GOD IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
ETERNAL FATE OF AFRICANS
A Sermon by:
James Kennedy, A.B., M.Div., M.Th., D.D.,
D.Sac.Lit., PhD., Litt.D.,
D.Sac.Theol., D. Humane Let.
A Critique by: L. Ray
Smith
Dear Dr.
Kennedy:
My name
is Ray Smith and I love the Scriptures. But I marvel how God's Word is being
misrepresented today in such an organized worldwide effort..
There
was a time when I too believed many of the unscriptural teachings of modern
theology. I see now how the God of Christendom is presented to the world as a
God of meager and scant success in the running of His creation resulting in a
minuscule reward for His well-intentioned efforts. And what is totally beyond
reason or sanity is the teaching that adds colossal insult to this devastating
injury. Except for a few who receive God's blessings, billions and billions
will receive God's unquenchable frustrated curses for all
eternity.
Gentiles
accepting this God of Christendom must also accept the teaching that salvation
will ultimately come to only a few of their people, not all. This is hardly a
fair exchange for the gods these people are supposed to forsake.
First,
let me state my position succinctly:
1.Whatever we teach must "glorify" God.
"Glory to God in the highest ... " (Lk.
2:14).
" ... that in all God may be glorified ...
" (I Pt. 4:11).
2.Whatever we teach must not detract one iota from
Christ's sacrifice for all humanity.
"For there is one
God, and one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus; Who gave
Himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time." (I Tim.
2:5-6)
"For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach,
because we trust in the living God, who is the savior of all men
[mankind], specially [not exclusively] to
those that believe. These things command and teach." (I Tim.
4:10-11)
In your
sermon you mentioned visiting a person who had no interest in God. He remarked
that if he lived his life the way he considered "good," that was all he needed.
He then questioned how God would deal with Africans who know nothing of God.
What would be their fate?
You
suggested that he posed this question in such a way as to feel self-assured
that he had boxed you in. As though, surely, you wouldn't be able to answer
him.
You then
assured your congregation that he had not trapped you in this question, but
that you have the true Biblical answer to this question, which has also been
asked by countless truth seekers through the centuries. You used an analogy and
a few scriptures on conscience to show that God is not responsible for the
eternal fate of billions of unsaved humanity.
It is
your "analogy" that is the reason for this letter. Your analogy personifies
much of modern theological thinking.Analogies
are fine for teaching if they really are analogous to the subject. They should
simplify, not contradict the Scriptures on the topic at hand! You opened a
"theological can of worms" with your
analogy.
HELL
You said
something to the effect that "sin is what
sends people to hell."
"Hell"
is an unfortunate translation of numerous Greek and Hebrew words.
�In Hebrew "Hell" is translated from the word
sheol
�This same word sheol is translated into the
English word "grave" thirty-one times in the Authorized
Version
�In Greek "Hell" is translated from the word
gehennah [the valley of Hinnom], Tartaros [abyss?], and
hades [the unseen].
�In I Cor. 15:55 "hades" is translated
"grave"
�The Hebrew word sheol and the Greek word
hades are synonymous (Acts 2:27).
Why
would an intelligent translator translate three totally different Greek words
into the same English word?
"Hell"
never was and never will be a proper translation of the Greek word
hades. However, back in the Middle Ages it did have a totally different
connotation than today. There is old English literature that refers to people
"putting their potatoes in hell" for the winter. And I guarantee you that when
they retrieved their potatoes they were still raw and not baked or burned by
some fabled fires of hell.
Although
not a proper translation of hades, this old English word did (I said
"did"-not anymore) have similarities to the word hades. My old Webster's
Twentieth Century Dictionary has this definition: "hell, n. [ME, helle; AS,
hell, hell, from helan, to cover, conceal.]" To "cover" or "conceal." That
definition has at least some similarity to the Greek elements of hades:
UN-PERCEIVED [the UNSEEN or IMPERCEPTIBLE].
Before
the King James Bible, the old Anglo-Saxon word simply meant a dark, hidden,
concealed, or covered hole in the ground. Actually, hell would be a better
translation for grave than hades. But now check a modern dictionary and
look what we get: Webster's New World Dictionary: "hell (hel), n 1. the place
where Christians believe that devils live and wicked people go to be punished
after they die." What happened to the definition ... of the word ...
"hell?"
It
doesn't even purport to define the word. It just tells us what Christians
believe it is. I, frankly, don't care what Christians think it means. What a
travesty of modern scholarship.
So when
unsaved people die, are they really punished eternally in this "Christian"
hell?
You
know, it's the theologians who should be protecting the people against such
modern heresy, but instead it is they who are causing and promoting the
heresy.
Let's
see if God's Word really teaches eternal torture in a "Christian hell where
devils live," immediately after death for unsaved sinners.Let's
look at body, spirit, and soul, and see if any dwell "with devils" at
death.
BODY
When a
man dies his body (if not disintegrated) goes into a grave or tomb (Jn. 11:38)
where within a few days it begins to smell and decompose (Jn. 11:39), and it
returns [Heb. shub] to the dust of the ground from which it was taken (Gen.
3:17-19, Job 10:9, Psa. 9:17, etc., etc). The "person" is said to be where the
"body" is and the "person" is resurrected from the place where the body is
(Mat. 28:6). Only in a figurative or symbolic sense does a "body" ever go to
sheol (Jonah 2:2). Jonah was not "literally" in hell [sheol], but
in the fish, and besides he didn't even die. I'm sure Jonah's loss of
perception inside the fish resembled his knowledge of the word
"sheol."
SPIRIT
When a
man dies his spirit returns to God Who gave it (Lk. 23:46, Psa. 104:24-30). The
"spirit" is never said to go to hades or sheol, and the
"soul" is never said to go to Heaven at death. Men and beasts have the
same spirit [ruach] and they go to the same place (Ecc. 3:18-21). There is no
getting around this: when God takes away a living soul's spirit, it always
dies. The spirit "gives life." No one can live without "spirit," no matter how
young and healthy he may be. There are no exceptions. If there are, where is
the Scripture? A dead person cannot experience anything-not pleasure in Heaven
or pain in a fabled hell. This is a serious thing. Rom. 14:23 says: "Now
everything which is not out of faith is sin." If one doesn't have Scriptures
that show people go to eternal hell fire after death, then it is a sin to teach
it.
SOUL
When a
man dies his soul goes to the unseen or imperceptible [Gk: hades, Heb:
sheol]. We also know that when man is in this condition (dead) it is
likened to "sleep" (Psa. 13:3, Dan. 12:1-2, Jn. 11:11-14). God Himself likens
death to sleep,
"The Lord said unto Moses
[concerning his imminent death], Behold, thou shalt sleep with
thy fathers ... " (Deut. 31:16)
This is
substantiated by the fact that:
"The living know that they shall die, but
the dead know not anything" (Ecc. 9:5,6).
Again:
" ... for there is no work, nor device
[contrivance, intelligence, reason], nor knowledge, nor wisdom,
in sheol." (Ecc. 9:10).
Do we
think all of these Scriptures lie? According to what we just read in Ecc.
9:5,6,10, do dead people know anything? And these verses are correctly
translated.
The
words "soul" and "spirit" have become corrupted through theology so that they
are now used interchangeably, as if they were synonymous. They are not
synonymous. There may be certain similarities between soul and spirit, but
similarities do not make them one and the same.
The
"soul" is the seat of sensation, consciousness, and feelings, not the body or
the spirit. It is the spirit that imparts life to the body and the body then
becomes a living soul (Gen. 2:7).
A
thorough study of the word "soul" in the Scriptures proves that it is used of
consciousness, feelings, and emotions. Hence, "sensation" is a good word to
define its usage.
�souls can touch (Lev. 5:2)
�souls have knowledge (Pr. 2:10)
�souls have memory (Lam. 3:20)
�souls can love, and be joyful (Psa. 35:9;
86:4)
�souls can hunger and thirst (Deut.
14:26)
�souls can sin (Lev. 4:2)
�life can be given to a soul (Job
3:20)
�souls can die (Ezek. 18:20)
�souls can be converted (Psa. 19:7)
�none can keep alive his (own) soul (Psa.
22:29)
�honey is sweet to the soul (Pr.
16:24)
�even God has a soul (Lev. 26:11, I Sam. 2:35, Jer.
32:41)
�souls can hear (Acts 3:22-23)
�souls can experience pleasure (Heb.
10:3)
�souls can be purified (I Pet.
1:22)
�and souls can receive salvation (I Pet.
1:9).
These
verses show the wide range of emotions and sensations that "souls" experience,
but dead souls experience nothing in the unseen or imperceptible
(hades). We need to pay close attention to the meaning of words.
Hades comes from the Greek a(i)des. The a is a prefix which is
equivalent to our un- and the stem -id means perceive. Thus
we have UN-PERCEIVE, or imperceptible: the unseen. Etymologically, your
doctrine of torment in hell falls flat on its face. From the words that God
chose to call this condition of the soul after death, one thing is crystal
clear: There is absolutely no perception there. And the soul has everything to
do with perception and sensation as clearly seen from the verses
above.
So why
do you teach that there is perception in death? The very meaning of the
word itself (hades) is unseen or imperceptible, so how can a dead soul
have perception in a condition of imperception? God Himself chose this word
which teaches us that hades is UN-perceptible or IM-perceptible (NO
perception).
Because
of the shameful way these words are translated and interchanged in the
Authorized Version, it is nearly impossible to understand their true meanings
without an exhaustive concordance.
FROM
KING JAMES TRANSLATION:
SPIRIT
[pneuma]
is translated
LIFE
in Rev. 13:5
SOUL
[nephesh]
is translated
HEART
in Prov. 23:7, etc
HEART
[leb]
is translated
MIND
in Prov. 21:27, I Sam. 9:20, etc.
SOUL
[nephesh]
is translated
LIFE
in Gen. 9:4, Lev. 17:11, etc
SOUL
[nephesh]
is translated
GHOST
in Job 11:2
SPIRIT
[pneuma]
is translated
GHOST
in Mark 1:8
SOUL
[nephesh]
is translated
BEAST
in Lev. 24:18.
BEAST
[chay]
is translated
LIFE
in Lev. 18:18.
SOUL
[nephesh]
is translated
BODY
in Lev. 21:11, Hag. 2:35,
etc.
This
kind of translating is not responsible scholarship-it's confusing and
contradictory.
The
Apostle Paul admonished Timothy to "have a pattern of sound
words" (II Tim. 1:13) The Scriptures quoted above clearly show the
translator's disregard for this instruction.
Man is
mortal (Job 4:17). Not one Scripture says that man is "immortal" or has an
"immortal" soul. Not one. "Our Lord, Jesus Christ: the blessed and only
Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only has
immortality" (I Tim. 6:14-16).
It is by
means of the "resurrection" that God causes dead people to live again. The
Apostle Paul said: "Concerning the expectation and resurrection of the dead am
I being judged" (Acts 23:6). The truth regarding the "resurrection of the dead"
is not even taught in Christendom today. They teach that there are no dead
people (only dead bodies). They teach that people are either alive on earth,
alive in Heaven, or alive in Hell. What need have we for a "resurrection of the
dead" if there are no dead people to resurrect? This, my friend, is
heresy!
Paul
also stated: "Now if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ
been roused. Now if Christ has not been roused, for naught, consequently, is
our heralding, and for naught is your faith" (I Cor. 15:14-15). The very
salvation of mankind rests on the resurrection.
YOUR ANALOGY
To show
that God cannot be held responsible for the orthodox hell-bound fate of the
peoples of Africa, you used an analogy of a man snake-bit in the Everglades.
You said that a snake-bit man in the Everglades could not hold a nearby medical
center responsible for his death even if they did have at their disposal the
antiserum that would have saved him.
How is
your analogy of a snake-bit man in the Everglades analogous to all the people
of Africa (or China and the rest of the heathen world) who do not know God? If
your analogy stands, then he doesn't even know who or what his savior is. And
even if he does, he is hardly in any condition to get there by himself. Is it
the responsibility of a dying man to accomplish the impossible, namely, to
reach an unreachable Savior? Is it the Africans' responsibility to find a
Savior they don't know or never even heard of? What logic is this? Or is this a
case of "God helps those who help themselves?" No. Many Scriptures show that
God helps those who can't possibly help themselves.
Instead
of inventing an analogy, why didn't you just use an analogy that is already in
the Scriptures? You put this snake-bit man in the same predicament as the "lost
sheep." Let me tell you why. Because the analogy of the "lost sheep" utterly
destroys the fallacious point you are trying to make.
Of
course a snake-bit man couldn't hold a hospital (who had no knowledge of his
tragedy) responsible for his own death. This analogy is a "straw man." There
are no similarities between this analogy and God's responsibility toward His
creatures for their eternal salvation.
Is the
snake-bit man "responsible" on his own to swim three miles and then crawl five
miles on his belly to his savior (the hospital)? How, pray tell, can this man
come to his savior by himself, by his own ability? He's
dying.
Look at
your analogy: No one at the hospital had any knowledge of a man dying of a
snake-bite or they would have come to his rescue. Do you doubt this for
one second? Surely they would have used trucks, airboats, helicopters, or
whatever it took to save him. Is God less responsible? Now, had they received
word that this snake-bit man needed immediate medical assistance but refused to
go to his aid, they would be considered criminally negligent. Is God just as
negligent as they would have been? God is fully aware that His sheep are now
lost:
"My people hath been lost sheep ...
" (Jer. 50:6).
"How
think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth
he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains [or the
Everglades], and seeketh that which is gone astray? ... even so it is not the
will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should
perish." (Matt. 18: 12 & 14)
When God
almighty says something is His will or is not His will then
that's the way it will be done (Mat. 6:10). In God's time and in God's
way, ultimately, there will be NO lost sheep anywhere. It is the "will
of your Father" that this is the way it will be done! Almighty God will
not fail in His desire to accomplish all His Will. Notice Isa. 46:10-11:
"Telling from the
beginning, the hereafter, And from aforetime, what has not yet been done.
Saying, 'All My counsel shall be confirmed, And ALL MY DESIRE WILL I DO.
Calling from the sunrise, a bird of prey, From a land far off, the man of My
counsel. Indeed, I speak! Indeed, I will bring it about! I formed. Indeed, I
WILL DO IT."
But the
shepherds (Pastors and Clergymen) of the world teach that God will never
fulfill His own will and desires. They teach that most of the sheep
will be lost. And worst than lost; they will supposedly be tortured in
the fires of Hell for all eternity. You CONTRADICT God and His Word when you
teach these things. Read Jer. 50:6 again, it is the "shepherds" that have led
the sheep astray:
"My people hath been lost sheep:
their SHEPHERDS have CAUSED them to go astray... "
Maybe
it's God's time to let the world know who these fraudulent shepherds are and
how they are leading millions astray from God's truths.
But God
will bring them back safely (in case you doubted, God is a better shepherd than
we). God will save ALL Israel (Rom. 11:26), and it is His delight to give
Israel the Kingdom (Lk. 12:32), and God will perform ALL of His desires (Isa.
46:10-11). How can you doubt God's ability to perform His Own WILL? You attempt
to diminish God's very Will into little more than a weak wish. If one cannot
even believe the Scriptures, how can one teach them?
Your
theology is up-side-down, Dr. Kennedy. The shepherd (the Savior) goes after the
lost sheep (the Africans or whoever). Since when is it up to the "lost sheep"
to find the Shepherd?
And what
about "the ninety and nine?" Remember: "All we like sheep have gone astray"
(Isa. 53:6). Were the "ninety and nine" shrewd enough, and strong enough, and
clever enough by their own instincts to avoid all the jagged rocks, and holes,
and cliffs, and ditches, and wolves, and foxes, till one by one they all saved
themselves until they found the shepherd?
If sheep
could do all of those things by themselves, they wouldn't need a shepherd.
Dr.
Kennedy, learn something about analogies. Why does God Himself use the analogy
of "sheep" to represent lost mankind? Because we have the same number of feet?
God uses the analogy of "sheep" because sheep are totally unable to save
themselves. They need a shepherd.
Pastor
Hagee says: "When one realizes just how helpless and dumb sheep really are,
it's offensive that God calls us sheep." If that's how he feels, I don't know
what he thinks of God's ultimate analogy of what man is (Isa.
64:8).
This
"straw man" analogy of yours is foolish, and any analogy that attempts to
relieve God of His responsibility for the salvation of His creatures would be
equally foolish. There is no analogy that can be used to demonstrate something
that is false.
You
don't seem to understand that God is not trying to save all of His sheep in
this lifetime. There are Scriptural reasons why God allows people to die
without ever having known Him. They are not eternally lost, they are only
"dead." And let's be completely honest here. When a person is "dead," how does
God view that condition? As sleep (John 11:11). Are you suggesting that every
night when your children go to bed that their eternal fate is sealed? I didn't
say death is like sleep, but God Almighty has, many times.
Do you
believe God when He says death is "sleep?" Do you really believe that tired and
overworked saints in Heaven go to sleep? Do you really believe that
after a hard day at the furnace, people in Hell go to sleep? Why is it
such a hard thing for you to just believe the Scriptures when God says death is
like sleep? God awakens dead people out of sleep in resurrection. This is
sensible and understandable: Your teaching is strange and ridiculous.
You make
it clear from your sermon that when a person dies you think his fate is
eternally sealed. This, however, is also unscriptural. Death is an enemy, but
not too formidable an enemy for God. Death cannot separate anyone from the love
of God, be he sinner or saint (Rom. 8:36). More proof on this later. Besides,
even death itself will be abolished (I Cor. 15:26). God abolishes death by
vivifying everyone who is dead. The only way to abolish the darkness in a room
is to turn on the light. The only way to abolish death is to make everyone
alive.
Look at
the giant difference between God and a hospital. The hospital was ignorant of a
man needing immediate help. But, not only did God know full well that this man
was snake-bit and dying, it was God Himself who created the poisonous snake,
and created the Everglades, and created the man.
I think
if you reconsider your premise, we will probably be agreed that had the
hospital been called to help this man they would have responded quickly.
But now
look at the implications of your analogy. Sinful medics at a hospital, in the
final analysis, are much, much more loving, concerned, caring, and responsible
toward a perfect stranger than your God is toward one of His own sons!
The use
of an analogy presupposes that the one using the analogy already knows the
truth of the subject being analogized, else how could he devise the right
analogy to substantiate his premise? Why not just skip the analogy and tell us
plainly that you believe billions and billions of Africans, Chinese, and most
of the population of the entire world are doomed to eternal hell without ever
being given an opportunity to know Jesus Christ as their personal savior? Why
not just admit that you don't think God is the least bit "responsible" for
this, the most tragic disaster in the history of the universe?
If
that's the way you feel, why not come out and admit it instead of hiding behind
a man-made analogy.
Let's
look deeper into why your analogy doesn't work. I'll use the exact same
"premise," but let's change the characters and their
location.
Let's
change the snake-bit man into a five-year old girl, the snake into an
alligator, and the medical center into the little girl's father. Next, let's
move this alligator-attack on this little girl from the Everglades to the
little girl's back yard. Let's place her father twelve feet away from her on
the back porch. Now. Do you really think this analogy is going to work, Dr.
Kennedy?
You
don't like my changes? Okay, let's use your analogy again. As I recall, the
snake-bit man was apparently some miles from the Medical Center, correct? Would
it still work if he were only one mile from the Center? What about a hundred
yards? Let's try this. Let's say this man is thirty feet in front of the
hospital moat with the Medics witnessing his snakebite through a window. Does
your analogy still, work, Dr. Kennedy?
It's the
"distance" that makes the difference, isn't it? Did I put the "Savior" too
close for comfort?
If the
father were just across the street, maybe he could be justified in not saving
his daughter. What do you think? Or must we put him out of screaming distance,
say two or three blocks away? That suits your analogy better doesn't it? If one
doesn't know what's going on, he can't be held "responsible." Isn't that what
your analogy really portends? If the "shepherd" is out of sight, out of town,
or on vacation, nowhere to be found, then he is no longer responsible for
saving the lost sheep. Is that correct, Dr. Kennedy? Or if the shepherd is
sleeping on the job, I guess he wouldn't be responsible for saving the lost
sheep, either.
Do you
think all those billions of unbelievers are being lost because God is out of
town on an extended vacation? Or is He "sleeping on the job?"
My
question to you is: How far, Dr. Kennedy - how FAR must you "distance"
God from Africa until "His hand is too short to redeem or save" (Isa.
50:2 & 59:1), and He can no longer see or hear or feel or be
"responsible" for all these poor helpless people who you think are on a
daily death march into the eternal doom of a Christian Hell? According to your
absurd analogy, it takes only a few miles to disable God's ability to
save.
This
characterization of God Almighty comes a whole lot closer to blasphemy
than I think you want to be standing, Dr. Kennedy!
All who
are dead asleep in their graves will be resurrected from death to life (Ezek.
37:13-14). Christ will draw all men (including Africans) to Himself (Jn.
12:32). It is God's WILL that they come to a knowledge of the truth and be
saved (Tim. 2:4). Every tongue in heaven and earth will, " ... ACCLAIM that
Jesus Christ is Lord, for the Glory of God, the Father" (Phil. 2:11). God will
not lose one single sheep (Matt. 18:14). God will save all Jews and all
Gentiles (Rom. 11:32). So that God may " ... be ALL in ALL" (I Cor.
15:28).
Distance
is immaterial to God. Can "distance" separate God from His love for His African
people? Rom. 8:35-39 plainly says "no!"
" ... Not far from each one of us is
He inherent, for in Him we are living and moving and are ... " (Acts
17:27).
"Yet now, in Christ Jesus, you [the
Gentiles], who once, are far off, are become near by the blood
of Christ." (Eph. 2:13).
There is
no partiality with God. You need to read these Scriptures and ponder them
deeply.
Your
reasoning that lost sheep must find their own shepherd and unbelievers must
find their own Savior or else be doomed reminds me of Lazarus' sister Mary who
came to our Lord and said:
"Lord, if Thou wert here, my brother
would not have died!" (Jn. 11:32).
Amazing
what we humans think are insurmountable problems for God. But you see, Christ
was not there and Lazarus did die. But then Christ did come and He did
resurrect Lazarus from the dead.
Did
Christ resurrect Lazarus out of Hell fire? If He did, then Lazarus went to Hell
by mistake. Did Christ resurrect Lazarus out of Heaven? If He did, then Christ
lied eight chapters earlier when He said, "NO one has ascended into
heaven ... " (Jn 3:13). Christ resurrected Lazarus out of the TOMB
(Jn. 11:38-39). Because that's where Lazarus WAS, in the TOMB, dead ASLEEP.
This historical example of Christ's resurrection powers was a foretaste of what
Christ will do in the future resurrections. This is how it is done. Dead
people (not just dead bodies) will be resurrected from the dead, not
from life at some other geographical location (not heaven and not hell),
but FROM THEIR GRAVES, wherever they may be.
If it is
essential that a man be saved before he dies, then God, indeed, would be
derelict in His responsibility toward His creatures. But where does it say that
a man's eternal fate is sealed at his death? Where? Nowhere!
TV ANALOGY
Here is
an analogy that is applicable and easy to understand: God's spirit gives life
to the body. Only in life does a man have consciousness or sensation. When God
takes back His spirit, the body and soul are dead.
Picture
a TV console as representing the human BODY with all its intricate circuitry
and components.
Now
picture ELECTRICITY as the invisible, powerful force representing God's
life-giving SPIRIT.
Picture
the blank PICTURE TUBE as representing the SOUL.
Without
the electricity (God's spirit), the TV and picture tube (body and soul) are
dead. All the time I hear preachers talking about our souls and our spirits as
if they were one and the same. Soul and spirit are not one and the
same.
Next
plug in the electricity (God's spirit). The TV comes to life, and we see the
picture tube (soul) animated. We see color, sound, dancing, singing, talking,
intelligent conversations, all live via satellite. The dead TV becomes a
living, visible, animated, intelligent entity-"Soul." But notice very
carefully, the Soul (the animated picture in the TV tube) is not one of the
original components. It is not a component in and by itself, but is rather the
result of two other vital components, Body and Spirit (the TV console and
electricity).
At
bedtime I sometimes tell my daughter to give the TV a rest. When one turns off
the "on/off" switch the TV goes to "sleep." The power light is still on, but
the TV is blank and silent.
But now,
pull the plug and take away the electricity (spirit) and what happens to the TV
console (body)? It dies. It's just a box of circuits. Not even the power light
is on anymore. If left unplugged it will, in time, decay and return to the dust
of the ground.
And what
happens to the colorful animated picture on the screen (soul) when we take away
the electricity (spirit)? Want the real answer? Ask a child. Let several
children watch TV together, then pull the plug and ask them where the picture
went? A child will shrug his shoulders or say "I don't know" or say "It
disappeared." Guess what? He is Scripturally correct on all three
counts.
Without
spirit there is no life and no consciousness. Without power a TV has no life
and no animated picture. It's dead.
If you
were to ask an ancient Hebrew person what happens to the soul (the thinking,
feeling, animated, sentient personality of a man) at death, he would shrug his
shoulders or say "who knows" or just say "it disappears." That's what
"Sheol" meant to the Hebrews. It was a question mark. And the Greeks had
their word for the same idea (Hades-the UNSEEN, the IMPERCEPTIBLE), and
hades and sheol are synonymous in Scripture (Acts
2:27).
There is
one more profound Scriptural truth that is also perfectly analogous to the
operation of a TV, and that is this. Picture God's Throne as the Broadcast
Headquarters. The TV picture Tube, by itself, is not the source or originator
of the picture it portrays on the screen. It is a channel for the signal
transmitted from the TV Station and Tower. It can only manifest and portray on
its screen that which is sent from the source [God]. And often the source [God]
uses intermediaries like satellites [Angels] to relay the
signals.
In
Scripture, death is called a "return" [Heb. shub]. Before we were born
we had no body, no soul, and no perception of any kind. At birth God gave us a
body, implanted to us His spirit, which gives the body perception (through the
brain and the five senses). At death, we [shub] RETURN. The reversal of
what happened at birth. The spirit returns to God (Ecc. 12:7), the body
returns to the dust (all the elements of man's body are found in the
ground or earth) (Job 10:9, Ecc. 3:18-21), and the soul returns to no
perception again (the imperceptible or unseen-hades) (Acts 2:27 and
Psalm 49:15). This is what the Scriptures very plainly teach: where all that
man "is" came from, that's where all that man "is" returns
to.
FREE WILL
You
mentioned "free will" in your sermon. People would rather have their arms and
legs cut off and be thrown into a pit of snakes than to give up their "free
will." Well guess what? They don't have to give it up. They never had such a
thing in the first place! Even God Almighty is governed by the law of His own
nature.
"The One Who is operating all in accord with
the counsel of His will." (Eph. 1:11).
But the
buck stops at God's throne. He has not given us the same powers He possesses;
that's for sure. But man, puny man, thinks he has "human free will" that is
never caused or made to think or do anything. Man thinks himself sovereign in
this assumed free will.
The
Scriptures know nothing of "human free will." This is just another case of
human ignorance. Men do not possess free will, because free will does not
exist. The reason that "free will" (the ability to make uncaused choices) does
not exist is because it is a physiological impossibility!
The
first edict of the universe is "cause & effect."
Nothing
in heaven or earth can happen without a cause. For every effect there is a
cause. There are no exceptions. No effect or happening of any kind in the
universe, on earth, in our bodies, or in our minds can come into existence
without a cause. And if something is caused, it cannot be free. That would be a
total contradiction of words and logic. Humans do have wills. But wills are not
free from causality.
" ... for it is GOD Who is operating in
you TO WILL as well as to work for the sake of His delight" (Phil.
2:13).
This
involves countless unperceived forces.
Don't
confuse "will" with "choice." Someone might say: "If our choices, are caused,
then how can one call it a 'choice'-isn't that a contradiction?" Not at all.
Free will demands that when someone makes a "free will" choice, no thing or no
one made or forced him to do so. It was completely up to him-one way or the
other. People simple confuse the meaning and definition of words. The word
"choice" has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not the choice could have
been avoided. A choice is merely what we prefer. Nowhere does the word "choice"
carry with it the notion of "avoidability."
When one
makes a choice, one selects what one prefers most at that instant.
Nevertheless, something still caused that choice, whether one sees or feels its
presence or not. One can argue that one made a free choice because one desired
to do so. It still doesn't matter-the desire caused the choice, and the desire,
itself, was caused. There are no exceptions. One may suggest that one did or
said something without a cause simply because one willed to do so. Fine. But
then even you are admitting that the choice had a cause, namely your will.
One's wills and desires are not free from the laws of God or the laws of
physics. These demand a cause for every effect. Man is not a deity. Man's will
is not independent from his Creator (Phil. 2:13).
Read
Mat. 7:18-23. Our Lord speaks of a large group of people (many), " ... in that
day," who will justify their Christian walk by: "prophesying in Christ's name,"
"casting out demons," and "doing many wonderful works." (Ver. 22). Sounds
pretty good to me. But there seems to be a problem when Christ says: " ...
depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Ver. 23).
"Iniquity" is not the proper translation here. The
Greek word is anomon-UN-LAWness or LAWLESSNESS. Man thinks by nature he is
above the law in that "free will" is, itself, lawless. Thinking himself
equipped with "free will" man feels a certain equality with his Creator. "Human
free will," therefore, becomes the epitome of man's lawlessness. Man thinks
himself a potter. However, to man's chagrin, God says He is the Potter and man
is the "pot" (Isa. 64:8).
And God
hates pride (Prov. 6:17, 16;18, 29:23), which is the bed-buddy of human "free
will."
Anyone
who is so deluded as to think he possesses powers so great as to be able to
thwart the very Will of God, is certainly disqualified from being a teacher of
the Word of God!
"Sin is lawlessness" (I Jn. 3:4).
Free will is lawlessness.
RESPONSIBILITY
Not only
are all the billions of heathens who never heard the gospel not responsible for
their own salvation, but neither are we responsible for our salvation either.
Nowhere in the Scriptures does God hold man responsible for anything. This is
just another man-made doctrine that clashes with the
Scriptures.
We can
use the word "responsible" in a relative sense, such as: "It is a man's
responsibility to provide for his family." We all know what the word means. But
even if this man doesn't provide for his family, God will hold him accountable
not responsible.
The
problem with your sermon, Dr. Kennedy, is that you want to present God as a
"fair" God. You know most men have lived and died never knowing God or even
hearing His Name, so you try to relieve God of His responsibility for His
creatures. You know that there is "no other name under Heaven by which man must
be saved." You do know that, don't you? I'm betting that you
do.
But God
doesn't need to be relieved of His responsibility.
Knowing
that billions of heathens have lived and died, never hearing that Name or
knowing the true God, (and since you have all these man-made doctrines that
clash with the Word of God), you try to "get God off the hook." And so you
place the burden of responsibility for being saved on man's shoulders. God is
not "on the hook." He doesn't need your help, my help, a missionary's help, or
anybody else's help to save His children. God does use teachers, pastors, etc.
to acquaint people with His Word. But this is a privilege for us, not a
necessity for God. Remember the Scripture, that God can "raise up stones" if
needed. The Scriptures tell us that all men everywhere are accountable to God,
not responsible:
"For the word of God is living and
operative, and keen above any two-edged sword, and penetrating up to the
parting of soul and spirit both of the articulations and marrow, and is a judge
of the sentiments and thoughts of the heart. And there is not a creature which
is not apparent in its sight. Now all is naked and bare to the eyes of Him to
Whom [God] we are accountable" (Heb.
4:12-13).
Even the
King James Version, with its thousands of discrepancies, does not even once in
its fifteen hundred pages, use the word "responsible" or
"responsibility."
Yet
churches evolve whole doctrines around this word "responsibility." Things like:
"you're responsible for going to hell" or "it's your responsibility to accept
Christ" or "the age of responsibility" or "everyone is responsible for his or
her deeds." Strange to make so big a deal of a word that does not even appear
in Scripture.
When a
minor (a child) commits a crime, even the unjust courts of our land do not hold
him responsible. Is his crime simply overlooked? No. He must give an account
for his actions. He is accountable. He might be the victim of a broken home,
with a drunkard father, a prostitute mother, drug-hooked sisters, and
gang-member brothers. Thus, he is not considered responsible. Nonetheless, he
is still accountable.
"Now I am saying to you that, for every idle
declaration which men shall be speaking they shall be rendering an
account concerning it in the day of judging" (Matt. 12:36).
"For all of us shall be presented at the
dais of God ... Consequently then, each of us shall be giving account
concerning himself to God" (Rom. 14:11-12).
Read the
dozens of scriptures where we are likened not only to "children," but to
"little children." God is dealing with mankind as minors. He holds them
accountable, but nowhere does God hold man responsible. Show me one
Scripture.
The
church can only see the relative in God's word. They fail to see that God is
behind everything in the "absolute."
" ... according to the purpose of the One
Who is operating all in accord with the counsel of His will." (Eph.
1:11--Concordant Literal New Testament).
The only
One in the universe Who is responsible [able to respond] is God And so, God
takes full responsibility for everything even though He holds man accountable
for his deeds. Man is accountable for his deeds, not because he could have done
otherwise, but because he thinks he is responsible through his presumed free
will. Because he actually did the things he did. However, the Scriptures
tell us that, "not in all" is this knowledge. Puny man really thinks he is in
control of his own destiny. He really thinks he is a "god unto himself." And
the Christian Church hasn't done very much to educate him out of this
dilemma.
There's
a poem that personifies man's "self-appointed inner deity". It's called
INVICTUS, by William Ernest Benley. It appears in a book called: The
Best Loved POEMS of the AMERICAN PEOPLE. I heard Oprah Winfrey comment once
that this is her favorite poem. It goes like this:
INVICTUS
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit
from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable
soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not
winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is
bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but
the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall
find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged
with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain
of my soul.
Well,
Dorothea Day wrote a rebuttal version of this same poem:
MY CAPTAIN
Out of the light that dazzles me,
Bright as the
sun from pole to pole
I thank the God I know to be
For Christ the
conqueror of my soul.
Since His the sway of circumstance,
I would not
wince nor cry aloud,
Under that rule which men call chance
My head with
joy is humbly bowed.
Beyond this place of sin and tears
That life with
Him! And His the aid,
Despite the menace of the years,
Keeps, and shall
keep me, unafraid.
I have no fear, though strait the gate,
He
cleared from punishment the scroll.
Christ is the Master of my
fate,
Christ is the Captain of my soul.
Wow!
This girl should have been a theologian. One can go to church for many, many
years, and not hear this much Scriptural truth.
"Christ the CONQUEROR of my soul."
But
wait. I think I hear cries of protest from the Theological Peanut Gallery:
"No! No!
Christ can't 'conquer' your soul. It's not allowed. Not even God can tamper
with man's 'free moral agency-will.' Everyone must come to Christ of this own
'free will.'"
"Since His the sway of CIRCUMSTANCE."
"No! No!
God doesn't sway the circumstances of life. Man 'brings about' his own
circumstances. Man makes his own heaven or hell. It's all up to man!"
"Under that rule which MEN CALL CHANCE."
"No! No!
It isn't 'rule by God' it really is 'chance.' And men get only one
chance."
(Well
not really. According to Christendom the billions of Africans and Chinese who
never heard the name of Christ don't even get one "chance").
And
since when is salvation a thing of "chance?" Salvation through Christ's
sacrifice is "sure!" Rom. 8:32-- "Surely" [Gk: ge, a particle indicating
that no doubt is possible] ... "Surely, He Who spares not His own Son, but
gives Him up for us all how shall He not together with Him also, be graciously
granting us all?" It is worse than sin to relegate God's supreme sacrifice to a
thing of "chance"!
"I have no fear, (Well Pastor Hagee says we
had better FEAR) though strait the gate, He CLEARED FROM PUNISHMENT the
scroll."
"No! No!
The punishments will never be 'cleared'-not in the next billion eons or the
billions that follow, not ever, never! Punishment is eternal-why world renowned
theologians tell us it will be a great part of our happiness, and God's
happiness, to watch billions of boys and girls, men and women being burned and
tortured, screaming with insanity for eon upon eon. Won't that be fun."
Do you
think they'll all get season tickets to this "Great Heavenly Coliseum of
Eternal Torture?"This
is sick!
"Christ is the MASTER OF MY FATE"
"No!
No!" shouts the peanut gallery. "Everyone's 'fate' is in his own hands. Why
'you send yourself to Hell' shouts Pastor Hagee."
"Christ is the CAPTAIN of my soul."
"No! No!
You are your own Captain. You have to find Christ, and if you live in Africa or
China that may not be possible, but it doesn't matter because God gave them a
'conscience.' It won't save them, but they'll get 'fewer lashes' for all
eternity. Christ is 'our little helper' in time of need, but never forget-you
are your OWN captain."
To some
Christ would be at least their 2nd Lieutenant.
I always
thought that bumper sticker I see so often is one of the most blasphemous
things anyone could ever think, let alone parade in public on their car
bumpers: "God is my co-pilot" Yeah, right. That is if you "allow Him" I guess,
the great high honor of being seated at your right hand.
I wrote
my own childish poem to personify the theologian's view of God:
THEOLOGICAL DOUBLE-TALK
God is the greatest, you can be sure
And we will
praise Him ever more
Earth beneath and Heaven above
Display His never
ending love
Nothing is too hard for God
He makes a man from a
lump of sod
The armies of Pharaoh He demolished
Why even
death will be abolished
He sent His Son to save us all
But theologians
have the gall
To say that God is Sovereign still
Though He
can't conquer man's "free will!"
You see,
to the theological peanut galleries of the world, if God is responsible for
everything in His creation, then He couldn't be justified in burning billions
in eternal Hell fire! But if they can make man responsible, then it's his own
doing. But for man to be responsible, God would have had to have given him much
greater powers than even our Lord ever possessed.
"Verily, verily, I am saying to you, The
Son can not be doing anything of Himself ... " (John 5:19).
Are we
greater than our own Lord? Answer:
" ... apart from Me you can do
nothing." (Jn. 15:5).
Well,
there it is. God has given man no such powers.
"It is not in man to direct his own
steps" (Jer. 10:23).
I know
that this verse is shocking to contemplate. It is a real ego deflator. People
do not want their self-esteem brought that low. They love to talk humble pie,
but they won't eat it. If God tells us we can't even "direct our own steps,"
pray what can we do by ourselves? The true and Scriptural answer is just as
shocking:
" ... for apart from Me
[Christ] you can do NOTHING" (John 15:5).
I know
this truth is too high for most. Most don't really meditate on such verses.
They certainly would never preach a sermon on them. They wouldn't be able to
take credit for their own salvation anymore (if they actually believed these
Scriptures). They would be forced to get rid of all their self worth. They
couldn't feel all puffed up like the King of Assyria if they acknowledged God's
total Sovereignty in their lives. They don't have to believe it now. God isn't
breaking anyone's arm to accept these truths. But don't try to skillfully
contradict these truths of the Scriptures, for that only makes you look
silly.
I'll let
you in on a secret, Dr. Kennedy. It's not God that theologians are trying to
protect from responsibility so much as it is their own ego. They will cling to
freewill at the expense of "burning billions" in their eternal hell
fire.
If God
is absolutely responsible for the salvation of all His creatures (and He
absolutely is), then He is obligated to save them. He would have to save
them. Their salvation would be assured. (Wouldn't that be a terrible
thing for theologians and clergymen to contemplate?) In other words, since God
is going to bring peace, happiness, and salvation to all of His creatures in
Heaven and Earth, God is a real God. A God worthy of the name. A God to truly
be GLORIFIED!
Sadly,
however, this is not the God of Christendom. This is not the God
being presented to the nations. Instead they are presented with a god who is
thwarted by the Adversary, thwarted by feeble demons, thwarted by
self-appointed preachers and teachers, and ultimately, thwarted by most of his
own children. And how does this god of Christendom respond to his failure in
fulfilling the role of a true God? He TORTURES the vast majority of his
creatures, without mercy, for ALL ETERNITY! And the "few" who were wise enough
to get themselves saved from this eternal hellhole of sin, evil, and
unspeakable torture, will supposedly worship this alien monster of a
failed and foiled would-be god. This is not hyperbolic emotionalism; this is
the ultimate goal of Christian theology; this is the "good news gospel" of
Christendom.
This, my
friend, is sheer heresy, and this is how the name of God is being
blasphemed among the nations today!
Behind
every relative truth there is an absolute truth.
Because
He is the Alpha and Omega, God knows the beginning from the end.. God is
operating all in accord with the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11). That's how
God knows everything that is and will be. He makes (causes) everything
to turn out the way He predetermined it must be. The Scriptures are full of
statements and examples of how everything is operating according to God's
predetermined intentions. Theologians just don't approve of it. They don't like
it. They will allow for God to cause the sun to go up and go down every
day, just as long as God hasn't determined when they get up and lie down
every day. But, like it or not, God has determined not only when they
get up and when they lie down, but also everything they will do in between.
If the
translators understood this grand truth they would never have dared to
translate Rom. 8:26 as we find it in the Authorized Version. A proper
translation of Rom. 8:26 is thus:
"Now, similarly, the
spirit also is aiding our infirmity, for what we should be praying for, to
accord with what must be, we are not aware, but the spirit itself is pleading
for us with inarticulate groanings."
God has
determined that even our prayers must be " ... to accord with WHAT MUST
BE ... "
"Accord"
and "what must be" are in the original Greek manuscripts. God really did
inspire Paul to write this Scripture. Our prayers must " ... accord with WHAT
MUST BE ... "
Rather
than fight these grand declarations of God, we should glory in them and shout
them from the rooftops:
"Seeing that out of Him and through Him and
for Him is all" (Rom. 11:36)
"God is operating all ...
" (Eph. 1:11)
" ... yet all is of God" (I Cor.
11:12).
"Yet all is of God ... " (II Cor.
5:18).
" ... with the operation which enables Him even to
subject all to Himself" (Phil. 3:21).
" ... one Father
of all, Who is over all and through all and in all"
(Eph.4:5)
"Now God is able to lavish all grace on you ... in
everything always" (II Cor.
9:8).
GOOD
AND EVIL
God
created good and evil (Isa. 45:7). That covers it all. God planted the
"tree of the knowledge of good and evil" - not Satan. When God planted that
tree He said everything (including this tree) was
"good."
People
think that God never intended for man to eat of that tree. Of course He did.
How else could man know "good?" He had to eat of that tree. "Good & Evil"
are two separate things, but the "knowledge of good and evil" are not separate.
One cannot have knowledge of good without knowledge of evil. It is impossible.
And that's why they were both in the same tree. The same fruit. The first time
I saw the truth of this verse, that both "good and evil" are in the same tree,
I was shocked. I had never seen it before.
Pastor
Hagee said that it was God's intention that Adam and Eve walk with Him in the
Garden and obey Him. So Adam apparently went against God's intention. Untrue
and impossible. If true, then God made a mistake-He sinned! If true, then God
doesn't "know all" - He lied! Then God had to go from plan "A" to plan "B." How
absurd. Adam did not withstand God's intention. God did NOT make a mistake. God
does not lie. God knows all. God did not go to plan B, but rather intended for
Adam to sin. At this point in Adam's life, God made him a vessel of dishonor
(Rom. 9:21).
Religion
and theologians have so clouded men's minds that many can't even think straight
anymore. Most do not meditate at any length or depth on what they read in God's
Word. If Adam and Eve had NOT eaten of the tree of the knowledge of "GOOD and
evil," would they have had a realization that they had done a good thing by
being obedient? No. They wouldn't. Why? Because they didn't have a knowledge of
"good and evil." That knowledge is in the fruit of a tree that they wouldn't
have eaten from. If Adam and Eve never obtained a "knowledge of GOOD and evil,"
how could they ever know ("knowledge") good?
Since
this tree contained not only the knowledge of evil, but of good also, why did
God forbid them from eating it in the first place? Or, why didn't He plant
another tree in the garden that contained ONLY the knowledge of "good?" Why not
two trees: (1) the tree of the knowledge of good, and (2) the tree of the
knowledge of evil. They could have eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good
only, and rejected the tree of the knowledge of evil, and all of the suffering
of the human race would have never came about, and we would all be living in a
garden of happiness and bliss to this very day. Or would we? Why didn't God do
it this way? Because God is intelligent and wise, not stupid and foolish like
the people who come up with questions as these.
God is
good (Mark 10:18). God possesses a knowledge of "good and evil" (Gen. 3:22).
God wants Sons (Eph. 1:5). Sons possess the attributes of their Father. There
it is. One cannot know good without a
knowledge of evil. That's why they are both in the same tree, in the same
fruit. We cannot know one without a knowledge of the other. Eph.
2:10 says:
"For His achievement are
we, being created in Christ Jesus for good works ...
"
What is
an "achievement?" Webster's Dictionary says: "to do ... succeed ... accomplish
... to get ... to reach by trying hard ... gain ... victory ... by skill, work,
courage, etc." Webster's New World Dictionary, p. 7. Do we think "achievement,"
"goodness," or "virtue," are things that fall out of the sky like rain, or grow
wild on trees?
Try to
name ONE virtue that is not the direct result of overcoming some form of EVIL.
If theologians insist that God never intended for man to sin or experience
evil, then they are also saying, of necessity, that God never intended for man
to have any virtue or to know good!
Let's
not delude ourselves. Under the same circumstances as Adam, I would have
sinned, you would have sinned, everyone would have sinned.
Yes,
Adam and Eve "sinned" when they disobeyed and ate the fruit. But it was God who
was behind it. He had already made provision for their salvation from sin.
"The Lamb slain from the foundation
[Gk: disruption] of the world" (Rev. 13:8).
God
wants sons. (Eph. 1:5). And God "designated us beforehand" for
this purpose. God knows "good and
evil" already (Gen. 3:22). Man has no knowledge apart from contrast. We can't
know what light is unless we also know darkness. We can't appreciate health
without having experienced sickness. And we cannot fully appreciate life
without also experiencing death. And so God created all these in order to
produce sons.
FREE
WILL VS. GOD'S INTENTION
Until we
come to believe that God Almighty is sovereign and " ... is operating
all according to the counsel of His will" (Eph. 1:11) we will never fully understand the Scriptures or
appreciate the marvelous works of God.
To say
that man has a "free will" and absolutely nothing "causes" it to accept or
reject God, and then say, "But God already knows who will and who won't and how
many," is not only unscriptural, but defies all logic. To say, "But God knows
all" will not solve your dilemma. Because if nothing causes man to choose as he
does, then that knowledge does not even exist until the choice is actually
made. Yet you yourself insist that one could have chosen good when he chose
evil. If God does not cause people's choices, then even God would have to wait
until the choice is actually made before knowing the choice.
You
might postulate that God sees and knows all things so God can deduce from "this
event" or "that event" or "a condition over here" or "a circumstance over
there" or "some other thing" that a man will make the choice that God knows he
will make. Okay, I'll accept that. Only one problem for your position, however.
If this is your reasoning, you just threw your own "free will" theory out the
window. This is, in the main, how our choices actually work. Something over
here or other there, this event or that event, a word spoken here or there, the
condition of our stomach or the condition of our bank account, etc., are the
very things that daily cause us to make the choices that we make. And God
controls and operates all of these unseen, unknown circumstances that then
"influence" (just a softer way of saying "cause") our every
thought.
But your
position contradicts hundreds of plain declarations of Scripture. God does know
all and God causes all. All is of God, and God is operating all according to
the Counsel of His will. Besides, why is it then that none choose "good?" Why
did our Lord say that even He could do nothing except by the Father? And didn't
our Lord plainly state that we, of ourselves, can also do nothing? You know
that verse is in the Bible. You know it is true. But it upsets theologians like
you when people like me actually believe it.
God's
"grace" is more than a pious sounding word. It is a great power. It is not by
laws, the threat of punishment, or the wranglings of self-appointed preachers
that men's lives are changed, but by the powerful, miracle-working,
heart-changing grace of God. When will men start giving God the credit He is
due in our lives? "Yet, in the grace of God I am what I am, and His
grace, which is in me, did not come to be for naught, but more exceedingly than
all of them toil I - yet not I, but the grace of God which is
with me" (I Cor. 15:10). The great and marvelous works of Paul were certainly
not of himself or by himself, but, rather, through him, by
the grace of God.
Theologians view the Scriptures in the same way
little children view a marionette show. Like little children, they suppose that
the marionettes are "truth." They suppose that what they see is the absolute
truth. These marionettes really do walk and talk "by themselves;" they really
do sing and dance "by themselves." Certainly to the immature and the
uninitiated, they have that power within themselves. But, they haven't a clue
as to what is happening behind the curtain. They haven't a clue as to how these
little marionettes do what they do! They haven't even considered that there may
be a higher power "operating" these marionettes.
In this,
theologians are like little children. Theologians don't want to know what's
going on behind the curtain. They are perfectly happy in their ignorance. They
are entertained by their own false delusions, and ever so proud of their
independence from God!
And why
is it that little children are deceived by marionettes' lifelike behavior?
Because the strings are very thin and the operators are hid behind the curtain.
They can see them perform with their own eyes. They can hear them singing with
their own ears. Surely that is proof enough for a little child. And what more
proof do you have that humans "perform" independent from the One Who is
operating all (Eph. 11:1)? None. God doesn't need thinner strings to fool
us-God operates by Spirit. God doesn't need to hide behind a curtain-God is
invisible (II Cor. 4:4).
Just as
surely as children are fooled into believing that marionettes perform by their
own powers, theologians and the wise of this world are fooled into thinking
that man too can operate, in and by himself, independently of his own
Creator.
Theologians teach this falsehood because they live by sight not by faith. Like little
children, they don't perceive any strings nor the Operator, which are both
invisible. So with them, as with children, they assume there are no operating
forces in their lives-they are "free." Hence they refuse to believe even the
Scriptural declarations that God is Operating all according to the
counsel of His own will (Eph. 11:1), and that apart from Christ they can do
nothing (Jn 15:5).
We are
witnessing a worldwide Christian movement where the blind are leading the
blind. They are like a Hollywood horror film where renegade marionettes band
together and try to cut off the controlling strings, never to be operated
against their wills by their Creator again. They want to have powers beyond
what their Maker built into them. Everyone wants to be a Potter, when in
reality, he is just a pot. "And now, Lord, Thou art our Father. And we are the
clay. Thou art our Former, and the doing of Thy hand are we all" (Isa. 64:8).
Someone
might retort: "Mr. Smith, are you saying that I can't even move my little
finger unless it is God's intention that I do so?"
That is
exactly what I am saying. Because that is exactly what God is saying: "
... not far from each one of us is He [God] inherent, for in Him we are
living and moving [our little finger] and are [exist] ... " (Acts
17:28). I'm sorry that there are people who are not happy with this
arrangement; I am. It gives me confidence and hope to know that God is
controlling everything to a perfect conclusion. Man only thinks he has
independent free will from God, and look where this world is headed. Imagine
the state of affairs if man actually did have free will.
Free
will or independence from our Creator God is just an illusion. It is,
nonetheless, a marvelous illusion. The genius of God is overwhelming. It is
this very illusion that enables mankind to actually believe he is the master of
his own fate. And God helps bolster this illusion by actually giving men a
certain amount of success in their quest for power, fame, and fortune. But just
like the King of Assyria, Pharaoh, and others, all, one day, will realize and
appreciate the fact that it was God " ... operating all ... "
These
inspired words of the Apostle Paul are so clear that one has to be downright
stubborn as to the truth, not to believe them:
"Consequently, then, to whom He will, He is
merciful, yet whom He will, He is hardening. You will be protesting to me,
then, 'Why, then, is He [God] still blaming? for who has
withstood His intention?' O man! who are you, to be sure, who are answering
again to God? That which is molded will not protest to the molder, 'Why do you
make me thus?' Or has not the potter the right over the clay, out of the same
kneading to make one vessel, indeed, for honor, yet one for dishonor?"
(Rom. 9:18-21)
God said
He raised Pharaoh up for the express purpose of displaying His power in him
(Ver. 17). It is an historical and Scriptural fact that God did this to
Pharaoh. Ver. 18 then states that, consequently then, God is either "merciful,"
or "hardens" anyone He wants to. And whosoever they are have nothing to
say about God's doing so.
Well, of
course, if one is hostile against God and His word, his retort to this
statement of Paul's would then be:
"WHY, THEN, IS HE STILL BLAMING?"
(Ver. 19)
How can
God hold people accountable for their sins when it was "He" [God] who brought
about their condition? At least Paul's detractors had the sense to realize that
if what Paul was saying is true, then they are solely at God's mercy (not their
own ability) to ever change their condition, because their next statement is:
" ... for who has WITHSTOOD HIS
INTENTION?" (Ver. 19).
God
intends for men to go against His will (that's how men become lost so that God
can then save them), but no one, absolutely NO ONE, has ever gone against God's
INTENTION! Hey, don't get angry with me - I'm just quoting the Scriptures.
Notice
that Paul does not even deign to answer such carnal questioning of God's
wisdom. His response is:
"O MAN! WHO ARE YOU, to be sure, who
are answering again to God? That which is molded WILL NOT protest to the
molder, 'Why do YOU MAKE me thus'?" (Ver. 20).
God is
GOD, and He does what He pleases. God "pleases" to have many Sons. God
"pleases" to save ALL humanity and ALL in the heavens (Eph. 11:10-11, Col.
1:20, I Cor. 15:22, 28). Who are we to question God's process? Since God
is both loving and wise and also possesses all power, why should anyone
question God's ability to accomplish His own Will?
Theologians are audacious. They not only question
God's ability to accomplish His own will; they flat out teach the whole world
that the Great Creator God will NEVER accomplish His Own Will. Paul told
Timothy:
" ... our Saviour, God, Who WILLS that ALL
mankind be saved ... " (I Tim. 2:4).
Theologians the world over say: "IT WILL NEVER
HAPPEN!" They try to make God out a liar. They are the liars,
deceivers, hypocrites, and blasphemers!
One
thing is certain; God's greatest enemies are not qualified to be great teachers
of His Word.
Maybe
it's time we pulled back the curtain of tradition, ignorance, and immaturity
and acknowledge Who is really "pulling the strings" of the universe.
But
wait. I think I hear the Theological Peanut Gallery objecting already:
"Are you
saying that people are mere 'marionettes'?" Or "robots?"
No. But
what if there are certain similarities between robots and humans? Is that a
"sin" on God's part? Certainly the human brain is many times more complex than
all the computers in the world, but nonetheless, the human is still not
independent of God.
I
understand these things, but I don't go around all day feeling like a
mechanical robot. We are highly complex creatures, with powerful emotions,
brain power, and physical dexterity. For all these I thank God.
Every
day we go places, do things, feel things, and make hundreds of choices. And God
is not going to force you, against your will, to eat cherry pie for desert at
lunch when what you are really craving is apple pie. But, nonetheless, it is
God's operation of circumstances that will cause you to desire and choose the
apple pie. Lest you think God is not concerned with tiny details, remember the
story of the war that was lost because one nail came out of a horse's
hoof.
Don't
think that this is Eastern Fatalism. This is not "blind chance" or "whatever
will be, will be." This is perfect foreknowledge and design of the Great
Creator God Who is "operating all according to the counsel of His will." It
doesn't just happen. There is perfect design behind all that God does. This is
not fatalism. God causes it all.
RELATIVE
VS. ABSOLUTE
If a
theologian can't see the "absolute" versus the "relative" in Scripture, he is
in no position to teach anyone.
A little
boys asks: "Why did God say in Gen. 3:9: 'Where art thou [Adam]?' Mommy says
that God knows everything." (I Jn 3:20). You say, "Of course God knew where
Adam was. Adam sinned. Adam felt bad. He thought he could hide from God. God
was condescending to man's level. It was for Adam's benefit that God asked,
'Where art thou Adam?'" You say, "That's not a problem. That's easy to
understand and answer. It's stupid to think that God didn't know where Adam
was."
And, of
course, we have Scriptural proof that God knew where Adam was because "He [God]
knows all" (I Jn 3:20)
Neither
did our Lord ask questions out of ignorance:
"Believe ye that I am able to do
this?" (Matt. 9:28)
"Who is my mother, and who are my
brethren?" (Matt. 12:48)
"How many loaves have ye?" (Matt.
15:34)
"Whom do men say that I the Son of man
am?" (Matt. 116:13)
Christ
asked dozens of questions during His ministry. But He already knew all the
answers:
" ... because of His knowing ALL men ...
" (Matt. 21:27).
Christ
even answered questions by asking questions. The Pharisees asked why His
disciples transgressed the "traditions." Our Lord knew how to "answer a fool
according to his folly" (Prov. 26:5) by asking: "Wherefore are you also
transgressing the precept of God because of your tradition?" (Mat.
15:3)
This
brings up another apparent contradiction, however, because Prov. 26:4 says:
"answer not a fool according to his folly ... " Our Lord knew how to do that as
well: "Neither am I telling you by what authority I am doing these
things." (Mat. 21:27). These two scriptures in Proverbs should teach us to
never pit one verse of Scripture against another. Verse 4 and 5 do not
contradict. They are both true.
So if
it's stupid to think that God didn't really know where Adam was, a relative
statement condescending to man's level, isn't it then, likewise, stupid to
believe that God contradicts Himself in the following verses:
THE
RELATIVE:
THE
ABSOLUTE:
" ... seek, and ye shall find ... "
(Mat. 7:7)
"Not one is seeking out God" (Rom.
3:11)
"God changed His mind" (Ex.
32:14)
"God is not a man Who changes His mind"
(I Sam. 15:29)
" ... choose you this day whom ye will
serve." (Josh. 24:15)
"Ye have not chosen me,
but I have chosen you ... " (Jn.
15:16)
" ... whosoever doeth not righteousness is
not of God ... " (I Jn. 3:10)
"All is of God" (II Cor.
5:18)
"Zechariah was just before God"
(Lk. 1:5) (Comparing him to the corrupt priests)
"Not one is just" (Rom. 3:10)
(Comparing man with
God)
One is
the "relative" the other is the "absolute." One is from man's point of view,
comparing men with men, the other is from God's point of view. One shows how a
thing is perceived while the other shows how it actually is. One is for minors
while the other is for the mature.
Both
Scriptures are true. The relative is true and the absolute is true. They do not
contradict. However, one really is "relative" while the other is "absolute."
Theologians are always taking Scriptures that speak
of the relative, from man's point of view, and insist that these verses are
absolute. By doing this they commit a double sin. Because then they insist that
these relative truths actually nullify God's absolute declarations. They won't
admit to this in their own words, but this is what they do when they retain the
"relative" at the expense of rejecting the "absolute."
Even
theologians admit that their free will theory is limited. So they have invented
"limited free will." They use analogies like a cow on a tether or a fly in a
jar or a lion in a cage. Their freedom is limited to the confines of their
restraints, but within those confines they are nonetheless, free. Is this true?
Is there such a thing as "limited" free will? Or is this just more theological
double-talk?
Only in
religion do simple words lose their meaning. Let's look at Webster's Twentieth
Century Dictionary: Page 963, "limited, a. Restricted." Page 682, "free, a.
without restriction." So here then is what theologians want us to believe: Man
has a will that is restricted without restriction.
Man does
not have "limited" free will. Otherwise God would have "limited" sovereignty.
Man has no free will and God has total sovereignty. Theologians
try to make high what is low and try to bring low what is high. These teachings
do not glorify God.
Somebody
has been taking William James too seriously. God is not sitting around waiting
to see what man will do through his "free will" so that He can then figure out
what to do about it. Rather than conclude from the "wisdom of the world" that
man has a free will (and thus deny the sovereignty of God), we must conclude
that since God is sovereign, man can not and does not have a free will. This is
logical, sensible, and lawful. It is Scriptural and it glorifies God.
Theologians condemn scientists for their inability
to see beyond the "relative" in our universe. Surely these scientists must see
that a God must be behind everything. However, except for rare persons like Dr.
Einstein, they
can't.
ARE WE SAVED BY CHANCE?
We are
plainly told by Christian teachers that everyone gets only ONE CHANCE! This
Christian teaching sounds more chancy than the tables in Las Vegas. But here's
my punch line. Here's where Dr. Einstein outshines the masters of theology.
After a lifetime of studying the marvelous workings of the universe on a level
most of us can't even imagine, Dr. Einstein said something more profound than a
thousand volumes by theologians. Dr. Einstein said: "GOD IS NOT PLAYING DICE
WITH THE UNIVERSE!" Almighty God is NOT going to "win some; lose some." God is
NOT gambling with the eternal fate of humanity. God is NOT a God of chance. God
will surely succeed.
"Surely [Gk: ge, a particle
indicating that NO doubt is possible] ... SURELY, He Who spares not His
own Son, but gives Him up for us all, how shall He not, together with Him,
also, be graciously granting us all" (Rom. 8:32).
"For since in fact, through a man
[Adam] came death, through a Man, also, comes the resurrection
of the dead. For EVEN AS, in Adam, ALL are dying, THUS ALSO, in Christ, shall
ALL be vivified" [Gk. zoopoieo, Giving life beyond the reach of
death, conferring immortality] (Concordant Pub., Greek-English Keyword
Concordance, p. 320) (I Cor. 15:21-28).
" ... our Saviour, God, Who wills that ALL
mankind be saved and come into a realization of the truth" (I Tim.
2:4).
"Yet all is of God, Who conciliates us to
Himself through Christ, and is giving us the dispensation of the conciliation,
how that God was in Christ, conciliating the WORLD to Himself, NOT reckoning
their offenses to them ... " (II Cor. 5:19).
Theologians condemn evolutionists for their
inability to tie creation to a Creator. Yet theologians become practical
"theistic evolutionists" by tracing human thoughts back to man's "free will"
and not to God's causal force. Hypocrites!
It's one
or the other. There is no third alternative. Either the great almighty God is
in control of everything, or He is out of control.
THE
KING OF ASSYRIA
The king
of Assyria was as proud of his "free will" as theologians are of theirs:
"Woe, Assyria! Club of My anger! And a rod!
He, in their hand, is my menace! Among a nation polluted will I send him. And
against a people, object of My rage, will I instruct him. To loot, loot and to
plunder, plunder, And to place them for tramping, as the clay of the streets.
Yet he, not so is he planning, And his heart, not so is devising. For to
exterminate is in his heart, And to cut off nations not a few." (Isa.
10:5-7)
"I will visit evil on the fruit of the
insolent heart of the king of Assyria. And the high beauty of his eyes. For,
says he, "By the vigor of my hand I did it, And by my wisdom, for understanding
have I." (Vers. 12-13).
And what
does God have to say concerning this King of Assyria's self-appointed proud
"free will" heart?
"Will the axe [Assyrian
King] beautify itself over the one [God] hewing with
it? Should the chief's mace magnify itself over the one [God]
waving it? As if a club is also waving the one raising it! As if a rod is
raising one who is not wood!" (Isa. 10:15).
God says
He used the Assyrian King just as surely as if the King were an axe in God's
own hand. This was all of God. But the King, he didn't think so. That's not
what was in his mind. Ver. 5 is so clear and so simple to understand: "Oh
Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is
mine indignation."
It
wouldn't matter if there were a place in Scripture that lumped altogether every
single concept of man's choices, powers, abilities, authority, talents,
intentions, desires, wishes, plans, sayings and doings into one single verse;
it still wouldn't prove that man has a "free will." Why? Because God claims to
operate it all (Eph. 11:1).
Surely
you can see from Isaiah 10 that that is how God operates. If one refuses
to see this, then he is stubborn as to the truth.
The king
of Assyria did say, in effect, that by himself, he planned and carried out his
own choices according to what his heart desired. But GOD says that He Himself
did it. God planned it and God carried it out. And furthermore, God punished
the king for being so proud and haughty as to think he did it himself. He
actually did what God caused him to do. This was not wrong on God's part. It
will be good for the king of Assyria to understand this in resurrection. He
will be embarrassed by his own vanity and will give glory to God (Phil.
2:11).
Dr.
Kennedy, give glory to God. Africa will be found of God even though they are
not seeking God (Rom. 10:21). How could anyone doubt that God is telling us the
truth in these Scriptures? Rather than assigning the Africans and nonbelievers
to an eternal Hell fire, wouldn't it be better to tell them the truth of the
Scriptures and give their people hope?
There is
one last question from the Theological Peanut Gallery:
"Well,
Mr. Smith, if God is behind all the circumstances that cause men to sin, why
does He blame us?" Don't say "If God ... " say "Since God ... " I'll let
Paul answer: "Consequently, then, to whom He will, He is merciful, yet whom He
will, He is hardening. You will be protesting to me, then, 'Why, then, is He
still blaming? for who has withstood His intention?' O man! who are you, to be
sure, who are answering again to God? That which is molded will not protest to
the molder, 'Why do you make me thus?'" (Rom. 9:18-20).
What do
you have to say to this? God makes vessels of honor and He makes
vessels of dishonor. Do you deny this? God is merciful to whom He wishes to be
merciful and hardens those whom He does not wish to bless at this time. Do you
deny this? If this is God's intention to do these things, who can ever
"withstand His intention?" Paul uses extremely strong language when he says:
"O man! Who are you, to be sure, who
are answering again to God? That which is molded will not protest to the
molder, 'Why do you make me thus?'" (Rom. 9:18-20).
The
reason that Christendom as a whole does not teach these plain declarations of
Scripture is not because they never read these things, but because they
don't APPROVE of God's operations! But just because most of mankind doesn't
know God's operations, or doesn't believe God's operations, or doesn't approve
of God's operations, it doesn't mean God isn't operating. And I assure you that
God Almighty is not on trial before the ethical bar of men.
It is
God's will that "all be saved" (I Tim. 2:4) and "His will be done." But before
God's will is done He has set man against His will. During this time of human
stubbornness God is working out His plan according to His intention. And no
one, absolutely no one has ever withstood or gone against God's "intention."
King
James has: " ... For who hath resisted his will?" The Greek word for "will" is
thelo [decision, choice, or purpose]. But the Greek word in Rom. 9:19 is
not thelo, but boulema [COUNSEL-effect]. "God is operating
all according to the counsel [Gk:boule] of His will. No one has
withstood this COUNSEL-effect, for sure. These two words are different
and the Scriptures admonishes us to " ... be testing what things are of
consequence [Gk: distinguish between things that 'differ']" (Phil.
1:10).
Dr.
Kennedy, I'm going to share with you the three most important things I have
ever learned. These things revitalized the Scriptures for me and have
revolutionized my attitude toward God, my fellow man, and life in general.
1.God is absolutely SOVEREIGN! ALL IS OF GOD (II Cor.
5:18).
2.Man does NOT have a free will. Man only makes
"choices" which are always caused by circumstances over which only God has
control.
3.The Greek word aion NEVER means "eternity," but an
"age" or "eon."
GOD
CREATES AND USES EVIL FOR GOOD
Far too
many theologians misrepresent the Word of God, and therefore pervert it to suit
their unscriptural biases. I have heard of theologians who graduated from
seminary and still did not know that God says in Isaiah 45:7: "I ... create
EVIL." And most who have read it, don't believe it.
Evil has
no moral bias. God does not sin when He uses evil for His good purposes. Men
sin when they do evil to other men. Evil [Heb. ha' = TO SMASH] is only a
"sin" when it is used wrongly. God uses evil for good. The glorious culmination
of God's plan will justify His use of evil a trillion times to the power of
infinity! Notice how often God uses evil in the Scriptures:
"I form the light, and create darkness; I
make peace [good], and create evil: I the Lord do all
these things" (Isa. 45:7).
"Out of the mouth of the most High
proceedeth not evil and good?" (Lam 3:38).
" ... an experience of evil hath God
given to the sons of man to humble him thereby" (Ecc.
1:13).
" ... I will raise up evil against
thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and
give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives..." (II
Sam. 12:11).
"That which is molded will not protest to
the molder, 'Why do you make me thus?' Or has not the potter the right over the
clay, out of the same kneading to make one vessel, indeed, for honor, yet, one
for dishonor?" (Rom. 9:19-25).
" ... I have created the waster to
destroy." (Isa. 54:16).
"The LORD hath made all things for Himself:
yea, even the wicked for the day of evil." (Prov.
16:4).
" ... I will bring evil from the
north, and a great destruction." (Jer. 4:6).
" ... Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring
evil upon this people ... " (Jer. 6:19).
"And he said, I will go forth, and I will be
a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets." " ... And He
[God] said, ... go forth, and do so." (I Kg.
22:22).
"He [God] turned their
heart to hate his people ... " (Psa. 105:25).
" ... Thus said the Lord; Behold, I frame
evil against you, and devise a device against you ... " (Jer.
18:11).
" ... For God locks up all together in
stubbornness, that He should be merciful to all." (Rom.
11:32).
"O LORD, why hast thou made us to err
from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear?" (Isa. 63:17).
" ... so shall the Lord bring upon you
all evil things, until He have destroyed you from off this good land ...
" (Josh. 23:15).
" ... shall there be evil in a city,
and the Lord has not done it?" (Am. 3:6).
"For whom the Lord is loving He is
disciplining, Yet He is scourging ever son to whom He is
assenting" (Heb. 12:5).
"By His spirit He hath garnished the
heavens; His hand hath formed the Crooked serpent" (Job 26:14).
"And the great dragon was cast out, the Ancient serpent called Adversary
and Satan ... " (Rev. 12:9).
"Yet he who is doing sin is of the
Adversary, for from the beginning is the Adversary sinning." (I Jn
3:8).
"What? shall we receive good at the hand of
God and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his
lips." (Job 2:10, see 42:7).
"Thus saith the Lord of hosts ... go and
smite Amalek ... destroy ... slay both man and woman,
infant and suckling ... " (I Sam. 15:2-3).
" ... God will be sending them an operation
of deception for them to believe the falsehood ... " (II The.
2:11-12).
Scripture proves that God not only created evil,
but that He, Himself, is responsible for it.
Maybe
these aren't Sunday School verses, but they are Scripture. These are strong
verses. At times it is hard to emotionally deal with the evils of this world.
But I thank God that it is HE and not Satan or man who controls evil. It is
important to understand that God puts limitations on evil. He doesn't use it
indiscriminately. Jeremiah 18:11 says: " ... I frame evil
against you ... " This verse alone shows the boundaries and
limitations that God Himself puts on evil.
GOD
IS NOT EVIL
We can
accomplish no good of ourselves. What we are to learn is contained in
the next passage: "Be not deceived [but of course, most people are
deceived], my beloved brethren! ALL GOOD giving and EVERY perfect gratuity is
from above, descending from the FATHER of lights ... " (Jas. 1:16). That is the
lesson we, not God, are to learn and our trials are a great aid in
understanding God's goodness.
Again,
consider Joseph and his brothers. Joseph told his brothers:
"Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry
with yourselves, that ye sold me hither ... " (Gen.
45:4).
What?
Don't be "grieved," or "angry with yourselves," for committing such atrocious
sins, crimes, and evils? This was certainly a severe trial on Joseph and
his brothers. God brought it about, not so He could see how they would handle
this trial-God already knew that. That's why God, Himself, "tries no one".
"For GOD did SEND ME before you to PRESERVE
LIFE" (same verse).
Not so
that God would learn something He didn't already know. How silly. It was ALL of
God, and the end more than justified the means. Why do men doubt God's ability
to bring about good from evil, and to save all mankind in the only way they
could ever really appreciate God's love and goodness? Even that greatest of
evils, death, will be "Swallowed up by Victory" (I Cor. 15:54). "For even as,
in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ shall ALL be vivified" (I Cor.
15:22). What was God's purpose in bringing this severe trial on Joseph and his
brothers?
"And God sent me before you to preserve you
a posterity in the earth, and to SAVE YOUR LIVES by a great deliverance. So now
it was NOT you that sent me hither, BUT GOD: and He hath made me a father to
Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of
Egypt" (Gen. 45:7-8).
God's
plan is all about "life." God creates life. God chastises us in life. God makes
life miserable at times. We are often weak and diseased in life. Even still, we
love our own lives. But ultimately, God takes away our lives. Our parents die,
our friends and relatives die. We know for certain that we, ourselves, will
die. Without faith, it is a frightening expectation. But, we will all be beside
ourselves with joy when God finally gives back our lives with immortality-never
to suffer, sorrow, or hurt again. We simply need to trust God. We'll all be so
glad we took the journey at journey's end.
So, no,
God is not evil, but God has determined and declared that we all must
experience a certain amount of evil in this life. I hear so many ministers on
TBN telling their congregations that if they are having any problem or trials
in life, they must be sinning and therefore are not receiving the blessings God
wants for them. There is often a heavy guilt trip laid on them. They guarantee
a three-way solution to overcome this, or seven steps to chase off the devil,
or five rules for something else, or 10 keys to solving the other thing. The
idea is that if everyone obeyed God properly, none of these trials and problems
would ever enter their lives.
Nonetheless, God is still going to scourge
every son whom He receives. What they should do is read Heb. 12:5-6:
"And you have been oblivious of the entreaty
which is arguing with you as with sons: My son, do not disdain the discipline
of the Lord, Nor yet faint when being exposed by Him. For whom the Lord is
loving He is disciplining, Yet He is SCOURGING [intensely
prick, whip or flog, cause great pain or suffering] every son to whom
He is assenting."
I am
aware of the extreme degrees of evil God uses at times. But God knows what is
best for humanity. And really, when we come right down to it, most men do not
suffer more than a few hours, or days, or years, in the extreme. But even then,
there are pain killers, and other comforts. Certainly it does not deserve to be
compared with the end result that God has in store for all His Creatures. Our
Apostle said that the glories that are to be revealed to us are so great he
calls them "a burden!" Imagine having so much happiness it almost becomes a
burden.
Was Paul
unacquainted with evil? I think not. Note:
"In weariness more exceedingly, in jails
more exceedingly, in blows inordinately, in deaths often. By Jews five times I
got forty save one. Thrice am I flogged with rods, once am I stoned, thrice am
I shipwrecked, a night and a day have I spent in a swamp, in journeys often, in
dangers of rivers, in dangers of robbers, in dangers of my race, in dangers of
the nations, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, in dangers
in the sea, in dangers among false brethren; in toil and labor, in vigils
often, in famines and thirst, in fasts often, in cold and nakedness ...
"
This is
not to mention all the daily problems of the churches (II Cor. 11:23-28). And
Paul was well aware that it was GOD Who brought all these evils upon him, even
though God may have used intermediaries (II Cor. 12:7, Acts 9:16, II Tim. 2:9).
All these evils, and yet, Paul's ministry was beyond
reproach.
GOD
AND PROVIDENCE
Even if
one denies these truths of Scripture, they still have to deal with providence.
Recently fifteen people died in a Colorado school. That's tragic. But a week
later fifty people died from tornadoes. That too was tragic. Recently, over
10,000 died in a Turkey earthquake. Next, thousands perished in an earthquake
in Taiwan, with still more thousands buried alive. Not that long ago, 600,000
perished in a typhoon in Bangladesh. The disease that followed may have raised
the toll to one million. One may suppose God's eyes were closed during the
Colorado school shooting. But who would deny that God controls the forces of
nature and the weather?
Look at
what we call "nature." Nature is filled with evil. In nature almost everything
eats another thing for lunch. Lions eat deer. Foxes eat rabbits. Big fish eat
little fish. All creatures engage in a lifetime vigil for their own
preservation.
The sun
gives warmth and life, but also causes skin cancer. The air gives
life-sustaining oxygen, but in swift motion becomes deadly tornadoes and
hurricanes. Water gives life and enjoyment. But water in swift motion kills
everything in its path. The seas furnish us with food. But her waves and
icebergs have claimed countless victims. If you don't think the sea is evil,
watch Titanic. Fire warms, yet when out of control, it destroys. After
hurricane Andrew struck South Florida, I went a few miles south to help a
friend in need. The area looked as if a hydrogen bomb had flattened it. These
powers are all of God.
I am
acquainted with evil, Dr. Kennedy. My seven year old son, Blake, was bitten by
a mosquito and contracted encephalitis. He became comatose. I will never forget
the anguish I felt when signing the papers authorizing doctors to remove him
from life-support But I will not protect God from any responsibility for evil.
God Almighty is the Creator of evil (Isa. 45:7). God created mosquitoes that
carry encephalitis that killed my son. I can't deny that. The encephalitis was
only the "relative" cause of my son's death. I don't flinch at the fact that it
was God who really took my son.
But
here's the good news. God knows how painful are these evils that He created. It
was no sin on His part to create and use these evils. God uses evil for good.
And furthermore, the evils are only temporary. The time is coming when " ...
there shall be no more any doom ... " (Rev. 22:3). And God will resurrect my
dead son. He will resurrect all the dead (Job 14:13-14). And notice please. God
doesn't just resurrect dead "bodies," but dead "people." When God
removes all evil, no one will be sad or suffer again. "And He will be
brushing away every tear from their eyes. And death will be no more, nor
mourning, nor clamor, nor misery; they will be no more, for the former things
PASSED AWAY" (Rev. 21:4)!
This is
the good news that ought to be taught, rather than the contradictory and
unscriptural nonsense taught by mass media Christianity.
What
astonishes me is that the same theologians who balk at the many Scriptures I
just quoted, then turn around and teach that this same God will mercilessly
torture most of humanity for eternity. And He supposedly supernaturally
keeps them alive so that they can't escape the pain. Hypocrites! I can't
imagine how such minds function. Think about this. Lesser, temporary evils,
(brought for a GRAND purpose) are rejected, while gross eternal torturing (for
no purpose) is accepted. Here is the depth of Satanic
delusion.
CONCLUSION
How much
more comforting it is to believe the Scriptures. God created evil and uses it
for a good purpose. Evil's existence is only temporary (like the scaffolding on
a new building). When the building is completed, the ugly scaffolding is
removed-it serves no further function to the finished building. Only a
knowledge of evil, not evil itself, has eternal value. How awful
to think that God did not foresee the coming of evil, can't justify its
existence, can't dispose of it, can't save most of humanity because of it.
There is no justification for, nor redeeming value in, eternal torture.
None.
God is
Wise. God wants Sons who will know both "good and evil." God's "end" more than
justifies His "means." As Paul said:
"For the momentary lightness of our
affliction is producing for us a transcendently transcendent eonian
burden of glory ... " (II Cor. 4:17). Concordant Literal New
Testament.
Of
necessity, this letter needed to be critical in some areas. This has not been
an attack on your character. A wise man once said to me: "The hardest thing you
will ever do is to admit that you are wrong." Experience has proven true his
observation many times. Sir Winston Churchill is reported to have said:
"Sometimes in the course of history some men occasionally stumble onto the
truth. Most, however, are able to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and
be on their way again just as if nothing ever happened." This could possibly be
one of the most important days of your life, Dr. Kennedy. Don't just "dust off"
this letter.
I want
you to see what you are doing, Dr. Kennedy. Since you have already concluded
that God is not going to save all of the Africans and Gentiles, you devise an
analogy to get God off of the hook of responsibility for their
salvation.
I
believe that maybe even you have trouble believing and justifying God in
torturing most of humanity for all eternity. But, unwilling to believe
God's Scriptural declarations concerning the salvation of all, you find it
necessary to lower God to the level of carnal, sinful, hospital workers by
analogy. Maybe in a cleverly disguised human analogy there is
justification in not being accountable for failing to come to the rescue of a
fellow human being. But no, you would lower God even beneath the character of
sinful medics. We have already seen that hospital medics (or for that matter,
policemen, firemen, or even private citizens), are ready and willing, at a
moment's notice, to not only come to the aid of a dying man, but to jeopardize
life and limb if necessary to rescue a fellow human being in need of
saving.
But here
is where your analogy turns from simple error to an insult on God character.
The medics would do everything within their power to save the dying man,
while your god does nothing! If notified in time, the medics' immediate
response would produce success, while your god's apathy produces
failure! Eternal failure!
God is
not a human. God is GOD! Why analogously dethrone and reduce Him to a mere
human with human faults, weaknesses, and failings? Surely, your theology does
not glorify Almighty God and makes Christ's supreme sacrifice of no effect for
most of history's humanity.
Our
Apostle Paul gave instructions to "Herald the word. Stand by it, opportunely,
inopportunely, expose, rebuke, entreat, will all patience and teaching"
(II Tim. 4:2). There's forty-four pages of "exposure". Now here's the "rebuke".
It is wrong, unscriptural, and ungodly for you to teach on
national and international television such evil and demeaning heresies about
God, The Creator and Saviour of ALL mankind (I Tim. 4:10). I think that God is
not pleased with your rendition of His complete and perfect plan for the
salvation of all. Your teaching comes frighteningly close to
blasphemy!
And
here's the "entreaty". It is evident from your sermon that there are Scriptures
of paramount importance that you either fail to understand or acknowledge. Of
course you understand that I am referring to the Greek and Hebrew
SCRIPTURES - not the King James revision of some Latin Bible. Not
that the Authorized Version is not a great work, but nonetheless, there are not
a few gross errors in critical areas as I have outlined.
Study
these marvelous truths. Check the original Hebrew and Greek to verify the
validity of what I have humbly tried to present in this letter. The truth
concerning the "aions," for example, is one of the simplest truths in all the
Bible to prove and understand. That Christ really is "the Saviour of the
whole world," is, likewise, simple to prove and understand.
And what
marvelous truths these are! God really is a God worthy of the name! Christ
Jesus really is THE SAVIOUR OF THE WHOLE WORLD! How could anyone ever have a
doubt that He would succeed? How dare a mortal even entertain, let alone teach,
the Satanic idea that God ALMIGHTY will fail or fall short of completely and
perfectly fulfilling HIS OWN WILL?
Who
would deny that God Almighty has a heartfelt will?
Who
would deny that His will involves the salvation of all mankind (I Tim.
2:4)?
Who
would deny that God is operating all in accord with His own will (Eph.
1:11)?
Who
would dare call into question God's declaration that: "ALL My counsel shall be
confirmed, And ALL my desire WILL I DO" (Isa. 46:10)?
"Falling
short" is a definition of "sin" (Rom. 3:23). Are there mortals audacious enough
to insinuate that God Almighty is going to "fall short" of His Own Will
and thus become a "SINNING God"?
Teach
"THE WORD," Dr. Kennedy-not the unscriptural theological nonsense of depraved
men!
Sincerely,
L. Ray
Smith
ETERNAL FATE OF AFRICANS
A Sermon by:
James Kennedy, A.B., M.Div., M.Th., D.D.,
D.Sac.Lit., PhD., Litt.D.,
D.Sac.Theol., D. Humane Let.
A Critique by: L. Ray
Smith
Dear Dr.
Kennedy:
My name
is Ray Smith and I love the Scriptures. But I marvel how God's Word is being
misrepresented today in such an organized worldwide effort..
There
was a time when I too believed many of the unscriptural teachings of modern
theology. I see now how the God of Christendom is presented to the world as a
God of meager and scant success in the running of His creation resulting in a
minuscule reward for His well-intentioned efforts. And what is totally beyond
reason or sanity is the teaching that adds colossal insult to this devastating
injury. Except for a few who receive God's blessings, billions and billions
will receive God's unquenchable frustrated curses for all
eternity.
Gentiles
accepting this God of Christendom must also accept the teaching that salvation
will ultimately come to only a few of their people, not all. This is hardly a
fair exchange for the gods these people are supposed to forsake.
First,
let me state my position succinctly:
1.Whatever we teach must "glorify" God.
"Glory to God in the highest ... " (Lk.
2:14).
" ... that in all God may be glorified ...
" (I Pt. 4:11).
2.Whatever we teach must not detract one iota from
Christ's sacrifice for all humanity.
"For there is one
God, and one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus; Who gave
Himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time." (I Tim.
2:5-6)
"For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach,
because we trust in the living God, who is the savior of all men
[mankind], specially [not exclusively] to
those that believe. These things command and teach." (I Tim.
4:10-11)
In your
sermon you mentioned visiting a person who had no interest in God. He remarked
that if he lived his life the way he considered "good," that was all he needed.
He then questioned how God would deal with Africans who know nothing of God.
What would be their fate?
You
suggested that he posed this question in such a way as to feel self-assured
that he had boxed you in. As though, surely, you wouldn't be able to answer
him.
You then
assured your congregation that he had not trapped you in this question, but
that you have the true Biblical answer to this question, which has also been
asked by countless truth seekers through the centuries. You used an analogy and
a few scriptures on conscience to show that God is not responsible for the
eternal fate of billions of unsaved humanity.
It is
your "analogy" that is the reason for this letter. Your analogy personifies
much of modern theological thinking.Analogies
are fine for teaching if they really are analogous to the subject. They should
simplify, not contradict the Scriptures on the topic at hand! You opened a
"theological can of worms" with your
analogy.
HELL
You said
something to the effect that "sin is what
sends people to hell."
"Hell"
is an unfortunate translation of numerous Greek and Hebrew words.
�In Hebrew "Hell" is translated from the word
sheol
�This same word sheol is translated into the
English word "grave" thirty-one times in the Authorized
Version
�In Greek "Hell" is translated from the word
gehennah [the valley of Hinnom], Tartaros [abyss?], and
hades [the unseen].
�In I Cor. 15:55 "hades" is translated
"grave"
�The Hebrew word sheol and the Greek word
hades are synonymous (Acts 2:27).
Why
would an intelligent translator translate three totally different Greek words
into the same English word?
"Hell"
never was and never will be a proper translation of the Greek word
hades. However, back in the Middle Ages it did have a totally different
connotation than today. There is old English literature that refers to people
"putting their potatoes in hell" for the winter. And I guarantee you that when
they retrieved their potatoes they were still raw and not baked or burned by
some fabled fires of hell.
Although
not a proper translation of hades, this old English word did (I said
"did"-not anymore) have similarities to the word hades. My old Webster's
Twentieth Century Dictionary has this definition: "hell, n. [ME, helle; AS,
hell, hell, from helan, to cover, conceal.]" To "cover" or "conceal." That
definition has at least some similarity to the Greek elements of hades:
UN-PERCEIVED [the UNSEEN or IMPERCEPTIBLE].
Before
the King James Bible, the old Anglo-Saxon word simply meant a dark, hidden,
concealed, or covered hole in the ground. Actually, hell would be a better
translation for grave than hades. But now check a modern dictionary and
look what we get: Webster's New World Dictionary: "hell (hel), n 1. the place
where Christians believe that devils live and wicked people go to be punished
after they die." What happened to the definition ... of the word ...
"hell?"
It
doesn't even purport to define the word. It just tells us what Christians
believe it is. I, frankly, don't care what Christians think it means. What a
travesty of modern scholarship.
So when
unsaved people die, are they really punished eternally in this "Christian"
hell?
You
know, it's the theologians who should be protecting the people against such
modern heresy, but instead it is they who are causing and promoting the
heresy.
Let's
see if God's Word really teaches eternal torture in a "Christian hell where
devils live," immediately after death for unsaved sinners.Let's
look at body, spirit, and soul, and see if any dwell "with devils" at
death.
BODY
When a
man dies his body (if not disintegrated) goes into a grave or tomb (Jn. 11:38)
where within a few days it begins to smell and decompose (Jn. 11:39), and it
returns [Heb. shub] to the dust of the ground from which it was taken (Gen.
3:17-19, Job 10:9, Psa. 9:17, etc., etc). The "person" is said to be where the
"body" is and the "person" is resurrected from the place where the body is
(Mat. 28:6). Only in a figurative or symbolic sense does a "body" ever go to
sheol (Jonah 2:2). Jonah was not "literally" in hell [sheol], but
in the fish, and besides he didn't even die. I'm sure Jonah's loss of
perception inside the fish resembled his knowledge of the word
"sheol."
SPIRIT
When a
man dies his spirit returns to God Who gave it (Lk. 23:46, Psa. 104:24-30). The
"spirit" is never said to go to hades or sheol, and the
"soul" is never said to go to Heaven at death. Men and beasts have the
same spirit [ruach] and they go to the same place (Ecc. 3:18-21). There is no
getting around this: when God takes away a living soul's spirit, it always
dies. The spirit "gives life." No one can live without "spirit," no matter how
young and healthy he may be. There are no exceptions. If there are, where is
the Scripture? A dead person cannot experience anything-not pleasure in Heaven
or pain in a fabled hell. This is a serious thing. Rom. 14:23 says: "Now
everything which is not out of faith is sin." If one doesn't have Scriptures
that show people go to eternal hell fire after death, then it is a sin to teach
it.
SOUL
When a
man dies his soul goes to the unseen or imperceptible [Gk: hades, Heb:
sheol]. We also know that when man is in this condition (dead) it is
likened to "sleep" (Psa. 13:3, Dan. 12:1-2, Jn. 11:11-14). God Himself likens
death to sleep,
"The Lord said unto Moses
[concerning his imminent death], Behold, thou shalt sleep with
thy fathers ... " (Deut. 31:16)
This is
substantiated by the fact that:
"The living know that they shall die, but
the dead know not anything" (Ecc. 9:5,6).
Again:
" ... for there is no work, nor device
[contrivance, intelligence, reason], nor knowledge, nor wisdom,
in sheol." (Ecc. 9:10).
Do we
think all of these Scriptures lie? According to what we just read in Ecc.
9:5,6,10, do dead people know anything? And these verses are correctly
translated.
The
words "soul" and "spirit" have become corrupted through theology so that they
are now used interchangeably, as if they were synonymous. They are not
synonymous. There may be certain similarities between soul and spirit, but
similarities do not make them one and the same.
The
"soul" is the seat of sensation, consciousness, and feelings, not the body or
the spirit. It is the spirit that imparts life to the body and the body then
becomes a living soul (Gen. 2:7).
A
thorough study of the word "soul" in the Scriptures proves that it is used of
consciousness, feelings, and emotions. Hence, "sensation" is a good word to
define its usage.
�souls can touch (Lev. 5:2)
�souls have knowledge (Pr. 2:10)
�souls have memory (Lam. 3:20)
�souls can love, and be joyful (Psa. 35:9;
86:4)
�souls can hunger and thirst (Deut.
14:26)
�souls can sin (Lev. 4:2)
�life can be given to a soul (Job
3:20)
�souls can die (Ezek. 18:20)
�souls can be converted (Psa. 19:7)
�none can keep alive his (own) soul (Psa.
22:29)
�honey is sweet to the soul (Pr.
16:24)
�even God has a soul (Lev. 26:11, I Sam. 2:35, Jer.
32:41)
�souls can hear (Acts 3:22-23)
�souls can experience pleasure (Heb.
10:3)
�souls can be purified (I Pet.
1:22)
�and souls can receive salvation (I Pet.
1:9).
These
verses show the wide range of emotions and sensations that "souls" experience,
but dead souls experience nothing in the unseen or imperceptible
(hades). We need to pay close attention to the meaning of words.
Hades comes from the Greek a(i)des. The a is a prefix which is
equivalent to our un- and the stem -id means perceive. Thus
we have UN-PERCEIVE, or imperceptible: the unseen. Etymologically, your
doctrine of torment in hell falls flat on its face. From the words that God
chose to call this condition of the soul after death, one thing is crystal
clear: There is absolutely no perception there. And the soul has everything to
do with perception and sensation as clearly seen from the verses
above.
So why
do you teach that there is perception in death? The very meaning of the
word itself (hades) is unseen or imperceptible, so how can a dead soul
have perception in a condition of imperception? God Himself chose this word
which teaches us that hades is UN-perceptible or IM-perceptible (NO
perception).
Because
of the shameful way these words are translated and interchanged in the
Authorized Version, it is nearly impossible to understand their true meanings
without an exhaustive concordance.
FROM
KING JAMES TRANSLATION:
SPIRIT
[pneuma]
is translated
LIFE
in Rev. 13:5
SOUL
[nephesh]
is translated
HEART
in Prov. 23:7, etc
HEART
[leb]
is translated
MIND
in Prov. 21:27, I Sam. 9:20, etc.
SOUL
[nephesh]
is translated
LIFE
in Gen. 9:4, Lev. 17:11, etc
SOUL
[nephesh]
is translated
GHOST
in Job 11:2
SPIRIT
[pneuma]
is translated
GHOST
in Mark 1:8
SOUL
[nephesh]
is translated
BEAST
in Lev. 24:18.
BEAST
[chay]
is translated
LIFE
in Lev. 18:18.
SOUL
[nephesh]
is translated
BODY
in Lev. 21:11, Hag. 2:35,
etc.
This
kind of translating is not responsible scholarship-it's confusing and
contradictory.
The
Apostle Paul admonished Timothy to "have a pattern of sound
words" (II Tim. 1:13) The Scriptures quoted above clearly show the
translator's disregard for this instruction.
Man is
mortal (Job 4:17). Not one Scripture says that man is "immortal" or has an
"immortal" soul. Not one. "Our Lord, Jesus Christ: the blessed and only
Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only has
immortality" (I Tim. 6:14-16).
It is by
means of the "resurrection" that God causes dead people to live again. The
Apostle Paul said: "Concerning the expectation and resurrection of the dead am
I being judged" (Acts 23:6). The truth regarding the "resurrection of the dead"
is not even taught in Christendom today. They teach that there are no dead
people (only dead bodies). They teach that people are either alive on earth,
alive in Heaven, or alive in Hell. What need have we for a "resurrection of the
dead" if there are no dead people to resurrect? This, my friend, is
heresy!
Paul
also stated: "Now if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ
been roused. Now if Christ has not been roused, for naught, consequently, is
our heralding, and for naught is your faith" (I Cor. 15:14-15). The very
salvation of mankind rests on the resurrection.
YOUR ANALOGY
To show
that God cannot be held responsible for the orthodox hell-bound fate of the
peoples of Africa, you used an analogy of a man snake-bit in the Everglades.
You said that a snake-bit man in the Everglades could not hold a nearby medical
center responsible for his death even if they did have at their disposal the
antiserum that would have saved him.
How is
your analogy of a snake-bit man in the Everglades analogous to all the people
of Africa (or China and the rest of the heathen world) who do not know God? If
your analogy stands, then he doesn't even know who or what his savior is. And
even if he does, he is hardly in any condition to get there by himself. Is it
the responsibility of a dying man to accomplish the impossible, namely, to
reach an unreachable Savior? Is it the Africans' responsibility to find a
Savior they don't know or never even heard of? What logic is this? Or is this a
case of "God helps those who help themselves?" No. Many Scriptures show that
God helps those who can't possibly help themselves.
Instead
of inventing an analogy, why didn't you just use an analogy that is already in
the Scriptures? You put this snake-bit man in the same predicament as the "lost
sheep." Let me tell you why. Because the analogy of the "lost sheep" utterly
destroys the fallacious point you are trying to make.
Of
course a snake-bit man couldn't hold a hospital (who had no knowledge of his
tragedy) responsible for his own death. This analogy is a "straw man." There
are no similarities between this analogy and God's responsibility toward His
creatures for their eternal salvation.
Is the
snake-bit man "responsible" on his own to swim three miles and then crawl five
miles on his belly to his savior (the hospital)? How, pray tell, can this man
come to his savior by himself, by his own ability? He's
dying.
Look at
your analogy: No one at the hospital had any knowledge of a man dying of a
snake-bite or they would have come to his rescue. Do you doubt this for
one second? Surely they would have used trucks, airboats, helicopters, or
whatever it took to save him. Is God less responsible? Now, had they received
word that this snake-bit man needed immediate medical assistance but refused to
go to his aid, they would be considered criminally negligent. Is God just as
negligent as they would have been? God is fully aware that His sheep are now
lost:
"My people hath been lost sheep ...
" (Jer. 50:6).
"How
think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth
he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains [or the
Everglades], and seeketh that which is gone astray? ... even so it is not the
will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should
perish." (Matt. 18: 12 & 14)
When God
almighty says something is His will or is not His will then
that's the way it will be done (Mat. 6:10). In God's time and in God's
way, ultimately, there will be NO lost sheep anywhere. It is the "will
of your Father" that this is the way it will be done! Almighty God will
not fail in His desire to accomplish all His Will. Notice Isa. 46:10-11:
"Telling from the
beginning, the hereafter, And from aforetime, what has not yet been done.
Saying, 'All My counsel shall be confirmed, And ALL MY DESIRE WILL I DO.
Calling from the sunrise, a bird of prey, From a land far off, the man of My
counsel. Indeed, I speak! Indeed, I will bring it about! I formed. Indeed, I
WILL DO IT."
But the
shepherds (Pastors and Clergymen) of the world teach that God will never
fulfill His own will and desires. They teach that most of the sheep
will be lost. And worst than lost; they will supposedly be tortured in
the fires of Hell for all eternity. You CONTRADICT God and His Word when you
teach these things. Read Jer. 50:6 again, it is the "shepherds" that have led
the sheep astray:
"My people hath been lost sheep:
their SHEPHERDS have CAUSED them to go astray... "
Maybe
it's God's time to let the world know who these fraudulent shepherds are and
how they are leading millions astray from God's truths.
But God
will bring them back safely (in case you doubted, God is a better shepherd than
we). God will save ALL Israel (Rom. 11:26), and it is His delight to give
Israel the Kingdom (Lk. 12:32), and God will perform ALL of His desires (Isa.
46:10-11). How can you doubt God's ability to perform His Own WILL? You attempt
to diminish God's very Will into little more than a weak wish. If one cannot
even believe the Scriptures, how can one teach them?
Your
theology is up-side-down, Dr. Kennedy. The shepherd (the Savior) goes after the
lost sheep (the Africans or whoever). Since when is it up to the "lost sheep"
to find the Shepherd?
And what
about "the ninety and nine?" Remember: "All we like sheep have gone astray"
(Isa. 53:6). Were the "ninety and nine" shrewd enough, and strong enough, and
clever enough by their own instincts to avoid all the jagged rocks, and holes,
and cliffs, and ditches, and wolves, and foxes, till one by one they all saved
themselves until they found the shepherd?
If sheep
could do all of those things by themselves, they wouldn't need a shepherd.
Dr.
Kennedy, learn something about analogies. Why does God Himself use the analogy
of "sheep" to represent lost mankind? Because we have the same number of feet?
God uses the analogy of "sheep" because sheep are totally unable to save
themselves. They need a shepherd.
Pastor
Hagee says: "When one realizes just how helpless and dumb sheep really are,
it's offensive that God calls us sheep." If that's how he feels, I don't know
what he thinks of God's ultimate analogy of what man is (Isa.
64:8).
This
"straw man" analogy of yours is foolish, and any analogy that attempts to
relieve God of His responsibility for the salvation of His creatures would be
equally foolish. There is no analogy that can be used to demonstrate something
that is false.
You
don't seem to understand that God is not trying to save all of His sheep in
this lifetime. There are Scriptural reasons why God allows people to die
without ever having known Him. They are not eternally lost, they are only
"dead." And let's be completely honest here. When a person is "dead," how does
God view that condition? As sleep (John 11:11). Are you suggesting that every
night when your children go to bed that their eternal fate is sealed? I didn't
say death is like sleep, but God Almighty has, many times.
Do you
believe God when He says death is "sleep?" Do you really believe that tired and
overworked saints in Heaven go to sleep? Do you really believe that
after a hard day at the furnace, people in Hell go to sleep? Why is it
such a hard thing for you to just believe the Scriptures when God says death is
like sleep? God awakens dead people out of sleep in resurrection. This is
sensible and understandable: Your teaching is strange and ridiculous.
You make
it clear from your sermon that when a person dies you think his fate is
eternally sealed. This, however, is also unscriptural. Death is an enemy, but
not too formidable an enemy for God. Death cannot separate anyone from the love
of God, be he sinner or saint (Rom. 8:36). More proof on this later. Besides,
even death itself will be abolished (I Cor. 15:26). God abolishes death by
vivifying everyone who is dead. The only way to abolish the darkness in a room
is to turn on the light. The only way to abolish death is to make everyone
alive.
Look at
the giant difference between God and a hospital. The hospital was ignorant of a
man needing immediate help. But, not only did God know full well that this man
was snake-bit and dying, it was God Himself who created the poisonous snake,
and created the Everglades, and created the man.
I think
if you reconsider your premise, we will probably be agreed that had the
hospital been called to help this man they would have responded quickly.
But now
look at the implications of your analogy. Sinful medics at a hospital, in the
final analysis, are much, much more loving, concerned, caring, and responsible
toward a perfect stranger than your God is toward one of His own sons!
The use
of an analogy presupposes that the one using the analogy already knows the
truth of the subject being analogized, else how could he devise the right
analogy to substantiate his premise? Why not just skip the analogy and tell us
plainly that you believe billions and billions of Africans, Chinese, and most
of the population of the entire world are doomed to eternal hell without ever
being given an opportunity to know Jesus Christ as their personal savior? Why
not just admit that you don't think God is the least bit "responsible" for
this, the most tragic disaster in the history of the universe?
If
that's the way you feel, why not come out and admit it instead of hiding behind
a man-made analogy.
Let's
look deeper into why your analogy doesn't work. I'll use the exact same
"premise," but let's change the characters and their
location.
Let's
change the snake-bit man into a five-year old girl, the snake into an
alligator, and the medical center into the little girl's father. Next, let's
move this alligator-attack on this little girl from the Everglades to the
little girl's back yard. Let's place her father twelve feet away from her on
the back porch. Now. Do you really think this analogy is going to work, Dr.
Kennedy?
You
don't like my changes? Okay, let's use your analogy again. As I recall, the
snake-bit man was apparently some miles from the Medical Center, correct? Would
it still work if he were only one mile from the Center? What about a hundred
yards? Let's try this. Let's say this man is thirty feet in front of the
hospital moat with the Medics witnessing his snakebite through a window. Does
your analogy still, work, Dr. Kennedy?
It's the
"distance" that makes the difference, isn't it? Did I put the "Savior" too
close for comfort?
If the
father were just across the street, maybe he could be justified in not saving
his daughter. What do you think? Or must we put him out of screaming distance,
say two or three blocks away? That suits your analogy better doesn't it? If one
doesn't know what's going on, he can't be held "responsible." Isn't that what
your analogy really portends? If the "shepherd" is out of sight, out of town,
or on vacation, nowhere to be found, then he is no longer responsible for
saving the lost sheep. Is that correct, Dr. Kennedy? Or if the shepherd is
sleeping on the job, I guess he wouldn't be responsible for saving the lost
sheep, either.
Do you
think all those billions of unbelievers are being lost because God is out of
town on an extended vacation? Or is He "sleeping on the job?"
My
question to you is: How far, Dr. Kennedy - how FAR must you "distance"
God from Africa until "His hand is too short to redeem or save" (Isa.
50:2 & 59:1), and He can no longer see or hear or feel or be
"responsible" for all these poor helpless people who you think are on a
daily death march into the eternal doom of a Christian Hell? According to your
absurd analogy, it takes only a few miles to disable God's ability to
save.
This
characterization of God Almighty comes a whole lot closer to blasphemy
than I think you want to be standing, Dr. Kennedy!
All who
are dead asleep in their graves will be resurrected from death to life (Ezek.
37:13-14). Christ will draw all men (including Africans) to Himself (Jn.
12:32). It is God's WILL that they come to a knowledge of the truth and be
saved (Tim. 2:4). Every tongue in heaven and earth will, " ... ACCLAIM that
Jesus Christ is Lord, for the Glory of God, the Father" (Phil. 2:11). God will
not lose one single sheep (Matt. 18:14). God will save all Jews and all
Gentiles (Rom. 11:32). So that God may " ... be ALL in ALL" (I Cor.
15:28).
Distance
is immaterial to God. Can "distance" separate God from His love for His African
people? Rom. 8:35-39 plainly says "no!"
" ... Not far from each one of us is
He inherent, for in Him we are living and moving and are ... " (Acts
17:27).
"Yet now, in Christ Jesus, you [the
Gentiles], who once, are far off, are become near by the blood
of Christ." (Eph. 2:13).
There is
no partiality with God. You need to read these Scriptures and ponder them
deeply.
Your
reasoning that lost sheep must find their own shepherd and unbelievers must
find their own Savior or else be doomed reminds me of Lazarus' sister Mary who
came to our Lord and said:
"Lord, if Thou wert here, my brother
would not have died!" (Jn. 11:32).
Amazing
what we humans think are insurmountable problems for God. But you see, Christ
was not there and Lazarus did die. But then Christ did come and He did
resurrect Lazarus from the dead.
Did
Christ resurrect Lazarus out of Hell fire? If He did, then Lazarus went to Hell
by mistake. Did Christ resurrect Lazarus out of Heaven? If He did, then Christ
lied eight chapters earlier when He said, "NO one has ascended into
heaven ... " (Jn 3:13). Christ resurrected Lazarus out of the TOMB
(Jn. 11:38-39). Because that's where Lazarus WAS, in the TOMB, dead ASLEEP.
This historical example of Christ's resurrection powers was a foretaste of what
Christ will do in the future resurrections. This is how it is done. Dead
people (not just dead bodies) will be resurrected from the dead, not
from life at some other geographical location (not heaven and not hell),
but FROM THEIR GRAVES, wherever they may be.
If it is
essential that a man be saved before he dies, then God, indeed, would be
derelict in His responsibility toward His creatures. But where does it say that
a man's eternal fate is sealed at his death? Where? Nowhere!
TV ANALOGY
Here is
an analogy that is applicable and easy to understand: God's spirit gives life
to the body. Only in life does a man have consciousness or sensation. When God
takes back His spirit, the body and soul are dead.
Picture
a TV console as representing the human BODY with all its intricate circuitry
and components.
Now
picture ELECTRICITY as the invisible, powerful force representing God's
life-giving SPIRIT.
Picture
the blank PICTURE TUBE as representing the SOUL.
Without
the electricity (God's spirit), the TV and picture tube (body and soul) are
dead. All the time I hear preachers talking about our souls and our spirits as
if they were one and the same. Soul and spirit are not one and the
same.
Next
plug in the electricity (God's spirit). The TV comes to life, and we see the
picture tube (soul) animated. We see color, sound, dancing, singing, talking,
intelligent conversations, all live via satellite. The dead TV becomes a
living, visible, animated, intelligent entity-"Soul." But notice very
carefully, the Soul (the animated picture in the TV tube) is not one of the
original components. It is not a component in and by itself, but is rather the
result of two other vital components, Body and Spirit (the TV console and
electricity).
At
bedtime I sometimes tell my daughter to give the TV a rest. When one turns off
the "on/off" switch the TV goes to "sleep." The power light is still on, but
the TV is blank and silent.
But now,
pull the plug and take away the electricity (spirit) and what happens to the TV
console (body)? It dies. It's just a box of circuits. Not even the power light
is on anymore. If left unplugged it will, in time, decay and return to the dust
of the ground.
And what
happens to the colorful animated picture on the screen (soul) when we take away
the electricity (spirit)? Want the real answer? Ask a child. Let several
children watch TV together, then pull the plug and ask them where the picture
went? A child will shrug his shoulders or say "I don't know" or say "It
disappeared." Guess what? He is Scripturally correct on all three
counts.
Without
spirit there is no life and no consciousness. Without power a TV has no life
and no animated picture. It's dead.
If you
were to ask an ancient Hebrew person what happens to the soul (the thinking,
feeling, animated, sentient personality of a man) at death, he would shrug his
shoulders or say "who knows" or just say "it disappears." That's what
"Sheol" meant to the Hebrews. It was a question mark. And the Greeks had
their word for the same idea (Hades-the UNSEEN, the IMPERCEPTIBLE), and
hades and sheol are synonymous in Scripture (Acts
2:27).
There is
one more profound Scriptural truth that is also perfectly analogous to the
operation of a TV, and that is this. Picture God's Throne as the Broadcast
Headquarters. The TV picture Tube, by itself, is not the source or originator
of the picture it portrays on the screen. It is a channel for the signal
transmitted from the TV Station and Tower. It can only manifest and portray on
its screen that which is sent from the source [God]. And often the source [God]
uses intermediaries like satellites [Angels] to relay the
signals.
In
Scripture, death is called a "return" [Heb. shub]. Before we were born
we had no body, no soul, and no perception of any kind. At birth God gave us a
body, implanted to us His spirit, which gives the body perception (through the
brain and the five senses). At death, we [shub] RETURN. The reversal of
what happened at birth. The spirit returns to God (Ecc. 12:7), the body
returns to the dust (all the elements of man's body are found in the
ground or earth) (Job 10:9, Ecc. 3:18-21), and the soul returns to no
perception again (the imperceptible or unseen-hades) (Acts 2:27 and
Psalm 49:15). This is what the Scriptures very plainly teach: where all that
man "is" came from, that's where all that man "is" returns
to.
FREE WILL
You
mentioned "free will" in your sermon. People would rather have their arms and
legs cut off and be thrown into a pit of snakes than to give up their "free
will." Well guess what? They don't have to give it up. They never had such a
thing in the first place! Even God Almighty is governed by the law of His own
nature.
"The One Who is operating all in accord with
the counsel of His will." (Eph. 1:11).
But the
buck stops at God's throne. He has not given us the same powers He possesses;
that's for sure. But man, puny man, thinks he has "human free will" that is
never caused or made to think or do anything. Man thinks himself sovereign in
this assumed free will.
The
Scriptures know nothing of "human free will." This is just another case of
human ignorance. Men do not possess free will, because free will does not
exist. The reason that "free will" (the ability to make uncaused choices) does
not exist is because it is a physiological impossibility!
The
first edict of the universe is "cause & effect."
Nothing
in heaven or earth can happen without a cause. For every effect there is a
cause. There are no exceptions. No effect or happening of any kind in the
universe, on earth, in our bodies, or in our minds can come into existence
without a cause. And if something is caused, it cannot be free. That would be a
total contradiction of words and logic. Humans do have wills. But wills are not
free from causality.
" ... for it is GOD Who is operating in
you TO WILL as well as to work for the sake of His delight" (Phil.
2:13).
This
involves countless unperceived forces.
Don't
confuse "will" with "choice." Someone might say: "If our choices, are caused,
then how can one call it a 'choice'-isn't that a contradiction?" Not at all.
Free will demands that when someone makes a "free will" choice, no thing or no
one made or forced him to do so. It was completely up to him-one way or the
other. People simple confuse the meaning and definition of words. The word
"choice" has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not the choice could have
been avoided. A choice is merely what we prefer. Nowhere does the word "choice"
carry with it the notion of "avoidability."
When one
makes a choice, one selects what one prefers most at that instant.
Nevertheless, something still caused that choice, whether one sees or feels its
presence or not. One can argue that one made a free choice because one desired
to do so. It still doesn't matter-the desire caused the choice, and the desire,
itself, was caused. There are no exceptions. One may suggest that one did or
said something without a cause simply because one willed to do so. Fine. But
then even you are admitting that the choice had a cause, namely your will.
One's wills and desires are not free from the laws of God or the laws of
physics. These demand a cause for every effect. Man is not a deity. Man's will
is not independent from his Creator (Phil. 2:13).
Read
Mat. 7:18-23. Our Lord speaks of a large group of people (many), " ... in that
day," who will justify their Christian walk by: "prophesying in Christ's name,"
"casting out demons," and "doing many wonderful works." (Ver. 22). Sounds
pretty good to me. But there seems to be a problem when Christ says: " ...
depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Ver. 23).
"Iniquity" is not the proper translation here. The
Greek word is anomon-UN-LAWness or LAWLESSNESS. Man thinks by nature he is
above the law in that "free will" is, itself, lawless. Thinking himself
equipped with "free will" man feels a certain equality with his Creator. "Human
free will," therefore, becomes the epitome of man's lawlessness. Man thinks
himself a potter. However, to man's chagrin, God says He is the Potter and man
is the "pot" (Isa. 64:8).
And God
hates pride (Prov. 6:17, 16;18, 29:23), which is the bed-buddy of human "free
will."
Anyone
who is so deluded as to think he possesses powers so great as to be able to
thwart the very Will of God, is certainly disqualified from being a teacher of
the Word of God!
"Sin is lawlessness" (I Jn. 3:4).
Free will is lawlessness.
RESPONSIBILITY
Not only
are all the billions of heathens who never heard the gospel not responsible for
their own salvation, but neither are we responsible for our salvation either.
Nowhere in the Scriptures does God hold man responsible for anything. This is
just another man-made doctrine that clashes with the
Scriptures.
We can
use the word "responsible" in a relative sense, such as: "It is a man's
responsibility to provide for his family." We all know what the word means. But
even if this man doesn't provide for his family, God will hold him accountable
not responsible.
The
problem with your sermon, Dr. Kennedy, is that you want to present God as a
"fair" God. You know most men have lived and died never knowing God or even
hearing His Name, so you try to relieve God of His responsibility for His
creatures. You know that there is "no other name under Heaven by which man must
be saved." You do know that, don't you? I'm betting that you
do.
But God
doesn't need to be relieved of His responsibility.
Knowing
that billions of heathens have lived and died, never hearing that Name or
knowing the true God, (and since you have all these man-made doctrines that
clash with the Word of God), you try to "get God off the hook." And so you
place the burden of responsibility for being saved on man's shoulders. God is
not "on the hook." He doesn't need your help, my help, a missionary's help, or
anybody else's help to save His children. God does use teachers, pastors, etc.
to acquaint people with His Word. But this is a privilege for us, not a
necessity for God. Remember the Scripture, that God can "raise up stones" if
needed. The Scriptures tell us that all men everywhere are accountable to God,
not responsible:
"For the word of God is living and
operative, and keen above any two-edged sword, and penetrating up to the
parting of soul and spirit both of the articulations and marrow, and is a judge
of the sentiments and thoughts of the heart. And there is not a creature which
is not apparent in its sight. Now all is naked and bare to the eyes of Him to
Whom [God] we are accountable" (Heb.
4:12-13).
Even the
King James Version, with its thousands of discrepancies, does not even once in
its fifteen hundred pages, use the word "responsible" or
"responsibility."
Yet
churches evolve whole doctrines around this word "responsibility." Things like:
"you're responsible for going to hell" or "it's your responsibility to accept
Christ" or "the age of responsibility" or "everyone is responsible for his or
her deeds." Strange to make so big a deal of a word that does not even appear
in Scripture.
When a
minor (a child) commits a crime, even the unjust courts of our land do not hold
him responsible. Is his crime simply overlooked? No. He must give an account
for his actions. He is accountable. He might be the victim of a broken home,
with a drunkard father, a prostitute mother, drug-hooked sisters, and
gang-member brothers. Thus, he is not considered responsible. Nonetheless, he
is still accountable.
"Now I am saying to you that, for every idle
declaration which men shall be speaking they shall be rendering an
account concerning it in the day of judging" (Matt. 12:36).
"For all of us shall be presented at the
dais of God ... Consequently then, each of us shall be giving account
concerning himself to God" (Rom. 14:11-12).
Read the
dozens of scriptures where we are likened not only to "children," but to
"little children." God is dealing with mankind as minors. He holds them
accountable, but nowhere does God hold man responsible. Show me one
Scripture.
The
church can only see the relative in God's word. They fail to see that God is
behind everything in the "absolute."
" ... according to the purpose of the One
Who is operating all in accord with the counsel of His will." (Eph.
1:11--Concordant Literal New Testament).
The only
One in the universe Who is responsible [able to respond] is God And so, God
takes full responsibility for everything even though He holds man accountable
for his deeds. Man is accountable for his deeds, not because he could have done
otherwise, but because he thinks he is responsible through his presumed free
will. Because he actually did the things he did. However, the Scriptures
tell us that, "not in all" is this knowledge. Puny man really thinks he is in
control of his own destiny. He really thinks he is a "god unto himself." And
the Christian Church hasn't done very much to educate him out of this
dilemma.
There's
a poem that personifies man's "self-appointed inner deity". It's called
INVICTUS, by William Ernest Benley. It appears in a book called: The
Best Loved POEMS of the AMERICAN PEOPLE. I heard Oprah Winfrey comment once
that this is her favorite poem. It goes like this:
INVICTUS
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit
from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable
soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not
winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is
bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but
the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall
find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged
with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain
of my soul.
Well,
Dorothea Day wrote a rebuttal version of this same poem:
MY CAPTAIN
Out of the light that dazzles me,
Bright as the
sun from pole to pole
I thank the God I know to be
For Christ the
conqueror of my soul.
Since His the sway of circumstance,
I would not
wince nor cry aloud,
Under that rule which men call chance
My head with
joy is humbly bowed.
Beyond this place of sin and tears
That life with
Him! And His the aid,
Despite the menace of the years,
Keeps, and shall
keep me, unafraid.
I have no fear, though strait the gate,
He
cleared from punishment the scroll.
Christ is the Master of my
fate,
Christ is the Captain of my soul.
Wow!
This girl should have been a theologian. One can go to church for many, many
years, and not hear this much Scriptural truth.
"Christ the CONQUEROR of my soul."
But
wait. I think I hear cries of protest from the Theological Peanut Gallery:
"No! No!
Christ can't 'conquer' your soul. It's not allowed. Not even God can tamper
with man's 'free moral agency-will.' Everyone must come to Christ of this own
'free will.'"
"Since His the sway of CIRCUMSTANCE."
"No! No!
God doesn't sway the circumstances of life. Man 'brings about' his own
circumstances. Man makes his own heaven or hell. It's all up to man!"
"Under that rule which MEN CALL CHANCE."
"No! No!
It isn't 'rule by God' it really is 'chance.' And men get only one
chance."
(Well
not really. According to Christendom the billions of Africans and Chinese who
never heard the name of Christ don't even get one "chance").
And
since when is salvation a thing of "chance?" Salvation through Christ's
sacrifice is "sure!" Rom. 8:32-- "Surely" [Gk: ge, a particle indicating
that no doubt is possible] ... "Surely, He Who spares not His own Son, but
gives Him up for us all how shall He not together with Him also, be graciously
granting us all?" It is worse than sin to relegate God's supreme sacrifice to a
thing of "chance"!
"I have no fear, (Well Pastor Hagee says we
had better FEAR) though strait the gate, He CLEARED FROM PUNISHMENT the
scroll."
"No! No!
The punishments will never be 'cleared'-not in the next billion eons or the
billions that follow, not ever, never! Punishment is eternal-why world renowned
theologians tell us it will be a great part of our happiness, and God's
happiness, to watch billions of boys and girls, men and women being burned and
tortured, screaming with insanity for eon upon eon. Won't that be fun."
Do you
think they'll all get season tickets to this "Great Heavenly Coliseum of
Eternal Torture?"This
is sick!
"Christ is the MASTER OF MY FATE"
"No!
No!" shouts the peanut gallery. "Everyone's 'fate' is in his own hands. Why
'you send yourself to Hell' shouts Pastor Hagee."
"Christ is the CAPTAIN of my soul."
"No! No!
You are your own Captain. You have to find Christ, and if you live in Africa or
China that may not be possible, but it doesn't matter because God gave them a
'conscience.' It won't save them, but they'll get 'fewer lashes' for all
eternity. Christ is 'our little helper' in time of need, but never forget-you
are your OWN captain."
To some
Christ would be at least their 2nd Lieutenant.
I always
thought that bumper sticker I see so often is one of the most blasphemous
things anyone could ever think, let alone parade in public on their car
bumpers: "God is my co-pilot" Yeah, right. That is if you "allow Him" I guess,
the great high honor of being seated at your right hand.
I wrote
my own childish poem to personify the theologian's view of God:
THEOLOGICAL DOUBLE-TALK
God is the greatest, you can be sure
And we will
praise Him ever more
Earth beneath and Heaven above
Display His never
ending love
Nothing is too hard for God
He makes a man from a
lump of sod
The armies of Pharaoh He demolished
Why even
death will be abolished
He sent His Son to save us all
But theologians
have the gall
To say that God is Sovereign still
Though He
can't conquer man's "free will!"
You see,
to the theological peanut galleries of the world, if God is responsible for
everything in His creation, then He couldn't be justified in burning billions
in eternal Hell fire! But if they can make man responsible, then it's his own
doing. But for man to be responsible, God would have had to have given him much
greater powers than even our Lord ever possessed.
"Verily, verily, I am saying to you, The
Son can not be doing anything of Himself ... " (John 5:19).
Are we
greater than our own Lord? Answer:
" ... apart from Me you can do
nothing." (Jn. 15:5).
Well,
there it is. God has given man no such powers.
"It is not in man to direct his own
steps" (Jer. 10:23).
I know
that this verse is shocking to contemplate. It is a real ego deflator. People
do not want their self-esteem brought that low. They love to talk humble pie,
but they won't eat it. If God tells us we can't even "direct our own steps,"
pray what can we do by ourselves? The true and Scriptural answer is just as
shocking:
" ... for apart from Me
[Christ] you can do NOTHING" (John 15:5).
I know
this truth is too high for most. Most don't really meditate on such verses.
They certainly would never preach a sermon on them. They wouldn't be able to
take credit for their own salvation anymore (if they actually believed these
Scriptures). They would be forced to get rid of all their self worth. They
couldn't feel all puffed up like the King of Assyria if they acknowledged God's
total Sovereignty in their lives. They don't have to believe it now. God isn't
breaking anyone's arm to accept these truths. But don't try to skillfully
contradict these truths of the Scriptures, for that only makes you look
silly.
I'll let
you in on a secret, Dr. Kennedy. It's not God that theologians are trying to
protect from responsibility so much as it is their own ego. They will cling to
freewill at the expense of "burning billions" in their eternal hell
fire.
If God
is absolutely responsible for the salvation of all His creatures (and He
absolutely is), then He is obligated to save them. He would have to save
them. Their salvation would be assured. (Wouldn't that be a terrible
thing for theologians and clergymen to contemplate?) In other words, since God
is going to bring peace, happiness, and salvation to all of His creatures in
Heaven and Earth, God is a real God. A God worthy of the name. A God to truly
be GLORIFIED!
Sadly,
however, this is not the God of Christendom. This is not the God
being presented to the nations. Instead they are presented with a god who is
thwarted by the Adversary, thwarted by feeble demons, thwarted by
self-appointed preachers and teachers, and ultimately, thwarted by most of his
own children. And how does this god of Christendom respond to his failure in
fulfilling the role of a true God? He TORTURES the vast majority of his
creatures, without mercy, for ALL ETERNITY! And the "few" who were wise enough
to get themselves saved from this eternal hellhole of sin, evil, and
unspeakable torture, will supposedly worship this alien monster of a
failed and foiled would-be god. This is not hyperbolic emotionalism; this is
the ultimate goal of Christian theology; this is the "good news gospel" of
Christendom.
This, my
friend, is sheer heresy, and this is how the name of God is being
blasphemed among the nations today!
Behind
every relative truth there is an absolute truth.
Because
He is the Alpha and Omega, God knows the beginning from the end.. God is
operating all in accord with the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11). That's how
God knows everything that is and will be. He makes (causes) everything
to turn out the way He predetermined it must be. The Scriptures are full of
statements and examples of how everything is operating according to God's
predetermined intentions. Theologians just don't approve of it. They don't like
it. They will allow for God to cause the sun to go up and go down every
day, just as long as God hasn't determined when they get up and lie down
every day. But, like it or not, God has determined not only when they
get up and when they lie down, but also everything they will do in between.
If the
translators understood this grand truth they would never have dared to
translate Rom. 8:26 as we find it in the Authorized Version. A proper
translation of Rom. 8:26 is thus:
"Now, similarly, the
spirit also is aiding our infirmity, for what we should be praying for, to
accord with what must be, we are not aware, but the spirit itself is pleading
for us with inarticulate groanings."
God has
determined that even our prayers must be " ... to accord with WHAT MUST
BE ... "
"Accord"
and "what must be" are in the original Greek manuscripts. God really did
inspire Paul to write this Scripture. Our prayers must " ... accord with WHAT
MUST BE ... "
Rather
than fight these grand declarations of God, we should glory in them and shout
them from the rooftops:
"Seeing that out of Him and through Him and
for Him is all" (Rom. 11:36)
"God is operating all ...
" (Eph. 1:11)
" ... yet all is of God" (I Cor.
11:12).
"Yet all is of God ... " (II Cor.
5:18).
" ... with the operation which enables Him even to
subject all to Himself" (Phil. 3:21).
" ... one Father
of all, Who is over all and through all and in all"
(Eph.4:5)
"Now God is able to lavish all grace on you ... in
everything always" (II Cor.
9:8).
GOOD
AND EVIL
God
created good and evil (Isa. 45:7). That covers it all. God planted the
"tree of the knowledge of good and evil" - not Satan. When God planted that
tree He said everything (including this tree) was
"good."
People
think that God never intended for man to eat of that tree. Of course He did.
How else could man know "good?" He had to eat of that tree. "Good & Evil"
are two separate things, but the "knowledge of good and evil" are not separate.
One cannot have knowledge of good without knowledge of evil. It is impossible.
And that's why they were both in the same tree. The same fruit. The first time
I saw the truth of this verse, that both "good and evil" are in the same tree,
I was shocked. I had never seen it before.
Pastor
Hagee said that it was God's intention that Adam and Eve walk with Him in the
Garden and obey Him. So Adam apparently went against God's intention. Untrue
and impossible. If true, then God made a mistake-He sinned! If true, then God
doesn't "know all" - He lied! Then God had to go from plan "A" to plan "B." How
absurd. Adam did not withstand God's intention. God did NOT make a mistake. God
does not lie. God knows all. God did not go to plan B, but rather intended for
Adam to sin. At this point in Adam's life, God made him a vessel of dishonor
(Rom. 9:21).
Religion
and theologians have so clouded men's minds that many can't even think straight
anymore. Most do not meditate at any length or depth on what they read in God's
Word. If Adam and Eve had NOT eaten of the tree of the knowledge of "GOOD and
evil," would they have had a realization that they had done a good thing by
being obedient? No. They wouldn't. Why? Because they didn't have a knowledge of
"good and evil." That knowledge is in the fruit of a tree that they wouldn't
have eaten from. If Adam and Eve never obtained a "knowledge of GOOD and evil,"
how could they ever know ("knowledge") good?
Since
this tree contained not only the knowledge of evil, but of good also, why did
God forbid them from eating it in the first place? Or, why didn't He plant
another tree in the garden that contained ONLY the knowledge of "good?" Why not
two trees: (1) the tree of the knowledge of good, and (2) the tree of the
knowledge of evil. They could have eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good
only, and rejected the tree of the knowledge of evil, and all of the suffering
of the human race would have never came about, and we would all be living in a
garden of happiness and bliss to this very day. Or would we? Why didn't God do
it this way? Because God is intelligent and wise, not stupid and foolish like
the people who come up with questions as these.
God is
good (Mark 10:18). God possesses a knowledge of "good and evil" (Gen. 3:22).
God wants Sons (Eph. 1:5). Sons possess the attributes of their Father. There
it is. One cannot know good without a
knowledge of evil. That's why they are both in the same tree, in the same
fruit. We cannot know one without a knowledge of the other. Eph.
2:10 says:
"For His achievement are
we, being created in Christ Jesus for good works ...
"
What is
an "achievement?" Webster's Dictionary says: "to do ... succeed ... accomplish
... to get ... to reach by trying hard ... gain ... victory ... by skill, work,
courage, etc." Webster's New World Dictionary, p. 7. Do we think "achievement,"
"goodness," or "virtue," are things that fall out of the sky like rain, or grow
wild on trees?
Try to
name ONE virtue that is not the direct result of overcoming some form of EVIL.
If theologians insist that God never intended for man to sin or experience
evil, then they are also saying, of necessity, that God never intended for man
to have any virtue or to know good!
Let's
not delude ourselves. Under the same circumstances as Adam, I would have
sinned, you would have sinned, everyone would have sinned.
Yes,
Adam and Eve "sinned" when they disobeyed and ate the fruit. But it was God who
was behind it. He had already made provision for their salvation from sin.
"The Lamb slain from the foundation
[Gk: disruption] of the world" (Rev. 13:8).
God
wants sons. (Eph. 1:5). And God "designated us beforehand" for
this purpose. God knows "good and
evil" already (Gen. 3:22). Man has no knowledge apart from contrast. We can't
know what light is unless we also know darkness. We can't appreciate health
without having experienced sickness. And we cannot fully appreciate life
without also experiencing death. And so God created all these in order to
produce sons.
FREE
WILL VS. GOD'S INTENTION
Until we
come to believe that God Almighty is sovereign and " ... is operating
all according to the counsel of His will" (Eph. 1:11) we will never fully understand the Scriptures or
appreciate the marvelous works of God.
To say
that man has a "free will" and absolutely nothing "causes" it to accept or
reject God, and then say, "But God already knows who will and who won't and how
many," is not only unscriptural, but defies all logic. To say, "But God knows
all" will not solve your dilemma. Because if nothing causes man to choose as he
does, then that knowledge does not even exist until the choice is actually
made. Yet you yourself insist that one could have chosen good when he chose
evil. If God does not cause people's choices, then even God would have to wait
until the choice is actually made before knowing the choice.
You
might postulate that God sees and knows all things so God can deduce from "this
event" or "that event" or "a condition over here" or "a circumstance over
there" or "some other thing" that a man will make the choice that God knows he
will make. Okay, I'll accept that. Only one problem for your position, however.
If this is your reasoning, you just threw your own "free will" theory out the
window. This is, in the main, how our choices actually work. Something over
here or other there, this event or that event, a word spoken here or there, the
condition of our stomach or the condition of our bank account, etc., are the
very things that daily cause us to make the choices that we make. And God
controls and operates all of these unseen, unknown circumstances that then
"influence" (just a softer way of saying "cause") our every
thought.
But your
position contradicts hundreds of plain declarations of Scripture. God does know
all and God causes all. All is of God, and God is operating all according to
the Counsel of His will. Besides, why is it then that none choose "good?" Why
did our Lord say that even He could do nothing except by the Father? And didn't
our Lord plainly state that we, of ourselves, can also do nothing? You know
that verse is in the Bible. You know it is true. But it upsets theologians like
you when people like me actually believe it.
God's
"grace" is more than a pious sounding word. It is a great power. It is not by
laws, the threat of punishment, or the wranglings of self-appointed preachers
that men's lives are changed, but by the powerful, miracle-working,
heart-changing grace of God. When will men start giving God the credit He is
due in our lives? "Yet, in the grace of God I am what I am, and His
grace, which is in me, did not come to be for naught, but more exceedingly than
all of them toil I - yet not I, but the grace of God which is
with me" (I Cor. 15:10). The great and marvelous works of Paul were certainly
not of himself or by himself, but, rather, through him, by
the grace of God.
Theologians view the Scriptures in the same way
little children view a marionette show. Like little children, they suppose that
the marionettes are "truth." They suppose that what they see is the absolute
truth. These marionettes really do walk and talk "by themselves;" they really
do sing and dance "by themselves." Certainly to the immature and the
uninitiated, they have that power within themselves. But, they haven't a clue
as to what is happening behind the curtain. They haven't a clue as to how these
little marionettes do what they do! They haven't even considered that there may
be a higher power "operating" these marionettes.
In this,
theologians are like little children. Theologians don't want to know what's
going on behind the curtain. They are perfectly happy in their ignorance. They
are entertained by their own false delusions, and ever so proud of their
independence from God!
And why
is it that little children are deceived by marionettes' lifelike behavior?
Because the strings are very thin and the operators are hid behind the curtain.
They can see them perform with their own eyes. They can hear them singing with
their own ears. Surely that is proof enough for a little child. And what more
proof do you have that humans "perform" independent from the One Who is
operating all (Eph. 11:1)? None. God doesn't need thinner strings to fool
us-God operates by Spirit. God doesn't need to hide behind a curtain-God is
invisible (II Cor. 4:4).
Just as
surely as children are fooled into believing that marionettes perform by their
own powers, theologians and the wise of this world are fooled into thinking
that man too can operate, in and by himself, independently of his own
Creator.
Theologians teach this falsehood because they live by sight not by faith. Like little
children, they don't perceive any strings nor the Operator, which are both
invisible. So with them, as with children, they assume there are no operating
forces in their lives-they are "free." Hence they refuse to believe even the
Scriptural declarations that God is Operating all according to the
counsel of His own will (Eph. 11:1), and that apart from Christ they can do
nothing (Jn 15:5).
We are
witnessing a worldwide Christian movement where the blind are leading the
blind. They are like a Hollywood horror film where renegade marionettes band
together and try to cut off the controlling strings, never to be operated
against their wills by their Creator again. They want to have powers beyond
what their Maker built into them. Everyone wants to be a Potter, when in
reality, he is just a pot. "And now, Lord, Thou art our Father. And we are the
clay. Thou art our Former, and the doing of Thy hand are we all" (Isa. 64:8).
Someone
might retort: "Mr. Smith, are you saying that I can't even move my little
finger unless it is God's intention that I do so?"
That is
exactly what I am saying. Because that is exactly what God is saying: "
... not far from each one of us is He [God] inherent, for in Him we are
living and moving [our little finger] and are [exist] ... " (Acts
17:28). I'm sorry that there are people who are not happy with this
arrangement; I am. It gives me confidence and hope to know that God is
controlling everything to a perfect conclusion. Man only thinks he has
independent free will from God, and look where this world is headed. Imagine
the state of affairs if man actually did have free will.
Free
will or independence from our Creator God is just an illusion. It is,
nonetheless, a marvelous illusion. The genius of God is overwhelming. It is
this very illusion that enables mankind to actually believe he is the master of
his own fate. And God helps bolster this illusion by actually giving men a
certain amount of success in their quest for power, fame, and fortune. But just
like the King of Assyria, Pharaoh, and others, all, one day, will realize and
appreciate the fact that it was God " ... operating all ... "
These
inspired words of the Apostle Paul are so clear that one has to be downright
stubborn as to the truth, not to believe them:
"Consequently, then, to whom He will, He is
merciful, yet whom He will, He is hardening. You will be protesting to me,
then, 'Why, then, is He [God] still blaming? for who has
withstood His intention?' O man! who are you, to be sure, who are answering
again to God? That which is molded will not protest to the molder, 'Why do you
make me thus?' Or has not the potter the right over the clay, out of the same
kneading to make one vessel, indeed, for honor, yet one for dishonor?"
(Rom. 9:18-21)
God said
He raised Pharaoh up for the express purpose of displaying His power in him
(Ver. 17). It is an historical and Scriptural fact that God did this to
Pharaoh. Ver. 18 then states that, consequently then, God is either "merciful,"
or "hardens" anyone He wants to. And whosoever they are have nothing to
say about God's doing so.
Well, of
course, if one is hostile against God and His word, his retort to this
statement of Paul's would then be:
"WHY, THEN, IS HE STILL BLAMING?"
(Ver. 19)
How can
God hold people accountable for their sins when it was "He" [God] who brought
about their condition? At least Paul's detractors had the sense to realize that
if what Paul was saying is true, then they are solely at God's mercy (not their
own ability) to ever change their condition, because their next statement is:
" ... for who has WITHSTOOD HIS
INTENTION?" (Ver. 19).
God
intends for men to go against His will (that's how men become lost so that God
can then save them), but no one, absolutely NO ONE, has ever gone against God's
INTENTION! Hey, don't get angry with me - I'm just quoting the Scriptures.
Notice
that Paul does not even deign to answer such carnal questioning of God's
wisdom. His response is:
"O MAN! WHO ARE YOU, to be sure, who
are answering again to God? That which is molded WILL NOT protest to the
molder, 'Why do YOU MAKE me thus'?" (Ver. 20).
God is
GOD, and He does what He pleases. God "pleases" to have many Sons. God
"pleases" to save ALL humanity and ALL in the heavens (Eph. 11:10-11, Col.
1:20, I Cor. 15:22, 28). Who are we to question God's process? Since God
is both loving and wise and also possesses all power, why should anyone
question God's ability to accomplish His own Will?
Theologians are audacious. They not only question
God's ability to accomplish His own will; they flat out teach the whole world
that the Great Creator God will NEVER accomplish His Own Will. Paul told
Timothy:
" ... our Saviour, God, Who WILLS that ALL
mankind be saved ... " (I Tim. 2:4).
Theologians the world over say: "IT WILL NEVER
HAPPEN!" They try to make God out a liar. They are the liars,
deceivers, hypocrites, and blasphemers!
One
thing is certain; God's greatest enemies are not qualified to be great teachers
of His Word.
Maybe
it's time we pulled back the curtain of tradition, ignorance, and immaturity
and acknowledge Who is really "pulling the strings" of the universe.
But
wait. I think I hear the Theological Peanut Gallery objecting already:
"Are you
saying that people are mere 'marionettes'?" Or "robots?"
No. But
what if there are certain similarities between robots and humans? Is that a
"sin" on God's part? Certainly the human brain is many times more complex than
all the computers in the world, but nonetheless, the human is still not
independent of God.
I
understand these things, but I don't go around all day feeling like a
mechanical robot. We are highly complex creatures, with powerful emotions,
brain power, and physical dexterity. For all these I thank God.
Every
day we go places, do things, feel things, and make hundreds of choices. And God
is not going to force you, against your will, to eat cherry pie for desert at
lunch when what you are really craving is apple pie. But, nonetheless, it is
God's operation of circumstances that will cause you to desire and choose the
apple pie. Lest you think God is not concerned with tiny details, remember the
story of the war that was lost because one nail came out of a horse's
hoof.
Don't
think that this is Eastern Fatalism. This is not "blind chance" or "whatever
will be, will be." This is perfect foreknowledge and design of the Great
Creator God Who is "operating all according to the counsel of His will." It
doesn't just happen. There is perfect design behind all that God does. This is
not fatalism. God causes it all.
RELATIVE
VS. ABSOLUTE
If a
theologian can't see the "absolute" versus the "relative" in Scripture, he is
in no position to teach anyone.
A little
boys asks: "Why did God say in Gen. 3:9: 'Where art thou [Adam]?' Mommy says
that God knows everything." (I Jn 3:20). You say, "Of course God knew where
Adam was. Adam sinned. Adam felt bad. He thought he could hide from God. God
was condescending to man's level. It was for Adam's benefit that God asked,
'Where art thou Adam?'" You say, "That's not a problem. That's easy to
understand and answer. It's stupid to think that God didn't know where Adam
was."
And, of
course, we have Scriptural proof that God knew where Adam was because "He [God]
knows all" (I Jn 3:20)
Neither
did our Lord ask questions out of ignorance:
"Believe ye that I am able to do
this?" (Matt. 9:28)
"Who is my mother, and who are my
brethren?" (Matt. 12:48)
"How many loaves have ye?" (Matt.
15:34)
"Whom do men say that I the Son of man
am?" (Matt. 116:13)
Christ
asked dozens of questions during His ministry. But He already knew all the
answers:
" ... because of His knowing ALL men ...
" (Matt. 21:27).
Christ
even answered questions by asking questions. The Pharisees asked why His
disciples transgressed the "traditions." Our Lord knew how to "answer a fool
according to his folly" (Prov. 26:5) by asking: "Wherefore are you also
transgressing the precept of God because of your tradition?" (Mat.
15:3)
This
brings up another apparent contradiction, however, because Prov. 26:4 says:
"answer not a fool according to his folly ... " Our Lord knew how to do that as
well: "Neither am I telling you by what authority I am doing these
things." (Mat. 21:27). These two scriptures in Proverbs should teach us to
never pit one verse of Scripture against another. Verse 4 and 5 do not
contradict. They are both true.
So if
it's stupid to think that God didn't really know where Adam was, a relative
statement condescending to man's level, isn't it then, likewise, stupid to
believe that God contradicts Himself in the following verses:
THE
RELATIVE:
THE
ABSOLUTE:
" ... seek, and ye shall find ... "
(Mat. 7:7)
"Not one is seeking out God" (Rom.
3:11)
"God changed His mind" (Ex.
32:14)
"God is not a man Who changes His mind"
(I Sam. 15:29)
" ... choose you this day whom ye will
serve." (Josh. 24:15)
"Ye have not chosen me,
but I have chosen you ... " (Jn.
15:16)
" ... whosoever doeth not righteousness is
not of God ... " (I Jn. 3:10)
"All is of God" (II Cor.
5:18)
"Zechariah was just before God"
(Lk. 1:5) (Comparing him to the corrupt priests)
"Not one is just" (Rom. 3:10)
(Comparing man with
God)
One is
the "relative" the other is the "absolute." One is from man's point of view,
comparing men with men, the other is from God's point of view. One shows how a
thing is perceived while the other shows how it actually is. One is for minors
while the other is for the mature.
Both
Scriptures are true. The relative is true and the absolute is true. They do not
contradict. However, one really is "relative" while the other is "absolute."
Theologians are always taking Scriptures that speak
of the relative, from man's point of view, and insist that these verses are
absolute. By doing this they commit a double sin. Because then they insist that
these relative truths actually nullify God's absolute declarations. They won't
admit to this in their own words, but this is what they do when they retain the
"relative" at the expense of rejecting the "absolute."
Even
theologians admit that their free will theory is limited. So they have invented
"limited free will." They use analogies like a cow on a tether or a fly in a
jar or a lion in a cage. Their freedom is limited to the confines of their
restraints, but within those confines they are nonetheless, free. Is this true?
Is there such a thing as "limited" free will? Or is this just more theological
double-talk?
Only in
religion do simple words lose their meaning. Let's look at Webster's Twentieth
Century Dictionary: Page 963, "limited, a. Restricted." Page 682, "free, a.
without restriction." So here then is what theologians want us to believe: Man
has a will that is restricted without restriction.
Man does
not have "limited" free will. Otherwise God would have "limited" sovereignty.
Man has no free will and God has total sovereignty. Theologians
try to make high what is low and try to bring low what is high. These teachings
do not glorify God.
Somebody
has been taking William James too seriously. God is not sitting around waiting
to see what man will do through his "free will" so that He can then figure out
what to do about it. Rather than conclude from the "wisdom of the world" that
man has a free will (and thus deny the sovereignty of God), we must conclude
that since God is sovereign, man can not and does not have a free will. This is
logical, sensible, and lawful. It is Scriptural and it glorifies God.
Theologians condemn scientists for their inability
to see beyond the "relative" in our universe. Surely these scientists must see
that a God must be behind everything. However, except for rare persons like Dr.
Einstein, they
can't.
ARE WE SAVED BY CHANCE?
We are
plainly told by Christian teachers that everyone gets only ONE CHANCE! This
Christian teaching sounds more chancy than the tables in Las Vegas. But here's
my punch line. Here's where Dr. Einstein outshines the masters of theology.
After a lifetime of studying the marvelous workings of the universe on a level
most of us can't even imagine, Dr. Einstein said something more profound than a
thousand volumes by theologians. Dr. Einstein said: "GOD IS NOT PLAYING DICE
WITH THE UNIVERSE!" Almighty God is NOT going to "win some; lose some." God is
NOT gambling with the eternal fate of humanity. God is NOT a God of chance. God
will surely succeed.
"Surely [Gk: ge, a particle
indicating that NO doubt is possible] ... SURELY, He Who spares not His
own Son, but gives Him up for us all, how shall He not, together with Him,
also, be graciously granting us all" (Rom. 8:32).
"For since in fact, through a man
[Adam] came death, through a Man, also, comes the resurrection
of the dead. For EVEN AS, in Adam, ALL are dying, THUS ALSO, in Christ, shall
ALL be vivified" [Gk. zoopoieo, Giving life beyond the reach of
death, conferring immortality] (Concordant Pub., Greek-English Keyword
Concordance, p. 320) (I Cor. 15:21-28).
" ... our Saviour, God, Who wills that ALL
mankind be saved and come into a realization of the truth" (I Tim.
2:4).
"Yet all is of God, Who conciliates us to
Himself through Christ, and is giving us the dispensation of the conciliation,
how that God was in Christ, conciliating the WORLD to Himself, NOT reckoning
their offenses to them ... " (II Cor. 5:19).
Theologians condemn evolutionists for their
inability to tie creation to a Creator. Yet theologians become practical
"theistic evolutionists" by tracing human thoughts back to man's "free will"
and not to God's causal force. Hypocrites!
It's one
or the other. There is no third alternative. Either the great almighty God is
in control of everything, or He is out of control.
THE
KING OF ASSYRIA
The king
of Assyria was as proud of his "free will" as theologians are of theirs:
"Woe, Assyria! Club of My anger! And a rod!
He, in their hand, is my menace! Among a nation polluted will I send him. And
against a people, object of My rage, will I instruct him. To loot, loot and to
plunder, plunder, And to place them for tramping, as the clay of the streets.
Yet he, not so is he planning, And his heart, not so is devising. For to
exterminate is in his heart, And to cut off nations not a few." (Isa.
10:5-7)
"I will visit evil on the fruit of the
insolent heart of the king of Assyria. And the high beauty of his eyes. For,
says he, "By the vigor of my hand I did it, And by my wisdom, for understanding
have I." (Vers. 12-13).
And what
does God have to say concerning this King of Assyria's self-appointed proud
"free will" heart?
"Will the axe [Assyrian
King] beautify itself over the one [God] hewing with
it? Should the chief's mace magnify itself over the one [God]
waving it? As if a club is also waving the one raising it! As if a rod is
raising one who is not wood!" (Isa. 10:15).
God says
He used the Assyrian King just as surely as if the King were an axe in God's
own hand. This was all of God. But the King, he didn't think so. That's not
what was in his mind. Ver. 5 is so clear and so simple to understand: "Oh
Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is
mine indignation."
It
wouldn't matter if there were a place in Scripture that lumped altogether every
single concept of man's choices, powers, abilities, authority, talents,
intentions, desires, wishes, plans, sayings and doings into one single verse;
it still wouldn't prove that man has a "free will." Why? Because God claims to
operate it all (Eph. 11:1).
Surely
you can see from Isaiah 10 that that is how God operates. If one refuses
to see this, then he is stubborn as to the truth.
The king
of Assyria did say, in effect, that by himself, he planned and carried out his
own choices according to what his heart desired. But GOD says that He Himself
did it. God planned it and God carried it out. And furthermore, God punished
the king for being so proud and haughty as to think he did it himself. He
actually did what God caused him to do. This was not wrong on God's part. It
will be good for the king of Assyria to understand this in resurrection. He
will be embarrassed by his own vanity and will give glory to God (Phil.
2:11).
Dr.
Kennedy, give glory to God. Africa will be found of God even though they are
not seeking God (Rom. 10:21). How could anyone doubt that God is telling us the
truth in these Scriptures? Rather than assigning the Africans and nonbelievers
to an eternal Hell fire, wouldn't it be better to tell them the truth of the
Scriptures and give their people hope?
There is
one last question from the Theological Peanut Gallery:
"Well,
Mr. Smith, if God is behind all the circumstances that cause men to sin, why
does He blame us?" Don't say "If God ... " say "Since God ... " I'll let
Paul answer: "Consequently, then, to whom He will, He is merciful, yet whom He
will, He is hardening. You will be protesting to me, then, 'Why, then, is He
still blaming? for who has withstood His intention?' O man! who are you, to be
sure, who are answering again to God? That which is molded will not protest to
the molder, 'Why do you make me thus?'" (Rom. 9:18-20).
What do
you have to say to this? God makes vessels of honor and He makes
vessels of dishonor. Do you deny this? God is merciful to whom He wishes to be
merciful and hardens those whom He does not wish to bless at this time. Do you
deny this? If this is God's intention to do these things, who can ever
"withstand His intention?" Paul uses extremely strong language when he says:
"O man! Who are you, to be sure, who
are answering again to God? That which is molded will not protest to the
molder, 'Why do you make me thus?'" (Rom. 9:18-20).
The
reason that Christendom as a whole does not teach these plain declarations of
Scripture is not because they never read these things, but because they
don't APPROVE of God's operations! But just because most of mankind doesn't
know God's operations, or doesn't believe God's operations, or doesn't approve
of God's operations, it doesn't mean God isn't operating. And I assure you that
God Almighty is not on trial before the ethical bar of men.
It is
God's will that "all be saved" (I Tim. 2:4) and "His will be done." But before
God's will is done He has set man against His will. During this time of human
stubbornness God is working out His plan according to His intention. And no
one, absolutely no one has ever withstood or gone against God's "intention."
King
James has: " ... For who hath resisted his will?" The Greek word for "will" is
thelo [decision, choice, or purpose]. But the Greek word in Rom. 9:19 is
not thelo, but boulema [COUNSEL-effect]. "God is operating
all according to the counsel [Gk:boule] of His will. No one has
withstood this COUNSEL-effect, for sure. These two words are different
and the Scriptures admonishes us to " ... be testing what things are of
consequence [Gk: distinguish between things that 'differ']" (Phil.
1:10).
Dr.
Kennedy, I'm going to share with you the three most important things I have
ever learned. These things revitalized the Scriptures for me and have
revolutionized my attitude toward God, my fellow man, and life in general.
1.God is absolutely SOVEREIGN! ALL IS OF GOD (II Cor.
5:18).
2.Man does NOT have a free will. Man only makes
"choices" which are always caused by circumstances over which only God has
control.
3.The Greek word aion NEVER means "eternity," but an
"age" or "eon."
GOD
CREATES AND USES EVIL FOR GOOD
Far too
many theologians misrepresent the Word of God, and therefore pervert it to suit
their unscriptural biases. I have heard of theologians who graduated from
seminary and still did not know that God says in Isaiah 45:7: "I ... create
EVIL." And most who have read it, don't believe it.
Evil has
no moral bias. God does not sin when He uses evil for His good purposes. Men
sin when they do evil to other men. Evil [Heb. ha' = TO SMASH] is only a
"sin" when it is used wrongly. God uses evil for good. The glorious culmination
of God's plan will justify His use of evil a trillion times to the power of
infinity! Notice how often God uses evil in the Scriptures:
"I form the light, and create darkness; I
make peace [good], and create evil: I the Lord do all
these things" (Isa. 45:7).
"Out of the mouth of the most High
proceedeth not evil and good?" (Lam 3:38).
" ... an experience of evil hath God
given to the sons of man to humble him thereby" (Ecc.
1:13).
" ... I will raise up evil against
thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and
give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives..." (II
Sam. 12:11).
"That which is molded will not protest to
the molder, 'Why do you make me thus?' Or has not the potter the right over the
clay, out of the same kneading to make one vessel, indeed, for honor, yet, one
for dishonor?" (Rom. 9:19-25).
" ... I have created the waster to
destroy." (Isa. 54:16).
"The LORD hath made all things for Himself:
yea, even the wicked for the day of evil." (Prov.
16:4).
" ... I will bring evil from the
north, and a great destruction." (Jer. 4:6).
" ... Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring
evil upon this people ... " (Jer. 6:19).
"And he said, I will go forth, and I will be
a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets." " ... And He
[God] said, ... go forth, and do so." (I Kg.
22:22).
"He [God] turned their
heart to hate his people ... " (Psa. 105:25).
" ... Thus said the Lord; Behold, I frame
evil against you, and devise a device against you ... " (Jer.
18:11).
" ... For God locks up all together in
stubbornness, that He should be merciful to all." (Rom.
11:32).
"O LORD, why hast thou made us to err
from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear?" (Isa. 63:17).
" ... so shall the Lord bring upon you
all evil things, until He have destroyed you from off this good land ...
" (Josh. 23:15).
" ... shall there be evil in a city,
and the Lord has not done it?" (Am. 3:6).
"For whom the Lord is loving He is
disciplining, Yet He is scourging ever son to whom He is
assenting" (Heb. 12:5).
"By His spirit He hath garnished the
heavens; His hand hath formed the Crooked serpent" (Job 26:14).
"And the great dragon was cast out, the Ancient serpent called Adversary
and Satan ... " (Rev. 12:9).
"Yet he who is doing sin is of the
Adversary, for from the beginning is the Adversary sinning." (I Jn
3:8).
"What? shall we receive good at the hand of
God and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his
lips." (Job 2:10, see 42:7).
"Thus saith the Lord of hosts ... go and
smite Amalek ... destroy ... slay both man and woman,
infant and suckling ... " (I Sam. 15:2-3).
" ... God will be sending them an operation
of deception for them to believe the falsehood ... " (II The.
2:11-12).
Scripture proves that God not only created evil,
but that He, Himself, is responsible for it.
Maybe
these aren't Sunday School verses, but they are Scripture. These are strong
verses. At times it is hard to emotionally deal with the evils of this world.
But I thank God that it is HE and not Satan or man who controls evil. It is
important to understand that God puts limitations on evil. He doesn't use it
indiscriminately. Jeremiah 18:11 says: " ... I frame evil
against you ... " This verse alone shows the boundaries and
limitations that God Himself puts on evil.
GOD
IS NOT EVIL
We can
accomplish no good of ourselves. What we are to learn is contained in
the next passage: "Be not deceived [but of course, most people are
deceived], my beloved brethren! ALL GOOD giving and EVERY perfect gratuity is
from above, descending from the FATHER of lights ... " (Jas. 1:16). That is the
lesson we, not God, are to learn and our trials are a great aid in
understanding God's goodness.
Again,
consider Joseph and his brothers. Joseph told his brothers:
"Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry
with yourselves, that ye sold me hither ... " (Gen.
45:4).
What?
Don't be "grieved," or "angry with yourselves," for committing such atrocious
sins, crimes, and evils? This was certainly a severe trial on Joseph and
his brothers. God brought it about, not so He could see how they would handle
this trial-God already knew that. That's why God, Himself, "tries no one".
"For GOD did SEND ME before you to PRESERVE
LIFE" (same verse).
Not so
that God would learn something He didn't already know. How silly. It was ALL of
God, and the end more than justified the means. Why do men doubt God's ability
to bring about good from evil, and to save all mankind in the only way they
could ever really appreciate God's love and goodness? Even that greatest of
evils, death, will be "Swallowed up by Victory" (I Cor. 15:54). "For even as,
in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ shall ALL be vivified" (I Cor.
15:22). What was God's purpose in bringing this severe trial on Joseph and his
brothers?
"And God sent me before you to preserve you
a posterity in the earth, and to SAVE YOUR LIVES by a great deliverance. So now
it was NOT you that sent me hither, BUT GOD: and He hath made me a father to
Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of
Egypt" (Gen. 45:7-8).
God's
plan is all about "life." God creates life. God chastises us in life. God makes
life miserable at times. We are often weak and diseased in life. Even still, we
love our own lives. But ultimately, God takes away our lives. Our parents die,
our friends and relatives die. We know for certain that we, ourselves, will
die. Without faith, it is a frightening expectation. But, we will all be beside
ourselves with joy when God finally gives back our lives with immortality-never
to suffer, sorrow, or hurt again. We simply need to trust God. We'll all be so
glad we took the journey at journey's end.
So, no,
God is not evil, but God has determined and declared that we all must
experience a certain amount of evil in this life. I hear so many ministers on
TBN telling their congregations that if they are having any problem or trials
in life, they must be sinning and therefore are not receiving the blessings God
wants for them. There is often a heavy guilt trip laid on them. They guarantee
a three-way solution to overcome this, or seven steps to chase off the devil,
or five rules for something else, or 10 keys to solving the other thing. The
idea is that if everyone obeyed God properly, none of these trials and problems
would ever enter their lives.
Nonetheless, God is still going to scourge
every son whom He receives. What they should do is read Heb. 12:5-6:
"And you have been oblivious of the entreaty
which is arguing with you as with sons: My son, do not disdain the discipline
of the Lord, Nor yet faint when being exposed by Him. For whom the Lord is
loving He is disciplining, Yet He is SCOURGING [intensely
prick, whip or flog, cause great pain or suffering] every son to whom
He is assenting."
I am
aware of the extreme degrees of evil God uses at times. But God knows what is
best for humanity. And really, when we come right down to it, most men do not
suffer more than a few hours, or days, or years, in the extreme. But even then,
there are pain killers, and other comforts. Certainly it does not deserve to be
compared with the end result that God has in store for all His Creatures. Our
Apostle said that the glories that are to be revealed to us are so great he
calls them "a burden!" Imagine having so much happiness it almost becomes a
burden.
Was Paul
unacquainted with evil? I think not. Note:
"In weariness more exceedingly, in jails
more exceedingly, in blows inordinately, in deaths often. By Jews five times I
got forty save one. Thrice am I flogged with rods, once am I stoned, thrice am
I shipwrecked, a night and a day have I spent in a swamp, in journeys often, in
dangers of rivers, in dangers of robbers, in dangers of my race, in dangers of
the nations, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, in dangers
in the sea, in dangers among false brethren; in toil and labor, in vigils
often, in famines and thirst, in fasts often, in cold and nakedness ...
"
This is
not to mention all the daily problems of the churches (II Cor. 11:23-28). And
Paul was well aware that it was GOD Who brought all these evils upon him, even
though God may have used intermediaries (II Cor. 12:7, Acts 9:16, II Tim. 2:9).
All these evils, and yet, Paul's ministry was beyond
reproach.
GOD
AND PROVIDENCE
Even if
one denies these truths of Scripture, they still have to deal with providence.
Recently fifteen people died in a Colorado school. That's tragic. But a week
later fifty people died from tornadoes. That too was tragic. Recently, over
10,000 died in a Turkey earthquake. Next, thousands perished in an earthquake
in Taiwan, with still more thousands buried alive. Not that long ago, 600,000
perished in a typhoon in Bangladesh. The disease that followed may have raised
the toll to one million. One may suppose God's eyes were closed during the
Colorado school shooting. But who would deny that God controls the forces of
nature and the weather?
Look at
what we call "nature." Nature is filled with evil. In nature almost everything
eats another thing for lunch. Lions eat deer. Foxes eat rabbits. Big fish eat
little fish. All creatures engage in a lifetime vigil for their own
preservation.
The sun
gives warmth and life, but also causes skin cancer. The air gives
life-sustaining oxygen, but in swift motion becomes deadly tornadoes and
hurricanes. Water gives life and enjoyment. But water in swift motion kills
everything in its path. The seas furnish us with food. But her waves and
icebergs have claimed countless victims. If you don't think the sea is evil,
watch Titanic. Fire warms, yet when out of control, it destroys. After
hurricane Andrew struck South Florida, I went a few miles south to help a
friend in need. The area looked as if a hydrogen bomb had flattened it. These
powers are all of God.
I am
acquainted with evil, Dr. Kennedy. My seven year old son, Blake, was bitten by
a mosquito and contracted encephalitis. He became comatose. I will never forget
the anguish I felt when signing the papers authorizing doctors to remove him
from life-support But I will not protect God from any responsibility for evil.
God Almighty is the Creator of evil (Isa. 45:7). God created mosquitoes that
carry encephalitis that killed my son. I can't deny that. The encephalitis was
only the "relative" cause of my son's death. I don't flinch at the fact that it
was God who really took my son.
But
here's the good news. God knows how painful are these evils that He created. It
was no sin on His part to create and use these evils. God uses evil for good.
And furthermore, the evils are only temporary. The time is coming when " ...
there shall be no more any doom ... " (Rev. 22:3). And God will resurrect my
dead son. He will resurrect all the dead (Job 14:13-14). And notice please. God
doesn't just resurrect dead "bodies," but dead "people." When God
removes all evil, no one will be sad or suffer again. "And He will be
brushing away every tear from their eyes. And death will be no more, nor
mourning, nor clamor, nor misery; they will be no more, for the former things
PASSED AWAY" (Rev. 21:4)!
This is
the good news that ought to be taught, rather than the contradictory and
unscriptural nonsense taught by mass media Christianity.
What
astonishes me is that the same theologians who balk at the many Scriptures I
just quoted, then turn around and teach that this same God will mercilessly
torture most of humanity for eternity. And He supposedly supernaturally
keeps them alive so that they can't escape the pain. Hypocrites! I can't
imagine how such minds function. Think about this. Lesser, temporary evils,
(brought for a GRAND purpose) are rejected, while gross eternal torturing (for
no purpose) is accepted. Here is the depth of Satanic
delusion.
CONCLUSION
How much
more comforting it is to believe the Scriptures. God created evil and uses it
for a good purpose. Evil's existence is only temporary (like the scaffolding on
a new building). When the building is completed, the ugly scaffolding is
removed-it serves no further function to the finished building. Only a
knowledge of evil, not evil itself, has eternal value. How awful
to think that God did not foresee the coming of evil, can't justify its
existence, can't dispose of it, can't save most of humanity because of it.
There is no justification for, nor redeeming value in, eternal torture.
None.
God is
Wise. God wants Sons who will know both "good and evil." God's "end" more than
justifies His "means." As Paul said:
"For the momentary lightness of our
affliction is producing for us a transcendently transcendent eonian
burden of glory ... " (II Cor. 4:17). Concordant Literal New
Testament.
Of
necessity, this letter needed to be critical in some areas. This has not been
an attack on your character. A wise man once said to me: "The hardest thing you
will ever do is to admit that you are wrong." Experience has proven true his
observation many times. Sir Winston Churchill is reported to have said:
"Sometimes in the course of history some men occasionally stumble onto the
truth. Most, however, are able to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and
be on their way again just as if nothing ever happened." This could possibly be
one of the most important days of your life, Dr. Kennedy. Don't just "dust off"
this letter.
I want
you to see what you are doing, Dr. Kennedy. Since you have already concluded
that God is not going to save all of the Africans and Gentiles, you devise an
analogy to get God off of the hook of responsibility for their
salvation.
I
believe that maybe even you have trouble believing and justifying God in
torturing most of humanity for all eternity. But, unwilling to believe
God's Scriptural declarations concerning the salvation of all, you find it
necessary to lower God to the level of carnal, sinful, hospital workers by
analogy. Maybe in a cleverly disguised human analogy there is
justification in not being accountable for failing to come to the rescue of a
fellow human being. But no, you would lower God even beneath the character of
sinful medics. We have already seen that hospital medics (or for that matter,
policemen, firemen, or even private citizens), are ready and willing, at a
moment's notice, to not only come to the aid of a dying man, but to jeopardize
life and limb if necessary to rescue a fellow human being in need of
saving.
But here
is where your analogy turns from simple error to an insult on God character.
The medics would do everything within their power to save the dying man,
while your god does nothing! If notified in time, the medics' immediate
response would produce success, while your god's apathy produces
failure! Eternal failure!
God is
not a human. God is GOD! Why analogously dethrone and reduce Him to a mere
human with human faults, weaknesses, and failings? Surely, your theology does
not glorify Almighty God and makes Christ's supreme sacrifice of no effect for
most of history's humanity.
Our
Apostle Paul gave instructions to "Herald the word. Stand by it, opportunely,
inopportunely, expose, rebuke, entreat, will all patience and teaching"
(II Tim. 4:2). There's forty-four pages of "exposure". Now here's the "rebuke".
It is wrong, unscriptural, and ungodly for you to teach on
national and international television such evil and demeaning heresies about
God, The Creator and Saviour of ALL mankind (I Tim. 4:10). I think that God is
not pleased with your rendition of His complete and perfect plan for the
salvation of all. Your teaching comes frighteningly close to
blasphemy!
And
here's the "entreaty". It is evident from your sermon that there are Scriptures
of paramount importance that you either fail to understand or acknowledge. Of
course you understand that I am referring to the Greek and Hebrew
SCRIPTURES - not the King James revision of some Latin Bible. Not
that the Authorized Version is not a great work, but nonetheless, there are not
a few gross errors in critical areas as I have outlined.
Study
these marvelous truths. Check the original Hebrew and Greek to verify the
validity of what I have humbly tried to present in this letter. The truth
concerning the "aions," for example, is one of the simplest truths in all the
Bible to prove and understand. That Christ really is "the Saviour of the
whole world," is, likewise, simple to prove and understand.
And what
marvelous truths these are! God really is a God worthy of the name! Christ
Jesus really is THE SAVIOUR OF THE WHOLE WORLD! How could anyone ever have a
doubt that He would succeed? How dare a mortal even entertain, let alone teach,
the Satanic idea that God ALMIGHTY will fail or fall short of completely and
perfectly fulfilling HIS OWN WILL?
Who
would deny that God Almighty has a heartfelt will?
Who
would deny that His will involves the salvation of all mankind (I Tim.
2:4)?
Who
would deny that God is operating all in accord with His own will (Eph.
1:11)?
Who
would dare call into question God's declaration that: "ALL My counsel shall be
confirmed, And ALL my desire WILL I DO" (Isa. 46:10)?
"Falling
short" is a definition of "sin" (Rom. 3:23). Are there mortals audacious enough
to insinuate that God Almighty is going to "fall short" of His Own Will
and thus become a "SINNING God"?
Teach
"THE WORD," Dr. Kennedy-not the unscriptural theological nonsense of depraved
men!
Sincerely,
L. Ray
Smith