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Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 1:13)

Part I: Eternity

Tuesday, February 08, 2005
where will you go?

There is life after death. The Bible makes that abundantly clear. Our own conscience makes that abundantly clear. From the most spiritual of souls to the hardest character; all of us know that life does not completely end at the grave.

So what happens?

As most of you know, the Bible speaks of two places where souls spend eternity, Heaven and Hell. Some of you will ask:

-What about Purgatory?

There is no Purgatory. It is, among others, a Roman Catholic means of extortion (pay the romanist priest, and he'll speed up the time your loved one has to spend in Purgatory...quite a lucrative business I tell ya!). The only support you will find for the concept of Purgatory is in pagan literature, or in the apocryphal book called 2 Maccabees, which has been rejected by both Old Testament Jews and New Testament Christians as non-canon for clear theological, geographical and historical errors. We will also see later how the very concept of Purgatory is a contradiction with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So the only two options are Heaven and Hell.

Heaven is the holy kingdom of God. It is where God is manifested 'in particular'. It is where His holy angels worship him night and day. It is where God's people glorify, praise and enjoy their God forever. IT IS NOT A "WALT DISNEY WORLD" IN THE SKIES! Consider the following Bible verses:

"After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne." (Revelation 4: 1-2)

"And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." (Revelation 4: 8-11)

"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." (Revelation 7:9-17)

Hell is a literal Lake of Fire where the Devil, his demonic hosts and those who serve them will suffer God's wrath forever. It is described as a dark terrible place filled with anguish and torment. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE: the Devil does NOT rule or take any kind of pleasure in Hell. He is punished and tormented there. Consider the following Bible verses:

"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." (Revelation 20:10)

"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:12-15)


Now before considering which of these two eternal places you want to spend your eternity in, you need to realize something. You see, you have a problem. A very serious problem.

The problem is...(to be continued)