, 2022 13:42:29   #
Bevvy
 
RascalRiley wrote:
>The first person to go into the Lake of Fire will be the antichrist<

Many have speculated that will be Trump.


Many have speculated that you would write something that stupid

Reply
 
 
Sep 24, 2022 13:43:10   #
Bevvy
 
tbutkovich wrote:
Jesus said very little the day of His crucifixion when He willingly suffered and died for our sins. But the words God the Son chose during those six hours were powerful. Billy Graham once explored seven of those Biblically recorded statements during a 1985 sermon in Hartford, Connecticut:

“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
Reference: Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:24

What it means: Bystanders thought Jesus was calling for Elijah, the Old Testament prophet, from the cross. But really this comment is a callback to Psalm 22.

In this Psalm, David recognizes the holiness of God, just as Jesus is doing from the cross. “God cannot even look upon evil,” Graham explained in his 1985 sermon. “In that terrible moment … He was lonely, forsaken by His friends, and then a shadow comes for the first time since eternity began between God the Father and God the Son because God cannot look upon sin. In that moment [God] was laying your sins and mine on Christ. And Christ was suffering for us. In that mysterious moment, He was made to be sin for us Who knew no sin.”

Why it matters: During his 33 years on earth, Jesus had never known sin. He never told a lie or had an evil thought. “All of a sudden, all of that filth and dirt from your life and my life descended on Him and none of us will ever understand the mystery of that moment,” Graham said. “No theologian can explain it to my satisfaction at least. It was God’s great love for you that allowed His Son to take that suffering.”

“I thirst.”
Reference: John 19:28

What it means: This was a fulfillment of Psalm 69:20-21, where David says, “Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy but there was none, for comforters but I found none. They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.”

Why it matters: Jesus was thirsty, but once He tasted the wine mingled with gall, He wouldn’t drink it. Why? “Because it would have been a sedative,” Graham offered. “It would have taken away from of the suffering, and He was there to take all the suffering in absolute consciousness. For you. And for me.”

“Father forgive them. They don’t know what they do.”
Reference: Luke 23:34

What it means: Soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross and then gambled over His garments. People yelled and leaders scoffed. Still, Jesus looked on the people with compassion. Graham said, “72,000 angels pulled their swords, ready to come rescue Him. [But] Jesus said, ‘No. I’m doing it because I love them.’”

Why it matters: God’s original plan in the Garden of Eden didn’t require a rescue. “But we deliberately rebelled against God,” Graham said. “And God would not be God. He wouldn’t be just and righteous and holy if He came along and patted us on the back and said, ‘You’re forgiven.’ We had to die for our own sins or somebody who was qualified had to die for us. That person that was qualified was Jesus Christ, and He volunteered to do it. He died in our place.”

“Behold this woman. Woman, behold thy son.”
Reference: John 19:26-27

What it means: Mary, the mother of Jesus, stood near the cross with John, a friend and disciple of Jesus. “From that hour on, John, His friend and His disciple, took care of His mother,” Graham said.

Why it matters: Culturally, Jesus fulfilled his obligation to care for His mother after His passing. This statement also supports the idea that “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27). Graham further pointed out, “Jesus Christ on the cross was the cure for all our human severed and ailing relationships.”

“Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Reference: Luke 23:43

What it means: Jesus hung on the cross between two thieves. After hours of mocking and jeering, one thief started to notice something different about Jesus. He rebuked the other thief and then asked Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom. Jesus said He would.

Why it matters: The forgiveness and the mercy of God is so far beyond our comprehension that we can hardly talk about it, Graham said. “Yes that thief is going to be in heaven, and you’re going to see him. Jesus took him by the death of the cross. Two thieves. Which are you? Which cross are you on? The one that’s rejecting or neglecting or even making fun? Or are you the one that receives and accepts?”

>>Find peace with God today.
“It is finished.”
Reference: John 19:28

What it means: God gave Jesus a job to do, and that was to die on the cross.
“He’s the only man ever born to die,” Graham said. “That was why He came. We wonder why He didn’t feed everybody and heal everybody. He could have done it. That would have healed some bodies and fed some people that were hungry. And he did that out of compassion. But His real work was the cross and that’s why the cross is so important because there you’re dealing with eternity.”

Why it matters: Every single person has a decision to make regarding Jesus. “You see, the body is going to go to the grave, but your soul, your spirit—that part of you that lives forever—is going to live on and on and on and on and on,” Graham said. “Where is it going to spend eternity? Heaven or Hell? It will be decided by the cross, what you do about the cross. From the cross He’s asking you to repent of sin and receive Him as Lord and Savior”

“Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit.”
Reference: Luke 23:46

What it means: Jesus said these words with a strong voice as He willingly died on the cross. “He gave up His spirit to God the Father and in saying this He conferred upon every one of us the possibility of the gift of eternal life,” Graham said.

Why it matters: It cannot be stressed enough—nobody killed Jesus. He died willingly, offering Himself up as our only rescue from eternal separation from God. Graham continued, “We were lost. Confused without purpose and meaning in life, no assurance of a future life, and Jesus from the cross reached out by death and rescued us and we say to Him today, Lord and Savior. Are you sure He’s your Lord and your Savior?”

Would you accept Jesus Christ today as your Lord and Savior?
Jesus said very little the day of His crucifixion ... (show quote)


I accept HIM

Reply
Sep 24, 2022 13:45:30   #
kemmer
 
tbutkovich wrote:
Billy Graham once explored seven of those Biblically recorded statements during a 1985 sermon in Hartford, Connecticut:

Billy Graham was a fraud.
Quote:
Are you sure He’s your Lord and your Savior?”
Would you accept Jesus Christ today as your Lord and Savior?

Yup. Decades ago.

Reply
Sep 24, 2022 13:46:33   #
kemmer
 
Bevvy wrote:
Many have speculated that you would write something that stupid

Not at all! 😏

Reply
Sep 25, 2022 06:58:57   #
Big Kahuna
 
kemmer wrote:
Yup. Decades ago.


Kkkemmer, it appears that you have accepted a false Christ. Call him Satan. He has deceived you and many others in this world.

Reply
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