Category: theology

Posted in theology

Throwback Thursday: The Locked Door and the Key of David

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

This essay first appeared on The End Time in October 2009

Have you ever locked yourself out of your car? Or worse, your house? LOL. It’s always aggravating when that happens, and it happens to the best of us. Sometimes your child will lock you out on purpose, and you stand there begging and pleading, “Please open up. Open it. I said NOW!” Anyway, it’s always a relief when you get the key and let yourself in.

I was reading Isaiah 22 and I came across the verse containing the phrase, “The Key to the House of David.” It isn’t a long chapter but that phrase stopped me and I kept returning to it. Here it is:

“Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder, When he opens no one will shut, When he shuts no one will open.” Hmmm. Isaiah is a prophetic book. We see in the prophetic book of Revelation 3:7 the same phrase is repeated.

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:”

Plenty of more scholarly folk than I have delved into the spiritual implications of these bookend phrases describing the Key of David. However, the Spirit is drawing me to the simple. The door and the key. The bible is replete with symbology depicting the Open Door and Christ is that door. Here are two examples.

Luke 13:24-
He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.” Matthew 7:7- “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

However this promise is not open-ended. He will not stand as the open door forever.

He is also the key! The authority of the Church is God and He has given the key to Jesus, descendant of David, to govern. Though Jesus has sole authority, His mercy proclaims that we, His bride and soon to be His wife, will govern with Him. (Rev 1:5-6; Ephes. 2:6; Romans 8:17). We have received the keys to the kingdom. The guarantee of the open door will not remain forever, however.

“When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ (Luke 13:25).

Can you imagine that one day the door will be shut and the key will not ever enter the lock to open the door again? If you thought it was aggravating to be locked out of your car for a few minutes, imagine how it will be to be locked out of the Lord’s presence for all time.

Why is it that so many people stampede to get in the closed doors at Wal-Mart at Thanksgiving’s Black Friday, and do not stampede to get into heaven, with its infinitely more beautiful riches and goods? You, precious reader, can partake of the glories of worship of the Lord in heaven. Your trials and tribulations can be laid behind and your tears to be wiped from your eyes by your Maker. You must make sure you are in the right side of that (currently) open door. Be eager to ask forgiveness of your sins and make Jesus your Savior and Lord. Because, He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, … who shuts and no one opens… and that day when the door shall be shut is coming.

 

door

Posted in theology

In heaven, will we remember?

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Do you ever wonder how much, if anything, you will remember in heaven after the rapture or after resurrection through death? I do. I have unsaved family members and unsaved friends. If I am happy worshiping Him in glory, will I also not cry in despair because of the knowledge of eternal torment of my loved ones?

Yet Isaiah 65:17 tells us, For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. I would hate to forget His glorious creation and His many miracles and works!

Gotquestions.org deals with the issue by saying that “some interpret Isaiah 65:17 as saying that we will have no memory of our earthly lives when we are in heaven. However, one verse earlier in Isaiah 65:16, the Bible says, “For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes.” It is likely only our ‘past troubles’ that will be forgotten – not all of our memories. Our memories will be cleansed, redeemed, healed, and restored – not erased.”

Does that mean God will erase the memory and knowledge of sin from our minds? Will the memories that will be cleansed will be the ones that involve only sin, pain, and sadness? Revelation 21:4 declares, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Further, the book of Revelation says that in heaven we will sing the song of the Lamb and of Moses (Revelation 15:3), which is a song about past history. So if we are going to sing about the great works of God in history we will be having memories of them. It appears we will not forget everything.

The verse in Luke 14:26 says,

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Of course the verse is not to be taken literally. If it was, then Jesus would be violating the fifth commandment which says to honor thy mother and thy father. (Exodus 20:12). The verse is meant to demonstrate that comparatively, one must love Jesus so much that by comparison, one’s love for one’s parents is like hate.

So when in heaven, our love for Jesus will be fully made manifest because we will be glorified and nothing, such as our sin nature, will stand in the way of loving Him. Our joy will be so pure, so full, that comparatively, our remembrance of past sins will fade away. Beholding His perfection, in our glorified state, we can fully understand and know His decisions and His will is perfect. There will be no need to mourn.

Ultimately, of course, I do not know for sure. But one thing I DO know: God is perfect and He is righteous, always doing the right thing. I believe it highly likely we will forget and remember things in accord with what will maximize our enjoyment of God. If remembering something enhances our worship of Him, He will allow us to remember it. If it would hinder our worship of Him, He will allow us to forget it.

What do you think?

yard at dawn orig3

Posted in theology

A Short Encouragement

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Though we see the decline of culture, decline of peace, decline of the church, we remember that Jesus’s bride is BEAUTIFUL! His bride is spotless, glowing, holy and pure. He is purifying His bride daily, so that when presented to God we will be united in a holiness so astounding it is the very demonstration of the incomparable riches of His grace.

“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:6-7).

In Revelation 19:7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.”

I’ve seen several of my friends online appeal to the Lord for relief from this world by His calling all of us home. “Come soon, Lord Jesus” is the cry. I feel it too and say it in my prayers each day. After desiring for the Lord to call us home in the rapture, my next most fervent desire is for His Spirit to give me strength to do His will in a glorifying manner until He calls us home. “Thy will be done.”

One day, the preparations will be concluded, and we will enjoy perfect union and uninterrupted glory with Him. God the Redeemer sets Himself over the apostate world, with His bride at His side. What a glorious God we have.

wedding dress

Posted in theology, word of the week

Sunday Word of the Week: Immutability

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The thread of Christianity depends on a unity from one generation to the next of mutual understanding of our important words. Hence the Word of the Week.

8341e-word2bcloud

Immutability: Is the unchanging nature of someone. To be immutable is to be unchanging. God is unchanging in his character, will, and covenant promises. He does not change His mind, His will, or His nature.

Consider what thou owest to his immutability. Though thou hast changed a thousand times, he has not changed once; though thou hast shifted thy intentions, and thy will, yet he has not once swerved from his eternal purpose, but still has held thee fast. – Charles Spurgeon, The Christian—A Debtor, Sermon #96.

For someone to change, there must have been a point in time where the person was something else, or thought something different, or had alternate plans. Then as time passed, the person changed. Since God is outside of time, He is always the same, from point A to point B.

Also, His attributes are unchanging. He doesn’t add to His character nor subtract from it. He isn’t more loving today than when He was in Genesis 1:1 when our time began. He isn’t more wrathful against sin than when He was 15 years ago or 100 years ago. He isn’t more merciful or less compassionate than when Jesus walked in His incarnation.

What does immutability mean for us, His people?

As we read in Hebrews 6:17-18,

So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

It means we should be encouraged that His promises are sure. The joy that is waiting for us in heaven, the reunion with the glorified family as adopted sons and daughters, the glory, the sinlessness, all that, is unchanging because God does not change. He promised this. It will happen.

It means doom for those who will not repent. God will not forsake His holiness and allow rebels into heaven. It means the judgment and subsequent hellish torment awaiting many millions is sure. It will happen.

The gulf between the two eternities is never more stark than when considering His immutability. He has forged those two paths and they will not change. Keep both in mind when pondering His immutability.

1 immutabilty sunday

Posted in theology

The wind blows

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)

I lived in Maine for almost 30 years. It’s cold. It’s windy. A fun trip we’d take was to the top of Mt. Washington Observatory in the White Mountains of nearby New Hampshire. That is a place known for its wild and erratic weather, and for holding the record for most of the 20th century for highest ever recorded wind speed of 231 mph.

When you live in and near the mountains and there is a lot of wind, you notice that many of the trees are stunted. It’s hard for them to grow in severe conditions. There’s actually a “tree line”, the line where trees stop growing and at higher elevations and it’s just scrub and rocks to the summit.

You also notice that the trees are bent away from the wind. Trees are actually structures, and wind creates a heavy load against them. Constant aerodynamic drag eventually sculpts or molds the tree. The tree’s resistance declines and it conforms to the direction of the wind. Like these trees:

Wind_bent_tree,_near_Golden_Gap,_Dorset_-_1990s_(16644330374)
Photographer: Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England. Wikimedia CC
800px-Windswept_tree_on_Big_Island,_Hawaii
Windswept “Bent Tree” on Big Island, HI. Photographer- mccready. Wiki CC

We might look at a windswept tree and notice it standing tall. We might return in 30 years and notice that it has conformed to the prevailing wind and it’s been shaped. However, if we were to return to the mountain top or the field where the tree is every day, we would not notice the slow transformation of it.

It is like that with us. The Holy Spirit slowly transforms His people. He chips away at our resistance. Day by day in increments not seen, we are being transformed into Christ’s likeness. If we knew someone as an unregenerate person, celebrated their salvation, but then went to work in another country for 30 years, and then returned, we would notice a massive change in their character, morals, spirit, and mind. But it’s something one does not notice as much day by day. We cannot see the Spirit but we know where He has been by the people He has conformed.

Now imagine the multiplication of His work among an entire congregation. Like this:

Wind_bent_trees_-_panoramio
Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Holy Spirit is amazing. He is always at work, conforming, transforming, changing, producing fruit. Yet He is invisible, and only always points to Christ.

Our one God in three Persons…the Trinity…God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, worthy to be praised.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14).

Posted in theology, writing

Real Talk and Upcoming posts

Posted on by elizabethprata

Hello Friends,

Thank you so much for reading! In a few short months I’ll have been writing daily at this blog for ten years. That is a testament to the Holy Spirit and His Word that there is so much information to plumb in one closed canon!

When blogs first came to the fore, I was delighted. I’m a writer, though I’ve never managed to make a living at it. I have always had the urge to write-write-write, but publication avenues for me, the little guy, were tightly held by publishing gatekeepers.

So when the gates opened and publishing on a global platform became available via blogs, I was thrilled. However, the dangers only grew, because now my one and only “client” is Jesus. In addition, I need to write what He would want me to write, but I need to study in order to learn what would please Him.

One danger of long-term blogging is complacency. It would be terrible to take advantage of Jesus’s love and forgiveness and write sloppily about Him.

Another danger is marginalizing Him. Writing about my own desires and interests would be terrible on a blog devoted to exalting His name.

An additional kind of danger to writing for years is casualness with Bible verses. Vigilance is required in the Christian walk and that goes for everything we do, but especially what we do specifically in His name.

Anyway, you get the idea. I want Jesus to be the forefront of all I write and do in life and on the blog.

Below are some topics I plan to write about in upcoming days. Have a blessed weekend and week ahead everyone!

The Great Banquet (Man-made weekend retreat, not the biblical promise)

The Origin of Satan

The End of Satan

Slavery: Ancient and Modern

Kay Cude Poetry

A Day in the Life of A: Potter

Sunday Word of the Week: Immutability

jesus lily 6

Posted in theology

What Does a Seared Conscience Look like?

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata
This essay first appeared on The End Time in January 2014.

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,”
(1 Timothy 4:1-2).

What does a seared conscience look like? Like this:

Now as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!” And he said, “If the Lord will not help you, how shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the winepress?” And the king asked her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him.’ But she has hidden her son.” (2 Kings 6:26-29).

You see the issue. The woman was appealing to the King for justice. For a breach of contract. But what a breach of contract! She was SO SEARED in mind that she never stopped to think of what she was saying. “I want justice because the other woman broke our deal to cannibalize our children?!” The horror is that she related this so matter of factly. The worse horror is that she was so unconscious about her sin that she simply and unemotionally stated the facts of the case without stopping to think of what she was actually saying.

That is a seared conscience.

That is also a judgment. Judgment for their apostasy was prophesied by Moses in Deuteronomy 28:56-57:

The most tender and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because she is so delicate and tender, will begrudge to the husband she embraces, to her son and to her daughter, her afterbirth that comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears, because lacking everything she will eat them secretly, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your towns.

Cling fast to the faith. In my opinion, this is why Paul said to take very thought captive, every thought. (2 Corinthians 10:5). Do not listen to liars with seared consciences, who have already been pre-judged for their lies by having the seared conscience to begin with. The road which they travel and lure followers only gets darker and more evil with every step. As with everything biblical, there exists a progression. Ascent into holiness and then glorification is a process and descent into evil and the final apostasy is also a process. It all begins with one step.

This is where sin brings the unwary to: cannibalism…and worse. How can it get worse you ask? Apostasy is a terrible thing. It brings people so deep into sin they can’t even feel their sin anymore. People who have seared consciences are not only sinners, but are “inventors of evil”! (Romans 1:30) Worse, they not only sin deeply, don’t care, and invent ways to perform more evil, but they give hearty approval to those who practice the evil. (Romans 1:31).

Times of great apostasy are always dangerous for the vulnerable- the physically vulnerable and the spiritually vulnerable. In the Tribulation, the vulnerable will be at most risk once again. (Matthew 24:21-22; Luke 12:51-53). It will be a free-for-all of sins like we saw in the 2 Kings passage. A seared conscience is a terrible thing.

If you still feel conviction over your sin, great! Keep that feeling alive by remaining in a humble and penitent relationship with your Holy God. If you do not feel the same about sin as you used to, you must check yourself to see if you are in the faith. (2 Corinthians 13:5). If you don’t, you know the outcome. You will get eaten up- either by your neighbor because love has gone cold (Matthew 24:12) …or by satan, for the wages of sin is death.

seared

Posted in theology

When Women Pastor

Posted on by elizabethprata

According to the Bible, women are not to be pastors or teach in authority over men. This is a controversial stance in today’s feminist age, where the western culture is told that women can and should do everything that men do and that nothing should be denied them. It’s counter-cultural to think that there are settled spheres of complementary roles, that when working together, form a bond and an order that helps marriages, families, and societies functional at maximum efficiency.

We see the beauty and power of creation in Genesis 1, then the tremendous creative energy of God’s mind making man and then woman. In Genesis 2 He outlined the roles and gave them “a garden to keep”. Man was to work it and woman was to help. Unfortunately this unity of purpose within separate but complementary spheres did not last long. The woman was deceived and transgressed.

For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. (1 Timothy 2:13-14).

The transgression was that Eve listened to the serpent, and ate the forbidden fruit. In her conversation with him, in the Bible’s very first recorded words of woman, she misrepresented the Word. She added to it.

The Bible is meaningful when it comes to firsts. One of the guidelines people use in biblical interpretation is the Law of First Mention. In its place with other hermeneutical rules, the law of first mention is that,

The law (or principle or rule) of first mention is a guideline that some people use for studying Scripture. The law of first mention says that, to understand a particular word or doctrine, we must find the first place in Scripture that word or doctrine is revealed and study that passage. The reasoning is that the Bible’s first mention of a concept is the simplest and clearest presentation; doctrines are then more fully developed on that foundation. So, to fully understand an important and complex theological concept, Bible “students are advised to start with its “first mention.” (source)

It’s not a hard and fast rule to be overlaid on every verse but it’s a good principle to notice the first time things are mentioned. When outlining gender roles, Paul reiterated the creation order, Man was made first. It’s interesting to note that in Eve’s first conversation she twisted the one command from God.
Women as the weaker vessel (1 Peter 3:7) does not mean woman is less valuable than man, because we are equally loved by God and made in His image. But we are obviously physically weaker. The 1 Timothy verse indicates women have a tendency to be weaker in other areas too, since she was deceived first by the serpent.
Hence the Lord’s command that men occupy the office of pastor. When women usurp men and charge into that role, folly follows.

Here is an example.

The Azusa Street Revival was a historic revival meeting that took place in Los Angeles, California, and is the origin of the Pentecostal movement. It was led by William J. Seymour, an African American preacher. It began with a meeting on April 9, 1906, and continued until roughly 1915. The revival was characterized by spiritual experiences accompanied with testimonies of physical healing miracles, worship services and speaking in tongues. The participants were criticized by the secular media and Christian theologians for behaviors considered to be outrageous and unorthodox, especially at the time. Today, the revival is considered by historians to be the primary catalyst for the spread of Pentecostalism in the 20th century. (Source)

The 20th century focus and fascination with signs and tongues began here. Prior to that time, their existence in the church was practically nil. It began in Topeka Kansas in 1901, and exploded in 1906 at Azusa Street mission in Los Angeles.

There were several women involved with this Holiness movement who were at its forefront. Men were involved too, and pushed the false doctrines and error into American consciousness just as much as the women did. But at the top leadership included several powerful women operating in usurping roles leading as pastors, teachers, and spokesmen in authority. Agnes Ozman, Julia Hutchins, Lucy Farrow, Rachel Sizemore, Jennie Seymour, Aimee Semple McPherson were all leaders and several were pastors who had founded churches or missions and were actively preaching to congregations (such as Julia Hutchins and Lucy Farrow).

This article at Grace To You recounts Ozman’s and Charles Parham’s duplicity and deception.

Satan can and does counterfeit miracles. He can appear as an angel of light and a minister of righteousness. He was able to show Jesus all the kingdoms in the world. (Matthew 4:8). He deceived the woman Eve. He still deceives. Modern day women of today believe they have been “called” or “gifted” to “step into leadership roles” such as preaching and teaching men. Many of these women then or later reveal they heard a voice or felt a strong inner impulse or saw an angel that prompted them toward their path to ordination. These are counterfeit miracles originating with satan.

Women today are the ones at the forefront of the widespread mystical practices, personal prophecies, and channeling.

1 Timothy 2:11–12 is the main verse speaking to women’s authority over men in the church. Women can and do teach, help, evangelize, explain, and pray in the church (and out). Women’s spiritual authority, however, does not extend to preaching to a congregation or pastoring in authority over the sheep.

Any so-called female pastors that exist are not interpreting the scriptures rightly, so therefore their pastorship is based on a lie. Others might be interpreting the scripture rightly but ignoring what it says. Her pastorate will also fail also, because it is based on rebellion.

There’s both a beauty and a difficulty of operating within biblical boundaries of the roles outlined for us as women. We have a natural tendency to want to help. We nurture. We also have the seed of rebellion in us (Genesis 3:16). But it is our privilege and our joy to obey the Lord, who is omniscient and knows all. He does know what is best. He did say that our tendency will be to want to overstep, but we must resist that desire. (Genesis 3:16, 4:7b).

All gears mesh well when there is oil to lubricate the metal. The oil for men and women meshing in unity is obedience to God and submission to each other.

gear machine
Image from TheGraphicsFairy.com
Posted in hell, theology

What about hell?

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I love to speak of Jesus’s love, mercy, grace, salvation, and sanctification. However I also think it is important to speak of His justice, wrath, and consignment of the rebellious to hell in torment forever. Jesus spoke both of His kingdom to come and hell constantly. Yet, we don’t. We should. Many of those on earth won’t be joining Him in His kingdom to come unless they repent of their sins and believe on Him. Jesus taught quite a bit on wrath, hell and the consequences of sin. I read this week for background to this essay that the Bible runs 3-to-1 on wrath vs. love as a topic.

As Bible.org sums it up,

It may be worth noting that in Deuteronomy 28 (and following), the blessing section (28:1-14) is a great deal shorter than the cursing section (28:15-68).

Paul taught that thinking about and teaching about the rapture and the joy to come is encouraging. It is, but remembering the wrath we ourselves were under before salvation and is still poised over every unbeliever is a worthwhile thing to ponder, too.

I started a new book this week, John Gerstner’s treatise, Jonathan Edwards’ on Heaven & Hell. It’s quite illuminating. Though hell should not be a popular subject, (after all it’s the weightiest in the universe), it should not be marginalized, either. Here is the blurb on the book-

Dr. Gerstner was an ardent student of the famous Jonathan Edwards. In this short work, previously published by Baker, he examines the teaching of Edwards on the subjects of heaven and hell.

Hell is a real place and unconverted people will be cast there at the Day of Judgment. If it not real, then where did Jesus descend to during his three-day death to proclaim to the spirits bound there? (1 Peter 3:18-20). Though people try to debate this, dampen, it (annihilationism, universal salvation), hell is real.

If you are looking for a resource on the topic of hell, here are a few items for you-

Described as

a. Everlasting punishment. Mt 25:46.
b. Everlasting fire. Mt 25:41.
c. Everlasting burnings. Isa 33:14.
d. A furnace of fire. Mt 13:42,50.
e. A lake of fire. Rev 20:15.
f. Fire and brimstone. Rev 14:10.
g. Unquenchable fire. Mt 3:12.
h. Devouring fire. Isa 33:14.
4. Prepared for the devil, &c. Mt 25:41.
5. Devils are confined in, until the judgment day. 2Pe 2:4; Jude 1:6.
6. Punishment of, is eternal. Isa 33:14; Rev 20:10.
7. The wicked shall be turned into. Ps 9:17.
8. Human power cannot preserve from. Eze 32:27.
9. The body suffers in. Mt 5:29; 10:28.
10. The soul suffers in. Mt 10:28.
11. The wise avoid. Pr 15:24.
12. Endeavour to keep others from. Pr 23:14; Jude 1:23.
13. The society of the wicked leads to. Pr 5:5; 9:18.
14. The beast, false prophets, and the devil shall be cast into. Rev 19:20; 20:10.
15. The powers of, cannot prevail against the Church. Mt 16:18.
16. Illustrated. Isa 30:33.

John Gerstner (RC Sproul’s mentor) was an ardent student of Jonathan Edwards’ works, as noted above. From Gerstner’s essay on Edwards’ Rationale of Hell, we read Gerstner’s thoughts interspersed with Edwards’-

“those that have a sinful fear of God fear God as evil, but a right fear fears him as great and excellent.” (Edwards). Thus there is a right and wrong fear of God. This wrong fear of God, fearing him as an evil and dreadful being, drives men from God.

“A sinful fear makes men afraid to come to God.” (Edwards)

But, on the other hand, there is a proper fear of God, as the good and holy being that he is, and this right fear makes men afraid to go from him.

Eve and Adam had a sinful fear of God and they fled from Him. Those who are in Him would have a healthy fear to flee away from Him, but instead fly toward Him in all circumstances. On so many levels, once we are converted, everything turns upside down (or right side up, depending on yoru perspective!)

So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (Luke 3:7).

You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell? (Matthew 23:33)

I’m sorry not to be uplifting or sentimental today. Sometimes I feel the weight of the lost and their permanent eternity, or I give a mournful shaking of my head when I see important topics being shunted aside, and I feel compelled to write about the more unpopular subjects. Hell might not be popular, but it is very real. I recommend John Gerstner (especially at Ligonier.org) and Jonathan Edwards for credible treatment of the subject.

wrath 3