Hell or Heaven? Are they real?

A preacher was on an airplane, reading a secular magazine that had an article in it about Hell. The article detailed a preacher saying that there was, basically, no such place as Hell and that if preachers stuck with what Jesus said, there would be no preaching about Hell.
A businessman on the other aisle of the airplane heard the preacher laugh and was curious as to what he was laughing about. The preacher told the businessman about the article, but he couldn't understand what was so humorous about it. He said he was not a religious man and had no experience in such, so the preacher gave him a task. He handed the businessman his Bible and asked him if he would be willing to look in the book of Matthew at all the Red Letter words (the words of Jesus) and underline everything that talked about judgment, life and death, and Hell. He accepted the task and for the next 45 minutes went through the book, underlining all he found.
When he was done, he looked at the preacher and said "What was that preacher in the article thinking?! There are MANY things that Jesus said concerning the topic!" and the preacher was able to lead the businessman to a saving knowledge of Christ, right there on that plane.

The story is true and the preacher's name is David Wood, a great preacher and soul-winner for Christ. I had the privilege of hearing him speak at church this Sunday morning. He preached about the demon-possessed man that met Christ and was freed from his demons and was gloriously saved from his past life. After his salvation, he wanted to go with Christ and learn more about Him, but Jesus told him "no". 
That can be a very confusing passage of Scripture. Jesus told him "no" to a "good thing"? Why would He say "no" to the man that He just rescued?

Maybe because of Hell. 

Think about this....
The demon-possessed man had lived a life that some might say was "hell on Earth". He had experienced many things that I'm sure he wish he hadn't. I'm sure being demon-possessed, one might see, feel, smell, and taste things that are not pleasant. Demon possession is no walk in the park. It is being filled with Satan, basically. It would be considered "hell on Earth". 

But then....
Enter JESUS.

Jesus is Light and Life. He rescues. He heals. He SAVES!
The demons were no match for Jesus. The Bible says that even the devils believe and tremble at His Name. When the demon-possessed man met Jesus, he was living in despair, in torment, but after the man met Jesus, he was rescued from that same despair and torment. 

You ask anybody out there this question "Is Heaven real?" and the majority of people will say "yes, I believe it is a real place." But you ask those same people "Is Hell real?" and many of them will say "No!". If people believe Heaven is real, then why don't they also believe in a real place called Hell? The Bible speaks of both places, yet some take one place as Truth and the other place as made-up. Can you see the fallacy in logic here?

I believe people don't want to believe in Hell because if there was such a place, then there must be a choice to be made somewhere as to which place you would go. That would constitute a "right" and a "wrong". People say "Don't judge me!" because they don't want to be made to feel they are "wrong" about something. There is a self-entitlement mentality that we deserve to be right and nobody should make us feel we are wrong about anything.

Praise GOD the demon-possessed man didn't have that mindset. He realized his "pitiful state of self" and gave his heart to Jesus Christ and was transformed from despair and torture, to joy and freedom!

If you are not 100% sure that if you died today, your next breath would be in Heaven in the presence of God, I would love for you to receive that assurance today! 

The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned. I have sinned, you have sinned, there is NO perfect people here on Earth.
Romans 6:23 teaches that the penalty of sin is death and Hell. We are separated from God because of our sin. God is Holy and cannot be in sin's presence, so we are separated from Him. If God is in Heaven, and sin cannot be in the presence of God, then Heaven cannot be the future Home for an unsaved person. Hell is their eternal home.
Romans 5:8 says that Jesus paid the penalty for our sin. When Jesus died on the cross, He took all of sin and placed it on Himself and paid for our sin with His perfect blood that was shed on that cross. 3 days later, He rose from the grave showing that He is the Christ and had the power to pay for our sin.
Romans 10:13 says that if you will believe with your heart that Christ died for you, paid your sin debt, and rose from the grave showing His power to do all of that for you, if you ask Him to come into your heart to save you, He will do that!

A person that has asked Jesus to save him is a person that has a future home in Heaven and is no longer destined for Hell. That's what happened to the demon-possessed man. That's what happened to me. That's what can happen for you! Make today the day that you give your heart to Christ. You won't regret it!!

God bless!!