God Loves… Himself

Be persuaded that your soul is far more valuable to you than the whole world and there are only two places (heaven and hell) that you will spend all eternity in.

You can count on it that it is very difficult to come to heaven, but the way to destruction is broad and easy. Take it to heart that you have a deceitful heart with you, a wicked devil close to you, and snares and hindrances around and before you.

All human beings are born dead in sins and trespasses and by nature are children of wrath. While this does not sound so bad or seem like such a big deal to seemingly the vast majority of people today, the ramifications of these things are enormous. In fact, this answers the question as to why so many people don’t think this is such a big deal. Deception does not always key around one issue at one time, but a deception can be a way of looking at life as a whole and can involve the whole of life. In other words, people may be concerned about being deceived about one fact or one bit of information, but in fact they are deceived about the whole of life. If sin is deceptive and the mind and heart are fallen into sin, then sinners have fallen into deception about all things.

Why is it that so few people are persuaded to the very core of their being that there are only two places that they will spend eternity in? Why is it that so few people think of hell as being a place of true torment in our day? Could it be that the very way they view things and process information are deceptive and deceitful themselves? What if pride deceives people and self-love deceives people? If those things deceive people, then every fallen human being is deceived in a terrible way. It would seem that if people took Scripture seriously they would see that people are deceived about all things in all ways if they don’t have Christ to guide them into Truth.

Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

The text just above is profound in its meaning and its many applications. When we think of the bondage to sin, we don’t normally think of it in terms of our thinking and our being deceived, but instead we think of it in terms of some outward and gross fleshly sin. Perhaps that is another deception. Instead of that, what we must see is that men are taken captive by ways of thinking and ways of deception. There are traditions of men in many places and in many ways, but we can think of the doctrines (yes, intended to say that) of evolution as doctrines according to the tradition of men and according to the elementary principles of the world.

If we think of philosophy as a way of thinking or as an approach to thinking and viewing the world, it seems as if we can get at the idea of what the intent of Scripture is at this point. In one sense there is a philosophy of everything. There are books on the philosophy of science (in general) and then books on differing disciplines of the sciences. In other words, the hard sciences are not quite as hard as they wish to present themselves as. All of them follow a philosophy or way of thinking and are guided by that. When a person is taken captive through a philosophy of something or anything and that is not according to Christ, the Scriptures represent those people as prisoners. All Christians have seen that in practice in false religions and in discussing things with others. It seems as if the people are blinded to truth and reality, and that is because they are. But what we must have our hearts gripped with is that people are indeed slaves and prisoners to ways of thinking. Only Christ can set them free.

This is one reason why quick conversions have been considered suspect by many people. While God can transfer people from the dominion of darkness and bondage to that darkness to the kingdom of His beloved Son when He pleases, it seems as if He almost always works through means and through a slower deliverance or waking people up to their bondage. Yes, most in our day will not recognize this as legitimate and will argue that this is putting something between men and Christ. I respond to that and say that this is not putting something between men and Christ in the slightest, but instead it is pointing out what is there. Denying that these things are there is simply one way of deceiving others about true conversion. Men must be taught the truth about the Person of Christ and the works of Christ. Men must be taught about who they really are and what state they are in. Until some of that happens, men will know nothing about their real need of conversion and what Christ has done and is doing to save sinners from the deception of their own hearts, the devil, and the world. This is a dire need, not just a difference.

Be persuaded that your soul is far more valuable to you than the whole world and there are only two places (heaven and hell) that you will spend all eternity in.

You can count on it that it is very difficult to come to heaven, but the way to destruction is broad and easy. Take it to heart that you have a deceitful heart with you, a wicked devil close to you, and snares and hindrances around and before you.

While the vast majority of people (in the modern day) seem to think that they can simply tell people that they need to make a choice and believe, that has not always been the case. In the past it was understood that people were depraved and had no ability in the spiritual realm. In the past people believed that people had deceitful hearts and that the devil was a masterful deceiver and that these were things that had to be overcome. It used to be understood that not only must one come to faith in Christ, but that Christ must work in that person’s heart by His Spirit for that person to be brought through all the deception of his or her own heart and the deceptions of the evil one to a true faith in the true Christ.

It seems to be apparent that in the modern day salvation seems to be nothing more than convincing a person to say a prayer or make a decision and there is little regard if any at all that the person has a deceptive heart and there is a deceiver at work. The devil, who hates humanity in his war with God, loves to deceive people into thinking that they are truly converted. He is not concerned with how religious people are, or how moral they are, nor how ardent they think they are following Christ. His work is to deceive those inclined toward religion with religion itself. As he did with Eve, he will take the words of God and adjust them for his own purposes. As he did with Jesus, he will quote the Scriptures and try to use the truth in an incorrect context in order to deceive. The Lord Jesus Himself must undertake for us if we are going to see through the deceptions and come to faith in Christ.

In II Corinthians 4 we are told that the gospel is veiled, “in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Note that the gospel is veiled to them because the god of this world has blinded the minds in such a way that they would not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. He does not blind them so that they will not hear about Christ, but so that they will not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. He will blind them so that they will have a belief in the facts of Christ, but that is different than seeing the glory of Christ. He will blind them so that they will make a choice or say a prayer based on their understanding the facts of Christ, but once again that is not to see the glory of Christ. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can reveal His glory to people and as such men and women are utterly dependent on Christ to open their eyes so that they will not be deceived.

The devil is just fine with people praying prayers and making choices to be saved, and in fact that is one of his greatest deceptions. Jesus taught us that a person must be born again in order to see or enter the kingdom, but the devil now has the majority believing that a person who says a prayer will enter the kingdom. If people would take time to study with care the Gospel of John, they would see that the majority of people (perhaps even the vast majority) who are said to believe or believe in Christ were not converted people. Surely this shows us that there are types of belief in Christ that are not saving. It is a divine work in the soul to bring about a new heart that a believing heart comes from. This is not a work of the flesh as if a human will can do it, but instead men and women must be shown that they cannot do this work and be delivered from the deception of believing in themselves for faith. Christ must prepare the heart by teaching that in the inner man.

The modern version of evangelical (so called) thinking on salvation is itself a deception of the devil. As the devil deceives countless people by getting them into a worldly way of thinking and just following the way of the world and what other people think is okay, so he is hard at work in the religious realm deceiving people into thinking that salvation is in their own power and strength. The vast majority of ministers are preaching this same false teaching, which of course makes the deception even stronger. We have whole religious system of publishing books and putting out materials that are build on this great deception. Yes, it is far easier to simply say a prayer or make a choice than it is for Christ Himself to teach the soul through hard things its own inability and helplessness in the spiritual realm or to do good things. However, Christ must teach the soul or it is deceived and will be deceived.

Be persuaded that your soul is far more valuable to you than the whole world and there are only two places (heaven and hell) that you will spend all eternity in.

You can count on it that it is very difficult to come to heaven, but the way to destruction is broad and easy. Take it to heart that you have a deceitful heart with you, a wicked devil close to you, and snares and hindrances around and before you.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ which is the Gospel of grace alone at times makes the Gospel appear easy, but that is not correct. Christ prepares the heart for Himself to dwell in by taking out the things He is not pleased with and sanding and chopping at rough edges. Many say that preparation is a teaching that is opposite of the Gospel of grace, but it should be pointed out that Christ is the One who prepares the heart for Himself. After conversion it is Christ working in the heart to make it a more and more comfortable abode (so to speak). The holiness of God is such and His love for His people is such that He will work in them and on them to be holy. So while it is true that God declares sinners just and righteous in His sight in Christ, this does not take all the difficulties away.

The road to heaven for true believers is hard, but if a person wants to take things easy they may. If a person is tired of fighting the flesh and sin, that person has an easier way. If a person is tired of not doing what he wants to do, there is an easier way. The way to destruction appears easy and one does not have to fight with the sin and the flesh to take that road, but for eternity one will pay the price with a torment that never stops. Theological liberalism will allow people not to fight so much as there are so many people who will agree with them, but those errors reflect hearts that hate God and for eternity that God will pour out His wrath upon them.

Yes, it is a sure thing that you have a deceitful heart within you, so look to Scripture and know for certain that the gate and the way to hell is on a broad road and it easy to get there. If your heart longs for and will not settle for anything but ease, then know that you are on the way to hell. However, the gate and way to heaven is narrow and straight. The entrance or gate to the road (conversion) is very narrow and it does not allow you to carry the things of the world with you through that gate. That gate is so narrow that it will not allow you to bring love for the world and love for the pleasures of the world with you. If the Lord Jesus sets His love upon you and prepares your heart for Himself, you will have many hard things to pass through before you pass through the gate. He will bring hard things into your life that will strip you of your own righteousness, but He does this so that you will look to His free gift of righteousness alone. He does this so that you will learn of your ability which then takes your eyes off of yourself so that you will look to His ability. He will bring a trial upon you that you cannot handle and so you are left weak and helpless in realization of your insufficiency, but He will turn your eyes to His total sufficiency.

Jesus spoke of true conversion of a person being turned to being like a very small child. At the least this refers to those who are turned from their pride and self-trust and self-sufficiency and like a small child simply looks to the parent for what it needs, so those who have been turned look to their Father for all they need. This turning of the soul from its pride and trust in self does not happen in a moment, but instead this process is guided by the wise hand of the Lord Jesus who is forming His people like clay to be in accordance with His good pleasure. The Lord Jesus is not going to dwell in a proud heart and He will not give His grace to the proud, so He has to work the pride out of the soul and give the soul humility that He may give grace to it. When two pieces of wood do not fit together and yet they are part of what the plan calls for, the craftsman must work on the wood with saws and sandpaper until they fit together. So the Lord Jesus as a Master Craftsman works on His people to make them fit to be joined to Him and with Him.

It is so difficult at times to discern which gate we have been through and which road we are on. Our deceptive hearts want to go to heaven but love the broad path to hell. The devil wants all humans to be in hell with him. There are snares and temptations all around. All of these things are trying to keep us off of the narrow path and on the broad path. There is only One who can show us the true way and as such to keep us from a fatal deception. There is only One who is wiser than the devil and who alone can give us a wisdom greater than his. There is only One who can teach our hearts well enough to avoid the snares and temptations and to walk in Him and by grace. Christ alone can teach our hearts and He alone can prepare them for Himself. That is part of true faith.

Be persuaded that your soul is far more valuable to you than the whole world and there are only two places (heaven and hell) that you will spend all eternity in.

While sinners are saved by grace alone, it is still true that the more the unconverted sin the greater their hell will be.

Deuteronomy 4:24 “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

‘Tis the infinite almighty God himself that shall become the fire of the furnace exerting his infinite perfections that way. Jonathan Edwards

Another great error that sinners fall into is thinking that God loves them but hates their sin. This leads sinners into a great deception of finding comfort in sin and not seeking the Lord for a new heart. It is not sin that suffers the just wrath of God, but it is the soul of sinners that are under His wrath in hell. It is not the righteous acts of saved sinners that God has set His love upon, but the sinners themselves. While there is a place for making distinctions between the soul itself and sin in some way, we must know that it is the soul that sins. The Scriptures teach that it is the soul that sins that shall die.

There is no such thing as sin apart from a rational and moral being (a soul) that sins. An animal cannot sin because it is not rational or moral. An inanimate object cannot sin because it is not a rational or moral being. A rock can be used to attack and/or kill a human being and that is sin, but the sin is that of the moral and rational being that used the rock in a way to attack and/or kill. What is sin apart from a moral and rational being that sins? There is no real answer for that. It is true that Paul speaks of sin in the human being and of the power of sin, but that does not mean that there is such a thing as sin apart from the desire of a soul for sin. The power of sin is an attraction that a fallen human being has for sin or the enmity in the heart of a fallen human toward God. We can broaden the power of sin to include the devil and demons as well as they are rational and moral beings who tempt and deceive others to sin.

The danger of thinking that God loves me and yet hates my sin (though not all in our day thinks that God even hates sin) is that this would remove sin from us and leave us thinking that we may be converted when we are not. If God separates sin from the soul in some way, then we can deceive ourselves into thinking that our soul will indeed escape the wrath of God apart from a real conversion and having Christ Himself. It is like thinking that our acts make no difference in how God views the soul in one sense, or in another sense it is thinking that the soul has little to do with our acts.

Mark 7:20 And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.
21 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. 23 “All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”

Sin is of the heart first and foremost. It is out of the heart that evil thoughts come and it is out of the heart that external sins come as well. The things that proceed from the heart are what defile the whole person. What is needed, then, in order to be converted and live a holy life, is a new heart. What must happen for sin to be forgiven is for the soul to be forgiven of committing the sin. It is not sin that Christ paid a ransom price for, but it was for souls that He redeemed by His ransom. Christ did not die in the place of sin, but He died in the place of sinners who are sinners and so they sin.

The soul must look upon itself as vile and wretched from the inner man and that Christ must suffer and die for it. The soul must know that it does not just need just a moral reformation, but instead a new heart. Christ alone can teach a soul these things in the innermost being. A soul does not just need to know about these things, but the conviction for the sins of the soul must be from the depths of the soul. The soul did not sin without feelings, so its convictions for sin should be with some feeling as well. Christ called weary and heavy-laden sinners to Himself, which should teach us that those who feel the weight of their sins are those who come. He alone can teach us this.

Be persuaded that your soul is far more valuable to you than the whole world and there are only two places (heaven and hell) that you will spend all eternity in.

While sinners are saved by grace alone, it is still true that the more the unconverted sin the greater their hell will be.

Deuteronomy 4:24 “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

‘Tis the infinite almighty God himself that shall become the fire of the furnace exerting his infinite perfections that way. Jonathan Edwards

One way (perhaps the best) for sinners to take a first step at understanding how valuable their soul is to them is for them to understand the terrors of hell and the eternity of the wrath of God on them for their sin. If a person is not awakened to understand his or her plight and how helpless s/he is in sin, that person can be persuaded that an easy prayer or a simple stopping of external sins is enough. It is quite shocking for the careless sinner (including those who profess to be Christians) to come to grips with the hatred and wrath of Almighty God. Oh how they have been taught that God loves them and will never stop! What a profound error that is and the devastating effects it has to put sinners to sleep in their sin. How devastating it is for a sinner to be awakened to the fact that God Himself is a consuming fire and it is that consuming fire that will never be put out if that sinner enters eternity without Christ.

Perhaps it is as great a shock to then discover that each sin will increase the torment or level of torment in the damned. It is bad enough (they think) to be so rudely awakened to the fact that God loves no one in hell and that His wrath will be upon them for eternity and instead of it being lessened, it will be increased. Hell is not tolerable in the slightest, but instead it is far more hellish than the fallen human mind can comprehend in this life. But then to realize that God is a perfectly just God and that He will and must (because of His perfect justice) punish each sin, that should take all the life and strength from any hope that a sinner has of escaping the eternal flames apart from Christ Himself.

Jonathan Edwards explained it something like this. Each sin deserves an eternal hell since each sin against an infinite Being is an infinite wrong. Since human beings are finite beings and cannot satisfy for an infinite wrong, they must suffer for an infinite time (eternity) which is to say that their sufferings will never stop. But again, one sin deserves an eternity in hell. The point, then, in this context, is that a second sin that would be committed is worth another eternity of suffering. But obviously a finite being cannot completely satisfy one eternity, so a second eternity is not possible. This means that it is not the duration of the suffering that is increased, but it is the intensity that is increased. So a second sin will have to double the intensity of the suffering for all eternity. This is not getting into the issues of the gravity of sins being greater or lesser or things like that, but simply trying to give a mental conception of how things are. Each sin brings more punishment upon the sinner.

Luke 12:47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

The Lord Jesus Himself must open the eyes of sinners to the reality of these truths. Those who go on drinking iniquity like water do not really believe this teaching. Those who go on in open sin may say they believe this, but Christ has not taught them this in their inner person. A person that has any sense of the value of his own soul and of where it will spend eternity will be in inner agony if Christ teaches him or her about this in the inner person. It is an awful truth, but having it sink into the depths of the soul will be more than a person can bear up under and go on just sinning and think nothing is going to happen. Each sin a person commits will be punished forever in hell and there the soul will learn how God Himself is the fire of hell and know the awfulness of His wrath.

But for now, it is Christ alone who can truly teach the soul this teaching. For those whom He does teach, however, they will flee from the wrath to come. They will find that Christ and His suffering on the cross was a perfect satisfaction for that wrath and that He did that in their place. They will find the glory of a free-grace instead of a free-will and that all the praise and glory is His. Those who truly find Christ will find that in heaven God is an infinite source of perfect joy and love. Eternity, eternity, oh how we must gain an understanding of the weight of eternity.

Be persuaded that your soul is far more valuable to you than the whole world and there are only two places (heaven and hell) that you will spend all eternity in.

Deuteronomy 4:24 “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Hebrews 12:27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. 28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

‘Tis the infinite almighty God himself that shall become the fire of the furnace exerting his infinite perfections that way. Jonathan Edwards.

God is the fire which burns in hell that words can never convey—much less exaggerate—the terrors of the damned. John Gerstner

If ever a soul wants to know how valuable eternity is to that soul, it should take a look at Scripture and the words of men who wrestled with what those words meant. The words of God in Scripture are so glaringly obvious about the nature of eternity that the reason people close their eyes to it is that they hate it so much and do all they can not to believe it. People fight and resist things that they hate and they don’t want to believe something that is so frightening and so threatening to the ways they live now and then for eternity. The soul must be taught by Christ the reality of these things or the soul will go on in a careless manner. Souls must have the spiritual realities and verities of eternity impressed upon them or they will go on living as if these things are not real.

In the modern day unbelievers fill the pulpits and hell is not set out in truth. We are told that hell is the absence of God, but that is good news to sinners who hate God. But the fire that will not go out is the self-sufficient God who is life Himself and is eternal by nature and as such when we see texts of Scripture teaching us that our God Himself is a consuming fire, we should come trembling to Him and cry out for mercy. God Himself is a consuming fire and God Himself is the fire of hell. Sinners do not have a miserable existence in some part of the universe where God is not, but instead sinners will have an eternity in the presence of the God they hate and the God who is the very fire of their hell.

Oh how sinners must be taught this and this is one way Christ prepares the heart. If the fire of hell is God Himself, then who can put the fires of hell out? The omnipotent God reigns and no one can change Him or change one thing He has decided to do. Who can overpower omnipotence? Who can outsmart infinite wisdom? Oh how sinners must be awakened to spiritual realities and how they must see these things are more real than earthly reality. Every sinner that dies without Christ, regardless of age, will open his or her eyes in hell and be beneath the eternal and omnipotent wrath of God who is the very fire of hell and that fire will never be put out. Ever member of a church (or non-member) regardless of profession or claim will enter into the eternal flames of hell in which God Himself is the consuming fire unless that person has Christ. Every minister and every college or seminary professor, whether liberal or conservative, will fall into the hands of the living God who is a consuming fire if that minister or professor does not have Christ in truth and in reality.

We can go on doing our religious things in a sleepy way and go on into eternity where God Himself is a consuming fire and is the fire of our hell. We can go on preaching conservative sermons urging men to pray prayers and walk aisles and all we are doing is giving them sleeping potions that numb them to the eternal flames that they are headed to. How men and women must have Christ by His Spirit teach them these things. But if so, they should seek Him to teach them. He alone can teach the inner man and He alone can awaken the inner man. Sinners are walking in their sleep to eternal hell while trusting in ministers, good works, sacraments, and being members of churches while millions are already in hell who have trusted those things. They must be awakened to spiritual realities before they die or they will awaken in the flames of God who is a consuming fire and they will never have a drop of water to cool their tongue or the least drop of mercy from God, angels, damned angels, or another human being.

Each soul must be awakened to see how valuable his or her soul is to him or herself and seek the Lord. The living God who is a consuming fire and the fire of eternal hell will pour out His wrath upon all those who do not have Christ in truth and reality. Over and over Scripture tells us not to be deceived, yet so many are deceived by scholars and ministers who are wolves in sheep’s clothing. If you value your eternal soul, seek the Lord Jesus to teach you and to open your blinded eyes to the truth.