I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to Luke 16. Luke chapter 16. I'm going to be dealing with
verses 19 to 31. The subject that I deal with
today is one that I'm truly convinced is the message of the hour. I'm sure that I have been this
convinced before, but I don't think I've ever been any more
convinced that this is the message for right now. Over the last
three or four days, this passage has come back and back and back
It deals with something that is so gravely heavy that I'm
serious. I scarcely can take a breath
when I realize what we're dealing with today. But listen to me. This was set forth by our Lord,
and He dealing with it gives us Or me as a preacher, all command
and authority to deal with it. And all of us who sit in this
congregation this morning reason to hear it. I said a moment ago, I'm going
to deal with the subject of an eyewitness account from hell. The Scripture sets forth, verse
19, Luke 16, 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 and the rich man also died and was buried." Here's one thing I know. A man
or a woman's financial or physical state in this world is no indication
of his standing before God. There are people that are extremely
wealthy and this world would consider them to be greatly blessed
of God. Not necessarily. I've read of,
in the scriptures, some that were extremely wealthy. Solomon, David, Abraham, a lot. And I'm telling you that wealth
is a great blessing if it be found in those given a heart
of understanding that they cannot and must not trust in Him. Finances are so fleeting. I mean
one day, one day, look at a lot. One day in the stock market can
wipe out everything that a man had. I thought he had. I trusted him. Physical conditions,
some of the greatest blessings. Mr. Spurgeon said that a great
blessing is health. He said a greater blessing is
sickness. I'm telling you, you learn a
great deal from sickness, don't you? Well, the scripture says that
this rich man had everything, had plenty of money, dressed
well, and he fared sumptuously. That is, he rejoiced in his luxury
every day. But this man is a fit picture
of those who trusted in themselves that they were rich before God
and having need of nothing. There was another man, his name
was Lazarus. The Lord doesn't say that this
was a parable. It may have been. I don't think
so. I think that this was an actual event. The Lord named
this certain man. This man the scripture says that
he was a beggar and he was completely covered with ulcers. These ulcers that were licked
by dogs. It may have been some of the
very few times that the man had any relief at all from the burning
or the itching. I don't know. But all I know
that this man was sick. And the Scripture says that he
was taken and laid which was laid. Obviously he didn't even
have the ability to move himself. Maybe he couldn't walk. But they
took and put him at a place where they thought maybe the rich man
might come out when he's done, you know, with his fine meal,
maybe throw some scraps out, maybe gave him some, I don't
know. I don't know. But this is where this man was
put in hopes that he might get something to eat, but Lazarus
was a picture also of the beggars made so by the grace of God in
this world, made to see their inability, made to see their
helplessness. Here's a great contrast between
these two men. One of them had everything, a
thought he did. seems to have nothing but misery
and sees himself as just a sojourner in this world, just passing through.
Not going to be here long. Misery. Heartache. The Scripture
says, Jeremiah 9, 23, 24, Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise
man glory in his wisdom, Neither let the mighty man glory in his
might, but let him that gloryeth this, that he understandeth and
knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness,
judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things
I delight, saith the Lord." Two men, one of them real rich, had
everything he thought that he could ever need, and then Lazarus. Well, the Scripture says, In
verse 22, it came to pass, and it always does, that the beggar
died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich
man also died and was buried. Now here's how Lazarus died. The scripture says he died in
the faith. He died in glorious victory in
Christ. He was more than a conqueror
through Him that loved Him and gave Himself for Him. He died
believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and the Scriptures set forth
And I'm going to say something right here. I read something
about this of accounts where people, and I don't know, I don't
know what to say about this, but I can tell you this, this
passage seems to indicate the validity of this. I know when
Stephen was getting ready to die, I know that Stephen saw
the Lord. I know he saw the Lord standing.
He said, I see the Son of Man. standing, ready to receive Him. I've read accounts where people
actually said, before they died, that they actually saw. They saw people, images, angels. And asked those that stood with
them, do you see those? Do you see them? And people said,
no, we don't see them. Well, I don't know what to tell
you about that, but I can tell you this. The scriptures set
forth that this beggar died and was carried by the angels into
Abraham's bosom. He went to heaven. That's what
Abraham's bosom sets forth. He went to glory. He went to
the very place that that A thief on the cross was promised by
the Lord. He said, today you're going to
be with me in paradise. It doesn't say anything about
him being buried. I don't know. Was he not even
worth burying? What, did they just carry him
off somewhere and put him in a ditch? I don't know. I don't
know. But I can tell you this, the
rich man also died and he was buried. I'm sure that there was
a lot of pomp. about it. He was probably a very respected
man in the community. I'm sure that he had a lot of
influence over a lot of folks. Maybe a lot of folks came and
probably hadn't seen him in a long time. They all came for the funeral,
you know, and paid their respects, you know, how we always do. Oh, I'm telling you, what a passage
of Scripture that we're able to enter in to the ultimate end
of two kinds of men, those that know God and those that don't. Well, the Scripture sets forth
something happened. In verse 23, this is what is
going on. From verses 23 to 31, there is
an account given by the Lord concerning a conversation that
took place between that rich man that died and Father Abraham. And the account that is given
by our Lord sets forth six things that I know for sure. I'm sure
there were many more. But six things that I've made
a note of concerning Something that this rich man learned after
he went to hell. It was too late. As far as I
know, to my knowledge, this is the only scripture that we learn
anything about the thoughts, the emotions of those that are
consigned to eternity in hell. And I pray that Almighty God
have mercy upon us today and teach all of us. I know He's able, Lord if you
will. I know this, God's going to save
His people, I know that. And He's going to save them through
the truth, I know that. And I want to be truthful. Six
things, now listen. If there's anything that we've
ever been sure of, this is it right here, this Word. Heaven
and earth is going to pass away. This place we're looking at right
here ain't going to stay. Everything you see or everything you don't
see in this world created by Almighty God is going to end. And God's going to make all things
new. But listen to me, if you've ever believed anything, for the
sake of our eternal soul. Let's believe what God has to
say. And whatever we do, just throw out everything that you've
ever thought might be so. Let God be true and let every
man be a liar. I'm a liar before God, liar by
nature. You are too. But God's true. God's true. Now listen, this
is what the Scripture has to say and this is the way it is. If we leave this world without
Christ, this is the way it's going to be. This is the way
it's going to be. I've got a member in my family
that made the statement to my son. He said, I don't even believe
that there is a hell. Well, let me tell you something.
Almighty God says there is. And this is what's going to happen
right here. The Scripture says in verse 23, concerning that
man that left this world without Christ, and in hell, he lift
up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and
Lazarus in his bosom. Now here's the first thing I
know. There is a hell. There is a hell. How often that we've been told,
I don't know if there's a heaven or hell, there is a hell. How do you know? God said there
is. God said there is. I think that there's a Washington
DC. I've never been there. Most people
that I know that have been there told me, they said, you don't
really miss anything. I don't know for sure that there
is a Washington, D.C. I've seen pictures of it, but
I can tell you this, based on the authority of God's Word,
there is a hell. And it's right now. And it's
literal right now. There is a place of torment. So that's what I know first.
This man found out without a shadow of a doubt. There is a hell. Because the scripture says, in
hell he lift up his eyes. We have an immortal soul. And that immortal soul is going
to live forever. Now listen. Why does God not
just obliterate a man when he dies? Jeff, why didn't He just end
it? It's just nothing there. Why does it go on and on and
on? Why? Here's what the Scripture
says. When God formed man from the
dust of the ground, the Scripture says he breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life and man became a living soul. Animals don't have that. Plants
don't have that. Minerals don't have that. Bugs
don't have that. Man is a living soul. The scripture
says concerning the Lord, all souls are mine. As the soul of
the Father, so also the soul of the Son is mine. The soul
that sinneth, it shall die." Now, one of two things are going
to happen to every soul. Either that soul is going to
die under the judgment of Almighty God in a substitute in the Lord
Jesus Christ, or that soul is going to lift up his eyes out
of hell in judgment. Now, one of the two things is
going to happen. Well, here's the first thing I know. There
is a hell. Here's the second thing he learned.
Too late. In misery, the scripture says,
he lift up his eyes being in torments. A lot of times people
will make fun going to hell. They get mad at somebody and
they tell them to go there. You know, they just make fun of it.
I can remember, just a kid growing up, people say, I tell you what,
when I die I'm going to hell because that's where all my friends
are going to be. You know, that sounds real fun. We had a lot
of fun. Now we'll have a lot of fun.
Then, not according to God's Word, According to God's Word,
the Scripture says that it is a place of torments. Here's what the Scripture sets
forth, Mark 9, the Lord speaking, it is a place of fire that is
never quenched. Never. It's a place of outer
darkness. It's a place, according to Matthew
8, 12, of weeping, wailing, and the gnashing of teeth. That's all I can tell you. But
I can tell you that this man, as soon as he died, he lifted
up his eyes out of hell, being in torments. This condemned sinner,
while in this world, he saw no beauty in Christ. He was blind
to his need of a substitute. But now his eyes have been opened
too late. But now he sees that he was mistaken about what God had to say about
the Messiah. He was mistaken about God's judgment. He was mistaken about God's sovereignty. He was mistaken. He heard what
God had to say concerning him, not by works of righteousness.
God said it was not by works of righteousness. Yeah, but the
preacher told me that if I was baptized I could be saved. Well,
the preacher was a liar. Well, they told me that I had
a free will. Well, God said, that a man is
born not by the will of the flesh, not by blood, not by the will
of man, but of God. Well, I thought that they told
me, if I would be sincere and walk down the aisle and come
to the mourner's bench, I thought, I thought, I thought, yeah, but
they lied to you. And now this man, lifts up his
eyes out of hell, and he realizes, I made a big mistake. I made
a big, big mistake. The scripture says in verse 23,
he's in torments, and he seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus
in his bosom. You know what he believes now?
He believes that God's going to have mercy on whom God's going
to have mercy. He's going to have compassion on whom He'll
have compassion. And he knows now, I scoffed at
that. I sat and I sat and I sat and
I heard and I heard and I heard and I thought, there ain't no
way. And now he's separated from God.
And now he sees Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.
And now he's able to behold a myriad of redeemed souls that no man
can number. And here he is in hell. And he's
looking at them. He sees the redeemed. He's looking at them. Marvin,
can you make good on that? Hold your hand right there. Turn
back just a few pages to Luke 13. Now you listen to the words
of our Lord. I'm going to tell you something.
Will people in hell be able to look and see God Almighty with
the redeemed? The Lord said you will. Look
at Luke 13, 24-28. Strive to enter in at the straight
gate, for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in and shall
not be able. When once the master of the house
is risen up and has shut the door, and ye begin to stand without
him, to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. And he
shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are.
Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence,
and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you,
I know you not whence you are. Depart from Me, all you workers
of iniquity." Now listen to this, "...there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out." He said, you're going to see
it. You're going to be looking at it. Can you imagine? This
man, all of a sudden, let me tell you what God has to say
about what this man learned. He learned, first of all, there
is a hell. And he is in torments. And this man actually sees the
grace of God. Here's the third thing. This
man in hell discovered that the day of mercy He is no longer
there for him. Verse 24, he cried and he said,
Father Abraham, have mercy upon 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. Let me ask you something. Does the day of God's long suffering
ever come to an end for anybody? Well, let me ask you this. Tell
me what happened in the flood. Noah preached 120 years, didn't
he Neal? 120 years. While he was building an ark. 120 years. Know what he was saying? Judgment's coming. God's going
to judge this world. And God saw that the imagination
and thoughts of man were evil continually. 120 years. What happened in the
Red Sea? God sent 10 plagues telling Pharaoh,
judgment's coming. Judgment's coming. And he scoffed. And God Almighty was pleased
to leave Pharaoh to Himself. Did God owe Pharaoh anything? No, sir. No, sir. You said, why
would God do that? Who art thou, old man, that replies
against God? I'm just going to answer it the
way Scripture does, Frank. That's just the way it answers
it. Who are you? Why wouldn't God
do this? Who are you? Who am I? Why wouldn't God? God told Pharaoh,
judgment's coming. And Pharaoh followed the nation
of Israel into the Red Sea, and God ended it. Does God's day of provenience,
grace, mercy, does He ever? What happened to Sodom? I know
it's no big deal nowadays. Let me tell you something. Almighty
God is saying in every instance that ever happened in this world,
every hurricane, whatever, plagues, famines, whatever, God is speaking,
God is speaking, God is speaking. And God is telling this world,
judgment is coming, judgment is coming, judgment is coming.
This man realized that his day of mercy was no longer there. I tell you, he called and he
said, Father Abraham, would you let Lazarus come just dip his
finger in water and just cool my tongue? I'm tormented in this
flame. Let me say this, all I can tell you is that this
man's desire, I get a little thirsty every once in a while,
I just go over and get me, you know. a glass of water and I'll
get me a drink, you know. I mean, if I get thirsty, thirsty,
thirsty, I mean, I think I got to get me some water. I can tell
you that this man's natural desires of his body, I get thirsty, I
get hungry, I get tired, I get, you know, this man's natural
common cravings and needs of his body intensified. That's all I can tell you. This
man said, I am having slaking thirst. If you just let him dip
his finger, that's all I'm asking. Just put his finger in the water,
just touch my tongue. That's all I'm asking. The torments of those in hell,
according to these Scriptures, are unthinkable. And I know this,
even now, we see through a glass darkly. There's so much here
that I can't explain to you. Touching what I know, Carl. That's
all I'm doing. This man was in hell. He was
in torments. The thirst that he felt, it was
just driving him crazier. He said, if you just let Lazarus,
just touch my tongue with fingers he stuck down in water. Here's the fourth thing I know.
All in hell shall have a complete remembrance of their wasted life. Now this is something that is
so borne out to us time and time and time again. Listen to verse
25. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest
thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now.
He's comforted, and thou art tormented. In hell, according to this scripture,
a man's conscience, a man's remembrance, a man's recollection, however
you want to say it, is fully awakened. And he's going to remember All of it. He's going to remember
what he thought the pleasures of sin were. He's going to go
back and recollect. He's going to remember his attitude
toward Christ. I'm not going to have that man
rule over me. But let me tell you, and here is the fearful,
fearful, and I am as serious as I can be, It is a dangerous,
dangerous, unbelievably dangerous thing. Now listen, if you've
ever heard anything I've ever said, listen to what I'm about
to say. It is unbelievably dangerous to have heard the gospel of God's
grace and refuse it. I'm going to show you this. I'm
telling you. This is it. It is unspeakably dangerous. It would have been better for
a man, Pat, if he had never heard the gospel and died in unbelief. It would have been better for
him than somebody that has heard the truth and refused it. Somebody
would say, Marvin, you just... Those that have heard the gospel,
and find themselves to have refused it, rejected it, and find themselves
in hell, they're going to remember. You're going to remember every
gospel message you ever heard. Every time a man stood up and
proclaimed the gospel of God's free grace and mercy in Christ,
whenever the refuge of lies had been swept away And he realizes
now he has no hiding place. He has no place to run. There's
no covering. And he's brought to a never-ceasing
remembrance of his rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh,
what hatred there will be for that remembrance. He'll go through
eternity saying this, if I could just forget. If I could just cease to be... Look at Matthew 11. Matthew 11,
20-24. Listen to the words of our Lord.
Matthew 11, 20-24. Then began He to upbraid the
cities wherein most of His mighty works were done, because they
repented not. And remember this. When the Lord
did the mighty works, when He healed men, you know what He
was saying? In being confirmed by the miracles
and signs and wonders, the miracles that He performed, He was proclaiming. When He gave sight to the blind,
He was proclaiming the gospel, giving spiritual eyes to see,
gave ears to the deaf. When He gave life, to the legs
of the lame. He said, I'll cause you to walk
before God. He was preaching the gospel to
them. All these mighty works. And he said in verse 21, Woe
unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For
if the mighty works which were done in you, if the gospel that
was preached where you are, had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
They would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. You
ask yourself, why didn't the Lord send the gospel to Tyre
and Sidon? Because He wasn't pleased to. Well, why wouldn't He do that?
Because He wasn't pleased to. I don't understand. It's not for me or you to understand
it, it's for us to obey. He's the potter, we're the clay.
Who am I? Who are you? But I say unto you, it shall
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment
than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which are
exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell. For if
the mighty works which had been done in thee had been done in
Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto
you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the
day of judgment than for thee." Now listen to me. Listen. As
the Lord God is my witness according to His Word, to trifle with the hearing of
the gospel of God's grace. You would be better off to turn
your back on everything and everybody that disputes this Word. You'd
be better off to turn your back on them than you would to refuse
to believe this Word. You say, yeah, but my mom and
daddy, I'm going to tell you something. I'm telling you the
truth. If Almighty God says that this
is the way it is, this is the way it is. God Almighty, have
mercy on our souls if we reject this truth. Fifthly, the condemned
shall realize that his separation from God is forever. Verse 26,
and beside all this, Between us and you there's 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. God Almighty has set forth, in
fact, turn to 2 Thessalonians. I've got one more point and then
I'm done. 2 Thessalonians 1, 7-9. 2 Thessalonians 1. I mean 2 Thessalonians 1, verse
79. And to you which are troubled,
rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
with His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them
that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.
Here's what I know. Hell is forever. Now I can't
even enter into how long forever is. But I can tell you this, when
we would even think that it would end, it will never end. It will
never end. The torments will never end.
One thing I'm telling you for sure, I'm not trying to scare
anybody, because I couldn't even scare you in salvation. I wouldn't
even want to do that. But I want to be truthful concerning
what happens when a man or woman leaves this world without Christ.
Here's the last point. The condemned shall hear again that the gospel
is the power of God unto salvation. And they're going to be reminded
in the necessity of God sending a preacher to bear the message
of God's grace in Christ. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. You know that. How are they going
to hear without a preacher? And how are they going to preach
except they be sent? Now listen, I know If anybody's
listening, I know that there's, if you're listening to somebody
preaching a different gospel than what I'm preaching. Here's
what I'm preaching. Salvation is totally all of grace. It has nothing to do with what
you do. You say, well, if I believe I'll
be saved. No, if God saves you, you'll believe. That's the way
it is. Well, I have a free will. No,
you don't. No, you don't. God Almighty has
said you don't. If somebody is preaching something
other than what this book says, then one of us is lying. One
of us is lying, y'all. Now, this man said right here,
verse 27-31, he said, I pray thee, therefore, Father, that
thou wouldest send him, send Lazarus, To my Father's house
I have five brethren, that He may testify unto them, lest they
also come to this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They
have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them." I read this next verse of Scripture
this morning and I thought to myself, when will a man stop
arguing with God? When will a man stop arguing
with God? Let me tell you this, but for
the grace of God, never. The Lord just told him, he said,
no, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said,
no, no. No, Father Abraham, I think you
got it wrong. If one went unto them from the
dead, they will repent. Who are you? Who are you to tell
Father Abraham? No. They didn't believe when
Lazarus was raised from the dead. They didn't believe when the
Lord was raised from the dead, till God gave them life. They
still mocked Him, still scoffed at Him. The Lord said unto him,
if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be
persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ. I'm not ashamed of this. It is
the power of God unto salvation. Let the potters of the earth
strive with the potters of the earth. but woe unto that man
that strives with his maker. Lord have mercy on our souls
today for Christ's sake.