Let's turn tonight once again
in our Bibles to Luke chapter 16. Luke chapter 16, and we're going
to read these verses beginning in verse 19 again tonight. There was a certain rich man
which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously
every day. And there was a certain beggar
named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores and
desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's
table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked
his sores. And it came to pass that the
beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was
buried. And in hell he lift up his eyes
being in torments and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father
Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip
the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. for I am
tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember
that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things, and likewise
Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted, and
thou art tormented. And beside all this, between
us and you, there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which
would pass from hence to you cannot. Neither can they pass
to us that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore,
Father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house, for
I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they
also come into this place of torment. Abraham said unto him,
They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said,
Nay, Father Abraham, But if one went unto them from the dead,
they will repent. And he said unto him, if they
hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded,
though one rose from the dead. Last Sunday evening, we read
these verses and thought about Lazarus, what is said here about
Lazarus being carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. And I mentioned the fact that
for the Jews, Abraham's bosom, when we read here of Abraham's
bosom, it meant to them what we would call heaven. Heaven,
the place that the Lord Jesus Christ referred to as his father's
house. In my father's house are many
mansions. Heaven is also spoken of as a
city. Abraham sought a city which hath
foundations, whose builder and maker is God. When we think of
heaven as a city, we are reminded of the compactness, the closeness,
the unity of those who are in heaven and the presence of God.
Heaven is also spoken of as a country. a country. And when we think
about heaven as a country, we are reminded of the great number,
the multitudes who will be in heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ,
their Savior. We also see that the Lord Jesus
taught that not everyone who dies goes to heaven. Now, that's
a common saying, isn't it? When someone dies, people say,
well, they're in a better place. Well, that's not always true.
That's not always so. This man that our Lord mentioned
here, he, in hell, lift up his eyes. Now, remember this, that
death does not mean that a person cease to exist. All men, saved
and lost, we all have an immortal soul that will spend eternity
in one of these two places, either in heaven with the Lord or in
hell. The Lord Jesus Christ, he spoke
of everlasting life and he spoke of everlasting punishment. And
we always have to remember the word that is translated everlasting,
when he said everlasting life and everlasting punishment, it's
the same word. And for those who believe that
punishment is just for a certain time and then people will be
released, no, it's the same word. And if we say that hell is not
eternal, then we must also admit that eternal life is not eternal,
that everlasting life is not eternal. Same word is used by
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now tonight, I want us to think
about the torments. We read several times in this
passage of torments. In verse 23, we read, And in
hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments. Torments. The scriptures speak of hell,
and incidentally, the Lord Jesus Christ spoke about hell more
than anyone else. More than any other prophet or
writer of the scriptures, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is love
embodied, he spoke about hell more than anyone else in the
word of God. But the scriptures speak of hell
as a place of torments in at least these four ways. In these four ways, hell is described
as outer darkness. Outer darkness. It's described,
number two, as a bottomless pit. It is described, number three,
as a place of fire. And it is described, number four,
as a place of separation. So keep that in mind. Now, I'm
sure that we've all heard of what is called the Apostles'
Creed. And I would imagine all over
the United States today, and Protestant churches and other
churches, Reformed churches even, they quote the what they call
the Apostles' Creed. Every Sunday they repeat it. Now, no one who repeats it believes
that the Apostles wrote this creed. I don't think anyone would
believe that the apostles wrote this creed. We know it was written
probably in the fourth century A.D. So it wasn't written by
any of the apostles, but it has been given the name the Apostles'
Creed. Let me read it to us. I believe
in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his
only son, our Lord. who was conceived by the Holy
Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from
the dead. He ascended to heaven and is
seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there
he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the
Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and
the life everlasting. Amen. My wife was raised in a
church, a Lutheran church, and she tells me that every Sunday
they repeated this creed when she was a young girl. Now the
word Catholic, I want to point this out, the word Catholic in
that creed, the word Catholic period, means universal. So when
they say, I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, they're not
talking about the Roman Catholic Church. They're not confessing
to believe in the Roman Catholic Church. You know, that very name
is a contradiction. Roman Catholic Church. If it's
a church of Rome, it cannot be a Catholic Church. Because the
Catholic Church, the universal church, includes all of God's
elect, all that God has chosen and Christ has redeemed and the
Holy Spirit calls out. That's the Catholic Church, the
body of Christ, if you please. When Paul wrote the letter of
Romans, in fact, if you notice in the beginning, he addressed
it to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called saints. In the creed now, the holy catholic
or universal church is the body of Christ made up of all the
elect of God. Now, I bring this out to us for
this reason. There's one line in that creed. There's one line in this creed
that I could say with all the other lines and agree with, but
this one line only if we know what is meant. When we read,
he descended into hell. He did not mean, the scripture
does not teach that the Lord Jesus Christ descended into this
place of torment, this place where this rich man went, that
our Lord is mentioning here in this passage. Now, some teach,
you know, some teach that Christ did descend into this place of
torment, that he descended into hell. And they try to support
this by this passage, if you will, look with me in 1 Peter.
They try to support this teaching that the Lord Jesus Christ actually
went into this place of torment by what is written here by the
Apostle Peter in chapter 3, 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 18. For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit,
by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which
sometime were disobedient when once the longsuffering of God
waited in the days of Noah. But you notice there, Christ,
it is said that he went and preached by the Spirit. It doesn't say
that he went and preached. Notice that. The last part of
verse 18, but quicken by the Spirit, by which the antecedent
here is the Spirit. And when, here's the thing, when
did Christ, by His Spirit, preach unto those who, when Peter was
writing this letter, were now in hell, in prison. When did
he do that? In the days of Noah. It's very
clear. In the days of Noah, Christ,
by His Spirit, preached. Remember, the Bible tells us
that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. Now, he was laboring, building
that ark for 120 years, and during that time, He was preaching either by mouth
or just by building the ark. He was preaching, he was testifying
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ was in him by
his spirit, preaching to those people who, when Peter wrote
the letter, were now in hell. It doesn't teach that the Lord
Jesus Christ himself died and went into this place of torment. Now, we know this because when
the Lord Jesus Christ snatched a bran from the burning, that
thief that was crucified on the cross on one side of the Lord,
I said he snatched a bran from the burning, the Lord Jesus Christ
did, he saved that man in the last hours of both of their lives
here in this world, and what did he say to that man? Today,
thou shalt be with me in paradise. Now, since I preached the message
last Sunday evening, someone mentioned to me about a belief
of where paradise is or what that refers to. But turn with
me to 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Paradise is a place. Heaven is
a place, right? It's not just a state of being,
it's a place. Now the Apostle Paul here in
2 Corinthians chapter 12 gives a personal testimony of an experience
that he was granted. And if you will, notice in verse
two, he's speaking of himself in the third person. I knew a
man in Christ about 14 years ago. Then he says, whether in
the body I cannot tell, or whether out of the body I cannot tell,
God knoweth such an one caught up to, where? The third heaven,
the third heaven. But now notice in verse four,
he says, how that he was caught up into paradise, paradise, the
third heaven, heaven itself. Lord Jesus Christ told that man
that he saved that last day of his life in this world, today
thou shalt be with me in paradise, in heaven. Now his body lay in
the grave, we understand that. He lay in the grave, the body
did, until that third day when he came out of that grave. raised,
and his resurrection shows you and me tonight that he paid our
sin debt, that he was charged with the sins of his people,
and he bore them in his body, the scripture says, on the tree,
and he paid that debt. How do we know he paid that debt?
Because on the third day God raised him from the dead. He
was raised. Paul says, for our justification. Crucified for our sins, raised
for our justification. Now, hear me now. I do not believe,
I've said that, I do not believe that the Lord Jesus descended
into this place of torments that we read about here in this passage. But listen, I do believe that
upon the cross, in saving his people from the wrath of God,
He suffered the equivalent of the torments of hell for each
and every one of his people. In other words, for you, for
me. He suffered the equivalent of
eternity, not just three hours either, but he suffered the equivalent
of an eternity to save his people, you and I, from the wrath of
God. Now, I want us to look at these
four things that describe hell to us in the word of God. I mentioned
them. First, hell and outer darkness. How is that going to be? There's
much about hell I certainly cannot explain. I'm not called to. I
just preach what I find in the scripture and I believe it. How
it can be a place of fire and a place of darkness I don't need
to explain it. I believe it because the word
of God declares it. But I want you to look with me
concerning hell and outer darkness. Let's look to Luke chapter 23. And beginning with verse 33.
And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary,
there they crucified him and the malefactors, one on the right
hand and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do. And they parted his
raiment and cast lots, and the people stood beholding. And the
rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others,
let him save himself, if he be the Christ, the chosen of God.
The soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him
vinegar and saying, if thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And a superscription also was
written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew, this
is the king of the Jews, and one of the malefactors, which
were hanged, railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself
and us. But the other answering rebuked
him, saying, Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same
condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done
nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said
unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. Now notice this, and it was about
the sixth hour. That's noon, about noon. And there was a darkness. What'd
I say about hell? It's a place of outer darkness. The Lord Jesus Christ, for three
hours, while he was hanging upon the cross, suffered darkness. The whole world, the scripture
says, and the sun was darkened. The sixth hour, and there was
a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour, until the
three o'clock in the afternoon, between the evenings. And it
is, I just would mention this, it was at that particular time,
the evening sacrifice In the law of Moses, the law that God
gave to Israel, in which the gospel was pictured in types
and shadows, that evening sacrifice was always between the evenings
at this time, three o'clock in the afternoon. And that's when
the Lamb of God, those other lambs, how many hundreds, how
many thousands of lambs had died? Every morning a lamb, every evening
a lamb. And they were all pointing to
this lamb. But the point I'm making is the
darkness, the darkness. Now, it is true that the darkness
of hell that he saves his people from is an everlasting darkness. But remember that because of
his person, because of who he is and the infinite value of
his sacrifice, it is equivalent to an eternity. of darkness that
men who die lost are going to experience. You're here tonight
without Christ. If you don't trust Him, bow to
Him as your Lord and Savior. This is what you have to look
forward to. It's an awful thing. He saves
his people from the wrath to come, the scripture says, the
wrath of God. And part of that wrath is outer
darkness. Number two, hell and the bottomless
pit. I want you to look with me in
Psalm 69, just a moment. This is a prophecy concerning
our Savior, concerning Christ, Psalm 69. Verse one and two. Save me, O
God, for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep
mire where there's no standing. I am come into deep waters where
the floods overflow me. John Gill's comments here on
verse two, for the waters are come into my soul. He said, it's
like to that of a man standing up to his chin in water, and
the water's running into his mouth, just suffocating him,
and that is a merry place where he could not set his foot firm
and get himself out. Now, I'm sure that you, like
me, have been swimming maybe in a swimming pool or a lake
and the water is deep, you know, and you're trying to stand on
it and you just barely touch on your tiptoes, you know, trying
to keep your head above water. miry clay, a bottomless pit. And that's what the Lord Jesus
Christ experienced here, as if he were in miry clay trying to
hold his head up above the water, but sinking, sinking. And look
also in Psalm 40, if you will, Psalm 40. As we look at these things, help me out now. Think. Think of the wrath. Think of
what this is going to be like through all eternity in outer
darkness. And always feeling like you cannot
get your feet on firm ground. Always sinking as in a bottomless
pit. In Psalm 40, we have our Lord
here saying, I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined
unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of
an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a
rock and established my goings. A bottomless pit, a place where
you can't get your footing, miry clay, expresses the state and
condition of Christ, the condition that he was in at the time of
his crucifixion, his bloody sweat. Third, hell and everlasting fire. So we've got outer darkness,
a bottomless pit, and number three, everlasting fire. In these words that the Lord
spoke, You know, men try to argue, some men say it's a parable,
some men say it's not a parable, and if it was a parable, he wouldn't
have named names. Regardless of that, regardless,
he's teaching on hell, that is punishment, a place of torment,
where all unbelievers are going to go, and a place where Lazarus
went, where there's fullness of joy forevermore. But in his
words here, the rich man, we see this, he asked if Lazarus
could not dip the tip of his finger in water. Ever think about
how much water you could pull up if you just put the tip of
your finger in a bucket of water, how little water you're going
to draw up. But that's all he asked for,
just a tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. Cool my tongue. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ,
we know, experienced this on the cross. Remember one of the
seven saints, one of his seven saints from the cross? I thirst. I thirst. And Lamentations 4. Jeremiah, you know, he lived
before Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians. He lived
after it, but in Lamentations, he's speaking about the city. And in chapter four, the awful
condition in Jerusalem, he said, the tongue, the tongue of the
sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst. It's showing how awful things
were. Here's a small child and their tongue is cleaving to the
roof of its mouth for thirst, for thirst. And in Psalm 22,
in the prophecy of the Lord on the cross, he said, my strength
is dried up like a pot shirt. My tongue cleaveth to my jaws. That's going to be part of punishment,
the wrath of God. It's going to be an awful condition
if he could just dip his tip of his finger in water and place
it on my tongue. It's a place of torment. And
he mentioned that several times here, torment. And the last thing is separation. Hell is a place. Outer darkness,
bottomless pit, eternal burnings, and separation from God. Look with me, if you will, in
Mark chapter 15. Mark chapter 15 and verse 33. When the sixth hour was come,
there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And
at the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloah,
Eloah, lama, sabbat, tanya. which is being interpreted, my
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? I wrote down in my notes,
what man on this side of eternity can know or understand what we
just read? God, Luther one time said, God
forsaking God. We say he is a purerizer, the
scripture does, speaking of God, he is a purerizer than to behold
iniquity. And when his son, somehow, mysteriously,
I can't explain it, when his son, his darling son, the son
of his love, when he was made to be sin for his people, he
experienced that awful separation from God. that separation that
you and I deserve. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Who can describe what hell will
be to be eternally separated from God? We may see the penalty of sin
that the Lord Jesus saves his people from, He delivered us
from the wrath to come. We sang that hymn at the beginning
of the service. My God is able to deliver thee,
to deliver thee. That's what King, was it King
Darius asked Daniel when he came that morning and he had put Daniel
into the lion's den. Oh, Daniel, is our God able to
deliver thee? He was, wasn't he? He was. And our God, the God and Father
of the Lord Jesus Christ, through the work of His Son, He is able,
and He is, to deliver His people from this awful wrath which is
coming upon all unbelievers. You know, people get the idea,
sometimes they say, well, preacher, why don't you preach more on
hell? Preaching on hell has never caused anybody to seek the Lord.
Preaching on heaven, is it? No, it's preaching Christ and
him crucified that God uses in calling his people. But I do,
as a watchman, as a pastor, I do wish to warn and teach all of
us that hell's a real place. It's not just a booger man or
something like that to scare people with. No, hell is a real
place, and it is a place of torment. And the Lord Jesus Christ, he
experienced that torment to save us from it. May he be praised. Amen. All right, David, if you
will lead us in a hymn.