Most Strang Communications Book Group products are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchase for sales promotions, premiums, fund-raising, and educational needs. For details, write Strang Communications Book Group, 600 Rinehart Road, Lake Mary, Florida 32746, or telephone (407) 333-0600. Secrets From Beyond the Grave by Perry Stone Published by Charisma House A Strang Company 600 Rinehart Road Lake Mary, Florida 32746 www.strangbookgroup.com This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means--electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise--without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc., publishers. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked AMP are from the Amplified Bible. Old Testament copyright © 1965, 1987 by the Zondervan Corporation. The Amplified New Testament copyright © 1954, 1958, 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible. Scripture quotations marked RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1946, 1952, 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. Quotations from the Quran are from The Quran Translation, 7th edition, translated by Abdullah Yusef Ali (Elmhurst, NY: Tahrike Tarsile Quran, Inc., 2001). Cover design by Justin Evans Design Director: Bill Johnson Copyright © 2010 by Perry Stone All rights reserved Visit the author's website at http://www.voe.org/. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Stone, Perry F. Secrets from beyond the grave / Perry Stone. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-61638-157-8 1. Future life--Christianity. 2. Conversion--Christianity. I. Title. BT903.S76 2010 236--dc22 2010018030 E-book ISBN: 978-1-61638-269-8 Contents Introduction The Dead Are Praying for You Not to Go Where They Are! Chapter 1 Journey Beyond the Grave The Creation of the Underworld The Underground Chambers The Area of Ge-Hinnom Ge-Hinnom and the Death of Judas Blood Money for a Graveyard The Location of the Underground Chambers Spirits Under the Euphrates Spirits Are Under the Waters On the Edge of the Triangle Gates to Heaven and Hell Chapter 2 The Dead Sea--the Area of the Future Lake of Fire Volcanic Activity Asphalt and the Sea The Dead Sea--the "Spiritual Link" The Fire Under the Sea Pits at the Dead Sea The Sea Is Changing The Return of Christ--and the Dead Sea The Opening Into Hell Hell--Under the Earth? The Worm Does Not Die The Dead Sea and Hell in the Millennium The Tribulation Survivors Sodom and Gomorrah Parallels The Antichrist and the False Prophet "Hell Cannot Be Real" "The Fire Cannot Be Real" The Greatest Warning Are There Levels of Punishment? Chapter 3 I Met a Man Who Saw Hell A Visual Look at Hell Now--the Rest of the Story Chapter 4 What Do the Dead Know? What Did Jesus Know on Earth? Twelve Legions of Angels The Future Known in the Spirit World Chapter 5 Secrets of Paradise--Abode of the Righteous Dead Paradise Transferred Firstfruits of the Dead The "Harpazo" Effect Chapter 6 More Secrets of the Third Heaven The Three Regions in the Third Heaven The Holy City Heaven May Be Shaped Like a Pyramid The Location of Paradise Heaven in the North The Empty Space--the North Star A "Waiting Room" of Family and Friends Chapter 7 Man Is a Three-Part Being--One Part Dies, and Two Parts Live Is Cremation Wrong for a Christian? The Jewish Burial Four Main Beliefs About Death The Purgatory Belief Paying for Their Release What Does the Bible Say? Christ, the Final and Complete Redemption Chapter 8 The Mystery of Near-Death Experiences Four Things That Commonly Happen at Death A Medical Doctor's Experience The Image on the Shroud Death of My Wife's Best Friend The Waiting Period for the Resurrection The State of "Resting" Can't Tell You Everything Chapter 9 The Greatest Homecoming Ever Known Why Do We Need a New Body? DNA and the Resurrection Will You Know Your Loved Ones? Four Things a Resurrected Body Can Do Chapter 10 The Time-Light Mysteries and Eternity Amazing Research on Light Key to Invisibility From Three to Eleven Dimensions Wormholes--Entrances Into Heaven? Chapter 11 Who Will Be in Heaven, and Who Will Be Missing? Who Will Be in Heaven? What About Abortions? What God Says About Those in the Womb Those Who Have Lost a Young Child Animals That Are Pets Pets in Heaven? The Creature Being Delivered What Happens at Death? What About My Pet at the Rapture? A Woman "Sanctifies" Her Family Back to Pets What About People in Other Religions? What About the Heathens Who Have Never Heard the Gospel? Seven Beliefs About the Unevangelized From Jack Harris Six Complicated Questions Chapter 12 The Bema and the Great White Throne Judgments Solomon's Divine Pattern The Throne Room Is the Courtroom Two Different Judgments Are Set in Heaven Five Crowns in the Bible Losing Your Reward The Books in Heaven Who Is Watching You? How the Books Will Work The Terror of the Great White Throne The Mystery of the Second Death Is There a Final Annihilation in the Lake of Fire? The Men in Hell Chapter 13 How Will You Be Remembered? Conclusion A Prayer for Redemption Notes Introduction The Dead Are Praying for You Not to Go Where They Are! Today no one knows his name. We do know that he was a very wealthy individual who dressed lavishly in purple linen and enjoyed banquets in his private dining hall, feasting daily. The historical record lists that he had five brothers in his family. (See Luke 16:19-31.) Without warning, he was suddenly found dead in his house. Yet in reality, he was actually alive and living in another world--a strange dimension, a rather mysterious realm identified as Sheol or Hades. Although his body was buried, his soul and spirit operated with all five senses, recalling his past life well, remembering his prosperity, and remembering that a beggar at the gate of his house died of starvation while he, being rich, had willfully ignored the poor fellow's plight. This rich man was now an eternal prisoner in a land of departed souls. The hollowed-out chambers in that place are identified in the inspired Scriptures as being situated under the crust of the earth, which I will show in this book. Although this former aristocrat had no time for God and no compassion for poor people while living in his mansion and gorging himself with the finest foods, he now had forever to imagine what could have been, in a land where time ceases to exist. In this world of departed souls, he learned how to pray. Oddly, he never asked if he could get out of this underground prison of heat and flames, as he knew there was no escape. His prayer was for the living. A dead man was praying for the living. His request was to send the poor beggar back from the dead to the house of this former rich man to warn his brothers not to come to this place. His prayer was never answered. His brothers had "Moses and the prophets" (Luke 16:29), or they had knowledge of the Scriptures. The rich man was told: "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead" (v. 31). In this book, however, I am partially answering the thousands-of-years-old prayer of this rich man. I am going to take you through a journey into the underworld to show you what you will experience and what you can expect if you depart this life without a redemptive covenant. The prayer of this former millionaire is: "Please don't come where I am." Then there was the beggar--a man whose name was Lazarus. He is not the Lazarus Christ raised from the dead, but another man with the same name. His earthly life was one of continual misery. Not only was he a beggar whose boney, trembling hands were held out asking for mere crumbs from the rich man's table, but also his entire body was covered with painful, bleeding sores. The only friends this feeble and penniless piece of humanity had were the dogs that came and licked his sores. This poor man was begging at the rich man's estate, but neither the unnamed rich man nor his five brothers paid attention to his needs. It appears that the rich man and beggar died at about the same time. The rich man closed his eyes in death and woke up in a world of heat, flames, and torment. The old beggar received a personal escort of angels to a place of comfort where he personally met the patriarch of the Hebrew faith, Abraham, and was comforted in the afterlife. This story, spoken by Jesus, is only recorded by one of the four Gospel writers--Luke, who was a physician (Col. 4:14). As a medical physician, Luke was often detailed in presenting information that would have intrigued him from a rational, medical perspective. Doctors deal with birth, suffering, and death. Luke gives great detail to the virgin birth of Christ and the miraculous events surrounding the birth of John the Baptist (Luke chapters 1 and 2), to the sufferings of Christ as His "sweat became like great drops of blood" (Luke 22:44), and to the story of two men and their life-after-death experiences (Luke 16:19-31).