Perdition's Population Clock

[Beetow]

.
Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot released a sentimental song back in 1975
that speaks volumes about sympathy. Its lyrics are very touching. Here's a few that
I feel especially appropriate when talking about things like sickness, death, and the
hereafter.

Rainy day people always seem to know when it's time to call.
Rainy day people don't talk, they just listen till they've heard it all.
Rainy day lovers don't lie when they tell 'ya they've been down like you.
Rainy day people don't mind if you're cryin' a tear or two.

I sometimes wonder how much sympathy one can expect in the fiery netherworld.
I mean; sure they'll understand how we might feel about the unfortunate
circumstances in life that led us down there, but once you're there, everyone's
pretty much in the same boat and the others are all longing for sympathy too.

In point of fact, I'd not be surprised if the competition for sympathy down there is
on the level of dog eat dog; and likely a fair number of sympathy hoarders
demanding total market share of it. I can just hear their feigned indignity; like this:

"Oh, stop whining already! Don't be such a baby. I deserve a lot more pity than
you. I've been down here for two millennia and you've only been down here for a
decade. What've you got to cry about? You should be grateful that your time down
here is shorter than mine."

I'd imagine that after a few years in that place the only sympathy that people can
feel after a while is sympathy for themselves because nobody is getting out down
there; they're all lifers so it's not unlikely that the only humanity that inmates pay
forward in that place is misery.
_

 

[Beetow]

.
● 1Cor 1:26 . . Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in
the world's eyes, or powerful, or wealthy when God called you.

Our unity with Christ isn't an achievement like a Nobel prize in chemistry nor as if
one ran for public office or climbed a corporate ladder. None of us would have a
place in God's family circle were it not for His generosity.

● 1Cor 1:30 . . God alone made it possible for you to be in Christ Jesus. He made
Christ to be wisdom itself for our benefit; he is the one who made us acceptable to
God. He made us pure and holy, and he gave himself to purchase our freedom.

NOTE: If there's a Devil, then I think we can safely assume he's been doing his best
to make it impossible be in Christ; but God's free will trumps the Devils' free will
along with everybody else's free will.

Education and/or a high IQ have their uses; but are inadequate when it comes to
spiritual matters. In point of fact, too many smarts can actually be an impediment.
Take for example Carl Sagan. Had his IQ been a spiritual advantage, then Carl
would've stood on the side of intelligent design instead of opposing it.
_

 

[Beetow]

.
● 2Cor 5:11 . . Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men

The Greek word translated "knowing" means to know firsthand, viz: by experience
rather than by education and/or instruction.

In other words: there were incidents at various times in the lives of Paul and his
contemporaries when God scared 'em out of their wits.

Well; there's nothing like a good old fashioned close encounter of a third kind to
convince even the most resistant skeptics; and Paul's history attests that his was a
really stubborn case.

Of course if any of us were to claim we've experienced the terror of the Lord, we'd
be singled out as kooks and crackpots; but for some of us, fright is the only
persuasion that works; for example:

When I was working as a professional welder for the US Army Corps of Engineers,
we had weekly and monthly safety meetings wherein we were shown some grisly
photographs of real life industrial accidents involving burns, chain saws, punctured
eyes, explosions, falls, crane collapses, suffocation, crushing, and the like.

Let me tell you: those safety meetings got our attention, and really made a sharp
distinction between the fool and the wise.

● Luke 12:4-5 . . And I say unto you my friends; Be not afraid of them that kill the
body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom
ye shall fear: Fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast into Hell; yea,
I say unto you fear Him.

A Danger Foreseen;
Is Half-Avoided.
Cheyenne Proverb

POP CLOCK UPDATE: 160 days have transpired since beginning the thread. If the
figures in post No.1 are within reason, then something like 12,280,320 new arrivals
have checked into the fiery sector of Hades since Dec 15, 2024.
_

 

[Beetow]

.
I must be slow-witted because I realized only just recently that everybody unified
with Christ will be in the rapture, nobody among his own are going to miss it.

Those still alive at the time won't be taken up as early birds. No, the living will have
to wait till the deceased are restored to life first and then all together take the
elevator in unison, i.e. at the same time-- none will go ahead and none will fall
behind.

Just about everybody in the modern world knows there's such a thing as the
rapture, but does everybody in the modern world know why there's a rapture at all?
Well, it's basically an evacuation.

For example Rev 16:17-18 predicts a global earthquake so powerful on the Richter
scale that cities all over the world will collapse at once.

Something like 2,829 lost their lives when the World Trade Center was demolished
by a terrorist attack in 2001. Well that was only a few acres of New York City. Just
imagine the body count when all of Manhattan comes down at once. along with
other major cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Mexico City, Paris, Moscow,
Beijing, Tokyo, et al. The carnage will be beyond belief; and that's just one of the
many life-threatening events set to take place.
_

 

[Beetow]

.
Years ago it wasn't unusual to be called a religious fanatic for believing the Genesis
account of the creation of Man. Well; recently somebody online called me an
ignorant bigot because I stand by the Bible's physical gender designations and
refuse to accept the new political designations, e.g. gender fluid, and non binary, et
al.

Do they honestly believe that the One who intelligently designed the cosmos-- all of
its forms of life, matter, and energy --won't have the last word on gender identity?

● Ps 2:1-5 . . Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The
kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against The
Lord, and against His anointed, saying: Let us break their bands asunder, and cast
away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: The Lord shall
have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them
in His sore displeasure.
_

 

[Beetow]

.
● John 3:16 . . For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The love in that passage is translated from a Greek verb that expresses compassion
for the world without particularly liking anybody. In other words: that kind of love is
civil and sympathetic but doesn't necessarily express fondness or affection.

FAQ: God in His wrath condemns folks to the fiery netherworld while at the same
time feeling pity for them?

REPLY: God forbid that He be one to obstruct justice by letting His feelings overrule
and/or outweigh the facts. No doubt God would rather be kind than cruel; but
sometimes circumstances just won't permit.
_

 

[Beetow]

.
Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs once said (in so many words) that people
don't know what they want till it's shown them. Steve may not've been as proficient
with electronics as his pal Woz, but I gotta say: Jobs was one heck of a promoter.

People imprisoned on the wrong side of the netherworld are doubtless aware of at
least their loss of creature comforts; but I'm not so sure they know about the bulk
of their loss because not even that many Christians are aware of all they've gained
by their unity with Christ.

Christ's believing followers have been adopted into God's family circle, thus making
them eligible for an inheritance.

● Rom 8:14-17 . . For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear
again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out:
Abba! Father! The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children
of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. (cf. Gal
4:4-7, Eph 1:4-5)

Point being: folks stuck in perdition are wretched paupers in the afterlife, whereas
everyone unified with Christ is wealthy and privileged beyond imagination.
_

 

[Fish153]

.
● Rev 20:13 . . I saw the dead, and they were judged, every one of them

That verse says that "every one" of them were judged. Well; I don't know precisely
how many every one will eventually number, but let's say that it's 100,000.

If each of these 100,000 cases were to take an hour to complete, we'd be looking
at roughly 4,167 calendar days, i.e. 11½ years-- that's if the judging by a solo
judge goes around the clock 24/7/365.

According to Daniel 7:13-14, John 5:22-3, and Acts 17:31, Messiah has been
designated to preside at the event. However, there's reason to suggest that he
won't be handling every case himself.

● 1Cor 6:2-3 . . Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the
world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law
courts? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? (cf. Matt 12:28)

Moses was assisted in his judicial duties by a select group of Jewish men. (Ex
18:17-26) It's possible that certain among Messiah's followers will be recruited to
serve as judges with him in the same manner, which would expedite his case load
considerably.

There's a few points related to that scene worth special mention.

1) According to Jude 1:14-15 the dead will be given a fair trial.

2) According to Matt 12:36, every word that the dead have spoken will be used as
evidence both against them and/or for them; not just their serious words, but also
their careless words.

3) The scene doesn't depict one future out of a variety of possible futures; no, it
depicts the actual future.
_

Just to mention. The Judgment most likely will be outside of time. God is infinite so he is not held to a clock. God could judge 50 trillion people in the snap of a finger if he wanted to. Think if you put a measure of time for each person Jesus died for on the cross. He would be on the cross for years! But Jesus died for billions of souls within the span he was on the cross. God's wrath (or "judgment") fell on Jesus for EVERY PERSON who has ever lived, or will ever live. If we accept him we will NOT be judged as we were already judged when Jesus took the wrath for us! So time has nothing to do with Judgment.

 

[Beetow]

.
FAQ: The Bible says that a Christian's life on earth terminates the day they come to
faith in Christ; and from then on, God stops keeping a record of their sins. (Rom
6:3-7, Col 3:3, and 2Cor 5:19). What about the afterlife? What's to be done about
the sins Christians commit there?

REPLY: They won't be committing any sins in the next life because of a special
procedure performed by the hand of God per Col 2:11 that removes the sinful core
of their being.

* It must be very devastating when folks below find out too late about that
procedure; and also when they find out too late about Jeremiah 31:31-34 and
Ezekiel 36:24-27 which, according to the language, would've rendered them easily
righteous enough to associate with God permanently.

POP CLOCK UPDATE: 165 days have transpired since beginning the thread. If the
figures in post No.1 are within reason, then something like 12,664,080 new arrivals
have checked into the fiery sector of Hades since Dec 15, 2024.
_

 

[Beetow]

.
Jesus sacrificed his life for the whole world; not just part of the world, rather;
everybody who has ever lived, and everybody who will ever live, down to the last
born on Earth. That says quite a bit about how Jesus feels about some of us.

For example: He may not like me-- at all. In point of fact Jesus just may quite
despise me, and candidly declare that I am not the kind of people with whom he
cares to associate. Nevertheless, Jesus went to the cross for me too in spite of any
disgust he might feel for me as a person.

Now, as I said-- in so many words --Jesus may not be especially fond of me, but
there's no doubt in my mind that he at least cares for me. So I played upon his
Father's sympathies back in February of 1968 when I prayed a very selfish prayer
that went something like this:

"God; I know I'm a sinner. I would like to take advantage of your son's death."

Seeing as how Jesus gave his life for the whole world, then God couldn't very well
refuse my request; now could He.

● Rom 5:6-8 . . Christ died for the impious. Very rarely will anyone die for a
righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But
God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ
died for us.
_