Heaven, Hell, and Life After Death: An Interview with Kay Arthur

By Beth Patch
CBN.com Producer

Kay Arthur, respected author, Bible teacher, conference speaker and co-founder of Precept Ministries, recently sat down with CBN.com for an interview. Her passion to live for Christ flows through her words as she talks about her book, Heaven, Hell and Life After Death and shares a few personal tidbits.

Beth Patch: You were on The 700 Club earlier today talking about your recent Bible Study book, Heaven, Hell and Life After Death. Could you please tell our online audience a little bit about this book?

Kay Arthur: Well, first of all I want them to understand that it is a study on what the Bible has to say. And today we know our views or we think we know. Somebody prominent dies and we know they haven't even lived a godly life and [say] "they're upstairs" and "they're looking down on us," and "they're better off now," and I think we have believed a lie. And Satan is a liar, he's the father of lies. He's a murderer from the beginning. He abides not in the truth. So anything he can do to divert us from the Word of God he will do, because the Word of God is his death now, because he's a liar and God is truth. So this book, Heaven, Hell and Life After Death, takes you to the scriptures, so you can discover truth for yourself and know what God says about Heaven, Hell, life after death, why there has to be death. So you do a thorough study on the subject.

Beth: Terrific. Well we also have asked our Internet audience if they could ask you any question they wanted, what would they ask you. So Nancy Lou asked, "What do you think is the hardest part about being a parent?"

Kay: Oh, Nancy Lou, I think the hardest part about being a parent nowadays is not having enough time to parent, and not knowing how to parent. I've written a book, Nancy Lou, and it's called Marriage Without Regrets, and it has a whole chapter on parenting. And what we need to do is we need to come back and understand the biblical principles. I would suggest that you read the Book of Proverbs and mark everything that you learn about children. Pick a color and mark everything throughout the book of Proverbs. You can do one a day for a month, 31, and mark that and see what it says about parenting. One of the things you will see is discipline. When you go to Galatians and you look at Galatians chapter 3, in that chapter what he explains is that the law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Jesus Christ; to hold us in custody, to keep us from blowing it. A lot of parents aren't parenting. They don't have time, they're busy. They're parking in front of the TV. I would limit the time that they have on TV. I would limit the time that they have on the Internet and they wouldn't be walking around with their nose in an iPhone all day or a cell phone.

Beth: And ear buds.

Kay: And then ear buds. If I were talking to them, they have to take that out. And we're going to talk at the dinner table. And I think dinner table is very important. There needs to be a conversation. There needs to be time. I was looking the other day at Jeopardy and he said at the end of their meal, one of the children has to give an extemporaneous speech. So there are creative things that you can do. But as a wife and mother, you need to know what God has to say. And we write children's studies, so you can teach your child to study the Bible inductively. They're top drawer.

Beth: What message from our Lord is foremost in your spirit today?

Kay: The message that's foremost is that the hour is short and we need to be about our Father's business. We're living in a society, in a nation that is crumbling, because we have chosen to put in power a man that has made it very clear, although he says he's a Christian, that he does not believe the Word of God. He is supporting abortion and same-sex marriages, and making it politically correct to do so. And we don't know the difference. We don't have courage because we don't know the Word of God. If you look at Joshua 1:7-9, you'll find out where courage comes from. He says that we are to meditate on God's Word night and day. We are to observe to do according to all that He's commanded us. So we're not only going to learn what it says, but we're to obey it. And then He says, then we will have success. We're to be strong. We're to be courageous. It's interesting that when you read Revelations 22 and it talks about those that are in Hell, the first one that's mentioned are the cowardly. And so our courage comes from the Word of God.

Beth: That's precious.

Kay: So I would say get to know the Word of God. Let us help you. That's what Precepts exists for. We can teach you to discover truth for yourself so that you know, that you know, that you know ... that this is absolute truth worth laying down your life for.

Beth: What do you feel we can do as individuals to usher in a revival?

Kay: Well, I don't think we can usher in a revival. I think we can pray for a revival. But I'm not sure honestly—and you know, this might bring criticism, but I'm not sure a revival's going to come. I would prepare instead for war. I would gird up my loins with the Word of God. I would say I'm willing to fall on my sword for what I believe, and my sword is the Word of God. So to pray for revival, we can pray for it. Of course, you have to repent. But people aren't going to repent. Repent means have a change of mind that results in a change of direction. And what brings repentance is face to face with truth. And so, if I know the Word of God and I measure my life by the Word of God, then I know where to repent. We know that revivals, and I've studied them and I've taught on them—but we know that revivals begin with a conviction of sin. And then we know that there's an outpouring of agonizing because of the sin. Then there's that joy that comes because of forgiveness of sins and restoration. But the thing is that revivals don't last. And they don't last because we won't do the one thing that's essential. God tells us that we are to study, we are to exert ourselves to show ourselves proof unto God a workman that does not need to be ashamed, handling the Word of God accurately, and to remember that we live—our life is based on the Word of God. We're just too busy. So I would say, "Hey, you want a revival? Start taking a Sabbath." And I'm not talking about not working and watching TV. I'm talking about spending time studying the Word of God. We have studies at all different levels, Beth, and we have an inductive study series so that you can use those for your quiet time. We take you through the Bible book by book. And see, the problem is that God speaks by books. He doesn't speak a sentence from here and a sentence from there, and a sentence from there. That's a topical study. But He has a purpose in every book of the Bible. God gave us 66 books, we need to know 66. So how are we doing?

Beth: You know, Kay, you are so well loved. I know Jesus loves you, but you're really loved.

Kay: You know why? Do you know why?

Beth: Tell me why.

Kay: It's not my personality, although I try to live what I teach, so I am loving and people are beloved, and I love people. But I'm loved because they've learned the Word of God. Because they've learned the Word of God they've learned how to study. That's why I'm loved. So when anybody looks at me and says, "I just love you." I know that it's not because, hey, I'm this or I'm that. But it's because I've been used of God to teach them how to study. That's my passion.

Beth: Well, how can those of us who love you so dearly pray for you these days?

Kay: Oh, my husband has Alzheimer's and he's 89. I have a son that is paralyzed and his wife is deceased, and he lives in a wheelchair. I have a wonderful, wonderful ministry, and all I want to do is live that crucified life so that people can see Jesus in me. So I want to be everything that I should be to my husband. I ask God to take him home before I can't physically take care of him, and I remind him, "Aren't you happy that God gave you such a wonderful wife?" And I treasure my time with my son that's in a wheelchair and what God is doing in his life. So I just want to be a valiant warrior. I want to die on the frontlines and I don't want to be ashamed when I see Him. So you can pray that. The reason God hasn't taken us home is because He's not through with me, but also He's not through in making me into the image of Jesus Christ so that those kinks will go away.

Beth: Amen.

Kay: You know, I woke up today, I'm 81, and I have this deep crease [points to her face] and here I'm going to be on CBN, I've got this deep crease. And so I want the wrinkles that keep the beauty of Christ from being seen in my life, I want those wrinkles ironed out.

Beth: That's all I have for you other than to tell you how wonderful it is to be able to share with our audience this interview and all the things that you have done. So thank you so much.

Kay: Thank you. And we want to continue this conversation with your audience at Precepts Ministries, go to precept.org.