FORGIVE OR HELL - Mike Peralta (best fantasy books to read .TXT) 📗

would eat again. The angel told Daniel these people were those who had eaten human flesh as an occult practice. Such things occur in Africa all the time. Another group, who had stolen land from others while on earth, endlessly dug rock-hard ground with their bare hands.

As I heard Daniel relate this scene, I couldn't help but thinking of how many times Scripture declares that God will repay every person according to his or her deeds, and also promises that everyone will reap precisely what they have sown. I remembered the story Jesus told of Lazarus and the rich man. In the afterlife, their roles were exactly reversed. The rich man longed for a drip of water from Lazarus just as Lazarus had previously longed for a crumb from the rich man's table.

Pastor Daniel also saw the former military dictator of Nigeria. He saw a Christian who had dabbled in occult practices and fallen away from the Lord, and a pastor who had embezzled money from his own church and also lied about it. The former pastor pleaded that he would return the money if Daniel could help him escape Hell. Although there were different kinds of tortures, all of the people in Hell writhed in agony under an unseen force that would wrench them repeatedly. All of them were shouting, wailing and gnashing their teeth. Pastor Daniel told me that if every Christian could see what he saw, there would be no need to preach the gospel, as every Christian would become the gospel.

The most surprising thing is what happened next. The escorting angel told pastor Daniel, “If your record is to be called here, you will in no doubt be thrown into Hell.” Pastor Daniel immediately defended himself saying, “I am a man of God! I serve Him with all my heart!” But a Bible appeared in the angel's hand, and it was opened to Matthew 5 where Jesus warned that if one calls his brother a fool he is guilty enough to go into the Hell of fire. See Matthew 5:21-22.

Pastor Daniel knew he was guilty for the angry words he had spoken to his wife. The angel also reminded him that Jesus promised that God will not forgive our sins if we do not forgive others. see Matthew 6:14-15 , because we will reap what we have sown. Only those who are merciful will obtain mercy. Matthew 5:7 . The angel told Daniel that the prayers he prayed as he was dying in the hospital were of no effect, because he refused to forgive his wife even when she attempted to reconcile on the morning of his fatal accident.

Pastor Daniel wept at this revelation, but the angel told him not to cry, because God was going to send him back to the earth to grant the rich man's request. see Luke 16:27-30 . A man would come back from the dead and warn people of Hell. The angel said that Daniel's resurrection would serve as a sign and be the last warning for this generation.

Finally, pastor Daniel was led to the top of a mountain, at which there was a large hole full of darkness. There the escorting angel handed Daniel to a man standing there whom he did not recognize at first, but soon realized it was German evangelist Reinhard Bonnkee. The angel told Daniel that man would help him spread the gospel of salvation.

Both Daniel and Reverend Bonnkee fell into the hole, and that is when pastor Daniel jumped up from the table where he lay at the Grace of God mission. He was back in his body after having been dead for at least 42 hours, almost two full days.

As you may imagine, pastor Daniel greatly emphasizes in his preaching the need to forgive those who have wronged us, lest anyone suffer the fate he almost suffered. How important it is that we obey Jesus' commandments regarding forgiveness and walking in love toward each other, as well as all the rest of His commandments. It is indeed time for the church to repent and “pursue peace with all men, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord”. Hebrews 12:14.

Do not listen to false teachers who say that holiness is not essential to ultimately gain eternal life. Jesus warned that only those who do the will of His Father will enter the kingdom of Heaven. see Matthew 7:21 . Do not listen to teachers who say that if you are once saved you are guaranteed that you will always be saved. Jesus warned His closest disciples. see Matthew 24 1-3 of the possibility of their not being ready when He returned and being cast into Hell. see Matthew 24:42-25:46 .

If we expect God to forgive us, we must forgive others. That is what Jesus solemnly promised. Are you ready to stand before Jesus, sincere and blameless?

God has repeatedly promised in His Word that He will render to every person according to his deeds. Paul wrote,

But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey un-righteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 2:5-10.

The people whom Daniel saw endlessly eating their own flesh were apparently being judged for eating human flesh as an occult practice during their lives. In the Old Testament, God promised He would judge wicked people by leaving them no alternative but to eat the flesh of their own dead children. See Deuteronomy 28:54-57. As foretold in the New Testament book of Revelation, when God will wrathfully turn the waters of the earth into blood, an angel will declare, “Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it”. Revelation 16:5-6.

Unless people repent, God is going to give them exactly what they deserve. They will reap what they have sown, and thus Hell will be customized for every sinner. Jesus warned of this “And that slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. Luke 12:47-48.

Certainly the one aspect of Daniel's experience in Hell that is the most sobering was the angel's declaration that Daniel would have ended up there because of his unforgiveness if God had not had mercy on him. Can unforgiveness actually cause a Christian to end up in Hell? Again, Scripture answers Yes. Do you remember the parable of the unforgiving servant found in Matthew 18:21-35? When the master learned that his servant whom he had graciously forgiven had refused to forgive a fellow servant, he was “moved with anger,” and “handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him”. Matthew 18:34 . That is, the servant's formerly-forgiven and unpayable debt was reinstated, so that he found himself once again owing what he could never repay, under the wrath of his master and handed over to be tortured. Jesus then warned, “So shall My Heavenly Father do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart”. Matthew 18:35 .

Clearly, this was a warning to Christians as proven by the external context. see Matthew 18:1-2,21. the parable was spoken to believers, admonishing them to forgive their brothers , and by the internal context, as the unforgiving servant obviously represents a person who was previously forgiven by God, a Christian. But that forgiven person's forgiven status was annulled. He reaped what he had sown. Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu was no different than the unforgiving servant in Jesus' parable. So why should we be surprised that an angel told Daniel Ekechukwu what Jesus has told all of His followers?

All of this is to say that Christians can forfeit their salvation by unforgiveness. If you are among those who believe that if you are once saved you are guaranteed that you will always be saved, you need to re-think your position. That view is not only disproved by the parable of the unforgiving servant, but also by many other scriptures. See Matthew 24:4-5,11-13,23-26,42-51, Matthew 25:1- 30, Luke 8:11-15, Luke 11:24-28, Luke 12:42-46, John 6:66-71, John 8:31-32,51, John 15:1-6, Acts 11:21-23, Acts 14:21-22, Romans 6:11-23, Romans 8:12-14,17, Romans 11:20-22, 1 Corinthians 9:23-27, 1 Corinthians 10:1-21, 1 Corinthians 11:29-32, 1 Corinthians 15:1-2, 2 Corinthians 1:24, 2 Corinthians 11:2-4, 2 Corinthians 12:21-13 5, Galatians 5:1-4, Galatians 6:7-9, Phillipians 2:12-16, Phillipians 3:17-4, Colossians 1:21-23, Colossians 2:4-8, 18-19, 1 Thessalonians 3:1-8, 1 Timothy 1 3-7,18-20, 1 Timothy 4:1-16, 1 Timothy 5:5-6,11-15, 1 Timothy 6:9-12,17-19,20-21, 2 Timothy 2:11-18, 2 Timothy 3:13-15, Hebrews 2:1-3, Hebrews 3:6- 19, Hebrews 4:1-16, Hebrews 5:8-9, Hebrews 6:4-9,10-20, Hebrews 10:19-39, Hebrews 12:1-17,25-29, James 1:12-16, James 4:4-10, James 5:19-20, 2 Peter 1:5-11, 2 Peter 2:1-22, 2 Peter 3:16-17, 1 John 2:15-2 28, 1 John 5:16, 2 John 6-9, Jude 20-21, Revelation 2:7,10-11,17-26, Revelation 3:4-5,8-12,14-22, Revelation 21:7-8, Revelation 22:18-19.

Jesus solemnly warned that if we don't forgive others, God will not forgive us. This is so vital that we should examine ourselves in this regard at least as much as every time we pray according to Jesus, Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in Heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in Heaven forgive your transgressions. Mark 11:25- 26.

This is so fundamental that the concept is included in the Lord's Prayer, which says, 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors'. ”For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. Matthew 6:12-15.

Jesus said, “If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. “And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' forgive him”. Luke 17:3-4. In the parable of the unforgiving servant mentioned earlier, note that both first and second servants requested mercy.

In pastor Daniel's case, his wife had sought for reconciliation, Daniel had refused her, and then he experienced his ill-timed death. Thank God that He had mercy on Daniel, and in so doing, God has shown His mercy to all of us who are not ready to stand before Him because of unforgiveness in our hearts.

Clearly, it is a very great evil in God's eyes to refuse to forgive a brother or sister in Christ. This is, however, commonly practiced by those of us who name Jesus as Lord. When offended, we harbor a grudge and tell everyone of the offense, gossiping, adding sin to our sin, and placing ourselves in the danger of being judged by God.

See Matthew 7:1-5. Jesus warned us that if our relationship with our brother is not right, our relationship with God is not right either.

Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. Matthew 5:23- 24.

If we realize that we have offended a brother, we should stop what we are doing, even if we are performing