A08 Why Command Stoning Sinners

If God is love then why did He command that sinners be stoned to death in the Old Testament? Especially considering that stoning was a practice that came from Egypt. Exodus 8:26. 

There is much more to this story than many realise and it tells us a lot about how God deals with sin and how it reveals His tender mercy and love for the sinner.

A07 Harden not you hearts

Would you burn your wayward child to death after decades of disobedience and evil? How is it possible to become so hardened in heart as to believe that the God who claims to be love would burn His wayward and wicked children alive in the agonies of hell? It is most certainly true that the wicked will die in agony and the torture of their internal torment will make their physical suffering feel insignificant. In this video you will learn the truth about hell and what causes the intense suffering. It does not come from our tender heavenly father but from the hardened hearts of sinful men. 

A06 Fire From Heaven

Just before Elijah was taken to heaven the Bible tells us that he called fire down from heaven on 2 lots of 50 men and their respective captains. When the disciples of Jesus came to Jesus frustrated with some Samaritans who were not treating their master correctly, they cited the example of Elijah bringing fire down from heaven to destroy them. The answer of Jesus tells us something profound about the character of God.

Luke 9:54-56  And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?  (55)  But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.  (56)  For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

Did Jesus rebuke the actions of Elijah as well as His disciples? This presentation puts these pieces together to reveal the loving character of our Father in heaven. 

A05 Love Your Enemies

In the book of Matthew is recorded one of the greatest sermons ever preached. It is a sermon preached by Jesus Christ. In these sermons He tells us to turn the other cheek and to love our enemies that we might be children of our Father in Heaven. So we become children of God when we love those who oppose us.

The Template for the Judgment

Get the notes: http://maranathamedia.com/article/view/the-template-for-the-judgement

God considers all men His precious children. He has paid an infinite price for every human being. When we judge others and have angry feelings towards them and desire to separate from them then we are challenging God’s judgment of that person. We are negating what He has decided about them. We are taking His place on the judgment seat and we are administering the counterfeit justice of Satan which ultimately will be mirrored back to those who sit there. 

As we pass judgement on others this negates His love for others, because we are the same as them in nature we negate His love for us and we judge ourselves unworthy of His love. We are in the prison because we grabbed the man by the throat and told him to pay.

The Atonement and the Demands of Justice

The condemning power of Satan would lead him to institute a theory of justice inconsistent with mercy. He claims to be officiating as the voice and power of God, claims that his decisions are justice, are pure and without fault. Thus he takes his position on the judgment seat and declares that his counsels are infallible. Here his merciless justice comes in, a counterfeit of justice, abhorrent to God. {CTr 11.4}

The Penalty of Sin - God is not the Author of Death

It was generally believed by the Jews that sin is punished in this life. Every affliction was regarded as the penalty of some wrongdoing, either of the sufferer himself or of his parents. It is true that all suffering results from the transgression of God’s law, but this truth had become perverted. Satan, the author of sin and all its results, had led men to look upon disease and death as proceeding from God,—as punishment arbitrarily inflicted on account of sin. Hence one upon whom some great affliction or calamity had fallen had the additional burden of being regarded as a great sinner. – {DA 471.1}