to speak directly to the children
if I may for a few moments. We've been thinking in recent
weeks about some of the great truths that are taught to us
in the Bible. The Bible is God's Word and the
Bible teaches us what we are to believe concerning God and
concerning His work in this world. And it tells us lots of good
things which we are to give attention to and we are to believe. The Bible tells us, for example,
that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into the world
to save sinners. Sinners like you, and sinners
like me, because we are all sinners before a holy God. And when the
Lord Jesus Christ saves sinners, He gives them something called
everlasting life. And He promises them a home with
Him in heaven forevermore. Indeed, the Lord Jesus Christ
tells his people, those that he has saved and those who trust
in him, he tells them that they are not to worry and they have
not to be afraid. In John chapter 14, verse two,
we read there, in my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. and I will come again and receive
you to myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. The Father's house is heaven,
and the Lord Jesus Christ saves his people for heaven and to
live with him eternally. But the Bible also tells us that what sinners who trust in
Jesus are saved from is a place called hell. There is a place
called heaven where those who trust the Lord Jesus Christ will
go to. And there is a place called hell
where those who do not trust the Lord Jesus Christ will go
to. One is a place of everlasting
life and happiness, and one is a place of everlasting death
and sorrow. I want to read you some verses
from Luke chapter 16. Turn with me in your Bibles,
certainly the adults, the parents, and follow along with your finger
as we read a few verses from Luke chapter 16. I want to read
verse 19. Luke chapter 16 and verse 19. 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. That's another word for heaven,
carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died
and was buried. And in hell he lifted up his
eyes, being in torment, 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 would 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 saith 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. This passage is a very solemn
passage. and it tells us about everlasting
life in heaven and about everlasting suffering in hell. Heaven is a place of comfort
and peace and hell is a place of suffering and torment. and the souls of men and women
and the souls of boys and girls at death go to one of these two
places. We will all spend eternity in
heaven or hell with Christ or separated from Christ. With God in a place of comfort
or without God in a place of separation. And there is a great
gulf fixed, a huge space, and no one can pass between. Our destinies are settled here
upon earth. This man that we read about in
this passage from Luke, he learned too late that there was no mercy
to be found in hell, no relief to be had. This man asks if Lazarus could
be sent to warn his brothers not to come to this terrible
place and Abraham as he is here presented says If they hear not
Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though
one rose from the dead. Of course, we know that the Lord
Jesus Christ did indeed rise from the dead. And he warns us
today to hear the gospel, and to obey his word. He warns us
that there is a terrible judgment coming for those who have not
trusted in him. The fact that multitudes today
are totally unconcerned about their eternal soul's well-being
proves that Abraham's words were right. In John chapter six and
verse 36, the Lord Jesus Christ said this, ye also have seen
me and believe not. Every time the Lord Jesus Christ
is lifted up in the preaching of the gospel, men and women
have the opportunity of seeing him. And yet men and women will
not believe and they will not trust in him. Someone might say, don't frighten
the children with talk about hell. I would say, would to God
we were all afraid of passing unprepared into eternity. May we all flee to Christ to escape the wrath
that is to come. The Bible says, what shall it
profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his
own soul? This is life eternal, that they
might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou
hast sent. How do we know God? By hearing
the gospel, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, by trusting in
the power of Jesus to save us and the promises that our Saviour
has made. There's a little verse which
we sometimes sing and it says this, trust and obey for there's
no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. And I hope that we will all have
ears to hear this morning about a heaven that is to be gained
and a hell that is a place of separation and judgment. And
may the Lord teach us to trust him and to obey. Amen.