“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.” Some time after having been in both the lake of fire and the bottomless pit for brief periods of time, God asked me, “So do you still think it’s a joke?” Realizing that He is the worthy being and that I am the unworthy being in our relationship, I am here grateful to Him that He freed me from Hell and that He has saved me from eternal damnation. In this essay, I consider the reality of the fire Jesus Christ warned people about. I consider personal experiences in both the lake of fire and the bottomless pit as well as God’s gift of eternal life.
Jesus Christ taught his disciples, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”
My mind cannot imagine the lake of fire that my soul (my awareness) was sent to. I recall a burning, churning inferno and moving within it and knowing that it was the wrath of God. I could not experience other than what I was experiencing which was hell when I (my soul) was in the fire. It was Jesus Christ that sent me to hell and it was Jesus Christ who took my soul out of hell. Only Jesus Christ has the keys to hell. My understanding is that those who are sent to eternal damnation by Christ stay in that burning inferno forever and ever. My understanding is that they who are cast into hell know that they are in hell as I did when I was there.
From the lake of fire my soul was sent to the bottomless pit. There I experienced the worst and most severe pain I experienced in my life. There be no comparison in pain that I experienced in my life outside of the pit compared to the pain inside of the pit. It felt like I was being stretched downwards and as I was going down the pain was increasing at what I would guess was an exponential rate. The pain was unbearable and continuously getting worse. I was only in the pit for a brief period of time and after Christ took my soul out of the pit and I was returned to my body He said, “You’re awareness comes with me.” My understanding is that who Christ would send to the pit for eternity experiences that unbearable pain getting worse and worse and with no end.
After having experienced the lake of fire and the bottomless pit I consider I’ve had some profound considerations regarding both places. I’ve considered the pit to be the worse of the two places to go but both are unimaginably terrible. I’ve considered that I do not wish an eternity in the lake of fire on the worst of who I would have considered to have been my human enemies. I’ve thought of the teaching love thy enemy and considered it with respect to the terrible fate God sends the wicked to. I take it that is why I’m to love my enemy. Is it that God’s gospel loves them as it loves me but my enemies have yet to come to believe upon the risen Lord? Will they ever? Is it for me to realize that it is by God’s grace that I have been able to believe in Christ and have been spared an eternity of the wrath of God? Thank you Jesus Christ. These are some of the considerations I have had since having been sent to hell.
Another consideration I’ve had was, what if years ago, when I was living in the darkness, I died and then suddenly was in hell, knew I was in hell, and was still there to this day? What if God hadn’t saved me but instead sent me off to eternal damnation? Terrible to consider it isn’t it? I considered some loved ones of mine that were not professing believers and who died and wondered if they went to the same fire I had been in for a brief period of time.
Different than eternal damnation and the fire of hell is a kingdom of no tears and of eternal praise for the King of kings Jesus Christ. He has turned what we’re once wicked men into righteous men, having saved them from eternal destruction and has grafted them into His Kingdom of the Almighty Lord.
The Lord has suffered for His people, that they could be redeemed. He, and He alone, is worthy of praise and worship. That the saved can be in His heavenly kingdom came at an unimaginably great price. My understanding is that there is no greater love that exists than that of the holy Father for His only begotten Son. That God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to pay the price of the sins of the world is worthy of belief and eternal awe and praise.
Hell is a real place. I know this to be true for my soul was sent there for a time. That man needs a saviour is sure. Only Jesus Christ saves from hell. The Bible teaches that hell was created by Christ for the Devil and his angels. My understanding is the majority of people go to hell and that is where they spend eternity. Jesus Christ taught and teaches, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
