107 Hellfire and Brimstone
Ebenezer had gone to church all his life. He never enjoyed church, to be honest, but he had been traumatized by a sermon from a preacher when he was a child. The preacher preached a sermon full of hellfire and brimstone. The preacher sternly warned his audience that if they didn't go to church, they would go to hell and burn as sinners for all eternity.
Ever since that day, Ebenezer went to church every Sunday on time, always dressed in his Sunday best. Ebenezer was so afraid of that being boiled alive by the lake of fire and being poked at by demons with pitchforks, he did everything the preacher told him, so that he could avoid that fiery fate. He read the Good Book like the preacher admonished him to, and he also said his nightly prayers.
For forty years Ebenezer kept up this routine, but his life was bitter and joyless. Ebenezer started resenting God for punishing sinners in such a cruel manner and he hated the weekly routine as it became more bothersome and burdensome to him. Eventually, Ebenezer left his church and forsook religion alltogether. He decided he'd rather risk hellfire and brimstone then go to heaven and be under the rule of such a harsh Master.
One day, a colporteur dared to stop by Ebenezer's house to share some religious tracts. Ebenezer declared that he was a sinner and he didn't care anymore if he roasted forever in hell. The colporteur tried to politely explain to Ebenezer that his idea of hell was a popular misconception, but Ebenezer wouldn't listen. Ebenezer treated the colporteur harshly and refused to hear his testimony. As he sent the colporteur away in tears, he saw a pamphlet dropped by the colporteur. Curious, Ebenezer quickly snatched the pamphlet and took it into his house to read.
The pamphlet talked about how God loved mankind so much, that He gave His only Son as sacrifice so that mankind could be redeemed. A loving God? Full of mercy? Ebenezer went into his attic and blew the dust off the Good Book. Suddenly, all of his prejudices against God and his fears about hellfire and brimstone were wiped away. Ebenezer wanted to learn more about God's only Son, Jesus...
The fear of hell should not be our motivation for heaven. God is love and He wants everyone to save as many who are willing to be saved. We need to share the Gospel of love with others and break down their misconceptions about God and religion!
- Recommended reading: Galatians 2:20, 1 John 4:7-11
