Heaven is for real. And so is Hell.
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. – Mark 9:43-44, KJV
Evangelist Barry Webb recently spoke at our church for a week of meetings. During his visit, he relayed two experiences that stuck with me.
The first experience regarded the death of his father. After several days of sweet fellowship with family and friends in the hospital, Barry’s father passed away. A Christian evangelist himself, Mr. Webb the elder had great peace about slipping into eternity, and during his last days he spoke often with the family about what Heaven would be like. Not long before he died, Mr. Webb the elder sat up in his hospital bed, looked up and pointed to the ceiling of his hospital room, turned to his wife, and proclaimed, “I see them! I see the angels of Heaven getting ready for me!” He then laid back down, and shortly thereafter peaceably exited this world for the next.
The second experience Barry shared with us starkly contrasted his father’s experience. One day Barry was sharing the Gospel with people in the town where he was, and someone he tried to witness to said, “I don’t believe in Hell,” and walked away. The man that Barry was witnessing with turned to Barry, and with sadness in his eyes encouraged Barry to “never let anyone tell you that Hell isn’t real.” The man then told Barry of an experience he had during the Vietnam War.
While in Vietnam, Barry’s cohort, whom I’ll name John, witnessed regularly to the men in his platoon. One fellow consistently resisted John’s efforts to lead him to Christ, but during one of his last protests, the fellow proclaimed, “I know Heaven is real, and I know Hell is real, and I know the Bible is true. One day I will get saved, just not today, so leave me alone, John.” Shortly thereafter, the platoon went on patrol, and during the patrol a Vietnamese sniper attacked. The fellow John had witnessed to was hit almost immediately. His comrades tried to attend to him, but it took six men to hold him down as he writhed in immense pain. Even after receiving large amounts of morphine, the man continued to writhe in excruciating pain. Just before he passed away, he yelled out, “Oh, the flames are so hot! The demons – they are coming for me! Save me! Save me!” But, alas, it was too late.
Heaven is for real. So is Hell. Never let people in their intellectual smugness tell you differently. Much learning hath made them mad, and maybe if you relay these stories alongside the Word of God, you can penetrate the barrier that Satan has erected around their minds and their hearts.
Heaven is for real. So is Hell.
Theses two statements are true facts. No argument here.
The statements in your last paragraph sound and feel emotionally tied to the experiences told by Mr. Webb. Nothing against Mr. Webb of course because I do not know of him. However, as a Christian and a lover of righteous, I do know what the bible teaches on heaven and hell. As simple of a understanding as it is, once understood, the truth will set you free. I for one am amazed at how much is written and spoken on two subjects by the “intellectual smugness” that are spoken little of in the bible. The embellishments are enormous!!!b
In responding to this blog, I assume you are a spiritual person and that you rely on the complete word of God to guide you in all your ways. That being said, do you understand the two subject matters based on what the bible teaches?
The reason I ask is because it is a little different and no
Thanks, Steve, for your thoughts! I’m afraid some of your comment got cut off at the end. The last sentence in your comment reads, “The reason I ask is because it is a little different and no…” Not sure what you wanted to say after the “no.” If you have time, please update your comment so that I can see what you wanted to say. Thanks! In response to your question “do you understand the two subject matters,” I’m familiar with the Bible’s teachings on these two subjects. But, that doesn’t mean I know everything! 🙂 I look forward to reading the rest of your comment in the near future. Have a great day! Robbie
Heaven is for real. So is Hell.
Theses two statements are true facts. No argument here.
The statements in your last paragraph sound and feel emotionally tied to the experiences told by Mr. Webb. Nothing against Mr. Webb of course because I do not know of him. However, as a Christian and a lover of righteous, I do know what the bible teaches on heaven and hell. As simple of a understanding as it is, once understood, the truth will set you free. I for one am amazed at how much is written and spoken on two subjects by the “intellectual smugness” that are spoken little of in the bible. The embellishments are enormous!!!
In responding to this blog, I assume you are a spiritual person and that you rely on the complete word of God to guide you in all your ways. That being said, do you understand the two subject matters based on what the bible teaches?
The reason I ask is because it is a little different and not as spectacular in description and purpose as many in the world illustrate.
Thanks for getting back to me. I guess the best way for me to answer your question is to say that I base my understanding of hell on what I know of the Bible’s teaching regarding it. Again, I’m certainly open to being taught something that I’m not aware of, but I hold my current view based on scriptures like these (click here to see a list of verses) and Luke 16:19-31. Hope this clears things up, but feel free to let me know if your understanding differs. Have a great day!
Okay. I will examine your Bible references to get a better understanding of your points. Give me a day. I would love to continue the conversation once aI understand your bases.
Okay. I have reviewed the texts. Thanks for your patience. I believe I understand the logic being followed.
That being said, let us start with a very basic principle about the soul. This will help in bringing death in proper perspective. Understanding what happens to the soul at death is important in understanding Sheol, Hades, grave and pit. All of these words are used interchangeably with hell. While there are a lot of thoughts about the soul, what are your thoughts on:
1.Ezek. 18:4: “The soul* that is sinning—it itself will die.”
2.Eccl. 9:5, 10: “The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all . . . All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol,* the place to which you are going.”
3.Ps. 146:4: “His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts* do perish.”
Steve, thanks for your thoughts! Sorry it has taken me so long to respond.
Regarding my thoughts, let me begin by stating that the Bible teaches that there are two deaths. There is the first death, which is the death of the body. There is also the second death, which is eternal separation from God in what the Bible calls the lake of fire. You can review the verses in Revelation that refer to the second death by clicking here. (If you have any problems with the link, the verses are Revelation 2:11, 20:6, 20:14, and 21:8.) In summary, hell is currently a holding tank for the unsaved, and at the Great White Throne judgment (detailed in Revelation 20:11-15,) the unsaved will be removed from hell, judged according to their works, and then cast into the lake of fire where they will spend all eternity. Those who have trusted Christ as Savior only experience the death of the body. Those who have not trusted Christ as Savior will experience both deaths.
In order to understand the meaning of any one verse, we must look at its relationship (context) to the book it is in as well as at its relationship to the entire Bible. By looking at these contexts, we understand that the Bible never contradicts itself, for by looking at the entire puzzle together – and not just at one piece by itself – we get the whole picture. That said, Ezekiel 18:4 can have one of two meanings, depending on how you interpret the contexts. Commentator John Gill well articulates them both with this quote below (click here to read his entire commentary on this verse):
the soul that continues in sin, without repentance towards God, and faith in Christ, shall die the second death; shall be separated from the presence of God, and endure his wrath to all eternity: or the meaning is, that a person that is guilty of gross sins, and continues in them, shall personally suffer; he shall endure one calamity or another, as the famine, sword, pestilence, or be carried into captivity, which is the death all along spoken of in this chapter
The word “soul” in this verse is the Hebrew word nephesh (pronounced neh’- fesh), which can be used to refer to the eternal soul or to the temporal life. I think both interpretations mentioned above apply here. First, the unrepentant, unsaved person is to die for his/her crimes. Secondly, such a person will experience the second death of the soul at the Great White Throne Judgment.
As for the remaining verses you referenced, I will defer to John Gill’s explanations so as to avoid having this reply comment be too long. You can read his commentaries on these verses by clicking on the links below. I think he does an excellent job of briefly articulating what I believe about these verses.
Ecclesiastes 9:5
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Psalm 146:4
Thank you for your interest in this matter. If/when you reply, I’ll do my best to reply more swiftly next time. Have a great day!