BIBLICAL FOUNDATION 1 – Chapter 3

HEAVEN OR HELL?
LESSON: IS THERE REALLY LIFE AFTER DEATH?
In this study, we will try to get the answer to this question by going through some Bible passages. Knowing the answer
to this question is very crucial because it can affect one’s perspective in life. If you know that there is life after death,
and that your decisions in life will impact your eternal destiny, then your behavior and decision-making will be affected.

How long is ETERNAL LIFE?

Psalm 90:10
As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years,
Or if due to strength, eighty years,
Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow;
For soon it is gone and we fly away.

The Bible says that our physical life lasts only 70 to 80 years; this means that we will be spending a
far longer time in eternity. Wouldn’t it be wise to know where we’ll spend it?

There is a story in the Bible that talks about two people who went to different destinations when
they died. Let us read a passage in Luke 16:19-31.

1. WHO ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERS IN vv. 19-21? DESCRIBE EACH ONE.
________________________ (who lived in luxury every day, apparently not concerned with
others but immersed in pleasing himself) and _______________________, a poor and sick
man.

2. VERSES 22 & 23, WHERE DID EACH MAN GO AFTER THEY DIED?
LAZARUS: ABRAHAM’S BOSOM represents ______________________
RICH MAN: HADES represents ____________________

3. WHAT OBSERVATIONS CAN YOU MAKE IN vv. 23-24 ABOUT HELL AND LIFE
AFTER DEATH?

• Hell is a place of ____________________ and ____________________

• In hell, one’s senses are still intact; the rich man retained his sense of
____________________ (which made it more tormenting for him because he could see
how beautiful the other side was), and his sense of _____________________ was intact, he

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Heaven or Hell? – Participant’s Guide 
 was able to feel the heat (even just a drop of water on his tongue would give some relief-
Have you ever felt so thirsty that it became sheer torture for you?)

4. WHAT WAS THE RICH MAN’S REQUEST? ________________________________

5. WHAT WAS THE RESPONSE? It was impossible for Lazarus to do that because there was a
great chasm __________________________________.

6. WHAT REALIZATION CAN YOU GET FROM THAT?

Once you are in Hell, it is a ____________________________. There’s no way out. It is for
_________________
Jesus emphasizes the point that there is no second chance or possibility of relief from this agony. The rich man’s
request for relief was denied.

7. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE RICH MAN AFTER HE REALIZED THAT HIS

SITUATION WAS PERMANENT?
He suddenly became an evangelist, wanting his brothers to be spared of the
_____________________ that he was experiencing.

8. In Verse 29, Abraham talks about _________________ AND THE ___________________,

which represents the Hebrew Bible. The first five books of the Old Testament, called the
___________________, were written by Moses and the rest of it was written by the Prophets.
In other words, Abraham was saying that since they have the Scriptures, let them read it and be
warned. The same applies to us today.

9. In Verses 30-31, what does the rich man plead for? A supernatural occurrence to happen because
his brothers wouldn’t ___________________ the Bible.
This also reveals the rich man’s situation, that he himself did not believe in the Scriptures and would only be
convinced if someone rose from the dead.

10. What was Abraham’s response? Abraham declared that the rich man’s brothers would not
respond to a supernatural event if they do not respond to the __________________________.
This shows us the true condition of the hardened hearts of men. The Bible has been given to us to warn us of the
impending danger of spending eternity in Hell but people just won’t listen.

HOW IS HELL DESCRIBED IN THE BIBLE?

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Heaven or Hell? – Participant’s Guide 
 Mark 9:47-48
“And if your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of
God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into hell, [48] where their worm does not die,
__________________________________.

Rev. 21:8
“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and
sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and
brimstone, which is the __________________________.”

Matthew 25:30
“And cast out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.”

Luke 13:28
“There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth there when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being cast out.”

SUMMARY: HELL IS A PLACE OF ___________________ AND ____________________

WHERE THERE IS WEEPING, GNASHING OF TEETH, DARKNESS, UNQUENCHABLE
FIRE AND WORMS THAT DO NOT DIE. IT IS ALSO _____________________.

HOW IS HEAVEN DESCRIBED?

Rev. 21:18-27
“And the material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. [19] The
foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first
foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
[20] the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth,
topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. [21] And the twelve
gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was
pure gold, like transparent glass. [22] And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty,
and the Lamb, are its temple. [23] And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine
upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. [24] And the nations
shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it. [25] And in the
daytime (for there shall be no night there) its gates shall never be closed; [26] and they shall bring
the glory and the honor of the nations into it; [27] and nothing unclean and no one who
practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written
in the Lamb’s book of life.”

Rev. 21:4
“and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there
shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

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Heaven or Hell? – Participant’s Guide 
HEAVEN IS A PLACE WHERE THERE WILL BE NO MOURNING, CRYING OR PAIN.
EVEN THE VERY PRECIOUS THINGS THAT WE CONSIDER ON EARTH ARE ONLY
ORDINARY THINGS IN HEAVEN (Streets made of gold).

WHERE WOULD YOU RATHER SPEND ETERNITY?

IF YOU WANT TO HAVE THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE IN HEAVEN, THEN YOU
NEED TO HAVE JESUS IN YOUR LIFE.

Remember what we have studied so far … one cannot get to heaven on the strength of one’s
own righteousness or goodness.

WHY?
Rom. 3:23 says “We have _________________ and fall short of the __________ of God.”

Rom. 6:23 - The wages of sin is _____________ …

What is the GOOD NEWS? Jesus already paid for our sins and that salvation is a gift.
Rom. 6:23 – “but the ________________ of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

How does God’s gift of salvation become ours?

The Gift of salvation is yours only if you receive it!
John 1:12 – Who are children of God? Only those who receive and believe in Jesus

WOULD YOU LIKE TO INVITE JESUS INTO YOUR LIFE TODAY? LET’S PRAY…
Lord Jesus, I need you. I acknowledge that I am a sinner deserving hell. Thank you for
dying on the cross for my sins so that I need not pay anymore for my sins in hell. I repent of
all my sins and ask You to forgive me and cleanse me of all my unrighteousness. I now open
the door of my heart and ask You to enter my heart. Thank you for forgiving my sins and for
Your gift of eternal life. I now ask You to change me and make me the kind of person You
want me to be. AMEN.

MEMORY VERSE:

John 5:24
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life,
and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”

Rev. 21:8
“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and
sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone,
which is the second death.”

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Heaven or Hell? – Participant’s Guide