Journey to Hell
Introduction: Herman Goering stole millions and killed thousands in World war II. At his trial at the end of the war, he laughed and mocked when a preacher was sent to his cell to pray for him. twenty minutes before his hanging, he was found dead in his cell. He had taken a cyanide capsule. He escaped hanging, but He and all those like him will never be able to escape the horrors of Hell.
No one wants to think about hell, including myself. The misery of that sad place and all those who must suffer there in eternal torment is the last thing we want to draw our attention to when we are congregating together to be inspired by the hope of Heaven. It doesn't require a decision to go to Hell. No one says "I hope I go to hell some day." But a true fear of hell, on the other hand, has sent many a soul to heaven. Hell is a very unpopular topic and some would say that it is an outdated doctrine that belongs to the middle ages. But all biblical doctrines should be taught and revered, regardless of their popularity.
Carlton Pearson founded the higher dimension church in Tulsa, and you may remember he started claiming that there was no hell. And many of his congregation left, but if the same statement were made today, I'm not so sure that it would have the same effect. We are now in an age, where in some charasmatic circles, to speak of hell is to speak of unicorns and mermaids and some people would much rather believe in mermaids and unicorns than to believe in hell. The Bible refers to love 28 times, while referring to wrath and indignation 61 times, but the unbeliever would hardly know it by our constant effort to avoid anything that might upset fragile sensibilities. Billy Graham once said “If there was more hell in the pulpit there would be less of it in the pew.” Preachers who refuse to mention Hell for fear of offending someone should be thrown out of the ministry! A.W. Tozer remarked “The vague and tenuous hope that God is too kind to punish the ungodly has become a deadly opiate for the consciences of millions.” So true. If we don't like the theory of hell, then we need to talk to Jesus about it because he is the one who confirmed its reality.
We rightfully preach what will send us to heaven, but its important to know what will send us to hell, during our Bible study last Wednesday, this sermon was spured when we wandered onto the topic of Lazarus and the rich man found in
Luke 16:19-31 (read)
Transition: Let's answer two of the easiest questions about this story and see what we can learn. First...
What kind of man went to hell?
A rich man. A man who had plenty and enjoyed what he had plenty of. He wasn't merely well dressed, he was dressed in the best there was; purple was the color of royalty and fine linen was an exotic fabric from Egypt and was usually worn by the elite. This rich man apparently enjoyed being admired for his opulence. He fared sumptuously every day, meaning that he lived in luxury and could feast on whatever delicacies he wanted to. We would say that he was 'living the good life' "He was living larger". but having the finer things in life is not always a sign of God's blessing; you may have all of these things and still go to hell. This rich man not only had the finer things in life but he was happy with them. He was content with all the things the world tells us we must have in order to be happy.
Having a nicer home than your neighbors, driving a nicer car than your co-workers, traveling to exotic places and doing things that no one else has done - can bring happiness to a person, but what good is happiness if it is only found in the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life? Obviously, happiness that can only be found in the world doesn't come from God.
This rich man had all that a man could want. And from a distance it would be easy to envy such a man. This is what Asaph did: in Psalms 73 "For I envied the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills. . . . this is what the wicked are like they are always carefree, they increase in wealth." (Ps 73:3-5,12) Asaph sees in the wicked what many saw in the rich man, a man to whom everything seems to work out for the best for in spite of their cruel hearts. The rich man was esteemed and respected by those around him, and this fed his vanity and he lived in it constantly
Hitler and Stalin were wealthy, but so was Job and David - Although the rich man had great wealth, his wealth wasn't his sin, his sin was providing for himself only. For all the luxury this rich man lived in, we see that he also had no compassion. There was no love in him. "Whoever does not love, does not know God, because God is love." (I John 4:8) A starving man, named Lazarus was laying right at his gate hoping to get some scraps from this rich man's table and poor Lazarus prayed and pleased and begged in vain. Lazarus wasn't going to take any food from any ones plate, he just wanted what would've been thrown away anyway. He wasn't looking to steal food He was looking to receive it out of kindness from someone who had something he didn't. But, Instead of food, he got the local dogs coming around licking his sores, most probably caused from starvation. What kind of man would see such a sad case and do nothing? We see pictures of starving children but they are not at our gates. Lazarus was no panhandler huslting someone with a sad story to get money to buy booze or for his pleasure. He was a man who was starving to death at the gates of a man who had an opportunity to help every day but refused to.
From the eyes of the world, they would see these two men and think one is cursed and the other is blessed based only on their external circumstances but in 1 Samuel 16:7 we read " . . . For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
The religious Pharisees often received the support and good will of the common man but Jesus pulls away the veil that they had previously enjoyed living behind, exposing their hypocrisy for all of their admirers to see. He said "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." (Mt. 23:27,28)
The apostle James says "You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter." (Jm 5:5) Selfishness provokes God, but a selfishness when others are starving aggravates the sin even more. The rich man had much and enjoyed much but refused to give what was easy for him to give, by his cruel and loveless actions it revealed the absence of God in his heart.
Transition: In verse 23 we read "In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side." this brings us to our second question . . .
What kind of hell did the rich man go to?
First we learn that in hell, he was in torment. In fact He mentioned "torment" five times in thirteen verses. In Matthew 8:12 we read that in hell there will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth" This refers to an anguish that so horrible that it is unutterable in human words; it is literally inconceivable. We can not phathom the pain from a deminsion that we are not familiar with. There will be floods of tears but to no purpose. There will be crying out of pain, crying out of shame, and crying out of regret and like a castaway on a forsaken island, no one will hear them crying - Oh yes, there will definitely be weeping in hell.
We know what pain is on earth but at least there is medicine to numb the pain- there is no numbing the pain in hell and more important to us is the power of prayer that God will relieve us from it. Hope makes our pain tolerable. In Dante's inferno above the gates of hell it is written "Abandon hope all ye that enter here" Truly there is no hope in hell. In hell there is no relief from the pain. In fact in verse 25 we read that the rich man was in agony and thirsty. We know that his senses were fully operable and at a higher degree;
In the body, if you drop something on your toe, for instance, the nerves send a message to the brain that something caused pain there and needs your attention, but when we are out of the body - you can feel the pain everywhere and it will be more intense because we are not limited to nerves. Imagine the difference of having an operation under anesthesia vs. not having anesthesia. It would be torture! In hell, You will feel worse pain that could possibly exist on earth and be able to feel that pain at higher level. That is agony! That is torment!
The 'gnashing of teeth' refers to rage. There will be so much rage toward those who deceived them. Rage toward themelves for for being deceived. Rage toward God from those who thought they were headed to heaven but now they are trapped in gloomy dungeons waiting for the great white throne judgment where they will see their sins and hear their own idle words and witness first hand every thing they were supposed to do but didn't, every kindness they were purposed to show to others but wouldn't, every good commandment they were to obey but they couldn't, because rebellion was in their heart. If the horror of hell didn't convince them of their sins; then standing before the majestic great white throne of God seeing everything from the perspective of their creator certainly will! And with their record shown before them they will be sent to burn in a lake of fire with the one who had decieved them.
"In hell where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side"
One of the torments of hell must be that instead of being comforted, there is an eternity to remember that once upon a time there was a chance that things could have been different. That there was a time and a place when a mother prayed for you and a father or brother or friend warned you and now you suffer the thought that those who warned you and invited you to church and to bible study and to godly conversations are now in paradise - while you are tomented in hell. Those in hell will be crazed with outrageous envy for a better fate. The possibility of enjoying a paradise with their loved ones that they will never see only adds to their torment. "Oh what could have been!" "Oh how I wish I could be there!" "Oh how I wish I could escape this horrible place!"
In addition to the soul melting terror of hell you are constantly reminded that it is forever. Your tears on the ground spell the word “eternity”, every link on every chain is stamped with word "eternity." On every deformed worm that crawls through your rotten bones, on the forehead of every hideous demon is written "eternity." Every fire torments you by spelling out "E T E R N A L" everywhere you look you are reminded that your punishment is forever.
You would give anything for just one second of life on earth, one drop of water on your burnt tongue, one moment to see light, one minute to breath clean air, but there is nothing but pain and hopelessness.
The rich man realized the reality of hell only after he died, it was so bad that after he was denied one drop of water he asked if he could at least warn his brothers, but he was denied again. Because like himself, his brothers wouldn't believe even if the evidence is overwhelming. Some have denied the reality of hell and they will comfort themselves by reinforcing their delusion with atheistic articles and publications from likeminded fools who deny reality so they can live a life of ease and pleasure, without accountability and without consequence.
Conclusion: Lord Byron, poet laureate of England, was good looking and rich. After all the wine, women and song, his heart could endure, and being broken in health, he made the statement: "I have tasted all the joys of life, all that is left for me is the canker and the rot."
It takes a real determination on the part of an individual to go to hell. To willingly refuse salvation when given a chance, what kind of person chooses hell? It is the proud and rebellious. C. S. Lewis said it best when he said “I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside."
Many think 'Since God is a God of love why can't He do away with hell and make it possible for every individual to go to heaven?' That is exactly what he did when he sent Jesus to the cross to die for your sins. He made it possible for you to go to heaven and escape that horrible place called hell.
John Hannah once told someone “No one who is ever in hell will be able to say to God, “You put me here,” and no one who is in heaven will ever be able to say, “I put myself here.” You can't earn your way to heaven but you can earn your way to hell.
God is your creator, not your destroyer. His purpose for you was never to see you burn in a lake fire for all eternity. That is your choice, not his. The most awesome power we possess is the power to choose!
Love is a voluntary action and involves choice. We can choose to love God and serve him or we can choose to love sin and serve Satan. Choose today who you will serve - If your pride tells you to choose neither, you chose Satan, because there is no other name under heaven than Jesus Christ, in which we must be saved. Choose Jesus and receive assurance. Receive love. Recevie hope. Receive life.
