"Hell: Eternal, Final, Terrible" - Luke 16:19-31 (7.12.15) - Pastor Jordan Rogers

heaven and hell are final they are immediate they are eternal forever in an instant you pass from this life to eternal life and your final destination is permanent Luke chapter 16 beginning there in verse 19 down through 31 as is evident from the reading of our text this is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus you remember that a parable is an earthly story with what a heavenly truth it's an earthly story with a heavenly truth that doesn't mean that every parable that we encounter only has one truth there are a number of truths that are displayed here in this parable now it is a heavenly story or a earthly story with a heavenly truth but it just so happens that this really is a heavenly story about heaven and hell and specifically this parable is meant to teach us about Hell this parable is meant to teach us about Hell this is a weighty text and it's meant to tell us this that hell is real it's final it's eternal and it is terrible hell is real final eternal and terrible let's look at our text there was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day it doesn't seem to be much there on the surface but we're gonna look at these words and we're going to glean what there is to be gleaned out of those best that we can says that there was a rich man and it would seem that Jesus saying there was a rich man it's almost a bit of an understatement it's a bit of an understatement because he said that this rich man was clothed in purple and fine linen purple his word porphyra porphyra it actually tells us quite a bit about this man you see purple dye in those days was extremely hard to come by and actually they got their purple dye from a sea snail a sea snail not just any kind of sea snail a predatory sea snail that's a crazy kind of snail isn't it a predatory sea snail it's a mere X you can look that at mu re X and this sea snail it's out this dye essentially and there's a long process where they gather all these sea snails together and they break them down and they extract the dye and this purple dye these purple clothes actually indicated something very important very significant about this man purple was the color of royalty you remember that when Jesus was crucified and they mocked him as King of the Jews what color cloak did they wrap him in purple that was some expensive mockery eternally and literally financially because purple was a very expensive color to come by I read one man who said that it would take 12,000 of these sea snails to produce enough dye to color one cloak 12,000 of these sea snails that's supply and demand for you and then you're talking about a very very expensive dye we're talking about not just rich people can buy purple you have to be the wealthy of the wealthiest you have to be the elite of the elite in fact in ancient Rome and in ancient Greece there were what was called sumptuary laws sumptuary laws and you'll see that word sumptuously here in a minute they essentially means luxury living in luxury living in lavish wealth and these sumptuary laws would actually prevent people from wearing purple only the richest of the rich were legally allowed to wear purple in fact it's the color of royalty and if you were caught wearing purple and you were not legally justified to do so you would experienced all the legal pains that came along with that because nobody is to have the kind of status that I have wearing purple see this purple is not only a status of wealth it's a symbol of power it's a symbol of authority it's symbol of royalty in this world money is power right money is power money is Authority money is the power to help people money is the power to hurt people money is a great great influencer in this world and for people who only see things in a worldly view money is everything and money is the most powerful this man is the elite of the elite he could help anybody he wanted to he could hurt anybody he wanted to he is wealthier than 99% of the people on the planet probably this man is extremely wealthy clothed his outer garments are purple look at what else it says he was clothed in purple and fine linen that word is Busan Busan it speaks of an undergarment that has been bleached white a flax undergarment that has been bleached white this is a garment that most people wouldn't even see this is his underwear okay this guy is clothed in the most expensive clothes on the outside so that everyone can see and he's so arrogant and filled up with his own pride that his undergarments are the most expensive garments you could possibly buy this man is not hurting one bit financially and he's going to show everybody how wealthy and powerful he is he's clothed in purple and fine linen and it says who feasted sumptuously every day again sumptuously means lavishly it almost has this braggadocious nature about it it's living in luxury so that everybody sees what I'm doing it's like the difference between just driving an expensive Mercedes and then just going ahead and getting that neon yellow Lamborghini that's what sumptuously is it's driving the most expensive car phone the most expensive party's showing everybody all my wealth all my power all my authority and it's interesting the way that Jesus characterizes this man because he says he feasted sumptuously every day that word feasted is a present participle verb meaning it continually happened it continually happened every single day he doubly emphasizes the fact that all this man did was party if you read it literally it says and who feasted continuously sumptuously every single day that's all this man did was party and it was seem that he very rarely ever even prayed some people party too much and pray too little this man seemed to not even pray at all feasted sumptuously every day starkly contrasted to this wealthy elite man who's not even given a name in this parable verse 20 says and at his gate you know you're wealthy when you own your own gate right and that his gate was laid circle that was laid and at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus covered with sores who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table and where they're covered is also a present perfect verb it had to come to its completed action its completed form this man Lazarus did not just have a few source he is covered from head to toe with sores you cannot look at Lazarus without seeing his decrepit condition this man is completely downtrodden he is a poor man he is a beggar and he was laid that verb is in the passive meaning somebody had to act upon Lazarus someone actually had to lift Lazarus up and lay down there he doesn't even have the strength to move himself Lazarus is helpful he was laid at this man's gay covered with sores and he desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table this rich man could have helped Lazarus couldn't he he wouldn't have even felt it financially to help Lazarus in fact the way that Jesus says this is incredible who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table again that's a present active part of participle what fell and it has this idea it has this idea that as this man partied constantly every single day that there was so much flute food flowing on his table that the crumbs continuously fell off it was present it was active it was always happening there was so much food on the table it was raining crumbs this rich man could have just taken a bucket taking an ounce of consideration taking a bucket set it under his table he'd have filled that bucket up in no time and he could have fed Lazarus for more than a week crumbs just flowing off this man's table it doesn't really seem like this man loved his neighbor as himself does it could have helped in fact Lazarus is laying at this man's gate as this man has guests coming on a daily basis as he's going to parties on a daily basis there is no way that he could have missed Lazarus laying in his driveway passes him every day he's poor he stinks he's diseased he's crippled he's just laying there helpless and you can imagine as the poor man is laying there in the rich man walks by or rides by or has carried by by servants you can imagine Lazarus with Lazarus with a choked up voice saying could you help just a drink of water just a morsel of food do you have any crumbs hell I don't have time for you I wish you just get out of my driveway you're really messing up the decor could have helped him and so what the Bible tells us to do isn't it love your neighbor as yourself in fact that's the second greatest commandment second only to the first which is love the Lord your God with all your heart mind soul and strength the second is like it love your neighbor as yourself if the rich man had loved God he would have helped aid God but because he did not love God all he thought about was his partying he had no love for his neighbor he had no care for any one else Lazarus is hopeless he's helpless laying there in this man's driveway could it get any worse for this man he's in constant suffering and constant pain there's some people in this room maybe you yourself or maybe even a family member are in constant pain constant suffering over something may be physical maybe spiritual maybe emotional maybe something that goes on in your family and sometimes you think it couldn't get any worse at all but then in verse 21 it says moreover but also as if it couldn't get any worse moreover that is the strongest adversative particle there in the Greek text it means stop and think about this for a second it means I'm about to say something that you really need to pay attention to moreover even the dogs came and licked his sores Wow as if Lazarus couldn't get any more humiliated now an unclean animal comes out of this man's home it would seem an unclean animal comes up to Lazarus as he lays there he doesn't even have the strength he doesn't even have the pop the power to shoo a dog away and the dogs come up in all of his humility and they lick his sores how depreciating how humiliating could Lazarus get any lower I don't think so I don't think so look at it the other way though when the dog gets hurt when a dog gets a sore dog gets a cut what does that dog do the dog sits and the dogs gonna begin to lick ass or if one of the dogs in the pack gets a sore the dogs gonna consume their own now they're not they're gonna stop as that dog lays there and they're gonna lick that other dog's source lick its wound give its own god-given salv on that wound you notice what's happened here these dogs have shown Lazarus more compassion than the human did isn't that amazing that sometimes animals act more compassionately than we do sometimes animals act more compassionately than we do this rich man is undone by his own animals the animals were taking better care of than Lazarus it doesn't say that they were limping around they were hurt or they were helpless he took better care of his dogs than he did Lazarus he has no love for God he has no love for his neighbor look at verse 22 and 23 the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side the rich man also died and was buried and in Hades being in torment he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side first thing I want you to see here is this death is no respecter of Finance's death is no respecter of wealth it's no respecter of status it's no respecter of possessions no matter how much we have or how little we have we will be parted from it some people think about that and they say thank you Lord for separating me from this earth because that person doesn't hold on to this earth as if it was everything other people say don't separate me from my wealth I don't want to leave here I don't want to leave all my security I don't want to leave everything I have rich or poor death comes for us all it's no respecter of wealth it's no respecter of status or position the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side it's obvious from the text that Lazarus was a man of faith Lazarus suffered well Lazarus suffered in faith his life never improved this sure is a kick in the pants to the prosperity gospel isn't it Lazarus who's got dogs licking his sores and he can't even get a crumb off the table ends up in heaven I guess he did believe enough the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side if suffering in something you're going through something very difficult I want you to do what Lazarus did and I want you to suffer well suffer in faith trusting in the Lord never complaining to the Lord just saying Lord you are all I have you can imagine that's what Lazarus must have prayed there laying in the driveway god I have nothing in this world apart from you I can't move myself I can't feed myself I can't help myself but Lord everything that I have the very little that I had Lord it's all yours you are everything and I cannot wait to be separated from this body and to be present with you Lord you're everything that I have everything that I need and I want you to see that people who died in Christ are not only safe but they are honored they're not only safe but they are honored the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side you can imagine when this man died the rich man had no thought about it other than okay finally get that dead guy off my driveway okay maybe nobody even paid attention maybe the servants just came and got him and moved him and nobody in this world cared that Lazarus died not so in heaven everyone in heaven knew that Lazarus died every single one of them knew that Lazarus had died in fact God's it a heavenly convoy to get Lazarus soul knows who are unimportant to people on the earth are not unimportant to God folks God sends a heavenly convoy to usher to escort Lazarus soul there to heaven honored in heaven rejected by men but honored there in heaven the rich man also died and was buried and in Hades are in hell being in torment that's another present active participle literally it means he existed in torment except Jesus goes a little bit further because that word torment is actually in the plural in the Greek it says that he existed permanently in torments not just one torment multiple torments forever Jesus expresses this in the most dire consequences possible this man is experiencing torment too it's utter most so much so that you just have to say it in the plural here he is existing in torments and he lifted up his eyes and he saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side one of the things that this text teaches us about Hell is that people who spend eternity in Hell are very aware that they missed their opportunity to go to heaven forever they live in that regret that they missed their opportunity to go to heaven he looks up and he I'm not there he knows he doesn't go to sleep his soul doesn't dissipate no hell is eternal it's an eternal existence you don't go out of existence when you die I want you to notice something else as well that both of these people when they died their judgement was immediate they either went to heaven or they went to hell they did not go listen to me they did not go to purgatory that is the invention of men both of these men were judged immediately Hebrews chapter 9 says it is appointed for man wants to die and after that the judgment heaven and hell are final they are immediate they are eternal forever in an instant you pass from this life to eternal life and your final destination is permanent period there is no amount of prayer that's going to rescue somebody out of hell as we'll see here in just a second he's in torment he lifts his eyes up to Abraham and says have mercy on me if there's any good left for me show it to me now if there's anything left that I deserve notice he asks for mercy not grace grace is something we don't deserve she won a little mercy if there's anything left over for me I want that now please Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am in anguish in this flame you can imagine as he cries this to Abraham his voice is breaking his throat is parched his skin is flaking off from the heat and the dryness and the flame he says I am in anguish and all I want to ease my suffering is just one drop of water one drop of water has never satisfied my thirst it must be some serious hell down there too long for a drop of look at what it says though in verse 25 remember this man saying if there's anything left for me please give it to me verse 25 says but Abraham said child I imagined Abraham with a deep voice child remember that you and your life time received your good things and Lazarus and like man are bad things but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish Abraham says rich man you are getting everything you deserve you are getting retributive justice there is no mercy left over for you rich man you got all your goodness you received all the good things was what Abraham says you received it you set their new hoarded all that wealth to yourself you didn't share it with anybody you didn't love your neighbor as yourself you didn't use the things that God gave you in order to serve other people folks what has God given you whatever your answer to that question is the response is this are you using it to love other people whatever God has given you some people in this room he's given money to this parable teaches us that we ought to be loving people with that money other people in this room God hasn't given you money but he has given you talent he has given you ability he has given you a heart beat and hands and feet I think it's very interesting that it actually says in verse 20 and at his gate was laid a poor man that word ballo it literally means to cast to throw off to set down and it's also in the passive which means somebody acted upon Lazarus somebody who had the thought to say you know what I'm gonna find the richest person in town Lazarus and I'm gonna take you to his gate because if anybody can help you it's him he's got more than all of us combined and I'll go put you there it's somebody who didn't lack for humility the humble they're willing to touch Lazarus though he's covered with sores though he's unclean though he probably stinks to high heaven they pick him up and they ballo they cast him down there at the gate of the rich man I imagine that this person was probably a beggar themselves this person probably had no money to help Lazarus they were willing to touch an unclean man he was willing to help folks you may not have money to help people with but you do have effort you do have effort you could be a beggar you could be poor but you could still love people the way Lazarus friends loved him they tried everything that they could but this rich man had no care for anyone but himself and Abraham says now you get what you paid for now you get what's coming to you folks there will come a day where everyone will get justice from God everyone will get justice from God that is what judgment is there comes a day where God judges our actions we like to separate our faith from our actions and we like to say well I believe in God so that it comforts our hearts but don't look at my faith because the Bible says by grace you are saved through faith this is not of yourselves it's the free gift of God but the Bible also says you say you have faith show me your works look at what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 25 verse 41 through 46 then he will say to those on his left he's talking about the judgment in the end depart from me you cursed into the what kind of fire eternal fire everlasting eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels for I was hungry thirsty a stranger naked sick and in prison and truly I say to you as you did not do it to one of the least of these you did not do it to me look at the consequence Jesus gives there in Matthew 25 for not loving other people and these will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life why does the rich man go to hell in this parable he failed to obey the commands of God failed to obey the commands of God God does not separate what we say is faith from our actions for God what you believe is what you do what you believe is what you do and this man got everything that was coming to him and Lazarus in like manner it says in Lazarus in like manner verse 25 bad things but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish no matter what suffering no matter what hurt you go through in this life if your condition in this life never improves but your faith and your hope is in Jesus you will be comforted forever so suffer well don't lose heart don't lose faith any suffering any joy we experienced in this life is temporary but heaven and hell are real eternal final and either terrible or wonderful look at verse 26 Abraham says in 25 you got what's coming to you you're getting justice which man and not only that verse 26 and besides all this between us and you a great chasm an impassable valley that is a gorge so wide that there is no way to put a bridge across it between us and you a great chasm has been fixed in order that why why has God made a great chasm between heaven and hell he tells us in order that those who had passed from here to you may not be able and none may cross from there to us he says look even if we wanted to come help even if you deserved a little help we couldn't give it to you because God has made heaven and hell final destinations once you're there you are there there is no in-between where we can send some aid there is no offering you can give to the church to buy a loved one out of purgatory because that place does not exist there is heaven and there is hell they are final Abraham says there's a great chasm there's no way to undo this if the rich man had wanted mercy in heaven he should have pled for mercy on earth and if he wanted mercy in heaven he should have shown mercy on earth what we do in this life eternally matters verse 27 if you could have a conversation how insightful is this parable if you could have a conversation with someone who is burning in hell for eternity what would they say and he said then I beg you I plead with you Father to send him to my father's house for I have five brothers so that he may warn them lest they also come into this place of torment you notice what he asks Abraham he says do anything you can possibly do to evangelize my brothers they're going to hell unless somebody warns them they will spend eternity in hell could you send somebody with the gospel in fact could you go to the enth degree and do whatever is necessary to get them the gospel could you in fact resurrect Lazarus because your resurrect Lazarus and send him to my house to share the gospel with my brothers I don't want them to end up like me what is the eternal plead and beg of those who are burning in hell it's the same thing Jesus commanded us to do at the end of the Gospel of Matthew would you go into all the world and make disciples baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you that's the same thing that this man in Hell wants because he's experiencing that final eternal and terrible damnation he says would you go you have friends you have loved ones wouldn't you rather talk to them now than for them and for you to regret it later wouldn't you rather ask them to call for mercy now than to beg for it with no avail later wouldn't it be better to have that difficult conversation in this life than to know that they will be in anguish and torment forever would you love your neighbor as yourself but Abraham said look at verse 29 this is incredible but Abraham said they have Moses and the prophets let them hear them they have the Bible let them go eat their Bible is what Moses says look at 30 and he said no father he in hell he's still defiant no father Abraham but if someone goes to them from the dead they will repent see people in Hell know what it takes to get to heaven people in Hell know that they should have repented of their sins and surrendered their life to the lordship of Christ they know that full well is what this text tells us he says if they see somebody risen from the dead they'll repent all they need is a little bit of convincing all they need is a little bit of evidence the Bible is not enough for them the rich man says I think that this parable is actually loosely connected there with verse 17 of Luke 16 when Jesus says it's easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one jot of the law to fall Jesus says the Word of God is eternal and Abraham's gonna say the Word of God is also enough verse 31 and he said to him if they do not hear Moses and the prophets neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead God's Word is enough you know what this tells me about humanity what tells me about people it tells me this along with other passages in Scripture it tells me that people do not need to be convinced that there's a God and they're accountable to him all they have to do is perceive the world around them and they know it's too great to just pop into existence everybody knows that nothing doesn't just appear things don't just appear they have someone who starts them and someone who starts them is the authority over it you can look around the world and you can see the evidence all around you nobody in this world needs to be convinced that there's a God and that they are accountable to him and the Bible also tells me that nobody needs to be convinced that they have sinned against God Abraham says it's not a matter of convincing people it's not a matter of evidence because they could see somebody rise from the dead in fact we we know that Jesus rose from the dead they could see somebody rise from the dead but it's not proof that thereafter it's their hard heart that's why they won't repent they don't need to be convinced they just need to have a heart change they need to be a little more like Lazarus party a little less pray a lot more they need to be like Lazarus in that driveway laid down low humbled before God saying god you're all I have I place no hope in this life I place no hope in this wealth nor all I need for ever two parts of this invitation that I'll issue to you one is this Christian you may be a cultural Christian I don't I don't know it examine your own heart and understand this that many times we do like to separate we like to detach our faith from our works we like to say well I believe God I just haven't been living right when the Bible says if you believe God you will obey God if you believe God you'll love him with all your might and you'll love your neighbor as yourself God does not detach faith from works they are one in the same to him here's the question I'll issue to you does your life prove the faith that you possess or profess does your life prove the faith that you profess if you say you love God are you loving other people are you serving other people in his name the other question is this for that person who has never surrendered their life to the Lord you don't need to be convinced you already know there's a God you hear these words and they speak truth to your heart the Holy Spirit testifies to the truth of his word you know it's true the problem is not the evidence the problem is a heart heart so would you be like Lazarus this morning and lay yourself low and said God you are in fact all I need God as I hear these words and I hear that heaven is real final eternal and terrible Lord I don't want to be their Lord I want to be like Lazarus I want to be at your side forever

Channel: Dr. Jordan Neal Rogers

Views: 14,190

Rating: 4.5580111 out of 5

Keywords: Luke 16, Gospel Of Luke (Religious Text), rich, Rich Man And Lazarus (Deceased Person), Lazarus, dead, hell, heaven, Hell, eternal, eternity, died, death, burn, burning, gnashing, torment, demons, fire, punishment, final, terrible, Abraham, Jesus, Christ, Father, Spirit, Holy Spirit, Lord, Yahweh, Yahweh (Deity), Jehovah, Jehovah (Deity), Hillcrest, Baptist, Church, Hillcrest Baptist, Nederland, Texas, TX, Jordan, Rogers, Jordan Rogers

Id: XKrgsSwliOY

Length: 37min 6sec (2226 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 22 2015