Hell is Forever: The Way of Escape: An In-Depth Look at Death and Hell, Providing Hope for the Hopeless

By Patrice Nodar McDonald

A gift has been given: the way of escape from an eternity in hell. Do you know that you know that you know that you are saved?

What do you know about hell? In this book, you will learn about the place, the purpose, the problem, and the person. No one knows your spiritual condition except you and God. It's time to do some s

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Oct 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9798890414410

Patrice Nodar McDonald

Patrice McDonald is mostly a mom who loves to write and inspire people. Her six children and eighteen grandchildren are the joy of her life. She has had a (mom) website for twenty years, professionalmom.com, simultaneously with her career as a corporate trainer, and her husband's ministry, Joe McDonald Ministry. In 2010 she published a children's book, The Gospel Parade, illustrated by her daughter Sarah McDonald Price. The inspiration for this book came from a painting by a friend, Victor M. Castro, Significado. His daughter, Geri Lundien, board member of JMM and interpreter, translated his explanations from Spanish to English to feature in this book.

Book preview

Nobody Wants to Talk about Hell

I’m going to start the New Year off with a subject that, in my opinion, has been avoided of late. The subject of Hell. The place, and it is a place, the purpose, the problem, and the person.

When I say of late, I mean that for the past few years I’ve noticed a heavenly gospel, which is good, as there is a Heaven also, but it seems to me that the subject of Hell has been left out of the conversation (sermons) in the last few years.

It is only appropriate to discuss Hell because when we speak of the gospel of Jesus Christ, His whole reason for coming to Earth was to save humanity from death and Hell.

So, let’s start with the place. It is a place of eternal suffering. When you die, you either go to Heaven or Hell, there is no in between or limbo, as is thought in some religions. You live, you die. It seems trite or disrespectful, but it is the truth. Hell is described in the Bible as a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth…. Among other descriptive words found in Scripture, it is a horrible place, separated from the God who created us.

There is a purpose for Hell. It was created by God for the devil and his angels. As time has no limits with God, before the man was on Earth, the angels rebelled and Lucifer, God’s favorite angel decided he could be God and was remanded to Hell. That he has some power before the end times is not for me to speculate, however, when the end of the world as we know it happens, and it will happen, the devil and his followers will be cast into the Lake of Fire for eternity.

The problem is that many human people refuse to believe there is a Hell, or if they believe there is a place of suffering, they think they are immune from going there. There may be a person or two who gloats about going to Hell, and this too is a problem. The main problem, if you will, is sin. As the history of man’s creation is told in the Bible, Adam and Eve had a perfect life in the Garden of Eden. Since Satan, or as he is called, the Serpent, tempted Eve to disobey God and eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the fall of man ensued. Adam followed Eve in her disobedience, whether to keep Eve from suffering the wrath of God alone or to keep from losing her, I don’t know. What I do know is this began the unfolding of something that God knew (from the beginning of time) would happen, and He provided a solution.

The solution is a Person. The very God who created us. He left the splendor of Heaven and came to a fallen world as a baby. We just celebrated Christmas—what a glorious day! I do not understand the uniqueness of the Godhead, but God sent His Son, who was perfect God and perfect Man, to take our punishment for sin. (To be totally true to Scripture, Jesus sent Himself.) If you are breathing, you were born in sin, the sin of Adam. Jesus was born of a virgin, so he was not subject to the sin we carry. He was, however, tempted as we are, but lived a sinless life. He had to, otherwise he could not have been our pure sacrifice. You may have heard the hymn, Nothing but the Blood. Jesus gave every drop of His blood on the Cross of Calvary. He died for you and me. He did not stay dead, though; he conquered death and Hell by rising from the dead.

This same Jesus is alive and working in the world today through the Holy Spirit. If you feel a tug of conviction in your heart today, that is Jesus knocking at the door of your heart. Trust Him today and he will save you from death and Hell.

Chapter 1

Hell is Forever: The Way of Escape

It’s an interesting concept, a curiosity, mystical hyperbole for some. Hell. The poet John Milton called it an infernal Pit and described it in great detail in Paradise Lost. The Holy Bible calls it Hades, Sheol, and Torment. Yet some refuse to believe it is a real place.

The purpose of this book is not to convince you that there is a real Hell; it is to pose the question of why you would choose to go there based on your unbelief or nonchalance about the subject. Whether you change your mind or not is up to you.

First, let’s examine the choices you have. You are free to believe that there is a Hell, believe there isn’t a Hell, and you are free to ignore or decline to think about it altogether.

You Believe There Is a Place Called Hell

The first premise of this book is that you can believe that there is a Hell and still go there.

Say you have decided to believe there is a place called Hell. You believe there is a place where your spirit goes when you die. It is either Heaven or Hell. So, you believe this, and you do not waver in your belief. Good. Through your experience and upbringing, you may be familiar with some of the characteristics of Hell. If not, or if it’s not been a topic of study for you, I’ll explain in a very simple way. It is a place of torment, fire, and extreme thirst. Jesus told a story in Matthew 13:37–43 about sowing good seed. Of the sowers who sowed bad seed He said in verse 41, "The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them who do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing