I want you to open your Bibles
with me this morning to the book of Luke. I'll be reading a passage
of scripture found in the 16th chapter of the book of Luke,
verse 22 and 23. Luke 16, 22. Now my message today
is on this subject, what the rich man discovered in hell. What the rich man discovered
in hell. Our master said, 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 lifted up his eyes. Now, if I understand
anything about today's religion, I would say that it's characterized
by four things. There are four things that characterize
today's modern religion. First of all, the Church has
left its first love. Our Master said, My house shall
be called an house of prayer, but you have made it a den of
thieves. You and I know that the Church
today is anything but a house of prayer. It's anything but
a house of praise and a house of worship. The Church today
is a social club. The Church today is a gymnasium.
or has been converted into a school or a cafeteria or an entertainment
center. It is anything but a house of
prayer. It is not a house of worship nor praise. The church
has left her first love and therefore her reason to exist. Secondly,
I would say that today's religion is characterized by this. The average pulpit is for promotion
today and not preaching. The prophet Amos wrote, Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord God, when I will send a famine
in the land, not a famine of bread or a thirst for water,
but of hearing the word of the Lord. Men shall wander from place
to place, from north to east, from sea to sea, to seek to hear
the word of God and shall not find it. I ask you today, where
is the preaching of the word of God? We have the finest buildings
that money can buy. We have the finest buildings
that architects can design. We have the most educated personnel
in the world. We have the best in music. But
where does a man go to hear the preaching of the Word of God?
The preaching of the gospel has been relegated to the scrap heap.
Everything else in the world today is done from the pulpit
except the one thing that Christ called us to do. He said, go
ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Paul wrote to young Timothy and
exhorted him to preach the word. I would say the third thing that
characterizes today's modern religion is this. The people
are spectators, not participators in worship, prayer, and praise.
The Scripture says, O come let us bow down, let us worship before
the Lord our God. Let us bow down, not let the
preacher bow down, not let the song leader bow down, let us
worship the Lord our God. And then he says every knee shall
bow, every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Most
church attenders today are spectators. They're watching from the pews
while professional religionists in choir, in special music, and
in the pulpit entertain them. Most religionists today pay someone
to study for them, to pray for them, and to somehow believe
for them. We're in the day of spectator
religion. And then I would say the fourth
thing, and this leads me to the heart of my message. The fourth
thing that characterizes today's religion is this. Today's religionists
believe a part of the Bible, the part he likes, the part that
appeals to him, and he puts a question mark on the rest of the scripture.
Now God said in his word, all scripture is given by inspiration
of God. That is, all scripture is God-breathed. Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. And Isaiah
said, if they speak not according to the word of God, it is because
there's no light in them. But men today believe the Bible,
they say. They mean by that that they believe
that part of the Bible which they like, and they reject the
part they do not like. Men today believe in grace, but
they certainly do not believe in sovereign grace. Yet our Lord
said, I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. It is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Jonah said salvation is of the
Lord. David said the salvation of the
righteous is of God and of him only. Men today believe in a
fall, but not a total fall. They believe in sin, but not
original sin. Men today believe in a Savior,
not an effectual savior. Jesus did a part, and our part
you know, sin left a crimson stain, but we washed it white
as snow. They do not believe in the operation
of grace, nor regeneration by grace, but they believe in cooperation
with grace. Men today believe in God, but
not the living God, not the almighty God, not the God of creation,
nor the God of scriptures. Men today believe in heaven,
but not in hell. Yet the scripture says no scripture
is of any private interpretation. What does that mean, preacher?
Well, it means this, that no verse of scripture can stand
alone or be separated from the rest of the Word of God. It all
must stand together. You mean to tell me that I have
to take all of the Word or none of it? That's exactly what I'm
telling you. No scripture is of any private interpretation.
No man can have one verse of scripture in Matthew and reject
another verse in Mark. No man can have one part of Hebrews
and turn down one part of Romans. No scripture can be interpreted
in the light of itself. It must be interpreted in the
light of all of God's Word. And then I'll say this also is
meant by that text. that no scripture is interpreted
by what we think, what we think it should say or what we think
it does say, but the scripture is interpreted in the light of
what God Almighty has revealed. Now, this scripture that I read
to you a moment ago, 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 lifted up his
eyes. This portion of God's Word has been ridiculed It has been
debated, it has been argued, it has been denied. Somebody
said, this scripture has been ridiculed by some, doubted by
many, and avoided by most. But it is the word of God. Not
only the word of God, it is the warning of our Lord Jesus Christ
himself. Listen to it again. The rich
man died and was buried and in hell He lifted up his eyes. Now, here we see an ordinary
death. We understand that. We're used
to that. This is something we're all acquainted
with, because all men die. Our friends have died, members
of our families have died, and we know that we too shall die.
For the Scripture has said, it's appointed unto men once to die,
and after that the judgment. So this is an ordinary death.
It says the rich man died. There's no problem there at all.
There's no discussion and no debate and no argument. This
is just another man, another son of Adam, another child of
flesh who has died. We're acquainted with it, we
understand it, and we agree with it. But listen, we go on. Here
is a burial. Well, we've been there many times.
We dig graves and we fill them with the dead bodies of men that
we have known. We have journeyed many times
out to the cemetery and stood by the open grave and watched
them lower a casket and then come back later and find that
the grave has been covered with dust, even planted with grass
and also flowers. So we know that men die and we
know that men are buried. They're buried in the ground.
They go back to the dust from which they came. But it says,
and in hell, and in hell, now here's our problem, and in hell
he lifted up his eyes. The Lord takes us beyond death,
beyond the grave. He takes us into hell. Our Lord opens up to us the revelations
of hell. He lets us see what the rich
man discovered in hell. Now I know this, the rich man
was certainly not a believer here on this earth. But he hadn't
been in hell there long until he became a believer. There are
no unbelievers in hell. Our Lord Jesus Christ said he
died and he was buried by his friends and family and mourned
over and grieved over, I'm sure. But then he takes us who believe
the scripture a step further and gives us a revelation of
what this man discovered in hell. The first thing I give you is
this. The rich man discovered in hell that death does not end
all. It says, and in hell he lifted
up his eyes. He died. He was buried, and it
doesn't say he died, he was buried, that's all. It says he died,
he was buried, and in hell he lifted up his eyes. You know,
I hear people speaking at funerals and at the bedside of folks who
have just died, and I hear comments like this. I hear people say,
here's a man who's been sick a long time, very old, very feeble,
and he'll die, and someone will look up and say, well, his troubles
are over. Well, perhaps his troubles aren't
over. Perhaps his troubles have just begun. But that's what they
say. Well, when he died, his troubles over. But the rich man
found out that his troubles weren't over. He discovered that death
is not the end. Death does not end all. I hear
people say this. Someone has just died and they
come and they say, well, he's better off now, isn't he? Well,
that depends. Not necessarily. He may not be
better off. This man was certainly not better
off. This man fared sumptuously. This man had all that his body
or heart could desire. But in hell, he had nothing but
suffering. So he wasn't better off. That
wouldn't have been true in his case, would it? And then I hear
people say, well, after someone has died, he's gone to his reward. Well, you may really be speaking
the truth there. He's gone to his reward, the
reward for evil, the reward for unbelief. The reward for rejecting
God's truth. The reward for disbelieving the
gospel. Yes, he's gone, all right. To
his reward. But what a solemn, serious time
it is. Someone else says, well, he's
at peace. And they put on the tombstone,
rest in peace. But my friend, there's no peace
in hell. There's no rest in hell. Men do not rest in peace who
go to hell. I ask this question that Job
asked. If a man die, shall he live again? The Word of God says
so. In Daniel 12, verse 2, it says,
those that sleep in the earth shall awake. Some to everlasting
life, some to shame and contempt. But they that sleep in the earth
shall awake. Isaiah said in chapter 26, verse
19, the dead shall live. The dead shall live again. Together
with my dead body shall they arise. John wrote this in chapter
5 verse 28, the hour cometh in which all, in which all, saved
and lost, believers and unbelievers, all, old and young, all shall
hear the voice of the Son of God and shall come forth. It
shall come to pass when all shall hear the voice of the Son of
God, all that are in the graves, and they shall come forth. Now
this man, like some of you, may not have believed in life beyond
the grave. Perhaps there are those listening to me who say,
well, I just don't believe in life beyond the grave. This fellow
didn't either. But when he awoke in hell, he
believed. He believed. He believed, but
too late to redeem the hour, too late to redeem the time,
too late to do anything about it. But the first thing that
the rich man discovered when he awoke in hell was that there's
life after death. The second thing that he discovered
when he awoke in hell was this. He discovered that Almighty God
will punish sin. Now the world says there is no
hell. The Universalist says there's
nobody going to hell. Some people say, well, God's
too good to send the man to hell. The Bible simply says the rich
man died and was buried and in hell. No argument. No explanation,
no logic, no picture, no debate. He's in hell. That's what God
said. The Bible very plainly states what it says. It says
in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. No
argument, no debate, no proof. Just stating facts. And here
it does not argue with you about hell. You say there is no hell.
God's too good to send a man to hell. Nobody goes to hell.
The Bible just says the rich man died. He was buried and in
hell. He found out in hell that God
punishes sin. The Holy God of heaven will deal
with sin, either on Calvary, in the person of his Son, Jesus
Christ, or in hell. God will punish sin. He says
he will in no wise clear the guilty. He says the soul that
sinneth, it shall die. He says the wages of sin is death. The holy God of heaven will deal
with sin, either on Calvary in the person of his son, or in
hell, body and soul, in the person of everyone who has despised
his grace. Adam discovered that God will
punish sin. He discovered it in Eden's garden. Pharaoh discovered
that God will punish sin. He discovered it in the Red Sea.
The world discovered that God will punish sin, they discovered
it in the flood. Sodom discovered that God will
punish sin, they found it out in the plains. Israel discovered
that God will punish sin, they learned it in the wilderness.
The rich man discovered that God will punish sin, he learned
it in hell. Now we can learn these truths
either from the Word of God or from experience. I'd much rather
learn them from the Word of God. We can learn these truths from
the gospel that is given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord, or
we can learn them under the lash of God's angry whip throughout
all eternity. This man discovered there's life
after death. He discovered that Almighty God
will punish sin. Now thirdly, he also discovered
that hell is a place. It is a place. It is not the
figment of some preacher's imagination. It is a place. It is not some
strange person's fictitious writings. It is a place. And it's a place
of eternal suffering. I know that preachers throughout
the years have made much of what they call literal fire in hell. It may be. I do not know. That's
not my subject today. I don't know whether there's
literal fire in hell or not. But this man discovered something
about hell that I say is worse than fire. First of all, he discovered
that hell is a place of suffering. He cried out, Father Abraham,
send Lazarus that he may dip his finger in water and touch
my tongue. I am tormented. I am tormented in this flame. Whatever the flame is, it was
a flame of torment. If it was from within or from
without, it was a time and a place of suffering, great suffering.
Secondly, he found out that hell was not only a place of suffering,
but a place of memory, memory which added to his grief. You
know, memory can be pleasant, but memory can be most unpleasant. And when this rich man cried,
Father Abraham sent Lazarus to minister to my needs, he said,
son, remember, remember that on the earth you had your good
things. Now you're tormented. Son, remember. I believe a man's going to remember
every ray of sunshine he ever saw. I believe he's going to
remember every drink of water he ever took. I believe he'll
remember every bite of precious food he ever ate. I believe he'll
remember every song, every pleasant, beautiful song he ever heard.
I believe he'll remember every verse of scripture he ever read,
every prayer that was ever offered in his behalf, every gospel sermon
he ever heard. He'll remember everything about
this earth. And that memory will be tormenting
to him. It'll add to his grief. It'll
be one of the sources of his greatest suffering to remember
that he despised the very things that could have delivered him
from his present agony. Memory. And then he discovered
that hell was a place where truth is realized too late. I said
earlier, there are no unbelievers in hell. I'm confident of that. There are no unbelievers in hell.
Everybody in hell knows there's a hell. Everybody in hell knows
that Jesus Christ is the only Savior from sin. Everybody in
hell knows God will punish sin. Everybody in hell knows that
Christ died on the cross to save sinners. Everybody in hell believes
every word of God's word now. This man said, Father Abraham,
I've got five brothers on the earth. Well, he wasn't concerned
about him when he was on the earth. Send Lazarus back to warn
my brothers. He wasn't concerned about the
warnings of men he heard while he was here. Send them back to
tell him about this awful place that they come not here. They
told him about that awful place, but he wouldn't listen to them.
Hell is a place where men finally learn the truth. Where they learn
it too late. Truth is realized. Truth is received
too late. And then hell is separation from
God. Judgment. Our Lord said, depart
from me. Depart from me. That's what he
said. That's the awful sound. Depart from me. It's not just
the punishment of hell or the agony of hell, it's separation
from God. God is love, no love in hell.
God is light, no light in hell. God is truth, no truth in hell.
God is peace, no peace in hell. God is rest, no rest in hell.
God is mercy, no mercy in hell. God is fellowship, no fellowship
in hell. All of these things that God
is, hell is not. It's separation from God. And
then he discovered that hell is forever. Abraham said, son,
between us and you, there's a great gulf fixed, and no one can pass
from you unto us, and no one can pass from us unto you. Let
that be remembered any time you hear a sermon on second chance
after death, purgatory, praying somebody out of hell, or any
subject on this, any sermon on this subject. Our Lord said,
the words of the master himself, as he spoke through Abraham,
between us and you, a great gulf fixed, a great separation. No one can pass from you unto
us, and no one can pass from us unto you. It's fixed. So he discovered that death does
not end all. There's life after death. He
discovered that God Almighty will, certainly will, and always
has punished sin. He discovered that hell is a
place an awful place of torment, a place of agonizing memory,
a place of separation from God, a place where truth is realized
too late. And hell is a place that a man
will abide forever and forever and forever and forever. And then he discovered this.
He discovered that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation.
And that message is delivered to men by the ministers of the
gospel through the word of God. So when Abraham told him this,
between us and you there's a great gulf fixed and no man can come
to us from you or go from us to you. He said, well, Father
Abraham, send Lazarus back from the dead. Send him back to earth. Raise him from the dead and send
him miraculously back to earth in a sensational way. And my brothers will listen to
him. And Abraham said, well, they have Moses and the prophets.
In other words, they have the Word of God. The Word of God's
preached where your brothers live. The Word of God's preached
on earth. The Word of God's proclaimed.
He said, nay, they won't hear the Word. They won't listen to
the preacher. But if one rose from the dead,
they'd listen, they'd believe, and they'd be saved. Abraham
said, if they won't hear the Word of God, if they won't hear
what God has said to them through His Word, they won't believe,
though one rose from the dead. If Lazarus had risen from the
tomb, what could he tell the people on this earth more than
God has told them in his word about death, and about judgment,
and about sin? If Lazarus came back to the earth
from the dead, you know what he'd preach? He'd preach that
man's a sinner. He'd preach that man's unable
to save himself. He'd preach that Jesus Christ
was sent into the world to save sinners of whom I'm chief. He
would preach that Christ died on that bloody cross to redeem
us from our sins. He would preach that he buried
and rose again as our escape, goat, and justifier. He would
preach that he's ascended to the right hand of God, where
he's our mediator and high priest. And we have the right and privilege
to come to God by Christ. He would say that Christ said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the
Father but by me. That's what Lazarus would say.
He couldn't tell you any more about sin than God tells you
in his Word. Not as much. He couldn't tell
you any more about death than what God has told you in His
Word. Men will die. They'll be buried and they'll
wake up in hell. That's what God says and that's what Lazarus
would say. Lazarus couldn't tell you any more about Christ than
the Word of God tells you. He didn't know any more about
Christ than the Word of God proclaims for that's where he got his information
from the Word of God. Sensationalism doesn't say you
could raise one from the dead or raise a dozen from the dead
and men will not believe. To prove that, our Lord rose
from the tomb. And they didn't believe him.
He came back from the grave and stood and preached to people,
and they still denied it. In fact, the Pharisees, when
they found out that Christ had risen from the tomb, they said
to the soldiers, now you tell everybody that his disciples
came and stole his body away, and if they give you any trouble,
we'll lie to the governor, we'll do whatever we can to cover up
We'll cover up this resurrection. We don't believe it, and we don't
want anybody else to believe it. He discovered that Christ
is the way of life. Sensationalism won't save. God
saves men by faith in Christ as they hear the Word of God.
Let me briefly give you two or three more things. This man discovered
in heaven. He discovered what shall it profit
a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul. I've preached
that to you. Other men have preached it to
you. He found it out. It's true. What shall profit
a man if he gain the world and lose his soul? He discovered
this. The wages of sin is death. He discovered it. He found it
out personally. He discovered this. It's a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of a living God without a mediator,
without a redeemer, without a high priest, without a blood atonement.
It's a fearful thing, a fearful thing to fall into the hands
of a living God. And then he discovered this,
the fashion of this world fadeth away. Now there's so many of
you who are listening to me, who are giving all of your time
and efforts and everything you have to the things of this earth.
This is where your affections are, this is where your concern
is, this is where your time is spent in the things of this earth.
You've got a family circle, you've got a nice home, you've got an
automobile, you've got a good job, you've got social circle,
you've got friends, you've got entertainment, you've got hobbies,
you've got all of these things. This is your life. You've got
no time for God, no time for His Word, no time for Christ,
no time to seek the Lord. Let me warn you. Remember now
thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come
not, No, the time draws near when you'll say, I wish I had,
I wish I had. That's what this man is saying.
He found out that the fashion of this world fadeth away. Naked
he came into this world and naked he went out. He found out that
the wages of sin is death. He found out it's a fearful thing
to fall into the hands of a living God.