Hell is For Real

Luke 16:19-31

In college I had a class called “Teaching Methods”. The whole purpose in the class was to demonstrate to us the psychological necessity to be diverse in the ways in which we teach. One of the key examples of why we should mix up how we teach is the fact the Jesus, the greatest teacher who ever lived, was diverse in His methods. Jesus used various visual aids, He used object lessons, He involved His audience, but the most famous of the methods He used was the parable.

A parable has been defined as “An earthly message, with a heavenly meaning”. The Word literally means to “Lay alongside of”, in a parable you take something familiar and use it to teach something unfamiliar, such as the parable of the sewer. Everyone knew what it meant to sow seed in a field, and as far as we know someone could have been doing so while He taught this lesson. However, Jesus had to pull His disciples apart and explain to them the meaning of the parable.

I have said all of this because I want to clear something up about an account given by Jesus in Luke chapter 16. There are false teachers out there that want to take this message given by Jesus and say that it is just a parable, the message I am speaking of is that of the rich man and Lazarus. I want to say that this message from Jesus was not a parable, it was a true story.

Look with me now in 16:19-31...

PROPOSITION: Listen to me, hell is a real place.

INTERROGATIVE: Are you certain about your eternal destination? If you died right now, where would your soul and spirit be? There are only two ways to answer that question, and if your answer is “I don’t know”, then this message is for you.

TS: Let me share with you three facts this place called hell:

I. Hell is a place of Devastation (23,24,25,28)

The word devastation means: To cause severe or widespread damage to something or to shock or upset someone greatly.

I want to tell you something, this man was devastated when he realized where he was. He was shocked into a startling reality that he had missed it! He had failed to do the one thing required of him in his lifetime, he had forsaken God, and now he was faced with the reality that he is doomed to suffer torments for all eternity.

We see two startling details about this place hell:

There is no loss of consciousness in hell.

The rich man had all his faculties in hell:

he lifted his eyes, being in torments,

felt the pain associated with being in hell.

He could see Lazarus in paradise,

he could speak,

he could cry out for help, but there is no help for him.

I believe this same rich man is crying out even as I am speaking to you now for help, but there is no help, for him it is too late.

No, friends, the belief that you can live as you please on earth and if there is a hell you’ll just burn up and it’ll all be over, that is a lie straight from the mouth of Satan.

See hell was created for the devil and his angels, he knows his doom, and that there is nothing he can do to change it, his only hope is that he can take as many people with him as possible.

There are two different words here translated as some form of torment and let me tell you neither one of them paint a pretty picture of this place.

In verses 23 and 28 the word translated as torment/s means place of torture.

To torture means to “inflict extreme pain or physical punishment on somebody” or “to cause somebody mental or physical anguish”. I

have worked with people who were willingly ignorant of the fact that hell is a real place, they thought it was a joke.

Satan has them so blinded that they honestly feel like it will be one eternal party.

Torture, does that sound like fun to you?

The word translated as torment in verses 24 and 25 is translated elsewhere as anguish or sorrow.

Anguish means extreme anxiety or emotional torment.

Is this your idea of a good time?

Sorrow means to have deep grief, the type of grief that under normal conditions would drive even the sanest person to suicide, but there is no escape from this deep grief in hell

. Those in hell are there for eternity with no hope of escape from the constant torment, there is only more and more pain and suffering in this place. The second characteristic we see is that...

Hell is a place of Just punishment.

By Just punishment I mean fair and impartial or morally correct, reasonable.

I know people, and you do too, perhaps you are even one of them, who say “God is love, how can a loving God send someone to a place like hell”?

Let me assure you right now that God is love, but love is just one of God’s attributes, His chief attribute is holiness!

As a holy and righteous God, He cannot let anyone enter heaven except they come His way. This is exactly the lesson the rich man learned.

Look with me in verses 24 and 25.

Listen, the rich man did not go to hell because he had received good things in his life.

God did not send him to hell because he was rich and well off.

Likewise, Lazarus did not go to paradise because he was poor and a beggar.

Jesus, I believe was reminding these Pharisees of this account because they personally knew this “certain rich man”, and I am sure they knew this beggar Lazarus.

The Pharisees were self-righteous, they would not talk or even help someone who was considered unclean as Lazarus no doubt was.

Jesus was illustrating to them that just because you are “better off” than someone else, that does not mean anything to God.

What Jesus was saying was that in his lifetime Lazarus had been saved, by placing his faith in the promises of God that the Messiah was coming, but the rich man had placed his faith in his riches.

No. God does not send anyone to hell, rather He let’s them choose it for themselves.

Listen to me, there will be no one in hell who is not deserving of it. Look around you. I see a room of people who are more than deserving of hell. Every time I look in the mirror I see a sinner who should be in hell today, but I thank God that He loved me enough to send His Son to die for me, and I thank God for sparing my poor pitiful life so that I could go down to the altar in Harmony Baptist Church in Ramseur on a Sunday night, as a 9 year old boy, a sinner bound for hell, and thank God that when I stood up, I stood up a child of the King! At that moment I had realized that I was a sinner and bound for Hell, if I had rejected Jesus then and died on the way home, I would be in hell today. The same is true for you, if you are here without Christ, if you die today, you will be in hell.

Hell is a place of devastation, and hell is a place of:

II. Separation 26

Luke 16:26

Luke 16:26 KJV 1900

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.

The word translated hell in this passage is Hades, which means “unseen world”. This unseen world was divided in two, there was the paradise side, where those saved by grace through faith in God’s promises went (also called Abraham’s bosom), and there was the torment side, simply called hell. Since the cross Jesus went into paradise and led the saint’s home to heaven with him, which, I believe, enlarged the entire place, so that now it is simply referred to as hell.

There are three things that hell will separate someone from:

Hope.

The rich man, in verse 23 saw the poor beggar Lazarus being comforted in Abraham’s bosom.

No doubt the first thing that the rich man realized being in hell was the unquenchable thirst, we know this because it was his first request that Abraham allow Lazarus to bring him a drop of water.

Notice he did not say, “Let me come and get a glass of water”, no he knew there was no hope in ever leaving this place.

Peace.

The rich man cried out in pain and anguish in verses 24 and 28.

Within moments of his arrival to this place, I am sure he realized there was no escape from the constant torture and anguish of this place called hell.

He was eternally separated from any peace he may have had.

God.

I am not sure how long it takes someone in hell to realize this, but ultimately the most horrible feeling in hell must be knowing that you are forever cut off and separated from God.

Here in verse 26, Abraham told the rich man of the great gulf that was fixed, that is that it had but one purpose, which was to prohibit any travel between the two places.

There was no chance of the rich man getting to Abraham’s bosom, he was forever cut off from God.

Probably from this point on, what troubled this man the most was the knowledge that all this pain and suffering could have been avoided.

I wonder how many loved ones you have in hell today that have this same thought on their mind?

Hell is a place of devastation, it is a place of separation, and it is a place of:

III. Desperation 27-31

Something major had happened to the rich man once he realized his predicament, he became the largest supporter of missionaries that the world had ever seen! He, who in his lifetime would have zero to do with the things of God, now that he knows it is real, he is begging Abraham to send Lazarus to his five brethren. See, from what we can gather about this man here in this passage, he was a very selfish person who cared primarily for himself. Now, “Being in torment”, he is anything but selfish.

On earth, he fared sumptuously, eating prime rib and fresh salad every day, dressed in purple. The Bible says “…In hell he lifts up his eyes being in torments…”. There is no more selfishness in hell for this man, now he is concerned with his 5 brethren. Look at verse 27-31.

He realized his lost condition, but it was too late.

He knew that his brothers would follow his lead straight to this place of torment if something was not changed.

He made a final request as it were to Abraham to send Lazarus, believing that if someone from beyond the grave would warn them of this place, they would avoid it. Look at what Abraham told him in verse 29 and following…folks, what Abraham was saying is what Paul said later in Romans “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God”. God’s method of salvation today is recorded for us here in His Word. Men will either hear it and receive it, or they will reject it all together.

No one gets saved apart from the Word of God! There are people out there right now who think “If I just see this” or “If I could only have a sign, then I’d know it was real and I’d get saved”.

Friends, salvation is by grace through faith. By the grace of God is salvation offered, through placing your faith in Him and His Word is the only way to obtain this unmerited favor.

Hell is a place of devastation, separation, and desperation.

CONCLUSION: Listen to me, hell is a real place. It is just as real today as it was when this rich man entered it. Hell is an eternal place, the same rich man that Jesus was speaking of in this passage is still in the same hell today in the same anguish and torture as he was when he first arrived there. But let me tell you something, just as hell is a real literal place, and an eternal place, it is also an avoidable place. Listen, you do not have to die and go to this place called hell, your loved ones do not have to die and go to hell, your neighbors, friends, co-workers, NONE OF THEM has to die and go to hell.

God loves you, He sent His Son Jesus to die for you on the cross, to bear your sin, your shame, your punishment. He has already suffered for you, all you must do to avoid this place called hell is to place your faith and your trust in Jesus Christ, and He will save you.

(Optional)

In one of his sermons, E. V. Hill tells of a time when he preached in Michigan with Dr. Jack Hyles, the former pastor of First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana. Hyles' church averaged 20,000 in Sunday school back then. "[E. V.] asked, "Jack, let me in on why you are so caught up in soul winning. You are on the verge of fanatic. What's behind all that?" He said, "One night, I was awakened by this piercing scream from my sister. I ran upstairs to her bedroom, and there she was sweating and in hysterics. I shook her, and I could not get her attention, so I had to slap her. I said, 'What's wrong? You had a dream?' She said, 'No, no dream.' I said, 'You had a nightmare?' She said, 'No it was real.' I said, 'What happened?' She said, 'Jack, I just got back from hell. After a few miles of the glitter and lights and all of that which deceives mankind, there was nothing but desolation. It was a bummed-out situation. It is nothing but desolation and hopelessness. You walk towards the gates of hell knowing that you will never again be free. I got to the gates of hell and the keeper said, "Hold it." I stood outside hell, and I saw people whose faces were twisted, and tongues were thick, eyes bulging, and hands split, dropping blood. I said, "Sir, please let some air in." And he said, "No air in hell." Then I said, "Kind sir, let them have a drink of water." And he said, "No water in hell." Then I said, "If that's true, let 'em die." And he said, "No death in hell." She said, "My God, how long will they suffer?" And he said, "Forever and ever! Hell has no exit and there is no death." "She said, 'Just as I turned to leave, he said, "Go back and tell the story." And just as I turned, I saw Daddy.'" And I said, "Yep, our Daddy is in hell, because he never got around to doing the most important thing. He schooled us, he fed us, but he never got around to saying yes to Jesus Christ." Jack concluded by saying, "I win souls every day so that nobody else's daddy has to go to hell." Citation: E. V. Hill, A Savior Worth Having (Chicago: Moody Press, 2002), 91-2.

Friend, you do not have to go to hell either. Turn to Jesus before it is too late.