Place: I.Hall 26:1:97. Reading: Luke 16:19-31 HELL

Transcription

1 Place: I.Hall 26:1:97 Reading: Luke 16:19-31 HELL The Bible is filled with many beautiful words. Words of comfort: of love: of life! This... I want to direct your attention to one of the ugliest words in the Bible. What is it? When we see Cain standing over the lifeless body of his brother we say that word must be MURDER. When we consider that Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery, we are convinced that word should be JEALOUSY! When we look at Jacob standing before his blind father dressed in Esau's clothes, we are sure that word is DECEIT. When we view the events of David's life and we see lust casting its long dark shadows across the pages of God's Word we are ready to admit that ADULTERY is the ugliest word in the Bible. When we behold the hands of Jezebel dripping with the blood of Naboth and his family we answer that the ugliest word in the Bible is COVETOUSNESS! When we think of Judas and his kiss of death we confess that BETRAYAL is the ugliest word. My... when we learn of the attitudes of the church at Corinth we have no doubt that the word is DIVISION. When we stand at the foot of Calvary and our hearts are stirred by what took place there we feel that UNBELIEF is the only word that will fit the description! But the word that I want to speak on this... is none of these as ugly as they may be. My... one of the ugliest and most unpleasant words in the Bible is found in ( Lk 16:33) where we read " And in HELL he lift up his eyes." The word HELL and what the Bible has to say about hell is ugly and most unpleasant. The doctrine of eternal punishment is the most terrible of all in the Scriptures, yet so many today do not believe it. Ills: The English agnostic John A.T.Robinson Bishop of Woolwich says: " There are still a few who would like to bring back hell as some want to bring back hanging. They are usually the same types who wish to purge Britain of sex and violence." You see although this word is prominent upon the lips of the people of our world, the word hell today is noticeably absent from modern preaching. The average pulpit in our land has little to say about the subject of hell, if it is mentioned at all. But my... if you leave the doctrine of hell out of your preaching, you literally cut the nerve of evangelistic fervency. For if there is no hell, there is nothing from which people need to be saved. We preach hell as salvation by repulsion. We preach heaven as salvation by attraction! You see there are two places of abode past this life, heaven and hell. The Lord Jesus speaking of this rich man said, " And in hell." ( 16:23) Our Saviour warned with tears in His eyes, that men should not come to this dreadful, terrible place called hell. A place of seperation, eternal seperation from God! My... HELL IS A REALITY AND IT MUST NOT BE FORGOTTEN! When a house is on fire, what it ought to be done first? We ought to sound the alarm and awake

2 the inmates. This is true love to our neighbor! My... I love your soul and want it to be saved. " Therefore I must warn you I must tell you about hell." HELL IS: (1) A TRUTH WE CANNOT FALSIFY Now so many seek to distort, misrepresent, and destroy the truth about hell. Some treat it as a joke and poke fun at it. Still others feel that hell is not consistent wth the thought of a loving God! A Gallop Poll showed that most Europeans believed in Heaven but not in Hell. In 1989 a Gallop Poll taken in Great Britain for the Sunday Telegraph revealed that no more than 24% of those questioned believed in Hell! People block hell from their minds hoping it is not true. They don't want to give up their ungodly and immoral way of living! They do want to release the reins of their heart to the Lord. They try to block the reality of hell. But (1) Yet... the truth of Hell: (a) IS DENIED IN THE WORLD OF MEN: (1) THE ANNIHILATIONIST DENIES THE TRUTH OF HELL: He say that when you and I die we simply cease to exist, like an animal... a dog or cat. He takes ( Ezek 18:4) where it says, " the soul that sinneth it shall die." He says that means the soul ceases to exit. But the Bible teaches that eternal death is not ceasing to exist, its seperation from God eternally. The annihilationiat ignores this passage where Christ plainly declares there are two places of abode after death, heaven with Christ or hell without Christ. (1) (2) THE UNNIVERSALIST DENIES THE TRUTH OF HELL: This is the devil-inspired theory that all people will be saved. Such a teaching literally cuts the nerve of evangelistic fervency. My... if the devil can convince us that there is no hell, we'll have no concern about the destiny of our husband or wife. We won't care of our children do not receive the Lord Jesus. We'll simply go on as if it does not matter. My... do you believe that hell is real? Oh, we give mental assent to the doctrine, but emotionally, spiritually, if we really believe in hell, we would go to those who are lost and share Christ with them and warn them with tears in our eyes. (1) (2) (3) THE SENTIMENTALIST DENIES THE TRUTH OF HELL: He says: " I believe in a God of love. I don't believe that God would send anyone to hell." And I tell you he is right. God sends nobody to hell. Indeed Peter says: " God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." ( 2 Pet 3:9) My... if one moment after death you find yourself in hell, don't blame God. God has gone to the very limits of His being to rescue you and to save you. He has given His own dear Son to save you. If you go to hell you will go because you have persisted to rebel against EVERY appeal that God has given you to turn to Christ. Yes, (1) (2) (3)

3 (4) THE RELIGIONIST DENIES THE TRUTH OF HELL: There is a heretical religion that has created a diabolical, mind-terrorizing doctrine of purgatory as a scheme to raise money and manipulate the minds of men. This false religion tells us that there is a purgatory, an intermediate state into which man goes after he dies. There he burns out the dross of his sin and eventually is released to heaven, or if we who are left here, pay enough money, we can buy him out of purgatory. What unscriptural nonsense for the Bible never says any such thing. My... (1) (2) (3) (4) Hell (a) But hell: (b) IS DECLARED IN THE WORD OF GOD: Do you believe the Bible this...? For Gods book is very clear in its language on hell. DAVID said: " The wicked shall be turned into hell." " Upon the wicked God shall rain snares, fire, brimstone and an horrible tempest." ( Ps 9:17 11:16 55:15) PAUL spoke of those " Vessels of wrath fitted for destruction." ( Rom 9:22) And with tears streaming down his face he writes about the enemies of the cross whose " end is destruction." ( Phil 3:8) What about the LORD JESUS? My... Christ would never have attempted to picture the sufferings of the lost unless he wished to impress upon his hearers the awfulness of living and dying without God. This Christ who spake as never man spake, time ( Jn 7:46) and again in His ministry spoke about hell. Christ spoke about the danger of hell-fire. He cried to the Pharisee's, " Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell." The Saviour spoke about the place where there would be " weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth." ( Matt 5:22 13:42 23:33 25:51 25:30) My... (1) Do you believe in the reality, the certainty of hell? Do you believe that hell exists? My... Hell is as true as Heaven. As true as the fact that Christ died on the cross. Disbelieve hell, and you unscrew, unsettle, and unpin everything in Scripture. From " No hell, to no God," is but a series of steps. (1) But hell is: (2) A PLACE WE CANNOT MODIFY My... we can't tone down the terror of hell. Did you notice what the rich man in hell said to Abraham? " Then he said,... place of torment." ( 16:27-28) Ills: A few years ago a man brought forth his strong argument against the Bible declaring, " I am seventy years of age, and have never seen such as a place as hell, after all that has been said about it." His little grandson, of about seven years of age who was listening asked him, " Granda have you ever been dead yet?" My... immediately after this rich man died " in hell he lift up his eyes." ( 16:23) Indeed hell was such a place of terror the rich man wanted none of his family to come where he was! ( 16:28) Why? Because hell is a place: (a) OF UNBEARABLE PAIN:

4 The Lord Jesus who is the preacher here said that immediately after this rich man passed out of time into eternity, " in hell he lift up his eyes being in torments." ( 16:23) He saw, felt, cried, pleaded, remembered, heard, he was awake alright in the flames of hell! The Bible uses different words and terms to describe hell. One word which is used over and over again is the word Fire! The Lord Jesus spoke about the " fire... never quenched." ( Mk 9:47) John spoke about the " lake of fire." ( Rev 20:15) David spoke about " fire and brimstone." ( Ps 11:6) One of the words translated hell in the NT is the word " Gehenna," ( Matt 5:22 Mk 9:43) and it comes from a Greek word which means, " the son of Hinnom." It identifies a valley to the sought of Jerusalem where that wicked King Ahaz sacrificed his own children in the fires. ( 2 Chron 28:3 2 Kings 23:10 Jer 7:31) When Josiah the good King came to the throne he put a curse on that valley. ( 2 Kings 23:10) Later in Christ's day the city of Jerusalem's garbage dumb was located there! The bodies of the dead animals and the dead poor were cast into the valley of Gehenna. A caretaker there kept a continual fire burning, and as you approached the valley you would see those ever burning flames! What a place hell is! A place of never ending torment and ever burning fire. My... would you think for a moment of what it must be like to have the body and soul in the flames of hell forever? Will this be your destiny? One moment after you die will you life up your eyes in hell in torments? (a) But its a place: (b) OF UNANSWERED PRAYER: Isn't it interesting to notice that the lost man in hell became a sudden believer in prayer. " And he cried and said father Abraham... flame." ( 16:24) This man who had all he wanted in life now wanted very little. Just a drop of water. Just a word from Lazarus to his five brothers but he got nothing he asked for. For hell is a place where the answer to every plea is no! (a) My... the Lord could not answer the prayer of this rich man because he prayed in the WRONG PLACE: to the WRONG PERSON: for the WRONG THINGS! My... unsaved... your prayers will go unheeded if you wait until you die to pray. The PLACE to pray is on EARTH: the TIME to pray is NOW and the THING to pray for is GODS SALVATION! My... don't wait to call on the name of the Lord! Call NOW! For the Bible says, " For whosoever... saved." ( Rom 10:13) (a) (b) (c) OF AN UNFORGETTABLE PAST: For did you notice Abraham's response, " Son remember." ( 16:26) Ills: A book came through our door the other morning it was entitled, " The Practical Way to a Better Memory," how to remember names: faces: dates: telephone numbers! My... in hell you won't be able to forget anything. Felix is in hell this... what do you think he's remembering? The day he trembled before Paul's preaching! ( Acts 24:25) Agrippa recalls the day when he said, " Almost thou..." ( Acts 26:28) Judas recalls the day when he betrayed our wonderful Lord for thirty pieces of silver. ( Matt 26:15) Listen: in hell you remember every message you heard: every service you attended: every Christian who spoke to you about your need of Christ!

5 My... what will you remember in hell? Will you recall your father sitting by your side and urging you to seek the Lord? Yes! Will you remember your mothers tears in hell as she pleaded with you to trust Christ? Yes! Will you recall this preacher urging you to " flee from the wrath to come?" Yes! Will you recall yourself laughing inwardly and saying " Sure there is no hell." Yes! For hell is a place of undiminished memory! 1.2. (3) A CHOICE WE CANNOT RATIFY My... will you choose to go to hell? Will you ratify your choice this... be rejecting the Saviour? Listen: if you choose to go to hell it will be in full knowledge of: (a) CHRIST'S FINISHED WORK: My... this is why the Lord Jesus came. To save you from hell! You see Christ climbed down that long ladder of humiliation, and when He came to earth, He lifted down that ladder and laid it upon His shoulder and came to the verge of hell and He lowered that ladder down into the depths of hell. He put his bare foot on the hottest coal in the furnace of fire. He endured the pain of hell, that you might enjoy the pleasure of heaven! He cried, " My God... Me." He felt the forsakeness of hell on Calvarys Cross, but thank God He cried, " it is finished," and he came forth from that pit bleeding and broken, scarred and marred but He came shouting, " Save them from going down to the pit for I have found a ransom." And in His hand He carried the ransom and the ransom was His precious blood! I tell you this... through the blood of Christ you can escape hell! Through that Cross there is pardon: through that Saviour there is life: through that Blood there is cleansing! But my... if you choose to go to hell it will be in full knowledge of (a) and... knowledge of (b) GOD'S FAITHFUL WORD: You can escape HELL? How? Well, Abraham says to this rich man " They have Moses and the prophets." ( 16:29) In other words they have the Word of God and the Scriptures contain all that we need to know in order to be saved! You see this Word declares a Saviour: A Saviour who came: who lived: who died for our sins: who rose again: a Saviour who is alive to save you from going to hell ( Heb 7:25) but this Word demands a Response: Do you know why the rich man was in hell? Not because he was rich, but because he had refused to REPENT! ( 16:30) Have you repented? Have you turned from your sin and placed your faith in Christ? If you have you'll never perish... never be in hell! Ills: An old man was walking to his church with his Bible under his arm one Sunday morning. He passed by three young skeptics and they decided to have some fun with him. " Where are you going old man?" one shouted, " I'm going to church," he answered quietly. " What is that under your arm?" " Its my Bible, Gods Word," answered the Christian. " Ah, old man," snarled one of the youth, " where is hell?" The old man paused, looked him in the eye and

6 said, " young man, hell is at the end of a Christless life." My... you life your life without Christ, and one moment after you die you'll find yourself in hell! Without Christ... hell is just a breath away: a heartbeat away: a step away: a split-second away. If you go to hell, its against all that Christ has done to save you. My... you don't have to be lost! Christ died that you might live and He calls you to come to Him! Will you come now?