Verily, verily, I say unto you , He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. John 5:24
Consider that it is perhaps the most important question that anyone could be asked: what do you think will happen to you after you die? What is beyond the grave?
The Word of God is where we ought to go to get the answers to these questions, and I want us to go there now as we turn to Luke's gospel chapter 16. Now let me just say this: why should we listen to what the Bible says? Is this chapter in Luke's gospel, whether Jesus spoke it or Luke wrote it, is it any more authoritative than the opinions of the people that we have just listened to? Well, the answer is 'Yes', because this is God's word. The Bible as a whole is self-authenticating - what does that mean? Well, it proves itself to be the word of God. Let me give you one example: the prophecies that we find in it, hundreds of years before events took place. For instance, the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ was prophesied to be in Bethlehem. He was prophesied to be born of a virgin. We could go on: His death was prophesied - crucified, even before crucifixion was invented the prophet Isaiah and the Psalmist David spoke of how Jesus would be nailed to a cross. He would rise again, there are many other prophecies that were fulfilled, hundreds of years before Jesus lived. We can be sure that the Bible is the word of God, but also the words we're going to read tonight are from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ, one who never sinned, said a bad word, did a wrong deed, thought a wrong thought. No man could level anything against Him, and unless you're going to conclude tonight that He was a liar, or He was a lunatic, you've got to listen to what He's saying as He gives us a glimpse beyond the grave.
Let's begin reading at verse 19: "There was", Jesus says, "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: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, 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 receivedst 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 wouldest 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".
Jesus always deals in reality, and what you have before you tonight is very real indeed - but I wonder is that the way you see it?
People don't like that idea, but friend: you've got to face facts, there's a lot of things in life that we don't like but it doesn't make them unreal!
A woman once said to a preacher: 'I hate preaching on hell'. The preacher said: 'So do I! I hate the devil for making it necessary, but my hatred cannot argue either the devil or hell out of existence'. The Bible says, and this is an answer to the question many people ask, 'How could a God of love send people to hell?' - Jesus said that hell was created for the devil and his angels. Hell wasn't created for you, it wasn't created for me, it wasn't created for any human being. It was created for Satan and his angels that fell, but the fact of the matter is: we have gone our own way, we have not gone God's, and we have followed essentially the devil's way and sin, and because of that we will follow him into hell. People don't like that idea, but friend: you've got to face facts, there's a lot of things in life that we don't like but it doesn't make them unreal! No matter how much we detest them, it doesn't cause them to disappear. We don't like sickness, disease, we don't like death and sorrow, we don't like terror - I don't like the dentist, but he's real!
You see, that's not a judge as to whether something is factual not. The very fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God in flesh, told us that hell is real, and there is life beyond the grave, ought to be the best reason for sitting up and listening to what He's got to say - because effectively He gives us a telescope into the depths of hell. He's saying to you today: 'Look! Hear! Here it is for you, what is beyond the grave'. Now, don't misunderstand that what I'm doing today, or indeed what the Lord Jesus was doing was giving Him some gratuitous kick because He had a sadistic fascination with punishment, and hellfire and brimstone preachers are all the same. That is far from what Christ was doing and what I'm doing tonight. What He was doing, and what I'm doing, is seeking to give you an opportunity, out of love and compassion, to escape hell. He doesn't want you there. I don't want you there. The best thing that He can do and I can do is give you a glimpse of that place.
Just imagine for a moment today that the Lord Jesus is giving you a guided tour of hell, and there's a few things you need to know about before you choose your eternal destiny. The first He shows us is that there will be no class distinctions in hell. There was a rich man and a poor man, probably a religious prince, if you like, and a beggar. Two men, one poor, one rich; both died, one ended up in heaven, the other in hell. Now, of course, the great divide in life is that between rich and poor - but that is not the divide in death. It's not a religious divide, it's not a racial divide, it's a spiritual one. This rich man made the mistake of many in our world today. That's what the rich man did, he fed the things of time but he ignored spiritual things. He lived for time, not for eternity - and because of how he lived his life in time, it determined his destination. He was religious because Abraham, who of course was the great father of the Jews, patriarch in Israel, he called him 'his son', and the rich man called him 'father'. So, if you like, he was a member of a great faith, who worshipped the living and the true God - and yet it made no difference to his eternal destination. Many rich people in our world, many religious people in our world, are going to be surprised beyond the grave - I wonder will you?
Not only does Jesus tell us that there are no class distinctions in hell, He warns us that if we go there we will experience never-ending torments. Now please follow this with me. In verse 23 He says that this man in hell could see, he saw Abraham. Don't you think that when you die it's all darkness, this man had sight. In verse 24 we see that he spoke and asked for Lazarus to come and dip the tip of his finger in water and put it on his tongue. Then we see in verse 24 also that he experienced pain and thirst. So this is a place where the senses of the human body are active, this is a place where there is feeling. It is a tactile, physical, material place, although there is a spiritual element to it - but here's the whole point: these senses in the physical are being tormented! There is no mercy, the only mercy that is available is before the grave - that's what this is teaching us.
Here's this man, and all of a sudden his spiritual being is awakened! He realises: 'Here, I'm in hell now! I need to do something about it! I need to get out!' - but he realises his spiritual need too late. If he had realised the need on earth, he wouldn't have been there, but he wakens up in hell. Now listen, you can't point the finger at God and say, 'What kind of a God are You, sending a man like this to hell?'. This man had water when he was on the earth, and I'm not talking about physical water, but spiritual. Here in hell he's crying out for a drop of it, and yet Jesus had said: 'Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled'. He said to a sinful woman at a well in John 4, 'If you had asked of me I would have given you living water, and once you drank of that you would never thirst again'. In the book of Revelation, John the apostle says: 'Come, and you can drink, and you will never thirst! Come to the waters of life that are flowing freely for you!'. This man had plenty of opportunity, just like you do, just like most people do - but he had forgotten that.
This man had plenty of opportunity, just like you do, just like most people do - but he had forgotten that...
Now I know you're not in hell today - you might think you are, listening to me! - but I wonder have you forgotten the opportunities you have to get out of hell? Verse 25 says that Abraham had to remind him: 'Son, remember in your lifetime...', how easy we forget. We forget that Sunday School teacher that we had, we forget our Mum or Dad who taught us God's word and prayed with us, how we forget the teacher, the Scripture Union master or mistress, that tract, that Gospel Mission, that friend, that girlfriend, that loved one who told us about heaven and hell and Jesus and salvation. We forget! Well, there is coming a day when not only will we be able to see, and speak, and experience pain and thirst, but we will remember! Those memories will haunt us for all eternity, that we had an opportunity to escape this place, and yet we ended up there!
We will remember a lot of things - not just the opportunities, but perhaps we will remember our sins that took us there. They will repeat over and over, again and again, to torture and to torment us. Our lives will flash constantly before our eyes.
You can guarantee your eternity today by totally surrendering your life to Jesus Christ, and accepting Him as your Lord and Saviour. Then, find a bible believing church in your neighbourhood and start fellowshipping with them. We would be glad if you can write us. Our mail addresses are: christonear@yahoo.com, chrisogbebor@gmail.com
Consider that it is perhaps the most important question that anyone could be asked: what do you think will happen to you after you die? What is beyond the grave?
The Word of God is where we ought to go to get the answers to these questions, and I want us to go there now as we turn to Luke's gospel chapter 16. Now let me just say this: why should we listen to what the Bible says? Is this chapter in Luke's gospel, whether Jesus spoke it or Luke wrote it, is it any more authoritative than the opinions of the people that we have just listened to? Well, the answer is 'Yes', because this is God's word. The Bible as a whole is self-authenticating - what does that mean? Well, it proves itself to be the word of God. Let me give you one example: the prophecies that we find in it, hundreds of years before events took place. For instance, the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ was prophesied to be in Bethlehem. He was prophesied to be born of a virgin. We could go on: His death was prophesied - crucified, even before crucifixion was invented the prophet Isaiah and the Psalmist David spoke of how Jesus would be nailed to a cross. He would rise again, there are many other prophecies that were fulfilled, hundreds of years before Jesus lived. We can be sure that the Bible is the word of God, but also the words we're going to read tonight are from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ, one who never sinned, said a bad word, did a wrong deed, thought a wrong thought. No man could level anything against Him, and unless you're going to conclude tonight that He was a liar, or He was a lunatic, you've got to listen to what He's saying as He gives us a glimpse beyond the grave.
Let's begin reading at verse 19: "There was", Jesus says, "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: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, 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 receivedst 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 wouldest 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".
Jesus always deals in reality, and what you have before you tonight is very real indeed - but I wonder is that the way you see it?
People don't like that idea, but friend: you've got to face facts, there's a lot of things in life that we don't like but it doesn't make them unreal!
A woman once said to a preacher: 'I hate preaching on hell'. The preacher said: 'So do I! I hate the devil for making it necessary, but my hatred cannot argue either the devil or hell out of existence'. The Bible says, and this is an answer to the question many people ask, 'How could a God of love send people to hell?' - Jesus said that hell was created for the devil and his angels. Hell wasn't created for you, it wasn't created for me, it wasn't created for any human being. It was created for Satan and his angels that fell, but the fact of the matter is: we have gone our own way, we have not gone God's, and we have followed essentially the devil's way and sin, and because of that we will follow him into hell. People don't like that idea, but friend: you've got to face facts, there's a lot of things in life that we don't like but it doesn't make them unreal! No matter how much we detest them, it doesn't cause them to disappear. We don't like sickness, disease, we don't like death and sorrow, we don't like terror - I don't like the dentist, but he's real!
You see, that's not a judge as to whether something is factual not. The very fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God in flesh, told us that hell is real, and there is life beyond the grave, ought to be the best reason for sitting up and listening to what He's got to say - because effectively He gives us a telescope into the depths of hell. He's saying to you today: 'Look! Hear! Here it is for you, what is beyond the grave'. Now, don't misunderstand that what I'm doing today, or indeed what the Lord Jesus was doing was giving Him some gratuitous kick because He had a sadistic fascination with punishment, and hellfire and brimstone preachers are all the same. That is far from what Christ was doing and what I'm doing tonight. What He was doing, and what I'm doing, is seeking to give you an opportunity, out of love and compassion, to escape hell. He doesn't want you there. I don't want you there. The best thing that He can do and I can do is give you a glimpse of that place.
Just imagine for a moment today that the Lord Jesus is giving you a guided tour of hell, and there's a few things you need to know about before you choose your eternal destiny. The first He shows us is that there will be no class distinctions in hell. There was a rich man and a poor man, probably a religious prince, if you like, and a beggar. Two men, one poor, one rich; both died, one ended up in heaven, the other in hell. Now, of course, the great divide in life is that between rich and poor - but that is not the divide in death. It's not a religious divide, it's not a racial divide, it's a spiritual one. This rich man made the mistake of many in our world today. That's what the rich man did, he fed the things of time but he ignored spiritual things. He lived for time, not for eternity - and because of how he lived his life in time, it determined his destination. He was religious because Abraham, who of course was the great father of the Jews, patriarch in Israel, he called him 'his son', and the rich man called him 'father'. So, if you like, he was a member of a great faith, who worshipped the living and the true God - and yet it made no difference to his eternal destination. Many rich people in our world, many religious people in our world, are going to be surprised beyond the grave - I wonder will you?
Not only does Jesus tell us that there are no class distinctions in hell, He warns us that if we go there we will experience never-ending torments. Now please follow this with me. In verse 23 He says that this man in hell could see, he saw Abraham. Don't you think that when you die it's all darkness, this man had sight. In verse 24 we see that he spoke and asked for Lazarus to come and dip the tip of his finger in water and put it on his tongue. Then we see in verse 24 also that he experienced pain and thirst. So this is a place where the senses of the human body are active, this is a place where there is feeling. It is a tactile, physical, material place, although there is a spiritual element to it - but here's the whole point: these senses in the physical are being tormented! There is no mercy, the only mercy that is available is before the grave - that's what this is teaching us.
Here's this man, and all of a sudden his spiritual being is awakened! He realises: 'Here, I'm in hell now! I need to do something about it! I need to get out!' - but he realises his spiritual need too late. If he had realised the need on earth, he wouldn't have been there, but he wakens up in hell. Now listen, you can't point the finger at God and say, 'What kind of a God are You, sending a man like this to hell?'. This man had water when he was on the earth, and I'm not talking about physical water, but spiritual. Here in hell he's crying out for a drop of it, and yet Jesus had said: 'Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled'. He said to a sinful woman at a well in John 4, 'If you had asked of me I would have given you living water, and once you drank of that you would never thirst again'. In the book of Revelation, John the apostle says: 'Come, and you can drink, and you will never thirst! Come to the waters of life that are flowing freely for you!'. This man had plenty of opportunity, just like you do, just like most people do - but he had forgotten that.
This man had plenty of opportunity, just like you do, just like most people do - but he had forgotten that...
Now I know you're not in hell today - you might think you are, listening to me! - but I wonder have you forgotten the opportunities you have to get out of hell? Verse 25 says that Abraham had to remind him: 'Son, remember in your lifetime...', how easy we forget. We forget that Sunday School teacher that we had, we forget our Mum or Dad who taught us God's word and prayed with us, how we forget the teacher, the Scripture Union master or mistress, that tract, that Gospel Mission, that friend, that girlfriend, that loved one who told us about heaven and hell and Jesus and salvation. We forget! Well, there is coming a day when not only will we be able to see, and speak, and experience pain and thirst, but we will remember! Those memories will haunt us for all eternity, that we had an opportunity to escape this place, and yet we ended up there!
We will remember a lot of things - not just the opportunities, but perhaps we will remember our sins that took us there. They will repeat over and over, again and again, to torture and to torment us. Our lives will flash constantly before our eyes.
You can guarantee your eternity today by totally surrendering your life to Jesus Christ, and accepting Him as your Lord and Saviour. Then, find a bible believing church in your neighbourhood and start fellowshipping with them. We would be glad if you can write us. Our mail addresses are: christonear@yahoo.com, chrisogbebor@gmail.com
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