16a Judgment- Hell
Foundational Doctrines:
The Final State of the Wicked
Text: Luke 16:19-31
Aim: To teach what Jesus believes about the final state of the wicked and to compassionately compel people to avoid hell by coming to faith in Jesus Christ, our only Savior.
Introduction:
1. It is a basic and foundational Christian belief that there is a hell to be shunned and a heaven to be sought.
2. Of biblical concepts, this is probably the most difficult to accept.
3. Notice these quotes about hell and how hard it is to reconcile a loving God with an inhumane punishment:
a. Agnostic Bertrand Russell said anyone who threatens people with eternal punishment, as Jesus did, is inhumane.
b. As a tot I was given the usual terrifying mixed message: a) God is love; and b) If you don't believe how much he loves you, you will stand in the corner for eternity.- James Lileks
c. Love is not hatred or wrath, consigning billions of people to eternal torture because they have offended your ego or disobeyed your rules. Love is not obedience, conformity, or submission. It is a counterfeit love that is contingent upon authority, punishment or reward. True love is respect and admiration, compassion and kindness, freely given by a healthy, unafraid human being. - Dan Barker
d. I read in the Gospels that Jesus forgave the men who nailed him to the cross. He even promised "this day you shall be with me in paradise" to a thief crucified next to him -- a thief who addressed Jesus simply as a "man" rather than as "the son of God." Yet, today, this same Jesus cannot forgive my kindly old aunt and allow her to dwell in paradise, simply because her "beliefs" do not match Reverend So-and-So's?- Arthur Silver
4. The real issue is “What does Jesus say?”
a. John Walvoord, past president of Dallas Theological Seminary, said, “The knowledge of hell comes almost exclusively from the teachings of Christ, who spoke emphatically on the subject on a number of occasions.”[1]
b. Jesus said more about Hell than any other person in the New Testament.
c. Jesus spoke of Hell with compassion to warn people away from this tragedy.
5. The story Jesus told and which we read in Luke 16 is not in the typical format of a parable. It is a story which uses real names and is intended to be taken literally.
6. What is the theology of Jesus regarding hell?
I. It is a Literal Place
A. Spoken of literally in this story.
B. It was created for the Devil and his angels.
1. Jesus says the horrors of hell are for the Devil and his angels. (Matt 25:41).
Matthew 25:41 (NKJV)
41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
2. It is NOT God’s intention that any should go there.
2 Peter 3:9-10 (NKJV)
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
II. It is a Place of Suffering
A. The torment is often described as darkness (Matthew 22:13).
Matthew 22:13 (NKJV)
13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
B. Jesus describes hell as a fire that will never go out and cannot be extinguished (Mark 9:43).
Mark 9:43 (NKJV)
43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—
C. It will include an eternal unquenchable thirst. Luke 16:24
Luke 16:24 (NKJV)
24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’
III. Its Inhabitants Experience Degrees of Punishment
For everyone in hell the suffering will be intense and permanent, but some will experience greater torment than others.
A. Those who have had opportunity to see and hear the gospel are in more danger. [2]
Matthew 11:22-23 (NKJV)
22 But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.
23 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
B. Those who willfully reject Jesus Christ and trample, as it were, on the sacrifice He made for them with His own blood will receive much greater punishment than those who had only the light of the Old Covenant. (Heb. 10:28–29)
Hebrews 10:28-29 (NKJV)
28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
C. Jesus explains that those who knowingly and willfully reject him shall receive the greater punishment. (Luke 12:47–48).
Luke 12:47-48 (NKJV)
47 And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
“Hell will have such severe degrees,” writes John Gerstner, “that a sinner, were he able, would give the whole world if his sins could be one less.”[3]
IV. It’s a Place Where Inhabitants Will Be Haunted by Memories
Luke 16:25 (NKJV)
25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.
A. Memories of lost opportunities
B. Memories of past pleadings and warnings
C. Memories of past comforts.
V. It is a Place of Separation
A. Separated from loved ones.
Luke 16:26-28 (NKJV)
26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’
27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house,
28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’
B. Separated from the One who Loved you.
VI. It is an Everlasting Place
A. Jesus said, … (Matthew 25:46)
Matthew 25:46 (NKJV)
46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Mark 9:43 (NKJV)
43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—
Mark 9:48 (NKJV)
48 where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.’
B. Paul said, … (2 Thessalonians 1:9)
2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 (NKJV)
7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,
8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
Conclusion:
1. It is an illusion to reject something simply because we wish it were not true.
2. It is foolish to reject the clear teaching of Jesus.
a. If we reject this teaching we reject Jesus.
b. If we reject Jesus we reject His offer of salvation from the damnation of hell.
3. Other than the Devil and his demons, Jesus does not send anyone to hell.
a. Jesus pleads for one and all NOT to take that path.
b. The rich man was not punished because of hs affluence. He was condemned for refusing to accept God’s offer.
4. Hell is the final judgment for those who refuse to listen to Jesus pleading for them to come to him and receive LIFE.
5. Today is the day of salvation, now is the time! Won’t you trust Jesus to save you today?
Benediction:
Jude 24-25 (KJV)
24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
25 To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.[4]
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[1] Quoted from Integrative Theology, Lewis and Demarest, Volume Three, page 478.
[2] And on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the pagan cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom than for the Jewish cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum who not only had the light of the Old Covenant but the opportunity to see and hear the Son of God in person and to witness His miraculous works (Matt. 11:22–23).
[3]John MacArthur, Matthew (Chicago: Moody Press, 1989), 399.
[4] The Holy Bible : King James Version. electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version. Bellingham WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995