The Empty Halls of God's House

The Empty Halls of God’s House

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You have faith in God, have faith also in me.  In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.  If it were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.  (Jn. 14: 1-2).

A promise Jesus was emphatic about that guarantees when we follow Christ, believe in all he taught, and most especially make him the center of our lives, there is no doubt we shall be led to an eternal home with God.  

Have you seen what has been occurring throughout the world?  Who is able to find the exact date when man had become its own worst enemy?  Bad enough that warring nations will do whatever is possible to attack and take control of neighboring communities, nations, with a look to make as many as possible their own territory and philosophies.  But, there is a more devastating scenario that has taken hold of humanity and may very well be the cause of emptiness in God’s promise of living in his mansion, which promises to please all who believe.  

The prophetic downfall of so much that the Lord told his disciples about has filtered down to our present day and is becoming well established through incidents that are crippling even staunch Christians and Jews.  It is the lack of respect for human lives.  This has not emerged within the 20th century and into our present time.  It began centuries ago when different peoples chose to sacrifice children to idol worship.  Even animals do whatever they can to protect their offspring from predators and would fight to the death if necessary to achieve that.  We have become culprits of a shameful crime that even some serious criminals balk at these misdeeds.  

There is no action that human beings commit that infuriates God more than the sacrifice of our children.  Today, 2022, the rate of abortions is expanding so rapidly that numerous governments approve of all types of eliminating the unborn, and even more devastating now killing babies as they exit the birth canal.    

These atrocities result in one unbelievable act from those who were promised a place with God, who may not be welcomed.  They are the ones using these abominations as idol worship which is a sin against  the first commandment; “I, the Lord, am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.  You shall not have other gods besides me .  You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below, or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them.  For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their fathers’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation.”  (Ex. 20: 2- 6).  

All sin is forgivable except that against the Holy Spirit; but all of this is a direct abomination against God Himself since the respect and love for God has become a way of turning away from the very God who created us and now has no prominence in the eyes of too many.  God, to countless people, is no longer the center of their lives.  I fear that the words of Jesus when he told his disciples; “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many.  How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.  And those who find it are few.”  (Mt. 7: 13 - 14).

It appears that an abundant amount of people appear to laugh about what they perhaps learned about heaven and hell has now become a fallacy or belongs in a fairy-tale that we teach our children until they reach a level of discounting stories that children leave behind as they mature.  

Results of ignoring God and the respect for him and his commandments will be more than disastrous; they may be the very one way ticket to hell from which there is no return.

Is there hope for those who have turned away completely from God?  Certainly, but they must turn around and bow to the one who stands ready to forgive.  Sadly, those who won’t turn back will suffer an eternity of pain.  

I wrote once about my morning prayer at 3 AM was disrupted by a chilling scream.  After I discovered the streets at that time were empty with no one appearing to be hurt, I returned to my prayer.  It was revealed to me that 3 AM is when the most evil is performed and the scream was from the depths of hell.  To this day I can still hear that scream.  Can you imagine that scenario will always be there.

Ralph B. Hathaway, No Mansion in hell!