HEAVEN AND HELL BIBLE
CHRISTIANITY OASIS HAS PROVIDED YOU WITH THIS HEAVEN AND HELL BIBLE STUDY. THIS HEAVEN AND HELL BIBLE STUDY IS BUT ONE OF MANY BIBLE STUDY PROGRAMS WE HAVE FOR YOU ... HEAVEN AND HELL HAVE BEEN ON THE MINDS OF HUMANS FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. THIS HEAVEN AND HELL STUDY WILL BRING LIGHT TO THE DARKNESS OF NOT KNOWING WHAT HAPPENS AFTER WE AS CHRISTIANS DIE. LET US SEEK AND FIND THE TRUTH OF HEAVEN AND HELL TOGETHER, SHALL WE?

May I suggest that before we continue with this study, that you visit our Fear of Death study and our Abraham’s Bosom study, if you have not already checked out these studies as to understand what happens to your physical body, your spirit, and your soul, once the ol’ ticker stops beating . . . before the Savior returns.

This study is an extension of those two studies and it will give you a little better perspective on where your soul may go when the Day of the Lord arrives, depending upon your choices in life.

Do you know what a “realm” is? A realm is a spiritual place or experience. You can’t reach out and grasp it with your hand, though while you're there, you may believe it’s tangible.

All realms are not spiritual in a godly sense. Let me give you some examples of different realms.

        Others can be in the same realm as you at the same time.

As you can see, there are all kinds of realms. They’re not make believe just because they’re not physical places. They really do exist. They’re not pretend, just because by faith you believe in them, yet there is no physical evidence of where exactly they are.

Now let’s talk about HEAVEN AND HELL. One of these realms is where your soul will ultimately end up.

There is one question you may ask yourself concerning life and the afterlife.

Which one is which?

In our logical carnal minds, we tend to think that life on earth is the real thing, and the spiritual life is … well … hard to put your finger on. What if, in fact, it turns out to be the other way around. Actually, the true Christian belief is based on that very hope and belief. This earthly, fleshly life is the temporary one. How many times have you boasted; It’s just a test - Lay up your treasures in heaven - You can’t take it with you, and things of this nature?

We spout brave words like this when we want to impress our own selves, our friends, our relatives and even God, but do we really live those beliefs? If we want our destination realm to be Heaven . . . We should.

One more interesting thing about the word realm before we go on. In the Bible, different authors use this word in place of the word kingdom.

Sooooo, what can we expect once we get to the realm (kingdom) of Heaven?

Well, think of the most blissful place you can imagine and Isaiah and Paul both say . . . Not even close!

The inspiration for these messages was God and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus gives us several parables of what it’s “like” in the realm of Heaven, but you must keep in mind, He had to use human words for us and we can’t fully understand a spiritual realm, explained in human words. It’s kind of like explaining what love is to someone who’s never been in love. Heaven is more than a place that is here or there. Like being in love, it envelops your whole being, and as anyone who has TRULY been IN LOVE knows . . . It's more than words can say, and that’s why we’re taught that we can’t even imagine what Heaven is like.

As you read the words of Jesus, you’ll begin to understand that this Kingdom of Heaven is not so much a specific place but rather . . . A state of mind and heart.

You can find the Lord’s similitudes of what Heaven is like in the Gospel according to Matthew 13

You can also read these in the Gospel of Jesus Christ study in the section called Kingdom of Heaven.

In the Gospel according to John 14:2-4, Jesus tells us this about Heaven:

Now that you have a better idea of the kingdom (realm) of Heaven, let’s look at the opposite realm called Hell, where the devil tries to lead souls to, because of his immense jealousy of God. This quest of the devil’s is called spiritual warfare.

Just as you can’t imagine what God has prepared for those who love Him, one also can’t imagine the unending torment that awaits in hell for the unbeliever’s soul. Don’t be deceived that once a soul goes to hell, that there’s an end to the pain and agony that awaits there. Death is also a realm and in the end, death is cast into the lake of fire along with hell, and “lives” forever there in never ending torture. Don’t misinterpret the realm of death to be the “end” of anything, except your physical, fleshly life on earth. A soul still lives on in hell and continues to experience it’s pain forever.

To make things a little easier to understand, it’s important to know that hell and the bottomless pit are the same place, just as Paradise and Abraham’s Bosom are one and the same.

At the beginning of this study, we learned that a soul may take one of two paths when the human body dies. This chart shows the path of these souls.
 

THE BELIEVER’S SOUL VS. THE UNBELIEVER’S SOUL

Have you ever been in so much pain that you’ve gnashed your teeth? Jesus describes hell this way, several times.

In the book of Proverbs, Solomon’s references to hell are preventive only. In other words, they are admonitions.

This doesn’t mean that a soul may depart from hell whenever it wants, but rather, Solomon is saying that you can avoid hell by being wise.

There’s always enough room for more souls in hell, don’t be deceived by the devil’s tricks that make people believe that they can be satisfied with fleshly desires.

And, make no mistake, there are no “get out of hell free” cards in the devil’s game. It’s not a game.

You may also wonder why Jesus went to Abraham’s Bosom and preached to the spirits in hell if there’s no chance of ever leaving once you’re there. The answer is, up until that time they didn’t have the truth of Jesus in their lifetime on earth, so they were given the chance to hear and believe the Gospel, as we have. They have died the first death, but God’s final judgment still awaits.

There are some descriptions in the Bible that give us an idea as to what hell is like. Let’s take a look at some of them.

This may bring up a question in your mind about the “bottomless” pit. Remember that hell is a realm, so there is no physical form to it. The term “bottomless” therefore, is an indication of it’s ongoing and endless pain, and the vastness of the agony, darkness, and torment that are there.

These are some of the things that king David wrote concerning hell.

Peter speaks of this as well.

Although Jesus did speak to the spirits in prison (in hell), He did not Himself experience death. The word “see” in this case, means “experience.”

In Matthew 5:29 and Mark 9:43, Jesus says:

And if thy right eye offend thee,

pluck it out, and cast it from thee:

for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish,

and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

This of course is a figure of speech that Jesus is using. There aren’t eyeballs and hands and ears running around hell while the rest of people’s bodies are in Abraham’s Bosom. In other words, it would be better to take some pretty drastic measures than to end up in hell.

Here are more references to hell from the New Testament.