SHE ENDED UP IN HELL BECAUSE OF THE PASTOR (1994)

In about 1994, I discovered an old book about the true stories of the death of saints and sinners. The book was filled with stories of the death of people in their supernatural experiences. These stories were all verified with specific information except for the names of those involved. There were Glorious stories of saints as they breathed their last breaths, as they would see angels, Jesus, and the splendors of Heaven. Then there were other horrible and terrifying stories of those who would scream in great terror as they saw their eternal destiny was hell. This book also was filled with stories of those who thought they were saved and discovered to their shock and dismay at the last minute that they were not.

At night before my children would go to bed, I would read the stories to them. One night they would hear the story of a beloved saint who made it to Heaven. Oh, how glorious those stories were. Then the next night, I would read them the story of someone who did not make it. My children would beg me not to read the stories of people who went to hell, but I had to.

You might say, Pastor Mike, you were being cruel to your children. You may think this is the case, but actually it was the opposite. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, which causes people to depart from wickedness. I have never had the trouble with my children the way that most Christians I know, including preachers, have experienced. I wanted them to see the joy in the splendors of eternal Heaven and yet experience the reality of eternal punishment if they did not live for Christ. That was many years ago, and my sons and daughter will tell you that it had a powerful impact on their lives.

There is one of these stories I would like to relate to you. It is about a woman who found herself on the bed of death. Her friend, who lived a distance away from her, knew that her friend really did not know Jesus Christ. She took this long journey to reach her friend before she died. As her friend was still able to communicate on the bed of death, she shared the true gospel.

She told her that she needed to repent and get right with Jesus Christ. Her friend kept assuring her that based upon her pastor's teachings and encouragement; she was saved. Oh, how this dear sister tried to reach her, but she could not because of the false doctrines that she had embraced from her pastor. With a heavy heart, this dear sister had to leave and go back home. She knew her friend was not right with God, but her friend would not believe her.

The time of this woman's death finally approached.

The pastor and members of the church came to her house to bid her goodbye. They all stood around her bed as she breathed their last breath. The pastor walked away from the bed and went into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. As he was in the kitchen, he heard the most terrifying scream that he had ever heard coming from the bedroom he had just left. He ran back into the bedroom, where everybody was standing in shock.

Here the woman who had died was sitting straight up in her bed. Her face twisted and pulled back in the most horrifying expression you could imagine. Her eyes were almost virtually popping out of her head. She was screaming as the pastor came in.

She pointed her finger at him and screamed: you lied, you lied, you lied. At that last declaration, she fell back into her bed, dead. Forever lost in the torments of a never-ending hell because she listened to a preacher who did not lead her down the straight and narrow pathway to eternal life.