Recent books written about hell tell us that fearful looking demons torment souls in hell and that Church goers who live and die in sin are there. The devil is not afraid of anybody’s Church going record, he is only afraid of the quality of your relationship with God; the quality of your worship. What the devil fears most is a consecrated worshipper; one who has said ‘No” to every appearance of evil. One who does not have any trace of compromise, one who has decided to follow Jesus with no intention of going back. It was much easier to produce such a person in the 70s than now. This, I believe, has to do with the kind of messages that is being preached now. I must emphasize that what has changed is not Christ because Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. What has changed is the people. Most people go to Church today to ‘get’ but back in the days, people went to Church to be ‘made’. These are two different things. ‘Give me’ and ‘make me’ are two different motives. When the prodigal Son came to his Father, he said, give me my portion, I want it now. His Father acceded but because the prodigal son did not have character, he went and squandered the money, it didn’t take long. Parents, when raising your children, don’t raise them to be prodigal children, don’t spoil them with things, train them from day one to place value – this is the secret.
A lot of Christians today are prodigal; they are not interested in having relationship with God. Their Christianity is without character; no depth at all. When a person gives his life to Christ newly and is taught about his covenant rights, for goodness sake, how will he know his responsibilities? All he is taught is what he can get and not what he can give. This is the departure. When we gave our life to Christ in the 70s, we had Heaven in view. It was as if Jesus was coming the next day, you dare not steal or cheat, otherwise, you will lose your peace. Back then, people were rushing to make restitution. What is the quality of your encounter? Jesus has not changed but the messages have changed. When the prodigal son eventually returned after he had squandered everything he had, he came to his Father and his language changed. Instead of ‘give me’, he said, ‘make me’. Henceforth, when you go to God in prayer, stop asking for what to get, ask him to make you. And when repenting, don’t ask God to forgive you for lying, tell him that you are a liar and that he should make you a truthful person.
The only way to escape hell is through genuine repentance, holiness, obedience, constant prayer and watchfulness and dependence on God’s mercy and grace. Dominion over hell is possible only through Christ.
TO BE CONTINUED . . .