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When I was younger I used to joke, “When I’m an old lady I’m going to be a hellfire and brimstone preacher. It’ll be back in style then.” I am now a seventy-something senior and as I have reached this milestone in my life, I realized that I have come to the point in my career when I should be assuming my role as a hellfire and brimstone preacher. I am not considering it because it is back in style, but because the concept of hell is being eradicated by some within the Christian camp. The people who are promoting the concept that there is no hell, are contradicting Jesus (God’s Son who should know), who assured us of its existence many times (Matthew 5:29,30,10:28, 11:23,16:18,18:9, 23:33, 13:41,42,49,50, Luke 16:23).
Copyright 2020 by H.D. Shively
Hellfire and Brimstone
I do not feel that those who are operating in opposition to God’s word in this way are functioning with any wisdom. There is a hell, and people should be taught how to avoid it.
Jesus gave His life for us so we would not have to experience hell, that dimension of spiritual torment that is reserved for those who choose to go there by the choices they make in this dimension of the living. When we believe that Jesus died to remove our sins and rose from the dead and we receive Him through faith, He gives us His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit embraces our souls. This union enables our souls to ascend into heaven when the soul is released from the body when we die.
If we reject Jesus, who is the fulfillment of God’s plan of redemption for mankind; the plan that He instigated from the beginning of creation, we cannot ascend into heaven. Instead, our souls are trapped in this dimension and are propelled into a place of literal spiritual torment. And when the prophecies of this planet’s destruction are eventually fulfilled (II Peter 3:10-11, Revelation 20:11, 21:1, Isaiah 65:17), then those souls will find themselves trapped in an eternal, icy outer darkness excluded from the loving warmth of God’s domain (Matt. 8:12). Those souls will experience the fiery torment of eternal regret in the company of the demons who hate them.
There is a hell, my children, and God’s love has given you the provision to avoid it. –
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.- John 3:16
Now as I assume my role of a hellfire and brimstone preacher, and I encourage others to follow my example, I want to assure you that I am not going to emulate the caricatures of preachers who scream with eyes popping and veins bulging as they slam their fists on their pulpits rattling the cages of the souls trapped in their hell-less illusions. While the scriptures show us that for some it is necessary to use fear as a means to keep them safe (Matthew 10:28, Jude 1:23), the reality of hell should always be shared with love and a calm sincerity.
The demonic spirit that negates what the word of God shows us are the consequences of sin and the rejection of the Messiah Jesus, is the same spirit that is anticipating the joy it derives from robbing God of the people He treasures. Please do not allow yourself to become one of the devil’s clueless victims.
I implore you to recognize the vital truth contained in God’s word and receive the means by which you can receive the eternal life Jesus has purchased for your soul.
Choose life.