What Happens When We Pass? - 2
WHAT IS HELL?
… based on Luke 16:19-31
This past Monday I got a phone call from Courtney Hughett,
who is the editor of the Brown County Democrat.
She wanted to know if I was the Pastor @ Bear Creek Church. I said I was,
& she asked if I knew Blake Wolpert? I acknowledged that Blake was a good friend & part of the Church. “Well, he wants to run a full-page ad.”
I said, “okay, what about?”
“Well, he wants to invite everyone to Bear Creek Church on Sunday.
He says that ‘Pastor Rande is going to have a hell of a sermon.’”
I said, “no, no, no, no, no, no, my sermon topic is going to be, ‘What Is Hell?’”
Anyway, we’re in the 2nd week of a series on “What Happens When We Pass?” Last Sunday we learned that Heaven is an actual place.
Scripture teaches that it’s pretty & pain-free, a populated place of plenty,
a place that’s purposeful & prepared by Jesus for those who love Him.
We also learned that eternal life begins for us the moment we come to faith,
it starts right then. And if Jesus isn’t our Lord & Savior, then we’re living in eternal alienation, which is eternal death. And if nothing changes on our part, we will die & face eternal judgment. (The Revelation 20:15)
We discovered that people have all kinds of non-Scriptural ideas of what they imagine Heaven is going to be like.
That’s also true when we come to the topic of Hell.
It’s incredible the ridiculous comments that some people idly make.
Interestingly, while over 79% of Americans believe
in Heaven, only 52% believe in an actual Hell.
I remember clearly what was probably my 1st theological discussion.
I was in the 6th grade & in the library of Keith School.
And one of my classmates, Fred Burggraf, said, “I don’t believe in Hell!”
“Why?” I asked.
“Well,” said Fred. “God is our Father. Right? And we’re His children. Right? Can you imagine a father sending his children to Hell?”
So, when my Mom came to pick me up that afternoon, I proudly announced, “I don’t believe in Hell,” & proceeded to “enlighten” her.
When we got home my Mom handed me the Bible,
& patiently explained that not everyone is God’s child,
but only those who have come to faith in Jesus.
Then she had me turn to John 8, & told me to begin reading at verse 42.
“Jesus said to the Pharisees, ‘If God really were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God & now I am here. I did not come on my own authority, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to listen to my message. You are the children of your father, the Devil, & you want to follow your father’s desires.’”
(John 8:42-44)
So, according to Scripture, Fred’s understanding was completely wrong, frighteningly wrong. And yet, the vast majority of people accept his logic.
How could a good God send someone to an awful place like Hell? Or maybe even a better question, could a good God even allow a place like Hell to exist?
It seems so inconsistent with what we imagine the God of love to be.
This morning we’re going to broach this subject.
Jesus often taught using parables … an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. One of His most interesting parables is about a rich fool, who has obviously never given eternity & “What Happens When We Pass?” a fleeting thought.
So, listen now as I read the words of Jesus,
as recorded by Luke, to us who have gathered here for worship.
Within our hearing comes the Word of the Lord …
“There was once a rich man who dressed in the most expensive clothes and lived in great luxury every day. There was also a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who used to be brought to the rich man’s door, hoping to eat the bits of food that fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the feast in heaven. The rich man died and was buried, and in Hades, where he was in great pain, he looked up and saw Abraham, far away, with Lazarus at his side. So he called out, ‘Father Abraham! Take pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip his finger in some water and cool off my tongue, because I am in great pain in this fire!’ But Abraham said, ‘Remember, my son, that in your lifetime you were given all the good things, while Lazarus got all the bad things. But now he is enjoying himself here, while you are in pain. Besides all that, there is a deep pit lying between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, nor can anyone cross over to us from where you are.’ The rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father Abraham, send Lazarus to my father’s house, where I have five brothers. Let him go and warn them so that they, at least, will not come to this place of pain.’ Abraham said, ‘Your brothers have Moses and the prophets to warn them; your brothers should listen to what they say.’ The rich man answered, ‘That is not enough, father Abraham! But if someone were to rise from death and go to them, then they would turn from their sins.’ But Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death.’” (Luke 16:19-31)
Jesus said … “Heaven & earth will pass away,
but my words will never pass away.” (Mark 13:31)
May the Lord grant that we may engage in contemplating the mysteries of His Heavenly wisdom with really increasing devotion, to His glory and to our edification. Amen
If you’re driving to Chicago on Route 65,
about 35 miles north of Lafayette & 50 miles south of Merrillville there is a huge sign on the side of the road …
HELL IS REAL.
Over the years I’ve seen it dozens of times,
& it always is a grim reminder … Hell is real.
And it’s certainly not a place to joke about, which is often the case today. We see the Far Side cartoon. In the 1st frame there’s a sign,
“Welcome To Heaven” & Peter’s passing out harps. In the 2nd frame,
“Welcome To Hell” with Satan passing out accordions.
Hell is a lot worse than Lawrence Welk music.
And then there are the flippant comments like the one Mark Twain made, “I’ll take Heaven for the climate, & Hell for the society.”
Well, we’re going to see this morning that Hell is not to be taken lightly. Hell is not going to be fun. It’s the ultimate punishment.
Hell should be avoided at all costs.
And let me say here also … that when someone is told to “go to Hell” …
I can’t imagine a more awful vow. And in a very real sense,
that may be the worst kind of profanity.
So, how can a good God send someone to an awful place like Hell?
Or why does a good God allow a place like Hell to exist?
Let me begin by saying that Hell was not created by God for humanity.
Hell was prepared by God for the Devil & his demons.
Jesus makes that clear when He teaches about The Final Judgment.
“Away to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the Devil
& his angels!” (Matthew 25:41)
That’s why Hell was created. Hell was made for the Devil.
Having said that … God doesn’t send anyone to Hell; people end up there because of choices they’ve made. And it’s pure grace that a good God is good enough to warn us that we can end up there too. And not only that, but He has done everything possible to prevent that from happening to us.
(2 Peter 3:9)
“God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes may go to Heaven & have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
Now if we’re really going to understand Hell, we must grapple
with the existence of Satan. So, who is he? And why is he?
Satan is “the evil god of this world.” (2 Corinthians 4:4) Jesus said that Satan is a liar. (John 8:44) Jesus said he is a deceiver. (The Revelation 20:8) Jesus said he is a murderer. (John 8:44) And even though he is a deceiver, make no mistake about it; Satan’s main objective is not to deceive us, but to destroy us.
(John 10:10)
He’s identified with various names:
“the accuser of believers” (The Revelation 12:10)
“an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14)
“our enemy” (1 Peter 5:8)
“the Destroyer” (The Revelation 9:11)
“Satan” (Matthew 4:10)
“the Devil” (Matthew 4:1)
“the ruler of the spiritual powers in space” (Ephesians 2:2)
Scripture also provides some insights as to Satan’s origin.
Ezekiel writes words of God …
“You lived on my holy mountain & walked among sparkling gems.
Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil. … So I forced you to leave my holy mountain ….
You were proud of being handsome, & your fame made you act like a fool. Because of this I hurled you to the ground.” (Ezekiel 28:14-17)
Jesus was referring that event when He said,
“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (Luke 10:18)
The prophet Isaiah writes …
“King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! … you have been thrown to the ground. You were determined to climb up to heaven & to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds & be like the Almighty. But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead.” (Isaiah 14:12-15)
Bible scholars believe that Satan was the “bright morning star,”
the anointed angel. He was above all the other angels, & was given,
as were the rest of the angels, free will.
Bible scholars believe Satan oversaw the worship of Heaven & all of creation, everything that God had made. He was beautiful & wise.
But he wasn’t satisfied with all that, he wanted to be God.
When we recognize that about Satan, we’ll understand his devices & his desires. He wants everybody to be worshiping him instead of God. He wants everybody to worship his beauty, his brightness, his wisdom. But that’s the essence of sin. (Genesis 3:5) It’s putting self in place of Almighty God. (Exodus 20:3)
That was the 1st evil thought … the 1st independent thought in the universe & it was sinful. And that’s where the greatest fall occurred.
Satan wanted to place his throne above the throne of God.
We think about the fall of humanity, (Genesis 2:17) & what a great fall that was. But there was an even greater fall.
It was the fall of Satan from the highest Heaven to the lowest Hell.
We wonder, “If God is good, where did the 1st evil thought come from?”
It was self-born. Satan was all caught up with himself.
“You were proud of being handsome, & your fame made you act like a fool.”
His preoccupation with his own “greatness”,
while ignoring his dependence upon his Creator, was his downfall.
One more thing … the Devil doesn’t reign in Hell. That’s a totally false understanding. He’s not running around with a pitchfork giving orders.
He’ll have no power there. He’ll be tormented in Hell.
We read of the Final Judgment …
“Then the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire & sulfur, where the beast & the false prophet had already been thrown; & they will be tormented day & night forever & ever.” (The Revelation 20:10)
And then, what must be one of the most terrifying verses in all of Scripture
“The smoke of the fire that torments them goes up forever & ever.
There is no relief day or night.” (The Revelation 14:11)
So, is Hell real? The answer is yes.
Scripture definitely teaches its’ existence.
Actually, the cross makes no sense if there’s no Hell. If there wasn’t such a terrible place Jesus would never have left Heaven to die on the cross to save us. Jesus, more than anyone else in Scripture, taught about Hell, & used graphic images to describe it.
“Those who should be in the Kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness,
where they will cry & gnash their teeth.” (Matthew 8:12)
“If your hand makes you lose your faith, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a hand than to keep both hands & go off to hell, to the fire that never goes out. And if your foot makes you lose your faith, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a foot than to keep both feet & be thrown into hell. And if your eye makes you lose your faith, take it out! It is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with only 1 eye than to keep both eyes & be thrown into hell. There ‘the worms that eat them never die, & the fire that burns them is never put out.’” (Mark 9:43-48)
Talk about the seriousness of avoiding it!
In a speech to the National Press Club, Ted Turner said …
“Heaven is going to be a mighty slender place. And most of the people I know in life aren’t going to be there. There are a few notable exceptions & I’ll miss them. (laughter) Remember, heaven is going to be perfect.
And I don’t really want to be there …. Those of us that go to hell, which will be most of us in this room; most journalists are certainly going there. (laughter) But, when we get to hell, we’ll have a chance to make things better because hell is supposed to be a mess. And heaven is perfect. Who wants to go to a place that’s perfect? Boring … Boring.” (laughter)
Ted Turner passed back on May 6th. I shudder to think of him
standing before Almighty God & having those words played back to him.
Hell is nothing to joke about. Picture being in complete darkness.
All alone. No sight. No sound. Horrible smells. No touch. Nothingness. Think about what that would be like for an hour … a day … a month.
How about forever? It sends chills down my spine.
I’ve heard people over the years say when they’re experiencing a very difficult time that they’re “going through Hell” … but that’s not true.
No matter what horrible thing we may be struggling with,
(& I’m not being insensitive to that),
our lowest days on earth will seem like a vacation compared to Hell.
It’s been said that the pain of Hell is not so much caused by the presence of evil as from the absence of good. Darkness is not dark because of the presence of darkness, but because of the absence of light.
In other words … Hell is total separation from God.
And it’s what Jesus experienced while hanging on the cross.
“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”
“My God, my God, why did you abandon me?” (Matthew 27:46)
It was in that moment that Jesus experienced Hell.
And we acknowledge that when we say in The Apostles’ Creed,
“He descended into Hell.” Jesus did that so we wouldn’t have to.
Jesus also implies that there are degrees of punishment in Hell.
Of some people He says,
“They take advantage of widows & rob them of their homes …
their punishment will be all the worse.” (Mark 12:40)
Even so, Hell is a horrible place, a bad place; it’s not a place anyone should want to go. It’s not a place we should want anyone to go.
It’s a place of great pain, of quenchless thirst, a bottomless pit.
Every description of Hell in the Scriptures describes suffering.
Even in this short parable that we just read the word “pain” is used 4 times.
It’s agony & torment.
“The rich man called out, ‘Father Abraham! Take pity on me,
& send Lazarus to dip his finger in some water & cool off my tongue,
because I am in great pain in this fire!’”
That ridiculous misconception that we often hear … “Hell won’t be so bad;
I’ll be there with all my buddies.” Is the rich man having fun with his friends? … No, he’s all alone. He’s not saying, “Boy, I can’t wait for my 5 brothers to get here. We’re going to have a grand old time together.
He’s expressing concern for them. He wants someone to warn them.
Our choices in this life have incredibly altering consequences for the next.
That’s something that always concerns me. I’ve done a # of funerals over the years for non-believers. And at the wake I hear comments like …
“He/she is finally at peace.” … Really?
The great theologian C.S. Lewis once saw a gravestone with the words
… “Here lies an atheist – all dressed up & nowhere to go” …
& Lewis quietly remarked, “I bet he wishes that were so.”
Nobody has to go to Hell.
Jesus offers the free gift of eternal life in Heaven.
One day, when Vice-President Calvin Coolidge was presiding over the Senate,
one Senator angrily told another to go “straight to hell.”
The offended Senator complained to Coolidge as presiding officer.
Coolidge looked up from the book he had been leafing through while listening to the debate & wittingly replied, “I’ve looked through the rule book …
you don’t have to go.”
And neither do any of us.
Jesus has provided the way to get into Heaven … the ABC’s.
A … admit your need
B … believe Jesus died for you
C … commit yourself completely to Him
D … depend upon His promises
For better or worse, we don’t know what tomorrow will bring.
About 8,350 people die on an average day in the U.S. That equals roughly 348 deaths every hour, 6 every minute, & 1 death about every 10 seconds.
At some point each one of us, & every person we know will become part of that statistic. What happens then?
So yes, Hell is real, but so is Heaven.
And it awaits all of us who have come to faith. Thanks be to God.
MARANA THA
