A Story of Hell
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Intro
Intro
The title of today’s message is “The Story of Hell”.
The title of today’s message is “The Story of Hell”.
Taking Medicine
There are many so called preachers that are popular today that don’t like to talk about hell.
There are many so called preachers that are popular today that don’t like to talk about hell.
One of these well known pastors is quoted as saying,
“People already feel guilty enough. They’re not doing what they should, raising their kids-we can all find reasons. So I want them to come to our meetings and be lifted up, to say, ‘You know what? I may not be perfect, but I’m moving forward. I’m doing better.’ And I think that motivates you to do better.”
When you don’t talk about sin or the reality of hell, you’re not preaching the whole gospel.
We know Jesus as the great physician.
31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
lk 5:
This morning we’re going to take a bit of medicine so that we can become well.
According to Jesus, there is a literal heaven and there is a literal hell, and everyone goes to one place or the other.
There is no in-between, no purgatory, no do-overs or mulligans.
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
Brothers and sisters, the time for choosing where we will go is now, and the way we choose is by believing or not believing in Jesus Christ.
Luke does specifically refer to this particular teaching as a parable though. Perhaps this isn’t a parable at all but a view into a story that actually took place.
19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.
20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried,
23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.
24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’
25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.
26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’
27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house—
28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’
29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’
30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
John Calvin in his book A Harmony of the Gospels describes it in this way,
“The Lord is painting a picture which represents the condition of the future life in a way that we can understand. The sum of it is that believing souls when they leave the body lead a joyful and blessed life outside the world, but that for the reprobate are prepared terrifying torments which can no more be conceived by our minds than can the infinite glory of God.”
Luke 16:19-21
Two Men
Two Men
Here the story begins with the description of two men who couldn’t have been more different.
When you think about the phrase, “the haves and the have-nots”, it explains the contrast of these two men.
Like most Americans, the first man was very wealthy.
Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with this because there were some rich people who knew how to glorify God (like Abraham, Joseph and David among others).
This difference is that this particular man was self-indulgent to the point of extreme excess.
He walked around in his stylish purple robes and fine linen imported from Egypt because in antiquity purple and linen was a sign of wealth.
He feasted on the finest foods to the point of gluttony.
This man was a lover of money, like many of the Pharisees and he used this money to gratify all of his worldly pleasures.
He was not just rich. He was filthy rich or wealthy.
While the rich man had everything going for him in life, the poor man seemed to have everything going aginst him.
He was sick, with painful sores all over his miserable body. He was disabled and the only way he could get from place to place was for someone to carry him.
He was so desperately hungry that he longed for the leftovers from another man’s table.
He couldn’t help himself.
All he could do was beg someone else to give him what he needed.
Day after day, he just wished he could get something, just anything from the rich man’s table.
However, the only comfort he received came from the pack of dogs that satisfied their own hunger by licking at his open sores.
Now, get the full picture of what’s going on here. Lazarus is dirt poor with visible bodily ailments. If there was one person the world in the best position to help Lazarus, it was the rich man.
Not to be confused with the Lazarus who lived with Mary and Martha and was raised from the dead.
This was a different man with the same common Hebrew name that means, “God has helped”.
Now, get the full picture of what’s going on here. Lazarus is dirt poor with visible bodily ailments. If there was one person the world in the best position to help Lazarus, it was the rich man.
Lazarus was lying at his doorstep! Not just any kind of doorstep but an ornate gate, like one you would find at the entrance to a palace.
There was more than enough wealth behind those gates to provide anything and everything the poor man needed, but only if the rich man would open wide the door of his heart.
This is how selfish the rich man really was. Every time he went in or out of the house he saw Lazarus and was confronted with the need for care, yet he refused to show any compassion.
Everyday he had a chance to feed the hungry, dress the naked and heal the sick. But he never invited the poor man in for dinner, or even told his servants to take him some of the leftovers.
He didn’t arrange for Lazarus to receive medical care or help him in any way.
In other words, he did not use his earthly wealth to make an eternal friend the way Jesus said that people should.
Some might say, “Wait a minute pastor that sounds like socialism. Doesn’t God help those who help themselves. If I’m able to build this wealth everyone else can too. We don’t need politics in the church.”
9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.
luke 16
In other words, he did not use his earthly wealth to make an eternal friend the way Jesus said that people should.
The problem wasn’t just about his riches, it was about his greedy, money-loving heart.
In the book Sent to Serve by Joni Earechson Tada she quotes a Harvard study where students in the MBA program at Harvard were asked to create a strategic plan for their lives.
The top three answers were:
Wealth
Notoriety
Status
No one said anything at all about service.
17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?
15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
This isn’t the gospel of Vaughn Sanders and simply my interpretation. This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This is a test of our own godliness. Do we use what we have only for ourselves, or do we use it for people who are in greater need than we are?
Do we feed the hungry, clothe the naked and heal the sick?
Do you help people who are right on your doorstep, whatever their needs may be?
v. 16:22-23
Two Destinations
We have two men. One on each side of the gate. One was rich and the other was poor, but both men died and they ended up on two different sides of eternity.
A quote that is generally attributed to Benjamin Franklin is “…in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
We definitely know a lot about taxes here in IL.
Death is the great equalizer.
As wealthy as the rich man was, he was just as likely to die as Lazarus.
It doesn’t matter how much money you have, it will never save your life.
Wordly wealth cannot prevent your own inevitable demise and when it finally happens, the only thing that will matter is your relationship with God.
I want to mentioned the fact that Lazarus is a common name and this man is different from the one that Jesus raised from the dead.
Also notice that we’re not given the name of the rich man. From an earthly perspective, this is flip flopped.
We tend to know the names of the successful and prestigious people in the world. However, the poor and indigent are nameless.
Check out what Augustine had to say about this passage:
“You see, God who lives in heaven kept quiet about the rich man’s name, because he did not find it written in heaven. He spoke the poor man’s name, because he found it written there, indeed he gave instructions for it to be written there.”
It was because his name was written in heaven, the angels came for him when he died.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
By nature, we are afraid of death and all the unknowns of eternity. But God, in his love and compassion for us, sends the fairest creatures in heaven to receive us.
When Lazarus died, the torment of his earthly troubles was over.
There was no more:
Pain
Worry
Sorry
Tears
I would love to go on to describe the blessed joy that awaits every believer when they die and the intimate fellowship we will have with God’s people in glory but that certainly will be another sermon for another time.
Some translations say Abraham’s bosom.
The rich man encounters a very different experience.
Point 1:
Hell Is Eternal
Hell Is Eternal
He was probably a good man who assumed he would go to heaven.
If there was a scale that measure good/bad, he might have thought he did enough to tip the scale to the good side.
After death he finds himself in utter torment. He is fully conscious of his suffering.
Hades is reserved for those who do not believe in and follow God where they are afflicted with the flames of divine judgment that will fully and eternally torment them in hell.
This is why we often use the churchy word “Saved”. People who are unfamiliar with this term ask, “Saved from what?”
When you follow Christ your name is written in the book of life and you are “SAVED” from the kind of eternal torment this rich man experiences.
Jesus describes it to us in great detail.
Hell Is a Place of Pain, Fear & Sadness
Hell Is a Place of Pain, Fear & Sadness
v. 16:24
The nerve of this man even while in burning agony he still views Lazarus as someone who should serve him.
What should stand out to us is that Lazarus remains silent this entire time.
Lazarus trusted God completely and waited for his salvation.
He didn’t complain about how hard his life was on earth
He doesn’t gloat over the rich man
He doesn’t even express any resentment when the rich man attempts to have him sent on errands
Brothers and sisters, our response to God is revealed in the way we handle our circumstances.
v. 16:27-29
v. 16:29
The rich man’s brothers already had the means of salvation.
They had their chance.
they had in their possession everything they needed to get to heaven.
They had Moses, the Prophets and the very Word of God.
They blew it!
None of this was foreign to them. They could go to the local synagogue and hear the Scritptures of the Old Testament.
All they had to do was to believe what the Bible said and that would be enough to save them.
They would know the promises of God about the coming of salvation
They would know they needed blood to atone for their sins
They would know that Jesus was the Christ
It was all there, right in front of them in the Scripture and all they needed to do was believe it.
Brothers and sisters, this is all anyone ever needs.
The Word of God is enough to show us our sin.
It’s enough to guide us into the way of salvation and enough to tech us how to give glory to God!
The Bible has the power to bring us to full salvation, all by itself
...if only we will believe what it says about Jesus Christ.
The rich man doesn’t believe the Word of God is enough.
v. 30
You see the rich man is thinking back to what he was like before he died and landed in Hades.
He knew he didn’t pay any attention to God’s Word
He never rally understood the point of going to a worship service and listening to someone teach the Bible
He simply didn’t believe the Word of God!
The proof of this is his sinful lack of compassion for the poor. It was an outward evidence of his inner unbelief - the same unbelief that sent him to Hades
The rich man knew his brothers well enough to know that they didn’t believe the Bible any more than he did.
So, he thought, what if God showed them some kind of sign? What if a ghost came and preached them the gospel? That would surely get them to pay attention right?
v. 16:30-31
Abraham explains that if people are not willing to listen to the Scriptures, then even the most spectacular miracle will not persuade them of the truth about Jesus Christ.
We have proof of this littered throughout the New Testament.
For example, when Jesus raised the other Lazarus from the dead. says instead of believing in Jesus, the leaders plotted to kill him.
Even at Jesus’s resurrection, the men who killed him tried to cover the whole thing up ().
Not even the resurrection is enough to convince people to rust in Jesus Christ if they will not believe what God has said in his Word.
Brothers and sisters this gets to the heart of the problem. It is not that God has failed to give unbelievers what they need to get to heaven, it’s that they refuse to receive what he has given.
The Bible is enough to save you!
All you have to do is believe what it says about the cross and the empty tomb.
If you do not believe in God’s Word, you will never believe in Jesus, you will never get to heaven and you will have only yourself to blame.
There are a few so-called good things in hell
Good people are in hell
Good prayers are in hell (v. 16:24)
Good priorities are in hell (v. 16:27-28)
I urge you all here today, don’t end up in the terrible place where even prayers for mercy will not be answered, but cross into glory right now, while you still have the opportunity.
The gospel is only good news to us if we would respond to it in time.
Sermon Point 3
Put your trust in Jesus!
Put your trust in Jesus!
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
Brothers and sisters, hell was not prepared for you! Jesus prepared a place for you.
John 14:1-
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.