“Not One Chance in Hell”
Lk. 16:19-31
June 2, 2002
The Rev’d Quintin Morrow
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
Ft. Worth, Texas
www.st-andrew.com
The Church of England issued a theological report on Hell in the opening months of 1996. While not suggesting that everyone would eventually wind up in heaven, the Anglican report does propose that if there is a Hell, it is empty. The report says:
“In the past the imagery of hell-fire and eternal torment and punishment…has been used to frighten men and women….”
It concludes:
“Hell is not eternal torment, but is the final and irrevocable choosing of that which is opposed to God so completely that the only end is total non-being.”
Hell, it would seem, has fallen on rather lean times. It used to be that the vast majority of Christians, regardless of denominational affiliation, believed that Hell was a real place where the wicked and the impenitent go when they died. The very thought of the pains and torments of Hell was enough to scare sinners straight. It used to be that ministers of the Gospel would preach on the horrors of Hell to persuade reprobates to repentance. But not anymore. Most American mainline and so-called Evangelical churches stopped preaching about Hell years ago. Most mainline ministers stopped believing in Hell years before that. Hell made people uncomfortable. Hell was too “old-fashioned.” The topic of Hell was bad for the bottom line—attendance and income. Hell damaged people’s self-esteem. Hell has been retained in our modern lexicon as a convenient curse word, and as a metaphoric description of our worst experiences—as in “war is hell”—but hardly anyone today believes that the word “hell” corresponds to any objective reality.
But we have papered over Hell to the detriment and peril of our souls. I can assure you, the Devil believes in a Hell. That’s why he is working so tirelessly in our world before he is dumped there. The demons Jesus exorcised from people believed in Hell and pleaded with Him not to send them there. Jesus certainly believed in a Hell. The top three topics our Lord spent most of His time speaking about in His earthly teaching ministry were money and material possessions, Hell, and the Kingdom of Heaven. And the Master’s words about Hell are sober, dire, and serious. His constant admonition to His hearers was this: Do whatever you must to avoid Hell.
Hell is the subject of Jesus’ parable, called The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, in Luke 16:19-31. This parable, or this earthly story with a spiritual and heavenly meaning, is unique among the Lord’s parables for two reasons. The first is that this parable appears only in Luke’s Gospel and nowhere else. And the second is that it is the only parable of Jesus in which one of the characters in the story is named. All the rest of Jesus’ parables begin with “There was a certain man…, there was a certain woman…, there was a certain father, brother, farmer or king who….” But not this parable. This parable is about a rich man and Lazarus. Because of its uniqueness we must read and heed it.
Jesus begins the story with the introduction of the two main characters of the lesson. Here we are introduced to two men who couldn’t be more different and, who, according to Jesus, shared nothing but geographical proximity to one another. Verse 19:
19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 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.
The contrast is stark. The rich man was very rich. His garments and diet betray opulence. He was clearly a man of great fortune, reputation, influence and self-interest. Lazarus, on the other hand, was a man of total poverty. His name is a derivative of the Hebrew name “Eleazor,” meaning “God, my helper.” Apart from his name there is nothing humanly appealing about his lot in life. He was a cripple and had to be laid at the rich man’s gate to beg. He was covered with ulcers and open sores, and dogs came and licked his wounds, which undoubtedly smarted. Lazarus was so hungry that he would have happily eaten whatever fell from the rich man’s table. Of the two men—the rich man and Lazarus—who would’ve you rather been? Be careful before you answer. The surprise comes in verse 22 when Jesus reveals the inversion, or the great exchange in station that occurs after the two men died.
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; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
We need to be clear: This part of the parable, the revelation of where each man ended up after death, would have astonished Jesus’ original audience and overturned all of their dearly-held assumptions about God’s blessing and disfavor. In Jesus’ day, and even before, the common assumption among the Jews was that the rich were the recipients of God’s blessing and favor and therefore right in His eyes; the poor and crippled, on the other hand, were suffering God’s reproach and therefore must be sinful. But Jesus inverts the standing of these two men after death and reveals that the rich man, far from enjoying the power, prestige, comfort and ease he had on earth was now in torment, and Lazarus was now far from suffering the hunger, disease and neglect he had experienced at the rich man’s gate and was in paradise. Notice one more important detail: The rich man is not convicted of any great moral trespass, and Lazarus is not rewarded for some Herculean deed of righteousness. The rich man is not condemned to Hell simply because he was rich, and Lazarus was not ushered to Abraham’s Bosom because he was poor. The rich man was condemned because his heart was not right with God, and his self-absorption and neglect of Lazarus’ need, right in front of his nose, were merely symptoms. Lazarus, however, not having any material distractions, and as his name implied, simply, with child-like faith, trusted in God.
Finally, we are drawn to the conclusion of the story and Jesus’ instruction to His original audience and to us. In verses 23-31 the Lord reveals the realities of Hell which call for a response in us to His parable.
Firstly, you must clearly see that Hell is a real place of conscious anguish. The rich man wakes up in Hell, was in torment, and seeks relief from Abraham whom he saw far off. This man wasn’t dreaming. His Hell was not on earth. He was conscious, aware of his surroundings—he could feel, speak, experience thirst—and was in anguish. 24And 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.” Secondly, Hell is a place of regret. Maybe, for the first time in this man’s life he was uncomfortable, and this discomfort caused him to consider others beside himself. “I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: 28For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” Thirdly, Hell is a place of inarguable justice. “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 .”
We moderns wince at the thought of Hell and squirm at it because eternal punishment for the wicked seems cruel, and we have a hard time reconciling Hell with God’s love. But cruelty involves inflic- ting unjust pain, or punishment that exceeds the crime. God cannot be cruel. Moreover, it is wrongheaded to artificially separate God’s love from His justice. Scripture doesn’t. In Romans 11:22 Paul says, “Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness.” Indeed, love without justice is merely sentimental indulgence. It is significant that the rich man nowhere argues a case that he didn’t deserve to be where he ended up, he only pleaded for escape or relief. Paul further says in Romans 1:18 that the wrath of God is being revealed from Heaven against the unrighteousness and ungodliness of men who suppress the truth. And he further says in Romans 3 that God’s law and justice are perfect, that all the world has been demonstrated as guilty before God (just watch the evening news tonight if you doubt that), and that all mouths will silenced before God’s perfect decrees and judgments. And fourthly, Jesus informs us that Hell is final. In verse 26 Abraham says,
“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.”
In Dante’s Divine Comedy the author journeys through the Inferno. There is a sign posted over the mouth of the entrance to Hell which reads: Abandon hope all you who enter here. There isn’t a second chance after death. Unlike the Eastern idea of reincarnation, where if you blow it the first time around you an eternity of opportunities to get it right, the truth is, as the author of Hebrews points out, it is appointed for man once to die, and after that comes the judgment. In Hell there is no relief, no escape, no end, no kidding.
Elsewhere in Scripture Hell is described as a place of outer darkness, a lake of fire, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, a place of torment, and a prison. Liberal Bible scholars have for decades been telling us that all those descriptions are not literal but are merely symbolic. Please don’t take any comfort in that. As R.C. Sproul rightly points out in the chapter on Hell in his book Essential Truths of the Christian Faith,
If these images are indeed symbols, then we must conclude that the reality is worse than the symbol suggests. The function of symbols is to point beyond themselves to a higher or more intense state of actuality than the symbol itself can contain. That Jesus used the most awful symbols imaginable to describe hell is no comfort to those who see them simply as symbols (pg. 286).
The parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus, like all of the Lord’s teaching on Hell, is deathly serious. In this parable He tells us there are two explicit lessons and one implicit lesson. The first explicit lesson from the parable in Luke 16 is that you must be ready every hour of every day for eternity. This rich man died unprepared for eternity. He probably thought he had lots of time to get right with God. What will it profit a man, Jesus asks, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? It is a question that expects a negative answer. You gain nothing. You lose everything. You better be ready today for eternity, because you aren’t guaranteed another day or another breath. The second explicit lesson from this parable is that God owes you no special revelation. This rich man begged to have Lazarus sent that he might go and warn his five brothers about Hell. Jesus said that his brothers had the revelation of God in the Law and the Prophets. Verse 30:
And he said, “Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. “ And he said unto him,” If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”
I hear people say all the time, “Well, if God would just show Himself to me I would believe.” He already has—in Creation, in Scripture and in His Son Jesus Christ. He even resurrected His Son to demonstrate that this revelation was authentic, and the religious crowd responded by paying the guards that stood watch at His tomb to lie and say His body was stolen, and by attempting to silence its witnesses with persecution. We have all the revelation we are going to get. We must believe it. As Hebrews chapter 1 begins,
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.
The implicit lesson from this parable is just as urgent: Avoid Hell at all costs. Elsewhere Jesus says that if our eyes, or hands, or feet offend us we would be better off severing them and going into eternity disabled than to be whole and cast body and soul into Hell. His point, through hyperbole, is not to start cutting off limbs, but rather to do whatever you must do to avoid Hell.
Hell is not a popular sermon topic these days. But any minister of the Gospel who does not preach about it is a false shepherd, a hireling, and a watchman asleep at his post. J.C. Ryle, the great 19th century Evangelical Bishop of Liverpool said:
“The watchman who keeps silent when he sees a fire is guilty of gross neglect. The doctor who tells us we are getting well when we are dying is a false friend. And the minister who keeps back hell from his people in his sermons is neither a faithful nor a charitable man.”
Hell is a word of hope to the righteous that the scales of justice in the universe will be finally balanced and that evil will be judged, condemned and eradicated. Hell is bad news because actual people actually go there. But without Hell the Gospel is not really good news, nor is there much urgency to our Lord’s command to go into all the world and preach the Gospel.
“But what about those who never hear the Gospel?” We are supposed to go and tell them that have not heard about Him. But you must make sure you’ve heard and believed. The Philippian Jailer asks in Acts 16:30 the most important question in the world: “What must I do to be saved?” Paul replies: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” There will be judgment. And Jesus Christ is the only escape. Listen to John chapter 3:
16 pFor God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten qSon, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 rFor God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 s“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God..
The Gospel is that God the Father sent His only-begotten Son to save us from sin and Hell. Jesus took our sins upon Himself and on the Cross died the death for sin we should’ve died. He stood as our penal substitute and assuaged the wrath of God at our sins. That’s what John’s on about in his first letter, and in the Comfortable Words of the prayer book: “If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous; and He is the propitiation—the sin payment—for our sins. And not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” Jesus Christ is God’s one and only saving provision from Hell. There isn’t another one. Peter said that there is no other name given under heaven whereby men must be saved. Jesus said that He was the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one—no one—could come to the Father except through Him.
You may not believe in Hell this morning. But as the old revival preacher said to the skeptic, “You not believing in Hell don’t lower the temperature there one degree.” The Word is true. The warnings are serious. Your answer has eternal consequences. Romans 8:1 says that there is therefore, now no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Nothing awaits the saints but blessing and life. That’s why He is called a savior. He saved us from sin, wrath and Hell. Nothing awaits the recalcitrant sinner but judgment.
The Gospel message is a simple one. It isn’t an if/then proposition, as in if you work, and work, and work, and give money to the church, and try to keep the Ten Commandments, then God will reward you with Heaven. The Gospel is a because/therefore proposition. Because God punished your sin in Jesus Christ, and because He is the only salvation and rescue from the wrath of God, there-fore repent and believe. That’s right. Repent: Turn from sin—forsake it and reject it. Believe: Put your whole trust in Christ as your only means of salvation.
Don’t wait until your deathbed. You must decide now. Salvation is a gift of grace. But it must be received. Becoming a Christian is as simple as 1,2,3. 1) Acknowledge your need; 2) Accept the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ by receiving Him as Savior and submitting to Him as Lord; and 3) Ask Him to save you. Paul says that anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. “Anyone” includes you.
The eternal song of the saints shall be: “Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul; thank you, Lord, for making me whole; Thank you, Lord, for giving to me, thy great salvation so rich and free.” The song of the procrastinator shall be: “Almost persuaded. Harvest is past! Almost persuaded, doom comes at last! Almost cannot avail; Almost is but to fail! Sad, sad, that bitter wail—Almost but lost!”
AMEN.
