By: Mark T. Tonkery
Laings, Ohio Church of Christ
Lessons From A Fire
Text: Luke 16:19-31
Introduction
A. Almost every week we here about the destruction and damage done by a fire. Whether it is a forest fire or a home, fires can be devastating but we can learn from these fires. People are often sent to study why and how a fire was started so we can learn better ways of prevention and protecting people from the pain of a fire.
B. It is true that tragedies often occur when least expected and catch many unprepared, the Bible warns about a fire we can avoid and be protected from. This fire is the fire of Hell. The Bible teaches us many lessons about this place, is provide for our protection and to help us to avoid this place.
C. One such passages is found in Luke 16:19-31. “Now for the sake of the careful students of the Bible, let me say that in this message I will make no distinction between Hades (the temporary place where the unrighteous people go after their physical death) and Hell (the "Lake of Fire," the final resting place of the unbelieving dead.) I do understand the difference, but I see little need to distinguish between them in this message. Suffice it now to say that both places are places of fire and torment, and there is no escape from either. In the end, after the judgment according to Revelation 20:14 death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire”( from Keith Smith, www.biblecenter.com).
D. In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus talks about the fate the rich man and Lazarus, in we can learn three lessons from the fire that Jesus mentions here.
Body
Fire will be used for punishment of the wicked v. 25
A. God describes Hell in the Bible so we can understand it and avoid it. Out of the 5 senses we have 2 that rely on each other taste and smell. They are also the only senses we can have that we are not called handicap. God uses all our senses to get us to understand Hell is a real place of punishment. We may not understand ever aspect of help but we can understand the following:
1. Sight- I can understand darkness.
a. Blackness of darkness 2 Peter 2:17
b. Chains of darkness Jude 6
c. Outer darkness Matthew 8:12
2. Hearing- We can understand and what pain sounds like.
a. weeping and gnashing of teeth Mt. 8:11
b. “ ” Mt. 13:42
c. “ ” Mt. 13:49
d. “ ” Mt. 22:13
e. “ ” Mt. 25:30
f. I told of people being in so much pain that they shadier their teeth.
3. Feeling- I am told that the worse injury one can receive is having your body burned. We have all touched a hot pan, or hot part on a car. I know what pain feels like. Imagine you whole body day in and day out full of the feeling of burning.
a. unquenchable fire Mt. 3:12.
b. eternal fire Mt. 25:41; 46.
c. agony Lk. 16:23.
d. Tormented day and night forever and ever Rev. 20:10.
4. Smell- I know what foul air smells like.
a.Rev 21:8, “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
5. Thirst- I know what is to be thirsty.
a.Zec. 9:11 waterless pit.
b.Lk. 16:24
6. Worms- I know what worms eating decayed flesh looks like.
a.Mark 9:44-48, “Where the worms does not die.”
B. People will be punished not because lack of evidence but because of hard hearts.
Fire will be everlasting. V. 26
A. How do you describe eternity? I don’t really know. It’s longer than a lifetime. It’s longer than a millennium. It’s longer than the entire history of man. It is forever!
1.In Mark 9:46, THE BIBLE SAYS that hell is "where the fire is not quenched,"
2.Revelation 20:10 says that those in hell "will be tormented day and night FOREVER AND EVER."
3.And, II Thessalonians 1:9 calls it "EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION..." So, hell is an ETERNAL place of punishment for those who are lost.
B. Those who deny the teaching of the Bible regarding hell and the fact that hell is a place of everlasting conscious punishment make a play on the word "destroy."
1. Jesus said, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10: 28).
a. Some say the word "destroy" means to extinguish or annihilate.
b. "Destroy" is from the Greek apollumi and is found 92 times in the Greek New Testament.
c. The world of Noah’s day perished with water, we are told (2 Pet. 3: 6).
d. "Perish" is from apollumi. Did the Earth before the flood cease to exist or was it annihilated? We continue on the same earth or world; hence, it was not annihilated!
e. When the apostles were engulfed in the sea in the storm, they said: "Lord, save us, we perish" (Matt. 8: 25). Did they believe they were about to be annihilated (apollumi)?
2. One of the common purposes of "destroy" (apollumi) is to suggest the spiritually lost.
a. Jesus came "to save that which was lost (apollumi, Matt. 18: 11).
b. Apollumi suggests the opposite of saved (Jn. 3: 16).
c. The prodigal son was lost (apollumi (Lk. 15: 24). Was he annihilated? The answer is no. Allow me to quote
d. W. E. Vine regarding "destroy" (apollumi): "The idea is not extinction but ruin, loss, not of being, but of well-being." (W. E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words).
C. Two other words in the New Testament we need to look at are “eternal and everlasting.”
1. In Mt. 25:46 Hell is everlasting punishment and in Mk. 3:29 it said there will be eternal damnation. The New Testament uses everlasting and eternal for:
a. God who is everlasting in Rom. 16:26.
b. The Holy Spirit is called eternal in Heb. 9:14.
c. Redemption is eternal in Heb. 9:12.
d. Salvation is eternal Heb. 5:9
e. The Kingdom of God is an everlasting kingdom in 2 Peter 1:11.
2. If eternal punishment is temporary, does that mean God, the Holy Spirit, salvation and the Kingdom of God are temporary and will cease to exist?
3. The Greek and English words that describe the forever future punishment of the wicked that describe God, The Holy Spirit, Salvation and the Kingdom also describes Hell as being everlasting and eternal.
4. Mat 25:46, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
5. No doubt about it Hell is real, and for those who go there it will last forever, and ever.
III. Fire of evangelism will be rekindled but it will be too late v. 27-31
A. The rich man as well as the unbelieving dead, who are in torment seem to have some awareness of the blessedness of believers in heaven not only in our text but also in Luke 13:28.
1.It is at this realization that the rich man in Luke 16 becomes evangelistic.
2.The rich man wanted Lazarus to rise from the dead and warn his brothers about this torment.
a.Luke 16:28 states, “For I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.”
b.The rich man had experience torment and if he could not get out at least maybe he could stop others from going there.
c.Christians we need to have this concern for the lost today. What if we looked at people and asked the question is this person saved or not? This will change our outlook on how we treat one another.
c.In Hell you don’t have to worry about the Gospel being preached because it is to late to evangelize then.
B. In order for us to revive the zeal for lost souls and reach out with the Gospel:
1. One of the things we must believe is that there is a Hell. Hell is real! Mt. 10:28, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
2. Hell is reserved for those who have rejected the Gospel 1 Thes. 1:7-8.
3. Realize that our life is not ours to live but that we servants of God to live doing his will.
4. Is 64:8 “But now, O Lord, aYou are our Father, We are the bclay, and You our potter; And all of us are the cwork of Your hand.”
5. We need to read God’s Word and have it remind us of Jesus Sacrifice, so we can have the some love Jesus has for lost souls.
a.Luk 16:31, “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.’"
b.If one does not listen to the Word of God then they will not even listen to someone who would raise from the dead.
C. I received an e-mail that I thought would make a good illustration about the importance of evangelizing before it is too late.
1. The story is about one day when a woman named Louise fell asleep in her bed, and dreamed a very frightful dream. She dreamed that someone in Hell wrote a letter to her, and it was to be delivered to her by a messenger. The messenger passed between the lakes of Hell, and found his way to the door that would lead him to the outside world.
2. Louise dreamed that the messenger walked to her house, came inside, and gently but firmly woke Louise up. He gave her the message, saying only a friend had written it to her from Hell. Louise, in her dream, with trembling hands took the letter and read:
i.My Friend I stand in Judgment now,
And feel that you’re to blame somehow.
On earth, I walked with you day by day,
And never did you point the way.
You knew the Lord in truth and glory,
But never did you tell the story.
My knowledge then was very dim;
You could have led me safe to Him.
Though we lived together on the earth,
you never told me of the second birth,
and now I stand this day condemned,
Because you failed to mention Him.
You taught me many things, that’s true,
I called you "friend" and trusted you,
But I learn now that it’s too late,
You could have kept me from this fate.
We walked by day and talked by night,
And yet you showed me not the light.
You let me live, and love, and die,
You knew I’d never live on high.
Yes, I called you a "friend" in life,
And trusted you through joy and strife.
And yet on coming to the end,
I cannot, now, call you "My Friend." Marsha
3. After reading the letter, Louise awoke. The dream was still so real in her mind and sweat dropped from her body in pools. She swore she could still smell the acidic stench of brimstone and smoke from her room. As she contemplated the meaning of her dream, she realized that as a Christian, she failed in her duty to "Go out to all the world and teach the Gospel." As she thought of that, she promised herself that the next day, she would call Marsha and invite her to church with her.
4. The next morning she called Marsha and this was the conversation:
"Bill, Is Marsha there?"
"Louise, you don’t know?"
"No, Bill, know what?"
"Marsha was Killed Last Night In A Car Accident. I thought
you knew." (Author Unknown).
Conclusion
A. Hell is no joke. Hell is real. Hell is hot. Hell is horrible. Hell is for eternity. But we do not have to go there.
B. I want all of us are Christians to realize how terrible and final Hell is and to help rescue our loved ones by teaching them the Gospel so their future will not be in an eternal Hell.
C. If you are uncertain where you will spend eternity will you search the scriptures and listen to what they say. Will you believe in Christ, confess his name, repent of all your sin and be baptized for the remission of sins into Jesus Christ and live for Him? You can do this now as we stand and sing.
(I tried to reference quotes and resources used in this sermon but I used many more reference and quotes so my apologizes if I did not reference your work.)
