Last night I attended the presentation of Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames. It is quite sad to witness hundreds of people being taught a false gospel. Here I will point out just a few of the heresies.
1. Satan is portrayed as ruling hell. There he torments and tortures those who have not "prayed the prayer." Look at Revelation 20:10, "And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." Hell was created for the torture of Satan not for his rule.
2. One scene depicts a mother and daughter at the gates of heaven. The daughter has prayed the prayer but the mother had not. Next, Satan comes out of hell and drags the mom away from the daughter. What?!
3. A girl is in the process of committing suicide. Behind her, Satan is pacing back and forth excited about what he sees. Behind Satan stands Jesus, hopeless and unable to help her. Poor Jesus is no competition for Satan. Or, as I recall, "greater is He (Jesus) that is in you than he (Satan) that is in the world." Does not Jesus exercise authority over Satan and demons at every occurrence in the Scriptures?
4. It is explicitly taught in this production that one's name is not written in the book of life until they pray "the prayer."
5. When a family dies in a car wreck and is reunited with their other daughter who had gone on before them, they simply walk right past Jesus, not even recognizing His presence. This may be a small point for some but it is misleading at best. It definitely minimizes Christ. I believe I will fall on my face when Jesus is before me, regardless of who else I see in that glorious place.
6. My next point has to do with the invitation. This was a classical example of emotionalism and manipulation. With all heads bowed and eyes closed four, maybe five hands are in the air. For every hand we heard about five, "thank yous." With a few hands up we are told that hands are up all over this place. This is called, "Everybody is doing it. Don't be scared or embarrassed."
Also, we are encouraged not to move around too much as we might effect someone's decision. To use a bit of sarcasm, I suppose a possible scene would be a friend who is headed to hell crying to a believing friend, "I almost prayed the prayer, why did you have to go to the restroom. Now I'm going to hell because you couldn't control your bladder."
According to this production, God is not sovereign. Believer, be comforted. Paul says, "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." We don't have to worry about spending a few moments in purgatory watching our loved ones being drug into hell.
To end the evening with a nice ecumenical seal, those who have prayed "the prayer" are encouraged to go back and speak to their pastor or their priest and get involved.
The gospel is adequate for salvation. The true gospel.
There is a holy God. He created you and me in His image. We fell into sin and now every person born is born into sin. This holy God has a perfect law. We are all guilty of breaking it. We all deserve His just and righteous wrath. For this reason, God sent himself in the form of His Son; the God-man, Jesus. Jesus lived a perfect life without sin. He obeyed the perfect law perfectly. He was innocent; guiltless. He was then crucified. He was accursed. He died a sinner's death. He was the perfect sacrifice; the only acceptable payment or appeasement for the sin of man. All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. The Lord reveals Himself to those whom He chooses. The Holy Spirit convicts the child of God of their sin according t0 the Word of God. The true child of God then repents of that sin and surrenders his whole life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. This Christian will suffer trials and tribulation. If a Christian is living in this world according to their heavenly citizenship, they will be persecuted for their faith. This is the will of God. Jesus did not come for us to be happy and have our best life now. He came that we would be righteous. We have none (righteousness) of our own. He imputed His to us (the children of God). Oh what manner of love the Father has lavished upon us that we should be called the children of God. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any created thing shall be able to separate me form the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Just a final note. I appreciate our brothers and sisters for their love for the lost. They have put many of us to shame in their efforts. I do not doubt their love for the Lord. I simply plea that we not think the sovereign Lord of the universe who holds all things together needs us to use our craftiness to accomplish His work.
In His Grace, Robert
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
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6 comments:
RC,
Great post. I couldn't agree more. Lets applaud our brothers' desire to share the faith, but let us challenge them to speak the truth of that faith also, not an emotionally charged substitute.
Russ
Robert,
One more thought. The emphasis on the sinner's prayer as the means to get saved" is also troublesome at best, blatantly anti-Christian at worse. Does not The Bible speak of a repentant heart and a life lived to the glory of God as the evidence of a saint, not a prayer, which absent of a repentant heart for sinning against a holy God, has no effect whatsoever. The saddest part of "dramas" like this are the thousands of poor people who leave believing they are "once saved always saved" because they said a prayer because they didn't want to go to hell. Who does want to go to hell anyway? Is that how Jesus and the apostles preached the good news? Sorry to sound so negative, but this kind of stuff just makes me angry.
I agree with Randy. Lets put our hope in what God has told us to put our hope in. The preaced Word of God.
Russ
Randy and Russ,
Thanks for the comments. Let us not simply critique those who evangelize under unbiblical terms, but let us demonstrate how we see evangelism biblically. If we are not actively sharing the gospel with a heart for the lost, we have no leg to stand on. This is a challenge to all of us, mostly to myself. Please hold me accountable for my evangelism efforts. Praise God for a gospel that has all that is necessary within itself to change lives and save souls! Praise the Sovereign!
Robert,
You are right. I am in no way a benchmark in sharing my faith for anyone. I apologize if I sounded too zealous. I do appreciate the hearts of so many who desire to see the lost come to know Christ, I just agonize over what I perceive as things which are destructive to the Gospel.
Russ
Russ
I am zealous with you, just challenging all of us.
Robert
I didn't know you had and orange shirt, and when did you shave your goatee???
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