Eternal Torture

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I saw another angel. This one was flying across the sky and had the eternal good news to announce to the people of every race, tribe, language, and nation on earth.  The angel shouted, “Worship and honor God! The time has come for him to judge everyone. Kneel down before the one who created heaven and earth, the oceans, and every stream.”   A second angel followed and said, “The great city of Babylon has fallen! This is the city that made all nations drunk and immoral. Now God is angry, and Babylon has fallen.”  Finally, a third angel came and shouted: Here is what will happen if you worship the beast and the idol and have the mark of the beast on your hand or forehead.  You will have to drink the wine that God gives to everyone who makes him angry. You will feel his mighty anger, and you will be tortured with fire and burning sulfur, while the holy angels and the Lamb look on.  If you worship the beast and the idol and accept the mark of its name, you will be tortured day and night. The smoke from your torture will go up forever and ever, and you will never be able to rest. 

Revelation 14:6-11 - CEV

These are some of the most disturbing verses in all the Bible.  They promise that those who "worship the beast and the idol and accept the mark of its name" will be tortured while the holy angels and the Lamb watch!  That is a gruesome picture of the horrible fate of those who reject Jesus!

When it comes to "torture" those of us in the Western World have decided that we "are better than that."  We don't torture our enemies, but God does!  Right now, you may even be churning inside and upset with me for bringing these verses to your attention.  The usual way to deal with them is to read them rapidly and go on to what comes next!

We reject torture, even when it is used to extract "life saving" information to stop a terrorist attack or other terrible threat!  But God, according to these verses will use "torture" as eternal punishment for those who reject Him!  The hardest part of this description is that the "holy angels and the Lamb" will watch!

I have prayed about what to say next about this terrible situation!  When you reject Jesus Christ, you separate yourself from God and all His blessings!  Perhaps the "torture" is the simple fact of being cut off from everything that comes from God!  God is the author of all Good, so if you are getting nothing from Him, your continual state of existence will be all Bad!  Pain will rule in everything.  No joy will step into your life.  In fact your "life" will be death and not life.  

When you remove yourself from the presence of God, everything you experience will be the opposite of God!  That is the perfect definition of "Torture."

Your existence will have no love, no compassion, no peace, no rest, no joy, no grace, no forgiveness, no beauty, no wellness, no trust, no understanding, no mercy and absolutely nothing that is GOOD!  God will have to do nothing to you to immerse you in Eternal Torture!

Eternity, out of the presence of God will be more terrible than you could ever imagine!  Turn to Jesus now and remove the possibility of Eternal Torture!  Jesus will give you Eternal Life instead!

"Lord Jesus, make me afraid of facing Eternity without You.  I need You now and I will need You forever.  May Your Holy and Righteous Name be Praised Now and Forever.  Amen."