The Reality of Hell

Q: What does the Bible say about hell?

The Bible portrays hell as a place of real torment and separation from God, as seen in Luke 16:19-31. In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus provides a vivid account of the reality of hell through the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man, despite his earthly wealth and status, finds himself in a state of torment after death, while Lazarus, the poor beggar, is comforted in Abraham's bosom. This passage illustrates the eternal consequences of one's choices in life, emphasizing that all will face judgment after death (Hebrews 9:27). Furthermore, hell is depicted as a place where memory and desire persist, as the rich man remembers his life and desires comfort but is denied it forever, highlighting the finality and seriousness of God's judgment on unrepentant sin.

Q: How do we know the doctrine of hell is true?

The truth of hell is affirmed in Scripture, particularly in Jesus' teachings like those found in Luke 16. The doctrine of hell is rooted in the teachings of Jesus, who speaks more about hell than any other biblical figure. In Luke 16, the account of the rich man and Lazarus serves as a direct revelation from Jesus concerning the nature of eternal judgment. Furthermore, passages such as Matthew 10:28 emphasize that God has the authority to cast both body and soul into hell. The reality of hell is not merely conjecture; it is spoken of by Christ and affirmed throughout Scripture as a consequence of sin and rejection of God's mercy. Thus, the doctrine stands on divine authority and is integral to understanding God's justice and the importance of faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

Q: Why is belief in hell important for Christians?

Belief in hell underscores the seriousness of sin and the necessity of Christ's salvation. For Christians, belief in hell is crucial as it highlights the gravity of sin and the reality of judgment. The understanding that sinners face eternal separation from God serves as a powerful motivator for evangelism and a reminder of the urgency of faith in Christ. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus illustrates that those who do not turn to God will face dire consequences, reinforcing the importance of preaching the Gospel. Moreover, acknowledging hell encourages Christians to appreciate the grace that they have received in Christ, who bore the wrath of God for sin (Isaiah 53:5). Through understanding the reality of hell, believers are reminded to uphold the truth of the Gospel, as eternal destinies hang in the balance based on one’s response to the Word of God.

Q: What can we learn from the story of Lazarus and the rich man?

The story teaches about God's justice, the reality of eternal life, and the consequences of one's earthly choices. The account of Lazarus and the rich man brings forth vital theological truths. First, it illustrates that wealth and social status do not equate to God's favor; it is faith and repentance that are key (Ephesians 2:8-9). The rich man’s earthly riches could not save him, and his final destination was one of torment due to his unrepentant heart. In contrast, Lazarus, despite his suffering and poverty, was comforted after death, emphasizing the concept of divine justice and mercy. Secondly, it addresses the irreversible nature of one's eternal state—once judgment is passed, it cannot be changed. This reinforces the urgency for all to respond to the Gospel while they are still living, as death leads to judgment and determines one’s eternal standing before God.

Q: How does the reality of hell relate to the Gospel?

The reality of hell underscores the need for salvation through Jesus Christ, who bore our sins. The reality of hell is essential in understanding the full scope of the Gospel. It highlights the consequence of sin: eternal separation from God. The torments experienced by the rich man in hell serve as a stark reminder of what awaits those who do not embrace the mercy offered through Christ. By acknowledging hell, Christians can better appreciate the grace of God, who provided His Son as the ultimate sacrifice for sin (1 Peter 2:24). It emphasizes that Jesus took upon Himself the penalty for our transgressions, ensuring that all who believe in Him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Thus, recognizing the truth of hell motivates believers to actively share the Gospel, calling others to faith in Christ to avoid eternal condemnation.

Come back to Luke 16. Luke 16. The title of the message, The Reality of Hell. I find my subject this morning
to be very difficult. Very difficult. I've never preached
that I can remember from this portion of Scripture. I look back and I couldn't find
anything. But this has been on my mind
for weeks. And for weeks I've tried to find
something else. And I have. I've preached other
messages that I believe the Lord's given me. But this weekend, I
couldn't put two thoughts together other than this. And this is
probably the one message that has caused me to tremble that
I've never had another message do that. Putting together, studying
it, I've never had one to do this. When I'm dealing with the
subject I'm going to deal with this morning, it's real. It's very real. And we're not to ignore it. I
know what I wanted. I'd like to go to Isaiah 53.
I'd like to go healing that man at the temple. I'd like to be
able to do that this morning. But I think, and I know, that
being a faithful pastor, faithful steward of the Word of God, you
can't ignore these things. You can't pass over these things. are written for our learning. All of it. You know, you really get in trouble
when you start picking and choosing. I'm not at liberty to pick and
choose what I want to preach. I pray, and I do this, I pray
every week that the Lord will lay on my heart the message that
he would impress on my heart the message. I read and I pray. And I ask the Lord to impress
upon my heart the message. And this one is the one that
I felt impressed with, couldn't get away from. As I said, let's recognize that
our Lord is the one giving us this insight. You know, he didn't reveal this
to one of his disciples or one of the prophets of old, and they
gave it. Only he, and I believe this,
only he, the God of heaven and earth, only he can take and pull
that curtain back and let us look for a brief moment at what
goes on in that place and that it's real. And he's given this not just
to his disciples, he's given this to the Pharisees. The same
Pharisees that he gave the parable of the lost coin, the lost sheep,
the prodigal son, he's given them this. And this is not a
parable. This right here is not a parable.
This is something that's happening. This is real. Now, it's not my intention. Because
I've sat under preaching like this before, but it's not my
intention to try and scare someone into a profession. A profession by itself is not
salvation. I would just make you two-fold
a child of hell is what I'd do if I scared you into something
like that. It is the possession of Christ
that's salvation. Christ in you, the hope of glory. However, I do warn everyone. I should say this, the Lord warns
every one of us out of His Word. Now, two men, two men are presented
to us, two very real men. One was very rich. You know,
he's, like I said, he's talking to these Pharisees. This man
is, he's called a certain rich man. He is a very noble man in
his community. He's very well known. He's very,
no doubt, he's very well liked. And you'll see later, he's a
very religious man. I'll show you this in a little
bit. He's a very rich man. He's a very religious man. And
he's very well thought of, very highly thought of. And then we
have a poor man that no one wanted anything to do with. He was taken
and he was dropped off at this rich man's gate. He was laid,
it says, at the rich man's gate. And I tell you what, if we look
beyond the person, the actual person that laid him there, God
laid him there. God put that man, his child,
at that man's gate. One was very rich, one was very
poor. One was very healthy, one was very sick. Which one would you think was
God's child? Which one would you look at outwardly and say,
He has God's favor. He has God's favor. Well, now
listen. Don't make the mistake of thinking
that wealth is a sign of God's favor. Faith and repentance in the Lord
Jesus Christ are signs of God's favor, not what I possess or
don't possess. Do you believe? Do you believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ? That's evidence of God's favor.
It's not my possessions. My life consists not in the things
which I possess. And don't make the mistake of
thinking that poverty is a sign of God's disfavor. Christ became what? Poor. That we through his poverty might
be made rich. He became poor. He spent more
time with the poor. He said, you go tell John the
Baptist, the poor have the gospel priest to them. He identified
with the poor. And the reason being is that
all his children were poor. Spiritually, spiritually poor. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Now, if you notice, it says here
that there was a certain rich man He was clothed in purple
and fine linen and fared sumptuously, lavishly every day. And there was a certain beggar
named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores. And
he desired to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich
man's table and the dogs. Yes, this is God's child. This is God's son, one of his
children. The dogs came and licked his
sores. And it came to pass, the beggar
died, and he was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.
And the rich man also died and was buried. Now listen, both
men died. The rich man's riches. could
not keep him alive. God, it says in the scriptures,
is no respecter of persons. Those Pharisees were so impressed
with that noble man. God was not impressed with him.
God was not impressed with him. His riches couldn't keep him
alive. When it came time to die, he died, just like we will when
it comes to our time. But there's something I want
you to notice here. And it came to pass that the
beggar died. Who was that beggar? Who was he? What's his name? Do we know his name? It says
Lazarus. Do we know the rich man's name?
No. Everybody in town where he lived
knew it. God did not recognize his name. But Lazarus' name is recognized
because his name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. That
rich man is forgotten. His name is forgotten. When God cast him into hell,
he forgot him. He forgot him. God knows all His children. He teaches us in Scripture. He
knows all His children. He knows all His sheep by name. I know their name. I know their
name. They know my name. But the lost
who perish are forgotten. They're forgotten. Lazarus died. And here we're told, in verse
22, what happened to him when he died. I'm sure that very, very few
people took notice of his death. Very few people attended his
funeral. The poor have very few friends.
He's a beggar. He's not just poor. He's a beggar.
full of ulcerating sores all over his body. Nobody would attend
to him but the dogs. The dogs came and licked his
sores. But when he died, guess who attended
his funeral? The angels of God. The angels
of God attended that man's funeral. When that rich man died, he had
a big one. Everybody in town, all the dignitaries
came out to his funeral. The room was full, standing outside. But God wasn't there. Who would you rather be there?
God was not there. No angels were sent to bring
him home. It says the angels of God, there
in verse 22, and it came to pass that the beggar died and was
carried by the angels. Isn't that beautiful? Carried,
lifted up, transported by the angels into Abraham's
bosom, where Abraham is at. It goes on down to say there
that he was comforted. Scripture says to be absent from
the body is to be present with the Lord. As soon as he died, he went to
glory. His sores were gone. His suffering
was over. Look over in Revelation 14. In Revelation 14, look in verse 13. I heard a voice from heaven saying
unto me, Write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from
henceforth. Yea, saith the Holy Spirit, that
they may rest from their labors, And their works do follow them.
He's at rest. Comforted. Rest. Then we come to this rich man.
This noble, very noble man. Everyone thought so highly of
him. One whom everyone envied. Wanted to be friends with him.
The rich, it says, have many friends. It says he died and was buried.
In verse 23, he says, and in hell,
our Lord is opening this curtain, and he's allowing us to see what's
going on for a brief moment of time. In hell, he lifted up his
eyes, being in torment. Now, what can we learn from this?
These things were written for our Learning. What can we learn
from this? First of all, all die. All die. The rich, the poor, the young,
the old, the healthy and the unhealthy. All die. It says in Hebrews, it is appointed
unto man what is to die. After that, the judgment. Judgment
is a sure thing. God will bring everyone into
judgment. Secondly, he was in real torment. It says torment, plural. As his
sins were many, so his torments are many. He was in torment. Whatever that
entails, he was getting it. He was getting it. He learned,
and we learned from this, that God isn't just God, and He will
punish sin. When Christ was made to be sin,
His Son was made to be sin, He punished Him. And I assure you,
if He punished Him, He'll punish me if my sins remain on me. If they remain on me, I assure
you, he'll punish me. If he'll do that to his son,
what do you think he'll do to me? If my sins remain on me. Third thing, he was very much alive. This man, our Lord lets us see
this. He's very much alive. He lifted up his eyes, being
in torments, and he saw with his own eyes Abraham afar off. He said, Send Lazarus. Send Lazarus, that one who laid
at my gate, that one I despised. He envied him now, didn't he?
He envied Lazarus now. Before, he was like, What a mess! What a mess that man is! I imagine
a lot of people looked at him, especially the Pharisees, and
they said, well, he must have done something bad for being
such a mess. He said, Father Abraham, will
you send him and let him dip his finger in water and cool
the tip of my tongue. Go over to Matthew chapter 10. Look in verse 28, Matthew 10. And fear not them which kill
the body, but are not able to kill the soul. They can't touch
your soul. But rather fear Him, God, which
is able to destroy both soul and body. He's able to put both
soul and body in hell. I didn't write this
book. What I'm giving you this morning is not something, it's
not my opinion of what's going on. It's a revelation. It is
an actual revelation of what is going on in that place. It's
not pleasant, is it? Not pleasant. And then we see he was a very
religious man. No doubt he was a Jew. I believe
he was a Pharisee. He says, look in verse 24, And
he cried and said, Father Abraham. They said, the Pharisees said
to our Lord, we be not sinners. Abraham is our father. This man's a religious Jew. No
doubt a Pharisee. And he says, Father Abraham. First of all, he's calling on
the wrong person. Abraham can't save anybody. Abraham cannot have mercy on
anybody. He doesn't call on God, whose law he broke, whose justice
he offended. He doesn't call on him. He calls
on Abraham. They can't get past Abraham.
It's God who saves. Even in hell they call on Abraham. Oh, my soul. Abraham can't save
you. Something else we learn from
here. The pain is very real. The pain
is very real. And here is one, I believe, of
the greatest pains of all in that place. But Abraham said,
son remember, son remember, I do believe that one of the
greatest torments of that place is memory, memory. You think Pilate doesn't remember
trying to wash the blood off his hands? He said, I washed
his blood off my hands. No, you're not. No, you're not. You think Herod
doesn't remember beheading John the Baptist? You think they don't remember
slapping our Lord? Spitting in his face? Remember! How many are there who remember
the message that they heard week after week after week? How many
remember that? That's the torment. That's the torment. He said,
Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime, when
you were on this earth, you received thy good things. You lived sumptuously. You lived beyond imagination. Wealthy. You lived that way. You blessed yourself that way.
You didn't bless God with it. You lived that way. Likewise,
Lazarus, evil things, trials and troubles and heartaches. You know how tough it'd be to
lay at that gate in the rain? Yeah, it would be tough for me
to lay there with your sores and no ointment to put on it,
no medicine. You're poor. You're a beggar.
But now he's comforted. That's over. The trials and the heartaches,
the things that we go through now are for a little while. In a little while, they will
be over. And we will not suffer them no
more. He says God will wipe away all
tears, all pain, all suffering, be gone. But this man who had
pleasure in sin for a season, and we all know seasons are short. Now his sufferings are forever. And you know why they're forever?
Because he cannot satisfy God by his suffering. You and I can't
satisfy God by what we suffer. No, God's satisfied by what His
Son suffered. I'm going to end with that. I'm not going to end
with this. I'm going to end at the cross. I was writing this
out, working on this yesterday, and I thought, I'm not going
to end here. He said, thou will not leave my soul in hell. I'm
not going to leave us there either. I'm not going to leave this message
like that. It's hard enough to preach as
it is. But Lazarus is comforted. Now
he's comforted and you're tormented. And that's not going to change.
That's not going to change. He was told to remember his life
and how he was blessed and how Lazarus suffered. I'm telling you, one of the greatest
torments of that place is this. It's this. Son, remember. Remember that message you heard?
Last week, do you remember it? They do. They do. Something else we need to recognize
and learn from this. As he lived, as this man, this
rich man lived unjust, he died unjust, unjustified. Look over
in Revelation chapter 22. Revelation chapter 22. Look in verse 11. He that is unjust, let him be
unjust still. He which is filthy, let him be
filthy still. And he that is righteous, let
him be righteous still. And he that is holy, let him
be holy still. As death finds us, so are we. There is no change in death. Death does not change who we
are. He was unjust in this life. It
is unjust that life where he's at now. If you have been made righteous
in the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll be righteous there. You'll be
righteous here, you'll be righteous there. And then verse 27, notice something
else here. He remembered his father's house. He remembered his father's house.
He says, Father Abraham, I have five brothers. He remembered them. He knew them.
He didn't forget them. He remembered his father's house.
He remembered his five brothers were just like him. They're just
like me. And he said, Father Abraham, Would you send him, Lazarus?"
He knew that his five brethren knew Lazarus. When they came
over to visit, they had to pass by Lazarus very late at the gate. No doubt they'd go around and
they probably didn't look at him. Maybe now and then, maybe once
in a while, they'd throw him a crumb. Lazarus laid there at
the gate hoping to have some crumbs that fell from that man's
table. He wanted the scraps. He wanted the scraps. You know,
we, growing up on a farm, we never bought dog food. We didn't
buy dog food. We had a collie. And we fed him
the scraps from our table. There were nine of us. You'd
think there'd be a lot of scraps, but there really wasn't. But
we fed that dog nothing but our scraps. And that's all that beggar
wanted. Just like that Syrophoenician
woman. All she wanted was the scraps that fell from her master's
table. That's all he wanted. And they
knew him. They knew Lazarus. And he said,
send him back. Send him back, he said in verse
27. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, Father, that thou
would send him, Lazarus, to my father's house. For I have five
brethren, that he may testify to them, lest they also come
unto this place of torment." Go warn and send Lazarus back
to warn his brethren not to come here. He believed. He believed that if one rose
from the dead, he believed that if Lazarus, y'all knew Lazarus
died. The way it's written here, Lazarus
died before he did. Lazarus died, and the rich man
died. I don't know how long it was after that, but Lazarus died
first. And they come up one day, and
he's gone. He's asking, brother, where's
that man at? He died. Lazarus died. He's not going to be there no
more. He said, would you send him?
Because if one rises from the dead, especially Lazarus, If one rise from the dead, they
will believe. They will straighten up. They
will get right with God. Now you listen to this. One did rise from the dead. One
did. And not everyone believed. Not
everyone in this room believes. One did rise from the dead, the
Son of God. Do you believe Him? Miracles
don't save. A miracle of His grace, a work
of His grace in you does. But seeing a miracle? You can
go out to the Ashland Cemetery and every one of them can come
out of that grave and you'll be as lost as the day you were born. Because
it takes a mighty work of God to save a sinner. It takes the
Gospel. It takes a gospel. It takes believing
God. One did rise from the grave.
Do you believe? Do you? I'm going to tell you. Abraham gives the correct
answer. He gives the correct answer.
Verse 29. Abraham said to him, they have Moses and the prophets.
They have the Word of God. Brethren, we've got the Word
of God here. Do you believe it? We have the word of the living
God. We have the gospel message in
this book. Abraham said to him, they have
Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. Faith comes
by hearing, hearing by the word of God. And he said, no, no,
no. Let me tell you how it's done.
Here's a guy in hell trying to tell you how to do it. Isn't
that something? Isn't it like, do you ever talk
to someone that's religious but lost and you know it? They're
going to tell you exactly how it is, aren't they? Without using
the Word of God. They won't even use the Word
of God. He said, well, that's the way I think it is. You think
like a dead man. And he said, no, Father Abraham,
no! I'm telling you, if one rises
from the dead, they'll believe it. They'll believe Him. No,
they won't. They'll believe Christ. No, they won't. The only hope for
any sinner is in the Lord Jesus Christ,
His blood, His righteousness. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Death is real. Judgment's real. Eternity's real. Heaven's real.
Hell is real. Salvation in Jesus Christ is
real. Now, let me close. I want us
to go to another scene of a man who lifts up his eyes and torment
someone else who does this. But his death saves. His suffering saves. This rich
man, his sufferings can't satisfy God. He can't save his five brothers. He can't save himself. But there
is one whose sufferings that save. Look over in Matthew 27. He's suffering the same thing
this man is suffering. Matthew 27. Except he feels it
more acutely. No doubt. Matthew 27. Now from the 6th, in verse 45,
Matthew 27, 45. Now from the 6th hour there was
darkness over all the land until the 9th hour. The Scripture portrays
hell as outer darkness, eternal darkness. And here is the sun which shines. It is absolute
darkness. Our Lord, right here, is experiencing
the hail of God's wrath for my sins. And yours if you believe
the gospel. If we believe the gospel, He's
enduring right now, right there on the cross, He's enduring hell. About the ninth hour, Jesus cried
with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. That is
to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? My friend,
that's hell. To be forsaken of God. Turn over to Psalm 22. I'll close
here in Psalm 22. Here is the suffering of a man
whose suffering satisfies, whose death renders full satisfaction to
God's love. Verse 1, My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping? Me. You notice he's not calling
on Abraham, is he? Watch this one. He's calling
on God. He didn't say Father Abraham. Why are you so far from helping
me? Why are you so far from me? Why
have you forsaken me? Why have you left me? You're looking at the reason
why. I'm looking at the reason why. And why are you so far from the
words of my roaring? Why will you not hear me? I'll
tell you why. Because he's enduring hell. And
hell is to be forsaken of God. Not to be heard. No mercy. I mean, not even a hint of mercy.
The Scripture tells us that in that place, it's weeping. and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Is that right? Unleashed hatred. Unleashed hatred. Here it's restraint. The wrath of man shall praise
thee, and the rest, he said, thou shalt restrain. There it's
unrestrained. Forsaken. Have at it. Oh my God, he says, I cry in
the daytime, but you don't hear me. You don't answer me. And
in the night season, and I'm not silent. Look over in verse 14. I am poured
out like water. All my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax, it's melted in the midst of my bowels. My
strength is dried up like the pot shirt. And now listen, and
what? My tongue cleaveth to my jaws. He cried on the cross, I thirst. I thirst. That man in hell, said
Father Abraham, said Lazarus, and just let him dip his finger
in some water and cool the tip of my tongue. And here he says,
our Lord says, going through this same hell, my tongue cleavers to my jaws,
and thou hast brought me into the dust of death, real death. He experienced my hell. That's
what he experienced. Let me read it again to you. We can never read it too much. He hath bore our griefs, and
carried our sorrows. Yet we have seen him stricken,
spitting up, God-inflicted. But he was wounded. Now over
in my margin, the margin of my Bible, it says tormented. That
man said, I'm tormented in these flames. It says here, but he
was tormented for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes
we are healed. Verse 10, yet it pleased the
Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. Thou shalt make his soul an offering
for sin. He shall see his seed, he shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand." It won't happen if I die. It happened when he died
in my place. In my place. What's the difference? And I close. The rich man's death
could not satisfy God's law, could not satisfy God's justice.
He's getting what he deserves. But the sufferings and the death
of the Son of God The God-man satisfied God's law. He kept
God's law perfectly in his life. He knew no sin. And he became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. The law said
the soul that sinneth shall surely die. He became obedient to that
because I sinned. This soul sinned. This soul sinned. Christ took the hell of God's
wrath and he put it out. He said, I'm tormented in these
flames, that rich man said. Our Lord was tormented in them
also on that cross. But here's the difference. He
put the flames out. And where the fire burned once,
it will not burn again. I'll never forget that statement. It won't burn again. Christ is
burnt ground. You can stand there and not suffer
the wrath of God. He took the hell of God's wrath.
He put it out. The demand of the law had been
met. The rich man's death could not set aside. But I tell you
what, the Son of God's death did. It did. Now flee to Him. Look to Him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Flee to Christ. He's the only
one that can save. from the wrath to come. I hope
we learned something this morning. That was not an easy message
to preach. But it's so. Our Lord gave it. And we don't ignore what He gives.

The Reality of Hell

What does the Bible say about hell?

How do we know the doctrine of hell is true?

Why is belief in hell important for Christians?

What can we learn from the story of Lazarus and the rich man?

How does the reality of hell relate to the Gospel?

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The Reality of Hell

What does the Bible say about hell?

How do we know the doctrine of hell is true?

Why is belief in hell important for Christians?

What can we learn from the story of Lazarus and the rich man?

How does the reality of hell relate to the Gospel?

Sermon Transcript

About John Chapman

Comments

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