My
Article printed in The Bellevue Gazette on Tuesday, April 19, 2011, Page
4A
Believe
God Rather Than Man
Ralph H. Flynn, Pastor
Faith Bible Church of Bellevue
In
my office I have a framed saying which reads, “There is a big difference
in books which men make and the Book which makes men.” This reminds me daily
that the Bible is more important and truthful than any book written by man.
In
the recent article, “Who’s in Hell?” is a simple question to answer if
you believe the Bible. Man has always questioned the Bible and tried to change
it to fit his own desires. Ron Bell’s book, “Love Wins” is a case
in point. Let’s read what the Bible says in Second Peter 2:1-9:
1But
there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false
teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying
the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2And
many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth
shall be evil spoken of.
3And
through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you:
whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth
not.
4For
if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and
delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
5And
spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of
righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
6And
turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an
overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
7And
delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
8(For
that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his
righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
9The
Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the
unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
We
see in this passage that God is One of love and also One who brings
judgment. Hell is a real place. God never sends men to hell; they send
themselves by refusing to receive the free love gift that God offers to all
mankind. A gift requires two people: a giver and a receiver. I’m sure you have
given gifts to other people and that you have received gifts from other people.
The question is “Have you received God’s Gift?”
Whether
you know it or not, your name is in the Bible. It would be impossible to
carry around a book that listed everyone’s name, so God just shortened the
list to one word “whosoever”.
God
shows His greatest love toward us in John 3:16, “God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
God
also shows His greatest judgment toward us in Revelation 20:15, which
states, “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was
cast into the lake of fire.” Is your name in that book of life? It cannot be
there for what you do. It can only be there if you believe what Christ did. The
lake of fire is not hell because we see in the previous Bible verse Rev. 20:14
that “. . . death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death.”
Other
verses describe the lake of fire and who will be there. Revelation 19:20
reads, “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought
miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of
the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a
lake of fire burning with brimstone.”
Revelation
20:10 states, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of
fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be
tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Notice the words, “tormented day
and night for ever and ever.” This shows that God is not only a God of love
but is also a God of eternal judgment.
May
I ask this question, “Who is in the lake of fire which provides torment
day and night for ever and ever? It is the beast, the false prophet, Satan, and whosoever
was not found in the book of life. Rob Bell would have us believe that this is
not true. Whose word do you believe? God’s or Rob Bell’s?
God
shows his love toward us again in Romans 10:13, “For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” You are either the “whosoever”
in John 3:16 or the “whosoever” in Revelation 20:15, but you cannot
be both.
I
have never found an error in my Bible. God said it and that settles it. This
is a decision you must make on this side of eternity. Don’t wait until you
stand before God and the books are opened and your name in not found and you are
cast into the lake of fire, to say, “Rod Bell was wrong! God, the Righteous
Judge, does judge! The Bible was right!”
Man
has always sinned and is still sinning. God’s solution to sin has always
been the shed blood of a lamb. John the baptizer called Christ “The Lamb of
God.” “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Jesus said,
“No man cometh to the Father but by me.” (John 14:6) To say that Love
Wins removes the theme of the Bible “believe” from the Bible. If God had
planned to save everyone, He would not have subjected His own Son to the
unspeakable tortures of crucifixion.