There Are No Atheists in Hell

Where do atheists go when they die?  You say, “They go to hell.”  Not true. Why do I say this?  Everyone who goes to hell believes in God.

The rich man in Luke 16 was an unbeliever.  The Bible does not call him an atheist, but he very well may have been. He wanted nothing to do with God.  Certainly, he lived his life as an atheist.

When he died and landed in hell, while being in torment, he saw Abraham and called out to him as “father” (v. 24), which conveys a spiritual awakening.  He also prayed (v. 25-30).  Atheists do not pray. The rich man then prays for Abraham to send Lazarus to his father’s house to bear witness to his five brothers (vv. 27-28).  Bear witness of what? Bear witness that there is a God who is out there in which all are accountable to. He didn’t want his brothers to come to the same place he was in – i.e. hell.  

When Moses told the rich man that his brothers have the Scriptures – i.e. Moses and the prophets (v. 29), the rich man never said, “I don’t believe in the Scriptures.”   While in hell, he is a believer. In fact, he wanted someone to come to visit his brothers from the dead to warn them that hell is a real place (v. 30).  But Abraham said that the Scriptures were sufficient (v. 31).

Moreover, the rich man who lived as an atheist or unbeliever now believes in “repentance.”  He tells Abraham, “if someone goes to visit my brothers from the dead (i.e. sending Lazarus), they will repent” (v. 30).

There are no atheists in hell.  Atheists exist only here on earth, but when they die, they will become believers. By saying “believers,” I do not mean “saved” believers. In hell, there will be no opportunity to turn Jesus in saving faith for salvation. But nevertheless those in hell are “believers” in the existence and authority of God.

Finally, the Bible teaches that when history has come to a close, this is what will occur before the throne of God:  Therefore, God elevated Jesus to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father – Philip. 2:9-11.

Notice the passage says, “Every knee will bow in heaven, on earth and under the earth (afterlife).  Even in hell, those who are there will have to acknowledge the Lordship of Christ. (cf. Col. 1:20, where the phrase, “under the earth” is missing so as not to mislead anyone into thinking that in the end, everyone will be saved, including the devil himself). 

Conclusion:  There are no atheists in hell. There are no atheists in heaven. The only place that is hospitable to atheists is earth.  But life on earth is temporary.  Life afterwards will be eternal.  Some have chosen to live a temporary life of atheism on earth, not knowing that they will spend eternity in hell as a believer in God.

So where do atheist go when they die? They go to hell as believers in the existence and authority of God. In hell there are no atheists.  Everyone there knows for certain that God exist, and He is “God and Father of all, through all, and in all” (Eph. 4:6).

One Spiritual Lesson I Find From Hurricane Lane

Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more. . .” – Psalm 16:4

“Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them” – Jonah 2:8

Here’s a thought.  It may not appear popular, but that’s okay.  All I want to do is to help people to ponder, examine and search for the truth, and with God’s help, to see for themselves what may or may not be.

First of all, nothing happens by chance. God does not operate on the basis of accidents or chance. He controls all the details of world events, storms, and the lives of people.  “Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His Word” (Psalm 148:8).

All of us here in Hawaii and a good portion of the world have been watching the eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano with its many fissures.  It is not uncommon to hear from our local news stations and even interviews from some of the residents who live on the Big Island how the eruption is the result of the goddess, Pele.  We hear, Pele is doing this, or Pele does not like this, or Pele wants to make this happen. . .etc.

Maybe, just maybe, Hurricane Lane is God’s way of saying, “There is no Pele. I control the seas, the winds, the storms and even all volcanic eruptions.  I would rather you blame Me for the volcanic eruptions and therefore acknowledge my existence, then to blame some other god that does not exist and ignore My Presence all-together.”   The bible says that “He (God) looks on the earth, and it trembles: he touches the hills, and they smoke” (Psalm 104:32).  Elsewhere, “Oh that you (God) would rend the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might flow down at your presence” (Isa. 64:1-3).

Meteorologists are baffled and amazed as to the behavior of hurricane Lane.   This hurricane kept the experts wondering for days as to what it was going to do.

The Island of Hawaii got hit the hardest by hurricane Lane. Oahu will experience some rain and a little wind – that’s it.

Now this is not to say more spiritual mature people live on Oahu than and on the Big Island.  No, never.  But it is to say that when you live on the Big Island or on any island for that matter, and the people attribute God’s activity with a demon and verbalize and promote idolatry as a explanation and expression for what is going on, then the real Creator, Builder and Sustainer will step in, and powerfully, mercifully (because things could always be more worse than it is) and hopefully, help people to see what Nebuchadnezzar had learned the hard way: “After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever.

His rule is everlasting,

    and his kingdom is eternal.³⁵ All the people of the earth    are nothing compared to him.He does as he pleases    among the angels of heaven    and among the people of the earth.No one can stop him or say to him,    ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’ (Dan. 4:34-35).

Can We Know Who The Antichrist Is?

I find it interesting that both Judas (John 17:12) and the Antichrist (2 Thess. 2:3) are called “son of perdition (or destruction)” and that Jesus called Judas a “devil” (John 6:70-71).

Remember during the scene in the Upper Room (John 13:21-30), Jesus told His disciples point blank – “one of you will betray Me” (v. 21).  Wanting to know who it was, the disciples began to ask one another, “who is it?” (v. 22).  Peter gestured to John to ask Jesus who it was that was going to betray Him (vv. 23-25).  Jesus gave a direct clear-cut answer: “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.”  So when he dipped the morsel, Jesus gave it to Judas (v. 26).  Satan therefore entered into Judas (v. 27). But verse 28 tells us that “no one knew” what was going on.

In other words, Jesus kept Judas’ identity and hidden agenda a secret until after he had fulfilled his million. Why? Because if the rest of the disciples knew, they would probably do all they could to stop him.  But Jesus did not want Judas to be stopped. Jesus wanted Judas to fulfill his destiny – betray the Son of Man so He could start walking the road to Calvary.  

Judas was living, breathing, working and eating with the disciples of Jesus and not one of them knew or understood that he would turn into a betrayer or antichrist.

So it is today. I believe in our midst, we have the man of sin, the son of perdition, the Antichrist living, working, eating and breathing among us. We do not know who he is because Jesus is keeping his identity and intentions a secret. There is a veil placed by God over the eyes of the church and the world regarding the identity of this global leader.

It won’t be until after the Rapture of the church and sometime during the start of the Tribulation Period (2 Thess. 2:6-9), God will lift the veil and the world will get its first revelation of Satan’s ultimate betrayer of God.

Therefore, I find it stupefying that Satan’s ultimate global leader is someone whom is possibly living, serving, working and teaching among us.  And at the same time, we cannot know who this person is until his mission is well underway.

God doesn’t want anyone to kill or harm this “son of perdition.” He has a job to do. He has a destiny to fulfill. God will take extreme measures to keep this man’s identity a secret, thus protecting his life, until he begins his journey to hell. 

Keep in mind that everyone (saved and unsaved) are indestructible in the watchful protection of God until He removes His protective restraints. 

Why Do I Post So Much About Politics?

“Pastor Rich, for a pastor, you sure write and post a lot about politics and government.  More than other pastors I know.  Why is that?”

Good question.  In case you were wondering why, I would like to explain the reasoning behind my political postings. 

First, I do not post a lot about politics because I think it is more important than the gospel of Christ. It is by far not. Nothing is more important for the human race than a clear presentation of the gospel of Christ – God loves you and has given His Son to take your place on the cross for your sins. And if you surrender your life to Him, and believe in Him and what He has done for you, then you will be saved and have eternal life.  Nothing is more important than the gospel. 

But in saying this, politics does play an important role.  Here’s how:  First, politics is often shaped and developed by three main human institutions:  Academia, Hollywood and the Media.  Liberals have a monopoly on these three institutions and they know it. They get their marching orders from these and formulate policies, ideas, laws and principles that affect the lives of others and shape the course of government and therefore, this nation.

People can ignore politics and go on with their lives pretending all is fine, but whether they know or understand it or not, they’re being used, shaped and controlled by ideologies – both from the right and the left.

In the end, during the time of the Tribulation Period, under the leadership of a political charismatic world leader, his government will do the following:  Put people (Christians especially) to death who do not go along with his ideologies (Rev. 6:9-10; 7:13-14), put Jews (those identified with the nation Israel) to death (Rev. 11:7-10; 12:13-17); force everyone to receive the descriptive mark on their hands or foreheads in order to buy and sell (Rev. 13:11-18;), and if they choose not to, they will be put to death (v. 15); capture and swallow up other nations so as to have a one world government controlled by the antichrist himself (Rev. 14:8); demand that the beast (the antichrist who will be in some way an incarnation of Satan) be worshiped, or put to death, thus incurring eternal damnation from God (Rev. 14:9-11).

When this all occurs, two institutions will be totally corrupted.  Religions (Rev. 17) and governments (Rev. 18).  Demon controlled religion by the political government of the beast will also be used to put Christians to death (Rev. 17:4-7).   Then there is the political system of the beast (Rev. 18) which will have a global affect.   We’re told: “Come out of her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues” (Rev. 18:4).  Well, you cannot come out unless you are already in.  And then you need to know what you are coming out of.  This is why burying your head in the sand approach to politics is not a wise thing to do. Bad governments, immoral politics, false religions, all operated and are founded by haters of God who will affect the church is a big way.  We cannot afford to be ignorant of such things.

So why do I post a lot about politics and social concerns?  Because the enemy of the church, Satan himself will use such things to weaken the church and cause her to be ineffective as well as spiritually polluted.  It is, therefore, important to keep ourselves aware of such things as we move closer to the Tribulation Period, so we know how to do battle against ungodly political forces.

When Is The Right Time To Forgive?

A core fundamental blessing of being a Christian is to be forgiven by God.  All true Christians have been blessed to be forgiven by God. The Lord, likewise, wants us to pass on the blessing to others.  So when is the right time to forgive another brother or sister?

The first thing we need to understand is that biblical forgiveness falls into two parts:  Private and Public.

Private Forgiveness

When Jesus was crucified on the cross for committing no crime at all, but simply being hated as the Son of God He claimed to be, He spoke privately these words:  “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). 

This was Jesus’ private prayer to His Father.  Jesus was not asking the Father to forgive in a salvific sense, i.e. save them no matter what the conditions of their hearts are, even if they don’t repent. No. Jesus was asking His Father to spare their lives physically, for some of them may come around later and see the folly of what they had done and turn to Christ in repentance and forgiveness.  After all, this is precisely what occurred with a centurion soldier (Luke 23:47-48). 

Another Scriptural example of private forgiveness is seen in the words of Peter in 1 Peter 2:22-23:  “He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. ²³ He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.”

Jesus privately forgave His accusers, leaving the results and circumstances in the hands of His Father, who judges all matters fairly.

Private forgiveness is between the heart of the person wronged or offended and God. Private forgiveness is not a prayer that requests that the offender be removed from all responsibility and justice. It is not a prayer to undue the offender’s need to repent. It is a prayer that helps the offended from becoming bitter with God and others.

Private forgiveness is something ALL Christians must engage in whenever they are wrongly offended, accused or mistreated.  But remember this: Biblical forgiveness always requires at least three parties:

Party 1 – God

Party 2 – The Offended

Party 3 – The Offender

Private forgiveness actively occurs only between Parties 1 and 2. Party 3 is given over to God for His righteous evaluation and justice.

Public Forgiveness

Now private forgiveness is always VERTICAL (between God and the one mistreated).  Public forgiveness is more HORIZONAL (between the one mistreated and the one who is the offender).

A good example of this is found in 1 Corinthians 5.  The Corinthian church had a moral problem. The church was tolerating a man who was sleeping with his stepmother (v. 1).  Paul states that they had become arrogant and had not mourned this sin which was being tolerated in the church.

Let’s stop here and talk about “toleration.” So many Christians say to me, “Pastor Rich, we should not judge.  We should be forgiving and loving to the offender.  After all, God forgave and loved us for our sins.”

And I politely say, “No.  We are not to tolerate sin and call it love and forgiveness.  It is far from it. God did love us “while we were yet sinners” (Rom. 5:8), but His love for us did not grant unto us His forgiveness and acceptance until we first repented from our sins” (Acts 2:38). 

Two things we must learn to rightly separate:

First, love and acceptance – to love someone does not mean that you always have to accept him.  “For God so loved the world. . .” (John 3:16), but does that mean He accepts the world? No, love is an act of giving, but not always an act of accepting. 

Second, tolerance and forgiveness – When you are tolerant of someone, it does not mean you are exercising biblical forgiveness.  Paul told the Corinthians that their tolerance of this man who was sleeping with his stepmom was evidence of their arrogance, not forgiveness. 

Furthermore, by being people who are ready to forgive others who repent does not mean that are going to tolerate bad behavior. If I tolerate bad behavior and call it forgiveness, I am simply being arrogant.

So what was Paul’s counsel to this church? Verse 13:  “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.”   Again in verse 11: “Do not associate with a so-called brother who is living an immoral life. . .” Verse 9 – Do not associate with immoral people.”

Why the removal?   Here it is – verse 6:  “Do you not know that a little leaven (toleration of sin) leavens the whole lump of dough?”  In other words, now get this – The issue is not you being tolerate of someone else’s sin, but you ought to be protective of the spiritual welfare of others who can possibly become contaminated by your toleration of the leaven (sin).  So Paul begins verse 6 by saying, “Your boasting (in that you are tolerating sin) is not good.”  The Corinthians were tolerating this man’s sin and calling it true forgiveness. Paul said, “No, it’s not forgiveness.  It is boasting. It is pride.  It is wrong.”

In fact, Paul was so passionate about the removal of this man from the assembly, he said in verse 5: “I have decided to deliver such a person unto Satan for the destruction of his flesh. . .”   That’s how serious Paul was.  Did you notice any signs of “tolerance?”

2 Corinthians 2

After Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians, he got word that there were still some things that needed to be addressed.   So he wrote a second letter.  This was within a few months time frame.

In 2 Corinthians 2, Paul brings up the matter of the man who was sleeping with his stepmother that he had discussed months ago in 1 Corinthians 5. Paul received word that the offender had REPENTED.  His sin had caused much sorrow to the church (v. 4).  So the church took Paul’s advice and carried out the discipline which was “inflicted by the majority” (v. 6). 

But here’s what happened.  The discipline of moving the offender from the church worked! He repented. But when he did repent, the church still afflicted punishment on him. They said, “You’re not coming back.  We’re still not going to associate with you.” Paul said, “Enough! Forgive and comfort him” (v. 7).  And “reaffirmed your love for him” (v. 8).

In verse 10, Paul tells the Corinthians, “I have already forgiven the offender.” Apparently, when Paul encouraged the Corinthians to put the wicked person out from the church, Paul’s authority was attacked. The offender did not want to leave the church quietly but must have made a fuss. He probably tried to split the church, pitting Paul against the Corinthians. When the offender repented, of both his incest and his attack on Paul, the apostle said, “I have already forgiven him for what his attack on me, and you should also do the same for his sin in the church causing you much sorrow.”

Then Paul closes with these words: “In order that no advantage is taken of us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his schemes.” (v. 11).

What are Satan’s schemes? He has an arsenal at his disposal. But in this context, Satan’s schemes are:

1.   To try to get believers to accept that once you have done something awful, you cannot be forgiven and restored.  You are done, you are a has-been, you are failure for life.

2.   To try to get believers to over-emphasize the punishment and to under-emphasize forgiveness.

3.   To try to get the church to operate under extreme law with no regard for love.

4.   To tolerate sin and think of it as being forgiving

5.   To think that love and discipline are mutually exclusive.

6.   To permanently damage relationships among believers

7.   To break the bond between church leaders and the members of the church.

Conclusion:  Forgiveness is an incredibly important ingredient for Christians to display. There is private forgiveness that is done between the offended and God and public forgiveness that is done between the offended and the perpetrator.

Forgiveness is given by the one mistreated only when repentance by the offender has been done. Forgiveness on this basis should be swift. A reaffirmation of love and acceptance ought to be granted by those offended to the repented offender. In this case, the matter is dropped and never to be revisited again, unless it happens to appear again.

Tolerance of sin is not displaying forgiveness, but arrogance. The issue is not on being tolerant, but on preserving the spiritual well-being of others.

A Reminder of WHO We Are Fighting Against

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12)

I need to be reminded often that the battles that I often fight are not with flesh and blood.

I hate liberalism. I love liberals, but I hate liberalism. To me, liberalism is for cowards and weak minded-people. Nevertheless, my battle is not those who hold to liberalism, but against spirit of liberalism.

We need to learn that everything that is spiritual is not necessarily good. There is spiritual righteousness and there is spiritual wickedness and the devil is an evil spirit. He is unseen and therefore he is all the more dangerous. Do you know what the devil loves to get us to do? He loves to get us to wrestle with flesh and blood. Why? He wants us to believe that our enemy is flesh and blood (people), and as long as we’re fighting with flesh and blood (people) we’re not fighting with principalities and powers (i.e. the evil spirits behind misguided and rebellious thinking).

Do you remember when Peter tried to keep Jesus Christ from going to the cross in Matthew 16? Jesus was informing His disciples about how He was going to Jerusalem to be crucified. Simon Peter stepped forth and said, “Not so! This will never happen to you Lord.” Do you remember how Jesus responded to Peter? Jesus said to Peter: "Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's” (Matt. 16:23).

You might be thinking, “What a terrible thing for Jesus to call Peter, Satan. Jesus did not call Simon Peter Satan, Jesus called Satan, Satan. Jesus was wise enough to know that it was not really Peter but the devil who had prompted Peter to say what he did and try to keep Jesus from His mission of going to the cross. So rather than fighting flesh and blood (Peter) Jesus went to the root of the matter (Satan himself).

So many times when we have a fall out with somebody else we want to argue with that person and fight with that person rather than attacking the devil that causes that person to act and think that way. Would be to God that we have the insight to see that our battle is not with flesh and blood, but it goes deeper. Our battle is against the spiritual wicked forces of the devil who is behind the sinful thinking, abortion, murders, rape, lust, kidnapping, lying, greed, stealing, rebellion, extortion, and whatever else is against the will of God.

Misinformed people are merely the vehicles of which the devil uses to spew his venom of toxicity.

Therefore, knowing this, we need to fight the spiritual with spiritual weapons and not with carnal or fleshly ones. This means, we war against the devil and his demons in prayer and using the Word of God as our sword, along with a pure life. We are not talking about a perfect life, but a pure life – a life that is surrendered completely to God.

Does God Commit Abortions?

Okay, let’s talk theology here.

God does at times, commits an abortion, that is, takes a life of a baby either before or after birth.

The difference is this:  God can do whatever He chooses since He is the author, creator and sustainer of life. “God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5), therefore God’s actions are always pure and undefiled.

Job said it this way:  “The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the Name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). 

God’s ways and thoughts are way beyond ours, therefore, do not even try to get into the mind of God and justify your ways as a result: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8-9). 

If you are confused and lack wisdom, then pray about it – “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind” (James 1:5-6). 

God tells us what to do, we do not educate and try to twist His arm: “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” (1 Cor. 2:16).

God pronounces judgment on those who think they can sit in judgment on God and His ways of doing things:  “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’? Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’” Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him: “Ask me of things to come; will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands? I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host” (Isa. 45:9-12). 

When Job questioned God about what He was doing to him and the motive in His heart, God replied: Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? ...(Job 38:1-41).

God, the giver of life (Genesis 2:7), has the right to end any life if and when He chooses (Job 1:21), but man does not unless God grants it to him (I Samuel 15:1-3). If man chooses to apart from God then it is murder and the Bible says, “we know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:15).