The Truth about Eternity (Part One) | Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress

Added: 2026-05-19

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[00:01:06][music] From the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, this is Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeff.

[00:01:15]>> Hi, I'm Robert Jeff. Welcome again to Pathway [music] to Victory. Throughout human history, people have developed seemingly endless [music] theories about what happens after death. How can we know what's really true? [music] Well, because none of us have actually stepped into eternity, we're entirely unqualified to give our personal opinion about heaven or hell. So today, we're going to consult the authority about life beyond the grave and discover what the Bible says and doesn't say about our final [music] destiny. My message is titled The Truth About Eternity on today's edition of [music] Pathway to Victory.

[00:01:59]Wars, natural disasters, global instability. Many people look at the headlines and wonder if [music] we're living in the end times. In his brand new book, Ask Dr. Jeffris about the end times, Dr. Robert Jeff provides clear [music] biblical answers to the 20 questions people ask most about the future.

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[00:02:36]Rabbi Harold Kushner tells a story about a godless, immoral man who died. And to his surprise, he awakened in a place that had soft music and warm lights and figures all dressed in white. And the godless man thought to himself, "Well, you know, God must have a soft spot in his heart for people like me. I'm surprised I'm here. And so he went to one of the men dressed in white and he said, "Uh, buddy, do you know where you can get a drink around here?" And the figure in white said, "Well, if you're referring to alcoholic beverages, sir, we don't serve those here." He said, "Well, where would I go for a game of blackjack or poker?" He said, "Well, sir, if you're talking about gambling, we don't allow that either up here." And the new entrance said, "Uh, well, if you don't have uh booze and you don't have gambling, what do y'all do around here all day?" The man in white said, 'Well, we read Psalms in the morning. We have prayer meetings all afternoon and we read the Bible and have Bible studies at night. The guy said, "Psalms, Bible studies, prayer meetings? Boy, heaven isn't cracked up to what I thought it was going to be like." The figure in white said to him smilingly, "I can see you don't understand, sir. We're in heaven. You're in hell."

[00:03:58]Now, you know, it's a cute story, but unfortunately, it's a misleading one.

[00:04:03]It's a misleading story that underscores one of the most greatest misconceptions about eternity that most people believe.

[00:04:11]And that is that when we die, regardless of who we are and what we've done or what religion we've embraced or rejected, we all go to the same place.

[00:04:21]In fact, an increasing number of Christians and Christian pastors have also embraced that view that we all go to the same place regardless of our beliefs. One popular Christian writer actually uses or or misuses the story of the prodigal son to illustrate that point. He says, "Remember at the end of the prodigal son, both the younger son and the older son both ended up in the father's house. To the older son, it was hell. To the younger son, it was heaven." Have you ever heard a perversion of scripture like that before? But that's what many people believe. That it doesn't matter who you are and what you believe. We all go to the same place. That place filled with warm music and heavenly sunlight and figures dressed in white. But Jesus said just the opposite. He said there is not one destination. There are two possible eternal destinations. In fact, remember his words in Matthew 7 13 and 14. He said, "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter it, but the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and few are those who find it.

[00:05:37]Up to this point in our series on Bible prophecy, we've been looking at what happens to Christians when they die.

[00:05:44]We've saw that when a Christians dies, his spirit immediately goes into the presence of Christ. Resurrected bodies, eternal rewards are recreated heaven and earth. That is the future of Christians.

[00:05:58]But the Bible said there are two ways that lead to two gates that open to two different destinies. What is the destiny of those who die without Christ? Well, that's what we're going to talk about today. If you have your Bibles, turn to Luke chapter 16. Luke chapter 16. We're going to see what Jesus says is the eternal fate, the destiny of those who die without Christ.

[00:06:26]Many of you may know the name of Robert Ingresol. He was a famous atheist in the 19th century. He was to the 19th century what the late Madlin Murray O'Hare was to the 20th century the most well-known atheist of the day. Robert Ingresaw used to travel by train all across America delivering lectures against Christianity. And one of his most famous lectures was about the absurdity of hell. In that particular lecture he would talk about how hell is nothing but a scarecrow for religion. It is a myth.

[00:07:02]He said, "No intelligent person actually believes in the reality of hell." And on and on and on he went. After one of those lectures, a drunk came up to him and he said, "Mr. Ingresaw, I like what you had to say about hell tonight. But Mr. Ingresaw, I hope you're right because I'm depending on you."

[00:07:23]Unfortunately, many people are depending on the wrong person or the wrong people to tell them what happens to us when we die. The only reliable guide to tell you what really awaits you is somebody who's already been there before. For example, let's say you're planning a trip to Paris in February. You've never been to Paris before. So, you want to know how to prepare for the trip, what to pack.

[00:07:45]You want to know what the weather is like in Paris in February. So, you say to your friend, you know, I wonder what Paris is like. I wonder how you ought to pack. And your friend says confidently, oh, it's sunny and warm in Paris in February. And you say, oh, I didn't realize you've been to Paris before.

[00:08:00]Your friend says, 'Oh, I've never been there before.' You say, 'Well, how do you know it's sunny and warm in February in Paris?' And your friend says, 'Well, I've just always imagined it to be that way.

[00:08:12]You know, there are a lot of people who are depending on other people's imagination to tell them what really awaits them when they die. Listen to me this morning. When it comes to issues of life, death, and eternity, you better depend on somebody who knows what they're talking about. The only reliable guide to an unknown destination is somebody who has already been there.

[00:08:34]There's only one person who's seen life on the other side of the grave and come back to tell us what awaits us. His name is Jesus Christ.

[00:08:42]And Jesus had a great deal to say about the subject of hell. In fact, it's really interesting. Jesus talked more about hell than he did about heaven. In fact, if you look in the Bible, you'll find that of the 1850 verses that record Jesus words, 13% of them deal with the subject of hell and eternal judgment.

[00:09:04]And yet, many people readily accept what Jesus said about heaven. They want to dismiss what he said about hell. You can't be intellectually honest and do that. I think about the renowned agnostic philosopher Bertrand Russell.

[00:09:17]Betran Russell actually rejected Christianity in general and Jesus specifically because of what Jesus said about hell. Russell wrote, "There is one very serious defect in my mind in Christ's moral character, and that is that Christ believed in hell. I do not myself feel that any person who is profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment."

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[00:10:38]Now, how's that for hubris to say, you know, that Jesus, he'd be a pretty good guy, but unfortunately, he believed in hell, and that means he's not as moral as I am, and therefore, I can't believe in him. Now, you have to hand it to Brett Tran Russell. At least he knew that Jesus talked about hell, and at least he was intellectually honest enough to say, look, if I'm going to accept Jesus, I have to accept what he taught about hell, and I can't do that.

[00:11:06]Therefore, to reject what Jesus said about hell, is to reject Jesus himself.

[00:11:12]You can't say, "I believe what Jesus said about heaven, but I reject what he said about hell." You know, if Jesus is not telling the truth about heaven, it's only because number one, he really doesn't know what happens to an unbeliever when he dies. If that's true, he's not God.

[00:11:29]The only other reason would be that he's wrong about hell is he knew hell doesn't didn't exist, but he was just trying to scare people. That makes Jesus a liar.

[00:11:38]If you accept Jesus as savior, you have to accept everything he taught, including what he taught about hell.

[00:11:45]Well, that begs the question, what did Jesus teach about the future of unbelievers when they die? Look at the passage we read earlier today. Luke 16 19- 26. Now there was a certain rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, daily living in splendor every day. And a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with soores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man's table. Besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his soores. And it came about that the poor man died and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom, that is the presence of the Lord. And the rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades the rich man lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and he saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And the rich man cried out and said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame." But Abraham said, "Child, remember that during your life you received your good things and likewise Lazarus bad things, but now he is being comforted and you are in agony. And besides all of this, between us and you, there is a great chasm fixed in order that those who wish to come from here to you may not be able and that none may cross over there to us.

[00:13:22]I want you to notice in this passage five truths that Jesus taught us about hell, the fate of those who die without Christ. I want you to write them down on your outline and remember them forever.

[00:13:35]What did Jesus teach us about hell?

[00:13:37]First of all, Jesus taught that hell is an actual location. It is an actual location. Again, it's popular today to try to theorize, well, hell is really just a state of mind. It's not an actual place. And yet, if you believe that heaven is an actual location, as we'll see next time, there's great reason to believe it is an actual location. If you believe that heaven is an actual location, you logically have to accept that hell is a real location as well.

[00:14:05]Why do I say that? Listen to Jesus words in Matthew 25:46.

[00:14:10]These are the words of the judgment he pronounces at his second coming. He says in verse 46, "These, that is the unrighteous will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life." Now, here's the point. The unrighteous are going to eternal punishment. The righteous to eternal life. You can't have one group of people at the judgment going to an actual location, heaven, and having another group going into a state of mind. It doesn't work that way. Either they're both figurative states of mind or they're both literal locations. Jesus taught that hell was an actual place. In fact, you'll notice that in the Greek New Testament, there are actually three words for hell that are all translated by the generic word in our English language, hell. I put those on your outline for you. The first one is tartaros.

[00:15:07]That's not tartar sauce. That's tartarus.

[00:15:10]It's actually used only one time in the Greek New Testament in second Peter 2:4.

[00:15:15]And it refers to a special place of judgment for the wicked angels. You say, "Well, what wicked angels are you talking about?" It's the ones referred to in Jude verse 6. And the angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, he has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. This is a reference to Genesis chapter 6 that tells us about a group of angels that left heaven. They were called the sons of God and they cohabitated with human women on earth, the daughters of men.

[00:15:48]And because of that wickedness, they went after strange flesh. Because of that, God punished them and confined them to this place called Tartaros. And it's sometimes translated hell in your English Bible. The second word that is also translated hell in the Bible is the word gehenna. Gehenna. And this is the most popular term for hell. It's used 12 times in the Greek New Testament, and it's sometimes translated the lake of fire. This is the eternal residence of the unsaved. The eternal residence of the unsaved. That is the phrase Jesus and the New Testament writers used to describe the eternal destiny of those who die without Christ.

[00:16:33]Remember Revelation 20:15. And if any man's name was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into where?

[00:16:40]Gehenna, the lake of fire, to be tormented day and night forever and ever. The third word that is translated sometimes hell in your Bible is the word Hades. Hades. And that's the word we find here in Luke 16. Now, Hades is the temporary place of the unsaved. When an unbeliever dies, he goes not to the lake of fire. That's his final judgment. He goes to this temporary place. is not purgatory. It is a place of actual suffering. Just like when a Christian dies, he doesn't go to the new heaven and new earth. That's still future. He goes into the presence of God to begin experience God's blessing. Hades is the temporary place of the unsaved. And of course, we know in Revelation 20 at the end of time at the great white throne judgment, the Bible says, "And death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them." That is all of the unsaved who were waiting in Hades are are placed before the great white throne. They are judged. And then listen to Revelation 20:14.

[00:17:43]And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. That is they were moved from this temporary place to the eternal place. This is the second death, the lake of fire. The reason I mention this is in this parable, Jesus is talking about the immediate place of the unsaved. Hades. When the rich man died, he went into Hades. But the things we're talking about that are true of Hades are also true of the eternal dwelling place for the unsaved, the lake of fire. What did Jesus teach about these places? Not only is hell an actual location.

[00:18:18]Secondly, hell is a place of physical torment. It's a place of actual physical suffering. Look at verse 24. The rich man cried out and he said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me." and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off for my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.

[00:18:43]Some people try to turn down the temperature of hell, so to speak, by saying, "Well, no loving God could actually eternally torment people. That is just unthinkable."

[00:18:57]So many people in attempt to diminish the reality of hell have embraced the doctrine of annihilationism. The idea that unbelievers after they are judged, they're cast into the lake of fire where they are instantaneously destroyed.

[00:19:11]That is, they cease to exist.

[00:19:14]Is that what the Bible teaches?

[00:19:16]Well, actually, there are some words in the Bible that could support that doctrine, at least if you don't look at it very closely. For example, John 3:16.

[00:19:27]We all know for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him shall not what perish but have eternal life. Or Matthew 10:28 and do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul but rather fear him who is able to destroy both the soul and the body in hell. Some people say, well these words perish and destroy, they mean instantaneous destruction. So maybe hell isn't that bad after all. Maybe it means you just cease to exist. But I want you to think about those words perish and destroy.

[00:20:02]They don't always mean instantaneous destruction. For example, if you said the mountaineers perished from starvation when they got lost, does that mean they dropped dead after missing their first meal? No. It wasn't instantaneous. Starvation can take a long time, days, perhaps weeks.

[00:20:24]Or let's say I said my wood deck was destroyed by the Texas sun. Does that mean that my wood deck on my patio just erupted in flames instantaneously and was gone? No. It's a long process it took to destroy that deck. What I'm saying to you is perish and destroy don't always mean instantaneous destruction. They can mean a destruction that goes over a long period of time.

[00:20:50]And in this case, the Bible teaches that period of time is eternity.

[00:20:57]Turn over, hold your place here and turn over to Revelation 19:20, where I show you, can show you with absolute certainty that unbelievers do not simply perish when they land in the lake of fire. Revelation 19:20, the setting for this, remember, is the second coming of Christ. And notice what he does to the beast, that is the Antichrist, and the false prophet. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet, who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast, and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone.

[00:21:36]Now, turn over to chapter 20, 10. It's a thousand years later, after the millennium, after the final rebellion against God. And what does God do? And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are also. Now the beast and false prophet were thrown in there a thousand years ahead of time. But when it's Satan's turn to be thrown into the lake of fire, John says the beast and the false prophet are still alive. After a thousand years of suffering, they are still there and they will be tormented.

[00:22:18]Verse 10 says, day and night forever and ever.

[00:22:25]Verse 15 says, for the unsaved, if any man's name was not found written in the book of life, he was also cast into the lake of fire to be tormented day and night forever and ever. You've heard me say before that word translated forever and ever is the Greek word ionos. And interestingly, it is the very same word, the word that refers to the eternality of hell that is used to describe the eternality of heaven as well. In Revelation 22:5, John says, "And there shall no longer be any night, and they shall not have need of the light of the day or the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them, and they shall reign forever and ever." Do you see it? Same word that describes the eternality of hell is used to describe the eternality of heaven. I'll never forget hearing Dr. Crystal say years ago, and it was such a perceptive comment. He said if you reduce by any amount even one second the time an unbeliever spends in hell you have to subtract that same amount from the time that a believer spends in heaven because the same word describes both fact is the punishment of hell is forever. Here is the awful truth about hell ladies and gentlemen.

[00:23:51]If you end up there, if you end up in hell after you have spent 10 billion trillion years in that awful place, you will not have reduced by one second the time you have left to spend there.

[00:24:12]Hell is a place of eternal suffering.

[00:24:20]Once we deal with the realities of hell, we're far more motivated to pursue the glories of heaven. There's so much more to learn from this shocking passage found in Luke 16 regarding the truth about eternity. [music] And I encourage you to join us again next time on Pathway to Victory. But right [music] now, I want to relay my gratitude for the growing family of friends responding every day [music] to Pathway to Victory. In the last 12 months, we've experienced a ground swell of new supporters. [music] People like you who share our passion for the truth of God's word and who care deeply about our nation. As a result, we're reaching millions of new television viewers and radio listeners all around the world who've come to rely on Pathway [music] to Victory as their daily source of biblical training. So, thank [music] you so much for your faithful support. Now, please stay right there. I'll be back with more Pathway to Victory in just a moment.

[00:25:20]>> With everything happening in our world today, it's natural to wonder, are we living in the end times? In his brand new book, Ask Dr. Jeffris, about the end times, Dr. Robert Jeff answers the 20 questions people ask the most [music] about the future. In my 40 plus years as a pastor, I've answered countless questions about the end times. And that's why I wrote this book to give you clear biblical answers that will fill your life with peace, joy, and excitement as we look forward to our Lord's return. Request your copy of Ask Dr. Jeffris about the end [music] times when you give a generous gift to support Pathway to Victory or when you become a Pathway partner. And when your ministry gift is $125 or more, you'll also receive Dr. Jeff's best-selling book, Perfect Ending. Also, the stunning [music] full color resource, The End Times Illustrated, and the complete perfect ending teaching series [music] on both CD and DVD.

[00:26:20]>> The end time events are going to be very frightening. It's going to consist of economic turmoil. There'll be wars.

[00:26:26]There'll be unprecedented persecution.

[00:26:29]But fortunately, Christians don't have to fear that period of time. Your generous support of Pathway to Victory helps us proclaim the hope of Christ's return through television, radio, and online streaming to people across the country and around the world. Together, we're piercing the darkness with the light of God's word.

[00:26:52]Enter by the narrow gate. [music] For the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter it. [music] But the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and few are those who [music] find it. So which gate will you enter by? The one that leads to eternity [music] with Christ or the one that leads to eternity without him. We only get one opportunity to choose. [music] And next time we'll dig deeper into why rejecting the gospel is such a monumental sin with irrevocable eternal consequences. [music] Stay tuned for a preview of what's coming up next in our series, Perfect Ending.

[00:27:36]Do you have absolute assurance that when you awaken, [music] you'll awaken in that real place of the presence of God?

[00:27:44]One writer said, "Five seconds after you die, you will either be experiencing [music] eternal bliss or you will be catching your first glimpse [music] of unimaginable horror.

[00:28:01]Either way, your destiny will be irrevocably and eternally unchangeable."

[00:28:10]Set your DVR and join us next time for part two of the message, The Truth About Eternity, here on Pathway to Victory.

[00:28:22]Thank you so much for watching Pathway to Victory on our YouTube channel.

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[00:29:15]Thanks for joining us today. I look forward to seeing you again right here on Pathway to Victories YouTube [music] channel.