FIVE PATHWAYS TO HELL |
On Sunday mornings at the Bible Church where I serve as pastor,
my Sunday school class was studying the Old Testament book of
Job. I tell you it was an exciting study! For we know each time
we open the Bible to any particular text, even if we do it many
times, as we read and contemplate it, God makes it fresh and revelatory
to our hearts as His children of faith.
Well in particular, we were studying Job's three friends, Eliphaz,
Zophar and Bildad. Now I think most people know the basic story
of Job. Job was a righteous God fearing man who in the mysterious
workings of Heaven, was chosen to be a test case for Satan, the
wicked fallen angel. It appears in the story that Satan wanted
to prove to God that no one served and honored Him, except for
ulterior motives of self-reward. In other words, God had to buy
His favor. This was a serious charge, but one God took as a challenge.
So Job became the test case. If Job were stripped of all the good
things and blessings God had bestowed on him, certainly Satan
thought that would prove Job would "curse God to his face,"
for when the benefits were gone, so would be any rational thinking
being. Well, God permitted Satan to attack and buffet Job. Now
while Job was experiencing great sufferings without being privy
to what this test was all about, we learn that Job had three good
friends, who when they learned of his sickness and losses, came
to comfort him.
In studying these men and their words of wisdom given to help
Job, I find that all three although they had an unusual knowledge
of God and were professing believers in the one true God Job feared,
somehow they were also intellectual products of their time. You
see each of them revealed in their words, that they also believed
in differing philosophies of life that could ultimately send them
to Hell.
As I talk with many individuals today who have no place for the Christian view of life, I find one thing in common. They all have the philosophies of Job's three friends firmly entrenched in their minds and hearts. These popular philosophies of life seem very rational on the surface, especially since most people accept them without deeply thinking about them. Yet, these philosophies of life or "systems of knowledge," are really very dangerous, for they lead those who embrace them to what the Bible reveals is a Christless eternity, a place also known as Hell.
Now I'm not trying to scare anybody into belief in the Christian
faith, rather I simply want you my listening friend, to better
examine whatever belief or knowledge system of life you have embraced.
For if you can do that, I am confident you will see that there
really is only one system of knowledge and belief for life and
that is - The faith of Christianity alone! Well, let's begin our
study of what I would call "false systems of knowledge."
For the sake of categorizing them. Let me list them for you now.
The false systems of knowledge today that are in effect, "Pathways
to Hell," are:
(1) MYSTICISM, which centers on "I believe what I FEEL.,"
(2) EXPERIENTIALISM, - "I believe what I EXPERIENCE,"
(3) RATIONALISM, - "I believe what I can REASON,"
(4) TRADITIONALISM, - "I believe what I've been TOLD,"
(5) ATHEISM, - "I believe what I WANT."
Actually Job's three friends were guilty of operating under such
claims. For instance, Job's first friend to speak was Eliphaz.
In chapters 4-5 of the book of Job, he accuses Job of being a
hypocrite. Therefore Eliphaz strongly implied that Job was suffering
because he must have fallen into serious secret sin. Where did
Eliphaz get such a philosophy? Job 4:12-17 tells us,
Job 4:12-17 (NIV) ""A word
was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it. 13
Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on
men, 14 fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake.
15 A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood
on end. 16 It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form
stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice: 17 'Can a mortal
be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?"
Notice Eliphaz's source of knowledge upon which he based his conclusions
of Job's situation. Remember, the first two pathways of false
systems of knowledge I identified, were MYSTICISM &
EXPERIENTIALISM. Both of these were the basis of his conclusions.
Remember MYSTICISM says, "I believe what I FEEL."
Elipaz felt Job must have sinned, because we all feel in our hearts
that sinfulness must be punished. Therefore if someone seriously
suffers, it must be a result of sin. Such thinking still permeates
our world today. The second false system of knowledge Eliphaz
revealed were a part of his thinking, is EXPERIENTIALISM
which operates on the basis of, "I believe what I can
EXPERIENCE." Remember Eliphaz's words:
(Job 4:12-17) "Amid disquieting
dreams in the night, … A spirit… stood before my eyes,
and I heard a hushed voice: 17 'Can a mortal be more righteous
than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?"
He was saying the basis of his conclusions that Job was a sinful
man was the result of a dream. What he could experience was the
basis of which he believed. Millions of religious and non-religious
people today base their faith or belief system only on what they
can experience. Our Charismatic friends are often guilty of this.
Their theology of Heaven and eternity, all is filtered through
what one can personally feel or experience. Yet, when measured
by the standard of God's Word ,much of what is believed and taught
in Pentecostal circles cannot be substantiated in the Scriptures.
But then that doesn't matter, for the appeal always is "But
we've experienced it!"
Yes MYSTICISM and EXPERIENTIALISM are two pathways that can lead
a soul away from God's truth and unless turned from to an eternity
in Hell, for it ultimately denies God's highest authority, the
Word of God. The Bible says " we walk by faith and not
by sight." As such,, no belief system should be
based on feelings or experience. Yet Eliphaz from Temon, the so-called
"seat of wisdom," failed miserably in comforting Job,
by falsely accusing him of sin, based solely on human experience
and the mystic vision of dreams.
Now in the book of Job, his second friend's name was Bildad. Bildad
spoke after Eliphaz assaulted Job with his false knowledge. This
time Bildad's words of "wisdom," again fail for he too
bases his thoughts of life on another set of false systems of
knowledge. We read his response to Job's suffering in,
Job 8:8-10 (NIV) ""Ask the
former generations and find out what their fathers learned, 9
for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days
on earth are but a shadow. 10 Will they not instruct you and tell
you? Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?"
In Bildad's three speeches to Job which we cannot cover, like
Eliphaz, "Bildad believed that suffering is always chastenment
for sin. In fact, Bildad argued if Job's children were taken in
death as they were, then they too must have been wicked as well!"
However, Bildad held views a bit different from Eliphaz's MYSTICISM,
which says "I believe what I FEEL," and EXPERIENTIALISM,
which says "I believe what I can EXPERIENCE." Bildad
appeals to the false systems of knowledge called RATIONALISM
and TRADITIONALISM.
Bildad assumed that because human tradition teaches judgment follows
sin, so all suffering in life does too. His second appeal was
based on similar lines … what made human sense (rationalism)
must be plain sense. Again, how many people today operate their
belief systems only on what makes sense to them? Do you know that
millions upon millions of world citizens say they believe there
is no God because no one can know if God really exists. We sometimes
call this agnosticism. I've discovered many secular
college students pride themselves on being agnostics. This seems
to be safe ground. For the agnostic refuses to believe that God
exists. And, until He proves God's existence to touch human traditions
and sense, they will not believe in God. However, friend the very
fact that an agnostic cannot be sure, makes it logical that he
should consider the claims of Christianity. For agnosticism can
never be grounds for rejecting Christianity; rather, it is grounds
for examining the one true faith in God. And, failure to carefully
examine the Bible and Christianity is God's condemnation upon
all rejecters of the faith. Indeed it is a pathway to Hell itself.
Now we've examined four pathways to Hell. MYSTICISM - which
says, "Only what I can personally feel will be the basis
of what I believe." EXPERIENTIALISM says, "Only
what I can experience will I believe." RATIONALISM
says, "Only what I can reason, will I believe."
And, TRADITIONALISM, "Only what I've been told
or is accepted human tradition will I believe." These
four false systems of knowledge the Bible declares only lead to
an eternity called Hell. Now we have one false system left, it
is called ATHEISM. Atheism says, "I believe what
I WANT."
You see friend, those who claim to be atheists dogmatically affirm
there is no God. By the way, this is the most popular false belief
system today world-wide. It is also known as "Secular Humanism."
Contrary to some understanding of it, Secular Atheistic Humanism
is one of the most organized, and most clearly non-Christians
philosophies of life ever to have been accepted by the human mind.
Today it is defended to the core by so-called scientists and philosophers.
Why this faith system even has its own clergy of spokesmen, and
its own "creed," THE HUMANIST MANIFESTO, and
of course its own rabid goals of reordering the world to conform
to its belief system.
Yet at the core of Secular humanism is the false system of knowledge
called ATHEISM. But for a moment, let's examine this system
of thought. The atheist says, "there is no God!"
Atheist's say evolution proves this, human reason proves this,
experience proves this and even feelings prove this. But most
of all to them what proves it is they simply choose not to, they
do not want to believe in God. Their minds and wills say
"no" to the thought that there is a higher power and
authority over their lives.
By the way, God realizes this and tells us this is exactly why
people are evolutionary atheistic humanists. Man must, to their
sinful wicked hearts, be the "measure of all things."
Everything must be centered around one's own personal desires,
happiness, goals and perspectives. Listen to the Bible's description
of this false philosophy of life. We read in,
Psalms 14:1 (NIV) "… The fool
says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt,
their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good."
Proverbs 21:2 (NIV) "All a man's
ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart."
Romans 1:18-32 (NIV) "The wrath
of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness
and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because
God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the
world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine
nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has
been made, so that men are without excuse. 21 For although they
knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to
him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts
were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became
fools … 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires
of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their
bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for
a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the
Creator--who is forever praised. Amen. 26 Because of this, God
gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural
relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also
abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with
lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men,
and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain
the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to
do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with
every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are
full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they
invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they
are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Although they
know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve
death, they not only continue to do these very things but also
approve of those who practice them."
Atheism, the politically correct system of knowledge today taught
universally in schools and life is really an unreasonable position.
Why you might ask? Well, let me tell you. Atheism says dogmatically
there is no God! But one cannot be dogmatic about this because
to make this type of statement with authority to base one's life
and eternity upon it is unreasonable. An atheist must admit, no
one can know the universe in its entirety nor possess all knowledge.
Therefore, since the atheist is not all-knowing, he cannot declare
such dogmatism about God's non-existence. He can only state that
he is "uncertain" whether there is a God or not. And,
if he can only state, he is "unsure, and uncertain"
there is a God, the Bible says anyone who takes this position
is obligated to explore the premise that God may exist. Every
avenue of information and truth about God that can be known must
be examined. We read in,
Acts 17:26-31 (NIV) "From one man
[God] made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole
earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact
places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would
seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he
is not far from each one of us. 28 'For in him we live and move
and have our being.' … 29 "Therefore since we are God's
offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold
or silver or stone--an image made by man's design and skill. 30
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands
all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when
he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed.
He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the
dead.""
Yes there are many pathways to Hell. For Hell is a place for the
departed dead who had in this life, rejected the only system of
knowledge and truth found in the Bible, and chosen their own systems
of so-called knowledge which do not lead to God, nor to His love
and forgiveness. God categorizes all these false systems of faith
and philosophy in two verses of Scripture,
Proverbs 14:12 (NIV) "There is
a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."
Colossians 2:8 (NIV) "See to it
that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophies,
which depends on human [wisdom] and the basic principles of this
world rather than on Christ."
Yes my friend, everyone of these false systems of philosophy -
Mysticism that says, "I believe what I FEEL";
Experientialism, that says, "I believe what
I EXPERIENCE"; Rationalism that says, "I
believe what I can REASON"; Traditionalism
that says, "I believe what I have been TOLD or what makes
HUMAN SENSE"; and, Atheism that says, "I
believe what I WANT and SATISFIES ME." Every one of these,
the Bible says is a hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends
upon human wisdom, tradition or reason, and even seems right to
a man but … God says it leads to death! Eternal death in
the life to come. I don't know where Job's three friends really
stood. Were they true believers in the one true God? Or where
they simply minions of the fallen world, mimicking the traditions
and thinking of a world of man that rejects God and curses His
existence and claim upon all life and men? I'll not be their judge.
But, the mindset they revealed when they spoke, was indeed deadly
and still is today.
Friends, let's get practical and personal -- where are your thoughts?
On which system of faith and philosophy of life, are you living?
Mind you, I didn't ask what system you claim to believe, but what
system of life are you living by? That is the real
test of a saved soul and a worthy life.
Yes there are many false systems of so-called knowledge which
the vast majority of people world-wide are following today. The
sad truth is, they all lead away from God, and fail to provide
a lasting life of happiness, joy and contentment. I pray you are
trusting in "the way the truth and the life," which
is Jesus Christ. He alone is the source of all truth, and the
giver of all wisdom and knowledge. And, those who trust Christ
alone for their life's direction and future will never be sorry,
for God and His Word promise they will reap life eternal now and
forever more. May God give you eyes to see, to hear, to experience
and most of all, to turn your hearts to the one true God and the
one true system of truth and knowledge found in God's Word alone.
Herein is life and the light that will carry everyone who follows
on the right path to a glorious and wonderful eternity.
_________________________________________
Resources:
[1] "Triumphant Faith Under Fire" - The Book of Job by Gary L Hauck, Regular Baptist Press, Schaumberg, IL.
[2] "A Ready Defense" - by Josh McDowell,
Here's Life Publishers, San Bernardino, CA.
The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures.A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request.These weekly radio commentaries can be heard in selected areas around the nation. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for 16 years, and serves as General Director. These transcripts are available free of charge to all who desire them. Also available are radio cassette tapes and printed booklets of each message. A free listing of all messages is available upon request also.
For further information, reprints, or a listing of all topics, please write to our speaker,
Dennis L. Finnan(wwyfin@sparc.isl.net), or visit our webpage at [ http://www.isl.net/wwyweb.html ].