The above video is the testimony of a man who God has allowed to briefly experience Hell. Whether or not you believe his testimony, the Bible does indicate that Hell is a very real place, with real fires and torments.
Matthew 10:28
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Mark 9:43-44
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.
Isaiah 32:22-24
For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
I will heap mischiefs upon them (wicked); I will spend mine arrows upon them.
They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.
The Bible consistently hints or directly talks of Hell as if it is a literal place. The word “hell” appears 54 times in the Bible that does not count the other terms associated with it like “grave,” “pit” and “Gehenna.” Jesus talked on hell several times and even talked of it in the form of a parable, the parable of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16:19-31:
Luke 16:19-31
There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:
For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
So from the parable we learn that Hell is a place of torment (“being in torments”), Hell is a place of thirst (“cool my tongue”), Hell has literal fire (“tormented in this flame”), Hell is separate from Heaven or Paradise and one can not cross to and from it (“there is a great gulf fixed”), in Hell one retains his or her memories of life (“I have five brethren”), and Heaven or Paradise is a place of comfort (“now he is comforted”). Many may easily debate as to whether this parable was describing a literal place or not, well I have a few questions to ask you: Why did Jesus see it necessary to indicate that the man was thirsty and in ongoing torment if this was just a fictional story? Why did Jesus see it fit to emphasize that the prophets or God’s Word has the answer to avoid such a place, if it was only figurative? Why would Jesus go on to even include the desperation of Lazarus (who by the way had all his faculties) to warn his other brothers from entering Hell? The most important of all questions may be why would Jesus use a parable or metaphor to describe another metaphor? As even some Christian denominations believe that when the person dies the soul enters a “dreamless sleep” state until the resurrection.
The simple answer to these questions is that Hell is a very literal place! I believe the whole idea is even more damning, pun intended, when one looks at Jesus’ words to the thief on the cross:
Luke 23:43
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
I would like to ask you this question: Why would Jesus tell the thief that they will both be in Paradise soon? Now, Jesus is sinless and was certainly no liar (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5), Jesus did not lie to the thief, so he obviously was speaking the truth. The Book of Revelations even hints to us that there are human souls living right now with Jesus in Heaven, we know of the 24 elders in Revelation 4:4, “And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.” Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:8 also suggests this as well, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” Even the apocryphal book of 2nd Esdras in 2 Esdras 14:9 also seems to support this exact statement made by Jesus in Luke 23:43, “For thou shalt be taken away from all, and from henceforth thou shalt remain with my Son, and with such as be like thee, until the times be ended.” The inference here in Luke 23:43 and the other scriptures is that Paradise is a literal place, since Paradise is a literal place then likewise “Abraham’s bosom,” which is the Paradise of the parable above is also a literal place, then shouldn’t it also follow that Hell is literal as well?
Some may wonder whether or not it is biblical for God to allow people to experience these out of body experiences and visions of Heaven and Hell. It is biblical, in fact, Paul in 2 Corinthians Chapter 12 verses 3 and 4 describes of a man witnessing a literal Paradise. In the book of Psalms there is a group of interesting verses which indicate that David may have even experienced Hell or at least was prophesying the Messiah’s decent into Hell after His death:
Psalms 86:13-17
For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them.
But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid.
Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast helped me, and comforted me.
Hell is a terrible place that God has prepared for Satan and his angels (Matthew 25:41), thankfully it is a place that we do not need to go to. All you need to do is to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Repent of your sins, turn to God, and ask for God’s Holy Spirit to remove the power of sin over your life. Now is the time to make your choice while you have this one life to live. Will it be Heaven or Hell?:
Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Please make the right choice! Choose Life; choose Jesus; choose God! Amen!
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Deuteronomy 30:19
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
~Planet Zion
Planet Zion 