The Afterlife

Today we’re going to take a brief look at what happens after you die. The Bible has quite a lot to say about this – far more than we can possibly cover in a single lesson. However, this should be enough to get you started and to answer the more common questions.
 

Point One: There Is No Such Thing As Soul Sleep

Some people believe that when you die your soul “falls asleep” and you just stay in the grave until the time of the resurrection. This common belief is incorrect. After you die your soul immediately goes either to Heaven or to Hell.

This can be seen in a couple different places. For example, in the famous story that Jesus told of the rich man and Lazarus, we find this information:

Luke 16:22: “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;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”

Notice that as soon as the beggar died he was immediately carried away into a place of comfort and peace, and as soon as the rich man died he found himself in Hell. Nowhere does this passage state “And when the begger died, his soul slept until the resurrection, at which point he came back to life.” That simply is not the case. This story was told by Jesus Himself, who certainly knew the truth – and that is what He told us.

Another example can be found at the crucifixion. One of the two thieves condemned Christ, but the other one defended Him. Jesus had something very important to tell the thief who repented and believed:

Luke 23:39: “And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

Jesus Himself told the believing thief that he would be with Christ in paradise that very day. Jesus did not say “Well, one day I will come back and resurrect everyone, and you’ll be with me then.” Jesus was clear and direct.

The point is that when we die, we immediately go to either Heaven or to Hell.
 

Point Two: Hell

There is a tremendous amount of misunderstanding when it comes to the subject of Hell. Despite the fact that the Bible has a lot to say about it, people don’t seem to understand it very well, and much of what they do know is wrong.

First of all, the only way to avoid going to Hell – the only way – is to repent of your sins and put your faith and trust in Jesus. The reason we know this is because that is what Jesus Himself told us:

Mark 1:14: “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

What is the gospel? That all men are sinners who are guilty before God, and that our sins have earned us the eternal wrath of God in Hell. That in order to pay for our sins, Jesus came to Earth and died in our place, paying for our sins with His own blood. He took our place, suffered on our behalf, and rose from the dead. His death is the only thing that can pay for our sins. Those who repent of their sins and believe on Him will be forgiven, but those who do not believe will be damned:

John 3:36: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

Those who believe will have everlasting life, and those who do not believe will not have life, but will face the wrath of God. That is the choice.

Now, we have already seen that those who do not believe and who die go immediately to Hell. The Bible has a lot to say about Hell, and no one spoke more about Hell than Jesus did. He was a true fire-and-brimstone preacher. He spoke far more about Hell than He did about Heaven, and He often spoke of Hell in very graphic terms. For example:

Matthew 13:41: “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

Mark 9:43: “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:
44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”

Jesus spoke of the fires of Hell in Matthew 5:22, 7:19, 13:40-42, 18:8-9, 25:41, and Mark 9:43-49. Jesus spoke of Heaven very briefly in Luke 23:43 and in John 14:2. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (found in Luke 16:19-31), the parable mostly focuses on the torment of the rich man as he suffered in the flame (Luke 16:24). Jesus overwhelmingly spoke more about Hell than Heaven, and what He had to say was graphic. He did not mince words.

Some people today teach that there is no such place as Hell. Others say that God saves everyone and that no one goes to Hell. Still others say that Hell is just separation from God. All of those viewpoints are wrong. Jesus said that Hell is real and that many people will go there:

Matthew 7:13: “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:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

Jesus was clear that many go on to destruction and few people find the way that leads to eternal life. Jesus was plain that Hell is a real place with real fire, and many people will be sent there. In Hell they will suffer terribly. They will be desperate for a single drop of water, but it will be forever denied to them:

Luke 16:22: “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;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 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.
25 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.
26 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.”

The rich man was tormented in the fire, and no help was possible. He was desperate for a single drop of water, but it would never come. There was no way anyone could come and rescue him, and there was no way he could possibly escape. He was trapped there.

As you can see, he was conscious. He knew who he was and what he had done in his life. His identity had not been lost. Also, he has a body – he speaks of cooling his tongue. Christ said that Hell was a place where people gnashed their teeth (Matthew 13:42), which they can only do if they have teeth in the first place. So, even though people in Hell are dead, they still have bodies. Those in Hell are tormented day and night, with no hope of things ever getting better. It is a horrible, horrible fate. Those who are there have no hope, for no hope is possible. There is no way out.

That being said, it is not true that people will spend eternity in Hell. You see, one day Hell itself will be emptied, and all those who are in it will stand before God and be judged:

Revelation 20:12: “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.
13 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.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

As you can see, Hell itself was emptied for this judgment. However, after the judgment was over, people were not cast back into Hell. Instead they were put into another place – the Lake of Fire. That is the true final place of torment for all those who do not believe in Jesus. They will be tormented for all of eternity in the Lake of Fire, with no hope of rescue or comfort.

The reason Jesus spoke of this so often was to warn people of the great danger that they were in. The lost desperately need to understand what will happen to them if they do not repent. They are in more danger than they can possibly imagine.

Perhaps the most famous sermon on Hell is the one from Jonathan Edwards entitled “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God”. This is how he put it:

The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night; that you were suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep. And there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God’s hand has held you up. . .

O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment. . .

Now God stands ready to pity you; this is a day of mercy; you may cry now with some encouragement of obtaining mercy. But when once the day of mercy is past, your most lamentable and dolorous cries and shrieks will be in vain . . .

The lost must be made to understand that they are the enemies of God. As Jonathan Edwards pointed out, the only thing keeping them out of Hell this very moment is the grace of God – the very same God who they despise and who they daily anger with their sins and their unbelief. Their lives and their sins are an abomination to God, and yet His mercy is the only reason they are not already in Hell. The lost are in terrible, terrible danger, and they have no idea how close they are to total disaster. They are not facing separation from God; they are facing something infinitely worse than that.

People today shy away from teaching and preaching about Hell, but Jesus never did. He warned people about what was coming so that they might run from it in horror and find salvation. When we hide Hell from people we are not doing them any favors.

One of the things I do have to point out is that Satan is not in charge of Hell. People have this idea that Hell is run by Satan and his demons, and they spend time grabbing souls, dragging them down to Hell, and tormenting them with pitchforks. That entire picture is utterly false.

First of all, Satan is not in Hell. He actually spends his time roaming around the Earth:

Job 1:7: “And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.”

Notice that Satan did not say “Oh, I’ve been in Hell tormenting all the new arrivals.” You see, Hell is not a fun playground for demons. The truth is actually the opposite: Hell was instead created to torment them:

Matthew 25:41: “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:”

Hell was created as a place to torment the devil and his angels. The demons are very aware of their fate and they are terrified of it. When Jesus walked the Earth the demons had a question to ask him:

Matthew 8:28: “And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?”

The demons are not looking forward to spending Eternity tormenting all the lost souls that they have managed to deceive. No, their future is quite different: they are going to spend eternity being tormented in the place of eternal fire that God has prepared. They are not going to be Hell’s management, but Hell’s occupants. They will be tormented along with everyone else.

The Bible actually tells us when that will take place. The devil’s hour of judgment will come at the end of the thousand-year reign of Christ:

Revelation 20:7: “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10 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.”

Just as one day Hell will be emptied and its occupants will be cast into the Lake of Fire, so one day Satan will be cast there as well. After Jesus has ruled on Earth for a thousand years, Satan will be set free. He will gather an army and attempt to attack Jerusalem, but he will fail. God will take him and cast him into the Lake of Fire, where he will be tormented day and night, forever and ever. He and his servants will find no rest from their torment for all of eternity.

As you can see, they are not running Hell; instead they are being tormented. They are suffering along with everyone else. One day Satan’s power will be utterly broken. The book of Isaiah speaks of this time:

Isaiah 14:9: “Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
10 All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. . .
16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
18 All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.”

Notice what happens when Satan finally is cast down to Hell! He is not greeted as some sort of “Official CEO of Hell”. Instead people look at him in amazement that his power is finally broken and he has become as weak as the rest of the tormented dead. He is not reigning over Hell; instead he is described as a carcass trodden under foot that is covered by worms. He is not reigning; he is suffering along with everyone else. The one who made the world to tremble and who destroyed cities is now become nothing.
 

Point Three: Heaven

As we saw earlier, when a saved person dies they immediately go to Heaven. Jesus told the thief on the cross that he would be with Christ in Paradise that very day. Just as the lost immediately go to Hell, so the saved immediately go to Heaven.

However, there is more to the story. One day the Lord will return and raise the dead:

I Thessalonians 4:16: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

This event is known as the Rapture. At this point in history the Lord will return, raise the dead, and catch the living saints up to meet Him in the air. He will then take them all with Him back to Heaven. Much later, at the end of the Tribulation, He will return to Earth with them. The book of Jude talks about this:

Jude 1:14: “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

At the end of the Tribulation the Lord will return to Earth with His saints and put an end to the reign of the Antichrist. He will then establish His kingdom on Earth and will reign over the world for a thousand years – and we will reign with Him. After that time there will be a final judgment, where all of the wicked will be cast into the Lake of Fire, and where death itself will be done away with.

After all of these things God will create a new heaven and a new earth:

Revelation 21:1: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

As you can see, God will create a new heaven and earth (for the first one passed away). God will then live there with us, and we will live with him. What this means is that after the final judgment, God and man will no longer live together in Heaven. Instead God and man will relocate to a new heaven and earth, and will live there together for all of eternity.

What this means is that it is an error to say that the righteous spend eternity living together with God in Heaven. That is actually not the case. The righteous are only in Heaven until the end of the Tribulation. At that point they will come back to Earth with the Lord and will reign over the world with Christ during His Millennial Kingdom. After Judgment Day, the saints will continue to live on the new Earth that God will create – and God will live with them as well. In other words, the final home for the righteous will be Earth. Not this Earth, but a new one that is coming. The righteous will spend all of eternity not living in Heaven, but living on Earth.

That, though, is still quite a ways off. For the time being the righteous live in Heaven, so let’s talk about that for a bit.
 

People In Heaven Have Bodies

The reason we know this is because of what the rich man said:

Luke 16:24: “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.”

The rich man (who was being tormented in Hell) wanted Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and then come help him. This means that Lazarus must have had fingers – and if he had fingers it is reasonable to assume that those fingers were attached to a body.
 

People In Heaven Remember Their Former Lives

The reason we know this is because of what Abraham told the rich man:

Luke 16:25: “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.”

In this story, all of the characters are already dead. Abraham is dead. The rich man is dead. Lazarus is dead. However, Abraham knows the story of the rich man. The rich man remembers his life, the beggar’s life, and even his unsaved family members. Even though he is dead, he has not forgotten anything. He still remembers. Even though they are dead, their identities as people have not been lost. Abraham actually brought up the lives they had led. It was still relevant and it still mattered.

Not only did they remember their former selves and their former lives, but they also remembered their families. This idea that we forget everything once we get to Heaven is not Biblical. Our past does not magically go away.
 

People In Heaven Remember Their Friends

This is a point that Jesus brought up in the parable of the unrighteous steward. Since there is not a lot of time I’m not going to go over the entire parable, but I do want to mention the conclusion that Jesus made:

Luke 16:9: “And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.”

What Jesus is saying is this: use your resources in this life to make friends and help people, so that in the next life they will receive you into their eternal homes. Jesus is pointing out that in Heaven people remember who helped them. Those people may not be able to return the favor in this life, but in Heaven it will be quite different. In Heaven they will remember all the great things that you did for them, and they will welcome you into their home. They will be grateful. What you did will matter, and it will affect your Heavenly relationship with them.

So, then, you will obviously not forget all of your friends when you get to Heaven. You will remember your past, and you will remember those who came to your aid. Your friends will still be your friends.
 

There Is Time In Heaven

Many people have the idea that time does not pass in Heaven. However, that is not the case. Revelation is pretty clear about that:

Revelation 8:1: “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”

The only way there could be a half hour of silence in Heaven is if time passed in Heaven. I realize there are hymns that say that one day “time shall be no more”, but that claim is false. There will never come a day when time itself will stop. There will always be time.
 

People In Heaven Know What Is Happening On Earth

Many people believe that once you reach Heaven you no longer have any idea what is happening back on Earth. However, that is not the case. Christ told us that there is rejoicing in Heaven when a sinner repents:

Luke 15:7: “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.”

The only way that is possible is if the people in Heaven know when a sinner repents. If they had no idea what was going on then they wouldn’t know that a sinner repented, and if they didn’t know then they couldn’t rejoice.

But there is a far more definitive way we can know that people in Heaven are aware of what is going on. All through the book of Revelation, God pours out terrible judgments on the Earth – and the people of Heaven watch the entire thing. They are aware of everything that is going on, and they watch as billions of people die. They even comment on it:

Revelation 11:15: “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.”

Let’s back up and establish a bit of context. Revelation 11 is the chapter that explains the ministry of the two witnesses. Before the elders make their comment, the two witnesses finished their ministry, were killed, and were resurrected three days later. That is when the seventh angel sounded.

The 24 elders represent the Church. As you can see, the Church is very aware of what God is doing on Earth. In fact, they are actually praising God for what He is doing and they are commenting on it. They are watching God as He acts on Earth. They know exactly what is going on and they are even providing commentary.

The idea that the saints in Heaven are ignorant is false. God is not keeping them in the dark. He does not hide what He is doing. Instead He reveals it to them, and His saints praise Him for His actions.

Some people have this idea that the saints in Heaven must be ignorant because they couldn’t possibly be happy if they knew what was going on. This is another way of saying that joy is only possible if God keeps us in the dark and doesn’t reveal the truth to us – which is a ridiculous statement. God knows everything that is going on. Is He unhappy? Do you really believe that the only way to achieve happiness is through ignorance? That is not the picture that Revelation gives us! In Heaven we will see what God is doing on Earth and we will praise Him for it. We will actually have a much better understanding of events because we will see things from God’s perspective. Seeing things the way God sees them is not going to bring despair and hopelessness.
 

The Martyrs In Heaven Cry Out For Vengeance

In the book of Revelation we see the souls of a group of people who were murdered for their faith in Christ. These souls (which are in Heaven) are doing something that would surprise many people:

Revelation 6:9: “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.”

Tell me: are these souls resting in peace? No, they’re not. Are they happy and at rest? No, not really. These souls remembered that they were murdered and they are asking God for vengeance. They want God to avenge their blood. They want Him to punish those who dwell on the Earth. They are most certainly not resting in peace.

Now, doesn’t the Bible say that God will wipe away every tear, and there will be no more pain? Yes it does – but that promise is given at the very end of Revelation. God is going to do that, but it will take place after the Millennial Kingdom, after the final judgment, and after God creates a new Heaven and Earth. That verse is not talking about the here and now, and it is not talking about life in Heaven. It is talking about something God will do a very long time from now. This is why it is so important to keep verses in context: otherwise you will come to the wrong conclusion.

The point is that people in Heaven still long for justice. They care about what happened to them. They want God to avenge them – and God is going to do exactly that, in time.
 

What Is Heaven Like?

Heaven is not a vague place where people float around on clouds and are bored for all of eternity. The Bible describes Heaven as being a city:

Hebrews 11:16: “But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.”

This heavenly city has a name – it’s called the New Jerusalem. The Bible tells us that it is a massive city that is 1500 miles wide and 1500 miles long (making it vastly larger than any earthly city). This city has streets of gold, and angels guard its twelve gates. It is a fantastic place that is literally lit by the glory of God. The Bible tells us that it has streams, and trees, and fruit, and buildings, and houses, and people. You can read about it in Revelation 21 and 22. It is truly an amazing place.

One thing we know about this city is that it is a better city. Nothing evil is allowed to enter it:

Revelation 21:27: “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

No one is going to get mugged in this city. Nothing evil will happen in it. No one inside this city will ever get sick, or grow old, or die. It will be a perfect place, ruled by God Himself and filled with the righteous. The Tree of Life will be in this city, and those who live there will be able to freely eat of its fruit and live forever. It will be a glorious thing.

Will we have jobs in this city? Yes we will. God has an eternal assignment for us:

Revelation 22:3: “And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”

We will continue to serve God throughout all of eternity. In fact, verse 5 says that we will reign forever and ever. We will not just reign during the Millennial Kingdom; we will reign for all of eternity. In the beginning God told Adam to have dominion over the Earth – and we will continue to reign over His creation for all the endless ages to come. In those endless ages there will be no sorrow, or pain, or crying, or death, or sin, or evil; instead there will be joy and peace.

As you can see, the stakes are pretty high. On the one side is an eternity of torment in the Lake of Fire. On the other side is an eternity of joy in a literal city of gold. Those are your only two choices, and those are the only possible outcomes. Those who repent and believe will find forgiveness and joy. No matter what sorrows they face in this life or no matter what hardships they encounter, their future is guaranteed. However, those who refuse to repent and who do not believe will find damnation and endless torture. They may lead great lives now, and they may think that everything is going well, but in the end their sin will find them out. After they die they will find it impossible to escape the wrath of God.

I urge you to repent and believe while there is still time, and while it is not too late. The day is rapidly coming when you will die, and once that day comes it will be too late to change your mind. At that point your fate will be sealed. Flee from the wrath of God! Run to the Savior and find forgiveness and grace. He will forgive all those who seek mercy – and will destroy all those who refuse Him. The consequences will last forever.