The passive pastor

Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. Ezekiel 3:17

One Sunday a pastor was preaching in the pulpit and came to a passage in the Bible on the doctrine of hell. Suddenly he hesitated and looked up at his congregation and back down at the passage before him. He read it over and quickly in his mind but decided to leave it out for fear of upsetting some people.

As he continued with the sermon, he glanced up momentarily, and suddenly the vision of his church members faded from his eyes and dissolved into a spectacular vision of the throne of God. Immediately a terrible fear encompassed him like nothing he had ever experienced.

The Lord beckoned him to come forward. As he moved towards the throne, he glanced at his surroundings which were vast and had no specific dimension. It had an ambience of divine holiness and as he walked there was the sound like an echo that resonated and faded far into eternity. His mind started to race and through the uncontrollable fear, the book of revelation flashed through his mind where souls faced a final judgement. As he focused on the Lord he suddenly realised he was standing at the great white throne of the damned.

The pastor fell to his knees, bowed his head and started to weep. He knew only too well that he had arrived at the throne of Gods wrath and not at the judgement seat of Christ. All at once, a lifetime of knowledge poured forward and a sudden realisation that he must have died whilst preaching at the pulpit. He looked up in shame, his eyes filled with sorrow and he waited for the Lord to speak.

A booming voice came from the throne. As the Lord spoke it was like the sound of much thunder. The Lord addressed him and said; I am the Lord your God and have brought you here that you may account for your life, your deeds and your works. I the Lord blessed you with love and a family and presented many opportunities before you that you should prosper and disciple in my church. I was with you always from your baptism to your ordination and enabled you to preach my word through the Holy Spirit. I put a Holy fire in your heart and by my grace alone you have received many gifts of the Spirit.

The Lord paused... and the pastor looked back unwilling to interrupt. The Lord continued: do you believe in my inerrant word, the Holy Bible, and do you believe in the gospels and that Christ died for the atonement of mankind and my chosen ones? The pastor answered; yes Lord. Then why do you seek to please men and not the Lord your God? The Pastor responded; Lord I have been a student of your word my entire life, I dedicated my life to you, I went through bible school, seminary and studied for many years, and brought many to salvation in the name of Jesus Christ.

The Lord responded; Some of what you say is true, but don't you know that salvation comes forth by my grace alone and that no man can find me through his own works, nor through any man made religion or by any other means. Don't you know that I have looked down the corridors of time and already foreseen those that will accept my grace. I have chosen you to feed my sheep with manna, and that manna is my word and my word is my will. The Lord paused… the pastor remained transfixed.

Let me take you back to the pulpit the Lord said. The Pastor then seen a vision of himself preaching the Sunday sermon omitting important passages and warnings of hell, and suddenly realised his errors and how he had angered the Lord. He looked up at the Lord with deep reverence and regret and the Lord proceeded; There were souls in your Church that needed to hear these warnings. I have many ways of bringing souls to redemption and salvation and a fear of hell and damnation is one of them and is vitally important to my people. If they don't hear and abide in my word, they will remain dead in their sins.

I blessed you with a commission and empowered you to shepherd my chosen ones. If you had read and believed my word you would clearly see that my beloved son the Lord Jesus preached more on the doctrines of hell than anything else, including Heaven itself, and yet, you say to me you brought many to salvation! How many do you think you brought to salvation without these important doctrines. My command to you was to preach my entire word that my will be carried out to the full.

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:11

I have said that if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, that I The Lord shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. (Rev22:19).

I have therefore no choice but to condemn you to a place of outer darkness. With all those that practise magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolisers and those that practise falsehood.

The pastor looked upon the Lord with deep regret. He fully understood the gravity of his error and sin and accepted the Lords judgement and his fate. An angel then came forward and bound him in chains and led him out of the Lords presence. As he was led, he wasn't angry and there was no gnashing of teeth but instead he wept in his heart knowing and understanding his error was an abomination to the Lord. He momentarily remembered the good things he had done, the way he dedicated himself, the gifts he possessed, his family, his loved ones and his entire life, and he wept with deep sorrow.

The Angel led him to a precipice, and waiting below was a place that was utterly indescribable. There was deep deep darkness but somehow mixed with fire and brimstone. It was vast with no beginning or ending, and could only be described as a boiling hot dark sun that went far and deep into all eternity. For a fleeting moment he thought of all the souls that were heading here and a truth manifested in his heart. He suddenly knew that if anyone alive today could experience such a moment like this, that they would fall to their knees in repentance and worship God for the rest of their lives.

As he gazed into the pit, he didn't fall but the hell before him moved towards him and engulfed his soul as he became a part of it. As time came to an abrupt end, he closed his eyes but he couldn't hear himself scream as his soul and the outer darkness became one.

The pastor opened his eyes and his Church members came back into clear focus. He stood paralysed and to his relief quickly realised everything that had taken place. After the service a colleague approached him and informed him that he went into a trance for a few seconds during his sermon and asked if he was feeling well. The pastor stared ahead and addressed his deacon, and said slowly; I have seen things that are unspeakable and today I have been chastened by the Lord.

Later that evening as he lay safe in his bed he recalled the ordeal in his mind of how he had been given a second chance and of what could have been. He remembered vividly the terrible fear he felt and how helpless he was in the Lords presence. He knew now that his agenda and sermons would never be the same and he closed his eyes in fear and prayed in the Spirit.

He thanked God for his divine intervention, his mercy, his grace and his conviction and praised him in his heart for pulling him out of the fires of hell. As he prayed in tears, he felt safe and the love of God engulfed him as he slipped into a peaceful sleep.

In Jesus name Amen.

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28