Hell And Late Concern

Hell and Late Concern

Text: Luke 16:19-31

16:19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 16:20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 16:21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

16:22 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; 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

16:24 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.

16:25 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.

16:26 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.

16:27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: 16:28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

16:29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

16:30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

16:31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

NOTE: The Differences

The heaven and Hell reality is something that some people take for granted and often write it off as simply good verses evil. We need only to look at this passage of scripture and this parable to understand that it is much more than a simple parodox but when we read this, and any scripture we must ask ourselves, how does this apply to me?

We see here two individuals who were very different, one was wealthy, while the other was poor. One was healthy and dressed extremely well; while yet the other individual mentioned, was most likley dressed in rags and was begging for food.

When we see this the life application is really not hard to figure out. There is no way we can buy our way into heaven. Most importantly though one must understand that regaurdless of our financial status God gives us all the opportunity to become his children.

The Similarities

Both the rich man and Lasurus had one similarity that we all have in common even today. That is to say that they both died. Somewhere your name and my name is written down in the county courte house where we reside and adjacent to our name is our date of Birth. Also written in the space adjacen to our name is the time and place of death. Lets face it; some day we are all going by the way of the grave. We need to get concerned for our loved ones while we still can, but before we ever decide to be the change in someones’ life, we need to examine our own spiritual needs.

Transition:

We need to get concerned for our own spiritual needs before we can ever become effective in winning others to Christ. We are all going to die one day, and before we do we should begin to make ourselves right with God. In the county seat of the community in which you live a recored of you life. That is there is listed the date of birth and when you leave this world by way of death, the section adjacent to it will read time and cause of death. The Bible says in Hebrews 9:27 "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment":