23 minutes in hell (5 page)

Continuing up, it seemed as if about thirty seconds had passed, when suddenly, a burst of light invaded the entire tunnel. The light was so brilliant, a pure, white light such as I have never seen. It was so bright that I could not see the face of the one who was before me, but I instantly knew who He was. I said, “Jesus,” and He said “I AM,” and I fell at his feet. It was as if I died.[6] It seemed as if only a few moments had passed when I regained my awareness. I was still at His feet.

Words can’t describe the range of emotions I experienced in the presence of the Lord. Just a moment before, I had been in the bowels of hell, just like someone who didn’t know Jesus, and was cursed and damned to eternal torment.[7] As soon as He appeared, He restored an awareness to my mind that I was a Christian.[8] (He had removed the knowledge that I was a Christian in hell. I will explain the reason shortly.)

Peace had replaced terror, and safety took the place of danger. The feelings of worthlessness, shame, and humiliation disappeared as the value that He had placed on me was revealed. It was then that I truly understood how much God loves us. I was at once comforted, protected, and completely relieved. I just wanted to remain at His feet. I was so grateful to escape hell. I was so grateful that I did know Jesus, that I was a Christian. I just wanted to worship Him. Looking back, I now realize that the light that was present when I was dropped into the cell was, in fact, the Lord’s presence. When He left, it resumed its normal state of darkness.

“Hades is a place of torment and agony…. The judgment and Hell will be more tolerable for some than for others…. The fact that Hell will not be the same for everybody in no way implies that it will be a good place for anybody. People in Hell will be separated from God and all that is good forever. As much as I dislike the idea, I do believe that the lake of fire (Hell) is a real, literal place.”[9]

—Charles Stanley

I remember seeing a special about the sinking of the “Titanic.” I recalled how thankful the people were to have been saved from the freezing cold water. Decades after the incident, they were being interviewed, yet their appreciation for life had not diminished. Tears were flowing as each survivor recounted the story of how he or she was rescued. That’s just how I felt, but much, much more so, as I knelt at the feet of Jesus. I had no words to adequately express my gratitude—I just wanted to thank Him over and over and over again. Even though I was relieved and comforted, at the same time I felt so sinful and dirty. Standing in the presence of a holy God, I was keenly aware of my sins.

Jesus reached down and touched my shoulder. My strength instantly returned, and I rose to my feet. My next thought was, “Why did You send me to this awful place?”

Before I could ask the question, He answered.[10] “Because many people do not believe that hell truly exists,” He told me. “Even some of My own people do not believe that hell is real.” I was amazed to hear that some Christians do not believe that hell is real. I know many people think that when you die you are annihilated, or that hell is just a state of mind. That surprises me, because the Bible informs us so thoroughly on the subject. It does not teach that you are simply annihilated.[11] The teachings are very clear that hell is a place of eternal torment.[12]

I could sense the Lord’s deep love for people to know the truth. Knowing that hell is a reality and how horrible it really is greatly deepens your appreciation and thankfulness. I was so, so grateful that He had rescued me.[13] But I understood that it was out of His great love for mankind that He wanted them to know this place exists, so they could instead choose life with Him. In 1 John 5:12, we are assured: “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

More thoughts came to my mind. However, being in His awesome presence, I was slow to speak. But before I could get the questions out of my mouth, He would answer. Psalm 139:2–4 says: “You understand my thought afar off.… For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.” There have been times shared with my wife when I was thinking about something, and she would bring up exactly what I was thinking about at that moment. Other times, we just sense what the other is about to say or do in a given situation. After something like this happens to us, one of us will tell the other, “I knew exactly what you were thinking, and I thought you’d say that.” I believe that oneness is part of what makes marriage so special. The marriage relationship is to be a parallel of what the Lord wants with each one of us—a deep, intimate relationship where you share one another’s emotions, insights, desires, and thoughts.

As I stood there before the Lord, I thought, “Why did You choose me for this experience?” There was no answer. To this day, I still do not fully understand why the Lord decided to choose me. In many ways, it doesn’t seem to make sense. First of all, I’m a Realtor, not a Billy Graham or Mother Theresa. Second, I love order, cleanliness, and quiet, and hell is the antithesis to that. I know most people appreciate order, cleanliness, and tranquility; however, I am more fanatical with those things than most. My mother shared with me that even as a child I kept my room neat and clean and with all my toys in perfect order. I even wore three-piece suits as a child and liked it!

In addition, my wife and I disdain horror movies and never attend them. We make every effort to keep any evil influence out of our home and away from our lives. And besides all that, I don’t even like the summertime. Summer is even too hot for me!

Jesus said to me, “Go and tell them about this place. It is not My desire that any should go there.[14] Hell was made for the devil and his angels.”[15]

I replied to Him, “Yes, of course I’ll go.” God’s will is for all to be saved.[16] I had the most compelling desire to do His will. In His presence, the things that were usually so important to me suddenly seemed so insignificant. I felt so honored to be able to do something that would please Him. Then the thought crossed my mind, “Why would anyone believe me? They will think I had a bad dream, or that I am crazy.”

“The scripture speaks of the “Lake of Fire” (Rev. 20:14), ‘Wailing and gnashing of teeth’ (Matt. 13:42) where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:44). If we really believed in Hell, we would plead with sinners.”[17]

—Ray Comfort

The Lord said to me, “It is not your job to convict their hearts. That responsibility belongs to the Holy Spirit.[18] It is your part to go and tell them.” I was relieved to know that it was not my responsibility to convince anyone. He gave me the easy part—all I have to do is open my mouth and tell the people, and He draws them to Himself.

I asked, “Why did those demons hate me so much?”

He said, “Because you are made in My image, and they hate Me.”[19] You see, the demons cannot harm God directly, but they can hurt His children and His creation. It saddens God to see His creation suffer.[20] The Lord loves us and wants us to live healthy, peaceful, long lives. He wants us to warn more people about hell and to share with them just what they need to do to avoid that terrible place.

I then said, “Those demons were so powerful.”

He said, “All you have to do is cast them out in My name.”[21]

Suddenly, there in His presence, the demonic creatures I had just encountered in hell now seemed so powerless. They appeared to look like ants on the wall. I thought of Pastor Raul, a dear friend, who has a God-given gift to discern demonic influence in people’s lives. He understands the authority God has given us as Christians and the power of prayer. I had only thought of three people while there, and he was the third. It was his and his wife Sharon’s home that we had visited just the night before this happened.

It was then revealed to me that what was most important was not the power to overcome these demons, but rather, as the scripture says, “Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). The Bible says, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10, KJV). The true emphasis was placed on the souls whose names were not yet written in heaven, those who were going to hell every day. I was instantly sobered as He allowed me to see a steady stream of people falling through a tunnel—one after the other, after the other, after the other—into an open cavern, into the terror that I had just escaped.

While I was watching this scene, Jesus allowed me to feel just a small amount of the sorrow He feels for His creation that is going to hell.[22] His love is so far beyond our capacity and is infinitely greater than our love. I couldn’t stand feeling even a fraction of the anguish He feels. I said, “Please, stop!” I couldn’t bear it.

I cannot elaborate enough on this point. It was the deepest insight into God’s feelings that I had during this whole experience. There’s no way to measure how much He truly loves all people. When a single soul is lost to the devil and damned to that horrible place forever, it saddens Him greatly.

I asked Him, “Why didn’t I know You when I was there?”

He said, “I kept it from you.” In order for me to experience the hopelessness of those souls in hell, the fact that I knew Jesus had to be hidden from my mind. If I knew Him there, as I have since 1970, I would have had hope that He would rescue me. To experience the feeling of being lost forever was by far the worst part of hell. On Earth, we always have some form of hope. Even amidst the most direful situations, we have hope that we’ll escape, even if it’s only through death.[23] But there you know positively there is no hope whatsoever; you will never get out. Your soul cannot die, and you are lost and in torment forever.[24]

“Satan… will do everything in his power to hold people captive in sin and to drag them down to the prison of eternal separation from God.”[25]

—Billy Graham

Finally He said, “Tell them I am coming very, very soon.” In my spirit, I felt an urgency to warn as many people as possible, as time is running out. He sternly said it again: “TELL THEM I AM COMING VERY, VERY SOON!” Repeating Himself tells me His coming truly is getting very, very close. Time is running out. We must get the truth out to people so they can know that there is a choice to make. Without Jesus as your Savior, you will not be going to heaven, and that is absolutely certain.[26] Looking back, I wish I would have asked Him, “What is ‘very, very soon’ to You, Lord?” However, when standing in the presence of almighty God, such arrogance does not come to thought. Like a soldier being commanded by his general, all I wanted to do was to obey His order.

As the Lord and I were having this time together, we kept ascending up the tunnel. We came to the earth’s surface, and then we continued upward. We went high above the earth until we were out of the atmosphere.

Chapter 3 Notes

1. One possible explanation for the demons being chained is found in Jude 6: “And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.” The creatures I encountered in hell could have been those chained fallen angels—I don’t know.

2. “Then I will bring you down, with those who descend into the Pit, to the people of old, and I will make you dwell in the lowest part of the earth, in places desolate from antiquity” (Ezek. 26:20).

3. “Therefore hell hath enlarged herself…” (Isa. 5:14, KJV).

4. Psalm 88:6 says, “You have laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the depths.” “Let burning coals fall upon them; let them be cast into the fire, into deep pits, that they rise not up again” (Ps. 140:10). “He also brought me up out of a horrible pit” (Ps. 40:2). “Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down to the Pit” (Prov. 1:12). “Cast them down to the depths of the earth… with those who go down to the Pit” (Ezek. 32:18). “…who have gone down… to the lower parts of the earth…. Now they bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit” (Ezek. 32:24).

5. “He has made me dwell in darkness, like those who have long been dead” (Ps. 143:3).

6. “His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead” (Rev. 1:16–17).

7. “He will redeem his soul from going down to the Pit, and his life shall see the light” (Job 33:28). “…to bring back his soul from the Pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life” (Job 33:30).

8. “…and my understanding returned to me” (Dan. 4:34).

9. Charles Stanley, “Charles Stanley’s Handbook for Christian Living” (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996), 245–248.

10. “You understand my thought afar off…. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether” (Ps. 139:2, 4).

11. “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment…” (Heb. 9:27). “These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thess. 1:9). “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12:2). In Matthew 25:46, Jesus says, “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” “And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night” (Rev. 14:11).

12. See “Hell Under Fire” and “Hell on Trial,” listed in Bibliography.

13. “Who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies” (Ps. 103:4).

14. “Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). “‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live’” (Ezek. 33:11).

15. In Matthew 25:41 Jesus says, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

16. “He who wins souls is wise” (Prov. 11:30). “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel [good news] to every creature’” (Mark 16:15). “But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts” (1 Thess. 2:4). In “Hell’s Best Kept Secret,” Ray Comfort states: “If we really believe in hell, we would plead with sinners.” [Ray Comfort, “Hell’s Best Kept Secret” (Springdale, PA: Whitaker House, 1989), 73.]