Reacting to the Death of Martin McGuinness - a Ruthless Terrorist and lauded Peace-Maker

The wise man Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes has significant words to say about remembering the past and being called to account for the deeds of the past.

Ecclesiastes 11:9; 12:1-8; 12,14 reads:

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:

In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;
Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Sins of Youth not forgotten or passed over by God

We are reminded that the ways chosen in youth will have to be answered for when God brings all things into judgment. It is wise conduct to fear God from our youth, before those evil days are chosen and the consequences of them have to be faced.

The wise man Solomon assures us that God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Martin McGuinness, himself, declared that he chose the path of being a terrorist in his youth. He was not known as 'The Butcher of the Bogside' for nothing! Freddie 'Stakeknife' Scappaticci, who was named as the Army's top double agent inside the IRA said that Martin McGuinness was a ruthless terrorist leader who sanctioned countless murders, but would never get his hands dirty himself.

Terrorist Past

The Saville Inquiry into the Bloody Sunday shootings found that McGuinness was 'probably' armed with a sub-machine gun, although there was 'insufficient evidence' to prove he fired it.

He was twice convicted of IRA membership. On New Year's Eve 1972, McGuinness was arrested in Co. Donegal, beside a Ford Cortina that was carrying 113kg of explosives and 4,750 bullets. Though he was acquitted on the explosives and ammunition charges, McGuinness was sentenced to six months for IRA membership.

Not long after his release Martin McGuinness was again back in custody. On 11th February 1974, he was a passenger in a car that was stopped by Gardaí and though he tried to escape he was captured in a nearby field. This time, he was jailed for 12 months after being convicted of IRA membership and failing to account for his movements.

Those with insight into the inner workings of the IRA believe that McGuinness was promoted to the IRA's ruling army council following his release from prison. He therefore would have overseen many of the IRA's most spectacular and murderous attacks.

These would have included bomb attacks on the British Mainland and the use of 'human bombs', where civilian employees, like cooks and cleaners, at British security installations, were forced to drive car bombs to their places of work and were detonated by remote control before they could raise the alarm.

It was claimed in a TV documentary that McGuinness knew in advance about the Enniskillen bombing but did nothing to stop it. The 1987 Remembrance Day atrocity killed 11 civilians gathered at a ceremony to remember their war dead in Co Fermanagh.

Martin McGuinness was also accused of being involved in the murder of Frank Hegarty in May 1986 by luring the Londonderry informer back home to his death. He was accused of giving his word of honour to Rose Hegarty, Frank's mother, that her son would be safe if he returned to Londonderry. Upon returning Frank Hegarty was abducted, shot and his body dumped by the roadside.

At the Saville Tribunal he hid behind his IRA oath and refused to divulge his, or others, IRA activities.

Unrepentant in last public utterance

Upon stepping down recently due to his ill health Martin McGuinness stated that he did not regret the campaign of terror he, and others, engaged in. From his own lips he stated that he did not regret taking the life of others and waging a campaign of genocide against Protestants. He blamed the conduct of others as the reason why he resorted to engaging in his murderous campaign of terror. When speaking about his terrorist past he specifically stated: I don't regret any of that.

Therefore, all the honeyed words of peace are worthless when coming from a man who stated that he regretted nothing of his terrorist past. 

Fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God

Hebrews 10:31 states: It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Upon dying Martin McGuinness fell into the hands of the living God. God is his Judge and He will do right. God will not pass over crime unrepented off. In God's eyes his peacemaking efforts will not atone for the years of terrorism. Every secret that Martin McGuinness has taken to his grave will be exposed and brought to light on the Judgment day. The hidden things of darkness shall certainly be revealed. 

No Christian could ever take pleasure in any man, or woman, going out into God's eternity to face their Judge, especially with a catalogue of crimes associated with them as Martin McGuinness has. When the wicked cease to commit their wicked deeds there is certainly rejoicing, Proverbs 11:10: When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting, but not in the death of the wicked and their exit from this life to meet their Maker. It is a fearful thing to contemplate any soul lost in hell.

The words of Ecclesiastes 12:6: Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, are normally taken as a reference to the body's decline as it faces death. Matthew Henery had this to say about this verse:
Death will dissolve the frame of nature and take down the earthly house of this tabernacle, which is elegantly described, Eccl 12:6. Then shall the silver cord, by which soul and body were wonderfully fastened together, be loosed, that sacred knot untied, and those old friends be forced to part; then shall the golden bowl, which held the waters of life for us, be broken; then shall the pitcher with which we used to fetch up water, for the constant support of life and the repair of its decays, be broken, even at the fountain, so that it can fetch up no more; and the wheel (all those organs that serve for the collecting and distributing of nourishment) shall be broken, and disabled to do their office any more. The body shall become like a watch when the spring is broken, the motion of all the wheels is stopped and they all stand still; the machine is taken to pieces; the heart beats no more, nor does the blood circulate. 

No unrepentant murderer will be in heaven

Among those sins which will keep a soul out of heaven and take them down to hell, and everlasting punishment, is the crime of murder, cf. Revelation 21:8: But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

The Scripture, and not history, will pass judgement upon all unrepentant souls, including Martin McGuinness, that they are lost souls! How fearful the thought!