1 John 2:7-11

[Hidden In Him]

Falling Into The Pits Of Hell: A Consequence Of Walking In Darkness


                         

     Jesus Himself spoke of Hell, and He was not speaking figuratively when He did so. Eye-witness accounts from numerous people have testified that those who end up there have worms crawling through their flesh, because they exist in a perpetual state of bodily corruption.

     If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes and be thrown into Hell, where their worm does not die and their fire is not quenched. (Mark 9:47-48)

     Not wanting humans to know, Satan closes the eyes of many to the realities of Hell. It's not something they want to believe exists, so they dismiss it, hoping by doing so that it will go away. But it has existed now for millennia, and the word of God has promised us since the beginning that it will be the destination of the wicked, and those who walk in spiritual darkness.
     This is how John identified those who did not love their brethren but instead exploited them; they were heading for a fall because they did not see where they were going. By this he was referring to what their demons had in store for them in eternity:

     Brothers, I do not write a new commandment to you but an old commandment which you had from the beginning, and that old commandment is the message which you heard from the beginning. Again I write a new commandment unto you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light already shines: The one professing to abide in the light yet hating his brother is in darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no stumbling-block found in him. But the one who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness blinded his eyes. (1 John 2:7-11)

     The key mechanics that made Gnosticism work were lies and seduction. By infiltrating Christian congregations posing as genuine believers, they laid traps for true Christians by seducing them into sin and heresy. Not only were they spiritual stumbling blocks, but they also had no qualms about seducing Christian wives away from their husbands, or husbands from their wives, believing they were actually "saving" them from the principalities, and the "tyranny" of the Old Testament God and His angels.

     This may be a proper place to introduce the confession of Epiphanius, who in his youth had fallen into the Gnostic heresy, whence he received what he writes concerning them from the professed teachers' own mouths when their women, one in particular, used all their arts to debauch him. But by the help of divine grace he overcame their temptations. "I was then," he says, "reproached by these pestilent women, who thus scoffingly talked with each other. 'We would have saved this youth, but not being able, we have suffered him to perish in the hands of the principalities.' For the most beautiful among them makes herself the bait, and those whom she entices she is said not to destroy but to deliver. Whence the handsomest are used to upbraid those who are less so, saying, 'I am an elect vessel, able to save those whom I attempt, which you have not the power to do.' The most beautiful of them were employed to seduce me, but God delivered me from their wickedness, so that, after reading their books, I escaped from among them, and uncovered the names of them to the bishops of those parts, and nearly eighty of them were sent into banishment." (Lavington, The Moravians Compared And Detected, as related by Queenborough in Occult Theocracy, P.121-122)

     The “most perfect” among them addict themselves without fear to all those kinds of forbidden deeds of which the Scriptures assure us that “they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God”... Some yield themselves up to the lusts of the flesh with the utmost greediness, maintaining that carnal things should be allowed to the carnal nature, while spiritual things are provided for the spiritual.... Some also are in the habit of defiling those women to whom they have taught the above doctrine, as has frequently been confessed by those women who have been led astray by certain of them, on their returning to the Church of God and acknowledging this along with the rest of their errors. Others of them, too, openly and without a blush, having become passionately attached to certain women, seduce them away from their husbands, and contract marriages of their own with them. And committing many other abominations and impieties, they run us down (who from the fear of God guard against sinning even in thought or word) as utterly contemptible and ignorant persons, while they highly exalt themselves and claim to be perfect, and the elect seed. (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, VI:3-4)

     This sort of behavior was not love. It was putting a stumbling block before one's fellow man, and doing evil to them, and justifying it because of their supposed "ignorance." But as we shall see, the truth was that it was the Gnostics who were themselves being deceived and tricked, and thus deeply in need of prayer. As Jude and Peter taught, they were being baited through their fleshly desires, and not realizing the trap being set for them by the demons of false religion.

     The Lord knows to deliver the godly out of temptation and preserve the unrighteous for a Day of Judgment when they will be punished, especially those walking after their flesh in the lust of [spiritual] defilement...  like unwitting beasts of nature, these  men, having been born for capture and bodily decomposition, shall utterly perish in their corruption in blaspheming what they themselves are ignorant of. (2 Peter 2:9-10, 12)

     Because the Gnostics were not truly seeing beyond the level of their own carnal appetites and could not see the trap being laid for them, Peter compared them to predatorily animals destined only to be captured and "decompose" as it were in Hell, having fallen into the inescapable pits dug for them by their real spiritual enemy.


Abraxas And Yaldabaoth: Demons Of False Religion

     The early fathers made it abundantly clear that the Gnostic religion was inspired by demonic spirits and not God. Irenaeus especially pointed out how the "gods" that lay behind their doctrines were actually devils:

     After Christ's ascension into heaven the demons put forward certain men who said that they themselves were gods; and they were not only not persecuted by you, but deemed even worthy of honors. There was a Samaritan, Simon, a native of the village called Gitto, who in the reign of Claudius Caesar, and in your royal city of Rome, did mighty acts of magic, by virtue of the art of the demons operating in him... And a man, Meander, also a Samaritan, of the town Capparetaea, a disciple of Simon, and inspired by demons, we know to have deceived many while he was in Antioch by his magical art... And there is Marcion, a man of Pontus, who is even at this day alive, and teaching his disciples to believe in some other god greater than the Creator. And he, by the aid of the demons, has caused many of every nation to speak blasphemies, and to deny that God who is the Maker of this universe, and to assert that some other being, greater than He, has done greater works. (Justin Martyr, First Apology Of Justin, XXVI)

     Were the real authors of the Gnostic religion nothing more than demons? A close look at the "gods" they depicted on their amulets and gems strongly suggests it. For instance, the way they depicted the Old Testament God reveals they truly had no idea what they were blaspheming, just as the apostle Peter stated. They depicted Him as taking the form of a mere demon of witchcraft; a lion-headed serpent with the sun shining about His head.
     The following are two depictions (ancient and modern) of Him whom they labelled "Ialdabaoth," the supposed Old Testament God of the Jews. In the first image, Ialdabaoth is shown on the right.

                                   

                                                                                                  

     They taught that this ridiculous-looking creature created the earth and everything in it. What's even more illogical is that this is the "image" mankind would therefore have been made in, since the Old Testament God told His angels, "Let us make make man in our image." By that, He clearly meant His physical image, since angels thus manifested throughout scripture as appearing just like men (sodom, unawares, went up in the fire, are you for us? list the passages only)
     And what of the supposedly higher god of the Gnostics whom Yahweh purportedly did not even know existed? He was depicted as a chicken-headed demon holding a shield and a flail, and possessing two snakes for legs:


                                                   

                                                       

     This was the highest god in the universe? In reality, these images reveal what their "gods" truly were: Just lower level demons associated with the black arts, magick, sorcery and false religion. Harold Pittman, a former Baptist minister and police officer in New Orleans, was taken up in spirit and escorted about to witness the activities of demons in the invisible spirit world around us. During this tour of sorts, Pittman recorded seeing many classes of demons, including those associated with black magic and Satanism:

     Satan has his command set up in the Second Heaven. He has a government, a ruling order, and a chain of command. Apart from the ruling order, there is also a social order… Satan's social order is discriminatory. There is an established difference between orders of spirit beings in that world which allows some of the spirit beings to reside at a higher level of existence than others...  As I continued my escorted tour of the Second Heaven, the social order and grouping of the demons became even clearer. I could see that the demons of one order would have nothing to do with a demon of a lesser order, unless they were working on an assignment together... Demons from the third order appeared to be part man - part animal, resembling figures from Greek mythology… This group possessed skills in the area of the black arts, such as sorcery, false religion, magic, self-destruction, psychic phenomenon, the occult, necromancy, Satan worship, and all the other related areas of expertise. (Pittman, Demons: An Eyewitness Account, P.11-12, 18, 34, 35)

     This then is the class of demon the Gnostics were employing through their use of magick, and far from being anything resembling the Creator of Heaven and earth, they are not even among the highest classes of demon in the kingdom of darkness.

                                     
Coming To A Horrifying Realization, With A Thud
     
     Falling into burning pits of fire in the Underworld is a theme running throughout scripture, and mention of things like being "swallowed" alive by Hell can especially be found in books like Proverbs and the Psalms. Hell was also mentioned several times by the prophets, and sometimes with stunning detail, though only a few quotes here should suffice:

     Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down to the Pit" (Proverbs 1:12). "Cast them down to the depths of the earth... like those who go down to the Pit" (Ezekiel 28:13). "Let burning coals fall upon them; let them be cast into the fire, into deep pits, that they rise not up again." (Proverbs 140:10).

     Accounts from Christians in the modern era confirm this. According to Kathryn Baxter's account, the "Jaws of Hell" actually do open up to swallow whole entire groups people, and when they land upon the hillsides of Hell it is only a matter of time before they soon begin experiencing the worms crawling through their flesh, and the fires that can never be put out:

     The next night Jesus and I walked into the Jaws of Hell. Jesus said, "We are almost through Hell, my child. I will not show you all of Hell. But what I have shown you, I want you to tell the world. Tell them Hell is real. Tell them this report is real." As we walked, we stopped on a hill overlooking a small valley. As far as I could see there were piles of human souls lining the sides of this hill. I could hear their cries. Loud noises filled the place. Jesus said, "My child, this is the Jaws of Hell. Every time the mouth of Hell is opened, you will hear that loud noise." The souls were trying to get out but could not, for they were embedded in the sides of Hell. As Jesus spoke, I saw many dark forms falling down past us and landing with a thud at the bottom of the hill. Demons with great chains were dragging souls away. Jesus said, "Those are the souls that have just died on earth and are arriving in Hell. This activity goes on day and night." (Baxter, A Divine Revelation Of Hell, P.173-174)

     Likely to make sure she fully believed what she was seeing was real, as Baxter also related, the Lord at one point allowed her to actually experience what it was like being one of the sinners who had died and falling into Hell.

     As I cried out to Jesus, I began to run down the hill looking for Him. I was stopped by a large demon with a chain. He laughed and said, "You have nowhere to run, woman. Jesus is not here to save you. You are in Hell forever." "Oh no," I cried, "let me go!" I fought him with all my strength but was soon bound with a chain and thrown to the ground. As I lay there, a strange, gooey film began to cover my body with a stink so horrible I felt sick. I did not know what was going to happen. Then I felt my flesh and skin beginning to fall off my bones! I screamed and screamed in abject horror. "O Jesus," I called out, "where are You?" I looked at myself and saw that holes were beginning to appear all over my remaining flesh. I began to turn a dirty-gray color, and gray flesh fell off me. There were holes in my sides, my legs, my hands and my arms. I cried out, "Oh, no! I am in Hell forever! Oh, no!" I began to feel the worms inside me and looked; to find that my bones were teeming with them. Even when I could not see them, I knew they were there. I tried to pull them off me, but more came to fill the place. I could actually feel the decay in my body.
     Yes, I knew everything and could remember exactly what had happened on earth. I could feel, see, smell, hear and taste the torments of Hell. I could see inside myself. I was only a dirty skeletal form, yet I could feel all that was happening to me. I saw others like myself. There were souls as far as I could see. I cried out in great pain, "O Jesus! Please help me, Jesus." I wanted to die, but I could not. I screamed, "Where are You, Jesus?" I rolled about on the ground and cried along with all the others. We lay in the Jaws of Hell in little heaps, like thrown-away garbage. Unbearable pain gripped our souls. I kept on screaming over and over again, "Where are You, Jesus? Where are You, Jesus?" I wondered if this was just a dream. Would I wake up? Was I really in Hell? Had I committed some great sin against God and lost my salvation? What had happened? Did I sin against the Holy Ghost? I remembered all the Bible teaching I had ever heard. I knew my family was somewhere above me... I heard the loud sound of Hell's jaws opening, and more souls fell past me. (Baxter, A Divine Revelation Of Hell, P.175-178)

     As she witnessed, some are taken to jail cells, but most are dragged off to the pits, just as the God of the Old Testament has always warned, tormented endlessly for rejecting Him and choosing to walk in the darkness instead:

     In the next pit was a woman on her knees, as if looking for something. Her skeletal form also was full of holes. Her bones were showing through, and her torn dress was on fire. Her head was bald, and there were only holes where her eyes and nose were supposed to be. A small fire was burning around her feet where she was kneeling, and she clawed the sides of the brimstone pit. The fire clung to her hands, and dead flesh kept falling off as she dug. Tremendous sobs shook her. "O Lord, O Lord," she cried, "I want out." As we watched, she finally got to the top of the pit with her feet. I thought she was going to get out when a large demon with great wings that seemed to be broken at the top and hung down his sides ran to her. His color was brownish black, and he had hair all over his large form. His eyes were set far back into his head, and he was about the size of a large grizzly bear. The demon rushed up to the woman and pushed her very hard backward into the pit and fire. I watched in horror as she fell. I felt so sorry for her. I wanted to take her into my arms and hold her, to ask God to heal her and take her out of there... In the next pit was a very small-framed woman who looked to be about eighty years old. I can't say how I knew her age, but I did. The skin was removed from her bones by the continual flame, and only the bones remained with a dirty-mist soul inside. I watched as the fire burned her. Soon there were only the bones and the worms crawling inside, which the fire could not burn. "Lord, how terrible!" I cried. "I don't know if I can go on, for this is awful beyond belief." As far as my eyes could see, souls were burning in pits of fire. "My child, this is why you are here," Jesus answered. "You must know and tell the truth about Hell"... I looked back at the woman. Her cries were so sad. As I watched her, she put her bony hands together as if in prayer. I couldn't help crying. I was in a spirit form and I was crying. I knew that people in Hell felt all these things, too. Jesus knew my thoughts. "Yes, child," He said, "they do. When people come here, they have the same feelings and thoughts as when they were on earth. They remember their families and friends and all the times they had a chance to repent but refused to do so. Memory is always with them. If only they had believed the gospel and repented before it was too late." (Baxter, A Divine Revelation Of Hell, P.31-32, 28-29)






Breathe Again, AB III