Bill Wiese of Soul Choice Ministries knows more about the reality of hell than most people. He detailed the vision the Lord gave him in the bestselling book, 23 Minutes in Hell.
But Bill says knowing more about hell is a positive rather than a negative. In fact, his strong belief in hell spurs him toward sharing the gospel message of life and hope. The Christians who don’t believe in a literal hell, he says, are in real danger.
In a recent episode of 23 Minutes in Hell on the Charisma Podcast Network, Bill and his wife, Annette, discuss the importance of believing in a literal hell. Bill says that Solomon Stoddard, the grandfather of Great Awakening preacher Jonathan Edwards, said in his book The Fear of Hell, “It would be a great benefit of godly men in If they had more of the fear of hell, for it would help them against a lukewarm and slumbering spirit and would strengthen their heart against many temptations.”
Annette adds that Stoddard “went on to say, ‘The miseries of men are that they do not fear hell. They are not sensible of the dreadfulness or danger of damnation, and so they take great liberty to sin.” She says, “And we see that today, sadly, in the church today—the compromise, the lukewarmness.”
“It’s basically because there’s no fear of Almighty God,” her husband says. Not only does a belief in hell help you appreciate God’s saving grace, but it will “give you more of a passion for the lost, a desire to want to share God’s truth with people to witness,” he says. “I think Bill Bright said only 2% of Christians even bother to witness, yet that’s what we’re all called to do. Jesus told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel. It’s a command, not a suggestion. And yet most don’t witness, but when you understand how severe hell is, when you get a view of this place, you will think, Man, I didn’t know it was that bad. I can’t let my family go there, or my friends. I’ve got to take some extra effort in witnessing.”
In this way, Bill says, witnessing is “not out of a burden. It’s a delight. You want to tell people to warn them of this terrible place that they’re heading for if they don’t repent and receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.”
To learn more about the reality of hell, click here for the entire podcast. {eoa}
