¡§There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man¡¦s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, ¡¥Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.¡¦ But Abraham said, ¡¥Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.¡¦ He said, ¡¥Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father¡¦s house¡Xfor I have five brothers¡Xthat he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.¡¦ Abraham replied, ¡¥They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.¡¦ He said, ¡¥No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.¡¦ He said to him, ¡¥If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.¡¦¡¨
There are many instances in life where the story is a blend of ¡§good news-bad news". This was true of two men who were baseball fanatics. They lived for the sound of the bat cracking the fastball, and the smell of ballparks. They’d grown up together, playing ball all their lives. When they were old they made a pact that whichever one died first would try to get a message to the other as to whether there was baseball in heaven. Soon after, Ralph died, leaving Henry to wonder if Ralph would remember the pact. About a week later Ralph appeared to Henry one evening just about bedtime.
"Ralph! You remembered; tell me, ol’ friend, is there baseball up there?"
"Well, Henry, I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is we’ve got baseball and a really good team up in heaven. We play against Satan’s group every day & whip ’em good! The bad news is we’re gonna play ’em tomorrow again, and you’re their starting pitcher!"
This text is more bad news about hell than good news about heaven. It is that way in the scriptures ¡V more than three times as much about eternal punishment than reward. There is a natural resistance to the topic. When we talk about going to heaven, everyone smiles. Personally, I know what heaven’s going to be like. I’ll be tall, thin, and playing third base for the Atlanta Braves!
If you preach about heaven you’re everybody’s favorite. But when the subject is hell people get nervous about what you will say. The great Baptist preacher of the 19th Century, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, used to tell the ministers in training in his seminary, when you preach on Heaven let your countenance shine with the translucence of Revelation¡¦s crystal sea ¡V let your smile be for your listeners a radiant doorway to the very throne room of heaven; when you preach on Hell your ordinary face will do.
Some folks think you’re cruel and narrow-minded to bring a sermon about the reality of hell, and what it’s like. But the fact is that ignoring the reality does not alter the danger.
„Ã If you ignore the hissing does your ignorance make the poisonous snake change its mind about biting you?
„à If you¡¦re standing on the railroad tracks, does closing your eyes make the on-rushing train disappear?
„Ã Does plugging-up your ears disarm a ticking time bomb?
It is not cruel to warn people of impending disasters, just unpopular. So at the risk of unpopularity, let’s investigate the GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS about heaven and hell.
GOOD NEWS: HEAVEN IS REAL
BAD NEWS: SO IS HELL!
In verses 22, 23 we see that both heaven (Abraham’s bosom), and hell are validated from the lips of Jesus. Ordinarily parables are fictional accounts (earthly stories with heavenly meanings). But here Jesus uses the actual name, Lazarus in several places. Heaven and hell are a reality.
In a recent survey by the Barna Research Group76% of Americans believe in heaven and 71% believe in hell. The problem is that only one-half of one percent (0.005%) thinks that they could possibly be going there. That is to say, everyone is going to Heaven, and virtually no one will be in Hell. For all practical purposes, Hell might as well not exist.
And so, it comes down to Whom Do You Trust once again¡K.Jesus, or the American Dream? If you go with Jesus, then you must pay attention to the Bible’s clear teachings about hell:
„Ã IT’S A PLACE OF PUNISHMENT:
Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:22) call it a place of hellfire. A number of years ago, during a really hot summer (like this year), temperatures soared near 100o every day. The pastor of a Nazarene church in Jacksonville, Florida, right on Interstate 95, put on the church sign You think it’s hot HERE?
„Ã IT’S A PLACE FOR ANGELS THAT SINNED:
2 Peter 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment...
But most tragic of all....
„Ã IT’S A PLACE OF THE CHRISTLESS:
Revelation 20:13-15 tell us that when God gets through with this old world he is going to take hell and all its’ contents, and together with death, and all those who have refused to come to Christ, and deliver them once and for all time and eternity into the lake of fire.
Beloved, these are difficult thoughts to entertain. However, the Word of God backs up every word I have said to you. Common sense also tells us there must be a hell if there is a heaven.
„Ã There is a hot and a cold; an up and a down.
„Ã There is young and old, poor and rich, left and right.
Hell is not a myth. If we believe in the God who so loved the world as John 3:16 says, we also must believe the second part of that verse that says Jesus came into the world so that men might not PERISH. .Beloved, perishing is described in the scriptures as being part of that everlasting real place called "hell"!
A just God who created hell is proved by the very statements of those who shake their fists at Him and doubt His existence. There are those who say that if there really was a God, He wouldn¡¦t let such awful things happen; He wouldn¡¦t let there be Tsunamis or Volcanoes that wipe out hundreds of thousands of innocent people. There would not have been a Hitler, or ethnic cleansing. If there was really a God he would punish the evil. If that is so, then there must be a place of punishment. It s called Hell.
The fact is that if there is no hell, then Jesus Christ did not have to die....the cross is a mistake, God is a murderer, and the Bible is a fake, and this church and all others that preach the gospel are as useless as a fire station on the ocean floor! Hell is real! Secondly....
GOOD NEWS: HEAVEN IS GOOD
BAD NEWS: HELL IS BAD!
As we learned at the beginning of this message, there is much more about hell here than heaven¡Kbut we shouldn¡¦t miss that heaven is really good. Abraham¡¦s bosom is a term that describes all the descendant¡¦s of Abraham as a place where the departed have peace.
That really describes heaven¡K.a place of genuine peace. There is a song on the Southern Gospel charts right now called ¡§Peace¡¨. It presents several human situations of human drama including suicide, divorce and alcoholism. One line says, ¡Kdon¡¦t need your love, or your sympathy, but I cannot go on living without peace. Heaven is the place which isn¡¦t for floating around on clouds or sprouting wings. It is the place where the soul understands perfect peace. It is the place where righteousness and mercy have kissed, and there is joy!
Hell, on the other hand, is the place where there is unrest forever. Dives (which is Latin for rich) is the rich man who, able to see the splendor of heaven from the torment of hell; he pleads for just a little relief. God reminds him that formerly he had his opportunities to share; now he must do without! It is a lesson we all need to hear about the awfulness of an eternal separation from God’s presence.
The judgment that came on the rich man was not for being rich. The judgment came because in his ability to respond to the need laid at his doorstep (Lazarus), he acted as if the poor man never existed. He acted as if it were right and proper that he should concentrate all his energies, talent, and God-given blessings in an ever-expanding effort to please himself, while the poor starved to death on his doorstep. The second of the two great commandments is to love our neighbor.
The fact that the punishment fits so appropriately is also noted.
„Ã In verse 23, Dives was in torment, and could see Lazarus in heaven’s comfort.
„Ã In verse 24 he pleads for mercy and receives none.
„Ã In verse 25 he is reminded constantly of his own torment without hope.
All of these are the exact opposite of the way things were in the former life. A recent newspaper article tells of a scientific expedition, drilling a hole in the earth’s crust several miles to conduct some experiments. The account reports that the men working the drills believe they’ve uncovered "hell". They have heard unearthly screams that could only be produced by human voices under incredible suffering, coming from the dark hole they’ve made. I don’t know of the veracity of the report - But I do know that the Bible declares that hell is a place of weeping, teeth gritting anxiety and darkness (Mt 8:12)
„Ã It is a place of punishment (Mt 25:46)
„Ã It is a place without rest (Rev 14:11)
„Ã It is a place without God (2Thess 1:9).
Hell is the place Jesus most often called Gehenna, a real place outside of Jerusalem where the ancient Baal worshipers sacrificed their firstborn children to pagan gods, and then cast them on a garbage heap. Hell is a bad place. It is a garbage heap for souls.
Thirdly....
GOOD NEWS: HEAVEN’S FOREVER
BAD NEWS: HELL IS FINAL
There are those who believe that hell can be a temporary place, where if your friends and family pray long enough, your soul can be released. The Bible however teaches that the kind of suffering we’ve mentioned is eternal and unchanging. In verse 26, Jesus says that there is a gulf, a chasm, a wide valley that separates heaven from hell.
And it is FIXED, meaning that it cannot be moved, or bridged. The question always comes: Who dug it, and why would anyone do such a thing? The Bible tells us that God created the place for the devil and his fallen angels. Why? Because God is holy and righteous, and no sinful beings may ever stand in His presence.
Irenaeus was a second century church father. He said, [God will] send the spiritual forces of wickedness, and the angels who transgressed and became apostates, and the impious, unjust, lawless, and blasphemous among men into everlasting fire¡K.The penalty increases for those who do not believe the Word of God and despise his coming. . . . [I]t is not merely temporal, but eternal. To whomsoever the Lord shall say, ¡¥Depart from me, accursed ones, into the everlasting fire,¡¦ they will be damned forever" (ibid. 4:28:2).
Beloved, the only bridge between heaven and hell is the one Christ makes with His own body on the cross of Calvary. The Bible declares that there is no other way we can come to God. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.
Lastly....
ONLY GOOD NEWS:
HEAVEN IS GOD’S GIFT TO ALL WHO BELIEVE.
In verses 27-31 Dives in resignation realizes that it is too late for him, and urges the Lord to send Lazarus to speak to his loved ones. Verse 31 declares the final sentence.....You can believe if you WILL!
The warning here is stated negatively. People who don’t believe simply WON’T believe. They choose not to believe. The fact is that God never sends anyone to hell....people choose that way when they refuse to accept the authority of God, and the fact that in His mercy and grace He sent Jesus to die in our place. The only thing required of an individual to be saved, is acknowledgement that he needs saving, and that Jesus is the one (the ONLY one) Who can save.
I hold an object in my hand, intending to give it to you as a gift. Is it yours? Not until you TAKE IT from my hand; not until you RECEIVE IT!
In the same way Jesus holds the gift of eternal life in his outstretched hand. Like Dives, we start out with the wealth of life to live, and love. But like Dives we also will die one day. Will we be carried into the bosom of Abraham, the splendor of heavenly fellowship with the Lord....Or, like Dives; will it be the torment of everlasting hell? The question will be answered one day for each of us. Will you accept the gift of salvation?
