Luke 16:19-31

Hell and How To Get There

Introduction

1. We are all going to spend eternity somewhere, but where?

2. Luke 16:19-31 Jesus moves back the curtain just a bit on eternity.

We are all going to spend eternity somewhere, but where?

I. THE PRELUDE TO ETERNITY 16:19-21

You can’t tell by outward circumstances and conditions where someone will spend eternity.

  1. A Man of Prosperity 19 He had it made!
  1. He Was Rich
  2. He Was Regal clothed in purple and fine linen
  3. He Was Riotous gaily living in splendor everyday…brilliance on display.

Pharisees: “This man was blessed of God.”

  1. A Man of Poverty 20-21 Lazarus from Eleazer God is my helper
  1. He Is Hindered Beggar
  2. He Is Homeless Was laid at the rich man’s gate literally: flung
  3. He Is HealthlessLame and full of sores
  4. He Is Hungry desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell…

*It doesn’t say he had his desires met.

*Crumbs…in those days there were no knives, forks or napkins. Food was eaten with the fingers and in very wealthy houses the hands were cleaned by wiping them with hunks of bread, and then the bread was thrown away. It was that bread that Lazarus waited for.

5. He Is Helpless moreover dogs licked his sores…moreover…if things weren’t

bad enough…dogs…mutts that roamed the streets. By the value system of the

Pharisees, this man was a hopeless sinner!

We are all going to spend eternity somewhere, but where?

II. THE PROSPECT FOR ETERNITY 16:22-26

Death is a guarantee. One day we all will die, rich and poor.

  1. Heaven Is Real…the beggar died.
  1. Immediately he would have been cast into the valley of Gehenna. It was a smoldering rubbish heap. His body would have been burned.
  2. Was carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom…this shook the Pharisees! Abraham’s bosom was heaven for the Old Testament saint. Believers’ soul and spirit went to Abraham’s bosom. Today: to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
  3. He is comforted v. 26
  1. Hell Is Real…the rich man died and was buried.

*He would have an above ground tomb. There would have been a funeral

procession with professional mourners.

*Unless Jesus comes, one day you will die!

1. A Real Place…Greek: hades in the Old Testament was divided into two

compartments: Paradise or Abraham’s Bosom and Hades of torment. In Eph 4:8-

10 JesusLed captivity captive…Paradise was emptied when Christ ascended.

Now we go and be with Him. Hades of torment still exists until the Great White

Throne (Rev. 20:15).When the rich man died he went to that compartment of

torment where the lost go. The beggar went to Paradise.

2. A Real Person 23, 24 Eternal Torments is plural

*He has eyes that could see and recognize. He has eyes, fingers, a tongue. (23)

He saw Abraham afar off. This description may be so we could understand it.

He Saw Lazarus resting on Abraham’s bosom. He knew it was Lazarus. I don’t

believe it teaches that we can see the lost in Hell.

*He had senses to feel. (24) He cried…anguish…being in torments this word was

used of the rack for torturing people.

3. A Real Pain 24, 25

*He has the ability to have some sensation of thirst.

*He is tormented in the eternal flames, but never consumed. He has an ability to

feelpain, but he never ceases to exist. (Rev. 22:11 he that is unjust, let him

remain unjuststill…he that is filthy, let him remain filthy) Perhaps a desire to

drink or have drugs,but there is no fix. He may be tormented by lust, but

nothing to quench it!

  1. A Real Predicament 26 an impossible gulf is fixed.

*There is no way out!

*The condition is set. There is no second chance. There is no returning or sending messages back from hell. There is no reincarnation or spiritism.

We are all going to spend an eternity somewhere, but where?

III. THE PLEA FROM ETERNITY 16:27-31

  1. His Concern 27-28 Send someone!!

*Send Lazarus “I have 5 brothers” They were just like I was. "Testify to them. Lest theycome to this place of torment.”

*Heaven is a place. Hell is a place.

B. His Confrontation 29

*They have Moses and the prophets.

*Listen to God’s Word. What does God’s Word say about how to get to heaven??

C. His Consternation 30 Send one back from the dead, then they would repent!

D. His Condemnation 30, 31

He gives two reasons why anyone goes to hell:

  1. Rejection…God’s Word and God’s Son…God knows your heart!
  2. Repentance 30, 31 then they would repent “Be persuaded”

*The rich man was in hell, not because he was rich, but because he would not

repent.

*He would not be persuaded.

*Man does not get to heaven because he is rich or poor. The Gospel is given.

The Word is presented. A man or woman is persuaded as to who Jesus is and

God turns him around. His mind and heart is changed about Jesus. He is

changed!

We are all going to spend an eternity somewhere, but where?

Where will you spend eternity?

Heaven is Real! Hell is Real!

My eternity is determined by the choices I make!