My Take On Matthew Chapter 24 - Part 1

I'm going to through the entire chapter of Matthew 24 and share a few thoughts about it as we read along.

Matthew 24:1  And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
Matthew 24:2  And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

Jesus was talking about the upcoming destruction of the 2nd Temple which was to happen a few decades after He spoke those words.  On the surface He was talking about the  physical building being destroyed but in scripture there are often many layers to be uncovered.  I think there is a spiritual lesson here as well.  Today we tend to think of a church as a building.  You drive by it during the week and think to yourself "there is my church."  But a church (ekklesia in the original New Testament Greek) is really an assembly or gathering of Gods people whether you are surrounded by four walls or out in an open field.  Now notice in verse 1 Christ's disciples follow Him out of the building in which Jesus had been speaking.  Jesus then continues to teach them outside the building, telling them the building itself is irrelevant and will be destroyed.  Likewise as believers we must remember that the buildings we meet in today are not "the church" but we are the church.  We are only part of the true body of Christ when we following Him outside the building and let Him teach us wherever we are.  If the only time you spend with Jesus is an hour or two every week at "church" then you really aren't part of THE church.

Matthew 24:3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Matthew 24:4  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Matthew 24:5  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

Verse 24:4 is the most important warning in the entire chapter.  Jesus goes on to forewarn of many things which can get us killed but those things won't cost us our salvation.  However being deceived by false prophets just might cost you everything.

Matthew 24:6  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

He says to "see that ye be not troubled" by these things you cannot control.  What should you be troubled by?  Deception by false prophets and false Christs.  Why should those things concern you?  Because you can do something about it!  You can learn to spot false prophets and study the truths of the bible to prevent from being deceived.  In verse 7 Jesus continues to foretell of things we will not be able to prevent.  There's nothing wrong with keeping track of these things but we should focus on the preventable things.

The key to remember about these warnings is that they are a mixture of things we can and cannot prevent.  You have the ability to prevent yourself from being deceived... but it takes due diligence.  Are you in the word daily?  Or are you only in the word at church once a week?  And do you actually follow Jesus wherever He leads you or only when He leads you where you want to go?  2 Timothy 4:3-4 says "For the time will come when they [people who profess to be followers of Christ] will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."  Why?  Because they only follow Jesus when it makes them happy to do so. That type of mindset is preventable... and if any of us have that problem right now the good news is the Holy Spirit can change us; He can and will lead us into all truth if we surrender our will to Him. 

As for the wars, the disasters and the diseases we shouldn't think it our place to stop these things from happening.  Jesus specifically said these things must happen so preventing these things is not an option. 

Matthew 24:7  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Matthew 24:8  All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Okay so we cannot stop these things from happening.  But is praying for God to slow them down for the sake of bringing more non-believers into the assembly an option?  I think so.  And also to give the lost sheep, those who profess to be believers but are straying from the path, more time to repent.  But make no mistake, the Lord will not spare a people who reject Him once their cup of iniquity has overflowed.  I'm an American by birth, but my loyalty is to God by the rebirth He offers me through the blood of Jesus.  Whatever past claims this country had to being a Christian are irrelevant.  The United States has long since ceased to be a Christian nation and even though it will make people angry, I'm placing the blame squarely on the church.  If that angers you let me ask you a few questions.  Do you think this country was ever really a Christian nation?  I do although we have always had our flaws.  If you say "no I don't think this was ever really a Christian nation" then you have no reason be upset.  But if you say "yes I think this country was (or still is) a Christian nation" then I have a couple more questions.  Do you think as a society we have been dumbed down spiritually?  Morally?  Politically?  Do you think the education system in this country has been dumbed down?  If you said yes to any of those I have one final question.  How can you dumb down a Christian nation unless you dumb down Christianity first?  Sorry if it angers you, but the if the church in general was doing its job this country would not be in the state of decay it is in now.

Remember when Abraham pleaded with God to spare the city of Sodom (see Genesis 18:20-33).  Because his nephew Lot and his family lived in Sodom, Abraham asked the Lord to spare that city if at least 50 righteous people could be found living there.  Abraham eventually talked the Lord into sparing Sodom if only 10 righteous people could be found.  Did He find 10?  No, so "the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven" (Genesis 19:24) and I have no doubt the United States has the same fate coming, along with the rest of the world.  Jesus said the world in the end times would be "as it was in the days of Noe [Noah] (Luke 17:26).  Genesis 6:5 tells us it was like this; "the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."  And throughout the bible we are told though the number of God's people (the number of professed believers) will be as the sands of the sea of the sea, only a remnant shall be saved.  A lot of people will verbally claim Jesus is Lord, but for most their hearts are actually quite far from Him.  In the grand scheme of things there won't be enough truly Godly people in this country to prevent the USA from the same fate as Sodom.   Now obviously the bible isn't exclusively for Americans so you can say the same thing about any other country of course.  The very next verse in Matthew 24 says Christians in all nations will be afflicted.  In fact verses 9 and 10 below continue to foretell of things that are going to happen which we cannot prevent, so we shouldn't think it is our duty to prevent these things.  It is our duty to be spiritually strong in Christ so that when they happen we keep the faith because as verse 13 below tells us only those who "shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved."  So now let's read verses 9 through 14.

Matthew 24:9  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
Matthew 24:10  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Matthew 24:11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Matthew 24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Matthew 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Matthew 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Verse 9; we can't do anything about it.  It's going to happen.

Verses 10 and 11; these things will also not be stopped... but you can prevent yourself from being one of those betrayers who hates one another.  And you can take heed that those false prophets do not deceive you. 

Verse 12; we can't stop it.

Verses 13 and 14; you can be one who endures to the end & you can be one who preaches the gospel. 

This pattern continues throughout the chapter.  My prayer for us all is that we don't focus to much on the things we cannot stop, but will be diligent about the things we can prevent.  I'm not saying it's wrong to pay attention to the unpreventable things just don't obsess over them.  The church isn't going to stop earthquakes or any other natural disasters from happening.  You won't stop floods, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, meteor's or whatever else comes along but you can help bring people to Christ before they die in one of these types of disasters.  And you can help people learn to identify and avoid false prophets too. 

Keep in mind you can only help people who are willing to listen to reason; most will reject the truth so don't try to force it on people.  Focus on people who want to learn the truth, not on those who only want to easy way out.  Sad as it to say, most Christians will fall into the latter category.  Read verses 9 through 11 again.  But before you do keep two things in mind:

#1) Jesus said in John 16:2 "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service."  Jesus is telling us our fellow Christians are going to be the ones attacking us.

#2) No matter how popular the belief is that the greatest threat against Christianity is Islam, with an Islamic antichrist coming up against us one day, the truth is Islam is nothing but a deception from Satan to distract us from the fact that the bible is really warning us about a false Christian antichrist. Look at what the apostle John tells us in 1 John 2:18-19.  John points out there are many antichrists even back then when he wrote it, but take note the antichrist's he warns of come from us.  Notice verse 19 John uses the word us 5 times.  Who is us?  This is from a letter to Christians so obviously us means the Christian church. He's driving the point home to be on the lookout for a Christian antichrist, not an Islamic one!!!

1 John 2:18  Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
1 John 2:19  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

Now do see why Jesus said "Take heed that no man deceive you" and "many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many"?   Think about it.  There is nothing deceptive whatsoever about Muslims openly declaring they want to kill Christians, yet millions of Christians are convinced Islam is the great end time threat we face.  Nope, they are the red herring Satan raised up so false prophets in the Christian church can point the finger at them.  The ones who "shall deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you" are going to be deceived Christians who think they are doing God a service because they are going to think real Christians are the heretics, not them.  They are going to think because you don't bow down to "the church" then you are the reason God's wrath is coming upon them and the world.  These deceived Christians are going to think they have to kill us "heretics" in order to appease God so He will end the worldwide calamities.  Again Jesus said to let "no man deceive you" and their is nothing even remotely deceptive about Muslims openly declaring they want to kill Christians... so don't be deceived into thinking they are who the bible is talking about.  Antichrist will be a fake Christian leader who along with his fake Christian false prophets convinces lukewarm Christians to kill real God-fearing Christians.  When you read Matthew 24:9-11 that is what Jesus was warning about!!!

Brothers and sisters I pray you are not angry with me for saying these things.  Christians must get themselves prepared spiritually for what is coming.  Will terrorist attacks against Christians by Muslims increase as time progresses?  I'm sure they will and I'm not looking forward to it.  But you know what I'm looking forward to even less?  How the self-centered, me-first Christian community is going to respond!

I'm not saying this stuff to be hateful or because I think I'm so great.  As a man, I'm as much a sinner as anyone else, and I probably have more skeletons in my closet than most of you.  But remember Moses was a murderer and King David was a murderer and an adulterer.  And the apostle Paul was an relentless persecutor of the church, consenting to the death and imprisonment of Christians before his conversion.  The point is not that I'm trying to put myself on a pedestal because that isn't the case.  But God doesn't use people who are perfect either.  He uses people who are willing to believe Him whether or not the truth is popular.  I'm pleading with you, you have got to understand and NOT underestimate what is coming.  You must be prepared spiritually because Jesus said only those who endure till the end shall be saved.

Thanks for reading.  God Bless.

I've Posted A Few Updates

Today I updated The Letter Of The Law Vs The Spirit Of The Law.   It was a small addition that I added to the bottom of the post.  Click this link to check it out.  :)

I also updated a couple of other pages in May with the additions being added at the bottom of each post.  If you care to see the updates click the links below.

Do People Burn In Hell For All Time?

The Isaiah 28:10 Principle

 

The Lord Will Give You The Desires Of Your Heart Whether They Are Good Or Evil

Acts 10:36 The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
Psalm 10:17 Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:
Romans 10:1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Romans 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Titus 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Romans 1:26  For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
Romans 1:27  And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
Romans 1:28  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Romans 1:29  Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Romans 1:30  Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Romans 1:31  Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Romans 1:32  Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Matthew 15:16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
1 Corinthians 6:9  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
1 Corinthians 6:10  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 6:11  And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Galatians 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Galatians 5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Galatians 5:21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Galatians 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Ephesians 5:3  But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
Ephesians 5:4  Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
Ephesians 5:5  For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Ephesians 5:6  Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
Ephesians 5:7  Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
1 Timothy 4:9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
Jeremiah 17:5 Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.
Revelation 21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Revelation 21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
1 Timothy 6:11  But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
1 Timothy 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
Philippians 4:8  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Ephesians 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Ephesians 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Ephesians 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Ephesians 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Ephesians 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Ephesians 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Ephesians 6:19  And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
Ephesians 6:20  For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
Philippians 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Galatians 1:5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

The Word Hell Means The Grave Part 3

Click here for Part 1
Click here for Part 2

Even though the New Testament was originally written in Greek, it was still written by Jews (except for the books of Luke and Acts which were both penned by Luke who was not of Jewish descent).  Thus the correlating Greek words will mean the same thing as the Hebrew words.  The Greek word Hades is translated hell ten times and grave once but like sheol it simply means grave, not hell in the popular sense.  You can look it up in Strongs Concordance too if you'd like; it is word G86.  Here are a few verses with hades along with my comments on some of them:

1 Corinthians 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave [hades], where is thy victory?

Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [hades] and of death. 

Who is it that will call people out of their graves at the resurrection?  Jesus, of course.  So He holds the keys out of the grave.  That's why Job said he wanted the Lord to hide him in sheol/the grave till the day of the Messiah.  Job knew he would not be in heaven or hell, but merely in the grave with no conscious thought.  His suffering would end and when he was resurrected he would get to be with the Lord for eternity.  Okay, two more:

Revelation 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell [hades] delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Revelation 20:14 And death and hell [hades] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

If hell is already a fiery underworld, why cast it into the lake of fire?  That makes no sense.  Think about it.  Supposedly it says the realm of fire will be cast into the lake of fire to be destroyed by the fire... huh?!?  But verse 14 makes sense if you think of it as the grave, not hell, being destroyed for all time.  "O death, where is thy sting? O grave [hades], where is thy victory?" Remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:26?  He said "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."  Well when death is destroyed the grave will be destroyed with it.  Amen.

As you may recall, I ended Part 2 by mentioning the pit is also a symbol for imprisonment along with being the grave.  When you realize that it makes Revelation chapter 20 a little easier to understand.  Let's talk about the 1st 3 verses.

Revelation 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Revelation 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Revelation 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Many people think the bottomless pit is hell but what it actually symbolizes is the surface of the earth. I covered that in another study but I'll briefly recap it here.  At the return of Christ the first resurrection takes place.  This is the resurrection of the dead in Christ; they along with the Christians who are alive at the time of Christ's return will be taken to New Jerusalem for 1000 years.  Everybody who was alive at the time but not saved will be killed.  Then at the end of the 1000 years the second resurrection, the resurrection of the unsaved, will take place.  Here is the scripture to back that up:

1 Thessalonians 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
1 Thessalonians 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

This sequence of events, which is popularly called the Rapture, takes place in the following order.  During the last 7 plagues when the wrath of God is poured out on the earth, the 6th plague happens, then Jesus returns to fulfill the events from 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.  Then the 7th and final plague kills all the wicked who are unsaved.  Despite popular belief there is no second chance at salvation after the rapture.  Revelation chapter 16 describes the last 7 plagues, which are symbolically referred to as the vials of wrath in the King James Version or the bowls of wrath in many English translations.  Revelation chapter 16 goes through the plagues/vials of wrath in order.  In verse 12 the 6th plague happens, then skip ahead a couple of verses to verse 15 and Jesus says "Behold, I come as a thief ..." which matches 1 Thessalonians 5:2.  Then in Revelation 16:17 the 7th and final plague happens with "a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done."  This is the "sudden destruction" that "they shall not escape" from in 1 Thessalonians 5:3.  Comparing scripture to scripture we will match these things up with Revelation 20:4-5.

Revelation 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Revelation 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

Those verses talk about the people who are "caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air" from 1 Thessalonians 4:17 who will live and reign with Christ 1000 years which is the first resurrection.  But the rest of the dead, the unsaved, won't be resurrected "until the thousand years were finished."  Okay, so where will all the people who were killed in the 7th plague be?  Their corpses will be left behind where they died, since the saved won't be around to bury them.  That means the surface of the earth will be littered with dead bodies.  Dead bodies as far as the eye could see if anybody were there to see them.  This is "the bottomless pit" mentioned in Revelation 20:1 & 20:3.  The earth will be one unending mass grave.  The bottomless pit is not the mythical hell people think it is.  The pit is the grave so the bottomless pit is a never-ending grave.  But the grave also symbolizes a prison remember?   Who is that is imprisoned for those 1000 years?  Satan and his fallen angels that's who.  Revelation 20:1-3 says "... an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled..."  The "great chain" and being "bound a thousand years" is symbolic.  Satan is trapped in the bottomless pit because he cannot "deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled."  As it says in Jude 1:6 "the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day."  The judgment of the great day happens after the second resurrection when the unsaved are brought back to life and Satan is able to convince them to try going to war with the saints in the beloved city.  Then God judges them all as condemned and He reigns fire down on them, turning the surface of the earth into a lake of fire.  As 2 Peter 3:10 says "... the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."  Let's look at how Revelation chapter 20 describes it. 

Revelation 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Revelation 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
[Remember verse 3 describes Satan's prison sentence like this - "he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season."  That is what verses 7 and 8 are describing.]
Revelation 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them [this is judgment of the great day which Jude 1:6 was describing and it's also the day of the Lord where the elements will be melted and the earth burned up in 2 Peter 3:10].

To recap, the bottomless pit is the surface of the earth as a mass grave... the same mass grave which symbolizes Satan's prison for 1000 years. 

The term "bottomless pit" shows up in scripture 7 times total, all of them in the book of Revelation.  It is found in Revelation 9:1-2, Revelation 9:11, Revelation 11:7, Revelation 17:8, Revelation 20:1, & Revelation 20:3.  The earth has been the prison of Satan and his angels from the time they were cast out of heaven and death happens countless times daily on this planet since the fall of man, so earth has always been the devil's prison and an endless tomb of death.  Earth is the bottomless pit.

A quick side note.  This is off topic, but Revelation 20:8 mentions the names Gog and Magog.  There is a ton of speculation in our churches and online about who Gog and Magog are, with the most popular opinion being they represent the countries of Russia and Iran.  Well, take a second look at Revelation 20:7-8 and it tells you exactly who Gog and Magog really are.  It says Satan will be freed from his prison and deceive the nations, then it identifies Satan and the deceived nations as Gog and Magog.  Gog is Satan, Magog is the deceived nations, and together they are gathered for battle against the saints.  Revelation also says this war of Gog & Magog happens 1000 years after Christ's return yet the people who think it is Russia and Iran think it will happen sometime very soon.  I think they are mistaken.  Just thought I point that out. 

Now back to the topic at hand...

Okay, so I'll wrap this study up with the other two Greek words beside hades which is translated as hell in the New Testament.  They are tartarus which only occurs one time and gehenna which occurs 12 times.  In fact Jesus used the word gehenna 11 of the 12 times occurs in the New Testament, with James 3:6 "... it is set of fire of hell" [gehenna] being the only time someone besides Jesus used that word in the original Greek.  If you want to see every occurrence of gehenna as hell go to this link https://www.blueletterbible.org/ and type G1067 in the search box.  Here are two examples of it.

Matthew 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? [gehenna]

Luke 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell [gehenna]; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

Gehenna was a place south of Jerusalem.  It was the place where the city's refuse and the bodies of dead animals were burned.  It literally was a place where the trash was burned.  As harsh as it sounds Jesus was warning people they would be burned as trash in the lake of fire.  And Revelation 20:9 and 20:14-15 do promise the wicked will burn after the second resurrection.  So if you want to call hell a place of burning I suppose that is true, it just isn't the underworld hell we've been taught all our lives.  And the wicked will burn until they are all dead, not for all future time as most people believe. 

The one other word translated as hell is tartarus (Strongs concordance G5020) which only occurs once when Peter used it in the following verse.

2 Peter 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell [tartarus], and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

Tartarus means prison, a place of incarceration.  When Satan and the other fallen angels sinned against God they were cast out of heaven, down to earth which became their prison, their tartarus, to be reserved for judgment.  And in case you didn't read my other study where I revealed what the bible really says about Satan being destroyed in the lake of fire, the biblical truth is even Satan and his demons will be killed when "the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" so ultimately the earth is both their prison and their grave.  Hell truly is the grave.

I pray this study has been a blessing for you.  Amen.
 

The Word Hell Means The Grave Part 2

Click here for Part 1
Click here for Part 3

Part 1 focused primarily on the Hebrew word sheol which is translated as both hell and grave 31 times each in the King James Version (KJV) of the Old Testament. 

Now let's talk about the Hebrew words for pit.  The Hebrew bowr is most often translated into English as pit in the KJV but it turns out sheol is also translated as pit 3 times.  These first two examples of sheol as pit are both from Numbers chapter 16.

Numbers 16:30 [Moses said] But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit [sheol]; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.
Numbers 16:33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit [sheol], and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.

In Part 1 I mentioned there was a time when God destroyed some disobedient Israelites by opening a sinkhole under their feet, trapping them and then burning them in front of the rest of the congregation of Israel.  Those two verses I just showed you where that happens.  Now let's continue in Numbers chapter 16 starting at verse 34 to see what happens after they are trapped in the sinkhole/pit.

Numbers 16:34  And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.
Numbers 16:35  And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.

Okay so in context so far the Lord has opened a pit underneath men who have provoked Him.  They were trapped and the Lord burned them with fire.  Can you see where people take that to mean "the pit" is an underworld hell where the damned burn?  I can see it.  But let's continue reading and remember to keep things in context.  Keep in mind there were 250 men who were burned and they were carrying censers (see verse 17).  Censers are containers for burning incense during religious ceremonies.

Numbers 16:36  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Numbers 16:37  Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed.
Numbers 16:38  The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
Numbers 16:39  And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar:
Now some questions.

Did the damned in Numbers 16:33 go into a pit?  Yes.

Were they burned?  Yes.

Do those things sound like "hell" as the popular concept defines hell?  Yes and we all know the damned are going to be burned in a lake of fire.  So I can definitely see where a person could think verses 34 & 35 were describing hell.
But a few more questions.

Did they become spirits and go to a spiritual realm of burning as the popular concept of hell goes?   No.

Were the other Israelites able to witness them burn?  Yes, so they definitely were not in some underworld realm as hell is described.

In fact even though they went into a pit, it wasn't very deep.  Deep enough to trap them but it was also shallow enough that Aaron's son Eleazar was able to retrieve the censers the victims were carrying so the pit was basically a shallow grave.  Now ask yourself this question and be honest; if during a sermon or while watching a video, if the speaker only showed you verses 33 through 35 and told you it was speaking of "hell" the spiritual underworld of burning damnation, would you have later gone back and read those verses in context to verify the truth?  Or would you have simply believed him because it already matched your preconceived notion of hell?  I suspect most Christians would have accepted that interpretation without making any effort to verify the truth.  I'm not saying that to ridicule anybody or make anybody feel bad.  I'm trying to help people understand how vitally important it is to be a Berean.  See Acts 17:10-11 to find out what being a Berean means if you don't know already.  It is unwise to not verify the truth for yourself "because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8) and the devil certainly doesn't want you be a Berean. 

In fact Satan just wants you to nod your head in agreement whenever scripture is misinterpreted, whether the misinterpretation was done intentionally by a wolf in sheep's clothing or it was an honest mistake.  There are allegedly true stories out there where people make claims of going to heaven or hell for a period of time and then coming back.  I believe the bible, I don't believe the creeds of churches over scripture... and I won't be deceived by those claims.  I'm not saying these people are intentionally lying either.  But we must be grounded in scripture, not traditions of men.  There is a popular book and movie called Heaven Is For Real where a young boy alleged to have gone to heaven.  Don't think for one second our enemy Satan won't use children to decieve the church.  Whether this young boy was coached by people to say the things he did or if demons made him think these things happened I don't know... but I do know his claims aren't biblical.  I also know because this boy was of pre-school age at the time of the alleged events there is a good chance other Christians will accuse me of attacking a child if I don't believe his story.  So be it.  I will also be attacked by other Christians for any number of other things just as Christ-believing Jews are attacked by their fellow Jews for believing scripture above traditions.  "For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ" (Galatians 1:10). 

There is a third time in the bible where sheol was translated as pit.  It is in the book of Job.

Job 17:16 They shall go down to the bars of the pit [sheol], when our rest together is in the dust.

The phrase "bars of the pit" conjures up images of being held behind bars in prison.  Isaiah also describes the pit as a prison in the following verse, but take note the Hebrew word for pit in this case is bowr, not sheol.

Isaiah 24:22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit [bowr], and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.

Even though it's a different Hebrew word I'm going to show you five verses where it demonstrates that sheol and bowr mean the same thing - the pit.  And the pit means the grave, not hell.

Psalms 30:3 O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave [sheol]: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit [bowr].

Proverbs 1:12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave [sheol]; and whole, as those that go down into the pit [bowr]:

Isaiah 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell [sheol], to the sides of the pit [bowr].

Isaiah 38:18 For the grave [sheol] cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit [bowr] cannot hope for thy truth.

Ezekiel 31:16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell [sheol] with them that descend into the pit [bowr]: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.

Do you see how these verses demonstrate that sheol and bowr can be used interchangeably?   

If you would like to see every verse where either sheol or bowr you can look them up in Strongs Concordance.  Sheol is word H7585 and bowr is H953.  Here is website where you look them up.  https://www.blueletterbible.org/ . In the search box type H7585 or H953, then scroll down and you will see all the verses where those words are used.

Besides being translated as pit bowr is also translated as dungeon.  So do you see where the grave/pit also symbolizes being imprisoned?  Remember near the beginning of this study I showed you in Jonah said that being in the belly of the great fish was sheol, his grave (though only temporarily since the fish spewed him out).  In Jonah 2:6 he compares being in the fish as having "bars around me" so we see example after example of the grave being a prison. 

In Part 3 I will talk about the "bottomless pit" of Revelation, how it symbolizes the biggest mass grave in history and how it also symbolizes a prison for Satan and his minions.  I will discuss and the original Greek words which are translated as hell in the New Testament as well.

Thanks for reading.  God Bless.
 

The Word Hell Means The Grave Part 1

Click here for Part 2
Click here for Part 3

I looked up the definition of hell and here are the first two definitions I found.  The top one is from Oxford Dictionaries and the one below is from dictionary.com:

HELL: A place regarded in various religions as a spiritual realm of evil and suffering, often traditionally depicted as a place of perpetual fire beneath the earth where the wicked are punished after death.

HELL: The place or state of punishment of the wicked after death; the abode of evil and condemned spirits.

Growing up I had always pictured hell as a fiery subterranean underworld where evil people burned in agony for all eternity while the devil oversaw the proceedings.  That's the myth the world is taught but it isn't true.  First of all as far as burning forever goes, forever in the bible means for life or for an appointed period of time not for all future time as most perceive.  Truth is, nobody will burn in hell for all time, not even Satan.

At the end of my post titled "Is Forever Really Forever?" I said I was going to do a post where I showed that the word hell really means grave in the bible.  Those 2 dictionary definitions I posted are what Christians usually think of when they sell hell in the bible but it's a misconception.  All of society is taught the typical notion of hell as "The place or state of punishment of the wicked after death; the abode of evil and condemned spirits."  As a child I wasn't a Christian but I knew about hell because it is even depicted in children's cartoons...



... so I get the whole indoctrination aspect, where it becomes difficult to let go of a preconceived notion.  But no matter how much it has been tattooed onto your brain, that definition of hell isn't biblical.  It is just so ingrained in our minds we can't help but conjure up that type of imagery when we see the word hell written in scripture.

 





It's hard to shake off those images isn't it?

In the King James Bible there are four different words which were translated into English as hell; sheol in Hebrew and hades, tartarus, and gehenna in Greek.  Over the course of time Christians were deceived into believing in the false idea that hell is a subterranean underworld where souls burn for all future time. 

Hebrew sheol and its Greek equivalent hades both mean the grave or the pit, the final resting place of the dead.  By grave it doesn't necessarily mean somebody got a proper burial; if one died in the wilderness then where the body lies is his grave.  In Jonah chapter 2 even the belly of the fish where Jonah was trapped was called hell because Jonah thought it would be his final resting place, his grave. 

Jonah 2:1 Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly,
Jonah 2:2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell [sheol] cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

Sheol is translated pit 3 times, grave 31 times and hell 31 times as well.  Besides Jonah 2:2 Here are a couple of examples of sheol being translated as hell.  When you read these verses you could easily substitute the word grave for hell and it would make sense.

Proverbs 7:27  Her house is the way to hell [sheol], going down to the chambers of death.

Psalms 86:13  For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell [sheol].

Now I'm going to show you some examples where sheol was translated as grave.  In these instances, if you substituted the word hell instead of grave, hell meaning the burning realm of the damned, these verses would then make no sense.

In this first example Jacob had been mislead into believing his beloved son Joseph had been killed by a wild animal.  He says he will go to his grave mourning for Joseph.  Remember the original word for grave, sheol, is also translated as hell in 31 other places. 

Gen 37:35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave [sheol] unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.

If sheol really means hell then Jacob would have been saying he was going to hell.

Now let's look at another verse where sheol was translated as grave.  Like the previous example, if you translated sheol as hell instead of grave it wouldn't make any sense.  In this one Job's life had become so miserable he wishes God would let him die until the resurrection when the Messiah will bring an end to suffering. 

Job 14:13 O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, [sheol] that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
 
Again if hell is a place where your eternal soul burned in agony 24/7 as myth proclaims then Job would have been saying he wishes God would end his suffering in this life so he can suffer much, much worse in hell.  Of course that isn't the case.  But Job knew that "the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished" (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6) and "there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest" (Ecclesiastes 9:10).  He knew the truth that most Christians don't know - because they blindly follow their pastors rather than believing the bible - and that truth is this; people DO NOT go to heaven or hell at the moment of death.  Just as those verses I just quoted from Ecclesiastes say, the dead have no conscious thoughts whatsoever.  They are not in heaven worshipping the Lord and they are not in hell burning in agony.  See also Psalm 115:17 & Isaiah 38:18-19. 

Since Job said he hoped God would remember him while he was in the grave that proves he knew he wasn't going to heaven as a spirit either because the saved won't go until the resurrection at Christ's return.  After all, why would God not remember Job if he was already in heaven worshipping God since the time he died.  Job was saying he wanted to go to sheol/the grave until the resurrection of the dead when the Messiah redeemed His people.  Job knew about Jesus.  Job didn't know Jesus by that name but knew his Redeemer would come for him "at the latter day upon the earth."  Look what was said in Job chapter 19.

Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
Job 19:26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
Job 19:27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

Verse 25 says the Messiah lives and He will come to claim full dominion over the earth in the last day. 

Verse 26 begins by saying our physical bodies will rot after death.  Another way to put it is our corpses will see corruption in the grave as Psalm 16:10 and Acts 2:31 put it.  In Acts 2:31 when speaking of the resurrection of Christ when it says "His soul was not left in hell, neither His flesh did see corruption" it means His dead body was not left in the grave long enough to decompose.  It doesn't mean Jesus burned in hell briefly as many people believe.  Verse 26 ends with Job saying when he sees God he will be in a resurrected physical body.  It is commonly believed we go to heaven as disembodied souls but the bible doesn't say we have souls, it says with our living bodies are souls.  A lot of people get confused by 1 Corinthians 15:44 saying we will be raised with spiritual bodies thinking it means our bodies will no longer be flesh and blood.  Physically our bodies will be flesh; skin, bone, blood, etc.  But it will be spiritual in the sense that we will no longer crave the sinful desires of the flesh we suffer from now. 

In verse 27 Job is saying after the ressurecteion he will get see God with his own eyes.  Job wanted his pain to end that's why in Job 14:13 he wished to be kept in "secret" in sheol. 

If you've read my other posts you know I'm guilty of repeating myself over and over.  Between this and the other studies I've done about hell you might think I'm kicking the dead horse way too much.  But Satan uses deception to fool Christians and the closer we get to Jesus returning the more this deception will be ramped up!  This belief that we have conscious immortal spirits will continue to be used against hundreds of millions of Christians worldwide in the coming days (as it has been for millennia) and that breaks my heart.  Paul said the reason most people will lose their salvation is "because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (2 Thessalonians 2:10).  With these studies I'm sharing I'm trying to show you the truth but also praying you will cultivate a love for it as never before.  Regarding those who are deceived because they reject the truth, I can only imagine how many people in the coming days will think they are being visited by the familiar spirits of their dead relatives who will claim to be sent from heaven.  These spirits of loved ones will really be demons but because Christians fall for the pagan lie of disembodied souls, these familiar spirits will easily lead them astray.  And frankly it's disgusting that so many Christians even think it's okay to communicate with the dead when the bible explicitly condemns it over and over again.  See Leviticus 19:31, Leviticus 20:6, Leviticus 20:27, Deuteronomy 18:11, 1 Samuel 28:3, 2 Kings 21:6, 2 Kings 23:24, 1 Chronicles 10:13, 2 Chronicles 33:6, Isaiah 8:19, Isaiah 19:3, and Isaiah 29:4 for some examples. 

Communicating with the dead angers God tremendously.  King Saul, the first king of Israel was killed by God for it as you can see here:

1 Chronicles 10:13  So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;
1 Chronicles 10:14  And enquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.

What makes today's Christians think they can believe or do whatever they want and God won't care?  Satan's lies make them think so.  And one of Satan's most successful lies ever is the false doctrine of hell.  Trying to get people to let go of their indoctrinated beliefs, their preconceived notions, is the reason why I repeat the same information so much in my studies.  I also hope that by using the Isaiah 28:10 principle of studying scripture "precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little" I hope to instill a love of searching scripture throughout Genesis to Revelation to find the whole truth on doctrine.  You can't just look at one or two verses and decide it means whatever creed you've been told.  Unfortunately doing just that is an epidemic in the church today.

I will conclude Part 1 with this summary; the only Hebrew word in the Old Testament which was translated as hell is sheol and even though it is not always translated as "the grave", that is still what it always means. 

Part 2 will be about the "the pit" because it is widely believed "the pit" in the bible means hell too. 

Related Links:

"Is Forever Really Forever?"

"Do People Burn In Hell For All Time?"

The "Do We Go To Heaven Or Hell At The Moment Of Death?" Series Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4

 

For All Have Sinned, And Come Short Of The Glory Of God

I hope you read my previous entry about making Christianity not just a label, but an action word.  That message was written as much for me as for anybody else because the desire of my heart is to walk in Christ in all aspects of my life, an achievement I fall short of.  I want to be a Christian in word and deed.  What are the desires of your heart?  If the Lord is the love of your life, your delight, He promises to be with you in abundance.

Psalm 37:3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Again I ask what are the desires of your heart?  Do you want material things, or cheap amusements?  Do you covet after the world and not after God?  Does this describe you?

Psalm 10:3  For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.
Psalm 10:4  The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

You are probably like me, desiring for the Lord most of the time, but still struggling against worldly desires.  Through God, the progress I've made against the pleasures the world has to offer has been great but it certainly has not been complete.  That's not a reflection on God because while He could transform you or I in an instant if He see's fit too, He makes us prove we really, really want to let the world go.  He doesn't over-ride our free will.  As much as I wish God would fully remove all worldly desires from me we aren't robots whom He reprograms with a few keystrokes.

I was an alcoholic from my mid-20's until I was 39 years old and the last five or six years of my drinking days were especially bad.  In my late 30's I was convinced I'd be dead by my mid-40's from the booze but I couldn't stop drinking no matter how destructive I knew it was.  I had a handgun and even put it to my head and in my mouth a few times, trying to muster up the nerve to pull the trigger.  Some days I hoped an accident would kill me.  There is no difference between alcohol, street drugs or prescription drugs; when you are an addict life is a nightmare.

I didn't become a Christian until I was 38 years old in 2008 and it was the despair caused by being alcoholic and suicidal which drove me to Christ.  As odd as it may sound to most people, now I'm grateful my life had gotten so bad.  If things had been more tolerable I may have never sought a relationship with God. 

For the first year-and-a-half of becoming a Christian I prayed for the Lord to free me from alcoholism but instead it only got worse.  Has something like that ever happened to you?  Have you prayed for the Lord to help you with a problem only to see the problem get worse and worse?  It made me angry but I had nobody else but God to turn to so I didn't give up.  I believe He was testing me to see how much I really wanted to change. 

Sometimes people only pray for their circumstances to change.  God wants you to pray for the strength to endure bad circumstances, because when you do that you let God change your heart.  It took me years to understand it didn't matter if my circumstances were better, if the thoughts of my mind and my heart remained the same I was going to be a miserable wretch no matter what.  We are all sinners who need repentance.  If you only want a change of circumstances then you aren't submitting yourself to Him as He would have you. 

When you are hurting and in need of God's intervention He also tests your patience.  Have you ever heard an atheist say he prayed for God to help him a few times but since God didn't fix the problem right away that somehow proves He either doesn't really love you or He doesn't even exist.  When is God more likely to answer a prayer; when you come to Him with a sense of entitlement or when you come to Him in meekness and humility?  And even if you come to God in all humbleness, if He chooses to let you continue to endure your affliction, will you still love Him?

Take a look at this passage from Matthew.  Jesus is talking about loving the people who cause you grief so in context this passage isn't about God, but how we respond to people who don't show love to us.  But after you read it take a few moments and consider if there is a way you can apply the same principle to God.

Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Matthew 5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans [tax collectors] the same?

We know "God is love" (1 John 4:8) so obviously He isn't your enemy, He doesn't curse you, nor hate you, nor despitefully use you, nor persecute so you can't fully apply this to God.  But how many times have you felt like God treated you as an enemy or was cursing you because He didn't take away your pain, or help you with your finances, or whatever?  Did you still love Him?  Did you still love Him when it felt like He was persecuting Him?  Or do you only love Him when He gives you what you want?   If you only love God when He gives you what you want "what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?" 

I have personally eye-witnessed people who were on fire for the Lord when their lives were going good.  But when hard times came along they were the people who Christ spoke of in the Parable of the Good Seed from Matthew 13:20-21.  They initially received the word of God with joy but it took no root, so they rejected God later when the waters became too rough.  Don't think I'm puffing myself up as if I never get angry with God when I suffer hardships.  To my shame I've had weak moments where I've felt outright hatred towards God.  But I always came back to Him in repentance, pleading His forgiveness because without Him I'm lost.

I have also been blessed to eye-witness people who cling to the Lord throughout the tough times.  Case in point; my wife.  She suffers from chronic pain due primarily to a couple of major car accidents she was in, neither of which were her fault.  And before we were married she took a massive financial hit which made things very difficult for her.  But also like me she loves the Lord too much to not love Him back even during the tough times. 

Getting back to my alcoholism, for the first year-and-a-half after becoming a Christian the Lord gave me no relief at all from that bondage.  But He did other things here and there to bless me, to build my faith and keep me seeking Him.  Now I realize He didn't give me what I wanted but instead gave me what I needed.  I needed to build a relationship with Jesus first before He set me free.  You see, if he had healed me from addiction too soon, I would have probably credited it to my own willpower, my own strength.  But He made me know with absolute certainty that I would never overcome my addiction without His help.  And then in a moment of love and mercy, the Holy Spirit completely took my alcoholism away from me.  Done.  Gone.  And I give God all the glory for it.  Rest assured He did it for me 100%.  I've met plenty of recovering alcoholics who struggle sometimes to sober.  For some people it's a constant struggle day in and day out.  But for me there is no struggle; that's how completely God healed me. 

God doesn't always completely remove addictions.  For example, I also had a disgusting addiction to pornography.  I used porn without shame for a couple of decades.  Even after I started forming a relationship with Jesus pornography was a shackle that grossly impaired my walk with the Lord.  I came up with some just plain stupid excuses to rationalize looking at it. Finally I stopped making excuses for my behavior and pleaded with God to remove the desire for pornography from me.  In my walk with God on the day I truly realized how much Jesus loves me, I'd love to say on that very day all of my sinful desires were instantly washed away.  They weren't.  But over the course of time I began to feel guilty for indulging in things that I knew weren't pleasing to God.  Now here's the thing, I knew from day one that pornography was totally inexcusable yet it was one of the last major crutches I was willing to let go of. 

I quit things in stages.  I used to listen to music by Rob Zombie, Korn, Godsmack, Marilyn Manson, and a few others that no professing Christian has any business listening too.  I let go of that garbage pretty quickly.  I was also a movie buff and an avid video game player.  I watched a lot of profane movies and played some really twisted video games.  As a testimony I wish I could say I gave it all up just like that but it took a long time to work that out of my system.  I cut out the most offensive stuff first but eventually I gave up the supposedly "family friendly" stuff too, the relatively tame movies and games.  I know that a lot of Christians would say that is fanatical to give up movies and video games but I say it's biblical.  "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15).  But it took a long time to get there.  And I would be lying to you if I said sometimes I don't think struggle with the temptation to go back... but I am not going back to the world!  For those of you who might think it is fanatical to stop partaking in the things Hollywood is peddling here is the something I hope you will think about.  The next time you are watching a movie or TV show ask yourself honestly would Jesus approve of the content, does it glorify God or reflect well upon you as a Christian to be watching it.  As an example I was a huge fan of the PG-rated Back to the Future movies, especially the first one.  They are widely considered family friendly even though they throw in a few gratuitous swear words to get cheap laughs, but I watched them again for the first time in years 2 or 3 years ago and was shocked that they repeatedly said God's name as a swear word, usually for a punch-line.  It was awful.  Hollywood is largely anti-Christian and whether you believe it or not they promote their ungodly agenda's in their movies even if it's subtle so really Christians have no business watching what they peddle.  I'm so grateful to the Lord I have given up that stuff up.  Please don't think I'm patting myself on the back for being holier than thou.  It took a lot of effort... and a lot of failed attempts before I got anywhere.  And the sad fact is more than anything else porn had a stranglehold on me for years after I had claimed to be a Christian.

As much as I wanted Him to fully remove the cravings for porn just as He did with alcohol it didn't happen.  Now it has been more than a year since I pleaded with God that enough is enough; I can't shamelessly look at that filth anymore!  I still have images appear in my mind sometimes several times a day.  Sometimes I push them out easily, other times I can't seem to get these images out of my head.  Like the recovering alcoholics who struggle to stay sober, I have to struggle to overcome porn.  I can't tell you how many times I've gotten on my knees and confessed to God that it's my fault the imagery is there, because for years I habitually looked for it.  Over and over again I've asked the Lord to erase the memories.  He doesn't do it and it upsets me but I think I know why.  Pornography is a destructive sin that ruins not only the lives of those who consume it, but also the many wives who find it disgusting, yet they too suffer because their husbands enjoy it.  And the couples who have children, they suffer when mom and dad are at odds.  It's a vile sin. I believe God lets me be haunted by it so I will never forget how disgraceful it is.  It's the thorn in my side to remind me daily that my "adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8).  Therefore I must remain vigilant.  I'm sure Paul wished he could forget the horrible way he persecuted Christians before his conversion but we know he remembered it because he spoke of it in his writings.  I don't for sure what the "thorn in the flesh" (2 Corinthians 12:7) he suffered from really was... but I wouldn't be surprised if it was persistent daily memories of the crimes he committed against faithful Christians.  I long for the day Jesus comes to free us from this world and "in the twinkling of an eye... we shall be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:52) and even the memory of "the former things are passed away" (Revelation 21:4). 

Did you know that in the original Greek manuscripts written for the New Testament, the Greek word "porne" was used 12 times by Matthew, Luke, Paul, James, and John?  It's word G4205 in Strongs Concordance and it was translated into English as harlot 8 times, and whore 4 times.  The word graph means record, so pornography literally means whoredom recorded.  It's disgraceful.

Speaking of Matthew, in his account of the gospel he recorded Jesus saying the following:

Matthew 5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
Matthew 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Under the spirit of the law when you use porn you are guilty of breaking the 7th commandment.  And if you think when Paul said "ye are not under the law, but under grace" (Romans 6:14) it meant you get a free pass to indulge in sin think again because Paul also said "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries" (Hebrews 10:26-27).

Anyway I hope you don't think I put myself on a pedestal when I share and defend my beliefs.  I don't claim to know everything about God or the bible, but I do think I have some really valuable things to share. 

I fully believe Jesus meant it when He said "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48).  That is a command from your Creator.  How close to perfect we can get in this life is dependent on how much we trust God and are willing to let Him cleanse us.  If I managed to never sin again from this moment forward I would still have a history of sin which precludes me from glorying over myself.  As for you "if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear" (1 Peter 1:17).