A Study in the Afterlife: Are You Prepared for the Inevitable?

By Steve Regnault

Death is the only certainty we face in this life, but most people don’t spend much time thinking about what will happen to them after they pass away. The world’s oldest and most reliable manuscript, the Bible, deals with this subject in great detail, and it would be a mistake to not study what it has to say about the afterlife. Scripture teaches that there are only two possible destinations after we die: heaven or hell. In his latest survey of biblical teachings, Steve Regnault addresses the critical questions surrounding the afterlife: Does the Bible actually teach that there is an eternal place of punishment? What is heaven like? Where is heaven? Who goes to heaven and who goes to hell? Eternity is coming and it must be taken seriously. Dig into the world’s most trusted and historical book to find answers to the most important questions you’ll ever ask.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Word Alive Press
• Release date: Nov 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781486617494

Book preview

Series

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Word Alive Press for their expertise, honesty, and professional courtesy. I would also like to thank Sheri Hawkins for her help and advice when I needed it.

Prologue

Mark. Sarah paused for a moment, but there was no response.

Mark, she said again. What are you thinking about? Come and try this new type of coffee Brian brought back from his last trip to Jerusalem.

I had just devoured four pieces of pie that my friend Sarah had made. I hadn’t eaten for the past two months, mostly because of the excitement of discovering the upper mountains of Elohim. Jesus had asked me to go up into those mountains to explore and mark out a place for a trail that would eventually be created there. It was so beautiful, I didn’t take the time to eat the nuts, fruits, and herbs I’d found. I drank from the stream, however, for I couldn’t resist the varied tastes of the streams I found throughout the mountains. I had made so many discoveries and gotten so excited about the possibilities that I completely forgot about eating. No one would ever believe the flowers that I found there—the delicate, sweet-scented ones that reminded me of the bakeries in France. And that cave … I cannot wait to take the kids to that cave, to fly down the smooth, crystal rock through which the bright green water had carved out a slide. The slide dipped and curved, and at the end it plunged into a pool of water surrounded by the most beautiful underwater coral reefs I had ever seen. Coral reefs? Who would imagine reefs could exist in a cave at such high mountain peaks!

This was only one of the many discoveries I had made and marked on the map that I was drawing of the mountain chain. Slipping down that natural crystal slide in the midst of all those beautiful colours reminded me of the first time I saw the autumn colours on the sugar maple and sweetgum trees in Canada, back when I still lived on earth.

Sarah has been learning how to make pies for the past few weeks. Her friends—John, Jacob, Marie, and Rachel—have been staying at the ranch lately and experimenting with all kinds of fruits, berries, and various creams. The group had travelled into Jerusalem several times a week to distribute their delectable pastries amongst the many pilgrims visiting from all over the world. They had researched and grown various kinds of fruits before they started making the pies. When I returned home from my trip and walked into the house, I took a deep breath to savour the sweet, warm scent that wafted throughout the kitchen. That exquisite aroma of berries and nutmeg smelled nearly as delicious as it tasted.

We had all decided that we would make a Thanksgiving-style meal together next week. We invited all of our neighbours to spend a few weeks together to celebrate God’s goodness. John invited his friends too, many of whom have spent the past fifty years together inventing new instruments and playing concerts across the world. Jesus had given them the responsibility to create different types of musical instruments, rhythms, and harmonious melodies. For many years this soulful group of musicians played at the concert hall in Jerusalem. I remember going to one of their concerts when they were accompanying Mr. Smith. The sound had so engulfed me, I felt like I had been transported into His presence. Later I was told that the concert had lasted a few days, but it had only felt like a few minutes. The worship songs stayed with me for years afterwards, which was part of the magic of the instruments they had invented. I was so excited that they would be entertaining us with their music at our Thanksgiving meal.

Marie had spent seven years learning magic tricks and would be putting on a show for everyone as well. She had spent some time travelling around, transfixing others with her magic show, until she arrived at my ranch to spend some time with Sarah and the others. As for Rachel, she had spent 350 years travelling on the Everlasting Spaceship, which had been invented by her father. I was anticipating seeing her pictures of the amazing planets that were discovered in the galaxy that used to be called the MACS0647-JD. They had renamed this galaxy Sundar because of the incredible beauty of the mountains that had been discovered on many of the planets there. She has written several books on space that have been widely regarded as the best recorded on the subject thus far. While on her voyage, Rachel and her friend developed a new sport that has now become a nation-wide event. We are all planning to learn this sport together, once Rachel teaches us how to use the body suits that will allow us to shrink and grow at will.

It will be fun to fellowship with this group of friends before I head into the wild and unknown Elohim mountains to prepare the trekking route again. I’ve been given a few more decades to make a trail there and set up some mansions along the way. Jesus told me that there are many beautiful caves to be found and lots of animal species that have never been discovered before, even though we’ve been living here for over nine thousand years. Finding new animal species has become the pastime for so many of our friends. In a few years there will be another group of people that will come, and they will want to help design chalet-like homes in the mountains with me. These people have been building a variety of homes for several hundred years now and can’t wait to join me. I was thinking of making horse trails, bike trails, and even landing pads for those who enjoy riding those new Harley-like hovercrafts.

Before I head back to the mountains, I think I will write a story. During my amazing stay with a fascinating bear I met, I had the idea for a great adventure story. I think I’ll write it down before I forget about it, and I’ll turn it in at the Jerusalem Library before I leave. Jacob said that he’d be interested in turning it into a movie once I write it down. Jacob and his friends have spent thirty years making movies. He even invented a camera that runs off any kind of wave—light or sound—and it’s now being used across the universe. Imagine that—not needing to rely on batteries any longer.

There is so much I still want to do, but that will have to wait until I finish my task. It’s my desire to spend time learning carpentry. I’d like to be able to make a grandfather clock like the ones that were popularized in the Victorian era on earth. I’d also like to try my hand at making furniture. My ranch house is full of furniture built by my friend Brian, who not only assembled the furniture but constructed the house itself. Right from the start, he was always gifted at that kind of work. Brian spent years developing and test piloting spaceships for Rachel’s father. He possesses the intuitive ability to understand exactly what’s wrong with a ship when it crashes, and that has made him well-known and respected within that line of work. I love my ranch house, but I eventually want to build a house full of furniture on the plot of land I found on my property that is near the River M-Kaddesh. My friends told me they would go up and start to cut all the wood I needed to finish this project. They have been up there for a while already, and they told me they found a new type of wood that smells a bit like the sandalwood we used to find. I’ve also heard that they’re doing more scuba diving in the river there than they are cutting trees.

My brother Tim has never been interested in coming out to my property in the country. He loves spending time talking to people in Jerusalem and attending the concerts and art shows they have in the city. Tim constructed a great building downtown, where he enjoys inviting the most interesting guests to come and stay. Tim loves history and spends his days writing down the life stories of those he meets. It’s true that he’s been given a task that takes up most of his time. He has the responsibility of building a library of historical events—as well as art, movies, and music—so they can be easily accessed by everyone around the world.

My sister Esther rarely goes to the city and almost never comes to the country. She spends most of her time underwater. She was part of the team that made the first underwater homes, and now she’s creating a book full of pictures of the extraordinary sea creatures found in the Sea of Shammah. Of course we’ve visited her many times over the past century, but she’s not ready to move on from her current work. She gets so excited when she talks about parts of the ocean she hasn’t explored yet and all of the remarkable corals and creatures she might find there.

There are still places so deep that we haven’t been able to access them yet. This came as somewhat of a shock to us, as we’d initially thought our new bodies could go anywhere and do anything we wanted. The fact is, the Father has created many places for which we need to build and invent things first before we can travel there. My sister’s friend James is working on building machines that will enable him to go and explore such places.

Additionally, Esther has started to write a cookbook on various sea fruits and herbs she has found. This was surprising to us, as she never really liked cooking before. In fact, Esther rarely ate at all before she discovered the amazing taste of sea pine. It would seem her friend Lil has finally rubbed off on her. Lil spends his days eating and cooking. He owns a restaurant called Tasteful that is well-known for its hearty stews and exquisite desserts. The restaurant attracts visitors from all over the world. Last time I visited there, Lil was eating seven meals a day, and Jesus had just come to spend a week with him.

***

Mark sipped his coffee and once more drifted off in contemplation of the amazing life he had here on the new heaven and earth.

***

Mark! Mark, where are you? Where am I? Is anyone around me? Hello? There was no response.

Fred didn’t know where he was. He had an awful feeling in his stomach, like the one you get when you fall out of bed in the middle of the night … only in this case it continued and didn’t stop. He could feel things crawling around him, but he couldn’t see even the slightest bit of light.

He had been at the top of the world. The last thing he remembered was driving his Ferrari in Monte Carlo with his friend, Mark. He had just asked Mark to partner with him in his expanding clothing business and had thought Mark was a fool for declining the offer. They had graduated together from Harvard Business School, but Mark foolishly went to Tibet to help start small businesses there. What a waste of talent. Not only was his talent wasted, but his life was no better than a beggar’s. He didn’t own any possessions, and he lived with the people he was helping. Despite the fact that Fred had shown him all the possessions and fame he had acquired over many years, Mark wouldn’t join him in his venture. He was, however, one of the few real friends Fred had; there was no one he could trust more than him.

He continued to call out for Mark, but there was no response. Fred wasn’t surprised that none of his other friends were there with him in his time of need, but he was certain that Mark would not have abandoned him.

Where am I? Fred thought. He tried to move forward, but a horrible feeling that something awful would happen stopped him in his tracks. He felt the presence of something evil near him, and it sent shivers bolting up his spine. There was a cold feeling to this place, yet he was flushed and sweating. His stomach jerked and he felt dizzy, much like the time he took that nightmarish bus ride with Mark from Kathmandu to Lhasa. Their warm clothes had been tied up with their bags on the roof of the bus, and the windows kept shuddering open. The cold was intolerable when they spent hours going over the high passes.

Fred wished he could find a drink and felt desperate to locate a source of light. His tongue was dry and felt like a piece of chalk coated with sulphur. Even worse, though, was the uncomfortable feeling he had in his bowels, similar to the feeling he had when he was in a hurry to go to the bathroom but couldn’t find a suitable place anywhere.

He felt so alone. Fred never did care much for people, but now he would give anything to see someone. Even hearing Elijah’s voice, the person he least liked in the world, would bring him comfort. He was alone yet he wasn’t, for now he began to hear sounds of people crying and weeping. If only he could see where they were, who they were, and what they were, it wouldn’t be so terrifying, but only vast, blackened emptiness met his eyes. It sounded like there were frantic men and women everywhere around him—to the right, to the left, even above and below him.

Fred longed for light, he longed for a friend, but most of all, he longed for a way out. He had always known what to do, even in the tightest of situations, but in this case he was helpless. He was beginning to understand that there was no way out of where he was. Fred was strong; he had built a business without help from anyone. He had worked hard and slept little, but he had worked himself out of debt and into success. Fred had once walked two days out of the wilderness where he had taken a fall off his motorbike. There was a drive in him that would never give up, and he had always kept on going. That feeling was gone now.

Where could I go? he thought. Where would I even start? And even if I did get going, where would I end up?

Fred had always wanted to prove himself to the world, but here there was no one to impress. He was in complete solitude, and he could not shake the thought in his head that this would never change. He had always taken pride in showing everyone how he could live without them and how little he needed them, but now that he was alone and frightened, he would give anything to have one person next to him, someone with whom he could share his thoughts of fear and isolation.

How long he stood there Fred did not know. He no longer knew if he was standing, laying down, right side up, or upside down. He didn’t know if he was standing on something solid, and the impending feeling that something dreadful was about to happen enveloped him constantly. He felt he might suddenly hit the floor, as if an unknown creature would swiftly attack him or that he would get his foot caught in a bear trap.

Fred wished for sleep. He wished to no longer be conscious so he could escape the feelings in his cramped stomach, his aching head, and the engulfing fear that never left his mind. He finally worked up the courage to use the palm of his hand to feel around his surroundings for something hard. I’ll knock myself out with a branch, or I’ll throw myself off a cliff, he thought. Anything to get some rest.

There was nothing around him except for what felt like wiggling worms, slithering things, and something sticky and hairy. He realized that he was breathing heavily and was being suffocated, much like the time he got stuck in a crowded train in India during the hot summer. He could feel the panic coming on again. Back then, he was strong and was able to push people aside to get to a window, but not here. There was no window, no stick, and no cliff.

If only he could find a little alcohol to ease his pain, some sort of medication to allow him to sleep; even a little water would help. He longed for sleep; he longed for the taste of food and for the feeling of the sun’s warm rays against his skin. He desired so many of the simplest things he used to have on earth, the small things he used to take for granted and, in some cases, even hate. He knew now that he would never experience any of those things he so desperately craved again. He now remembered where he was—the judgement made against him by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the judgement that he knew was right the minute he saw God on that dreadful day. He realized he had reached the place in the afterlife called hell. Mark had told him that God had given mankind a limited time to repent … yet another ridiculous idea he had laughed away. He should have studied the topic more carefully …

Introduction

People spend many years preparing for their future—going to school, constructing homes, building society, inventing technology to make life easier. A lot of what we do, especially in Western society, focuses on future benefit.

The Bible teaches us to be future-oriented. Although some scriptures teach the importance of the present day and encourage us not to worry about tomorrow, and there are those that teach about the importance of remembering the past, these verses are far outnumbered by the ones that command us to live for the future. The Bible says we are to focus on the eternal destiny that will start for each of us after we die and not on our future on this earth. What makes this extremely difficult is that what we are to focus on is not seen, and everything we are not to focus on is: So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18).

There is nothing more certain than death. It’s a horrible fact, but a fact nonetheless. Perhaps the reason we don’t plan for our future afterlife is because death is such a horror, and no one likes to dwell on it. Most people choose to ignore the certain coming of the death