We Need to Have a Serious Talk about Death, Part I
Earlier this week, I posted something on Facebook that pissed off A LOT of people. And I do mean, A LOT. I knew it would be an unpopular topic before I posted it. I expected opposition. But what I did NOT expect was a demonic onslaught of vicious words from so-called Christians. The post was about the suicide of Brittany Maynard, the young woman who scheduled her own death for November 1st.
In retrospect, had I thought a bit more before posting it, I could have probably worded it a bit better. But frankly, I didn’t want to coddle anybody. What Brittany Maynard did to herself is TERRIBLE!!! The fact that she had cancer is HORRIBLE!!! Yet I find that in our society, we are so inclined to view the Bible through our own experiences instead of viewing our experiences through the Bible that. This makes for the propagation of personal and widespread false gospels and that is NEVER okay.
Society as a whole is mourning this woman’s death and rightly so. However, the world--and many “Christians”--have convinced themselves that she went to Heaven. Huh?? How is it possible to kill one’s self and go to Heaven?
As you can imagine, arguments ensued upon reading my status. I was accused (again) by a most consistent young woman of making all Christians look bad, twisting the Word of God, and being a false teacher. By the end of the night, I simply had to conclude that she did not know what spirit she was of. Then I deleted her. And her tag-teaming husband. But the level of attack, in my opinion, was truly unwarranted.
There were others who had comments too, mostly bad, some good. And six people actually liked the status. I wasn’t particularly moved by the negative comments because, well, you can’t be as a Christian and a blogger. You need tough skin for both of those occupations. But I certainly sat up and took notice when a dear friend of mine reached out to me about the post.
She wasn’t thrilled.
Whenever my true friends speak, I sit up and take notice. Even if I don’t agree with what’s said, there’s always an automatic reaction of introspection when someone I love is honest with me about me. Ultimately, she and I disagreed on this point. But it was still on my mind.
So I called another friend that evening to get her point of view. She understands my “Peter-Paul ‘anointment’” a little bit better, lol. I’ve got a lotta John in me, a lot of love, adoration, and doting. However, when it comes to the Word of God, that Peter and Paul will come out in second!!
But seriously, I know my calling. I know my gifting. I know that a huge force in my mission is to “challenge the toxic mindsets of men, women, and children.” I HATE deception. I HATE sugar-coating, seeker-friendly, “nice Gospel” lies that permeate the pulpits of America and the (Western) world as a whole. From cover to cover, the Bible warns of false teachers, false prophets, and doctrines of devils. I know that my calling is to confront those, toe to toe, and as my mentor (an apostle) prophesied to me, “you have to give it to them at the level you received it.” My message is NOT for the faint of heart. The Gospel is not for the faint of heart. If sugar-coating and a yes-woman is what you want, I am NOT your girl. You better find someone else. But if you want pure, unadulterated truth, we can talk. So with that in mind, let’s talk about death.
The Bible Preaches Hell
The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. (Psalm 9:17)
If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. (Matthew 5:29)
So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades [Hell], he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. (Luke 16:22-23)
The Bible does not smart from the reality of Hell. It’s there, Old and New Testament. And for those of you who claim to only adhere to red letters, see the second two Scriptures. As the Psalmist told us, the wicked go to Hell (Psalm 9:17). But who are the wicked? The Apostle Paul helps us with that one.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things….And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving,unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:18-23, 28-32)
John the Revelator also fills us in.
But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)
The wicked are the ungodly, the unrighteous, and every one of those descriptions we see in Romans, Revelation, and other passages. The wicked are those who have not acknowledged and been forgiven of their sin. But the interesting part is Hell was never made for them. It was made for Satan and his demonic cohorts.
Then He will also say to those on the left hand, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels…” (Matthew 25:41)
Isaiah 14:9-10, II Peter 2:4, and Jude 1:6 all confirm this. The reality is though that thanks to the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden, man is now formed in sin and shaped in iniquity and unless we rectify that natural state by making Christ our Lord and Saviour, we go to the place prepared for the devil and his angels.
TRUTH: Even though Hell is VERY real and created by God, He doesn’t want ANYONE (human) to go there. AT ALL.
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (II Peter 3:9)
The Church No Longer Preaches Hell
Even though there is an abundance of Scriptural content on Hell (see “death,” “Hell,” “grave,” “Sheol,” and “Hades”), the (Western) Church at large fails to preach it. None of the ministers I subscribe to, of course, but still, many popular ministers.
TRUTH: Ladies and Gentlemen, if you don’t preach Hell, you preach a false gospel!!!
We cannot cherry-pick the Bible to pick messages that make us feel good while we send folks to Hell in gasoline draws!! Jesus ain’t got NOTHIN’ to do with that. (See the last section.)
While Hellfire does not need to encompass every single message we preach, it is in the Bible and It does not mince words about the topic. We are largely guilty for the world’s lack of knowledge/belief on the topic since we don’t preach it ourselves which brings me to my next point…
The World is Not Honest about Death
Because why expect them to be if the Church is not? While we cannot be responsible fully for their unbelief, we, as a whole, are certainly NOT doing our job. The world does not want to deal with death, they can’t. And it’s an age-old story. The Egyptians and Vikings sent their (wealthy) people into the afterlife with their prized possessions and even servants and horses, etc. slain to accompany their masters--or so they thought. The Buddhists and New Agers believe in reincarnation, many lives to get things right. The Muslims believe in getting their 70 regenerate virgins. The Catholics believe in Purgatory, a place and time of purification before (hopefully) going to Heaven. The Mormons believe we’ll be gods with our own planets--and our full families intact just as they are on earth. The list goes on, but none of this is true.
TRUTH: When you die as a repentant Christian, you go to Heaven; when you don’t, you go to Hell.
There is nothing pleasant about this. And if people really knew what they were saying when they told people to “go to Hell,” they REALLY would not say it. Unless, maybe they were demon-possessed.
But there is a mass deception that either Hell does not exist, we are in Hell, or Hell isn’t that bad, but all of these are FALSE, FALSE, FALSE! Glenda Jackson, like Mary K. Baxter, was taken to Hell by Jesus to show her the things to come for those who choose to eternally separate themselves from God. She literally saw Elvis singing “Amazing Grace” with no anointing on it. Why? Because the gifts of God are without repentance (Romans 11:29). She literally saw John F. Kennedy cursing God from the pits of Hell. She saw well-known pastors/ministers in Hell. And yes, she saw the unsaved cancer patients in Hell, suffering--without any relief--for ALL ETERNITY. WHAT A HORRENDOUS END!!!
You may ask, “Why would God show somebody Hell?” To save them!! If even one person can be transformed by the truth and snatched from the Gates of Hell (which are actual places by the way), then it’s TOTALLY worth it.
And yes, I too have seen Hell. As a child in about fourth grade. And because of my age, I think that’s probably why it wasn’t as harrowing as the Divine Revelation of Hell, but at 8 or 9, seeing a mass of skeletons and the devil laughing at your from across a great chasm is harrowing enough!!
I literally saw my Gifted and Talented teacher calling to me for help. She lay there among the skeletons and the bottom half of her was a skeleton itself and Satan just laughed, pointed and laughed.
And Satan is still pointing and laughing, not at me, but at all those who have bought into his propaganda that Hell doesn’t exist or isn’t that bad. If you believe that, you’re not saved! It’s one of his age-old, mass deceptions, yet with all that, Christianity is still the ONLY faith that can promise eternal life--with assurance! Every other religion promises hope and that hope is about as trustworthy as a certain someone’s campaign slogan: NOT AT ALL.
