Eternal Destiny
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Eternal Destiny
Eternal Destiny
Introduction
Today we are going to discuss heaven and hell. The passage we will be primarily using as our framework will be . You may know these verses well, but we need to be reminded of the truths that they hold.
I am amazed about how many books there are today that describe somebody’s temporary experience of heaven or hell. There are probably 15 books that you can buy at a Christian bookstore that talk about this. Some are very hard to believe and far fetched.
And these books are popular. Why? Because everybody wants to know what Heaven & Hell will be like. And so many people trust someone’s “experience” as the facts over what the Bible says.
2XBORN
The Bible has much to say about Heaven & Hell and we won’t hardly scratch the surface today but I want to show you how real this is.
4AEVIL1
“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 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.’ 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. 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.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 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.’ ”
“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 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.’ 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. 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.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 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.’ ”
Luke 16:19-31
Now, I always like to read these custom tags as I drive down the road and it’s always a mystery to me why some people put these strange things on their license plates. Some I try for way too long to try and figure them out and sometimes I don’t figure them out at all.
Anyway, this particular day I saw two cars on the same highway side by side that had custom tags. One read 4AEVIL1 and the other read 2XBORN. And I thought to myself in that moment - those are the only two options.
The Author: Jesus
Folks, we only have 2 options. It’s either Heaven or Hell. There is no in between. There are no do overs. God doesn’t grade on a curve. 2 options, that’s it.
So as we begin looking at the text this morning I want you to keep that in mind. 2 eternal destinies, 1 choice that we make.
“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 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.’ 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. 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.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 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.’ ”
“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
Luke 16:19
Luke 16:19-31
The Author: Jesus
Here we see 2 characters in this play if you will. We see the rich man (no name given) and Lazarus.
The Purpose: To warn sinners about the coming judgement of hell unless they repent.
DIFFERENCES IN LIFE
“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
Luke 16:
The Characters:
We see two men in totally different circumstances. One lives in the lap of luxury, and the other lives off the crumbs from the table of luxury. You can imagine the finest palace with these huge gates and everything is marble and well kept and the best that money can buy. That is where the rich man lived. Everything was beautiful, except one thing. There was an old lame beggar (he was laid there) that lived at the outside of his gate who was hungry and dirty and had some nasty open wounds that the dogs would come and lick.
Don’t Judge A Book By The Cover
Now, you don’t see anything here in these opening verses that condemns this rich man for being rich. And you don’t see anything redeeming in Lazarus laying there in his pitiful condition. There is nothing mentioned about their social status in life being equal to their character or eternal destiny. So, we can’t say here that being rich is bad or poor is good. Neither is a condition that is equitable or leads to eternal life. The external conditions of life do not determine the internal condition.
Some people say though “If I had been brought up differently I wouldn’t have been so bad” or “If I wouldn’t have been poor, I wouldn’t have been tempted to steal” or “if I wasn’t rich, I wouldn’t be so enamored with money and consumed by it” - We see all of these excuses from people that assume that their external conditions have something to do with their internal condition. Folks, that’s not true. Your external condition has VERY LITTLE to do with your heart condition.
You can be a poor person and be rich in God.
You can be a poor person and be poor in God.
You can be a rich person and be rich in God.
You can be a rich person and be poor in God.
You see, it really doesn’t matter at all where God places us. It matters what we do with our lives where we’ve been placed.
The Rich Man’s Responsiblity
Now, having said all that - I think there is a real issue here that the rich man has totally missed the opportunity to help Lazarus. He is there and it’s obvious that the rich man would almost have to step over him to get out the gate so you know he saw him. But for the rich man to do nothing, you see the condition of his heart. That’s what really reveals the heart condition - how we love and treat others.
DIFFERENCES IN DEATH
The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried,
The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.
Luke 16:22-23
Luke 16:
See anything that jumps out at you here?
We see differences in their lives. Now look at the differences in their death. It’s not surprising to see that Lazarus died. He was sick and lame and probably had infections and diseases.
Explain the reality of eternal destiny, and the importance that comes with it.
But now the rich man. It’s surprising when the rich man dies. The rich man’s wealth should have kept him healthy right? That’s what the prosperity gospel teaches!
By the way, this obviously blows the prosperity gospel out of the water that says if you believe God and you love God then you will be healthy, wealthy, and wise. You will be happy and all will be well if you just believe and love God.
Urge you to consider these verses.
Think Lazarus believed the prosperity gospel?
Think the rich man did?
Again, wealth has no indication of spirituality or lack of spirituality. It has nothing to do with our spiritual condition!
The only people that want you to believe the prosperity gospel are those who profit from it! The rest of us live in the real world where life gets harder when you take a stand for Christ!
There is a well known author and TV preacher that has a book entitled “your best life now”. Well, I hate to be the one to break it to him, but for the Christian our best life is NOT NOW! It isn’t now, it’s later! It’s later! Our best life will be spent in Heaven with Jesus praising and worshipping Him!
DIFFERENCES IN LIFE AFTER DEATH
What do we see here? What is Jesus showing us in verse 22-23? Well, right here he is showing us that we will live forever. The soul will live forever. When you die, your soul will spend eternity alive either in heaven or in hell.
Custom tag illustration.
2XBORN
4AEVIL1
I always like to read these custom tags as I drive down the road and it’s always a mystery to me why some people put these strange things on their license plates. Some don’t even make sense, at least not to me anyway.
Anyway, this particular day I saw two cars on the same highway side by side that had custom tags. One read 4AEVIL1 and the other read 2XBORN. And I thought to myself in that moment - those are the only two options.
Folks, we only have 2 options. It’s either Heaven or Hell. There is no in between. There are no do overs. God doesn’t grade on a curve. 2 options, that’s it.
Torment or Paradise
This is the scariest part of this story.
and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.
Luke 16:
The rich man is in Hell. It says he is in torment. And it says that he is able to look up to heaven and see Abraham and Lazarus in Heaven.
Stop a minute. This is serious stuff. I know all of the Bible is serious, but when you start understanding the reality of heaven and hell - it takes on a new urgency.
See - people love to believe in Heaven. It’s all clouds and St. Peter is there and grandpa is there and it’s all good.
But when you mention hell, the vast majority of people don’t believe in a literal hell. They think it’s just figurative, or a metaphor or something. But the fact is that hell is a literal place. The Bible describes it as a place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth” and a place of “wailing and eternal torment”. When a person dies that has rejected the love of God, they will go to hell. There’s no two ways about it.
Did you know that Jesus warned in his teaching in the NT that we have recorded over 70 times about hell? He was VERY adamant about making sure everyone knew that if they didn’t accept God’s gift of salvation - they would spend eternity in Hell.
Also, those that say that there isn’t a literal hell - if there isn’t a literal hell - then why did Jesus have to die on the cross?
People today are so trivial when it comes to thinking about hell. I understand the triviality, it’s because they don’t want to face the facts so they trivialize it.
I saw a girl’s shirt the other day that was some rock band and the tour that they were doing was called the “prepare for Hell” tour. I’m telling you folks - nobody can prepare for hell.
You want to know one of the worst things I believe about Hell? The absence of God. The eternal absence of God. That frightens me. Not for me, but it frightens me for anyone who enters that place.
Look at this verse 23 - it says he is torment and yet he can see Lazarus and Abraham in Heaven. Folks, it can’t get any worse than that. To see the reality of Heaven and to know that there’s no way to get there. The eternal absence of God and His love is the scariest thing to think about. That terrifies me.
I know this is an unpleasant thing to think about, but as Christians we have the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we CANNOT BE SILENT ABOUT IT! We have the good news that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life”
Let’s read the rest of the story.
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.’ 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. 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.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 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.’ ”
Luke 16:
What do we learn from this?
Our choice to accept/reject Christ determines our destiny.
Heaven & Hell are permanent.
Heaven is better than we can ever imagine, and Hell is far worse than we can ever imagine.
We must tell others.
I come away from this story with a renewed thankfulness for Jesus. I am keenly aware of the fact that I deserve Hell, but Jesus died to rescue me from that awful place and spend eternity with Him.
I want to share the plan of salvation here with you today so that if there is someone here that has been hearing all of this and knows that they don’t have a personal relationship with God - that this is the time. There is no better time than now.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 3:23
What that means is that the rich man in this story and Lazarus were both born sinners. The rich man died in his sin, and Lazarus turned his life over to Christ. Both were born sinful, but one was pardoned.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Our sin deserves punishment, and that punishment is Hell. But God...
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 6:2
Christ died for me. Christ died for you. Christ died for the whole world.
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
It’s not complicated. It’s not tricky. Jesus wants you to come to Him and be saved. There’s no magic formula.
You understand you’re a sinner
You realize that Christ died for you, to save you
You repent and confess your sin
You wanna know where the tags were from
You profess that Jesus is Lord and you follow Him.
Now most of you in here are already Christians. So what does this mean for you? It means that you do as says. It means that you speak your faith. You tell others about the good news of the grace of God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
You make sure that there is no one that you come into contact with that hasn’t heard you talk about Jesus. Does Jesus come up in your conversations with others? Does He come up in mine?
The rich man wanted someone to go to his brothers and tell them about Jesus so they wouldn’t go to hell. Once he realized that Hell was real, he understood how important it was to tell others.
Don’t let that be you. Don’t let pride or anything else stand in the way of coming to Jesus. Jesus died for you to be saved.
Will you come? Will you come now?