'And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear; fear the One who after He has killed has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!? Luke 12:4-5.
Jesus is telling us not to fear the ones who can kill the physical body (the so called first death) like Beelzebub, the Prince of the Demons and his dominions (Matthew 10:25), but fear Him (God) who can send you into hell and eventually into the lake of fire (the second death). Beelzebub cannot send you to hell or into the lake of fire, only God can do that.
Almost exactly eighteen years ago, I was reluctant to part with a manuscript for a novel that I had written a decade earlier entitled ?The Other World?. It had bounced around publishers in New York for years but was never accepted (thank God). It glorified the demon goddess Lilith and her partner Samael. It was, however, my creation, like a child to me and I had carried it to term and was hesitant to destroy it even though I had recently been saved and had realized that it wasn?t the most God edifying work. So sue me!
My then friend Paula (now my wife) had encouraged me to destroy it. The little that she had read of it had convinced her rightly so that it was full of evil spirits. I had ignored her. One night, I had dreamed that I was holding the manuscript and had asked if there were any demons in it that they should appear. Well, needless to say, I had been bombarded by invisible demonic entities that attacked me and tried to kill me. I had thought that I was finished. I had remembered what someone had told me and I told these demons to leave in the name of Jesus Christ. They fled and I awoke in a cold sweat, gasping for breath. These demons could have caused my physical death (first death) but they could not ever have caused my going with them to hell or the lake of fire (second death) which only God can do and thus I should not have feared them.
This clearly demonstrates where our real priorities should be. According to the articles published in UFO Digest and elsewhere, many people today are fearful of physical death or an alien invasion of Nephilim, or of Giants, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, soulless ones, or of destruction by a collision with Planet X, or of a catastrophe caused by global warming, or of an apocalypse caused by a World War III, but they are unafraid of the ultimate judgment of God which can be far more horrifying and will ultimately effect them forever.
Whitley Strieber's new best selling book 2012 is subtitled War for Souls. It is my understanding that Strieber writes that when it strikes 11:11 PM on December 21, 2012, which will be the winter solstice of the last day of the Mayan calendar, spirits will appear at the ancient sites like Stonehenge and will suck the souls out of people. Once again Whitley Strieber has created a frightful scenario like his The Day after Tomorrow, which scares people. It will probably make another successful movie, but once again it falsely causes people into fearing these evil spirits rather than God. The Bible says that 'fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom' (Proverbs 9:10) but our secular society does not fear God.
I can remember all too well back in 1987 when I had been as excited about my recent purchase of Strieber's book Communion as I had been a decade earlier by Brad Steiger's books, It scared the socks off of me. It fanned the fires (no pun intended) of my interest and fears of aliens. I had been studying this phenomenon for over twenty years at that time and was recently fascinated with the concept of abductions. Communion was exactly what I had feared. It forever removed the concept of friendly aliens from my consciousness. But I was more afraid of what these aliens could do to my body than I was of a Holy God who could send me to hell for my ongoing sins. After all, I was living with a woman at the time and was involved in witchcraft, spiritism and many other blasphemies. I had been, however, more afraid of what the aliens could do to me than what God could do to me. In hindsight, I was literally playing with fire (hellfire) but was enjoying every minute of it.
Back when I was teaching at the University of Arizona in the early 80's, I had offered a graduate seminar entitled 'Alternate Conceptions of Reality.' I used books by Theodore Roszak, Jacob Needleman, Fritjof Capra, and others. I talked about Buddhism and Hinduism and the concepts of reincarnation and karma. I talked about how the soul was eternal and went on into a new body until it reached a state of Nirvana. Anyway, I had a grad student who committed suicide during one semester. His girlfriend (not his wife who was nine months pregnant) and his department chair begged me to come to his funeral which as you can imagine was really awkward considering that both the wife and girlfriend were planning on attending. When I inquired as to why I should attend, they had told me that he had really loved my class and had spoken of me often. He had never spoken to me about his girlfriend or the impending crisis in his life. My ravings about another life may have helped doom this poor soul to an eternity of torment. That event really bothered me at the time. I wondered why he had not come to me to talk, but it has bothered me all the more since I have realized that we have but one life and then face the judgment of God (Hebrews 9:27). But at that time, who knew'
The Bible says that 'the preaching of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing' (1Corinthinans 1:18). I had no idea of the gravity of my sins because everything was seemingly going well and after all sin feels good (otherwise why do it) for a while at least. I, like many people today, loved being shocked at the frailty of life but had no interest in actually finding out the real truth. If I did, than I might have had to give up my female roommate or my other sordid interests. Evolutionist Thomas Huxley, the kin of author Aldous Huxley, said over a century ago that he did not want to accept the Bible because he would have to give up all of his women. He had priorities after all and our everyday morality often dictates our beliefs for good as well as for bad.
My point is that whether one reads Strieber's 2012 or hears the apocalyptic soundings of the Mayans or Nostradamus or Edgar Cayce, one should remember that this life here on earth is but a fleeting moment but eternity is forever. We all undergo physical death where our souls are separated from our bodies. This is called the first death. Our souls are immortal, however, and will never waste away like our bodies. They will either go to heaven to be with God or will go to hell to be with the demons (Matthew 8:11-12). Do not fear those who can kill the frail body but fear Him that can send you as Jesus Himself said to 'a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12) and ?eternal hell fire?, literally the Gehanna of fire (Matthew' 5:22), a place 'where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched' (Mark 9:48).Jesus spoke more about hell than He did about heaven.
At the Great White Throne Judgment at the end of time, those unbelievers whose names were not written in the lamb's book of life (Revelation 13:8) and have spent time in this temporary place of hellfire will face the second death where they are forever separated from God and will face eternal punishment by being thrown into the Lake of Fire with Satan, the false prophet, death and Hades to burn forever (Revelation 20:14-15).
Therefore, if you want something to scare you, to keep you up at night, than worry about the prospect of this horrible second death not the first death of just your physical body. All of the demons and monsters of nightmares and of legend and storytelling cannot hurt you nearly as much as God's judgment can. Get right with God and get into His book of life (Luke 10:20) and everything will be all right.
God is neither vindictive nor merciless. While all of us deserve to go to hell for our sins, God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, a Savior, who would pay the price for all our sins and that all who believed in Him would not perish but would have eternal life (John 3:16). Jesus Christ, God incarnate, is the solution for all our trespasses. He is the only name by which we can be saved, however (Acts 4:12). Contrary to popular thought only the name of Jesus Christ can save you, not Moses nor Mary nor Muhammad nor Joseph Smith. Jesus said 'I am the way and the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father but by Me.' (John 14:6).
Thus fear the judgment of God the Father but rejoice in the grace and mercy of God the Son.
Do not fear aliens or demons, wars or global warming or apocalypse or famine or pestilence or even Armageddon. Fear the God who can send you to the Lake of Fire for eternity for your sins but also is merciful enough to have given His only begotten Son to die for all those sins so you could have eternal life if you so choose to accept Him as your Lord and Savior. It is a free gift. You only need to ask for it and you will be written in the Lamb's Book of life forever.
God has set before you life and death, blessings and curses, choose life (Deuteronomy 30:19).
My point is that whether one reads Strieber's 2012 or hears the apocalyptic soundings of the Mayans or Nostradamus or Edgar Cayce, one should remember that this life here on earth is but a fleeting moment but eternity is forever. We all undergo physical death where our souls are separated from our bodies. This is called the first death. Our souls are immortal, however, and will never waste away like our bodies. They will either go to heaven to be with God or will go to hell to be with the demons (Matthew 8:11-12). Do not fear those who can kill the frail body but fear Him that can send you as Jesus Himself said to 'a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12) and ?eternal hell fire?, literally the Gehanna of fire (Matthew' 5:22), a place 'where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched' (Mark 9:48).Jesus spoke more about hell than He did about heaven.
At the Great White Throne Judgment at the end of time, those unbelievers whose names were not written in the lamb's book of life (Revelation 13:8) and have spent time in this temporary place of hellfire will face the second death where they are forever separated from God and will face eternal punishment by being thrown into the Lake of Fire with Satan, the false prophet, death and Hades to burn forever (Revelation 20:14-15).
Therefore, if you want something to scare you, to keep you up at night, than worry about the prospect of this horrible second death not the first death of just your physical body. All of the demons and monsters of nightmares and of legend and storytelling cannot hurt you nearly as much as God's judgment can. Get right with God and get into His book of life (Luke 10:20) and everything will be all right.
God is neither vindictive nor merciless. While all of us deserve to go to hell for our sins, God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, a Savior, who would pay the price for all our sins and that all who believed in Him would not perish but would have eternal life (John 3:16). Jesus Christ, God incarnate, is the solution for all our trespasses. He is the only name by which we can be saved, however (Acts 4:12). Contrary to popular thought only the name of Jesus Christ can save you, not Moses nor Mary nor Muhammad nor Joseph Smith. Jesus said 'I am the way and the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father but by Me.' (John 14:6).
Thus fear the judgment of God the Father but rejoice in the grace and mercy of God the Son.
Do not fear aliens or demons, wars or global warming or apocalypse or famine or pestilence or even Armageddon. Fear the God who can send you to the Lake of Fire for eternity for your sins but also is merciful enough to have given His only begotten Son to die for all those sins so you could have eternal life if you so choose to accept Him as your Lord and Savior. It is a free gift. You only need to ask for it and you will be written in the Lamb's Book of life forever.
God has set before you life and death, blessings and curses, choose life (Deuteronomy 30:19).
