What It's Like in Hell
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Last week we looked read in the Book of Hebrews and read about how we identify those who will be in Heaven. We talked about how they were looking for a city or rather had their focus kept on the Kingdom, how they knew & admitted that they are strangers here in this world, and finally that they were longing for a better place.
What will that place be like? I will share just a couple of things with you that the Bible offers about Heaven:
It will be a place of Fellowship with God - Jesus said in the Gospel of John He went to prepare a place for us, and that He will receive us unto Himself. 1 Thessalonians Chapter 4 tells us that as Followers of Jesus we will meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
It will be a place of joy & no sadness - Revelation 21:4 tells us He will wipe away the tears from our eyes & there will be no more sorrow, pain, or death.
It will be a magnificient place of beauty & wonder - Revelation 22 tells us of a pure river of the water of life that is clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God, Revelation 21 tells us of gates made of pearls, and the street made of gold, and the fact that there is no need for a street lamp or even the sun for that matter because the Glory of God lights up Heaven.
This is just a few things we know about Heaven. Dig into God’s Word & you will discover a lot more.
It would be a disservice to you, if I stopped at just sharing about who would be in Heaven and what Heaven will be like. Unfortunately, when it comes to the next chapter after you draw your last breath into your lungs and your heart beats one final time on this earth, Heaven is not the only option. This morning we will look in God’s Word about the other option. We will look at what God has to tell us about Hell.
19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Let’s Pray
Father I come before you this morning thankful once again for the opportunity to share you Word. Father I know that I am unworthy & that you know my heart intimately as you know the hearts of every soul in this House this morning & every one that is watching now or will watch in the future. As we examine your Word hear today Father I pray that you speak to us individually. To Believer & Unbeliever alike. Father despite our faults and shortfalls help us despise sin and have the desire to grow in grace. Help us open our minds & our hearts to you because Your Word tells us you speak new life into us. Convict us of our sins & Father let us not take the matter & place of Hell so lightly. Please help us have the desire to rely on the sufficiency of Christ and create in us a sense of urgency to proclaim it to others. I thank you & praise you for all things, in the name of Jesus I do pray, Amen.
The title of the message this morning is, “What It’s Like in Hell”. There is no doubt in my mind that if you have been a Follower of Jesus Christ for some time that you have heard this set of scripture preached on, shared in Sunday School, or you have come across it in your private devotions. But this story that Jesus shares with us discusses 2 people. 2 people who breathed their last breath and had one final pump of blood from their heart before they began the next chapter in their existence.
You see Jesus was using this as a way to teach us about life after death. Teaching about the reward for righteousness & the perdition of sinfulness. You see when Lazarus the beggar died, he was carried away by angels. He would fall into the category of one of the people we discussed last week. But the rich man had a different destination. What is it like in that place that the rich man went to when he died? Here is what we can gather from this series of scripture.
1.) You Are Not Shielded or Blinded
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
The 1st thing we can deduct from this scripture is that the rich man was well aware of what took place for him & Lazarus. You see there will be some who talk about Hell as if it were a jail cell, dark, where you will have no ability to know anything else that is going on. Yes, there are scriptures that support that it is a dark place but Jesus’ description hear tells us otherwise about the ability to see.
Boxer Ruben “Hurricane” Carter was arrested & convicted of triple murder in 1967 and sentenced to life in prison. Now he was in prison for nearly 20 years before his case was reviewed and he was granted freedom. It is a really complex series of events but here is why I bring it up. Carter explained in his autobiography that he did not take visitors. He did not write letters. He did not interact with the outside world. Why? That is how he coped with living in prison. If you acted as if the outside world existed, you did not long for it.
In this verse we are shown that you do not have the luxury that Mr. Carter had to just act like the world doesn’t exist. In Hell, the rich man was able to look up, he was able to see the joy of Heaven. The rich man was able to see what it was like to be in the presence of Christ whom he rejected. The pain, agony, & torment physically would be enough for most but now add the extra layer of being shown what you missed. All because of your own choice. All because of your own lusts & desires. All because of your own sin.
12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
2.) You Will Cry Out
Unlike in Heaven where there will be no tears, in Hell you will cry out.
24 And 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.
Notice while full of anguish, the rich man calls out, he cries out for 4 things in this verse. He asks for mercy. It is here that we realize the rich man knows he has messed up. He cries out and asks for mercy. Then he asks for that beggar. That beggar who only wanted the crumbs that fell from the table where the rich man ate on earth, he asks for him to come to his aide.
It is interesting when people get to a certain point of desperation, they swallow their pride. How quickly the tables had turned because now it was Lazarus who had something that the rich man desired & longed for.
What was it that he longed for? Just the tiniest amount of water so that it may cool his tongue. Reaffirming that Hell is hot! There was an article in the Boston Globe that reported on a house fire. Now house fires on average can get up to about 190 degrees. The picture that accompanied the story just showed a fire fighter with a wet towel draped over his face, trying to get relief from the heat. Understand that it is so hot in Hell that the rich man did not ask for a cold, wet towel. He did not ask for a glass of water. Only a small amount that could be drawn with the tip of Lazarus’ finger. You see the rich man is now in a place of extreme heat and everlasting fire. As the Gospel of Mark puts it:
48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
3.) The Sensation Will Not Subside
The 3rd point we can get from this scripture is that the sensation that the rich man is feeling will never subside. He has an awareness of what is going on. I will reread verse 24.
24 And 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.
He says that he is tormented, he is distraught, he is experiencing great pain. So much pain that he just thinks a little relief will be better than what he is experiencing. Not long ago I began shivering in the middle of the night with a fever. I prayed out to God just take the shivering away. I didn’t even ask for the fever to break, I just asked for the shivering to stop.
The rich man felt the fire and it tormented him.
11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
If you are not a Follower of Jesus Christ, if your name is not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, then you worship the beast. You worship the god of this world - Satan. That will put you into the exact situation that the rich man is in here. You will be separated from the righteous to a place of eternal punishment. Jesus describes this place as:
50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
You see there are some, even those who claim to be Christians, that will say there is no eternal place of punishment. They believe that Hell does not exist, that the fire is tall-tale. But a quick study of God’s Word affirms that a punishing fire goes right in line with God’s Word because fire is a symbol of divine wrath. When you reject Jesus the wrath of God will fall on you. That fire is not temporary, it lasts forever and ever.
4.) Memories Do Not Die
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
The 4th thing we see about what it’s like in Hell is that memories do not die. You still keep them. Which is in contrast to Heaven. In Heaven we are told:
16 That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; And he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hid from mine eyes. 17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: And the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
This scripture in Luke supports what Jesus frequently shared concerning the Kingdom of God. The last will be first and the first will be last, whoever is chief among you let him be your servant, he who humbles himself shall be exalted. All of these are references where Jesus told us who would inherit the Kingdom. While the earthly lowly Lazarus is living in comfort and not full of regret with memories from this world, the rich man remembers.
The rich man can recall when he was clothed in fine linens, barely acknowledging if ever the beggar. While the rich man lived in splendor Lazarus was just hoping for scraps but only receiving evil things. Regret is what the rich man was feeling.
Have you ever done anything in your lifetime that you regret? Sure you have. Those who say they have no regrets are in denial. Forbes Magazine took a poll in 2012 to determine the top 25 regrets people have. People reported things like not keeping in contact with that childhood friend, doing things differently in a marriage or relationship, dropping out of school, working at the expense of friends & family, not traveling more, not spending more time with your kids. Sometimes that regret can just eat you up inside. Now imagine having to live with that regret forever. That is what the rich man was experiencing. Those memories which brings us dread will not die.
5.) You Will Worry
Not only will you have regret but the 5th thing we see is that there will be worry.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:
With those regrets also will come memories of others that are still here on earth. Those who also do not Follow Jesus and know Him as the Lord & Savior. Once in Hell you will know their fate if they continue down the same path as you and you will be filled with worry because you will not want them to experience the same agony as you. We see this as the rich man ask if Lazarus can bring word to his family so they might avoid Hell.
6.) You Have No Ability to Persuade
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
The 6th thing we see is that you have no ability to persuade anyone or anything when you are in that eternal place of torment. As Matthew Henry points out:
Now he desired the preventing of their ruin, partly in tenderness to them, for whom he could not but retain a natural affection; he knew their temper, their temptations, their ignorance, their infidelity, their inconsideration, and wished to prevent the destruction they were running into: but it was partly in tenderness to himself, for their coming to him, to that place of torment, would but aggravate the misery to him, who had helped to show them the way thither, as the sight of Lazarus helped to aggravate his misery.
But this request is denied also because there is no petition given no request honored in Hell. What is Abraham’s response to the rich man?
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
That means they have the Word of God to show them the path to avoid Hell. You know what that means for us. It is important that we share the Gospel. It is important that we share the love of God, but if you are a Follower of Jesus this morning you can not stop at the Love of God. We can not leave the rest out. We must also proclaim the truth that the rejection of Christ will lead to Hell.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Conclusion:
If you are a Follower of Jesus this morning hear this, you have the ability to be a part of someone avoiding Hell. By living a life that glorifies Jesus, and I understand you will fall short. We all fall short. I find myself asking God’s forgiveness more and more. But Brothers & Sisters we need to be serious about sharing the truth of God’s Word. We need to be Kingdom minded. I am not saying that we need to scare people into Heaven but we need to be serious about it. We need to have the courage to proclaim the whole truth of God’s Word.
A man who was born not far from here in Amherst County named Peter Cartwright was a preacher in the early 1800s.
One Sunday morning when he was to preach, he was told that President Andrew Jackson was in the congregation. Cartwright was warned not to say anything out of line.
When Cartwright stood to preach, he said, “I understand that Andrew Jackson is here. I have been requested to be guarded in my remarks. Andrew Jackson will go to hell if he doesn’t repent.”
The congregation was shocked and wondered how the president would respond. After the service, President Jackson shook hands with Peter Cartwright and said, “Sir, if I had a regiment of men like you, I could whip the world.”
We need to take a real stand for Jesus. Most will say that they believe His second coming is rapidly approaching. But does your actions convey that you really believe that. People who claim to be Bible believing Christians say they believe in Heaven and Hell. Do we ever look around at our family, friends, neighbors, & acquaintances & think is there any that might end up in eternal torment? If so, are we sharing the Gospel with them?
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; Fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Who among us have we not given a real effort for to care for their soul. We care about so much in this life. We care about how much gas costs, who’s in Congress, what team is winning do we care about someone suffering for eternity. My wife Chrystal told me last night that she went to Food Lion over at the Lake and there was no water to be found and the shelves were bare in places, why? Because the meteorologist said a storm was coming. Imagine if we had that kind of sense of urgency about winning souls for Christ. Imagine what God can do through you if you just submit, commit, and be courageous.
Will you pray with me?
Larson, C. B. (2002). 750 engaging illustrations for preachers, teachers & writers (p. 93). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
