Why outer darkness is for eternity and not for a thousand years.

Bible scholars seem to disagree if outer darkness is a suburb sitting outside of the kingdom of God, or if it's another description of the lake of fire, or just a suburb of that also. It's probably because there's only four references to it in the New Testament. Regarding this I'm not sure myself.

However most scholars contend that the judgment in outer darkness is for eternity. No where in scripture does it suggest that those cast into the outer darkness are offered another chance to enter into the kingdom of God. It seems like entrance into the eternal kingdom of God after a temporary period of punishment would be so important that at least one of the New Testament writers would mention it, but none of them have. Instead Jesus seems to warn us to make every means to avoid it in his parables. 

The scriptures never even hint that the kingdom of God when it's referred to is limited to the millennial kingdom. Verses like Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:3-5, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 all refer to the kingdom of God plainly when it warns that those who are mastered by the lusts of their flesh and thereby practice sin will "not inherit the kingdom of God" or "have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God". 

Ephesians 5:3-5
But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Rather than hinting that the term "the kingdom of God" is referring to a temporary thousand year reign, scripture instead gravitates towards the "kingdom of God" referring to an "eternal" kingdom.

2 Peter 1:11
For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Luke 1:32-33
He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.

2 Samuel 7:16
And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.

Jesus words in Matthew 7:21-23 to those who claim him as Lord communicate that he wants nothing to do with those who profess him as Lord with their mouth but not their heart or their actions thereby living in lawlessness. No where is there an indication that Jesus will accept them back after a thousand years, instead it seems like he wants them to leave his presence forever in disgust that they and others would think that he could be associated with their works.

Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

In the few references to outer darkness in the gospels, it's usually described as a place of "weeping and gnashing of teeth":

Luke 13:28
In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.

If there were still hope of eternity with Jesus, then there would be at least some glory to look forward to. But one can probably infer that because there is no hope, all one can do is weep and gnash their teeth.

According to wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeping...shing_of_teeth

The phrase "(there shall be) weeping and gnashing of teeth" (in the original Greek ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων) appears seven times in the New Testament as a description of the torments of the damned in Hell. It is thought to derive from a logion in the hypothetical Q source, which yielded Matthew 8:12 and Luke 13:28. The other five occurrences are all within the context of parables and are widely held to be redactional additions by Matthew.

In fact in Matthew 13:41–42, the phrase "weeping and gnashing of teeth" is used in the context of the "fiery furnace", presumably the lake of fire!

Matthew 13:41-42
The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Lending credence to the idea that outer darkness is synonymous with the lake of fire or part of it. It's a place that's dark because there is no light, yet it is burning. This is because God is light and his presence is not there. Without God there is no light and only darkness.

Kingdom exclusion teachers such as Watchman Nee contend that when scriptures refer to "the kingdom of God", it's pointing to the millennial kingdom. Hence they limit the warnings by Jesus concerning outer darkness to one thousand years after which they will be granted entrance into the eternal kingdom of God.

So let's assume that this is true and see if it can stand up against God's word.

The bible teaches there are two kinds of resurrections in Daniel 12:2:

1. Resurrection of the righteous unto eternal life (1 Thess 4:16)
2. Resurrection of the wicked unto the second death (which is the eternal death) and the Great White Throne judgment (Rev 20:12-13)

So according to Revelation 20:12-12, the resurrection of the wicked happens after the millennial kingdom concludes in the preceding verse 6. The saints going to outer darkness do not participate in this second resurrection because they are still going to inherit everlasting life after a thousands years. Hence, the only resurrection they can take a part of is the first one which is the rapture if one is alive when Jesus comes back, or the resurrection from the dead to eternal life also at the time of the Lord's second coming.

So the only scenario I can see fit here where unfaithful believers can be thrown into outer darkness during the millennial kingdom is

1. first they get raptured or resurrected from the dead (1 Thess 4:16) where the saints will meet the Lord in the air.

2. Then Jesus will somehow divide the faithful and unfaithful saints who will inherit eternal life.

3. He'll then cast the unfaithful saints into outer darkness for a thousand years.

The conversation would be as such:

"Congratulations! You've been raptured/resurrected!"
"Ah wait... you've been a bad Christian... Sorry. Have fun in solitary confinement for 1000 years!"
"You look nervous. Relax, you'll have plenty of time to recover from 1000 years of isolation induced mental insanity in the eternal New Jerusalem!"

Not only is kingdom exclusion unable to fit within the timeline of Revelation 20, but teaching that you are saved after spending a thousand years suffering in outer darkness is adding works to salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9 states that we are saved by grace through faith alone in Christ Jesus. After God washes our sins away through repentance, he remembers them no more! Psalms 103:12 says our sins will be removed away from us as far as the east is from the west.

However if you say you're a Christian but you live like everyone else in the world and are in bondage to sin and your flesh, you're likely to spend eternity in hell or outer darkness. But don't worry, repent of your sins, make Jesus Christ Lord in your heart by fully surrendering to him, and ask to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. Praying a sinner's prayer is not enough to be saved, we also have to repent (Acts 2:38). 

For more on why repentance is necessary for salvation see here:

http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/554/is-repentance-required-for-salvation

Rather than referring to a temporary kingdom, the kingdom of God is often juxtaposed against going to hell in many places in scripture.

Examples are Mark 9:47
And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 

Matthew 18:9
And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

Notice how "enter life" and kingdom of God are used interchangeably in the same verses of two different gospels.

Also in 1 Cor 15:50-58, Paul talks about the the righteous being resurrected to eternal life in the context of entering the kingdom of God.

So in conclusion, there's no one thousand year outer darkness, rather it's likely for eternity just like the kingdom of God is. Jesus makes it clear there's no middle ground. It's all or nothing, either you are for him or against him.

2 Peter 1:11
For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  

John 15:6
If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 

Luke 3:17
His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. 

Luke 14:34-35
“Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 

Children of God have no reason to fear God because they are born of him. Fear of God has to do with punishment. If there was possibility of punishment awaiting children of God at the end of our Christian race, then the Apostle John is lying in this verse bleow by saying that we should not fear.

1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

Suffering in outer darkness for 1000 years as God's children just doesn't jive with God's character because it's sadistic. I know my God and it's not like him to do this to his children. Nor does millennial exclusion fit anywhere in the bible. Instead it seems like a dangerous doctrine which can be used to keep members of church in line under an abusive ministry or leader, while at the same time preventing people from pressing into repentance so their hearts can become the good earth and they can become born again. Jesus said wisdom is justified by her fruit, and from the looks of it, this doctrine has produced nothing but bad fruit.

The lake of fire was prepared for the devil and his angels. This includes children of the devil, which also includes men who claim to be Christians, but show that they are children of the devil by their works.

1 John 3:8
Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

Life is a gift and all of us have a chance to repent before the book of our life closes. There's no reason anyone of us has to go to outer darkness or hell for eternity. Judgment comes at the end of our Christian race. God is able to keep us from falling if we're willing to repent and hold his hand and follow him.

Psalm 37:23-24
The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will never fall,
for the Lord holds them by the hand.

Here's a testimony of a nominal believer who ended up in outer darkness after he had a heart attack in a casino. God told him it was for eternity and not a thousand years. After his experience he gave his life to Jesus and became a pastor.

Other Resources
http://www.gotquestions.org/outer-darkness.html
https://bible.org/article/%E2%80%9Couter-darkness%E2%80%9D-heaven%E2%80%99s-suburb-or-hell

Healed after ministering to homeless

Today I experienced excruciating chronic shoulder pain from carrying my daughter for prolonged periods, preventing me from doing much so I went to the grocery store to pick up some Tylenol. On the way there I prayed that God would show me someone to share the gospel with since it had been a while. As I came out of the store, a homeless gentleman by the name of Tom asked me for help because the recycling center next to Nob Hill was closed prematurely. Long story short I got to help them out materially and minister to him and his friend Anthony by sharing the gospel and God's love for them. Tom was so touched that God cared enough about him to send someone to provide for their need that he cried. I felt blessed that God answered my prayer so quickly and gave me the opportunity to sow into their lives because God loves the homeless. 

However, after I left, I realized I had forgotten to pray for their healing to show them God's love via his power. It's something I've been reminding myself to do after watching so many of Tom Fischer's videos on youtube (see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E62EgXvqfrc). But then as I walked home regretting that I didn't push further towards healing in ministry, I noticed my own shoulder pain was COMPLETELY GONE. Praise God! It's the first time I experienced healing like this and I didn't ask for it then, though I'd been praying all day for it since the pain was so overwhelming. I may have forgotten to pray to heal them, but God didn't forget to heal me :) 

Most importantly God was able to show his love to Tom and Anthony. Pray that Tom and Anthony's faith would grow and endure to the end, and they would rely on God's promise in Matthew 6:33.

Paradise is in Heaven

It's true Jesus descended to paradise after his death and he confirmed this by telling the thief on the cross that he would see him in paradise that same day (Luke 23:43). According to Luke 16, paradise or Abraham's bosom was in Sheol at one time, which the Old Testament teaches to be a pit inside the earth in numerous places. But where is Paradise today? Is it still in the earth or is it in heaven?

I believe that the Apostle Paul had the revelation that paradise was taken to heaven by Jesus after his trip to Sheol. 2 Corinthians 2:14 says that Jesus led a triumphal procession presumably when he ascended to heaven.

2 Corinthians 2:14
But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

Another reference to this is in Ephesians 4:8-10

Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

where Paul clearly describes how Jesus descended to Sheol and then proceeded to ascend to heaven, all while leading a host of captives, which could be understood to be the triumphal procession in 2 Corinthians 2:14. The New Testament teaches that Jesus ascended to the Father in heaven forty days after his resurrection (Acts 1:9-12) where he is sitting at the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19). It also teaches that believers who are absent from the body are present with the Lord in 2 Corinthians 5:8. Where is the Lord? But in heaven at the right hand of the Father as we mentioned earlier.

So by connecting the dots it becomes clear that paradise was taken to heaven via Christ's triumphal procession and it's where we will end up once we die until Jesus comes back for his bride. Many servants of God who have had out of body experiences and were taken up to heaven just like Paul described in 2 Corinthians 12 have reported the same including Jesse Duplantis:

The God of the Bible versus Postmodernism

Postmodernism speaks to the finiteness of human understanding and knowledge. By ourselves we can only guess and become "confident" of what is true and what is not true based on evidence we perceive.

However the bible clearly teaches that we can know absolute truth and not of ourselves but by the Spirit of God. This is because God exists in a realm outside of our time space continuum. Not only does he have the fullness of all knowledge but he knows every future event because he exists outside of time and has seen everything come to pass already in our time based existence.

This is why Jesus could say some very *concrete* statements that spoke to this absolute truth. If you look at his teachings, he wasn't one to equivocate and often preceded his statements with "truly, truly I say you to".

If we have the Spirit of God we can know his thoughts which point to absolute truth:

1 Corinthians 2:11
For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

Jesus said we'd all know the truth and it would set us free:

John 8:32
you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

How do we know the truth? Again by the Spirit of God, and Jesus affirms this again:

John 16:13
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

Jesus makes it clear we can know the absolute truth, which postmodernism vehemently contends is impossible. While we will know the truth, we'll never come to full knowledge of the truth until we become glorified, but we are expected to gain more and more knowledge with each day (see 2 Peter 1) which is part of confirming our calling and election- because the more of God's Spirit you enter into, the more truth will permeate you because he's the Spirit of truth.

1 Timothy 2:4
who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

This is also why we can stand on the authority of God's word and trust in his promises. The bible was written by the Holy Spirit who the Spirit of truth (John 14:26, 2 Tim 3:16-17).

And God proves this by littering the bible with 2500 prophecies, 2000 of which have come to pass and 500 which are in the process of being fulfilled. He's already seen everything come to pass so he can declare future events with no problem and that's why we can be assured that he has already won the victory as the book of Revelation describes and Satan is thrown into the lake of fire. Even when the world around us is burning and telling us we're crazy this gives us reason to hope for the Christ that is in us, which is the hope of glory.

John 16:33
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

More about fulfilled prophecy to those interested:
http://www.accordingtothescriptures....rophecies.html
http://www.therefinersfire.org/recent_prophecy.htm
http://www.reasons.org/articles/arti...y-of-the-bible

What is hell?

I believe the bible teaches that there are two hells. One is in Sheol which is inside the earth and is a holding tank for the second hell which is the lake of fire. Sheol is described in Luke 16 so I'll skip to the lake of fire:

Revelation 21:8
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

The Greek word rendered faithless here is "apistos" (Strong's greek word 571).

http://biblehub.com/greek/571.htm

571 ápistos (from 1 /A "not" and 4103 /pistós, "faithful," see there) – properly, not faithful because unpersuaded, i.e. not convinced (persuaded by God). 571 /ápistos("faithless, unpersuaded") does not always refer to the unconverted – see Jn 20:27. 571 (ápistos) describes someone who rejects or refuses God's inbirthings of faith (note the root, faith, 4102 /pístis).

This is the same word used in John 20:27 when Jesus described Thomas, someone who was his disciple!

John 20:27
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”

It should be noted that the list given in Revelation 21:8 is similar to the ones given in 1 Cor 6:9-10, Gal 5:19-21, Eph 5:3-5 which describes conditions for not inheriting the kingdom of God. Is it possible that not inheriting the kingdom of God implies going to hell? Jesus seems to confirm this idea by juxtaposing hell versus inheriting the kingdom of God in Mark 9:

Mark 9:47-48
And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’

It's also interesting Revelation 21:8 mentions the cowardly. This should remind us of the ten spies, who despite being  handpicked from their respective tribes,  disbelieved in God's promises when they saw thirty foot tall giants in Canaan. Even though they were Israelites who "believed" in Jehovah and were children of the promise, they were severely judged by God due to their cowardice.

In the OT, the judgment of the lake of fire is also alluded to which is different from the Jewish understanding of Sheol (the place you go after you die):

Daniel 12:2
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

So putting these verses together: The lake of fire is the second death where one experiences everlasting shame and contempt where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

How to be born again

In John 3, when Jesus held Nicodemus accountable for knowing that he had to be born again, he probably had Ezekiel 36 in mind by which God promises to give us a new heart and a new spirit so that we can live according to God's statutes. In order for God to do this we first must give him the legal authority by surrendering our heart to him in repentance. Simply believing that Jesus is the son of God is not enough to be born again, we also have to turn all our heart to him in repentance. Acts 2:38 says we have to both "repent and believe". 

Repentance also has to be ongoing and an everyday practice:

Acts 26:20
but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

Why giving our whole heart to God is the only thing that makes sense

Today I got a revelation while meditating on experiences of my parents and others who left churches very hurt. I realized the pain they experienced was from having their hearts broken. They were deceived into entrusting their hearts to even seemingly Godly things like ministry leaders and ministries. Inevitably they had their hearts broken once they were hung out to dry due to politics and many unfortunately have directed this pain in their heart against God.

It's interesting that Jesus told us to love God with all our heart, but he never said to love our neighbors with our heart. It seems selfish that God would demand all our heart, but as I've come to realize, it's for our own good. God knows that nothing in this world is trustworthy and our hearts will always end up broken if we give even a part of it away to something that doesn't deserve it. He also has first hand experience with this. God pours out his broken heart in books like Hosea where He weeps because Israel had betrayed him so harshly after he had given his heart to them.

Yet despite God knowing our potential for unfaithfulness, God is still willing to entrust his own heart to us. God is willing to have "faith" in us even when we're unfaithful. With this revelation we should gladly give all of our hearts to him :) Everything in this world is changeable and will burn eventually so its not to be trusted. So we should invest our most precious resource which is our heart to our God who is unchanging, eternal and the source of all love and life. God is the only thing that deserves our heart and he also showed this when he died for us. 

I also realized how empowering it is once we give all our heart to God. When you do this, nothing can ever hurt you or bring you down. Your closest friend or leader could hang you out to dry, and you'd still be okay because your heart belongs to God and not them! Even more, you'll still love them, because you realize despite the circumstances, God still loves those who hurt and persecute us. When we give our hearts to God, God shows how much he loves us and we'll be able to blast this love back to others. We'll also be empowered to walk by faith because nothing shows how much you love someone when you're willing to trust in that person and his promises despite when the world and your eyes are telling you that you are crazy for having faith in an unseen Lover.