Universalism is the false doctrine that everyone, someway, or somehow will be saved. A large number of “Christians” believe this totally false concept. Universalism is not in any way compatible with Biblical Christianity. 23 times in the New Testament there are passages about Hell. Sixteen times it was Jesus talking about it. Seven other times the New Testament writers were talking about it. Stay with me. This is interesting and tells us how to make our salvation certain and sure.
(Mat 25:31-32 KJV) “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: {32} And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats:” (Rev. 20:11 Great White Throne Judgment)
{34} “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. (First time Jesus called himself a King)
The Final Judge of all history will not ask what we have felt or thought, but what we have done or left undone in our dealings with others.
Jesus said: “You fed me, gave me something to drink, invited me in, gave me clothes, took care of me when I was sick, and visited me in prison.
The righteous people had one question. “When did we do this to you?”
{40} “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.”
{41} “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
(Mat 25:31-32 KJV) “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: {32} And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats:” (Rev. 20:11 Great White Throne Judgment)
{34} “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. (First time Jesus called himself a King)
The Final Judge of all history will not ask what we have felt or thought, but what we have done or left undone in our dealings with others.
Jesus said: “You fed me, gave me something to drink, invited me in, gave me clothes, took care of me when I was sick, and visited me in prison.
The righteous people had one question. “When did we do this to you?”
{40} “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.”
{41} “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Why? Because they did nothing for Jesus when he came to them in the form of his brethren. Hungry, thirsty, needing clothes, sick and in prison.
{46} “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
I know! There are lots of questions. How can we know who is the brother of Jesus? Jesus said, “whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Matt. 12:50).
(1 John 3:17-18 NIV) “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? {18} Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
COMPASSION! That’s the key to heaven. It’s understanding and feeling the suffering of others and doing something about it.
In Matthew 10:4-15 Jesus sent out 12 disciples to preach the gospel. He told them to take nothing – to stay with some good family that offered hospitality. Then (This doesn’t sound like our sanitized and whimpy Jesus) he said: “If they don’t take care of you or listen to you it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town”.
Jesus had a lot to say about this subject. In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus said:
“There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: {20} And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, {21} And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.”
(This is a true story – not a parable because Jesus named all of the people in it)
There is no record that the rich man did anything mean to Lazarus. He didn’t run over his feet with his chariot wheels, or drive him away from his gate. Thank God Lazarus had a faithful dog named “moreover” who came and licked his sores. (A little humor)
The only thing the rich man did was to “ignore Lazarus and his needs.” He just had a terminal mindset of “let someone else do it.” What's mine is mine and I'll save it for my family. It made him the most selfish, mean, sorry man in the world. According to Jesus this rich man asked Father Abraham to send Lazarus to hell to be his servant and give him a drink of water.
Our world is filled with kind, generous, godly people whose heart is filled with compassion. Only when we get to our father’s house will be know the full extent of their mercy, kindness, and generosity. In 57 years of marriage and in the ministry these wonderful people have blessed us. We’ve never asked for money or help but these people have loved us and graciously met our needs. It has created a bond of love, joy and happiness that nothing can take away.
Maggie and I also have always been compassionate and generous. For 17 years we have made and given away thousands of full color booklets and CD's of Maggie singing her songs. I make all of these item by hand and then we give them away. We've done this because many compassion and loving people have made it possible by their "spontaneous and loving gifts" to Christian Ministries. Ocassionally people offer to pay us for them, but we tell them they are free to everyone.
I know! There are lots of questions. How can we know who is the brother of Jesus? Jesus said, “whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Matt. 12:50).
(1 John 3:17-18 NIV) “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? {18} Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
COMPASSION! That’s the key to heaven. It’s understanding and feeling the suffering of others and doing something about it.
In Matthew 10:4-15 Jesus sent out 12 disciples to preach the gospel. He told them to take nothing – to stay with some good family that offered hospitality. Then (This doesn’t sound like our sanitized and whimpy Jesus) he said: “If they don’t take care of you or listen to you it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town”.
Jesus had a lot to say about this subject. In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus said:
“There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: {20} And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, {21} And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.”
(This is a true story – not a parable because Jesus named all of the people in it)
There is no record that the rich man did anything mean to Lazarus. He didn’t run over his feet with his chariot wheels, or drive him away from his gate. Thank God Lazarus had a faithful dog named “moreover” who came and licked his sores. (A little humor)
The only thing the rich man did was to “ignore Lazarus and his needs.” He just had a terminal mindset of “let someone else do it.” What's mine is mine and I'll save it for my family. It made him the most selfish, mean, sorry man in the world. According to Jesus this rich man asked Father Abraham to send Lazarus to hell to be his servant and give him a drink of water.
Our world is filled with kind, generous, godly people whose heart is filled with compassion. Only when we get to our father’s house will be know the full extent of their mercy, kindness, and generosity. In 57 years of marriage and in the ministry these wonderful people have blessed us. We’ve never asked for money or help but these people have loved us and graciously met our needs. It has created a bond of love, joy and happiness that nothing can take away.
Maggie and I also have always been compassionate and generous. For 17 years we have made and given away thousands of full color booklets and CD's of Maggie singing her songs. I make all of these item by hand and then we give them away. We've done this because many compassion and loving people have made it possible by their "spontaneous and loving gifts" to Christian Ministries. Ocassionally people offer to pay us for them, but we tell them they are free to everyone.
Recently I talked to a black man sweeping the floor at Home Depot. I ask him a question about plants, and he took the time to show me a variety of them, and tried to help me. I found out that he had a degree in English Literature, was an artist, and had sold a few paintings. He was working three jobs. I left the store and thought about the art materials in my workshop. In trying to move I wanted to give them away. I called the store, gave a description of him, and ask the people to please have him call me. When he came to my house I gave him all I had, and promised to find some more for him. He turned out to be a Christian.
Later, as he was leaving our home Isaiah Findley said to me: “Recently I had made a little money and had several hundred dollars in my pocket. I stopped at a store and asked a man in front to buy me a cold drink. “He said: “I can’t do that.” I told him: “Well all right, I’ll buy you one.” Then he told the man: “You need to be careful. Jesus may be standing in front of you in the form of someone else and asking for help. You never know.”
A few hours earlier I had just written this article but I had never mentioned it to him. I was astonished by his story and how cleverly he had presented the teaching of Jesus to this stranger. Compassionate Christians are all around us. The brothers and Sisters of Jesus are everywhere. We all have work to do.
Later, as he was leaving our home Isaiah Findley said to me: “Recently I had made a little money and had several hundred dollars in my pocket. I stopped at a store and asked a man in front to buy me a cold drink. “He said: “I can’t do that.” I told him: “Well all right, I’ll buy you one.” Then he told the man: “You need to be careful. Jesus may be standing in front of you in the form of someone else and asking for help. You never know.”
A few hours earlier I had just written this article but I had never mentioned it to him. I was astonished by his story and how cleverly he had presented the teaching of Jesus to this stranger. Compassionate Christians are all around us. The brothers and Sisters of Jesus are everywhere. We all have work to do.
