A case for using Hell when bringing in the sheaves
post 1898 strongs: bringing in; aka superintroduction aka bringing in
Psalm 126:6
King James Version
6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
The case against using hell as a witnessing tool was brought up to me, the key being the Apostle Paul never used the word hell in his epistles. I agree wholeheartedly that the true Gospel is not, I repeat, NOT about hell and absolutely NOT about telling a lost sinner about hell or they are hell bound, but rather what we are exhorted to preach which is found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 KJV
15 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
However we must clearly understand that Jesus used the word Hell frequently in his teachings and although some would rightly contend that Jesus is talking to the Pharisees and not the church in the age of grace, we cannot deny that the Pharisees are also those who are lost and void of the truth. And ultimately when Jesus taught the story (not the parable; see link on video of why Jesus made a major point of hell being a real place: LINK) of Lazarus and the Rich man, Jesus was driving home the absolute powerful truth that HELL is indeed a real physical place where the lost are certainly destined to go.
Disclaimer: When witnessing to the lost, remember that each individual is as unique as their individual fingerprint.
I personally witnessed in the case of my deceased sister who went home to be with the Lord when she was in the prime of her successful life, it was the fear of hell and eternal separation from Jesus Christ that drove her to the cross. And of course, arguably it is the Holy Spirit that draws us ultimately. My point here is the Holy Spirit draws us and whatever hits our soul as an inspiration is what I'm addressing here. And when witnessing, we must use wisdom and the leading of how we're to approach the lost. Paul tells us that we're to be a servant that we might gain the more: 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 KJV
This being said, let's get back to Paul. I have included solid study in notes below where Paul does indeed clearly talk about hell and judgment. I believe a perfect example of how Paul would have certainly used hell when witnessing to the lost, we need look no further than in Acts 28:23. To prove my point on why Paul would have referred to hell or judgment when witnessing, we can harmonize perfectly Acts 28:23 with Galatians 3:24 . Also, more directly on how Paul actually did refer to hell please read notes below.
Acts 28:23 KJV
And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.
Paul is using the law and the prophets to "persuade" the lost. What does this mean? Let's look at each:
The Law and the Prophets
The Law:
Ye shall therefore keep my statutes Leviticus 18:5 KJV
17 Think not that I am come to destroy The Law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Matthew 5:17 KJV
The 613 commandments include "positive commandments", to perform an act (mitzvot aseh), and "negative commandments", to abstain from certain acts (mitzvot lo taaseh). ... The 613 mitzvot have been divided also into three general categories: mishpatim; edot; and chukim. note 1.
First, are civil laws. These were specifically given for the culture of the Israelites, which includes everything from murder to restitution and dietary restrictions.
Second, are ceremonial laws. This literally stands for the customs of a nation. These would have included sacrifices of perfectly good animals, and rejection of food sources such as pork and rabbits. These laws were specific only toward the Jews
Third, are God’s moral laws. These relate to justice and judgment. They are based on God’s own holy nature. As such, these ordinates are holy, just and unchanging. note 2.
For the purpose of this study I want to focus on the 3rd part of the Law which is God’s moral laws which relate directly to “Justice and Judgement”. This is directly related to an indepth study I did on harmonizing biblical hatred and love. Please see link on this study in paragraph below.
In short, God’s perfect love is perfectly harmonized with his perfect justice and perfect justice requires perfect judgement. False teachers abhor this concept and always will portray Jesus as a loving, soft soap, effeminate love bug. But in reality Jesus Christ didn’t come to bring peace but a sword. Jesus is pure love but that pure love demands justice. Please read NOTE 3 below. Also please read Blog on Perfect Love Demands Perfect Justice
Romans 3:21-31
King James Version
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Galatians 3:24 KJV
The Prophets:
Jesus Said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or The Prophets : I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Matthew 5:17 KJV
For the Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy Revelation 19:10 KJV
David The Prophet
Psalms 9:17
“The wicked shall be turned into Hell and all the nations that forget God.”
note: David as a prophet (yes, David in the OT is considered and used for The Prophets. See Acts 2:29-31 KJV) talks plainly, frequently and strongly about hell (See Sheol).
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Daniel 12:2 KJV (Spoken by the Prophet Daniel)
Obedience is better than Sacrifice1 Samuel 15:22 (spoken by the Prophet Samuel)
Romans 3:21-31 KJV
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Rick Man and Lazarus
Luke 16 is the best “literal” description and reality of Hell that Jesus taught. If Jesus came to fulfil the law and the prophets, wouldn’t this be a glaring reality that we as Christians need to tell people we witness to about hell?
Jesus came to fulfill the law Matthew 5:17 KJV
The law and the prophets talks about Gehinnom, Sheol = HELL
The prophets clearly talk about Hell. The smack in the face scripture is the major Prophet Daniel: Daniel 12:2 KJV And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Gehinnom / Gehenna is Hell and used in the Old Testament - referenced in New Testament repeatedly LINK
NOTES:
1. http://www.jewfaq.org/613.htm
2. https://www.nairaland.com/1116294/three-types-laws-bible-responsibilities
3. Biblical Love and Hatred Harmonized quote:
The True Conception of Justice
Many today offer conceptions of just punishment grounded in deterrence, the moral restoration of the criminal, or other future-oriented theories, where punishments are just only so long as they increase the long-run happiness of the criminal or of society in aggregate. The biblical truth is averse to this, holding that justice’s fundamental aim is penal satisfaction, deterrence and restoration being secondary. That is to say, the biblical idea of justice, at root, is to purposefully cause the criminal’s suffering as a penalty merited by his sin, irrespective of whatever increase in well-being might accrue otherwise, justice remaining unsatisfied without such suffering. R.L. Dabney writes as much, arguing that vindicatory justice is essential to God: that God necessarily must punish sin to maintain His holy rectitude, that He cannot neglect to punish sin without denying Himself. Indeed, the very doctrine of hell presupposes most clearly that justice is fundamentally retributive, meted out primarily for its own satisfaction and not for the future flourishing of the punished. Similarly, the doctrine of Christ’s penal substitution would be morally monstrous if it were not necessary; it is precisely because a perfect sacrifice was requisite to satisfy justice that ineffable love shines through Jesus’s gruesome death. And finally, Scripture teaches a lex talionis, a law of retaliation, where sin intrinsically merits punishment and where punishment is proportioned to sin (Deut. 19:21).
This inexorable connection between sin and punishment demonstrates the awful truth that, by its very nature, sin deserves misery. Justice requires suffering to be inflicted upon the sinner, independent of whatever flourishing might accrue from the inflicted suffering. The lex talionis serves as a judicial reflection of this principle, the magistrate being “a revenger to execute wrath” upon evildoers (Rom. 13:4; Ps. 101:7-8), yet it is crucial to acknowledge that this lex is a civil manifestation of a much larger moral principle tying suffering to sin. As all suffering is ordained by God within the wisdom of His vast moral government, all suffering occurs only as a punishment for sin.8 All suffering is ultimately a punishment administered by the supreme moral Authority of the universe, rather than an unintelligent and necessary product of natural causes, for nature is itself guided, in its every detail, by the Almighty.9 This is the foundation for the fundamental principle of retributive justice, that all sin deserves misery, within which framework subsists the more particular lex talionis, which is at base a delegation of wrathfulness from God to a human authority. Just as God administers wrath upon sinners in His universal moral government, magistrates administer wrath upon criminals in their human commonwealths; and magistrates are instruments which God uses to providentially administer His wrath upon sin as well.
What is remarkable about this principle of retributive justice is how deeply it can be contrasted with the principle of love just defined. Whereas love is a desire for another’s flourishing, retributive justice is a desire for another’s suffering, proportioned to his crimes. To desire retributive justice, which is vital to godly character just like love, is to virtuously desire others’ well-being to decrease. Without this conception, justice reduces purely to love (as all humanistic theories plainly admit); but the true, biblical conception of justice must maintain that justice requires suffering for its own satisfaction. Any denial of this fundamentally retributive nature of justice overthrows both reason and Scripture." End Quote:
Adding my own note: BOTTOM LINE: "The wages is Sin is DEATH! This is speaking of both physical death brought upon mankind by the disobedience of Adam, but also the ensuing "spiritual death" which is ETERNAL; i.e., Hell and ultimately the eternal lake of fire.
Note 4:
Paul did indeed talk about Hell:
Romans 2:6-16 KJV
Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
11 For there is no respect of persons with God.
12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
2 Thessalonians 1:8- 9 KJV
8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
NOTE 5:
Exhaustive study on Paul's Concept of Eternal Punishment by James E. Rosscup Pdf
https://www.galaxie.com/article/tmsj09-2-04
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