Is Hell Real ?

Luke 16 says, “14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight. 16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 17 It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law. 18 “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. 19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ 25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ 27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ 30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’

I recently listened to Bill Wiese's message, the author of 23 Minutes in Hell. He talked about his vision and experience. It was very eye-opening! In addition, he gave several examples that brought things home for me. He gave an example of an address analogy. He said that if he gave specific directions on how to get to his house, that is the way to get to his place. He's giving you the only way to get to his place, and his directions are specific. In the same way, God has given us clear directions on how to get to his house(Heaven). Acts 4:12 says, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  This whole notion or doctrine that everyone goes to heaven is simple, not true. If that was the case, what was the purpose of Christ dying on the cross for our sins? CHRIST IS THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN. Why would we deviate from the specific instructions and assume we can get to God's house another way? Matthew 7 says, “21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Should we assume that being "Good" and kind to others is enough to get into God's house? What is the standard? God is holy, and he is the standard. Mr. Wiese went on to provide another analogy. He said that if a "Good" person showed up at your house and asked if they could live with you at your house would you let them? The answer to this is most likely a flat no. Why? Because you don't know this person. You don't know their background, and you're not going to just let a perfect stranger just come and live with you at your house. If we don’t build and nurture our relationship with God, are we deserving to go to God’s house? Thinking about how magnificent it’s going to be spend forever with our father should put a smile on your face. Every tear you ever cried because of unfair situation won’t even matter anymore because we will be with our father in a beautiful place forever. Revelations 21:4 says, “ and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” We have to sincerely repent of our sins and ask God to come into our lives and build a relationship with him. Talk to him daily as you would a friend and include him in the easy and hard stuff of your life. Ask him for help when you need help. How would you feel if you had a close relationship with a loved one and anytime they needed something, they went to someone else instead of you? It's like I thought we had that type of relationship to talk about anything. Go to God first before you go to anyone else.

God tells us about hell because he doesn't want us to go there. If you had an experience like no other, you're going to tell people. If you had a bad experience at a restaurant, you're going to tell all your friends not to go there because the service is terrible or the food isn't good. In the same way, we have to care enough about people to tell them to live for Jesus so they can avoid going to a terrible place. John 3:17 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Jesus dying on the cross was to give us hope that we don’t have to go to a horrendous place. Luke 23:39-43 tells us, “39 One of the criminals who were hanged there was [a]hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the [b]Christ? Save Yourself and us!” 40 But the other responded, and rebuking him, said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving [c]what we deserve for our crimes; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” 43 And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Phewwww Chilleee this scripture should make you want to jump up and shout! Reading this tells me that God knows we’re not perfect and may have messed up, but with a repented heart, there’s hope for each us of to be with Jesus forever.