The fear of the Lord is reverential trust and a hatred of evil. Hating evil is to despise with all intent that which goes against the will and Word of God, the evil that will one day be extinguished from our midst. It, they, will not be disposed of but cast alive into the Lake of Fire, “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matt. 25:41)
No one who denies the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior will enter into the kingdom of God, they are the wicked, they have not called upon His name for salvation, they will die in their sins, they are evil, and will also be cast alive into the Lake of Fire after spending, if they die before the rapture, (1 Thess. 4:17) over a thousand years in hell. Death and hell will also be cast into the fiery furnace, (Rev. 20:14) where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth, (Matt. 13:50) the place of eternal torment, where they will abide for all of eternity.
I just described more than likely nearly everyone you have ever met, most everyone that you know, and nearly everyone that has ever been born. This is not a battle between good and evil, this is not a contest to see who gets the most souls between the Lord God and Satan, “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Eze. 18:4) Satan is going to be in the same place forever that the pauper who lived in the 1400’s, the kindly old woman from 1200 BC, and your neighbor down the street is going to be, God is no respecter of persons.
Those He has chosen (Romans 8:30) will abide in perfect peace, in continual pleasures, and in eternal bliss, no one else.
This is not a conquest, a challenge, it is not even a minor test, it is how the Lord has determined it should be. It is why He has blessed everyone that has ever been born with free will, from Adam and Eve, to you, to your children, all are accountable for the choice they make in this area.
The study of this subject, of man’s free will and the Sovereignty of the Lord has been one of the most difficult topics ever in the history of man, God calls, (2 Tim. 1:9) God chooses, (John 15:16) yet we have free will to choose our own path. We may as well contemplate on whether or not Judas Iscariot had a choice, if Moses could have said no, or if Paul could have refused the call, it is an impossible task, and it is one of those subjects where the wisest of men will simply say, “Thy will be done,” immediately followed by a most hearty, “Thank you for choosing me.”
We do not know who is going to heaven and who is not when we first meet a person, only a conversation with them will give us the truth of the matter. If their speech glorifies the Lord, if their actions and deeds lift up the name of Jesus above themselves, then you are more than likely speaking to one of your brothers or sisters. If not, then we are responsible to inform them of the love that went to the cross for them. That is how simple it is. There is no need for any great theological debate, every word from this point on simply expounds upon these most simple of truths.
The traditions, rules and regulations of man have no bearing on these truths and become nothing more than the burdens of religious organizations meant to keep those that follow them in bondage. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13) All who do not will be cast into the Lake of Fire, there is no second chance, (Heb. 9:27) no one can pray you out of there, no one can cast away, deny, or lose the gift of salvation. (John 10:28)
He is our Rock and mighty Fortress, He is their judge. If you know Jesus Christ as Lord then you have an obligation to serve Him by speaking these truths to others, and as I have said many times before, what they do with this message, with these truths is entirely up to them, you are to give the message of salvation, of hope, of love. It could not be any simpler.
