I had a dream the other day, as I was taking a nap before work, and I have to say that this is a very hard dream to write about as it hit me in my core.  And I don't see this as a dream where God is saying, "You either straighten up, or this is you."  I never felt that to be true, and was even told in the dream that I was merely experiencing this as a means to instruct me, and help me better understand what others were going through, what they were facing, and would face if they didn't turn their hearts to God.  This was also kind of a "this is where you were once" type thing.

Anyhow, the dream began with me being led into my old elementary school (like I said, this dream was for my instruction, hence why I believe it was located in a school) by a group of guards who led me to a classroom filled with a bunch of other people.  I remember being told that this was the preparation room (ie, life) that people had to go through before being led off to their future eternity, be that in Heaven, or Hell.  It was at this time that it was revealed to me by God that what I was experiencing was NOT about me, but merely for my instruction, and that I was to observe what was going on, and take note of everything, feelings included.  IE, I was being made to go through somewhat the same experience that the "23 Minutes in Hell" guy went through, but in a much, much milder form.  After entering, we were made to sit down at desks, and fill out paperwork, or given assignments to do, things to read, and so on.

IE, it was sort of a pre-processing area prior to admission.  The part that struck me the most about this experience is that I could not feel God.  Literally, He was not there, and throughout all of this I felt alone, abandoned, empty, scared and completely without hope.  Hands down that was the worst feeling ever.  I remember not wanting to experience this, but God kept reminding me, "This is not for you, or about you.  This is merely so you can learn what it's like for the unsaved, who are going through the same thing.  Do not fear for no harm will come to you."  So I, at the very least, had that going for me.  One thing that struck me as interesting about this was that everything that we encountered there pretty much sucked.  The chairs sucked, the small meal they gave us was the worst, and there was always this fear, foreboding, and terror hanging over everyone in the room.  They tried to pretend it wasn't there, but believe me, you could read it in their faces, and feel it in the air.

Also, as I sat there, I saw papers being handed out to everyone in the room by people who would periodically enter the room, and then leave.  On those pamphlets was like a mini-sermon, and the plan of salvation.  Some took them just to be nice, then threw them away.  Others completely refused to accept the pamphlets.  Still others took them, read what they said, and then threw them away.  The strangest part is, some read the pamphlets, gladly accepted what they said, and became filled with joy.  Ie, they got saved, and accepted Christ as their Savior.  The interesting part about these people is, as soon as they did, they simply vanished from the room without a trace, and I never saw them again.  They didn't get up and walk out of the room as you might expect.  They simply vanished into thin air.  I have no idea what happened to them, but I can assume they were taken away from that room because they'd accepted Christ, and were no longer on the "pending list" for internment in Hell at the end of their lives, nor residents of the world anymore.

It's not like they got raptured, or died, or anything like that.  They simply ceased to be of the world, like those who still remained in the room.  Thus they'd vanished from the room as they no longer needed to be there.  I was also given one of the pamphlets by the people who were handing them out, and remember reading it, and agreeing with everything it said. (ie, Jesus is Lord, He died for our sins, and rose again on the third day to save us all, etc, etc.  IE, the Romans Road if you will, but with some extras)  So these pamphlets were either ministry tracts, sorta like Chick Comics does, or else they were representative of people witnessing, sermons, etc.  I'm not totally sure what they were specifically, or if they represented something in general involving witnessing and ministry, as I wasn't told, but that was my impression of what they were.

I then remember seeing a guard, one of the same people who brought us into the building, step up to this one middle aged lady, and lead her away.  But they didn't "lead" her so much as they just kinda picked her up like she was a tea saucer, and hauled her away.  She clearly didn't wanted to go with them, but had no choice in the matter.  I remember going 3rd person for a while as I followed her out of the room in the form of an invisible observer.  I then watched as they carried her down the hallway to a door, behind which you could see this incredible, powerful, unbelievably hot, and extremely intense fire.  It was like looking into a blast furnace, or worse.  The door was then opened, she was shoved inside, and the door slammed immediately behind her.  She instantly began to scream in terror, agony and fear as she beat desperately against the door as she tried in vain to escape.  However, not long after this, the flames inside the room swept her away, and I saw nothing more of her.  She'd vanished into the fire, and was gone.

I saw this happen to several others as well, with the exact same outcome.  I then returned to the room, and to my body, and found that quite a few of the people who'd originally been there before were now gone as well, and more were being taken away to other identical fire filled rooms just like the ones I'd previously observed the others being cast into.  I remember sitting there in that room, as the number of those who were there with me rapidly dwindled down to where there was only a few of us left, and thinking to myself, in dread and fear, that I'm very soon going to be next.  I then began pleading with God, "Please don't let me go into those rooms!  Please don't send me to Hell!  Save me, Lord!  Don't let that fate befall me!  I love you, Lord, don't make me do this!"

I was then reminded again that I was simply there for my instruction, to observe all that was happening, and NOT as a participant, as I was meant to feel and experience what the lost would feel in that exact same situation, even though I was experiencing it in a "damnation lite" sort of way.  Even so, I hated it so much that it left me in tears.  Yet I was not released from the dream, nor removed from the room, nor the experience, until all but handful had been taken away to their judgment.  After this I woke up, and the first thing I remember was feeling the presence of the Lord return, and it did so VERY strongly, as though Jesus were wrapping His arms around me, and saying, "It's alright, it's over, you're safe."  I remember begging the Lord, "Please don't make me go through that again.  I know why You sent me there, but please, I don't want to do that again.  I can't live without You, even for a moment, even for an object lesson like that."

I then remember just grabbing a hold of the Lord with my whole heart, soul, and mind and not letting go.  And I can't say that the experience in the dream was all that intense.  The Lord protected me from the better part of probably 98% of what I could've face in that lesson, and even that was too much for me.  I wanted no part in that experience, lesson or not, nor do I want to repeat that ever again.  I think, if anything, I not only learned everything the Lord sent me to learn, but it also drew me much closer to Him, and made me understand just how important, and ever present He is, and how close He always remains to me.  That was made bluntly evident when He pulled back from me that ever small amount to help me understand and experience just a tiny piece of what the lost are feeling, and will feel, both now, and to some small degree, throughout eternity.

And let me say this.  That feeling was, by itself, crushingly terrifying, painful, lonely, and empty.  Having the Lord lift from you, even just a little bit, after being so close to Him, and in my heart for over 20 years, was gut wrenching.  Apparently necessary, per what the Lord told me, but still extremely gut wrenching.  It definitely gave me, as I stated before, a greater appreciation for His presence and residence in my life.  For those of you wanting an interpretation of what I saw, I think that the classroom we were in represents life, and the world, and how empty and meaningless it is, how unsatisfying (bad food and drink), lonely, and devoid of pleasure if we do not have Jesus in our hearts and lives.

The classrooms full of fire were a representation of Hell, where each person will be sent for all eternity when their time for repentance comes to an end.  They represented Hell itself, and how it will be a place to which the unsaved will be taken, completely against their will, and from which they will never escape, as their imprisonment there will be forever, and ever.  Well, except for the brief transition from Hell to the Lake of Fire they'll go through at the end of the Millennium at the Great White Throne judgment.  Beyond that, there will be no escape from that punishment for all of eternity.  So, if you're not saved, your time is limited.  You need to find Jesus.  If you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I strongly recommend that you read this.  You DO NOT want to go into eternity without Him.  Eternity without Him will be more than you can bear, and the worst thing, by a billion times a billion, than you have ever experienced before.