John Burke, the pastor and founder of Gateway Church located in Austin, Texas and a New York Times Bestselling author, recently shared the terrifying story of a near-death experience from an atheist who found himself being tormented in Hell. I don’t imagine that was too pleasant. Folks don’t want to face reality. We are not simply physical beings. We are also spiritual ones. God is real. He’s the Boss. And we’ve sinned against him in horrific ways. Every single one of us deserves Hell. Our only hope of escaping the wrath to come is through faith in Christ and living faithfully according to His Word by the power of the Holy Spirit.
“Burke has spent years analyzing thousands of near-death experiences, where some are fortunate enough to encounter the divine presence of God before returning to their bodies, as it is not their time. Conversely, others, such as this professor named Howard, have had the polar opposite experience, facing the consequences of life in rebellion against God,” The Christian Tribune shared.
Burke then went on to explain the story, saying, “I interviewed this atheist college professor, tenured college professor, who was, he was an art professor who’s doing a tour with students in Europe, France, as lower duodenum rupture you usually have like five to six hours before you’re dead, because you’re spilling all that junk in your intestine into your cavity. And it was a weekend, so they couldn’t find the surgeon in France, and after eight hours, he died.”
the pastor then shared, “Now he thought, when you die, it’s just unplugged, the computer screen goes blank. There’s nothing. And that’s not what happened. And instead, he said he was standing there by his bed, he felt the worst he had ever felt in his life, and suddenly he felt wonderful, and he didn’t even know he’s dead, like he didn’t realize he’s dead because he’s sitting there thinking something happened.”
The atheist was then approached by a small group of people in the hallway who told him to come along with them and that they would help him. And that’s when things went from strange and alarming to downright terrifying.
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“So he starts to follow these people and again, time and even distance. It doesn’t work the same on the other side, which I don’t fully understand,” Burke continued. “He starts to realize they’re deceiving him, starting to mock him. They’re, they’re, they’re cursing him. They’re all these, you know. And he starts to realize this is not good.”
Burke then recounted the various horrifying ways the man was tormented. “And then he realizes he’s in this darkness, and it keeps getting dark. And he tries to say, hey, I want to go back. And they’re like, You’re not going anywhere. They start pushing and shoving. And he’s in and he calls it a darkness that’s darker than black. And I’ve heard people commonly say that Jesus called it the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Continuing to recount Howard’s experience, he said, “And so he finally realizes he’s being deceived by these creatures that he couldn’t fully see completely, because it was they were kind of veiled, but now it’s dark, and he can’t he can’t see him, but he can feel them. And they start to maul him. He starts to try to fight, to get away, and they just and they’re having fun.”
Notably, Howard was unable to share the full details of his experience as the PTSD he incurred from the event prevented him from doing so. However, Burke claimed the professor received a sudden inclination to pray and call out the name of God during the torture, which drove away the demonic beings. Eventually, Howard found himself in darkness reflecting on his life and how he was living it entirely wrong. He was eventually confronted by Jesus Christ who reviewed his life before his eyes and sent him back to his body.
The good news is that until your final breath, until death has absolutely occurred and there’s no hope of any life left in you, there’s an opportunity to repent of your sins and trust in Jesus. Once you cross the threshold for good, your choice is final. Reject God and face His wrath, which you will have earned. Or repent and turn to Him and experience salvation.
I suggest not waiting another minute. No amount of pleasure this world has to offer, which is fleeting, is worth spending an eternity separated by God and feeling His anger and hatred for all time. Repent and be baptized.