“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
My wife, Mary, would not say the word “hell.” She would always spell it like I did in the title. It became a sort of private joke in our family. According to scripture hell is a real place. It was reserved for the devil and his angels, but it is also the abode of those who do not put their faith in God’s Son. It is sometimes referred to as “the lake of fire.” (Read Revelation 20:15.) I want to share three things about the power of hell. The text printed above gives an example of the power of hell. It refers to the “body and soul” being destroyed in hell. Hell is a place of eternal destruction. In Mark 9:46, Jesus referred to a place, “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” There is no need for anyone to go there, for “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Reach out to Jesus, repent of and confess your sins and ask Him to come into your life. Yes, it’s that simple—if you really mean it. I want to give you an example of hell’s power at work in the church. For this, we turn to James 3:6: “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” Satan loves to get our tongues wagging in the church, because he knows that this can cause destruction. There are a lot of empty church buildings today because people could not stop talking. This is what “set on fire of hell” means. Before you say that negative word that you want to say, remember where it came from! I want to give an example of the powerlessness of hell. In Ephesians 2:19-20, Paul wrote this about the church: “Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God. 20. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.” Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16:18: “And I say unto you, that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Local congregations can fold, but he church universal will not be destroyed, even by the power of hell itself. Jesus did not give His church to Peter, the apostles and prophets, for He said “I will build My church…”The church, comprised of believers in Him, belongs to Jesus Christ, “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” This is what I wanted to tell you about h-e-double tooth picks. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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