Reality of Hell
Text: Luke 16:19-31
Reading this verse of scripture and this story from eternity I would like tonight and feel very strongly too tell you of the Realities of Hell.
Although the preaching of Hell is not a popular message and is very seldom preached among the church world, it is spoken often in the word of God, more often than heaven, grace, or love in fact it is mentioned by Jesus Christ more than anything else. Why? For the fact that it is real and God wishes for none to go.
Statistics
Recently a poll was taken Jan. 2000 in the U.S. News and World Report saying that 64% of Americans believe in hell 25% say there is not a hell and 9% say they don’t know. (sermoncenteral)
No Atheist in Foxholes
The world has come along ways in a short time. They refuse to believe in anything evil yet our world grows more evil every day. Unfortunately your decision to believe in hell does not lower the temp. of hell one degree, brighten the darkness in the least not calm the calamity of those that are there. I heard a wise saying one time that there are no atheist in fox wholes. You see friend your idea of the realness of hell as you set in comfort in peace will not be the same as your vision of hell on your deathbed. There are no atheist in foxholes because there is something inside of you that knows the truth of eternity but it can not really surface to the top of your life until life is no more until the smothering cares of life mean nothing any more and let me assure you friend your trials your troubles and your fears will be trivial when you take your last breath.
My Accident
My life was normal and unexpecting of tragedy when the bumper of a LTD came crashing into my back I had no time to repent like I always figured I would if I would have died it would have been at a moment that I was angry and frustrated and I cant say that I was as comfortable in my walk with God as I would have cared to have been. You see many of us feel like a mediocre walk with God will do. Pray now and then, go to church and act a little concerned but trust me friend in your last moments you will want to be not a maybe, but a sure thing. It happens so fast, as quick as blinking your eye and you are in eternity. The first thing I said when I became conscious again was Oh God. The first thing that I could do, not caring of the large crowd of spectators around me was raise my hands like some of us are so afraid to do and I cried out to my creator.
Cry out now, OH GOD! Raise your hands now! Ignore the eyes of man now! While you have the opportunity to do what is right.
Rich Man
It happened in a moment to the Rich man but is future was forever in written in eternity it didn’t matter who he was what his titles were or who he knew he had no control he was fallen into a pit of forgotten to spend eternity in the eternity that he refused to believe was there.
Doctors Reports of some resuscitated from death
There is a doctor his name I have forgotten but he was classified as a Atheist, but he did a study on many that had had near death experiences and those who had been actually classified as dead and resuscitated. He interviewed about 300 people with these experiences and all told of similar images of devilish creatures and a Lake of Fire, screams, and moaning, but it wasn’t until a very one on one experience that he became a believer. He said he was trying to resuscitate a man who was dying and he slipped in and out of consciousness. Each time he would resuscitate him the man would scream help me I am in hell, time and time again he would slip back out into a unconscious state only to return screaming I am in hell, it is so hot, it burns help me, and it was in his last moments that he stopped looked the Doctor in the eyes as his eyes dilated and with his last breath said don’t you understand me I AM IN HELL!(sermoncenteral)
Darkness
The Bible says that in Hell will be utter darkness is says the blackness of darkness and it describes it as outer darkness and the chains of darkness. They say you can go into some caverns in the earth by the way of caves and you can reach a deep darkness that if you were to pull your finger to your eye you would poke yourself in the eye and never see it coming, and if you stayed long enough without any light you would soon lose control of your coordination and probably fall or faint but exposed to the deep darkness to long and you will go blind. Church this does not compare with the darkness of Hell.
Unquenchable Lake of Fire
The Bible says that in that place will be a Lake of Fire and the fire will be unquenchable. It will never die out or lose its heat, it is a lake of fire you will kick and paw and fight to move but only the tossing of the waves of fire will move you.
Cotton mouth
I have heard stories of people that have been stranded in the desert or lost at sea and of how they soon without water began to die under the torturing of the Sun and heat. One doctor described it like this. (Read from separate pages)
This is not to even be compared with hell.
You’re probably familiar with the book "Moby Dick". Even if you’ve never read it, you know the story: Captain Ahab goes in search of a great while whale, and is finally killed when the whale attacks and destroys his ship. But you probably didn’t know that this scene in Herman Melville’s novel was inspired by an actual event in the year 1820 - the sinking of the whaling vessel "Essex" in the South Pacific. Just like the ship in "Moby Dick", the Essex was rammed by a whale. As it sank, the captain and crew abandoned ship and climbed into the three whaleboats. These were twenty-five foot seagoing rowboats that were normally used to chase and kill whales. But now they would be used to carry the survivors of the Essex more than three thousand miles, over a period of 93 days, to the coast of South America.
It is difficult to comprehend the torments and extreme agonies these men must have suffered, constantly exposed to the brutal rays of the sun, having very little to eat or drink and both starving and dying of thirst. In fact, many of the men did not survive the trip. But those who did described the voyage as three months of constant torture. As the first mate, Owen Chase, recorded in his journal, "The privation of water is justly ranked among the most dreadful of the miseries of our life. . . The violence of raving thirst has no parallel in the catalogue of human calamities." On the twenty-third day after the sinking of their ship, he wrote, "[Our] thirst had become now incessantly more intolerable than our hunger, and the quantity then allowed [half a pint per day] was barely sufficient to keep the mouth in a state of moisture, for about one third of the time. . . In vain was every expedient tried to relieve the raging fever of the throat. . . Our suffering during these . . . days almost exceeded human belief." ["In the Heart of the Sea," p. 116]
As Nathaniel Philbrick writes in his book about the disaster,
"The Essex survivors had entered . . . the ’cotton-mouth’ phase of thirst. Saliva becomes thick and foul-tasting; the tongue clings irritatingly to the teeth and the roof of the mouth. Even though speech is difficult, sufferers are often moved to complain ceaselessly about their thirst until their voices become so cracked and hoarse that they can speak no more. A lump seems to form in the throat, causing the sufferer to swallow repeatedly in a vain attempt to dislodge it. Severe pain is felt in the head and neck. The face feels full due to the shrinking of the skin. Hearing is affected, and many people begin to hallucinate. Still to come . . . were the agonies of a mouth that has ceased to generate saliva. The tongue hardens into . . . ’a senseless weight, swinging on the still-soft root and striking foreignly against the teeth.’ Speech becomes impossible, although sufferers are known to moan and bellow. Next is the "blood sweats" phase, involving ’a progressive mummification of the initially living body.’ The tongue swells to such proportions that it squeezes past the jaws. The eyelids crack and the eyeballs being to weep tears of blood. The throat is so swollen that breathing becomes difficult, creating [the] terrifying sensation of drowning." [ibid, pp. 126-127]
As terrible as their suffering was, there’s something even worse. In the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), the rich man is in torment in hell, while Lazarus is with Abraham. And the rich man begs, "Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’" The description of the agony of thirst suffered by the crew of the Essex gives us just a glimpse of the torments of hell. But even this is only an approximation. The reality is even more intolerable, for Jesus says, " Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.." (Matthew 10:28) In other words, the worst bodily suffering possible on this earth is still less terrifying than suffering under the wrath of God for ever and ever, throughout eternity.(sermoncenteral/Allan Perkins)
Rich Man Cries For Water
V.24) Rich man cries for just one drip of water to his tongue.
Weeping, Whaling, Gnashing of teeth
Weeping: because they remember they forsook every chance to repent and they can still remember walking down to the alter and just a they almost reached it they stopped and went back to their pew. Each time they scream to their selves go back no! Repent!
Whaling: For the pain and torment because there is no relief and no hope.
Gnashing of teeth: For one the pain and agony and for the other the hate and rage in there soul. You think life is about impressing someone, or trying to live up to the world, you think your spouse or your lover is worth missing heaven over, I believe there will be husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, pastors and saints, friends and enemies that once were on this earth that in Hell they will just like animals bite and gnaw at one another.
No Rest Day of Night
You know in this body there is what you would call a overload, that when you endure so much pain you will actually just shut down. My accident I hurt so bad I just passed out, it can be so dark that your body is traumatized to the point that it just shuts down. Some times you can experience so much shock that you can actually die from it but in hell there is no overload and there is no death to escape by the bible says that the worm dieth not.
Gulf fixed between us and you
v.27-28)
You see there was no 2nd chance no going back he said if they will not hear my preacher they will not hear the dead. I am warning you tonight church hear me now because this is the only testament there is.
He said besides that there is a Gulf fixed between us and you. Do you know who put that Gulf there? You and me in our sin. Each time you pushed God away each time you reject him and choose sin you build to yourselves a wall a barrier between you and God as long as you are on this earth if you ask him to forgive you of your sins he can break that barrier but if you were to slip off into eternity tonight with a barrier still in place than friend it will be to late for even God to help you.
Better to pluck out eye, cut off hand, cut off foot than to go to hell
Jesus said, “ it would be better to enter into heaven maimed than to enter into hell at all.
I am he who hath keys to hell and death
Jesus does not want you to go to hell that is why he came to this world to tell you and I of Hell that we would not go there. Jesus died on a cross so you would not have to and he went to hell that you would not have to and became victorious taking away the keys to death and hell. Friend if you go to hell it is not because you had no way of escape.
God so loved the world
I would that none should perish
How often I would have gathered you together as a Hen gathers her chickens under her wings but ye would not.
