re: Ellen's request of "Please explain these scriptures":

 

Ellen wrote:

Jesus clearly says in Luke 16:26:

 

And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

 

Are we to believe Jesus was lying, or did He make an exception for Dr Eby to cross that great gulf that is fixed between heaven and hell? The rich man begged Jesus to allow Lazarus to go tell his family about the place he was in and Jesus responded in verse 31:

 

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ELLEN:  The joyous part at the other end of that great gulf you are talking about was the resting place of the Old Testament saints and was referred to as Abraham's bosom, it is not referred to as HEAVEN.  It was the place where the Old Testament saints rested BEFORE Jesus rose from the dead. There was a great gulf that separated them from hell where the rich man was in torment. When Jesus came up from the dead, he brought all the Old Testament saints WITH Him to Heaven. There were many people in Israel who WITNESSED these resurrected bodies that came up with Him.  He told the thief on the cross that "today you will be with me in paradise." Abraham's bosom is now empty. All the Old Testament saints are now in heaven with Jesus. There is no "great gulf" between the Old Testament saints and hell now, but there is a GREAT, BIG (really huge, expansive DISTANCE - like a billion-billion light years), but NOT a PROBLEM!  Jesus traveled  that distance in a very short amount of time in His NEW RESURRECTED BODY.  How do we know that? Well, it can be proved by anyone with a third grade education who can read a Bible.  In one moment, Jesus was telling Mary not to TOUCH Him because He had not yet ascended to the Father, then a short while later, He was allowing people to TOUCH HIM - he even told doubting Thomas to put his finger on the nail prints and thrust his hand in his side. Jesus was God's EXCEPTION to death - because He defeated death! So - you see, if Jesus can zip back and forth between heaven and earth in a short amount of time in His glorified-resurrected body--- He certainly has NO PROBLEM bringing other righteous souls right smack out of their bodies into heaven with Him (then showing them a glimpse of hell) and returning them in the same majestic swoop of time - which is exactly what happened to my brother and hundreds like him!

 

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Ellen wrote:

 

And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

 

So are we now to believe that the Lord, who changes not, decided to change creation just for Dr Eby and let him rise from the dead to warn the unbelievers? According to Dr Eby's own words, he was dead and rose again, and then later was with the dead in hell and was told by Jesus to rise up from being with the dead to go warn the people. I choose to believe the words of Jesus Christ, not Dr Eby.

 

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Reply:

 

Uh-huh - as a matter-of-fact, Jesus was talking about himself here too. He ROSE FROM THE DEAD, but how many unbelievers in the world ridicule the idea of Him rising from the dead? Millions. Well, Jesus changed creation - he was the first-fruits of them who rise from the dead. If He changed creation and brought Himself up from the dead - you bet'cha he can do it for Dr. Eby, Ian McCormick, Daniel Ekuchube, my brother and hundreds of souls like them! If you choose to believe all of them are liars or hallucinatory - well that is up to you.  The Creator is always greater than His creation and can make any exception at any time, at any place that He darn well chooses.

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Ellen wrote:

I wish I could share the writer's enthusiasm, but the God I serve is the Sovereign God of the universe, and I do not see Him "at his wit's ends", wringing His hands and wondering how He can possibly save men from the doom and gloom to come. My God is not " in desperation" and relying solely on Dr Eby to save mankind "hoping against hope that brother Eby's amazing testimony" will make a difference. Is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Sovereign Creator of the Universe so weak and so impotent that He is hoping a mere sinful man can undo the mess that He made? Did the God of the Bible make such a big mistake somewhere along the way that even Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, was not able to make it right with His precious atoning blood? Is this the same God who spoke the world into existence, now reduced to weeping because the evil fallen angels have suddenly become more powerful than He has? If this is the god who appeared to Dr Eby, then I do not know him, nor would I want to serve such a wimp.

 

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Reply:

You are not being asked to "share the writer's enthusiasm," and there is nothing in Dr. Eby's account that says God is at His wit's end "wringing His hands," nor is God "relying solely on Dr. Eby to save mankind" - but God does use various people at various times to work out His will. He didn't need Jonah to save Ninevah either, but He used Jonah to witness to the lost people in Ninevah. He died on the cross making it right with His precious blood for the sins of the world, but He used the disciples to spread the gospel to the unsaved world. He wasn't desperately in need of Paul either, but He chose Paul and used him mightily and Paul had been a "mere sinful man," yet God used Paul to win many of the gentiles to God.  God never runs out of vessels that He chooses for His honor. Dr. Eby was merely one of those vessels. And yes, Jesus still weeps over lost souls. He appears to many people in these last days and this certainly does not make Him a wimp. And yes, it does sound very much like you don't know Him at all.

 

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Blessings,

Rene