A Biblical View Of The End Times #9
Luke 16:19-31
A GLIMPSE INTO A PLACE CALLED HELL
Intro: The passage before us this morning tells us
about a place called Hell. Now, I know that the very
idea of Hell is mocked and ridiculed by many people in
our modern world. However, I still believe the Bible,
and the Bible is clear in its teaching that there is a place
called Hell.
Even though the Bible has much to say about Hell,
the doctrine is still ridiculed by many. The idea of Hell
is usually attacked along three lines of thought.
1. Rationalism: The rationalist says, "There is no
God, therefore there can be no Hell." Charles
Darwin said, "This (referring to Hell) is a
damnable doctrine." But I say, "Let God be true
and every man a liar!"
2. Ridicule: those who ridicule the doctrine of Hell say,
"There may be a God, but it is silly to speculate
about millions of disembodied spirits frying in a
lake of fire somewhere." Or, "This is the twenty-first century! Wake up!" Robert Ingersoll, a
famous atheist of the early part of the twentieth
century said, "The idea of Hell was born of
revenge and brutality on the one side, and
cowardice on the other. I have no respect for
any man who preaches it! I dislike the doctrine,
I hate it, I despise it, I defy this doctrine!" But I
say, "Let God be true and every man a liar!"
3. Religion: The religionist says, "There is a God, but
He is a God of love and therefore He would not
or could not send anyone to Hell." This is the
position of all the cults and of the liberals.
Christian Science: "Hell is an error of the
mortal mind."
Jehovah's Witnesses: "The wicked will be
annihilated."
Mormonism: "All will eventually be saved,
and will not suffer eternal punishment."
Seventh-Day Adventist: "God will someday
blot out all sin and sinners, and establish a
clean universe once again. The lost will burn
up like a broom sage field."
Again, I say, "Let God be true and every man
a liar!"
Much of what we know of Hell, we learn from the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He was the greatest hellfire
and brimstone preacher in the Bible. Of the 162
references to Hell and eternal judgment in the New
Testament, 70 were spoken by the Lord Jesus! Why
did Jesus speak so much on this subject?
1.) He believed in Hell's reality.
2.) He warned man about Hell because He did not
want them to go there.
Of all the passages that deal with Hell, the one
before us this morning is the greatest of all. In this
passage, Jesus literally rips the lid off Hell and allows
us to look into the things that are happening there. We
are allowed a Glimpse Into A Place Called Hell.
Now, before I get into the message too deeply this
morning, I just want to clarify one fact. This place we
will consider this morning is not the Lake of Fire. The
Lake of Fire is where the lost will go after the Great
White Throne Judgment. The place we are considering
this morning is where lost men go when they die. It is
a temporary holding area for the sinner. When a person
leaves this world without Jesus as his/her Savior, they
go to this place and they stay there until they are called
out to face God in judgment, then they are cast into the
Lake of Fire. This place is called Hades, the other is
called Gehenna. Both are horrible beyond words.
Now, in this passage, we are confronted with two
main people. The story of these men is a story of
contrasts.
1. There is a Contrast in the Men Themselves.
One rich and the other poor
2. There is a Contrast in the Manner of their Deaths.
One died and was buried, the other greeted by
the angels of the Lord and escorted to Paradise.
3. There is a Contrast in their Destinations.
One in Hell and the other in paradise. (Ill. Again,
Paradise was a temporary place where believers
went before the death and resurrection of the
Lord Jesus Christ, Luke 23:43. However, no
one is in Paradise today, Eph. 4:8-10.)
This morning, I would like to focus in on this Rich
Man and what happened to Him after he died. I would
like for us to join him in Hell this morning and learn the
lessons that this passage of Scripture teaches. If you
are saved, may you be moved to a burden for the lost
who are headed to this awful place. If you are lost, may
you see your need of coming to Jesus for salvation this
morning. God help each of us to do what we need to
do today! Let's join the Rich man in Hell this morning
for a Glimpse Into A Place Called Hell.
I. V. 23-25 HELL: A PLACE OF SENSATION
A. Notice that in Hell, the Rich Man can See, he
can Hear, he can Speak, he can Feel, he still
has Desires, he still has Needs, and he still has
the ability to Think and Express himself.
B. Even though his body is in the grave in which is
was buried, this man has some sort of a body
that allows him to continue to live in this place
called Hell.
C. My friends, never let anyone mislead you at this
point. If you die with your faith in Jesus, or if you
die lost, you will not spend even one second in
the grave. But, you will at the very instant of
your death, go either to Heaven to be with the
Lord Jesus, 2 Cor. 5:8, or you will go
immediately into Hell if you die lost, Luke 16:22-23.
D. Never believe for an instant that death is the
end, or that man is no different than a dog, which
dies and is no more. Man was given an immortal
soul and that soul will live on forever wither in
Heaven or in Hell. And, after death, that soul will
be clothed in some sort of a body that can
indeed experience the sensations that were so
much a part of life.
E. Hell is a place of sensation! It is real and it will
be experienced by all those who go there!
I. Hell: A Place Of Sensation
II. V. 26 HELL: A PLACE OF SEPARATION
A. Notice that the Rich Man found himself
separated from Lazarus and Abraham by a great
gulf. The Bible says that this gulf is "fixed".
That is, it will never be taken away. This
separation is eternal! This Rich Man found
himself separated from everything that Lazarus
enjoyed.
B. No doubt, one of the greatest torments of Hell
will be the separation from all the joys and
wonderful things that life itself has to offer. For
instance, there will never be a sunrise or sunset
in Hell. There will never be heard the laughter of
a child, the gentle blowing of a summer breeze,
the fragrance or beauty of flowers. There will be
no one to tell you they love you. There will none
of the little things that make life worth living. Hell
will be devoid of the good things of life. No
family, no friends, no fellowship. Nothing but
endless isolation and eternal separation.
C. In Hell, the lost sinners will never hear another
sermon, another Gospel song, nor will anyone
ever witness to them again. They will never be
handed a tract. They will never be able to see or
read a Bible. There will be no churches in Hell.
None of the things that point the lost to Jesus will
make their appearance in that place called Hell.
D. But, of all the things the sinner will not see in
Hell, the worst will be eternal separation from the
presence of God, 2 Thes. 1:8-9. Imagine being
in a place where there was no mercy, no grace,
no love or presence of God. Nothing but an
endless Hell and an endless separation from the
One who loved you more than any other.
I. Hell: A Place Of Sensation
II. Hell: A Place Of Separation
III. V. 24-25 HELL: A PLACE OF SUFFERING
A. This passage makes very clear the fact that Hell
is a place of intense suffering. Verses 24-25, 28
paint a vivid picture of what Hell is like. The
word "torment" is literally the word "torture".
The Rich Man is in a place of extreme pain and
torture. The verb "tormented" in verse 24 is in
the "present" tense. This reminds us that the
torments of Hell do not cease. Man does not
simply burn up as some of the cults teach, but
he endures the pain and torment of Hell
eternally.
B. If this were the only place the Bible speaks of
Hell as a place of suffering, we might be able to
write this off as a mere story. However, the Bible
tells us in many different places that Hell is a
place of torment and suffering. Notice a few of
those places.
1. Unquenchable Fire - Mark 9:43; Luke 16:24
2. Memory and Remorse - Luke 16:25; 27-28
3. Unquenched Thirst - Luke 16:24-25
4. Misery and Pain - Luke 16:24-26; Rev.
14:10-11
5. Frustration and Anger - Luke 13:28; Matt.
24:51
6. Eternal Separation - Rev. 21:8
7. Undiluted Wrath - In Hell, the wrath of God
will be given full vent!
C. Of all the agonies of Hell, perhaps the worst one
of all is depicted by the word "remember", v. 25.
This word tells us that men in Hell have the
capacity to remember the events of this life and
that they are forced to deal with those memories
eternally. They will remember every sermon
they heard and rejected. They will remember
when the Lord convicted their hearts and they
turned a deaf ear to the pleas of the Holy Spirit.
They will remember how God manifested
Himself in thousands of ways to draw them unto
Himself. They will remember and they will know
that they have no one to blame for their situation
but themselves!
What will you remember when you get to Hell,
my lost friend? Will you remember this service?
Will you remember all the saints of God who
witnessed to you and prayed for you? Will you
remember how you wasted your life of foolish
things and condemned your own soul to Hell's
fire? Will you remember how God good was to
you and how you spurned His great love?
I. Hell: A Place Of Sensation
II. Hell: A Place Of Separation
III. Hell: A Place Of Suffering
IV. V. 24-31 HELL: A PLACE OF STUBBORNNESS
A. This Rich Man is in Hell. He finds himself in a place of flames and of divine punishment.
However, he is not changed in the least. This is
seen is several ways in this passage.
1. In verse 24, he still thinks himself superior
and would see Lazarus sent into Hell so that
his needs might be met. He is still selfish
and self-centered!
2. Verses 26-31 tells is that now this man has a
burden for the lost, but he cares for none but
those in his family. He is selfish!
3. Verses 29-31 tell us that even in Hell, he still
hasn't figured out what it takes to keep a man
from that awful place. He stubbornly begs for
the salvation of his family, and won't hear the
truth that they must turn to God.
The whole point is that even in Hell he is totally
unchanged. His old nature is still as self-centered as it ever was. There is no change!
B. These verses tell us that even when men find
themselves in Hell, they are still wretched, they
are still lost and they still have no room for God
in their lives.
Some people believe that there will be a
second chance after death. They believe that
men will repent in the flames of Hell and when
they have paid for their sins, they will be
released and taken to Heaven. However, this
passage does not show the Rich Man even
uttering so much as one syllable in repentance!
He never begs for mercy! He never cries out for
salvation! He shows no change of heart or mind
whatsoever. The point? Men in Hell are as lost
as they are now! They do not change and they
do not get a second chance at salvation. When
their lives here end, their last chance has forever
passed them by!
C. Friend, do not let that happen to you! If you
have never been saved by the grace of God, you
need to make that step today. Do not hold onto
the foolish idea that there will be hope after
death! Nothing could be farther from the truth.
If you die without Jesus, there is nothing waiting
on you but the flames of Hell!
Conc: A recent ABC News poll revealed that 70% of
Americans surveyed believed in a place called Heaven.
However, only 56% believed in a place called Hell.
People don't like to think about the reality of that awful
place of torment, punishment and separation. But, just
because they don't believe in it, that does not change
the reality of it! Hell is real! Hell is eternal and Hell is
bad!
The good news this morning is that no person in this
room has to go to Hell! Jesus Christ died on a cross,
shed His blood and rose from the dead to pay for your
sins. If you will place you faith in Him, you ill be saved
and you will go to Heaven, not Hell when you leave this
world.
In fact, Hell wasn't even created for you, Matt.
25:41. Therefore, if you choose to go to Hell instead of
coming to Jesus, you choose to go to a place where
you are not even wanted. You will go to Hell as an
uninvited intruder. My friend, I beg you, please don't be
like this Rich Man. Come to Jesus and be saved!
