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 Sermon > Theme Words of Life |
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Title |
Hell(15) - Hell (15) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Matthew 12: 31-32 |
Date |
2009-10-25 |
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Passage
[Matthew 12: 31-32]
"Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. [32] "Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."
Introduction
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
This is the 15th session of Hell sermon series.
I talked about the 4th level punishment of the Lower Grave in the last session.
The 4th level punishment is given to those souls who committed grave and unforgivable sins that lead to death.
Judas Iscariot is a representative example of a person who receives this 4th level punishment.
Judas sold out his master, Jesus, to the high priests for 30 silver coins.
Jesus was finally crucified, and Judas hanged himself not being able to bear with the guilty conscience.
But now you may wonder about something here.
Since Judas Iscariot killed himself, then why is he receiving the punishment in the Lower Grave and he did not become a demon instead?
After explaining about this, I will begin to explain some of the punishments that those who greatly blasphemed the Holy Spirit are receiving.
Proverbs 15:32 says, "He who neglects discipline despises himself, but he who listens to reproof acquires understanding."
When I deliver this message about the punishments in the Lower Grave, if you accept it as discipline and reproof, you will gain spiritual understanding.
Then you will be able to take hold of a better dwelling place in Heaven.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will be wise believers who do not despise your soul but treasure it.
Main
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, some of those who fell into Hell had committed suicide, such as King Saul and Judas Iscariot.
When will they go to the Lower Grave?
Let be briefly explain this point for there are some of you who have a question about this.
Judas Iscariot hanged himself because of the unbearable pangs of conscience of selling out his master.
The souls of those who committed suicide become demons and wander around on this earth.
They will fall into the Lower Grave when the Millennium Kingdom begins.
Namely, the demons will wander around on this earth until the end of the 7-year Great Tribulation is over.
But as explained in the last session, Judas Iscariot did not become a demon, but he is already in the Lower Grave receiving his punishment.
What is the reason for this?
Simply put, it is because it was not allowed for him even to become a demon and wander around this earth.
It is because he had committed such a great sin that he is receiving a heavier punishment.
Of course, it is a heavy punishment to become a demon and wander around on this earth.
If a soul that leaves the physical body stays in the physical space, it will suffer great pain.
They will suffer so much that they will feel they'd rather fall into the Lower Grave and receive the punishment instead.
But the pain that the Judas Iscariot is receiving in the 4th level of the Lower Grave is beyond any comparison with the pains of demons.
The tortures that he receives on the cross are of course painful, but he receives indescribable pain just by being in the 4th level of the Lower Grave.
It's because the deeper the level of Hell, the thicker the 'density of fleshly energy' that fills the whole of Hell.
For example, when we go down to the deep sea, the whole body will be compressed because of the pressure.
The body will be crushed.
We would not be able to take a breath. The veins of the body would burst and we would begin to bleed to death.
Likewise, the deeper the level of Hell, the more the soul will be pressed by the fleshly energy. So, they will suffer greatly just by being in that space.
The space in which Judas Iscariot is receiving the punishment has a great density of fleshly energy.
Therefore, even though he doesn't become a demon, he is paying for his sin enough, because the pain he is receiving now is so great.
There is also another special reason why he is the exception and fell into the Lower Grave although he committed suicide.
He is established like the master of the 4th level of the Lower Grave.
Here, the word 'master' does not mean something like a ruler or owner. It means he is the representative person.
Judas Iscariot is receiving punishments continually, standing at the foremost of all those who are receiving the 4th level punishment in the Lower Grave.
So, when those who know about the punishments of the Lower Grave, like you and I, think of Judas Iscariot, we are reminded of the 4th level punishment of the Lower Grave.
If we think of the 4th level punishment of the Lower Grave, we are reminded of Judas Iscariot.
As above, Judas stands like a figurehead of the 4th level of the Lower Grave, so that the people in later times will not follow his way.
Now, some of you may still wonder about the King Saul or the Pontius Pilate as to when they will fall into the Lower Grave, for they are known to have committed suicide.
In case of King Saul, he is wandering around as a demon and will fall into the Lower Grave to receive the 3rd level punishment when the Millennium Kingdom starts.
Until then, just like other souls who committed suicide, he will wander around this earth.
In the case of Pilate, I said that the most convincing theory is that he committed suicide.
There are such stories centering on the Mt. Pilatus.
But there is no certain evidence or document that tells us about the end of Pilate's life.
There is no way to check how he died.
The Roman Empire, the country of Pilate, began to write the history of Christianity after they accepted Christianity.
Eusebius of the Roman Empire wrote about the history of early Christianity, and in his book 'Church History', he assumed that Pilate fell into the tragedy of punishing himself due to the punishment of God that was following him so closely.
People of later times also assumed that Pilate committed a suicide based on this record.
But as written by Eusebius, it is only an assumption.
We can only surmise that Pilate had a tragic death from the stories about him.
Stories tell us he was taken to Rome and executed, or he stumbled and died at Mt. Pilatus. All these stories tell us he faced a tragic death.
But we can infer from the Hell sermons whether Pilate committed a suicide or not.
God let us know that he is being flogged every time the people on earth call his name.
Through this, we can understand that he is receiving punishment in the Lower Grave.
Namely, we can infer that he did not commit suicide.
Brothers and sisters, and viewing audiences, we must never commit suicide.
The authority over life lies only with God.
Whether life of another person or ourselves, we cannot handle it at our discretion.
Therefore, to commit suicide is to challenge the sovereignty of God. It is a grave sin to directly stand against or challenge the word of God.
As said in Exodus 20:13 "You shall not murder," murder is strictly prohibited by God.
This is one of the Ten Commandments.
Willfully killing another person is murder but it is also murder to take one's own life
We must not commit suicide because it is a great sin against one's parents, too.
It is a sin not only against the physical parents, but also against God the Father who is the Father of our spirit and body.
God the Father created us human beings in His image to give us His love.
If such men end their precious lives by themselves, how heartbreaking it is for God!
One thing we should know is that it is the enemy devil and Satan that incite the people to commit suicide.
The enemy devil and Satan approach those who are in despair and give them even more of the pessimistic and depressing thoughts.
If they are fully captivated by the thoughts given by Satan, they choose the extreme measure to get out of their agony, suicide.
Therefore, we must never be deceived by this allurement.
Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." And as said, we can get out of the most depressing situation by the power of God.
Before I met God, there was a time when I wanted to give up on my life.
I was in great despair having no hope, due to the long lasting illness and poverty, being neglected by my loved ones.
But God came to meet me first.
He set me free from the bondage of diseases that bound me so hard and incapacitated me. I became rich and my family came to have peace.
Fundamentally, He set me free from the bond of sins. Now I have become a pastor who delivers other souls out of their despair and to the Lord.
Psalm 40:2 says, "He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm." This is my confession, too.
It is never the will of God for us to give up our lives. It will only make the enemy devil and Satan happy.
Also, the end in suicide is not freedom. It will only lead us to Hell where there is eternal sorrow and much greater pain.
Therefore, we should make this fact known to our family, relatives, and neighbors.
Of course, not every case that appears to be suicide is a suicide.
I will explain about these special cases later when I explain about the evil spirits.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and viewing audiences, now, let me explain some of the punishments that those who greatly blasphemed against the Holy Spirit receive.
When blasphemers of the Holy Spirit die and go to the Lower Grave, they receive the 3rd or 4th level punishment, for their sin is heavy.
As in today's reading passage Matthew 12:31-32, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven forever.
The Holy Spirit is the Helper sent by our Lord after He ascended into Heaven.
He is our guide who leads us to salvation instead of our Lord.
The Holy Spirit gives us faith so we can believe even without seeing.
He reveals to us the spiritual word of the Bible and the secret things to let us know the will of God.
Namely, He leads us to the right way for us to receive salvation.
Also, He gives us various gifts to let us taste the spiritual things. For example, He gives us the gift of speaking in tongues.
Furthermore, the Holy Spirit shows the signs and wonders with His power.
He lets us experience the power of the almighty God and the spiritual realm where there is the heavenly kingdom.
He lets us realize the love of God so our hearts can be renewed.
He allows for us to be born again as citizens of the heavenly kingdom.
Thus, to deny this Holy Spirit is same as personally deciding to depart from the way of salvation.
And yet, some people deny the works of the Holy Spirit after experiencing such works of the Holy Spirit.
They are healed of their diseases by the power of the Holy Spirit and at the threshold of death they gained new lives. But, still they go the way of death.
Those who are evil try to destroy the church by standing against God.
It will be difficult to be forgiven even for unbelievers if they commit such a sin. However, if a believer who has received grace of God commits such a sin, how can it be a little sin?
To stand against the Holy Spirit is to stand against the Lord and the Father God. That is why it is difficult to be forgiven.
Among these people who blasphemed the Holy Spirit, there is a married couple in particular who are receiving the punishment as a pair.
"I resent that I got married to this man! I resent and regret it, and I curse it again and again. Why did I come to this wretched place! How did I end up in this kind of place? I was deceived because of him! I was deceived by him!"
This is the sound of lamenting of a woman resounding in the dark air of the Lower Grave.
This woman was deceived by her husband and stood together with him against God.
As a result, she ended up in the Lower Grave, and she now curses and complains against her husband.
Both of them are evil, but the wife couldn't have blasphemed the Holy Spirit and stood against God on her own.
She aligned herself with her husband and his evil deeds to stand against God because of her fleshly love for him.
This couple that blasphemed the Holy Spirit together will receive their punishment together.
They have to go in turns into a big pot filled with boiling liquid.
The pot has dirty, unidentified liquid that gives out a really foul odor.
There is a fire going continually at the bottom of the pot, and the liquid is always boiling.
Once they go into this liquid in the pot, their skin will blister like skins of a toad.
Their eyeballs will also pop out. Their whole body turns very ugly.
Their body will contort, and they will choke because of the foul odor.
They try to avoid the pain by squirming and twisting, and they put their head above the water.
Then, a big foot will come down from above to push their head back to the pot.
This foot is the foot of the messenger of Hell torturing this couple.
At the sole of the foot are sharp nails placed very densely.
This soul that is trampled by this foot will have many cuts and be pushed back into the pot, to the choking heat and foul odor.
But soon, they cannot bear with the pain and come back out of the water. Then, they will be pushed back into the water again. This cycle will go on without an end.
But this punishment is given to only one person at a time. When the husband is in the pot, the wife has to watch this gruesome scene from outside the pot.
When the wife is being punished, the husband has to watch his wife.
Unlike in this physical world, they can see inside the pot from outside.
At first, they feel heartbroken when their spouse is suffering from the pain.
Until then, they have some love between husband and wife.
They would plea for their spouse saying, "My husband/wife is in there. Please get him/her out. Please do not step on him/her! Please get him/her out of there!"
But after some time, they don't plea for their spouse any more. Why is it so?
After they receive the punishment a couple of times, they realize they suffer less when their spouse suffers more.
From the moment they realize this fact, they ask the messenger of Hell something completely different.
Seeing their spouse suffering so much in the pot, they shout, "Let him/her stay there longer. I will have some more rest. Just leave him/her there."
The one who is suffering in the pot will increase their hatred seeing their spouse who is saying this outside the pot.
As the time goes, the husband and wife curse each other more and more. This is fleshly love.
The wife must have stayed with her husband until she betrayed the Lord of life because she loved her husband.
But what is the result of this fleshly love? They fall into Hell and receive the punishments together forever.
When the wife complains against her husband saying she is suffering because of her husband, the husband won't just listen to her.
He will curse at his wife with a louder voice. He curses at her who aligned herself with him.
When they got married to each other, they said they loved each other.
But because their own pain is unbearable, they want each other to suffer instead of themselves.
This filthiness is what flesh is like and what Hell is like.
They curse each other that they were husband and wife on earth, and they ask the messengers of Hell to put their spouse in the pot more. Then the messengers of Hell rejoice over this.
The messengers watch them as if they were watching an interesting movie, saying, "They are cursing each other even in this place! Their evilness makes us so happy!"
And to make the mood grow stronger, they make the fire hotter at the bottom of the pot.
When the souls put their head out of the water, they trample on their head even harder.
As the liquid in the pot becomes hotter and boils more, the souls give out more evil curses.
As they do that, the laughter of the messengers of Hell becomes greater.
In the next session, I will explain the other kinds of punishments inflicted upon those who blasphemed the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, when the souls that suffer the punishments in the Lower Grave give out their evil, the messengers of Hell rejoice over it.
It's the same on this earth.
When people do evil, the evil spirits will rejoice over them.
When faced with difficulties, if we compromise with the world, or complain and express resentment, the enemy devil and Satan will come to us.
They will give us even greater difficulties.
So, those who know the rules of the spiritual realm do not complain or have resentment in any matter.
They give thanks and make confessions of faith until the end to show their faith and love to God.
Even when evil persons give hard times to them, they don't fight back but only react in goodness leaving everything to God.
Romans 12:21 says, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." They just follow the word.
If they obey the word of God to act only in goodness and love, it becomes their power and authority to overcome the power of evil spirits.
The enemy devil and Satan cannot accuse them anymore, so all the trials and tests go away.
Therefore, in any kind of hardship, I hope you will only think in the truth and act by faith to please God.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will give glory to God by winning the victory in the name of the Lord in all you do and become bright lights in every dark place.
[Amen] |
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