Hell? Yes, it’s real!
Luke 16.19-31 NASB
April 24, 2005
Chester FBC, Chester, Illinois Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
A Daniel Meyers speaks about a book written by a cardiologist at the University of Tennessee that corroborates an important aspect of the biblical message. In the course of their emergency room work, Dr. Maurice Rawlings and his colleagues interviewed more than 300 people who claimed near-death experiences. What made Rawlings’ study distinct is that the interviews were not conducted months or years later but immediately after the experiences had allegedly occurred—while the patients were still too shaken up in the immediacy of the moment to gloss over or to re-imagine what they had experienced.
Nearly 50 percent of them reported encountering images of fire, of tormented and tormenting creatures, and other sights hailing from a place very different from heaven. In follow-up interviews much later many of these same people had changed their stories, apparently unwilling to admit to their families, maybe even to themselves, that they had caught a glimpse of something like what the Bible calls hell.
Dr. Rawlings concludes, "Just listening to these patients has changed my life. There is a life after death, and if I don’t know where I’m going, it is not safe to die."
1. I will concede that you may well be offended by today’s sermon, people often are when any man presumes to preach on the subject of Hell. But I like "the story that is told of a chaplain who reported to a new duty station. Upon arrival some of the men came to see him and asked him this question; Do you believe in a literal hell? When he replied that he did not. The men asked him to resign and he asked them why. Their response to him was; ‘ If there is no Hell then we don’t need you and if there is a Hell we don’t want you to lead us astray."
2. I think the point is well made. [Paul Lee Tan. Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations. "Time to Resign the Chaplain." (Rockville, Maryland: Assurance Pub., 1979). p. 554 # 2221]
3. I assure you that the Devil believes in a real Hell.
4. You may not believe in hell this morning, you may think that it is just a state of mind, but as the old revival preacher said to the skeptic, "You not believing in Hell don’t lower the temperature there one degree."
B Today’s message is "Hell? Yes, it’s real?"
a Text: Luke 16: 19-31 (Read in responsive reading format. If the congregation reads vs. 20;23-24; 27-28; 30, and the pastor read the verses in-between, then they, the congregation, will be the rich man in the dialogue between Abraham and the Rich Man.)
19 "Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.
20 "And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21 and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.
22 "Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.
23 "In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw* Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 "And he cried out and said, ’Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’
25 "But Abraham said, ’Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 ’And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’
27 "And he said, ’Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 "But Abraham said*, ’They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’
30 "But he said, ’No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’
31 "But he said to him, ’If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’ " Luke 16:19-31 (NASB)
b Jesus was clear in His telling about the certainty of a real place called hell. (ETS)
C Hell is the eternal destination for all those who have not placed their faith in Jesus. (ESS)
a I hope you’ll know where you’d go if you died this afternoon. (Obj.)
b How would you finish this sentence?: When I die I will go to h______. (Probing Question)
T.S.: I want to look at three parts in Jesus’ story of the Rich Man & Lazarus.
I The first part of Jesus’ story I want to look at is the DUDES. (v. 19-21)
A There were two dudes in Jesus’ story: The rich man & Lazarus.
aRich Man
(Rich & Famous) Lazarus
(Poor & Anonymous)
Feasted everyday in opulence. Starved a little everyday in scarcity.
Wealth, power, confidence, refined, regal. Crippled. (v.20: . . . Lazarus was laid at his gave, . . .)
All of his friends were wealthy, refined, etc. Surrounded by licking dogs, which made him ceremoniously unclean.
He wasn’t cruel to Lazarus. (Could have had him removed or stoned. He allowed him to eat crumbs.) Lazarus was in need. (Sick, broken, hungry) A MAN CAN’T LIVE OFF CRUMBS!!
His sin wasn’t in being cruel, it was in doing nothing. Lazarus: His name means, "God is my help." Good thing, the rich dude isn’t going to do a thing for him.
b These two men are physically very close, but in point of circumstance they are very far apart.
B Many of us break the same commandment as the rich dude did.
a 18 ’You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD. Lev 19:18 (NASB: Italics mine)
Pastor, that’s in the Old testament. I’m under grace now.
Sorry, Listen to what Jesus said, "29 Jesus answered, "The foremost is, ’HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ 31 "The second is this, ’YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:29-31 (NASB)
b We could help people all around us (time, talent, or tithe), but we don’t!
Not treating them cruelly, harshly, mean . . . we just don’t do anything.
C
TS: These two dudes were entirely different but the next part of the story made both men level.
II The second part of Jesus’ story I want to look at is the DEATH OF THE DUDES. (v. 22)
A Both of these died (Lazarus & the rich man)
a The beggar is no big surprise. (He was living out of the dumpster!)
Some would say that he was better off. He wasn’t suffering anymore.
The beggar died and nobody lost any sleep over it.
No one mourned his death, no one put spices/perfume on his corpse. Probably put in a meager grave, if he wasn’t sweep away with day’s garbage.
No one was shocked, surprised.
b When the rich man died . . . what a tragedy!
The town could spare another beggar, but not it’s leading citizen!
The rich man died in spite of being rich! (In spite of his expensive castle, costly clothes, education . . . he died!)
Death showed up at his door with muddy boots, fresh from a new grave, and pushed this self-centered man out into a tomb of his own.
B Church, every single one of us is going to die!
a The bible promises us this much!!
14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. James 4:13-14 (NASB)
27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, Heb 9:27 (NASB)
b I’ve often heard people say, "I’m hanging on by a thread."
We’re all hanging on by a thread!
Jonathan Edwards wrote: "How strange it is that men can enjoy themselves and be at rest when they are thus hanging over eternal burnings; at the same time, having no lease of their lives, and not knowing how soon the thread by which they hang will break, nor indeed do they pretend to know; and if it breaks, they are gone, they are lost forever, and there is no remedy!"
The rich man dies in spite of him being rich. The poor man died in spite of having little. We’ll die in spite of what ever we may or may not have!!!!
C *A man went to his doctor to find out why he had been having such severe headaches. The doctor ran some tests and after a few hours called the man into his office. "I have terrible news," he told the patient. "Your condition is terminal." "Oh, no!? the man cried. "How long do I have?" "Ten ..." began the doctor. "Ten what?" the patient interrupted. "Days? Months? Years?" "Nine," continued the doctor, "eight, seven, six ..."
III The third part of Jesus’ story I want to look at is the DESTINATION AFTER THE DEATH OF THE DUDES. (v. 23-31)
A Lazarus & the rich man had just as different placements in death as did in life.
a Lazarus went to heaven (paradise).
A prepared place where his needs are now being met.
2 "In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:1-2 (NASB)
God had been expecting ol’Lazarus.
b Rich man went to HELL. (Gk. hades) immediately after he died. (Soul Sleep)
Hell is a place of . . .
1 Torment (In this passage torment or agony are used no less than 4x)
There are more verses describing hell than there are describing heaven.
The Worm does not die and the fire doesn’t ever go out!
45 "If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, 46 [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] Mark 9:45-46 (NASB)
Physical pain
50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Matt 13:50
Lake of Fire Rev 20:15 (NASB)
10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Rev 20:10 (NASB) 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Miserable The rich man didn’t want his brothers to come to hell too. I’ve heard people say all there buddies are going to be in hell. It’ll be one big New Year’s Eve party. If that was true then the man would have wanted his family there. Instead he’s trying to warn them not to wind up where he was.
Hell is concerned about the lost, but they cannot do anything about it.
2 Separation God does not have a way of getting people into heaven when they have hell in their hearts. Hell is for non-believers.
(IL.) Some will say a loving God wouldn’t do that to his creation. Pam & I have lost two girls and we loved (and still do) those girls, but we buried them. We didn’t stop loving them. We buried them in spite of our love for them because they were dead. God loves every soul in hell but those souls are dead in their sins. Hell is, among other things, a burial ground for dead souls.
3 Nothing changes (This man didn’t stop being himself just because he’s dead.)
The man knew he had 5 brothers. (He remembered his fam.)
"I" or "me" 3x in v.24. 7x’s altogether in text. He’s still there!
Still see’s Lazarus as subservient to himself. He remembered Lazarus! THERE IS NO ALZHEIMER IN HELL.
On this side of the grave the rm had much & Laz had little. On the other side of the grave, the roles are reversed and they are still that way today.
B Death is not going to make you into somebody that you’re not!
a (IL.) One of these I’m going to cross that river, but I’m still going to be Mike. When I go over the Chester Bridge and get fuel at Citgo, I don’t assume a new identity. I’m still me. Same thing when we cross over the Jordan.
b When a person is in heaven . . . they are still themselves. When a person is in hell . . . they are still themselves.
C But there is one thing that is hard to fathom in the World Trade Center attack. After the planes hit the towers in New York the people in the floors above the fire where trapped. I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures of people jumping out of the upper floors to escape the fire and smoke. The thing that really shakes me up about this is the height from which they jumped. I’ve been to the top floor of the World Trade Center, and I’m not afraid of heights, but it made me feel weak in the knees when I went up to window and looked down. I can’t imagine anyone jumping from such heights but the alternative was burning to death. Jesus describes hell as a place where people burn but never burn up.
Mark 9:48
48where "`their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’
Conclusion:
A Jesus was clear in His telling about the certainty of a real place called hell. (ETS)
Hell is the eternal destination for all those who have not placed their faith in Jesus. (ESS)
We’ve looked at three parts in Jesus’ story of the Rich Man & Lazarus.
i Dudes ii Death of the Dudes iii The destination after the death of the dudes
B I hope you’ll know where you’d go if you died this afternoon. (Obj.)
a Only got two choices: Heaven’s Gates or Hell’s Flames
b No purgatory. Hell is not a hospital for sinners to get good enough to go to heaven. Hell is an inescapable penitentiary for lost souls.
C How would you finish this sentence?: When I die I will go to h______. (Probing Question)
The rich man didn’t go to hell because he had much and Lazarus didn’t go to heaven because he had little. (Abraham was a wealthy man too and he went to heaven!)
a Lazarus went to heaven because he faith in God. The rich man went to hell because he worshiped at the temple of self.
b When God looks at a man he doesn’t look for dollar signs and numbers. He looks at the heart!
c (IL.) You can get to heaven from anywhere expect heaven.
A few days ago, I was in Lowe’s buying some adhesive numbers to go on our mailbox. While I was there, an announcement came over the public address system. It said, "Attention employees and shoppers, we have a code Adam. There is a three-year-old boy with dark blonde hair wearing a light blue shirt who has disappeared. Please help us look for him." The entire store went on alert. Of course, we were all afraid someone abducted him. There was a sense of urgency and purpose as we all forgot about shopping and started searching. The police who were called were positioned at the doors. For the next few minutes, both the shoppers and the employees fanned out across the store looking in every good hiding spot. After about ten minutes the announcement was made, "Cancel Code Adam, the little boy has been found." Then something happened at Lowe’s I’ve never experienced before: There were cheers and applause that could be heard from all parts of the store–there were smiles everywhere. I learned from one of the employees the little boy had just crawled behind one of the large displays.
After that, as I returned to my car, I thought, wouldn’t it be great at Green Acres if we had the same kind of urgency and unity to go out into this community and to search out those lost boys and girls and men and women who are headed toward an eternity without Christ?
Wouldn’t it be good if we could celebrate even more when a lost person is found for Christ? Like Jesus said in Luke 15, "there is JOY in the presence of angels over one sinner who repents."
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