A Hundred Christmas Trees
We complain about the heat when it’s hot, in January we’ll be complaining about the cold. But,
imagine never being able to beat the heat. Not having a big enough air conditioner to cool off.
This morning we’re going to look at a place that will never cool off. We’re going to look at a
place called hell.
In this story, Jesus tells us of Lazarus and a rich man. The rich man went to Hell, and Lazurus
went to Heaven and was with Abraham there.
There are 2 things about Hell that you might not realize or understand.
1. First and foremost, Hell does exist
As I have studied for this message, I have found that there are 31 verses in the Old
Testament and 22 in the New Testament that directly uses the word Hell in them. That’s a
total of 53 times that tells me there is a Hell. And the same Bible that tells me there is a hell tells
me there is a heaven. The same Bible that tells me about hell tells me about God. And if we deny
that there is a hell, then we will have to deny that there is a heaven and a God.
2. People will be surprised that they went to Hell
Satan has people across this world believing that being a good person is good enough. Well, for
Satan, that is good enough, good enough to get you sent to Hell!. I know some people who have
said these very things: I’m a good person, I live a good life, I eat right, I never bother anyone, I’m
a fine, upstanding citizen in my community. I don’t have to worry about Hell, I’m not going. But
those same people, without accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior, will be surprised at where
they end up.
The rich man was surprised he was in Hell.
In verse 23, the Bible states him being tormented.
verse 24, he cried and also states, “ for I am in agony in these flames”.
verse 25, “you are in agony”.
verse 28, “this place of torment”
You see Hell is a place of torment . Hell is a place you will go to without Jesus. Hell is
real!!
It seems that more people are apt to believe in Heaven than they are to believe in Hell. Modern
day theology has made the preaching of Hell very unpopular. I think, in most churches today, the
message of Hell, has be missing from the pulpit. Preachers are in the mindset of not disrupting
their members. If they go and start preaching about Hell and it’s eternal flames, it might get some
people upset and they won’t come back. I can’t afford not to tell you about Hell. God wants you
to clearly understand, there is a heaven, there is a hell and it’s one or the other, you will end up in
one of them.
There is a hell, and the only way you can escape this place, is through the blood of Jesus Christ,
the blood he shed on the cross at Calvary.
WHAT IS HELL LIKE?
Most people think that hell will be a reunion with old buddies. One big party.
There will be no fellowship of any kind in Hell. Your only companion will be your memory of
rejecting The Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us:
1. Hell is a place of unquenchable fire.
2. Hell is a place of memory and remorse.
3. Hell is a place of thirst.
4. Hell is a place of misery and pain.
5. Hell is a place of frustration and anger.
6. Hell is a place of separation.
7. Hell is a place originally prepared for Satan and his hosts.
It’s not going to be like that beer commercial and freeze over if some guy buys a round. It’s not
going to freeze over if the Cubs win the World Series or pennant.
Whenever I hear or think about Hell, I think of George Carlin. George Carlin is a comedian who’s
been around since the 60’s. In one of his routines, he talks about Heaven and Hell, remarking that
we have a hard time with the concept of Heaven and what it might be like. But he says Hell, on
the other hand, is easy to understand. Hell is like burning a hundred Christmas trees and jumping
right in the middle of them. I think we can all imagine what that might be like.
WHO GOES TO HELL?
There’s only one way in and one way out. Simply put, those who have rejected The Gospel of
Jesus Christ end up in Hell.
Note the rich man called Abraham, "Father". Funny how people are like that. He still believed that
his kinship with Abraham would grant him a pardon from Hell.
And many people today think the same way.
"But I was baptized as a baby"---Yes, but have you been baptized by Jesus?
"But I was active in church”---Yeah, so was Judas
"But I’m not that bad"----"All have sinned and have come short of the glory of God "
Jesus has shown us very plainly the way out:
John 14:6- "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
me".
We read that the rich man had all of the comforts of life while Lazarus had nothing. Then both
men were equalized in death. Now, Lazarus had all of the comforts of God and the rich man had
nothing but torment. Just as their lives were marked by contrast, so were their lives after death.
The rich man looked up to Heaven. As he looked up, I believe that he saw with his eyes that
which he had missed. It was now very evident to him that it would have been much better if he
would have had a heavenly focus during his life rather than now when it was too late.
Notice what the rich man begs for: He realizes he can’t get out, so he begs Abraham to send
Lazarus to warn his brothers of Hell, to warn them that they can avoid this place of torment. Oh,
so now he’s concerned about evangelizing! Now he’s concerned about his fellow humans. But
Abraham’s responds: "They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.” The rich
man pleads for someone to be raised from the dead. Then, Abraham replies, "If they hear not
Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded through one that rose from the dead."
And we know this to be true today. Even though Jesus rose from the dead, many still refuse to
believe. As illustrated in this story that Jesus told, it’s not your position in life but your position in
Christ that makes the difference.
Our text says, "There was a rich man." What’s his name? Just a guy who lived & died! No, a rich
man who lived & died & went to hell! Most of the people in hell are just nameless people, aren’t
they? This rich man had a mom, dad, he was a mother’s son, he was somebody’s uncle, he had
children, brothers, he lived on this earth, somebody knew him! He had family and friends!
You know, you’ve got family and friends going to hell & you’ve never really pinned them down
and said, "Please don’t go to hell, please give your heart to Jesus, please get saved!"
Have you ever noticed at funerals that no one’s going to hell anymore? But I want to tell you that
there are going to be some familiar faces in those flames! And they’re going to be looking up and
asking, "Why didn’t you make me mad, why didn’t you nag me, why didn’t you keep bugging me,
why didn’t you come back & talk to me?
People near us are going to hell because we are not trying to stop them!
I hate to see people I know suffer! It’s terrible when your kids get sick & you’re helpless to
prevent it!
Sometimes we see people suffer & we can’t do anything about it!
But we can do something about our loved ones in the flames! Familiar faces in the flames!
Familiar faces suffering! The only way to put out the fire is get them in the water, the living water
of Jesus Christ!
