Randy Kluth
Well-Known Member
I also have a less common view of "Hell" than many other Christians, but that is not the focus of this particular exchange. Hell is thrown into the Lake of Fire, where it perishes forever. What it is replaced with, as a depository of the Lost, is "Outer Darkness." When people reject the Lord, the Lord has to remove them far from His presence, where things are gloomy and sad. People still have a purpose, but not in the Kingdom of God on earth.Dear Randy Kluth,
I learned that the Doctrines of Hell and Free Will were false, and to some degree about the apostasy of church, from Ray Smith.
I don't support everything Hagee teaches either, but I refuse to overly criticize ministers of the Lord, in order to support the good that the Lord has commissioned them to do, albeit imperfectly. I certainly don't support everything that Ray Smith taught either.Ray Smith came out of the orthodox churches just as my wife and I did. We had a brief fellowship with Ray but he died a short time later. I do believe his website "bible-truths.com" is still up for viewing. I strongly recommend reading his open letter to Pastor John Hagee.
We should be promoting Christ, and ministers in a very guarded, critical way. I don't even support the apostles in an unbridled way--they also were imperfect. What I support is what Christ commissioned them to do, which was to teach the fundamentals of the Christian faith.
The Church Fathers did this also, though I don't regard their writings as "Scripture." We shouldn't view Ray Smith as author of "Scripture" either.
Yea, my wife and I call the "milk of the word" "baby gifts." When we're young Christians, God gives an outpouring of His Spirit to help us center our lives on Him. But the purpose is not for us to show the world how "charismatic" or "special" we are. Eventually, the gifts of the Spirit are designed to minister to others, and not to make us feel "elitist."This verse is speaking to converted Elect believers ("my son"). Even with "eyes that can see" it is only with great effort and prayer that the Lord will reveal His treasure to them. The milk of the Word is learned quickly at conversion but "strong meat" takes years of dedicated study.
God may have used the pathway you took to help you get established. But the gift of prophecy is certainly not designed to promote an exclusive ministry. It is designed to exalt Christ alone.Though I am not sure, this prophecy quoted below may have been the last one she received.
"I am with you. I hear your prayers. You will know my Word when you are able to receive it. I am preparing you for my work. You have much to learn about yourself. You will show others my way. I will prepare you for the work I give you. I am doing my work in you. I am the Lord."
My wife was brought to the Lord out of paganism by a most unworthy minister of the Lord, a fallen young man who believed he should share the Gospel with my wife outside of a bar. He was corrupt and compromised, and yet he was able to bring a real word of Christian Salvation to my wife. Later, she had to get away from him, but kept the Lord in her life ever since.
I do believe there is a parallel between what happened to Israel in the Bible and what happens to the international Church. Truth in God's word is universal. The people of God in each nation follow the same path. Some remain, and some depart. Some stay true, and some compromise.Since the church will follow the "type" the Nation of Israel presented, the church must likewise fall away and become children of the Devil. Because the Elect must travel that pathway, too, they must likewise fall away and be made 'worse than the first (Mat 12:43-45). And like with the Nation of Israel, the Lord will send a person to them in the spirit of Elijah to make the call of repentance.
I can't agree with this. The book of Revelation is very much about "outward world events at the end of this age." Christ is coming to establish a spiritual Christian reign on earth so that the Devil is bound and the Gospel can fulfill its mission unfettered. The promises God made to Abraham must be completed.An Elect believer must keep the "sayings" of the book of Revelation. The book teaches the Pathway to Salvation and it has applied in the lives of each of Christ's Elect since that time. It is not a book about outward world events which come at the end of this literal age. The book teaches about the spiritual events which occur to the Elect as they travel the Pathway to Salvation.
This sounds like a form of elitism? And I certainly don't see anything in the Scriptures indicating Christ comes many times and to each individual? Certainly with our Salvation, Christ "comes" to us spiritually when he sends his gift of the Spirit! Perhaps that is what you mean?If Christ does not "come again" to called out believer before they die, they are not going to be a First Fruit of His harvest. It is for this reason that Christ comes "quickly" to each of His the Elect. Their days as a Man of Sin are shortened so that the ends of the ages come upon them now (1Cor 10:11).
Let's let the Lord refine both our doctrine and our moral lives, and not become intransigent and fixed upon what we think is our call and ministry. Each day we simply need to respond to the love of God by being loving ourselves. And that calls for our being attentive to *everything* He wishes to say to us. It is His will and not ours that must be done.
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