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Religion See other Religion Articles Title: "You Fools! You Hypocrites! You Snakes!" "You Fools! You Hypocrites! You Snakes!" [Meet the Real Jesus Many Hate] The title of this paper is taken from the very words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, spoken to the Scribes and Pharisees in Jerusalem. Let’s take a Scriptural look at a side of Jesus that most Christians will not believe, even when they see Him in their own Bibles. Who were the Scribes and Pharisees? The Pharisees were not the priests, but rather people from all walks of life who were very pious and strict keepers of the Law of Moses. They constantly adjusted the Law to fit the changing world according to their traditions and own desires. Among the more educated of the Pharisees were the rulers of the Jews, and the Scribes, which: "In the modern sense they [the scribes] were the religious scholars or theologians … sometimes called lawyers … or teacher of the law …could make judicial decisions based on scriptural exegesis, occupied important positions in the Sanhedrin … played a major role in bringing on the crucifixion of Jesus" and they "mainly belonged to the party of the Pharisees" (WYCLIFFE Bible Dictionary, p. 1536). Jesus called the Scribes and Pharisees, "fools, hypocrites, blind guides, whited sepulchers, murderers, a generation of snakes," and many such epithets. Jesus called them "hypocrites" seven times in one chapter. Jesus spoke with scathing derision to the Scribes and Pharisees throughout His ministry He had a kind word but for very few of them. And yet countless Christians write and tell me that Jesus never spoke like this or ever said a cruel or angry word in His life. Therefore when I sometimes write with an edge on my voice I am accused of not following the example of Jesus. Oh but Jesus surely did speak harshly, demeaningly, and with great anger in His voice to the Scribes and Pharisees—the religious Leaders of God’s Church. Jesus was not mild and soft-spoken when it came to the sins and hypocrisy of these church leaders. All too many have read the teachings of Jesus with rose-colored glasses covering both their eyes and their minds. When the Pharisees asked Jesus, "Why do your disciples…?" Jesus didn’t softly answer their question, He rather retorted back with, "Why do YOU…?" Jesus was never on the defensive, but always on the offensive. Using the vernacular, He was "IN - THEIR - FACE!" Do any believe Jesus was referencing farm animals when He said not to cast pearls or give what is holy to "the DOGS and PIGS?" Jesus referred to the recalcitrant Jewish leaders as, "an EVIL and ADULTEROUS generation," "SERPENTS and SNAKES," and "children of the DEVIL." Why He even told the Scribes and Pharisees regarding the royal and mighty King Herod: "Go ye, and tell that FOX [that JACKAL]…" JESUS UPBRAIDS THE CHURCH LEADERS FOR THEIR GROSS SINS [selections from Matthew 23] "But WOE unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, HYPOCRITES… FOR YOU SHUT UP THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AGAINST MEN… …THEY BIND HEAVY BURDENS and GRIEVOUS to be born, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but will not move them with ONE OF THEIR FINGERS WOE unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, HYPOCRITES… you DEVOUR WIDOW’S HOUSES… you shall receive the greater damnation. WOE unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, HYPOCRITES… WOE unto you, ye BLIND GUIDES… You FOOLS AND BLIND… You FOOLS AND BLIND… WOE unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, HYPOCRITES! You… have omitted… JUDGMENT, MERCY, and FAITH… You BLIND GUIDES, which strain out a gnat, and SWALLOW A CAMEL. WOE unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, HYPOCRITES… within they are full of EXTORTION AND EXCESS. You BLIND PHARISEES… WOE unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, HYPOCRITES! You are FULL OF DEAD MEN’S BONES, and ALL UNCLEANESS… and HYPOCRISY and INIQUITY… WOE unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, HYPOCRITES!… you are the children of them which KILLED the prophets. FILL YOU UP then the measure of your fathers. You SERPENTS, you GENERATION OF SNAKES… you KILL AND CRUCIFY… you SCOURGE in your synagogues… Behold your house is left unto you DESOLATE"!! WOW! Every one of these comments from Matt. 23 were spoken directly to the "Religious Scholars and Theologians" in the Church of God centered at the Temple in Jerusalem. Would Jesus speak in the same manner to the Religious Scholars and Theologians in God’s Church today? Does Jesus "change"? NO. Has the Church changed in the past 2000 years? YES. It has gotten WORSE. Now I assure you that I have never personally referred to the religious hypocrites of our day with all the descriptive words that Jesus used. Yet I am "cursed" and "condemned to hell" for merely exposing the heresy of religious leaders and teachers. Positively no one in Christendom would ever sanction such a manner of speech from a minister in their denomination. There isn’t a denomination in all Christendom that would hire Jesus as their Pastor if He were to return today. Why they would throw him out the door on His ear before He got ten minutes into His first sermon. Christians are offended that I would even point out these historical facts of Scripture. They really don’t want to believe Jesus spoke as He did, even though it’s all right there in their Bibles. Most of the followers of the Scribes and Pharisees thought them to be virtually perfect, just as the modern Church scholars, teachers, and preachers are thought by their followers to be perfect. The Prophet Malachi bears witness of the corruption that came into the Old Covenant Church of God. Jesus dealt with this same corruption while He was building His own New Covenant Church. Just as the Old, the New also quickly began corrupting from within. Hardly a person alive believes that there is more corruption in the 21st century Church of God than in the 1st century Church of God. Get ready for some startling prophecies that prove what evils lurk in our hallowed halls of Christendom. And except your righteousness far exceed the righteousness of the scholars and theologians in today’s world of Christendom, you shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Below are some Scriptures describing these conditions spilling over from the Jewish leaders into the Church that Jesus built. VESSELS IN A GREAT HOUSE Listen carefully, for these prophecies are not directed toward the world of unbelievers, but to the Church of God: "But in A GREAT HOUSE there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth and some to honor, and some to dishonor" (II Tim. 2:20). Just what is this "great house" of which Paul speaks? Let Paul answer: "But if I tarry long, that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the House of God which is The Church of the Living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (I Tim. 3:15). The Apostle Peter tells us that this House of God definitely needs judging: "For the time is come that JUDGMENT must begin at The House of God…" (I Pet. 4:17). If the "House of God" needed judgment in the days of the Apostles, how much more judgment does it need today? And what did Paul prophesy would happen in this "GREAT House" in our day, "in the LATTER TIMES?" Let’s read it from the source: "Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the LATTER TIMES some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking LIES IN HYPOCRISY; having their conscience seared with a hot iron" (I Tim. 4:1). And this: "This, know also, that IN THE LAST DAYS, perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent [without self-control], fierce [brutal], despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady [reckless], high-minded [haughty], lovers of pleasures more than [rather than] lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away… EVER learning, and NEVER able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (II Tim. 3:1-7). Some Christians naively believe Paul and all these prophecies are speaking of the whole world, of mankind in general. Oh no He isn’t: It is not the atheistic heathen world which has "departed from the faith," who "blaspheme God," who have a "form of godliness," or who have "turned away from such." Oh no. It is the HOUSE OF GOD which has done these things and continues to do them. For sure Paul didn’t say that the vessels in this great house would wax "better and better." Let Paul answer again by continuing his prophecy in II Tim. 3. We ended with verse 7, so let’s pick it up again in verse 8: "Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do THESE [these vessels of dishonor in God’s House] also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the truth. But they shall proceed [Gk: ‘increase, advance, grow’] no further [Just as Jannes and Jambres could resist God only so far and no further, so too, will these corrupt-minded reprobates in God’s House cease to deceive God’s church, when God makes all secrets known to all]: for their folly shall be manifest unto all, as theirs [Jannes & Jambres] was." (II Tim. 3:8-9). Notice Paul’s stern warning: "For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them" (Acts 20:29-30). I decided to write this paper after receiving thousands of angry emails condemning my tone of writing and teaching, all from Christians mind you. I was reminded just yesterday by email that I should not be repeating Peter’s words when He said, "…there shall be false teachers among you, who privily [smuggle] shall bring in damnable heresies…" (II Pet. 2:1). I was told this phrase carries a different meaning today from when Peter spoke it. Many warn me of dire consequences if I continue. I am regularly cursed with far worse hard-core, lewd four letter words of filth than I have ever heard in my four years in the U S Army, and these from self-proclaimed followers of Jesus Christ—CHRISTIANS! The purpose of this paper is not to defend my style of writing, (God only knows that I do not profess to be a scholar, nor a polished orator, nor a man of eloquent words), but to rather see how Jesus really taught in public, to the masses, and particularly to the lying, hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees. We will examine whether Jesus Christ Himself did indeed use sarcasm, exaggeration, caricature, satire, irony, and anger to get across His Gospel Message. WHO IS IT THAT WILL GET "WORSE & WORSE?" "Yes, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But EVIL MEN AND SEDUCERS [Gk: ‘imposters’] SHALL WAX [grow] WORSE AND WORSE, deceiving, and being deceived" (II Tim. 3:13). And just who is it that grows "worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived?" The men and women of the world? The pagans and heathens? Is this what Paul means? Of course not. These are the leaders of the Church. "Preach the word; [the WHOLE Word of God]; be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine [Who? The world? The pagans? The atheist? Why they have never had sound doctrine in the first place] 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" (II Tim. 4:2-4). The heathen nations of the 21st century are not "turning away from the truth unto fables." They have never as nations had the truth. Notice also Peter’s stern warning regarding what was happening in the past in his time, and what was prophesied to continue until our time and beyond: "But there were false prophets [a ‘prophet’ can mean one who speaks in behalf of God’] also among the people, even as there shall be [future] false teachers among you [and among US], who privily shall bring in [Gk: smuggle in] DAMNABLE HERESIES, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And MANY shall follow their pernicious [destructive] ways; by reason of whom the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of [Gk: ‘blasphemed’]" (II Pet. 2:1-2). At the conclusion of this paper we will take a look at some of these: "FABLES AND DAMNABLE HERESIES" that the Church Fathers and Theologians have substituted over the centuries and down to our day in place of God’s sound doctrines. Listen: Either conditions in the prophesied Church of today are MUCH WORSE than they were at the time of Jesus and the Apostles, or the prophecies LIE. So which do you believe is true? "WOE UNTO YOU, SCRIBES AND PHARISEES, HYPOCRITES" Many times Jesus called the fraudulent religious leaders of the Church, "hypocrites." Here is the definition of a hypocrite: "One who puts on a false appearance, to hide his real motives, one who feigns, a play actor, a fake, a fraud, a phony." Jesus loathed the hypocrisy of these religious leaders and saw right through these play-acting fakes and frauds, just like looking through a windowpane. "FOR HE TAUGHT THEM AS ONE HAVING AUTHORITY" I fully realize my papers grind on the spirits of those who oppose God’s Word. And well they should. Why shouldn’t we quote the Scriptures with authority--the Scriptures are authority. "For He [Jesus] taught them as one having AUTHORITY and not as the scribes" (Matt. 7:29). Jesus got His authority from His Father, and He used it. In fact, the very words He spoke were the words of His Father and not His own (John 17:8), hence the Father too uses sarcasm and anger in teaching us (our Lord and His God have more personality than most have ever imagined). What a broad range of colorful metaphors, parables, and colloquialisms they used. Add to these sarcasm, exaggeration, satire, irony, and true anger, and we have powerful, powerful, persuasive language and teaching. JESUS TALKED NATURALLY First, let’s be clear that Jesus did not go around speaking as if He were a performer on a Shakespearean Stage. Jesus did NOT speak in archaic King James English! Jesus never said: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands and another shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldest not" (John 21:18, King James Version). No, that is NOT what Jesus said in modern English. That is what He would have said had He been speaking archaic King James English to the residents of England back 1611. But to our ears this archaic English now sounds strange and affected. We no longer speak in archaic King James English. If Jesus were to speak to us today in the English of the 21st century it would sound more like this: "The truth is when you were young, you were able to do as you liked and go wherever you wanted to; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and others will direct you and take you where you don’t want to go" (John 21:18, The Living Bible). Jesus spoke the language of the people, the language of the day. He was natural, He was colloquial, He was precise, He was articulate, He was emotional, He was sincere. Jesus spoke EXACTLY AND PRECISELY as He was inside, because it is a Scriptural truth that, "…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matt. 12:34). First we will look at a few verses which describe Jesus and His ministry. Notice how mellow and tenderly He spoke to the poor and the humble, and how they record the history of His ministry. Following this section we will contrast it with how He spoke to the religious leaders. SELECTIONS CONCERNING JESUS—THE HUMBLE SERVANT OF MAN "I must be about my Father’s business… I must preach the Kingdom of God, for therefore am I sent… God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power: Who went about doing good and healing… Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men… Why call Me good? There is none good but One, that is, God… Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven… You are the light of the world... Love your enemies… I will come and heal him… the Son of Man has not where to lay His head… Daughter, be of good comfort… Son, be of good cheer; your sins be forgiven you… I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life… But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness… Peace I leave with you… love ye one another, as I have loved you… Neither do I condemn you… He departed again into a mountain Himself alone, to pray… Be not afraid only believe… You are My friends… You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself… For the Father Himself loves you… In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit… I have spoken openly to the world… Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciple, whom Jesus loved… I have compassion on the multitude… Jesus wept… Let the little children come to me… Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest… With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you… he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel… O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings… And when they [and Jesus] had sung an hymn… Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from Me: nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done… And being in agony He prayed more earnestly: and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground… Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do… IT IS FINISHED… they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread, Jesus said to them, COME AND DINE" (Excerpts from the Gospels). Jesus identified with our humanity when He said: "Simon, Simon… Martha, Martha…" Jesus was profoundly human. He was after all, the humble servant as the Son of man. But He was also the wise and powerful Son of God. Jesus spoke gently with the meek, but His speech EXPLODED with the wicked. It is only when Jesus confronts the religious leaders that His tone of voice and choice of words changes dramatically from how he spoke to the people in general. Jesus came to expose evil and hypocrisy like no one had ever done before. His voice was the "voice of a trumpet." God told Isaiah to: "Cry ALOUD, SPARE NOT, lift up your voice like a TRUMPET, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins" (Isa. 58:1). Likewise, as a servant of God I cannot expose the evil and hypocrisy in the Church and in this world with a song in my heart, a smile on my face, and a chuckle in my voice! Sorry, but that won’t get the job done. I laugh considerably more than almost anyone I know. But try to palm off the evil and vile doctrines of the Church to God’s "little ones," and my countenance changes instantly! There is a time for humor and there is a time to get serious. Sarcasm can be serious business. Well did Isaiah prophesy of such: "Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us SMOOTH things, prophesy DECEITS" (Isa. 30:10). I would rather sound a little angry or sarcastic than to teach smooth and deceitful things. Even Isaiah used colorful language, "speak unto us smooth things." Could this be the origin of "smooth talkers?" I'm not sure why it is automatically assumed that if one sounds angry there is something wrong with his message. When speaking of immoral and evil things that hurt and deceive people, it behooves us to be ANGRY about such things. Anger does not have to be a sin. God’s anger is mentioned a couple of hundreds times in Scripture. Many of the teachings of the Church are not only evil, but they are stupid and foolish. Sarcasm is often the perfect exposer of stupidity. SARCASM—OLD AND NEW I have two favorite Scriptural sarcasms which I find to be sheer genius. One in the Old Testament, and one in the New. The first is from I Kings 18:21-39. Elijah told the people that they should choose two bullocks and place them on two altars of wood. He then said: "And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answers by fire, let him be God" They all agreed, and so the priests of Baal went first: "And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O BAAL, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they LEAPED upon the altar which was made. And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is on a journey, or peradventure he sleeps, and must be wakened. I think we should read this verse from The Living Bible: "About noontime, Elijah began mocking them. ‘You’ll have to shout louder than that,’ he scoffed, ‘to catch the attention of your god! Perhaps he is talking to someone, or is out sitting on the toilet, or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened.’" And the priests of Baal, being as stupid as stupid can be, obeyed Elijah’s mocking sarcasm: "And they CRIED ALOUD… there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded." Remember that God Himself inspired Elijah to mock the priests of Baal with these jeering and demeaning epithets. He went so far as to suggest that maybe their god was "sitting on the toilet" or so exhausted he "fell asleep." And they were too stupid to even know that Elijah was making public spectacles and fools out of them. But Christians assure me that God doesn’t mock. Excuse me, but I did find this scenario IN THE BIBLE! And let’s not forget this: "ALL Scripture is given by inspiration OF GOD [as in: ‘Elijah began mocking them… perhaps he {the god of Baal}… is out SITTING ON THE TOILET], and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (II Tim. 3:16). This is not just Elijah taunting the priests of Baal; this is GOD HIMSELF telling Elijah under inspiration: Tell the priests of Ball that "…perhaps your god is out SITTING ON THE TOILET." God in heaven Himself inspired Elijah to speak that delightful phrase to these pagan priests. What a remarkable insight into the personality of God Almighty. And ALL these events were preserved for us: "Now ALL these things happened unto them for examples: and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come" (I Cor. 10:11). TO WHOM CHRIST WAS COMMISSIONED Let’s realize a few axioms before we examine Christ’s actual words. Jesus taught the people of Israel, the Jews, the people around Galilee and Jerusalem, who were all religious people and followed the law of Moses. Jesus’ most stinging words were to the religious leaders and rulers of Judaism. On the very few occasions where Jesus even spoke to a non-Jew, He often expressed the greatest admiration for their faith, rather than condemnation for being Gentiles. After all, how much faith did Jesus find among His Own people? It is essential that we keep in mind to whom Jesus preached. Jesus did NOT berate the atheists or pagan Romans in Judea for their sins, but rather "The lost sheep of the House of Israel." That is, the Jews—the commandment-keeping people of Judea. If Jesus were to come to America today and preach His Gospel Message, little would have changed except for one prophesied difference. Everything has gotten even worse than it was 2000 years ago. "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived" (II Tim. 3:13). Notice carefully that one word the Scriptures use to tell us how Jesus preached to the hypocritical people of Judea: HOW JESUS ‘UPBRAIDED’ THE CITIES "Then began He [Jesus] to UPBRAID [Greek: oneidizo] the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done, because they repented not" (Matt. 11:20). "Blessed are ye, when men shall REVILE [Greek: oneidizo] you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you FALSELY, for my sake" (Matt. 5:11). Notice that Jesus "upbraided" the cities TRUTHFULLY while He said men would "revile" His true followers FALSELY. The same Greek word is used to describe both. No matter how stern or cutting our Lord’s words might have been, they always were truthful. As for any sarcasm and anger that Jesus exhibited, your argument must be with Him and not me. Clearly, oneidizo is not a pleasant word, but what does it mean when it says that Jesus began to "upbraid" the cities where He taught? I will consult Strong’s Dictionary of the New Testament to help us define this word, because if I were to define it myself and tell you what it means, no one would believe me. Oneidizo is a powerful word of rebuke and condemnation. Here is the definition: Strong’s Greek Dictionary, "#3679, oneidizo, from #3681 [notoriety, that is a taunt (disgrace):--a reproach] to defame, i.e. rail at, chide, taunt:--upbraid, reproach, revile, cast in (one’s) teeth" (page 179)" And here is what all those words mean: Notoriety: notorious, ill fame, infamous. Taunt: reproach, mocking, insulting, contemptuous, scornful, tirade. Disgrace: loss of honor, shame, disapproval, disfavor, discredit. Reproach: disapproval, criticism, disappointment, shame, disgrace, blame, rebuke. Defame: to attack or damage the character or reputation of. Rail: to express objections or criticism in bitter, harsh, or abusive language. Chide: scold, correct, improve, reprimand, disapproval, strife, contention. Let me be quick to add (I can see the emails flowing in by the hundreds…), that not every word used to define the words that define oneidizo are always 100% applicable when a word such as "upbraid" is used to translate that Greek word. So all of you who were getting ready to write me or inform the chat rooms that "Ray Smith says that Jesus was ‘disgraceful,’ used ‘abusive language,’ and went into ‘tirades’ during His ministry," hold off a little and continue reading. It is possible to condemn the sinful actions and teachings of men without hating the men who commit these things. Jesus loved everyone. Jesus died for everyone. Jesus forgave everyone. Jesus forgave those who crucified Him before He expired and probably thousands of years before most of them will repent in judgment. As I have said many times, except for the grace of God, everyone of us could have been any of the world’s most evil people. We are saved in God’s grace, not by our cleverness in choosing to follow and obey God. Grace CAUSES us to obey God. The carnal mind CAUSES men to disobey God. It is that simple. And so we expose, exhort, teach, challenge, forgive, and LOVE. That these can take the form of sarcasm, exaggeration, satire, irony, anger, and LOVE, are clearly demonstrated by the examples of our Lord. Now then, let’s see some examples of "upbraiding" used by our Lord in preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God: After the high priest asked Jesus about His disciples and teachings, Jesus said: "‘Why are you asking Me this question? Ask those who heard me. You have some of them here. They know what I said.’ One of the soldiers standing there struck Jesus WITH HIS FIST. ‘Is THAT THE WAY to answer the High Priest?’ he demanded" (John 18:21-22, The Living Bible). One of the guards felt Jesus was so contemptuous and out of line, that he guard slapped Jesus in the mouth with the palm of his hand and told Him to WATCH HIS MOUTH when speaking to the High Priest! The guard was letting Jesus know in no uncertain terms that one does not speak to such a dignified person as the High Priest with such a demeaning tone of voice! What would you think if someone were to address the Pope with this same tone of voice as Jesus used on the High Priest? Would you too think that someone ought to slap such a person’s face for talking that way to the Pope? Well? Was our Lord too smart for His britches? Was His language and tone of voice to be condemned by a punch in the mouth? But woe be unto the servant of Jesus Christ who today would suggest that, "…because as He [Jesus] is, so are WE in this world" (I John 4:17). Jesus told the truth. Jesus called a spade a spade. And many people thought He was a contemptuous smart aleck! He was not. It was the Truth of His words that cut them; not just the tone of His voice. However, the tone of His voice and the selection of words and analogies that He used were not only highly offensive to those whom He spoke, but are likewise offensive to people hearing this same approach used today by God’s servants. It is unscriptural foolishness to retort that, "Well, YOU ARE NOT Jesus!" Oh really? And what happened to, "…because AS He [Jesus] is, SO ARE WE in this world" (I John 4:17), and "Let this MIND be IN YOU, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5)? LET THE DEAD BURY THEIR DEAD "And another of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow Me, and LET THE DEAD BURY THEIR DEAD" (Matt. 8:21-22). Do you think maybe that disciple was offended by his Master’s words? Jesus was saying that those preparing this funeral and burial were as dead as the corpse they were about to bury! Jesus asked this disciple to "follow Me" and let dead people take care of dead matters. But consider that this was the disciple’s own father. Are we not to "Honor our father and mother?" Of course we are, but when Jesus asks us to follow Him then our allegiance to our parents, children, or loved ones take second place to that command. We must be willing to forsake all to follow Jesus! Jesus was leading this disciple to things of life, while this particular disciple desired to sooner attend to things of death. One cannot serve two masters. FASTING HYPOCRITES "Moreover when you fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance [‘don’t look like those miserable play-actors’ Phillips Translation]: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast" (Matt. 6:16). Jesus could have just told them how to fast properly. But no, He first told them how NOT to fast by exposing the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of the day. He was a Master of sarcasm and satire. He called them "hypocrites" and said their religion was as fake as they were. But it was the truth of His infallible statements that really cut them. After all, the Word of God is like a sharp two-edged sword (Heb. 4:12). It cuts to the marrow of the bone. They were, as many still are, fakers and "play-actors" as Phillips translates it. CAST OUT THE LOG FROM YOUR OWN EYE "Or how will you say to your brother, Let me pull out the mote out of your eye; and, behold, a BEAM [a PLANK, a LOG] is in your own eye?" (Matt. 7:4). What? Talk about exaggeration. Jesus didn’t suggest the first brother had a toothpick in his eyes hindering him from helping his brother to retrieve a small mote, but rather a log, a beam, a timber. A log is a billion times larger than a mote, which is a tiny speck. Don’t try and take a speck of dirt out of your brother’s eye when you have a giant redwood tree growing out of your own eye! It is Christ’s gross exaggeration that makes this parable so profoundly clear and truthful. Of course this parable cannot be literally true, however, it is absolutely spiritually true. People who often try to remove a character flaw from a friend or associate have themselves giant character flaws far more weighty than those they try to correct in others. Notice the word Jesus uses to describe this character flaw in His disciples, "You HYPOCRITE…" (Matt. 7:5). PEACE OR A SWORD? "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword" (Matt. 10:34). Anyone offended by this statement of our Lord? Isn’t our Lord "The Prince of Peace?" Jesus did not come to bring armies of armed men to do battle on this earth, but that is the literal meaning of His statement. We know that by the sword Jesus had reference to God’s Word, but those who heard Him make this statement didn’t know that. The force of His speech by doing so is undeniable. Many years later we are given the following verse of Scripture which teaches us what Jesus really meant by "a sword." "For THE WORD OF GOD is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any TWO-EDGED SWORD, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb. 4:12). Well, who then is the enemy of God’s Word that we do battle against with this spiritual sword? "And a man’s foes [Gk: ‘enemies’] shall be they of his own household" (Matt. 10:36). Which ‘household’ includes the church itself (Eph. 2:19). CHRIST DEMANDS MORE THAN EQUAL LOVE "He that loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me" (Matt. 10:37). Anyone offended by that Statement of our Lord? Do you think it was wrong of our Lord to suggest that we must love Him more than our own parents and children? JESUS CALLS THE JEWS WOLVES "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves…" (Matt. 10:16). Jesus said that among the religious leaders in Jerusalem and Judea, were "wolves." Does that offend anyone? Are there yet "wolves" who devour the sheep in the flock of God’s Church? Does a cat have a tail? GOD DOESN’T CHOOSE PANSIES TO DO HIS WORK "And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, ‘What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went you out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment [‘a man dressed in silks and satins?’—Williams Translation] behold, they that wear soft clothing [‘Behold they which are gorgeously appareled {dressed}, and live delicately {in luxury}, Luke 7:25], are in kings’ houses" (Matt. 11:7-8). Is this not a taunting, sarcastic remark? He asked them what spectacle they expected to see out there in the wilderness—a blade of grass swaying in the wind? Some patsy that would be blown away by the softest summer breeze? Jesus was asking these religious sophisticates whether they thought a real man of God would look like some prim and prissy, prudish, punctilious, polished, patrician of the kings court? Is THAT what kind of a man you went out to see? Someone who would never get his fingernails dirty? The religious leaders were offended by the rough presence of John the Baptist. But what is the Truth? What kind of a man was this John the Baptizer who was "…clothed with camel’s hair, and with girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey" (Mark 1:6)? Here’s the Truth: "For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist…" (Luke 7:28). WAS CHRIST A COMMON CRIMINAL? The Chief Priest, scribes and elders sent: "a great multitude with swords and clubs" "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come out, as against a thief [robber], with swords and with staves [clubs] to take me?" (Mark 14:43 & 48). Why did Jesus have to say anything at all? Why this smart, sarcastic remark? Because He wanted them to see the truth of their ways. They knew Jesus was not a man of violence. They knew He never harmed anyone. They knew he never resisted evil and taught His disciples to "turn the other cheek." With all that in mind, Jesus asks them if they think they have ENOUGH MANPOWER, armaments and weapons to apprehend one humble, non-combative person as Himself? Suggesting that they looked upon Him as a common criminal who might try to escape or overpower them. Jesus was a Master of Sarcasm! He was "in their face." TRANSGRESSING THE TRADITIONS OF THE ELDERS The Scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus: "Why do your disciples transgress the traditions of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread?" (Matt. 15:2 ). Most would say the Christian thing to do is answer the question. Maybe by saying something like this: "Well, okay, that’s a good and fair question. The reason that the disciples don’t always wash before they eat bread is because…" Followed by the reasons asked for. But is that what Jesus did? Did He actually give them the answer? No, no He didn’t. Here is how Jesus answered them: "But He answered and said unto them, Why do YOU ALSO transgress the commandments of God by YOUR TRADITIONS?… You HYPOCRITES…" (Matt. 15:3 & 7). Many Christians just don’t approve of this kind of "in your face" language, yet Jesus used it all the time on the religious leaders. They asked: "Why do YOUR disciples….?" And Jesus answered with "Why do YOU…"! THEY PROFESS—BUT THEY LIE The Scribes and Pharisees were hypocrites and they were evil. Here’s another definition of hypocrisy: "hypocrisy n. 1. The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness" (The American heritage College Dictionary p. 683). (Underlined emphasis is mine). They "professed" to be true, what in their own lives was false. What does Paul tell us about those who "profess," but are hypocrites? "They PROFESS that they know God; but in works they deny Him, being ABOMINABLE, and DISOBEDIENT, and unto every good work REPROBATE" (Titus 1:16). ABOMINABLE, DISOBEDIENT, REPROBATE! Are these words strong enough to make Paul’s point? Many, many pastors of the church profess that they LOVE GOD; they profess that they LOVE THEIR NEIGHBORS; then even profess that they LOVE THEIR ENEMIES, but in works they deny Him: "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" (I John 2:15). Yet WHO "loves the world" more than the tens of thousands of money-hungry, vanity-filled, power-crazed, lovers of worldliness and worldly pleasures who call themselves "pastors?" Do they "love their neighbors" when they fraudulently and unscripturally extort widows’ welfare checks to sustain their uncontrollable lusts for power, fame, and materialism? If you are a pastor who does not do these things, then I am certainly not talking about you. TODAY’S RECRUITS ARE TOMORROW’S HERETICS "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell [gehenna] than yourselves" (Matt. 23:15). This is pure sarcasm. Jesus said that they would scour the whole planet for just one convert that would then continue their heresy with TWICE the vigor of their teachers. SOUNDING A TRUMPET "Therefore when you do your alms, do not SOUND A TRUMPET before you, as the hypocrites do in the SYNAGOGUES and in the STREETS, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward" (Matt. 6:2). Are we to believe that these hypocrites literally had trumpeters follow them into the synagogues and blast on their horns while they made their contribution? I don’t think so. This is sarcasm, Jesus was saying that in the proud and vain manner in which they gave, calling attention to their alms, it was like "sounding a trumpet." It was the strongest demeaning sarcasm Jesus could come up with to describe their shameful public acts of vanity. Do not todays hypocrites "sound a trumpet" when they do some good deed? This is in fact how they get more money; by telling everyone on international television the many good things they are doing with your money. I have heard different heads of ministries say on international television how they wrote a check for $10,000 or some other large amount from their own checking accounts and gave it to their own ministry. Is this really a "sacrifice" for someone who "DEVOURS widows’ houses" to the tune of millions of dollars a year when their salaries from those "widows" is hundreds of thousands of dollars a year? They are "sounding a trumpet" to advertise their own sins. It was reported by high officials that Herbert W. Armstrong (Founder of the Worldwide Church of God/Ambassador Colleges) boasted of a huge gift from his own checking account, and then CANCELED PAYMENT ON THE CHECK! Are you beginning to understand the meaning of the word "HYPOCRITE?" SOMETIMES MAN’S GREATER SIN IS TRYING TO BE HOLY "You blind guides, which strain out a gnat and SWALLOW A CAMEL" (Matt. 23:24). Exaggerated sarcasm! One cannot literally "swallow a camel." But SPIRITUALLY, this is exactly what they were doing. The itsy-bitsy, teensy-weensy flaws of their spiritual lives that they attempted to clean up, versus the GIGANTIC spiritual character flaws they did NOTHING to change were truly comparable to a "gnat versus a camel." DON’T WASTE GOD’S WORD ON SPIRITUAL DOGS AND PIGS Remember Jesus only taught in parables. Did Jesus say: "Don't bother teaching the truth to those who don’t want to hear it?" That would have been clear enough. Or, "Don't try to teach the truth to those who do not desire the truth." Simple. Oh No, Jesus would never say it like that. Here is how Jesus would say it: "Give not that which is holy unto the DOGS, neither cast your pearls before SWINE, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and REND you [‘tear you in pieces’ Goodspeed Translation]" (Matt. 7:6). I've had this happen to me many times by clergymen of the Church. I give them God’s Pure Word, and they spiritually "trample it under their feet," and then (spiritually) try to "tear me in pieces." Atheists and heathens don’t treat me this way—only professing Christians (I am well aware that missionaries have been virtually torn to pieces by heathens, but thankfully this is not the norm). JESUS USED SARCASM ON SATAN Jesus once told Satan to: "Get thee BEHIND ME" (Mark 8:33). Why, "behind" Him? Because it was offensive to Jesus to have Satan in FRONT of Him. Satan has no business IN FRONT of Jesus. Jesus told Satan to: Get out of my FACE, Satan; Get thee behind me! JESUS WAS NOT COMMISSIONED TO BLESS THE DOGS Everyone in ancient Judea knew the Jews likened Gentiles to "dogs." When a woman of Canaan asked Jesus for help, Jesus said to her in Matt. 15:26-28): "It is not meet to take the children’s bread and to cast it to DOGS." Actually the Greek here is "puppies" (very young dogs), but nonetheless "dogs." Wouldn’t most consider it a little sarcastic to call a woman asking for help, "a dog?" This woman was pretty sharp. Not to be outdone, she answered Jesus back with a little of her own sarcasm: "And she said, Truth, Lord; YET the dogs eat of the crumbs [she wasn’t asking for a steak dinner] which fall from their masters’ table!" Then Jesus, Who always played fair and was a good sport, said back to her: "TOUCH33;!" Okay, maybe Jesus didn’t actually say the word "touch33;," but that is exactly what He meant. Tell you what: I’ll put it in italics so everyone knows that I added this word to make the meaning more colloquial and understandable: "TOUCH33;, O woman [Paraphrased: ‘You got Me that time, woman’], GREAT IS YOUR FAITH: BE IT UNTO YOU EVEN AS YOU WILL"! WHAT AN AMAZING MAN our Lord Jesus Christ! How can you not appreciate the marvelous personality and character of our God? TRILLIONS OF GALLONS OF WATER TO DROWN ONE MAN "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in Me, it were better for Him that a MILLSTONE were hanged about his neck and that he were DROWNED IN THE DEPTH OF THE SEA" (Matt. 18:6). That’s a little "overkill" wouldn’t you think? Like killing a mosquito with a baseball bat? Jesus could have said it would have been better if he "died," or were "drowned." Why a millstone and drowned in the depth of the sea? A person can be drowned by holding his face in a small bucket of water. Jesus used POWERFUL, EXAGGERATED, SARCASM to show His UTTER CONTEMPT for such wicked sins as these! WHEN LIGHT IS DARKNESS "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore, your eye be single, your whole body shall be full of light. But if your eye be evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the LIGHT that be in you is DARKNESS, how great is that darkness!" (Matt. 6:22-23). What? If the LIGHT that be in you is DARKNESS? Isn’t that a little demeaning and sarcastic to say that even our own goodness is evil (dark)? This is not only an exaggeration; this is a physiological IMPOSSIBILITY! Yes, a "physiological" impossibility, but NOT A SPIRITUAL impossibility! Jesus is saying that even the supposed "goodness" (light) in us, is actually "evil." (darkness). How can that be? Because: "…None is good, save One, that is , GOD" (Luke 18:19). AN ANGRY CHRIST IN A DEN OF THIEVES Did JESUS ever get angry over crime and corruption within the church? "And they came to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to CAST OUT them that sold and bought in the temple, and OVERTURNED the table of the money-changers, and the SEATS of them that sold doves: And would NOT ALLOW that any man should carry any wares through the temple"(Mark 11:15-16). Now then, were any of these activities being performed in the Temple ILLEGAL? No, they were not. The officers of the Temple allowed it according to their laws, and the Roman Government allowed it according to their laws. So these merchants in the Temple were not criminals. Or were they? Jesus said they were CRIMINALS! But woe unto me if I should suggest that this same buying and selling in the Churches today is criminal! It IS criminal, I assure you, it is CRIMINAL. And they do FAR WORSE in today’s churches! They not only sell trinkets and religious junk in the Church, they MAKE MERCHANDISE OF THE VERY WORD OF GOD ITSELF. THEY SELL THE WORD OF GOD FOR PROFITS! Here is what Christ said concerning their activities of buying and selling in the Temple: "And He taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the House of Prayer? But you have made it a DEN OF THIEVES" (Mark 11:17)! Does anyone believe that Jesus was SMILING while He turned over their tables and called them a "DEN OF THIEVES?" ANSWERING A FOOL ACCORDING TO A FOOL The proverb tells us to "Answer a fool according to a fool." And Jesus was a Master at doing this. The Chief Priest and Elders of the temple asked Jesus by what authority He did the things He did. Here then is my favorite New Testament sarcasm by Jesus: "And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which IF you tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; He will say unto us, Why did you not then believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus, and said, we cannot tell. And He [Jesus] said unto them, NEITHER TELL I YOU by what authority I do these things" (Matt. 21:24-27)! Sarcasm? Maybe. But SHEER GENIUS! Yet millions and millions of Christians read these verses in Scripture and they don’t get it. They don’t see any sarcasm whatsoever. Well it’s there, and it’s everywhere in Christ’s ministry. HEAVY LOADS AND BURDENS "For they [Scribes and Pharisees] bind heavy burdens and grievous to be born, and lay them on men’s shoulders…" Have all such "grievous burdens" been abolished in the Church of Christendom today? I speak as a fool. And do the Religious Leaders lend a hand and carry equally "grievous burdens" as their parishioners? Again, I speak as a fool. Here is Jesus’ sarcastic answer to this question: "…but they themselves will not move them with ONE OF THEIR FINGERS" (Matt. 23:4). Yes, they will CRUSH THE BACKS of their followers, but they won’t even lift a LITTLE FINGER to help. Unbelievable. WHITED SEPULCHRES "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within FULL OF DEAD MEN’S BONES, AND OF ALL UNCLEANNESS, even so ye also outwardly appear RIGHTEOUS unto men, but within ye are FULL OF HYPOCRISY AND INIQUITY" (Matt. 23:27-28). Let me borrow a few statements from some of my detractors emails to me, if I may. "Why do I feel so much anger in your teachings Ray? "I find it difficult to concentrate on the subject matter for all the sarcasm and innuendoes that are scattered throughout your teachings Ray" "Enjoy reading your stuff Ray, but feel there is somebody who upset you along the way and that you need to forgive them…SOON…" And this one just came in minutes before press time: "Wow, what venom! …please use more caution, discretion, and wisdom, and less personal rancor in your writings and/or teachings." Maybe it is about time some of you started to feel a little anger toward all the spiritual swill and filth that is merchandised and peddled to the world in the name of Christianity! For those few, however, who are teaching the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, GOD BLESS YOU ONE AND ALL! A FEW FABLES AND DAMNABLE HERESIES IN TODAY’S CHURCH [1] THE SINNER’S PRAYER: What seems on the surface to be a wonderful thing, is in reality a horrible deception in the Church. I have heard it said many times that just REPEATING the "Sinner’s Prayer" will save anyone. I recently heard an altar call on international television wherein the pastor told those coming to the altar that "In just two minutes, many of you will be saved and destined for eternity in heaven." Two days ago I clicked on The Trinity Broadcasting Network airing a program on creationism hosted by a man with a doctor’s degree (which I did a check on and found his degree to be bogus). Anyway, he invited his audience to say a "sinner’s prayer" with him. I timed it—twenty seconds exactly. Do twenty-second prayers really save people? Or is the "sinner’s prayer" just one more giant deception of the Church? Is there Scriptural backing for such utter nonsense? Is there really a Scripture somewhere that suggests the repeating of a short prayer of confession or acceptance will of Jesus will instantly save him? (That a short prayer could well be the beginning of "being saved" [future], I have no doubt). But no one is actually saved in the past tense until he is given IMMORTAL life in the First Resurrection of the dead. I am not denying that most of those who repeat some form of a sinner’s prayer are called of God. But are all who are called in this life, actually SAVED in this life? Is the repeating of a sinner’s prayer (a call to repentance and acceptance of Jesus as your Saviour) sufficient to gain one entrance into the Kingdom of Christ? Many would cry heresy to suggest otherwise. Here’s Christ’s own answer: "For MANY are called, but FEW are chosen" (Matt. 22:14). "So the last [called] shall be first, and the first [called] last: for MANY be called, but FEW chosen [in this church age]" (Matt. 20:16). Oh yes, the "first shall be last"—they will be saved, but they will be the "last" to be saved in the Great White Throne Judgment. If someone repeated a sinner’s prayer at an evangelistic campaign and then died in any auto accident on the way home, would they be qualified to be in the Kingdom of God based on their heart-felt sinner’s prayer? Is there nothing more required? Theologians have taught the ministers in seminaries that all that is needed for salvation is the repeating of a few magic formula words, and presto-chango; YOU ARE SAVED. Nonsense! It is believed that all one has to do is find a Scripture verse with the lowest possible denominator of requirements, with the least possible number and difficulty of commandments, then simply pronounce those words with your lips, and YOU ARE SAVED. Oh really? But didn’t Peter address all those visiting in Jerusalem on that momentous Pentecost after Jesus’ resurrection and boldly proclaim: "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of the LORD shall be SAVED" (Acts 2:21)? I mean really, how hard can this thing of "getting saved" be? "CALL upon the Name of the LORD" and "be saved." Is not this formula for salvation CONTAINED IN the "sinner’s prayer?" What else could possibly be missing? Two things we are told: [1] CALL upon the Name. Whose name? [2] of the LORD. Who is the Lord, but JESUS CHRIST? And what did the "LORD Jesus Christ" have to say about those who call Him, Lord?" Do you really want to know? Or would you rather not go that far in your quest to understand what calling upon the "Name of the LORD" really means, entails, and DEMANDS? Well, ready or not, here’s Christ’s own answer: "And why call ye Me, LORD, LORD, and DO NOT THE THINGS WHICH I SAY?" (Luke 6:46). Jesus then tells what happens to people who "hear and do not" the things He says and teaches. Their spiritual house will come under trial and attack and it will FALL: "…and the ruin of that house was GREAT." We CANNOT "call upon the Name of the Lord," and "DO NOT THE THINGS WHICH HE SAYS." Now then, WHAT "things which he says?" EVERYTHING THAT HE SAYS! Can’t we do just some of the things He says? No, EVERYTHING. What if we do just some of the more important things He says? No, EVERYTHING. Here are but a few: "For I [Jesus] say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:20). Many Pharisees (like Saul/Paul) kept the Law of Moses nearly flawlessly to no avail. Jesus set a standard of righteousness and morality FAR ABOVE the carnal ten commandments. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born again [spiritually begotten, spiritually converted, spiritually regenerated] he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). A twenty-second sinner’s prayer does not accomplish any of these mammoth spiritual accomplishments of God in us. "But I say unto you, That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed ADULTERY with her already in his heart" (Matt. 5:28). "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; ADULTERY… they which do such things shall NOT inherit the kingdom of God" (Ga. 5:19 & 21). "But I say unto you, That you resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also" (Matt. 5:39). How many Christians do this? Yet it must be done. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone, but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that HATES his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal" (John 12:24-25). Do we "hate" our lives in this world? Are we "dying" to all the illegal pulls of the flesh? The last thing on earth Christians want to do is DIE. Yet, unless we do die (as a seed put in the earth), we will not be living in the Kingdom of God. "Verily, verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the LEAST of these, ye did it not to Me" (Matt. 25:45). Whenever we fail to do GOOD to others, is exactly how we fail to do GOOD TO JESUS. Are you convinced that Jesus is happy with the way you treat your family, your neighbors, your enemies? "Verily I say unto you, that a RICH man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19;23). And yet, one of the major thrusts of all modern evangelism is their "prosperity gospel" in which they extol the virtues of WORLDLY MATERIALISM! They have no shame. "But I say unto you, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, BLESS them that curse you, DO GOOD to them that hate you, and PRAY for those which despitefully use you, and persecute you [WHY?]; that you may be the SONS OF YOUR FATHER which is in heaven" (Matt. 5:44-45). No one will enter the Kingdom of God unless and until he obeys this commandment of Jesus Christ from his heart. And the ONLY way that one can do this is if he is SPIRITUALLY CONVERTED. And a twenty-second sinner’s prayer saves NO ONE. Millions and millions of na33;ve people believe they are already saved, and there is little if anything left for them to do. It is true that "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that [‘faith’ is] not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast." But let’s not stop reading in the middle of a thought… "For we are HIS [God’s] workmanship [Gk: ‘achievement’], created in Christ Jesus unto GOOD WORKS, which God has before ordained that WE SHOULD WALK IN THEM" (Eph. 2:8-10). Is God creating and accomplishing in you ‘GOOD WORKS?’ If not, you are a "Christian" in name only, and all the sinner’s prayers in the world won’t save you. Here is the briefest outline of how God "saves us:" Jesus Christ must first "CHOOSE us" (John 15:16). You don’t choose Him until He first chooses you. You have no "free will" by which you choose Christ. Christ CHOOSES YOU, or you aren’t chosen. (Be sure to read my four-part series on "Exposing the Myth of Free Will" on this site). The Father then "DRAWS us [Gk: ‘drags us’]" to Christ (John 6:44). You don’t come without an invite. What may seem like a "free choice" on your part to come to Christ, in reality is the Father dragging you by many unseen circumstances beyond your view or control. By GRACE, God gifts us with FAITH (Eph. 2:8). Both are from God; man contributes NOTHING. If you don’t give God credit for all of your faith then you don’t have any faith, because faith comes ONLY from God. Then "the goodness of GOD leads you to repentance" (Rom. 2:4). Our repentance originates in GOD, not in ourselves. If God doesn’t lead someone to repentance then they CAN’T REPENT. We are spiritually "BAPTIZED into Christ’s death" (Rom. 6:3). "For he that is dead is freed from sin… For SIN SHALL NOT have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under GRACE" (Rom. 6:7 & 14). And it is the grace of God ONLY that will save us. But HOW and WHEN? What does it mean to be "under grace?" Answer: "For the GRACE of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, TEACHING US [Gk: ‘to train, educate, discipline, punish, chasten, instruct, learn, teach’] that, denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly [with a sound mind], righteously, and GODLY, in this present world" (Titus 2:11-12). If you are not doing this and growing every day, then you are not being graced by God, and you are not on your way to salvation. The grace of God WILL DISCIPLINE AND CHASTEN us into obedience to all of God’s Spiritual laws and commandments. "Whosoever will come after Me, let him DENY himself, and TAKE UP HIS CROSS, and FOLLOW ME" (Mark 8:34). This is not an "option" to salvation; this is an absolute REQUIREMENT. I am not trying to paint a picture of doom and gloom, but the reality of living as Jesus Christ demands is not a walk in the park or a stroll through a rose garden. You can pursue a life obsessed with beauty, fame, vanity, materialism, and worldliness, but don’t think you can also coordinate all that with a life of following Jesus Christ. "For even hereunto were ye called; because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow [By suffering with Him—‘Yea, and ALL that will live godly in Christ Jesus SHALL SUFFER persecution’ II Tim. 3:12] His steps" (I Pet. 2:21). "He that says he abides in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He [Jesus] walked" (I John 2:6). "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He IS, SO ARE WE in the world" (I John 4:17). If you do not "suffer persecution," then you clearly are not "living godly in Christ Jesus." "To him that OVERCOMES; To him that OVERCOMES; To him that OVERCOMES; To him that OVERCOMES; To him that OVERCOMES; To him that OVERCOMES; To him that OVERCOMES" (Rev. 2:7; 2:11; 2:17; 2:26; 3:5; 3:12; 3:21). "Overcomes" WHAT? Overcomes the sins of the FLESH, the sins of the CHURCH, and the sins of the whole WORLD. We must overcome just "AS" Jesus overcame: "To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even AS I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne" (Rev. 3:21). Jesus Christ overcame His own FLESH (Heb. 4:15), and Jesus overcame the sins of the whole WORLD: "These things I have spoke unto you, that in Me [Jesus] ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer: I have OVERCOME THE WORLD" (John 16:33). We must all overcome as Jesus overcame, and we must all live as Jesus lived, and anything less is a shame and heresy. And just how long must we be put up with all this persecution and trials of the cross? Again, let Jesus answer: "And ye [Gk: ‘all of you’] shall be hated of all men for My Name’s sake [Does that include ALL Believers? ‘YEA, and ALL that will live godly in Christ Jesus, SHALL suffer persecution’]: but he that endures [Gk: "remain, under go, bear trials, have fortitude, persevere, suffer’] TO THE END shall be saved" (Matt. 10:22). Are we to foolishly conclude that "he that endures NOT to the end," and "he that does NOT overcome," and "he that does NOT suffer persecution," and "he that does NOT take up his cross," and "he that is NOT baptized into Christ’s death," and "he that does NOT live godly and righteously," shall ALSO be saved just as long as he speaks a twenty-second sinner’s prayer? Nonsense. There are HUNDREDS of Scriptures which tell us the many, many things that God will do in and through us before He actually "SAVES us." Most of the nearly 50 New Testament verses regarding spiritual "salvation" in the King James are in the Greek aorist tense (equating to the ‘indefinite’ in English). Most of these 50 verses are translated correctly in the King James. The following are found many times in our Bibles: "BE saved," "TO BE saved," "SHALL BE saved," "SHOULD BE saved," "MUST BE saved," "MAY BE saved," [and] "MIGHT BE saved." Where you find "saved" or "HAS saved," it usually has reference to someone whom Jesus healed, rather than spiritual salvation into the Kingdom of God. A few times we find the phrase: "ARE saved." This, however, is not telling us WHEN we are saved, but rather HOW we "ARE saved." (Scripturally we "are saved" by hope, grace, and the gospel). Although Eph. 2:8 tells us that, "By grace ARE ye saved through faith…" This is a statement of HOW we get saved—by grace, those in the past "are saved," those living now "are saved" by grace WHEN they get saved, and those in the future also "are saved" by grace (as opposed to some other means). A very few King James renderings such as I Cor. 1:18 & II Cor. 2:15 should also read, "are BEING saved" (as it is in the Greek), whereas II Tim. 1:9 & Titus 3:5 should read, "SAVES us [an ongoing process]." And so the Scriptural truth of this matter is, no one is saved (in the past tense) in this life without "enduring unto the END." Else it would make no sense at all for Paul to state: "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be A CASTAWAY [Gk: ‘disqualified]" (I Cor. 9:27) if he were ALREADY SAVED (past tense) at the time he made the statement. The Scriptures are loaded with this principle: "Therefore I endure [presently he ‘endures’] all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain [future] the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory" (II Tim. 2:10). Jesus taught that the seed that fell on the stony ground did ‘endure for a time,’ but since it had not deep root, the cares of this world caused it to ‘wither away.’ Is it not clear that we must 'endure unto the END’ to be saved? And Paul absolutely proves beyond a shadow of a doubt, that NO ONE is saved (in the past tense) IN THIS LIFE. Here is why: "For we are saved BY HOPE: [also by "grace," and "the gospel,"] but hope that is seen [seen as a fact, as in, ‘I am already saved’] is NOT HOPE: for what a man sees, why does he YET HOPE FOR [it]? But if we hope for that we see not [is not a fulfilled fact as yet] then do we with PATIENCE [perseverance] WAIT FOR IT" (Rom. 8:24-25). It should be obvious to all that there is no need whatsoever to "patiently WAIT" for something that we already have. What a horrible lie and heresy the Church teaches on this most important subject, by deceiving billions into thinking they can be saved by mouthing a 20 second prayer! It is absolutely useless to call Jesus, "LORD, LORD…" in a 20 second sinner’s prayer or in any other way, unless you are ready to follow the rest of our Lord’s admonition, "…and do not THE THINGS WHICH JESUS SAYS" (Luke 6:46). I could go on for fifty more pages on this one theme, but it’s time I bring this to a close. [2] THE CHRISTIAN TITHING LAW: Where did the "Christian Law of Tithing come from?" The Bible? Absolutely not. There is not one single example in the Bible of a "Christian" tithing to the church or a command to do so, and that is a Scriptural fact. Notice this telling bit of history from the Encyclopedia Britannica: "Tithes in Christendom—The earliest authentic example of anything like a law of the State enforcing payment appears to occur in the capitularies [ecclesiasticals] of Charlemagne at the end of the 8th or beginning of the 9th century. Tithes were by that enactment to be applied to the maintenance of the bishop, clergy, the poor, and the fabric of the church. In the course of time the principle of payment of tithes was extended FAR BEYOND its original intention. Thus they became transferable to laymen and saleable like ordinary property, in spite of the injunctions of the third Lateran Council; and they became payable OUT OF SOURCES OF INCOME [not just farming and herding, but other trades and occupations and salaries paid in the form of money] NOT ORIGINALLY TITHABLE." (1963, volume 22, page 253, ‘TITHES’) (Emphasis mine). Unbelievable. It was from the powerful Catholic Church that the unscriptural practice (did you notice the word "enforcing") of Christian tithing originated many hundreds of years after the original Apostles. Truth be known, the "Reformation" did virtually nothing to "reform" the corrupting Church of Christ. Enforcing the tithing of money on Believers as if it were a law of God to do so, is a damnable heresy that has caused untold pain and suffering and only led to more corruption and worldliness in the Church. I have many emails and letters from the poor and elderly who have been intimidated to "tithe" on their social security, welfare, pension, and even food stamps. They don’t have enough for rent, utilities, food, and medicine, but are expected to TITHE to their fat ministers. Have they no shame? Of course they don’t. They are worse than the Scribes and Pharisees which Jesus upbraided publicly. There is virtually a race in America today to see who can build the largest church and the largest congregation. Many ministers set a shameful example of gross worldliness and materialism. The clergy use and abuse their congregations, while living like fat worldly dictators. And billions of sheep blindly follow their evil ways giving their money and giving their stamp of approval on such shameful living. Well mark my words, it’s all coming down. A house built upon the sand can’t stand up to the coming storms. It is all coming down! "And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, [the same sin that Israel committed when God divorced her] and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, COME OUT OF HER MY PEOPLE, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Rev. 18:2-4). Do you have even a clue as to what you are reading? WHO is it that God says should come out of this great Babylon? Is it the atheists? The heathens? The unbelievers? NO. Let’s read it again: "Come out of her MY PEOPLE"! It is GOD’S PEOPLE who are in this great Whore (remember a "woman" is the symbol for a "church" in Scripture) whom God commands to "COME OUT OF HER." Remember how God totally destroyed His own Church and Temple system in Jerusalem in 70 AD by bringing the armies of Titus upon it? Well that was a picnic compared to the destruction of today’s Church System which Rev. 17:4-5 describes: "MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" Either tithing is a law that Christians must obey or it isn’t a law. If it is, then it is a SIN to not tithe, and no one could be saved until they repented of breaking this law. But if it is not a law, then it is a SIN to teach that it is a law. And as it decidedly is not a New Covenant law binding on Christians. Those who teach it will be condemned and cursed themselves for teaching it and living like worldly fat cats from it. As they sow: so shall they reap. As they judge others: so shall they be judged. What measure of punishment they deem fit in their false teaching: they will have measured back on them. Scriptural tithing was for Israelites ONLY, giving a tenth of farm and herd products ONLY, under the law of Moses ONLY, to the poor, widows, strangers, and the tribe of Levite ONLY, up until the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD, ONLY. NOTHING else is "Biblical Tithing." Abraham NEVER tithed his own personal property, Jacob said he would tithe once, but only after God would make him rich first. Jesus NEVER taught His disciples to tithe to the church. The Apostles NEVER collected tithes from the church. Paul NEVER taught tithing to the Gentiles or collected tithes from them. And money was NEVER ever a tithable commodity, not even under Moses. True Believers are cheerful, generous givers, not coerced and threatened tithe payers. "Christian Tithing" is a "Christian Hoax" that stinks to high heaven, and those who pronounce curses on people for not tithing will have curses pronounced on them in the Great White Throne/Lake of Fire/Second Death Judgment. Read my paper at the top of our home page: "Tithing is Unscriptural under the New Covenant." [3] THIS IS THE ONLY DAY OF SALVATION: "For He said: I have heard you in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored you: behold, now is the accepted time: behold, now is the day of salvation" (II Cor. 6:2). Is that really what the Scriptures state in II Cor. 6:2? No, it isn’t. What a damnable piece of heresy this doctrine is. It is taught that, "…this is the day [and THE ONLY DAY] of salvation." And because of this millions upon millions of people have grieved horribly over loved-ones presumed being tortured in the fabled Christian ‘fires of hell,’ because they didn’t "get saved" before they died. What is the Scriptural truth? Is this the only day of salvation? This is but one day, "A day" of salvation: "…Low! now a well-approved season, Lo! now a day of salvation" (II Cor. 6:2, Rotherham’s EMPHASIZED BIBLE). "…Lo! Now is a most acceptable era! Lo! Now is a day of salvation!" (II Cor. 6:2, Concordant Literal New Testament). "…Behold! Now is a well accepted Season; behold! Now is a Day of Salvation" (II Cor. 6:2, The Emphatic Diaglott). "…behold, now (is) a time acceptable, behold, now a day of salvation" (II Cor. 6:2, INTERLINEAR Greek-English NEW TESTAMENT, BY Jay P. Green, Sr.). "At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you" (II Cor. 6:2, New Revised Standard Version). No, contrary to this evil and unscriptural heresy of the Church, this is not "the day," the "ONLY day" of salvation, but is clearly only "a" day of salvation. There are yet future days of salvation to come. When? After death? Yes, in the Second Resurrection of the Dead. It is in judgment that the mass of humanity will all be saved. Judgment is for correcting and setting right; for purging and purifying, not to torture for the sheer pleasure of torture. That is totally insane. Few in this Church age will listen to God: "Let favor be shown to the wicked, yet will he NOT learn righteousness: in the land of the uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will NOT behold the majesty of the Lord" (Isa. 26:10). But what do we learn in the previous verse will happen when God’s Judgments are in all the earth? "…for when Thy JUDGMENTS are in the earth, the inhabitants of THE WORLD WILL LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Isa. 26:9). Paul assures us of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead will be the hope of all who come up in the JUDGMENT: "Because He has appointed a day, in the which He will JUDGE THE WORLD in righteousness [just as we read above in Isa. 26:9] by that Man Whom He has ordained: whereof He has given ASSURANCE UNTO ALL MEN [all men in the resurrection to JUDGMENT] in that He has raised Him from the dead" (Acts 17:31). The "Lake of Fire/Second Death" is the spiritual consuming fire of our God: "For our God IS A CONSUMING FIRE" (Heb. 12:29). That Spiritual Fire of God is DEATH to the carnal, rebellious, sinful, wicked, unbelieving heart and mind of man. God is able to purify all people. All who enter the Spiritual Fire of God will truly emerge clean and godly and SAVED. Four things will happen first: "…and they were [1] judged [2] every man according to their [3] works… into the lake of [4] fire…" (Rev. 20:13-14). "…and the [1] fire shall [2] try [test or judge] [3] every man’s [4] work…"(I Cor. 3:13). The exact same four things occur in the fire of Rev. 20 as occur in the fire of I Cor. 3. But only I Cor. 3:15 tells us the marvelous outcome of God’s fiery judgment of every man’s work: "If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: BUT HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVED, YET SO AS BY FIRE"! There is the Scriptural destiny and outcome of Devine Spiritual Judgment—"SALVATION OF EVERY MAN." To be sure, "…Christ DIED for our sins" and "…and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD" (I Cor. 15:3 & I John 2:2), and so the penalty for all sin for all time has been paid in full. However… HOWEVER, paying the penalty for sin does NOT take the sin out of the sinner, it only pays the penalty. JUDGMENT is what takes the sin out of the sinner, and: "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the HOUSE OF GOD…" (I Pet. 4:17). And contrary to orthodox Christianity, there are two great periods of judgment. The first is with ‘the House of God,’ and the second is in the final judgment of the rest of humanity in the Great White Throne Judgment. Here are the options according to Paul: "For if we would [1] judge ourselves, we should not [2] be judged. But when we are [1] judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not [2] be condemned [judged adversely] with the world [in the great white throne judgment]" (I Cor. 11:31-32). Both judgments will bring salvation, but the latter is far more severe. What a horrible, horrible doctrine this "only day of salvation" is. Do we really believe that not one in a hundred thousand students or professors in theological seminaries never bother to read other Versions or an Interlinear to learn the truth regarding this subject? Besides there are HUNDREDS of other verses that show God will have ALL humanity to be saved; hence this cannot be the only day of salvation. Read my "Lake of Fire" series for the Truth regarding these subjects. It's ironic; the Church believes they are the only ones that will ever be saved, when in reality a simple check with the Scriptures (in my first point) clearly shows that many Christians will not be saved at all in this Church age. They had better hope and pray there is another opportunity for them to repent and be saved. Only a chosen elect few are to be saved in this Church age, whereas all humanity will be saved in the Second Resurrection to judgment, but that judgment will not be a walk in the park. [4] THE BIBLE IS LITERAL: Is it true that one can only understand the Scriptures if we take them literally? What is true is you will understand very little in the Scriptures if you take them all literally. I have been told many times that the parables are to be taken literally. This is utter nonsense in addition to being another "damnable heresy" of the Church. How did our Lord conduct His whole public ministry? I know of no denomination that teaches the truth to this question. Here is the Scriptural answer which virtually no one will believe even though it is in their own Bibles. Jesus taught parable after parable after parable, and: "ALL these things spoke Jesus unto the multitudes in PARABLES; and without a parable spoke He NOT unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying ‘I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.’" Did ANYONE understand all or any of Christ’s parables? NO, no one: "Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and His disciples came unto Him, saying DECLARE unto us the parable of the tares of the field" (Matt. 13:34-35 & 36). Not even His disciples understood any of the parables until Jesus explained them in private to them ONLY. Previously, after hearing Jesus preach in parable after parable after parable, the disciples asked Jesus: "And the disciples came, and said unto Him, WHY speak you unto them [the multitudes] in parables? He answered and said unto them, ‘Because it is given unto you [disciples only] to know the mysteries [Gk: hidden truths] of the kingdom of heaven [but only AFTER Jesus explained the parables in private], but to them [the multitudes] it is NOT GIVEN" (Matt. 13:10-11). Jesus said Isaiah had prophesied the multitudes would hear but would NOT understand and therefore they could NOT repent, and Jesus would NOT save them (Matt. 13:14-15). Are these the truths you learned in Sunday school and church regarding parables? Parables are NEVER taken literally: "Parable" is translated from the Greek "parabole"—Strong’s #3850 defined as, "a similitude, parable that is (symbolically) fictitious narrative a figure [of speech]." A similitude is: "A simile, allegory, or parable." A parable is: "short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or religious principle." A symbol is: "something that stands for or suggests something else" A fictitious narrative is: "characteristic of fiction—a imaginary story." A figure/figure of speech is: "An expression that uses language in a non-literal way, such as a metaphor." Now then, is there ANYTHING in either the Greek word translated parable or in the definitions of that word that can ever mean ANYTHING which is LITERAL? OF COURSE NOT! The Church cannot understand the parables which Jesus explained. How in the world are they to ever understand the many, many parables and metaphors which He did NOT explain in the Scriptures if they believe that parables are literal? As the Church believes that virtually everything is PHYSICAL AND LITERAL, they understand virtually NOTHING that is spiritual. They teach that in the resurrection we will be PHYSICAL, even though Paul plainly tells us that we will be SPIRITUAL (I Cor. 15:42-54). They believe that Jesus was raised with His old physical body and that He will appear in that old body of sin (FULL OF HOLES) for all eternity. What disgrace. Jesus "appeared" in several different bodily forms—a gardener, a stranger on the road to Emmaus, and an unrecognizable person on the shore of Lake Galilee. These were all physical manifestations, not the REAL Jesus Who is now SPIRITUAL AND GLORIFIED! They teach that heaven itself is a physical place, in a geographical location, on a physical rock, somewhere in physical outer space, with physical streets of gold, etc., etc., etc. The Heaven of Scripture is no such place. Heaven is the spiritual realm of SPIRIT, not the physical realm of FLESH! Is Jesus is concerned with the FLESH or with the SPIRIT? "It is the SPIRIT that quickens [gives life]; the FLESH PROFITS NOTHING: the words that I speak unto you, they are SPIRIT, and they are life" (John 6:63). What profit is there in "the FLESH?" "NOTHING—the flesh profits NOTHING." Although the Scriptures tell us: "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing SPIRITUAL THINGS WITH SPIRITUAL" (I Cor. 2:13). The Church teaches its followers to compare PHYSICAL [literal] things with PHYSICAL. No wonder they cannot understand: "But the natural man [who only can see the literal and the physical—natural things, as opposed to SPIRITUAL things] receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED" (I Cor. 2:14). And so, the spiritually ignorant make such absurd statements as: "The physical IS the spiritual." And all Christendom parrots an "A-men!" Recently a reader of our site stated the following; "Ray! How can you possibly suggest that ‘the DEAD, are DEAD?" They assured me that "dead people are NOT DEAD." What can I say about a religion that has so totally brainwashed its adherents to the point that "DEATH really means LIFE?" That one of the definitions of WHITE, is BLACK! Unbelievable! UNBELIEVABLE!! [5] A LITERAL ETERNAL HELL: Most pastors I've heard do not hesitantly or reluctantly teach that the fate of non-believers is an eternal hell; they rather gloat over the prospect of such a fate. And not to be out-done, many parishioners follow suite and likewise take great joy in telling people like me that I will be spending an eternity in some terrorist hellhole of torture in literal fire, without mercy. How truly sick and disgusting can the human heart get? Just how evil and perverted and demented and deranged can the teachings of Christendom get? Never in the gospel accounts or the history of the early church do we ever encounter anything that even comes close to the evil of this damnable heresy of the Church. Imagine a doctrine that teaches that the very God Who tells us to "LOVE YOUR ENEMIES" will Himself in Judgment HATE AND TORTURE OUR LOVED ONES? We are to love our worst enemies, but God will supposedly torture many of our most precious and dearly loved ones. Who hasn’t had an Uncle or an Aunt or even a Brother or Sister who did not profess Jesus Christ? We love them dearly whether they are believers or not, but apparently not the god of Christendom. No that god will torture our family members which we love so dearly, and we are assured that He will torture them for all eternity. Furthermore we are to be witness to this travesty of justice. Some totally demented pastors suggest that we will derive PLEASURE FROM THEIR TORTURE. Do you hear what I am saying? Do you understand the gravity of an ETERNITY OF TORTURE IN LITERAL FIRE? If you say, "Yes, yes you do," I will call you a LIAR right to your face. No human can comprehend anything so perverted, demented, deranged and just plain vile wickedness. What kind of an alien monster would torture humans for all eternity in fire? And not only do billions of believers have no problem with this unscriptural monster, but they actually believe that we should WORSHIP such an alien satanic beast as though he were a god!! Unbelievable! The God of our Lord Jesus Christ and the God of the Scriptures is going to show the world just how far from the Truths of Scripture this Church has departed. I give simple to understand proof from the Scriptures that utterly destroys this "eternal torture in fire" doctrine, and people despise me for writing the Truths and making them known for all to read. It is a simple matter once someone has done all the research to prove conclusively that there is no such term as "everlasting punishment" in any Greek Manuscript used to translate our modern language Bibles. The Judgments and Justice of God sets things right; they make the wicked righteous, they shame all the fools into seeking wisdom; they eliminate every vestige of carnality and stupidity; they bring eternal glory to God; they do NOT turn God Himself into an eternal, insane, Terrorist!! The Christian Hell is a Christian HOAX, and it is the very EPITOME of "DAMNABLE HERESY." And the teaching of this evil and vile doctrine is the greatest sin ever committed in the history of the world. And be forewarned: Teaching that God Almighty will either cause or allow most of humanity to be TORTURED IN LITERAL FIRE FOR ALL ETERNITY is the ULTIMATE SIN! There is no greater sin possible. It is the blasphemy of ALL BLASPHEMIES. The wickedness of the human heart cannot sink one centimeter lower than to believe in his heart that God Almighty, "THE SAVIOUR OF THE WHOLE WORLD, WHO’S MERCY ENDURES FOR ALL AGES," will torture most of humanity in fire for all eternity without mercy or salvation, and then call it "JUSTICE," and calmly state that "HELL… IS… FAIR!" This unscriptural doctrine is neither fair nor just, as two internationally known pastors have stated. We don’t imprison people for a hundred years for letting their parking meter expire. Neither will God torture anyone for all eternity for telling a lie. This is total insanity. To attribute to God the travesty of torturing most of humanity for all eternity in fire is to accuse God of being a far greater and vile sinner than all of the sins and sinners of the world combined to the power of infinity. If God were to actually do such an insane act He would be the ultimate sinner. Therefore anyone who accuses God of such a demented perversion is himself the ultimate blasphemer, and will be purged in the Lake of Fire, and he: "…shall by no means come out thence, till he has paid the UTTERMOST FARTHING" [for his gross sin]. "You serpents, you generation of snakes, how can you escape the damnation of Gehenna? (Matt. 5:26 & 23:33). CONCLUSION These are but a few of the dozens of unscriptural and damnable heresies that are utterly corrupting today’s Church. Well did God instruct Isaiah when He said: "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and show MY PEOPLE their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins" (Isa. 58:1). Where are "God’s people / My people?’ "And he cried mightily with a strong voice… And I heard another voice from heaven saying’ COME OUT OF HER MY PEOPLE, that ye be not partakers of her SINS, and that ye receive not of her PLAGUES" (Rev. 18:2a & 4). Who is the "her" that "God’s PEOPLE" are to "COME OUT OF" but "Mystery Babylon the Great, Mother [church] of Harlots [daughter churches] and the ABOMINATIONS of the earth" (Rev. 17:4-6). Today’s Church threatens the world of sinners with eternal torture in eternal fire if they do not "COME INTO their Great Mystery Church of Abominations." World evangelism is presently: "…compassing sea and land to make proselytes, and when they have made them, they make them twofold more the children of hell than themselves." They who teach "eternal torture in fire" will find THEMSELVES in the very fires they threaten on others: "Son of man, the house of Israel [‘the ISRAEL OF GOD’ Gal. 6:16 The Church, which has turned unto ‘another gospel’—Gal. 1:6] is to Me become DROSS: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace they are even the dross of silver. Therefore thus says the Lord God; Because ye are ALL BECOME DROSS, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem [the ‘many called’ Jerusalem, the mother of ‘them in bondage with her CHILDREN’—Gal. 4:25 VS. Rev. 17:5, not the ‘few are chosen… Jerusalem which is above and free which is the mother of us… the few chosen… all" who have not turned unto ‘another gospel’—Gal. 4:27]. As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the FIRE upon it [Either now or in the Judgment—I Cor. 11:31-32. Compare Rev. 20:14-15 with I Cor. 3:14-15. ‘God is a CONSUMING {spiritual} FIRE—Heb. 12:29. ‘For EVERYONE shall be salted with FIRE…’—Mark 9:49. ‘I am come to send FIRE on the earth; and what will I, if it is already kindled… For the time is come that judgment must begin at the House of God…"—Luke 12:49 & I Pet. 4:17], to melt it; so will I gather YOU in Mine anger and in My fury, and I will leave YOU there, and melt YOU. Yes, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the FIRE of My wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out My fury upon you" (Ezek. 22:18-22). "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For he that sows to his flesh [in THIS life] shall of the flesh reap CORRUPTION [in the Great White Throne Judgment]; but he that sows to the Spirit [in THIS life] shall of the Spirit reap LIFE EVERLASTING [reigning with Christ in His Kingdom to ultimately ‘judge the world and angels’ and bring all into salvation and the Family of God]." We can either "…despise NOT the [fiery] chastening of the Lord" now (Heb. 12:5-11), or we can be "condemned with the world" later (I Cor. 11:32) in ‘the Great White Throne/Lake of Fire/Second Death JUDGMENT’ (Rev. 20:11-15), but either way, we shall ALL be "salted with [spiritual] FIRE" (Mk. 9:49). The "CONSUMING SPIRIT OF GOD" will just as surely burn up and burn out every element of sin and carnality in us, as a literal furnace of fire burns up and burns out the dross contained in impure silver. This must take place in the life of every person who has ever lived. The result of the judgment on every man’s work in fire (both for the believer in this life now, and the non-believer in the second resurrection to judgment later) is the same gospel—good news: "EVERY man’s work shall be made manifest [either in the Fiery Judgment upon the House of God NOW, or upon the non-believers in the Great White Throne/Lake of Fire Judgment LATER]: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed BY FIRE, and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned [the carnal WORKS of men are burned up, not the carnal men], he shall suffer loss: but HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVED" (I Cor. 3:13-15). There is always salvation on the other side of Judgment. God is Good, and God is Wise, and God is Powerful, and God is LOVE, and God is enlarging His Family with billions of Sons and Daughters who will truly be for the first time in history, purged and purified, and finally molded into the desire of God’s heart from the beginning of time when He declared: "Let Us be making humanity… in OUR Image!" It will be a painful and tormenting journey. It will be the most difficult thing that any human will ever experience in all eternity, but it must be done. It is only temporary, and it will yield ETERNAL GLORY to God and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and ETERNAL GLORY to the entire human race. There will be no eternal hellhole of misery, heartache, and suffering in God’s universe. And He has given us a foretaste of good things to come. And through His Spirit, and through faith and hope, we can see already the spiritual joys of a never-ending life in the Kingdom and Family of God. "For this is GOOD and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; WHO WILL HAVE ALL MEN TO BE SAVED, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (I Tim. 2:4). This IS the "desire and good pleasure" of God Almighty, and "My counsel shall stand, and I WILL DO ALL MY PLEASURE" (Isa. 46:10) despite what all the clergymen in the world teach to the contrary. They hate, and loathe, and despise these plain and simple declarations of God. But their time is very short. This is just a part of the ‘GOOD NEWS GOSPEL’ that precious few on earth have ever heard or experienced. The "TRUMPET" of Isaiah 58:1 is being sounded on bible-truths.com. Do you have "ears to hear?" L Ray Smith HOME
Poster Comment: Not written by me, but it could have been, if I was a more talented and less ham-fisted writer.
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#1. To: PSUSA, *Bible facts* (#0)
Thank you. Great post. Right to the point and exactly on point. I am definately going to have to visit Ray Smith's site!!
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest. ++++++++++ Attention, Shrub; A life of evil is ultimately a life of wretchedness.
Oh, for a minute, I thought Peppa was having a "vanity" attack. LoL.
So .... what all this "turn the other cheek" stuff about?
??? Is that directed at me?
------They may look intimidating, that's by design; but they aren't bulletproof. -------
There are some people like the invidvidual who wrote this are not going to happy when they learn the truth.
Thank you for this post.
I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs. Thomas Jefferson, Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin (1802)
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