I have thoughts about this whole discussion of Hell. But this isn't that. This is more around the edges.
When I was saved, none of my loved ones was walking with the Lord. The reality of God's just judgment for sin first pressed on me, myself, DJP, for my sins. In time, this weighty reality sent me running to Christ for forgiveness and reconciliation to God. But then my thoughts immediately turned to my loved ones, and the danger they were in. It was stomach-churning; but the Lord's way in converting me prominently featured the idea that what I wanted to think, and what was true, were unlikely to be interchangeable. (This is an application of Proverbs 1:7 which seems to elude some prominent spokesmen.)
Around that time I heard a story that hit me hard, and stuck with me. I don't know whether it was true, or apocryphal. Before I tell it, though, let me set up a contrast.Have you ever noticed how many young thugs will commit rape or murder, maybe kill a police officer — and then the MSM falls all over itself to find and broadcast the immortal musings of the perp's mother? And have you ever noticed how often the mother is emptying all the cupboards to fabricate every excuse in the universe for her stone-cold murderer/rapist/what-have-you of a son, blaming society and Ronald Reagan and the police and Cheerios and everyone except her son? And how she will do everything she can to make sure Junior doesn't feel any consequences for his action?
And have you ever thought "Yep, you know — I think I can just manage to connect those dots"?
Wellsir, the story I heard was of a very different kind of mother.
This boy had strayed, deliberately, stubbornly and persistently. His mother faithfully loved him enough to warn him, plead with him, do everything she could to point and urge him to Christ. To all of it, he turned a deaf and indifferent ear.
Finally, she told him, "Son, your path is headed straight towards the judgment of God. Your only hope is Jesus Christ. You know that, you've known that since you were a child. You've heard it again and again, but you will not listen.
"The day will come that will be your last day of grace. You will find yourself before the judgment seat of the holy God. If you persist in unbelief, you will hear your crimes against God listed off one by one. You will have no excuses, none at all. You will hear God's voice for the last time, and you won't be able to plug your ears as you do now. You will hear Him condemning you to spend eternity under His wrath in Hell, with no hope."And if it comes to that, son, though it breaks my heart to tell you, I will rise at that time and say 'Amen' to God's judgment."
That caught his attention, the story goes. He woke up, took the Gospel seriously, and came to saving faith in Christ.
Now.
Do you need me to tell you that I think the religious scene is bespattered goat-herds channeling the first kind of mother, when what is really needed is more of the second?
Remember:
- It is not possible to fear Yahweh and sneer at Yahweh's justice at the same time
- There is a kind of "compassion" that, so far from being godly, is actually Satanic
23 comments:
I've heard this story, too, but had heard that is was Charles Spurgeon's mom. Don't know for sure, but after I heard it, it made me reconsider how I am to approach my own kids with the gospel. Thanks for the reminder :)
Can't be Spurgeon's mom. It really doesn't fit the template of his early life at all.
Good story though.
"It is not possible to fear Yahweh and sneer at Yahweh's justice at the same time."
If only more churches taught that. Of course, many churches are too caught up in giving people what they want instead of what they need. IT reminds me of what a coworker told me yesterday when I asked him what was wrong. He said, "You should ask me what is right...it'd be a much shorter conversation." I think that applies to the ratio of false teaching/teachers to Bible teaching/teachers.
And then there is the world that we have to contend with as well. At work this morning, I had to sit through a 40 minute presentation on time management. It was mainly focused on how people are over stressed because they are not balancing out time to take care of themselves and their needs for fun and fulfillment. And at the end she presented a picture of how when we are all on our deathbeds, we will either be thinking of how we lived life to the fullest and are happy or reflecting on how much we hate the world and our lives because we never had time to do what we wanted. Of course, this runs counter to the Gospel because my true need is to be saved from the worldly lusts of my heart and for God to change my heart to where I am focused on serving and glorifying Him. After the presentation I had a brief opportunity to tell the presenter that I give all glory to God and live to serve Him because He provides all for me. I don't think she got the point because she just smiled and said that is true...showing that she missed the point that her presentation was basically a counter to my position.
I am beginning to think that the blessing that we receive when we read and understand Revelations is the comfort that comes from knowing that that judgment, punishment, and elimination of sin and evil (including teaching people that God loves us all and won't pour out wrath on unrepentant sinners...or that we aren't really that bad) are all coming when Jesus returns. I long for the day when I will be with all of the body of Christ in a place without sin.
I'm sorrorwful to say that I am the only member of my family that knows and loves the Lord. I've hear the "That's fine for you, dear, if it makes you happy, but it's not for us" line all too many times.
Whether or not the story is true, I'm sorely tempted to write "The day will come that will be your last day of grace. . . . " paragraph to all of them.
I'm thankful God be more patient than I.
PS
The truth hurts, but lies kill.
Where did I hear that before?
Dan, that is awesome (at the risk of sounding like a surfer...)
True or parable, it's a mighty story. ...though it breaks my heart. All too true.
Our hearts do break for our loved ones that reject Christ, but wishful thinking won't change reality.
Great word. Hell is real. It's a difficult truth, but necessary to hear, and perhaps wrestle with.
I remember my neighborhood drug pusher would always be pampered by his grandma. We got into it one night when he was slapping his girlfriend. He finally left, with her, hand in hand? But I remember telling his grandma, "You may want to leave him in jail, the next time. Let he learn the hard way." She relunctantly knodded, while she smoked her cigarette.
But, she never could never do it. The cops were the bad guys.
Your post reminded me of a past nasty youth group incident. The parents of the perpetrators said, "My child would never ..."
God help us to be like the 2nd mom rather than offer deadly false assurance in the name of "love".
Add to that: It is not possible to be saved without fearing Yahweh.
This is part of the reason why the use of the rod is tied to delivering the soul from hell... the rod does not save, but it can help a child to understand the shadow of the fear he will have when he stands before God.
And if your spankings leave your child believing that sin is worth the punishment, then woe to you and your child, you have just told your child that the judgement of God is weak; you have sold them a false gospel.
My wife, a wonderful mother and a mother who always maintains the hope of salvation for her children continually believed that if she could only get our daughter into church they can do the work needed and our daughter would respond in kind...Awana, youth groups and friends...not to be.
Now 28 years later our girl remains in an unregenerate state and in danger of Gods eternal wrath. What has changed is my wifes understanding that as painful as it is to believe that our girl could be damned eternally she also knows that when we enter eternal glory we will suffer no pain of loss, as difficult as it seems.
Her approach to our daughter has gone from the coddling post modernist mother to woman who understands and professes not only the love and forgiveness of God through His sovereign grace but also one who understands that our daughter is going to be accountable for her own sins and we will never be able to plead or defend her before the throne of Almighty God.
So we tell her the truth and the consequences now. We love her none the less and maintain continual prayerful hope that God will grant our daughter His grace.
Your prayers are also appreciated.
May our lives be to His Glory alone.
I love this blog and all those who are here!
Wow. That's quite a post.
Sometimes I am so sad about the eternal state of my friends and loved ones that I can hardly go on. We are commanded to rejoice in all things but my heart is so grieved that joy is hard to find. I am only comforted by the fact that God is LOVE and He does all things well. I guess this is where our faith comes in because I do not want to enjoy heaven if my loved ones are not there right along with me. What would happen if we all prayed fervently and then prayed some more?
Who knew that all it takes to stir the sinner's soul to repentance is a clever phrase or the fear of a mother's judgment after years of God's Word "failing" to do it.
Dust off the anxious benches, Martha! Finneyism is back and we've got work to do!
H.L.
Do you believe in any means of evangelism at all?
Just wanting to clarify.
This is absolutely my favorite post ever in the "evangelicalism emerg* Gospel DanPhillips RobBellevangelism Hell parenting" category.
I picture a doctor discovering his patient is afflicted with a disease which will be fatal if untreated, the doctor has a guaranteed cure, but he tells the patient everything is OK because he doesn't want to upset him. Would any of us call such a monster 'compassionate'? I think the question is whether this is only malpractice, or if he could also be prosecuted for murder.
And yet how often can we do the same thing. We see clearly the disease and understand the dreadful consequences, we know the guaranteed cure, and we don't even bother to tell them about it.
Well said, Dan.
The truth hurts, but lies kill.
(Now where have I heard that before?)
Julie
very well said. The truth is often hard but when properly approached should not be unkind. If someone is walking in the dark towards a cliff should we not at least try and show them the light
I face exactly that challenge today as questions will be posed at me as someone living with HIV/AIDS. The truth must be preached as this will only ever save. The power of salvation lies in the true gospel and not the man-centered attempts... thanks Dan.
I'm thinking this is an expansion on Proverbs 27:6
"Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy."
Word Verification: ireap
I wonder if the next verf is "usow" :P
Oh the folly of man that he thinks he needs to, much less can, defang God.
You know, as I look at this again, I'm still in agreement, but I think we often overlook how the mom's (or dad's, or friend's) heart truly breaks for the one who rejects the truth.
It can be awfully hard to hold that line - of speaking the truth in love - without the support of our brothers and sisters.
My two cents.
Thanks, Dan. You could have stopped the post with the application of Pr. 1:7 and I'd have enough to think about. I daresay you are right that we confuse compassion, sympathy, or pity for true Biblical love. Real love doesn't let someone go on in sin unwarned or uninformed. The Father loves us and speaks through the Spirit. We receive that love and need to give it to others the same way.
I believe that story is from Spurgeon's sermon entitled Heaven and Hell:
That was a dreadful dream which a pious mother once had, and told to her children. She thought the judgment day was come. The great books were opened. They all stood before God. And Jesus Christ said, "Separate the chaff from the wheat; put the goats on the left hand, and the sheep on the right." The mother dreamed that she and her children were standing just in the middle of the great assembly. And the angel came, and said, "I must take the mother, she is a sheep: she must go to the right hand. The children are goats: they must go on the left." She thought as she went, her children clutched her, and said, "Mother, can we part? Must we be separated?" She then put her arms around them, and seemed to say, "My children, I would, if possible, take you with me." But in a moment the angel touched her; her cheeks were dried, and now, overcoming natural affection, being rendered supernatural and sublime, resigned to God's will, she said, "My children, I taught you well, I trained you up, and you forsook the ways of God; and now all I have to say is, Amen to your condemnation." Thereupon they were snatched away, and she saw them in perpetual torment while she was in heaven.
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