Oct 29, 2000 Luke 16:19-31
¡§Go to Hell!¡¨
INTRODUCTION
A motorist was picked up unconscious after a crash, and was being carried to a nearby [gas] station. Upon opening his eyes, he began to kick and struggle frantically. Afterwards he explained that the first thing he saw was a "Shell" sign, and somebody was standing in front of the "S"!
In our society today, there seems to be some doubt about whether there actually is a hell or not. USA did a poll several years ago in which 67% of American adults said that they believe in a hell. But less than 25% believe they will go there, while 25% believe their friends will be there. (USA Today poll, 12/86) Frankly, folks, if there is no hell, and everyone is going to heaven or is going to simply cease to exist when they die, then we might as well close the doors of the church and all go home. You certainly wouldn¡¦t need to listen to me anymore. On an American troopship, the soldiers crowded around their chaplain asking, "Do you believe in hell?" "I do not." "Well, then will you please resign, for if there is no hell, we do not need you, and if there is a hell, we do not wish to be led astray."
Last week, I told you that the message this morning was going to be about hell. This will be the first time that I have ever spoken in any length about that place. As we talk about hell, my desire is to accomplish two things which I will illustrate with two stories. A minister had just given a sermon on hell. As a woman shook his hand at the door after the service, she said, "Reverend, I never knew what hell was really like until I heard you preach!" Some people might describe hell as a place where you have to listen to preachers like me for all eternity. That in itself might scare you into heaven. My attempt this morning will not be to give you hell on earth through making you listen to a boring or unmeaningful message. My attempt will be to describe hell in the way that the Bible describes it. I have a responsibility to warn you about what will happen to you or those you care about if they do not have Jesus as their Savior. In my hand, I hold a fire alarm. [use the test button to make it go off] It¡¦s an annoying sound, isn¡¦t it. It¡¦s that kind of sound that you just can¡¦t ignore or shut out. You have to deal with it. When you hear what hell is like, I hope that you will not shut it out. You may get annoyed with preachers telling you about hell, but just like the noise of this fire alarm, you will not be able to ignore it; you will have to deal with it. The hoped for result of this is that you will make sure that you are not going there.
The second thing that I wish to accomplish is illustrated by this story. A church was in need of a pastor. A candidate came who preached on hell. The next Sunday another candidate came whose sermon was also on hell, and his fundamental teaching was the same as that of the first one. When the members of the church were called upon to vote, they voted for the second candidate. When they were asked why, the answer was, "The first one spoke as if he were glad that people were going to hell, while the second seemed sorry for it." Whenever a preacher speaks on hell, the danger is that he will be so forceful and so passionate about the subject that it will sound as if he thinks he is God¡¦s agent of judgment on earth. The danger is that he will lose his compassion for people as he speaks about the justice and judgment of God. It is easy to get calloused toward unsaved people and say something like this: ¡§You don¡¦t want to listen to my warning and accept my Jesus, then you can just go to Hell! See if I care!¡¨ I don¡¦t want that to happen here, because I do care, and I want to deal with this with compassion and tenderness. And as we look at this passage, my desire is that when you see what the unsaved will go through in hell, that it will put such a motivation within you to win them to Christ that nothing will stop you from sharing Jesus with them.
Two questions that you need to ask yourself this morning. One, am I rescued from hell ¡V am I saved? And two, am I rescuing others from hell ¡V am I telling them about Jesus?
1. [your name] standing in society does not determine [your name] standing before God. (vs. 19-21)
Jesus begins His story by introducing us to the two main characters ¡V a rich man and Lazarus. It¡¦s interesting to me that Jesus tells us the name of the poor man but not of the rich man. In our society, it would be the other way around. The story would be called ¡§Bill Gates and the poor man¡¨. This tells me that Jesus operates from a different way of measuring worth and value than we do. He is not impressed by our position, our wealth or what we have accomplished. When people came to place their offerings at the temple, it was not the large contributors that impressed Jesus; it was the poor woman who gave her last few coins that impressed Jesus. He is impressed by a heart that is totally devoted to Him and a faith that places all its confidence in him.
As we look at Jesus description of these two men, the temptation is to think that Jesus likes poor people more than he likes rich people. Or there is the temptation to think that poor people are more spiritually minded than rich people. Being poor does not necessarily mean that you are good or on your way to heaven. There are probably a lot more poor people on their way to hell than there are rich people. The reason I say that is because most of the world¡¦s population is on their way to hell, and most of the world¡¦s population are poor. You can be an unforgiven sinner whether you are rich or poor. Jesus did say that it is easier for a rich man to go through the eye of a needle than it is for him to enter the gates of heaven. He didn¡¦t mean by that that God is somehow going to make the entrance exam into heaven easier for the poor man than he is for the rich man. The entrance requirement into heaven is the same regardless of your social standing. You have to take Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and place your faith in His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection as total and final payment for your sin. All men who are without Jesus are poor regardless of what material possessions they have on earth.
One of the reasons that Jesus made such a point of the rich man¡¦s rich was to point out that he was comfortable. He lived in luxury. He was satisfied in this life, and so he never really took any thought about the life hereafter. He was too busy partying to step back and think about what was going to happen to him when the party was over. Lazarus, in his poverty, had plenty of time to think about death. He knew that it might come at any moment, either through starvation or the disease which he carried. Are you too comfortable in this life? Have you taken time to consider the next and make preparations for it? God sometimes sends hardship into our lives to cause us to remember that there is much more than this life. We must not get too comfortable with our hammock in the shade, sipping on our lemonade.
There was another reason that Jesus pointed out the disparity between the two men. What should have been the rich man¡¦s reaction to Lazarus condition and his desire to ¡§eat what fell from the rich man¡¦s table¡¨? It should have been compassion. He had more than enough to give without it costing him anything. The dogs had more compassion than he did; at least they came and licked Lazarus sores which provided him at least a little bit of comfort. It was this man¡¦s lack of compassion which evidenced the fact that there had been no change in his heart. (1 John 3:17 NIV) If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity [no compassion] on him, how can the love of God be in him? It¡¦s easy for us to see that this rich man should have had compassion on Lazarus. It would have been the ¡§Christian thing to do.¡¨ But let me ask you Christians something? There are people who are poor spiritually right at the gate of this church or right down the street in your neighborhood. And here you are rich spiritually. You have the Bible, the love of God and the love of God¡¦s people. Do you have compassion for the people outside the gates? Are you willing to go to them and give them some of the leftovers from your spiritual meal? Are you willing to help soothe their wounds? This rich man didn¡¦t have compassion for Lazarus. He wasn¡¦t willing to step out of his world and step into the world of someone who needed his help. Does that describe you?
A fellow said to [a Christian] on the train one day, ¡§ . . . You Christians are always talking about a man going to hell because Adam sinned.¡¨ ¡§No,¡¨ I said, ¡§you will never go to hell because Adam sinned. You will go to hell because you refuse the remedy provided for Adam¡¦s sin. Don¡¦t you go crying about something that has been absolutely taken care of. If you do go to hell, you will go over the broken body of Jesus Christ who died to keep you out.¡¨ ¡V The Double Cure by Melvin E. Trotter as quoted in Knights Master Book of New Illustrations (p. 286) It was not the rich man¡¦s riches that kept him out of heaven. It was his refusal to turn to Jesus who could take away the spiritual debt which his sins had built up for him. It was not the poor man¡¦s poverty that gained him salvation from hell. It was his acceptance of the riches of the blood of Jesus Christ as payment for his sins.
2. [your name] is going to die, and so are my children, my neighbors, my co-workers, . . . (vs. 22)
Both men died. That¡¦s where the similarities between their destinations and how they met those destinations end. Lazarus expected death at any moment. He was not surprised when it came. In fact, he probably welcomed it. It was his way out of life of suffering. The rich man didn¡¦t expect death. Oh, he knew that it was going to happen one day. He just didn¡¦t think that it would be that day. He thought that maybe he would have a long drawn out sickness that would give him plenty of time to set things right in his life. But it didn¡¦t happen that way. I get the impression that it was kind of sudden. Maybe he fell off his horse while showing off for his guests. Or maybe he was the victim of a thief¡¦s knife. However it had happened, he had been too busy enjoying life and luxury to think about the day when it would all come to an end.
All of us know that the day of our death is coming. No matter how many medical advances we come up with, the death rate is still and will always be 100%. There is nothing you can do to change that. Some will die through old age, others through prolonged sicknesses, but some will die through sudden heart attacks or split-second accidents. (Heb 9:27 KJV) And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: Lazarus expected death like a man anticipates the arrival of a friend ¡V with joy and peace. The rich man greeted death the same way he would have greeted an unexpected thief ¡V fear and great loss.
Those who expect death make preparations for it. Lazarus was prepared; he was right with God. The rich man was unprepared. He wouldn¡¦t have thought about inviting guests over without making sure the menu was prepared. He wouldn¡¦t have considered going on a trip to his summer villa without making sure that every detail was in order. But when it came to death, he had just left it to fend for itself.
The young executive was starting out in a new company. The president made an appointment to have lunch with this young man in his first few days there as he did with all the up and coming executives. As they sat a lunch, the president asked what the young man¡¦s plans for the next step in his life were. The young man told of how he had graduated at the top of his class both from high school and from a major university where he had received his master¡¦s in finance and business and administration. The president responded, ¡§That¡¦s fine. What¡¦s next in your plans?¡¨ Young man, ¡§Now that I have a good job in your fine company, I can think about getting married.¡¨ Pres ¡V ¡§That¡¦s fine. What then?¡¨ Man ¡V ¡§I guess we¡¦ll have some kids, buy a house, and settle down in a good neighborhood.¡¨ Pres. ¡§That¡¦s fine. What then?¡¨ Man ¡V ¡§Well, I plan on moving up in the company and doing good work for you. Who knows, maybe when you retire, I¡¦ll become the president.¡¨ Pres. ¡V ¡§That¡¦s fine. What then?¡¨ Man ¡V ¡§I¡¦ll make lots of money, and then I¡¦ll retire so that I can spend time with the grandkids and travel with my wife all over the world.¡¨ Pres. ¡V ¡§That¡¦s fine. What then?¡¨ At this point the young executive was beginning to squirm a little bit. He didn¡¦t like the direction that this was headed in, but he continued to play along. Man ¡V ¡§I guess my wife and I will grow old together, and then we¡¦ll die.¡¨ Pres. ¡V ¡§That¡¦s fine. What then?¡¨ Lots of people have their whole lives mapped out before them of where they would like to be 10, 20, 50 years from now. But not very many have taken time to consider and prepare for where they will be 1,000,000 years from now. Have you? Are you prepared to face death?
The rich man and Lazarus differed in when they expected death, how they greeted death and the level of preparations that they made for death. They differed in one more way. They differed in their destination after death. Lazarus was gently carried by the angels to a place which is called ¡§Abraham¡¦s side¡¨ in the NIV and ¡§Abraham¡¦s bosom¡¨ in the KJV. The rich man¡¦s body was placed in the grave, and his soul went immediately to hell. I need to explain a little bit about these two places before we go any further. Before Jesus¡¦ death and resurrection, the saved dead went to a different place than they do now. Now, when you die, if you are saved, you go immediately to heaven. Before Jesus¡¦ resurrection, the saved went to a place which was known as ¡§Paradise¡¨ or ¡§Abraham¡¦s Bosom¡¨. As Jesus was on the cross, He said to the one thief, ¡§Today, you will be with me in Paradise.¡¨ When Jesus died, He went to this place and carried all of those there with Him to heaven. (Eph 4:8-10; 1 Peter 3:18-20) Those who died without expressing their faith in God, died and went to a place called ¡§Hades, or Hell¡¨. Still today, those who die without Christ, go to this same place. Eventually, once the final judgment occurs, God will cast Hades and all those dwelling there into the lake of fire where they will exist in torment for all eternity. (Rev 20:14-15 NIV) Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Hades is not purgatory like some would teach ¡V a place where you can go to pay for some of your sins and eventually be released from. Once you enter Hades, your doom is sealed. There is no escape.
3. [your name] will end up in one of two places. (vs. 23-26)
Let¡¦s describe them. There are all kinds of ideas out there concerning what hell and heaven might be like. One day when a man died, the Lord said to him, "Come, I will show you hell." He was taken to a room where a group of people sat around a huge pot of stew. Each held a spoon that reached the pot, but had a handle so long it couldn’t be used to reach their mouths. Everyone was famished and desperate; the suffering was terrible. After awhile the Lord said, "Come, now I will show you heaven." They came to another room. To the man’s surprise, it was identical to the first room --- a group of people sat around a huge pot of stew, and each held the same long-handled spoons. But here everyone was nourished and happy and the room was full of joy and laughter. "I don’t understand," said the man. "Everything is the same, yet they are so happy here, and they were so miserable in the other place. What’s going on?" The Lord smiled, "Ah, but don’t you see --- here they have learned to feed each other."
- Abraham¡¦s side/bosom „³ Heaven
a. A place of comfort ¡V ¡§he is comforted here¡¨ (vs. 25)
I can¡¦t tell you what all went on in paradise or what all will go on in heaven. But I do know that the place of reward for Christians is a place where we will be comforted. All the pain that we endured while on earth will be wiped away, and in its place, sweet peace and joy will be substituted. Abraham wasn¡¦t saying that Lazarus was comforted there because he suffered so on earth. He was simply stating a fact. The tables had been turned. Lazarus had had no comfort on earth; now he would have comfort for all eternity.
b. A place of compassion ¡V ¡§those who want . . . cannot¡¨ (vs. 26)
When I began to study this passage in detail, the thought of some wanting to leave paradise behind to come over to hell just about threw me. What is Jesus saying here? Is He saying that some would like to leave heaven and go over to hell? Some have presented a picture of heaven as a place that is so boring that people want to get out. I remember the movie ¡§All Dogs Go to Heaven II¡¨ that presented that kind of picture. Charlie, the main dog in the movie, got tired of strumming harps all day and wanted to go back down to earth so that he could have a little bit of excitement. Do some of these people regret their decision to follow Jesus and end up in paradise? I don¡¦t think that¡¦s what is going on here. I think that the reason some would desire to leave heaven and go over to hell is because they have a desire to alleviate at least a portion of the suffering that those in hell are enduring. They can hear their screams, they know what the others are going through, they can see the flames. They have a compassionate heart. The problem is that even though they have a compassionate heart, there is nothing that they can do to alleviate the suffering of those on the other side. It is too late.
I¡¦m sure that to some of you, the question has already occurred, ¡§Is Chris saying that we will hear the cries of the unsaved in hell for all eternity?¡¨ No, I am not. There could not really be any complete comfort for us if we had to listen to their suffering. That¡¦s why I wanted to make a distinction between Paradise and Heaven. You and I, having gotten saved after the resurrection of Jesus will never go to Paradise ¡V we will never have to see or hear their screams.
Question ¡V how intense must the suffering be in hell if the people in paradise were willing to leave behind their comfort and pleasure in order to minister to the needs of someone else? How desperate were the cries? How bone-chilling were the screams? By the time that the saved got to paradise and the unsaved to hell, it was too late to show compassion. It is not too late to show compassion right now.
- Hell/Hades/Sheol „³ Lake of Fire
Mac died at the controls of his plane and went to pilot’s hell, where he found a hideous devil and three doors. The devil was busy escorting other pilot’s to various "hell rooms." "I’ll be right back - don’t go away," said the devil, and vanished. Sneaking over to the first door, Mac peeked in and saw a cockpit where the pilot was condemned to forever run through preflight checks. He slammed that door and peeked into the second. There, alarms rang and red lights flashed while a pilot had to avoid one emergency after another. Unable to imagine a worse fate, Mac cautiously opened the third door. He was amazed to see many beautiful, scantily clad flight attendants answering to a captain’s ever whim. He quickly returned to his place seconds before the devil reappeared. "Okay, Mac," said the devil. "Which door will it be, No. 1 or No. 2?" "But I want No. 3," answered Mac. "Sorry," said the devil. "You can’t have door No. 3. That’s flight attendants’ hell." ¡V (Reader’s Digest, November, 1995, p. 94) Can you imagine dealing with the boring part of your job for all eternity? [give examples using the jobs of people in the congregation] As bad as that may seem, the way that the Bible describes hell is even worse than that.
a. A place of torment ¡V ¡§I am in agony in this fire¡¨ (vs. 24)
The Bible speaks of the torment of darkness in hell(Mt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30; 2 Peter 2:17). That makes sense since Jesus is the Light of the world, and He will not be there. Darkness isn¡¦t torture, is it? Ask any little child who has to sleep in their room by themselves without a light on if darkness is torture. Ask any female who has to leave the college campus or the store late at night heading for her car in the parking lot if darkness isn¡¦t torture. Go spend some time in a cave with no candles and no lights, and try to see the hand in front of your face while you¡¦re wondering what is lurking there at your hand. Go rent the movie ¡§Pitch Black¡¨, and tell me that darkness isn¡¦t torture.
The Bible speaks of the torment of no rest (Rev. 14:11). How many of you have ever suffered insomnia? Now try not being able to sleep for ever. How many of you have ever had little kids always tugging at you wanting you to do something for them? You think, ¡§Oh, if I could just get a little rest!¡¨ What would it be like to have those little kids pulling at you 24 hours a day for ever. That would be mommy hell.
The Bible tells of a torment that produces weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mt 8:12). An evangelist was exhorting his hearers to flee from the wrath to come. "I warn you," he thundered, "that there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth!" At this moment an old woman in the gallery stood up. "Sir," she shouted, "I have no teeth!" "Madam," he replied, "Teeth will be provided."
And the Bible says that the torment comes from unquenchable fire (Mk. 9:43). One preacher spoke of the fire this way: ¡§there is a real fire in hell, as truly as you have a real body ¡V a fire exactly like that which we have on this earth, except this: it will not consume you though it will torture you. You have seen asbestos lying amid red hot coals, but not consumed. So your body will be prepared by God in such a way that it will burn forever without being consumed. With raging fury, and the acrid smoke of the sulfurous fumes searing your lungs and choking your breath, you will cry out for he mercy of death, but it shall never, never, no never come.¡¨ ¡V Charles H. Spurgeon as quoted in The tale of the tardy Oxcart (p. 267)
b. A place of separation ¡V ¡§a great chasm has been fixed¡¨ (vs. 26)
Those who are in hell are eternally separated from the presence of God (2 Thes 1:9). If you tell that to an unsaved person, their response would be shouting and dancing. No more having to deal with God¡¦s restrictions or God¡¦s punishments. No one telling me what to do or where to go anymore. But where God is absent, so is love and joy and peace. There is no compassion, no mercy, no hope. There are no dreams, no encouragement, no pleasure. The absence of God means the absence of all that is good and beautiful. One writer has said that ¡§sin is man¡¦s way of saying to God throughout life, ¡¥Go away, and leave me alone¡¦. Hell is God¡¦s finally saying to man, ¡¥You may have your wish¡¦.¡¨ ¡V C. S. Lewis
Hell also means the separation from people. You¡¦ve probably heard of people who said, ¡§I¡¦m going to hell where I¡¦m going to party with all my friends!¡¨ Misery loves company, right? Your friends may be there, but you won¡¦t know it. Remember the darkness?
I told you at the beginning that I wanted to deliver this message with tenderness. I know that some of you had loved ones and friends that you are relatively sure reside in hell today, and to hear what they are going through is painful. You hurt for them. Maybe you even wonder, ¡§How can I enjoy heaven when I know that my wife, or husband, or dad, or friend is either in hell or on their way there?¡¨ You can be sure that your loved one who is in hell is very glad that you are not there. Not because they wouldn¡¦t like to have your company but because they don¡¦t want you to have to endure the suffering that they must face. They are glad that you escaped. You cannot pray them out of hell. Their fate is sealed. You cannot change the past. You cannot fix the mistakes of the past. All that you can change is today.
¡§I understand that you and your wife are going to be separated,¡¨ said a friend to a well-known judge. ¡§How dare you insinuate any such thing!¡¨ shouted the judge his face purple with anger. ¡§My wife and I love each other very much.¡¨ ¡§Is that so?¡¨ queried the friend, ¡§Well, I heard from your doctor that she has only a short time to live, and since I know she is a Christian she will go to be with her Lord. Where are you going when you die?¡¨ The judge stood a while quietly thinking. His face began to pale as the words took effect. He cried out, ¡§My God, save me. All these years I have been turning away from thee. Forgive me, God, and save me.¡¨ ¡V Gospel Herald as quoted in Knights Book of Illustrations (p. 285)
c. A place of consequences ¡V ¡§in your lifetime¡¨ (vs. 25)
Abraham reminded the rich man that in his lifetime, he had done some things that made him deserving of this eternal torment in hell. The torment that he was experiencing was not a consequence of his riches. It was a consequence of his lack of compassion for Lazarus ¡V a lack of compassion that evidenced the fact that he was an unforgiven sinner. In this lifetime, it is easy for us to think that we can sin and get away with it. God doesn¡¦t send down His lightning bolt every time that we lie, cheat or have an unholy thought. But there is coming a day when we will have to pay the consequences ¡V the debt that we owe for the sins that we have committed. (Rom 6:23 NIV) For the wages of sin is death, . . .(Matt. 5:25-26) The Bible says, (Gal 6:7 NIV) Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Just as when you plant a seed in the ground, it takes a long time before you see any result from that seed, so it may take a long time for you to feel the consequences of your sin and refusal of Jesus. But it will happen. It may take until the day of your death, but you will pay the debt, and you will be paying on it for all eternity. Unless, that is, you allow Jesus to pay it for you. Without his help, the debt will never be erased.
d. place of remembering & regrets ¡V ¡§remember¡¨ (vs. 25)
All of us have things that we would like to forget and regrets over decisions that we have made. What will the residents of hell remember? They¡¦ll remember the sins that they committed on earth. They¡¦ll remember every unkind word they said. They¡¦ll remember every angry, hateful thought they ever had. They¡¦ll remember every look of fright and horror on the faces of their wives and children as they beat them. They¡¦ll remember every time they cheated on their spouse and how guilty it made them feel. They¡¦ll get no pleasure from those memories even though the original sin may have been pleasurable. Each memory of each sin will simply be another reminder of the justice of God in allowing them to suffer the torture of hell forever.
They¡¦ll remember something else too. They¡¦ll remember the mother that prayed for them. They¡¦ll remember the teenage friend that begged them to come to church with them. They¡¦ll remember the spouse who would ¡§accidently¡¨ leave her Bible open on the dining room table hoping that you would read it. They¡¦ll remember that preacher who tried to warn them about hell. And then they¡¦ll remember how they refused to listen and chose rather to go their own way. They chose not to believe. They chose to ignore the warnings. ¡§Oh, if only I had listened!¡¨
You may ask, ¡§How could a loving God send anyone to a place like that?¡¨ God doesn¡¦t send anyone to hell. In fact, God did not create hell for mankind. He created it for Satan and his demons. God is loving. His desire is that all men repent and enjoy an eternity of fulfillment with Him in heaven (2 Peter 3:9). But God is also just. When persons refuse to accept the offered payment for sin, then they must pay their own debt. The fact is that each person who is in hell today is there because he/she chose to go there rather than accept the control of God over their lives.
Cable television’s Ted Turner, who has condemned abortion foes as "bozos" who "look like idiots," recently lashed out at Christianity. "Christianity is a religion of losers," Turner told the Dallas Morning News. Referring to Christ’s death on the cross, Turner said, "I don¡¦t want anybody to die for me. I’ve had a few drinks and a few girlfriends, and if that’s gonna put me in hell, then so be it." (Quoted in February, 1990 Confident Living, p. 36) [Turner later apologized for his words but then] told the folks at a Baptist church luncheon "I’m looking forward to dying and going to hell because that’s where I’m headed." --Associated Press 6-14-90 If he only knew what was waiting for him, he wouldn¡¦t be so happy about his destination.
4. [your name] has to make a decision now based on the evidence I have now. (vs. 27-31)
Once the rich man found out that it would be impossible for Lazarus to come to him and bring him even just a small bit of relief, he made one other request. He said, ¡§I¡¦ve got 5 brothers at home. They haven¡¦t been warned. Won¡¦t you please send someone to warn them?¡¨ Abraham¡¦s response was that they already have all the warning they need. ¡§They have the writings of Moses and the prophets ¡V they have the Bible. If they don¡¦t believe those, they won¡¦t believe even if someone was to rise from the dead.¡¨ We have the Bible too. You say, ¡§That¡¦s not enough. No one¡¦s been dead and come back to tell us about it. If someone did rise from the dead, then I would believe.¡¨ The fact is that someone has risen from the dead. His name is Jesus. The reason people don¡¦t believe in hell is not because of a lack of warning or a lack of evidence. It¡¦s simply because they don¡¦t want to believe. That would require them to turn over control to God.
It is said that Abe Mulky, who became the Texas Evangelist, went to an old-fashioned revival and was under deep conviction. He went home and said to his wife, "Mandy, what shall I do? I am lost. I am miserable. But you know we have gained our possessions crookedly and if I get religion, and make restitution, which I will have to do, we will not have a shelter over our heads. The house, the ranch, every cow and sheep will be gone. That is what will take place, if I get religion. And if I don’t get religion I will surely go to hell. What must I do, Mandy?" Mandy replied, "Abe, get religion." Thank the Lord for Mandy. Well, Abe went back and got real religion. He immediately began to fix up. Soon all was gone. Not one thing left. Abe and Mandy were sitting under a tree eating some cheese and crackers. Abe looked across and said, "What about this Mandy?" She immediately and joyously replied, "It beats hell, Abe, mighty bad." - By William Moses Tidwell, "Effective Illustrations." I don¡¦t know what you might have to give up in order to come to Jesus. I don¡¦t know what heaven will be like. But it sure beats the alternative.
CLOSING
[have everyone take out the tract ¡§your first 6 days in hell¡¨ and follow along as you read it ] A skeptic once derided a Christian by asking, "Say George, what would you say if when you die you found out that there was no such a place as heaven after all?" With a smile the Christian replied, "I should say that I’ve had a fine time anyway!" Then the Christian asked a question in return, "Fred, what would you do if when you die you discovered that there was such a place as hell after all?" - Knight’s Illustrations
ƒá When I die, I am sure that I will be carried by the angels into God¡¦s presence where I will enjoy His comfort for all eternity.
ć When I die, unless something changes, I will be buried and go to hell where I will suffer torment for my sin for all eternity.
INVITATION ¡V every head bowed and every eye closed
By now, your name should be all over that note sheet that you were given. But that really doesn¡¦t matter as far as eternity is concerned. All that really matters is whether or not your name is in God¡¦s book ¡V the Lamb¡¦s book of Life. That determines whether or not you will spend eternity in hell. If not, then when you die, you will go to hell, and you with hell, will be cast into the Lake of fire at the final judgment (Rev. 20:11-15). You can change that today though. You can have your name added to that book. You can allow Jesus to take away your sins, to pay your debt, and to rescue you from hell. If that is your desire, if you want to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, please raise your hand.
There is one more thing that I must say before we finish today. Each of you has people that you know or acquaintances that you have that you have no idea where they will spend eternity. Some of you know people that you are positive are on their way to hell. And yet you refuse to say anything to them. You refuse to warn them. When you keep your mouth shut, you are actually shouting at the top of your lungs, ¡§Go to hell!¡¨ By your inaction, you are partially responsible for them ending up in that place of torment. Won¡¦t you please say something to them? The rich man had no compassion for Lazarus. It was too late for those in paradise to have compassion on the residents of hell. The rich man had compassion on his family, but he couldn¡¦t act on his compassion. Will you have compassion on people before it is too late?
