Our pastor recently said that if we could see heaven and hell, we would choose heaven. There’s a fellow who claims to have spent 23 minutes in hell. In fact, that’s the title of his book. Whether or not he experienced what he said, what he does describe is not something any right thinking person would volunteer for. The interesting part of the book is that Bill Wiese, the author, gives plenty of Biblical references to back up his story. What he experienced is what has been written about in the Bible.
Hell is not a new subject. It has been written about over and over. Dante’s Inferno is the first one to come to mind but there are others. St. Augustine spoke of Aristotle shaking ‘in hell’ at the sound of the words “Christ said.” The Chinese believed in the afterworld and built great clay soldiers to protect themselves. The Buddhists believe there are seven ‘hot hells’. And so it goes.
In Matthew 23 Jesus clashes with the Hebrew leaders. In verse 33 of that chapter he says, “… how do you expect to escape hell?” It says in Matthew 13:41-42 that all that who offend will be cast into the fiery furnace. Revelation 20:14 says that death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire. Those who didn’t accept God’s offer of pardon will spend an eternity in torment. Powerless to leave and forever condemned.
Copies of the sermon are available and free. Call (4l7) 543-6219 to get a copy. Have a God-blessed, God-inspired, and God-filled week.
