Jesus in Hell

Morning!

I have really enjoyed going through the Hell book.*  Yesterday, as I was going over it, I first came across this in the section “Is the Pit another name for Hell?”  You wrote, “The Pit, also like Hell, has levels, and the wickedest men are cast into the lowest level of it (Ps. 55:23).  And after he was crucified, the Son of God went there, too: ‘You have set me in the lowest pit, in the darkest of depths’ (Ps. 88:6).”  Then, I ran across this in another section: “Before he ascended into Heaven, Jesus’ descended first into the lower parts of the earth” (Eph. 4:9).  As I was reading this, I started thinking about when Jesus died, that he went down to the “heart of the earth three days and three nights” (Mt. 12:40).  It was interesting to think that maybe it took him three days and nights to visit the degrees of Hell.  Reading it altogether, the wickedest of men are in the lowest level, and Jesus was sent to the lowest pit.  And also, he descended into the lower parts, another level, of Hell.  And in John 8:56, “Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he might see my day, and he saw it, and rejoiced.”  So, he saw the righteous in one of those levels, or in several levels.  Seemingly, he saw the righteous and the wicked in their degrees.

But the thought that came next for me was that Jesus is the only one who has and was able to visit all aspects of the earth, beneath it and above it.  And so, he knows all his creation, both the good and the bad, and thus he can know us in all ways, whether faithful or not and where we will end up for eternity.  He is not “unknowing” about anything, he has experienced it all.  When he was in the “lowest pit”, he prayed to get out of there and he said to his Father, “you have shown me many and grievous troubles” while he was in Hell.  He said next, “cause me to rise again from the depths of the earth” (Ps.71:20-21).  His Father apparently wanted him to know what it was like in the lowest of low. –– and he had just gone through awful torture on the cross, and this place was worse than that.  It wasn’t that he “preached” to the wicked because he was going to convert them; it seems that he was sent there by his Father, to know about it.  To know his creation and see the result of his creation and the result of those who did not value or esteem his creation, and then also to show himself as the one “through whom the world was created,” even to the righteous.  Although, I’m sure he was declaring the works of his Father along the way 🙂

I just like thinking on the fact that the Father wanted Jesus to know everything!  And also, his own value.  What he had just done by suffering that terrible torture and death was going to save the people he loved from an awful and terrifying end.  And also, the encouragement that Jesus has sent and made available to us that we can make it with him.  I felt much thankfulness and fear of God and love in this book from the Father and his Son. And applying that to us, that Jesus wants us to know about him and our value.  We are truly loved by Jesus if we have received God’s life and understand what was done for us and what we have been saved from.

Amy B.

*  Going to Jesus.com – What the Bible really says about HELL

Read Full Post »

The Devil and Hell

Morning,

Yesterday when I was reading the Hell book,* I came across the section “Who is in charge of Hell?”  It says, “Satan has nothing to do with Hell. In fact, he will never even go there.  At the end of this age, Satan will not be thrown into Hell but will directly be cast into the Lake of Fire, which is not Hell but a place into which Hell itself will ultimately be cast (Rev. 20:14).”  I thought how good it is to know the truth about the Devil!  There are so many spooky myths about him.  It has been ingrained in people’s hearts and minds that the Devil and God are in a battle and that Satan is over Hell as God is over Heaven and they are adversaries, when in fact, he is not even in Hell.

In the book, you explain that Satan (the Devil) was in heaven and was cast down to earth, not into Hell, by God.  There is no war going on in Hell with Satan in charge.  It’s funny when you think about it, really.  If you take the Scriptures and put them together, as you have done in the Hell book, you can see that Satan is not in Hell and has nothing to do with it.  In short, the Devil is never even going to go to Hell, and he has nothing at all to do with it.  That’s a new and big thought for many.  So, that should lead you to the question, If he is not in Hell, where is he?  And, if he is “is walking to and fro in the earth . . . seeking whom he may devour”, how is he doing that?  That’s the big question.  If we can get our minds off of the Devil and his pitchfork, and the notion that he has any kind of power against God, we can focus more on the actual “works of the Devil”, and where they are hidden.  What a clever facade he hides behind, one propagated most by undiscerning believers!

I’m so thankful that I never worry about the Devil and that I was never taught that the Devil was in control of anything that has to do with me.  That is a terrible, worrisome fear for many.  I love thinking that God is in control of my life, and concentrating on what can I do to please Him.

God help us to look where the real power is!  Again, I am thankful for the truth.  Without that, we would be lost in the midst of myths.

Amy B.

* Going to Jesus.com – What the Bible really says about HELL

Read Full Post »

APrecious Excerpt

This excerpt is precious to my soul.

Donna N.

Read Full Post »

Joel 2:28–32

John,

Perhaps my memory is incorrect, but I was thinking you questioned if this prophecy from Joel was used correctly by Peter in Acts 2.

Using Joel’s voice, God promised that He would “pour out my Spirit upon all flesh” (Joel 2:28). But when this prophecy was fulfilled, the promised Spirit is called the holy Ghost (Acts 2:4). To confirm this, Peter says in verse 16, “This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel.”

Wendell

===========

Yes, Wendell.  Peter thought that Jesus would return any day, and so he was expecting the things Joel prophesied about would happen immediately.  

This is the entire prophecy from Joel 2:28–32a, which Peter quoted on the day of Pentecost: “It shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.  And I will also pour out my Spirit on the slaves in those days, both male and female, and I will give signs in heaven and on the earth: blood, and fire, and mushrooming columns of smoke.  The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon, to blood before the great and fearful day of the LORD comes.  And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.”

Obviously, those things did not all happen.  Were they supposed to happen, but Israel’s disobedience caused Joel’s prophecy to fail?  Perhaps.  We cannot say.  But it is obvious that Peter expected to see in his time the moon to turn to blood and the sun to be blackened.

There was certainly an outpouring of the Spirit on Israel in Peter’s time, but the prophet Joel was foretelling of the outpouring of the Spirit on Israel which is coming at the end of this age.

Pastor John

Read Full Post »

Fear of Grizzlies?

John,

Good Morning.

I feel like I am coming up short here.  I am fearful of grizzly bears, but in this tract it is stated, “You will not fear the beast of the earth.”  Am I misunderstanding what “beast” is referring to, or is this an example of the faith Job possessed?

Here is the excerpt from Tract #23:*

“We are also told that ‘He will deliver you in six troubles; yea, in seven, evil shall not touch you.  In famine, He will redeem you from death, and in war, from the power of the sword.  You will be hidden from the lash of the tongue, and you will not fear destruction when it comes.  At destruction and hunger will you laugh, and you will not fear the beast of the earth’ (Job 5:19–22).  Don’t wallow in the mire of your problem, but ‘girding up the loins of your mind, being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.’”

Thanks for the help,

Wendell

==========

Neither you nor I have a fear of grizzly bears because neither of us have ever been confronted by one.  You may imagine you would fear a grizzly bear if you met one, but if you ever really did meet a grizzly, it would only be by the will of God, and you do not know how Jesus would make you feel in that moment.  You may discover that you want to hug the beast instead of run from it.

Let’s wait on God, and not judge ourselves by what we imagine we would feel or how we would act in various situations.

Pastor John

* Going to Jesus.com Tracts – The Cry of the Righteous

Read Full Post »

All the Way Home

Pastor John,

I just finished watching sister Willie on a video.  I have had this same feeling and thought twice about it now in the last few weeks.  We need to be in shape for whatever God wants to use us for.

We have been reading in Joshua in our Old Testament Class,* and as I read it, the thought I had was what if Joshua’s mighty men were sitting around eating Cheetos and out of shape when God sent them to conquer Canaan’s land?  They would have been useless to God.  They had to be in shape at all times for whatever God was going to send them to do!  I really felt that thought, and I have been praying for Jesus to help me be in the best shape I can be in. 

We never know when God may send a new or an old heart our way.  I want to be in the best spiritual shape to give a testimony or say ” Amen”, or maybe even say “No way”!  Whatever God may want me to do!  How awful it is to be out of shape when Jesus calls your name!

As I watched sister Willie, I was loving how much I hold onto her testimony.  I love holding onto her shirttail, following her “mouth full of thankfulness” home!  So many times, I tell myself, “You can’t be thankful and grumble at the same time.  They don’t go together.”  That gold from sister Willie has saved me from a wrong attitude so many times, and it had me asking Jesus to make me thankful.  It works! The right gets rid of the wrong!

Beth

* Old Testament Course (Pt. 1) – Going to Jesus.com

Read Full Post »

Joshua 5

Pastor John,

During the meeting this morning you quoted Romans 5:29, “But one is a Jew inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart, by the Spirit, not the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God.” That reminded me of what we read this past week for our Old Testament assignment, and I have a question about it. 

In Joshua chapter 5, God commanded Joshua to circumcise the children of Israel for a second time. 

Joshua 5:4-5 says, And this is the reason that Joshua circumcised them: all the people who came out of Egypt, the males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness along the way after they came out from Egypt,

5.and all the people who came out were circumcised, but all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way as they came out from Egypt had not been circumcised.

There must have been a good reason why Moses did not have them circumcised on the eighth day while in the Wilderness, the Bible doesn’t tell us. But it made me wonder if there could be a connection with what you said previously on one of the Old Testament CDs.*

You said that Moses was not able to bring the people into the Promised Land, which was a symbol of the Law not being able to save us.  Moses had to turn it all over to Joshua, and then Joshua took God’s people in.

Thinking along those lines, with Moses representing the Law and physical circumcision could that second circumcision by Joshua represent the spiritual circumcision of the heart by Jesus when we receive the Spirit? 

Thank you!

Amy French

==========

Excellent observation, Amy!  Yes, that second circumcision represents the one that Jesus gives.

I have always assumed that Israel could not circumcise their children in the wilderness because they never knew when the cloud would move. It is interesting to think on what that uncertainty represented, spiritually, before the Spirit came in Acts 2.

Pastor John

* https://www.goingtojesus.com/gtj_otcourse-1010.html

Read Full Post »

The Paper Man

Hi Pastor John,

I want to write to you about a testimony that is so very similar to your testimony about The Straw Man.  Some months ago, you began to speak about The Straw Man, and it reminded me about my testimony from when I was a girl.  I had an experience where Jesus showed me about The Paper Man.

When I was girl, maybe 10 years old, I was playing in the back yard by our brick BBQ.  We never used the BBQ for BBQ’s; rather, we just burned twigs and branches and leaves in there.  Well, this one day I was standing on the opposite side of the BBQ, and I had a vision from God.  Before me, I could see a giant towering and intimidating man made out of paper.  When I looked closer (waist level), I could see he was actually made up of thousands and thousands of tiny pieces of paper with writing on them, somewhat like fortune cookie paper or paper tickets, but there was much writing on them, and the writing was academic writing of man.  The word “plagiarize” came to me.  I was old enough to have a rudimentary understanding of the word, but I recall being a bit intimidated by the word, because it was a “big” word.  But I understood these papers were writings of man that were copies of other men, and the writings were just repetitions, and nothing new being said.  No revelation from God.  And they were false.  I also had the understanding this had been going on for a very long time, at least “a thousand years” was the time frame that came to my mind.

As I stood there and marveled, I was intrigued that the size of The Paper Man was so very intimidating, but he was only made of paper!  Yet, I could feel its imposing intimidation.  But it was false!  As I marveled at this, I briefly came out of the vision long enough to notice the Red Head Matches that were set on the BBQ, and I understood (like your testimony) that it would only take lighting these matches to set the whole thing on fire.  I marveled more at this, and my heart greatly wondered at the man in the future who will have the privilege of setting The Paper Man on fire and destroying it.  I wanted that man to set it on fire right then!

It will be a wonderful day when that Straw Man/Paper Man is destroyed by fire!

Love,

Jenny

Read Full Post »

Cruelty in This World

As I listened to some of last night’s fireside chat, I couldn’t help but think of how Africans were treated so cruelly. The dehumanization you talk about was exactly how their shipment from Africa to other parts of the world shackled and in quarters similar to those of cattle, living in their own feces and given just enough sustenance to keep enough of the “goods” from perishing was justified.

Economics motivated the slavery operation and was then justified by “science” that said things about Africans similar to what Hitler and his regime said about Jews.

The cruelty of man truly knows no bounds

Allison

=========

That is so true, Allison.  Slavery has always been around, but the English/American form of it was horrific.  And according to the angel who stood at the foot of my father’s bed one night, God was very displeased.  The angel gave a warning to my father to the people in this country, “from the president to the peasant”, saying that “the white man stole the black man from the land God had given him.”

It hurts my heart to think of black mothers forcibly separated from their little ones, and the many other ungodly cruelties those slaves suffered.  But God saw each one, and we can be assured that “a book of remembrance was written” for them all.  Because of God’s perfect justice, nobody “gets by” with any evil deed.  And thankfully, because of that same justice, every good deed will also have a reward.

Pastor John

Read Full Post »

Asbury Revival – Lesson with Jesus

Pastor John,

I found the video of the Asbury revival interesting.  The things this man said about a vision he had in 2001 stood out.  In the video, this man, Dutch Sheets, talks about a vision he had in September 2001 right after 9/11 while speaking at a conference.  Recently, on 1/25/23, he was interviewed and retold that experience/vision he had in 2001.  Two weeks later, on 2/8/23, the Asbury event started. 

In the vision from 2001 Dutch Sheets saw a revival of young people that “wanted more of him, and they really didn’t want religion, they didn’t want our forms, they didn’t want somebody to preach at them.  They wanted to know about Jesus. They wanted a relationship with him, but didn’t want religious form.  They wanted something different.”

As a result of what he was seeing in the vision he began to say, “How are we going to steward this?…. How do we teach them without trying to put them in a form and in a mold that they know nothing about and don’t want?  How do we teach them relationship without religion? … “This is going to be incredibly difficult to steward.”  Then he said, “We are going to need to be ready to take them into His presence and allow holy Spirit to teach them and allow holy Spirit to shape them, to show them what he wants and who he is.” 

That man told of a vision he had over 20 years ago.  I don’t know if it has anything to do with what is happening now, but either way, those tentacles of Christianity (as Gary called them) are always waiting to strangle out anything that Jesus does.  Jesus help them!

Here is the video: 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c6MoYSDjEkw

Amy French

Read Full Post »