Hell

Text: Luke 16:19-31

Luke 16 tells the story of a certain rich man.  A man that wore the nicest clothes, he ate the best food, drove the nicest cars, went to the best stores in town.  He didn’t know what a Wal-Mart was, his servants carried boxes from the nicest boutiques in town.  He was in the nicest parties.

Now we don’t know much of this man’s motivations, but looking at the world around us, we can put into context what was going one.  He was what we could call “putting on”.  Sure he had the money but really the text says little about what he had to his name and more about how he displayed it.  This text tells us not what this man this man was worth, but how he displayed what he was worth.

The “Likes”

When I was growing up in my father’s home.  He had a simple rule you will pay for your car, extra clothes, and you will pay for your college.  For a young man this was a great learning experience for me and frankly it brought my father’s intended goal into my life.

Now not all of my friends had this rule.  So I scraped and saved and did all that I could to come up with the money for the vehicle, tags, taxes, insurance, and the gas to get it from point a to point b.  So when it came time to buy a car I didn’t buy a Mercedes, Mustang, or Muscle car.  My friends did have those cars.  They had the cool trucks.  I had a “LIKE” I had the car that was like everything else but what it really was.  I told people I got this car because it is like a the old bmw.  I didn’t tell them it was the bmw from the fifties.

I’m not saying I should have felt this way, but it is the reality.  I bought what I could afford then talked it up.  In high school some of my friends had the coolest clothes.  I didn’t I bought the jeans that look like the other jeans.  I bought the shoes that looked like the other shoes.  And then talked them up.

Never did I stop to consider if I was truly impressing others or even if I liked the people I was trying to impress.  I simply just kept putting on.  To immature to develop a healthy personality I was willing to trade it for a persona.

When Scripture describes the rich man in Luke 16 he is describing not what the character of this man was he was describing the persona.  He describes that part that everyone else saw.

We find that though the persona was in tact.  He ended the story poor and begging.  Begging for comfort he had denied others, and seeking the souls of others he had long forsaken. You find that this man measured his entire existence not by what he asked for but by what he failed to ask for.

My fear for Believers today is that we now have assumed the personna of having it all together. Being the real deal Christian. But have abandoned the teaching of the Bible on the subject of Hell

II. Satan doesn’t want you to know It is BAD (vs. 23b-24) – in torment

So what is hell like? In order to understand hell you have to understand what the word hell means. The word hell occurs 23 times in the new testament (KJV). There are basically 2 words or pictures used.

The first word is used 12 times and is the Hebrew word GEHENAH which comes from the words GEHEE (valley) and HINNOM (sorrow). The Valley of Hinnom was a garbage dump south of Jerusalem where garbage and dead animals were taken to be burned. The smell of burning decay and death must have been terrible. It was the worst possible place a Jew could imagined.

The second word which is used 10 times in the New Testament is the Greek word HADES which comes from HA (not) and EIDO (to see or perceive by any of the senses. From these 2 word pictures and from what the bible says we can see several aspects of what hell is like:

Sadly there are those that try to steal the value of Scripture by saying all God meant was that specific Gehenah. Problem is that God was using it as a picture of something bigger.

Misconceptions of Hell

Satan is there Now and rules Hell as the master or king.

Many people think of hell as the place where the Devil reigns. It is viewed as his home, or castle, or fiery Bat Cave where he devises plans to destroy the church and rule the world. If it's not a war room, then it's some kind of dungeon where the Devil inflicts misery on those who have been sent there to suffer (think, Farside comics).

In fact when it is time to go it will be a fight to get him there.

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Revelation 20:10

Comforting thought

Because then he is not around us…

Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Ephesians 2:2

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: I Peter 5:8

In all of this our gospel hope and confidence is that the devil has been cast down and bound through the ministry Jesus, is destroyed by Christ's work on the cross, and that the church has been set free from the bondage and deceit of the Devil and will eventually trample the deceiver underfoot. The devil has been beat, but is awaiting his final judgment. Hell is his end, not his stronghold.

Hell will be a party

I have actually heard this myth quite a bit. When discussing salvation from sin, death and hell with those outside of the Kingdom some have said, "Man, I'd rather party in hell with all my friends than hang out in heaven in white robes with a bunch of uptight religious people."

In a speech to the National Press Club, Ted Turner said, “Heaven is going to be a mighty slender place. And most of the people I know in life aren’t going to be there. There are a few notable exceptions and I’ll miss them. [Laughter] Remember, heaven is going to be perfect. And I don’t really want to be there...Those of us that go to hell, which will be most of us in this room; most journalists are certainly going there. [Laughter] But, when we get to hell we’ll have a chance to make things better because hell is supposed to be a mess. And heaven is perfect. Who wants to go to a place that’s perfect? Boring. Boring.” [Laughter]

Jesus words about hell…

And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:42

Scripture tells us that it is appointed to us all to die, and after that face judgment. As sinners who have broken God's law we can expect the Judge to find us guilty and sentence us to that place of "outer darkness.”

Our hope is not that we can persuade the judge to see things our way, or just give us a pass. There is no probation or work release program that we can hope for after death. Our only hope before God is that he will look to our advocate, Jesus Christ, who alone provides the forgiveness of sins and the righteousness we lack. Though guilty, we are judged to be righteous in Jesus, and are rescued from the judgement of hell and ushered into the presence of God and his people.

Hell is only for a Time

Among those who take hell a bit more seriously we sometimes find the myth that hell is temporal, and not everlasting. The reasoning is often that hell is punishment for sins committed during at the most several decades, and that justice would prohibit everlasting punishment for crimes committed over the course of an earthly lifetime. After punishment has been met, whatever divine punishment demands, a person is either welcomed into heaven, or simply annihilated.

But, Scripture is pretty clear on the everlasting nature of hell. It is a place of eternal destruction, punishment, and fire. There is no work release program or hope of probation in hell.

We are created as immortal beings and will go on living after death in the presence of God and his grace, or experiencing his just and righteous anger. As incurable, habitual sinners we continue in our sin, lawlessness and idolatry even in hell-- and so judgment continues.

And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Mark 9:43-44

Hell is an everlasting judgment, and our only hope of escaping such a curse is by trusting in the One who became a curse for us. Those who are united to Jesus are set free from condemnation and find everlasting life.

Some Christians react against the ideas that hell is eternal. There is a belief called Annihilationism which says that people who are sent to hell eventually cease to exist after a certain period.

Catholics believe in Purgatory, an intermediary place between earth and hell. This is not in the Bible. The word is not even there. It’s not something that Jesus or God taught. It was something that was created eight hundred years ago in the middle ages. In fact many Catholics don’t even believe it any more. Pope John Paul II stated in a very public way that purgatory was not a real place.

Matt 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Hell is just the absence of God

You've probably heard this myth as well. The worst part about hell, some people reason, is that you are alone. Hell is isolation, and since we are made for fellowship (with God and others) this is what makes hell such a terrifying judgment.

Of course, the truth is that there is no place our omnipresent God isn't. It isn't the absence of God that makes hell terrifying, it is his nearness that makes it so. Hell is not the absence of God, but the absence of his mercy and grace. Oh yes, God is present in hell to exercise perfect justice and judgment.

Psalm 139:7-8 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

Our gospel confidence is that in Christ our sins have been atoned for, and we are at peace with God. In Christ we have the true and lasting intimacy with God we were created for. Therefore, the nearness of God is our good, and we can draw near to God as he sits upon a throne of grace and expect grace, not judgement.

Hell is for really bad people

This is the most dangerous of all the myths about hell. "Hell is for bad people." Of course, this is a tricky one, and it depends on what we mean when we say "bad people." In my experience "bad people" simply means "other people." People who have done worse than us, at least in our own estimation. Hell is for the bad, the worse, the worst. Hell is for Hitler and Hussain, John Wayne Gacey or Kim Jong-il. It's not for us regular people. Good people. The one point of agreement we should have with this myth is that hell is for bad people. And we are all “bad."

Jesus said no one is good, but God. The Apostle Paul wrote that no one is righteous, all have turned away from God and become worthless. Yes, we are all bad and worthy of eternal condemnation. While one woman might be practically worse than another, or one man's sin might be more heinous than another's, we are all equally sinners and in desperate need of God's mercy.

Hell is for bad people, if by bad people we mean people like us. Our hope is not that we will become good people, or even better people. Our confidence before God is not that we will somehow stand out among the evil people in the world. Our hope and confidence before God is the gospel-- the good news that everyone who believes in Jesus is united with him, counted righteous in him, and forgiven through him of all sin.

So, in one sense hell is for bad people, but in another sense so is heaven. The former receives those who have rejected the truth of God, while the latter receives those who have received Jesus.

a. Body Broken

This passage says that in hell the rich man was in AGONY because of the fire. This word in the Greek is the word ODUNAO which is better translated sorrow or anguish. In the King James it is the word TORMENT. The word torment scares me more than the word agony because it means more than just intense physical pain – it means ongoing pain.

Trauma Pain

Chronic Pain

b. Relationships Broken

Hades is a place of complete darkness and lonliness. In this story the rich man was still able to see out of hell but Revelations tells us that someday hell itself is going to thrown into the lake of fire. The doors of hell will be closed forever. People who think hell is going to be some great big party with all their evil friends don't get the point.

Hell is not a party. Picture yourself in complete darkness. No sight. No sound. No smells. No touch. Nothingness. Think about what that would be like for an hour. Then a day. Then a month. How about forever. It sends chills down my back just thinking about it.

c. Heart Broken

Matt 13:49-50 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

He saw people in heaven He could remember his life on earth A cry of personal agony: “HELP ME!!!!” A cry of concern for his family: “WARN THEM!!!!”

SO WHAT, (What are we to do…)

As believers - let this affect us until we live like there is real hell. Not that you are going but that there are really people going.

Jude 1:22-23 And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

How is it that a man in Hell can have a greater soul winning desire than us.

As unbelievers - Turn to Christ today you are not promised another day.