"Upholden"

"Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain." (Psalms 76:10) The more I think about it, anger really does pay a part in how we combat sin in our lives; after all, it is a war, and wars are not usually waged with happy thoughts and kindness, they are waged with intent to win! So, last week on To Every Man an Answer, the question came up about whether those that went to hell went there for their sins or for not receiving God's free gift of Salvation. Pastor Mike ended up saying that both are true; they are there because of sin, but they could have escaped if they had accepted Jesus. As I had said earlier, as long as we are alive, we have not committed the sin that cannot be forgiven, yet; there is still time to make that choice to receive God's free gift of Salvation; but once you're dead, it's on to judgment. With that, there are some very bad misconceptions about God's intent for sinners, because God wants everyone to be saved from going to hell. It's the devil that wants everyone to end up in hell; and right now, he knows his time is short, so he is trying to drag as many with him as he can. I was reminded of this yesterday at church, as Pastor Bryan was teaching on the characteristics of our enemy, the devil. Most every description named for him is bad, and makes him out to be evil, conning, and a liar. Pastor Bryan started out by sharing a story of how the Barbary pirates were finally defeated, and that it was by defining who they really were, what their real intentions were, and what they stood for. It is a lot like what the world is dealing with now, with the threat of ISIS and the whole Islamic movement that is taking place all over the world; they must be defined as what they really are, what their real intentions are, and what they stand for. If this were to really happen, then you can bet that the majority of the world would not stand for it to happen, and they would be crushed. But no! You can't teach the Bible in our public schools, but you can teach the Quran, or Koran, as they so peacefully present it. You know what I find rather interesting, that the primary cause of death during the Tribulation will be beheading; go figure that out! How can you say a god that hates Jews and Christians is a god of peace? There is only One True God, and that's not him! But there is a god of this world, and he is very much alive and well, working day and night night and day, to destroy as many of God's people as he can. He speaks falsely, induces people to do wrong, he's the ruler of nuisance and disorder, loves to cause pain and sorrow, the accuser of the brethren, and he wants to see us suffer with him in hell...
"Then the angel showed me Jeshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD. The Accuser, Satan, was there at the angel's right hand, making accusations against Jeshua. And the LORD said to Satan, "I, the LORD, reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire." Jeshua's clothing was filthy as he stood there before the angel. So the angel said to the others standing there, "Take off his filthy clothes." And turning to Jeshua he said, "See, I have taken away your sins, and now I am giving you these fine new clothes." (Zechariah 3:1-4) NLT