Although no one likes to think about the reality of Hell, the Bible has a great deal to say about it. In this message we examine Jesus’ teaching on the rich man and Lazarus, and see in it 10 truths about Hell.
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10 Truths About Hell
Luke 16:19-31
The theme of Luke 16 is money and wealth. Jesus begins this chapter by telling the parable of the Unrighteous Steward. The point of the parable is that Jesus’ disciples should use their money to win the lost so that when the disciple dies, those he has helped to find Christ may welcome him into the eternal dwellings. Jesus ends that teaching in verse 13 by telling His disciples that they can’t serve God and money. Well, the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, overheard this teaching, and rather than humble themselves and repent of making money their God, scoffed at Jesus. The treated Jesus’ teaching as if it were ludicrous, in order to justify themselves. Well, that leads to this last and final section of the chapter about two men who died. One went to Heaven, and the other to Hell. And who ends up in hell? A rich man! He was a lover of money.
Do you see what Jesus is doing in this chapter? He’s warning the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, about where they will end up if they don’t repent of their idolatry. The Pharisees were serving the wrong master, and unless they exchanged their pursuit of money for a pursuit of God, would find themselves in Hell! This story is meant to be a wake up call to these lost religious Pharisees. It should also be a wake up call for any people today, who have worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever.
Now, let’s examine the facts of the story. It is unclear whether this is a parable, or a real life story of two people Jesus knew of. In the end it doesn’t really matter. The truth is the same either way.
Let’s focus on the rich man for a few minutes. He is not given a name in the story. Ironically, the poor beggar does have a name – Lazarus (God is my help). This is probably to teach us that in eternity, this rich man will be absolutely insignificant – so insignificant that he is not even named. He may be on the cover of People magazine in this life, but in the life to come he will be a nobody forever. He habitually dressed in purple and fine linen. This was the finest and most expensive clothing of the day. Purple was the color of royalty, of kings and princes. It was very expensive because the only purple dye to be found came from a certain rare shellfish that had to be crushed in order for this purple dye to be excreted. Not only that, but he joyously lived in splendor every day. He ate the most delicious and expensive foods. He probably had many servants to take care of all of his needs. This man enjoyed the best that life had to offer.
The poor man, on the other hand, was laid at the rich man’s gate. This tells us that he was a cripple, and a beggar. In ancient Israel, there was no welfare, or social security system. If you were crippled and unable to work, and had no relative to take care of you, you would be absolutely destitute, and must beg to survive. To add insult to injury, he was covered with sores, and longed to just eat the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. He was laid at the rich man’s gate. However, it is plain that this rich man did nothing to help this pitiful sufferer. The poor man longed to eat his crumbs, implying that he never did get any of his crumbs. He was laid at his gate day after day, but was never helped by this rich man, even though he had plenty of money to spare. So, in life, the rich man had it all. The poor man had nothing. The rich man lived in opulent luxury. The poor man lived in absolute poverty.
But then comes the great Change. Both men died. The poor man was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. Since Abraham was the father of all who believe, we know that he is in heaven. Therefore, this poor beggar died and went to heaven. We are not told that he was buried, like the rich man. He probably wasn’t buried. His dead body was probably simply tossed into Gehenna, which was the city garbage dump that burned day and night.
On the contrary, the rich man was buried, probably with great pomp and splendor and a great crowd of people there to witness it. However, when his soul left his body, he was taken, not to heaven, but to Hades.
Now, what is Hades? It is the place of souls of the damned. It is directly related to Hell, as jail is related to prison. Jail is where a convict goes until his sentencing by a judge. Then, if convicted, he goes to prison. Jail is temporary. Prison is long-term and permanent. Hades is where the damned go until the Final Judgment. Then they are cast into Hell, the lake of fire, which is permanent and eternal. However, the nature of their punishment in Hades will be the same as what takes place in Hell, just as the person in jail suffers the same kind of punishment that he later faces in prison. So, when we learn about Hades this morning, in effect, we will be learning about Hell. Hell is just a more permanent version of Hades. Revelation 20 tells us that in the end Hades is thrown into the Lake of Fire (Hell). You might think of Hades as a Pre-Hell, or an Intermediate Hell. Just as there is an Intermediate Heaven which exists until the Final Judgment, so there is an Intermediate Hell, which exists until the Final Judgment.
So, this morning I want to teach you 10 Truths About Hell. As you meditate on these 10 truths, I hope you will receive them as a warning, just as Jesus intended this story to be a warning to the Pharisees.
It is evident that some of the language used here should not be understood literally. Hades is a place of disembodied spirits. In this story, the rich man has eyes, a tongue and a finger, whereas in Hades he has none of those. So, we must not make the mistake of taking this story in a wooden literal fashion. Rather, lets seek to understand the great truths behind the imagery.
1. Hell Is Real
It is common to hear people say things like, “We are experiencing Hell right now on this earth.” Others say that when a person dies, he simply ceases to exist. No, no matter how much suffering a person is experiencing in this lifetime, it is not Hell. Even the horrible concentration camps of the Nazis were not Hell. Hell will be far worse than any of those. We may wish that we would simply cease to exist after death, but we won’t. We will live on, either in Heaven or Hell. When these two men died, one lived on in Heaven, the other in Hell. Although 60% of Americans still believe that Hell is a real place, only 1 out of every 200 people believe that they will go to Hell. Isn’t that interesting? Jesus taught that the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and few are those who find it!
In this story, Jesus depicts Hell as a very real place where real people go to experience real suffering.
2. Hell Is A Place Of Torment
Verse 23 says, “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment.” In verse 24 he cries out and says, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.” In verse 25 Abraham says, “Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.” In verse 28 the rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to his five brothers “so that they will not also come to this place of torment.” In this single story, Hell is described as a place of torment and agony, over and over.
Often people say they don’t mind going to Hell. At least they will be with all of their buddies. They’ll just party together forever! No, my friend, there won’t be any partying in Hell. Nor will you be with your buddies. You will be cut off from the comfort of any other people. You will be in eternal solitary confinement. You will be in outer darkness. And in that place you will face torment. You will face agony. You will experience pain and suffering.
3. Hell Is A Place Where People Are Conscious
Some people teach the doctrine of soul sleep. They believe that at the time of death, the soul goes to sleep and knows nothing until the Final Judgment. However, Lazarus certainly doesn’t fit that picture, does he? He was fully conscious and aware of being in the presence of Abraham. Likewise, the rich man was fully conscious of his surroundings in Hades. He was conscious of where Lazarus was, and he was conscious of his torment and agony. Think of the time in your life when your pain was greatest. For me, it was probably when I was 13 years old, and broke my nose when I was hit by a pitch playing baseball. Later, when I went to the doctor, he had to take some pliers and re-break my nose to try to straighten it out. That would probably be the most painful experience of my life. For some of you ladies, maybe it was when you gave birth to your children. Well, try to imagine if that experience characterized your eternal future!
4. Hell Is A Place of Punishment For Sin
This truth comes out in verse 25, “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.’” The implication is that Lazarus received his bad things, because the rich man was so greedy that he was unwilling to do anything to relieve his suffering. The rich man’s sin was that of greed, and selfishness. He was totally preoccupied with his own comfort and luxury, and utterly unconcerned about the suffering of anyone else, even of that person who he literally had to step over every day to go out his gate! Now, the rich man didn’t go to hell because he possessed money, and the poor man didn’t go to heaven because he didn’t have any money. The universal testimony of Scripture is that a person is saved through faith in Jesus Christ, regardless of whether he has money or not. A person is damned through unbelief, regardless of whether has much or no money. The fact that a person has money is no indicator of whether he will be saved. Remember that Abraham himself was a very rich man. The point in this passage is that this rich man was in Hell, because he had no saving relationship with God through Christ. If he had been converted, surely he would have evidenced compassion toward Lazarus, and have sought to relieve his sufferings.
Jesus said in Mt. 25:46, “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Hebrews 10:29 “How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?”
2 Peter 2:9 “then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.”
Hell is a place where God will punish sinners for their sins. Every sin we commit is a crime against Almighty God, and deserves to be punished. One day, God will right every wrong, and punish every sin not covered by the blood of His Son.
5. Hell Is A Place With No Possibility Of Escape
This truth emerges from verse 26, “And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.” Those who are in Heaven can never cross over into Hell, and those who are in Hell can never cross over into Heaven. Once a person dies, his fate is sealed, and can never be reversed.
This passage teaches us the error of several doctrines of men.
The doctrine of Annihilationism says that a person may go to Hell, but at some point all his sins will be punished, and he will simply be annihilated. He will cease to exist. However, Jesus doesn’t make the slightest hint, that this rich man will ever be annihilated.
Others teach the doctrine of Purgatory. They believe that if a person does who is not quite good enough to go to Heaven, but not bad enough to go to Hell, they will go to Purgatory. They teach that Purgatory is a place of temporary suffering, and that when you have finally suffered enough for all your sins, your are released from Purgatory and go to Heaven. Jesus flatly contradicts such a teaching here by saying that if you end up in Hell you will never get out. The doctrine of Purgatory also flat out contradicts the sufficiency of Christ’s sufferings to pay for our sins. Surely, if Christ’s suffering and death are sufficient, there is no need for Purgatory!
This passage also contradicts the teaching of Universalism. There are still a few heretical groups who teach that God will save every person. Well, not according to Jesus. This rich man was not saved!
Others believe that God is going to give everyone a second chance after they die to believe on Jesus Christ. No, this rich man had no second chance, did he?
This teaching of Jesus Christ tells us that once a person dies in unbelief, there is no more hope of salvation.
6. Hell Is A Place Where The Damned Cry Out
In verse 24 the rich man cried out and said, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.”
Even though the rich man showed no mercy to Lazarus during his lifetime, now he is crying out for mercy for himself. People in Hell will cry out. They will not be crying out of remorse for their sin. They won’t be crying out prayers of repentance and faith. They will be crying out for mercy. The Bible says in Hell there will be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.
7. Hell Is A Place Of No Mercy
The rich man says in verse 24, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me!” But what is Abraham’s response? In effect, he says “There is no mercy for you. You have sinned away all hope of mercy!” Abraham told him that he had denied any mercy for Lazarus day after day, and now there is no more possibility of mercy for him. He had already received all his good things, and now the only thing in his future were bad things!
For the true Christian, this life is the closest to Hell he will ever get. To the unbeliever, this life is the closest to Heaven he will ever get. The only chance you will ever have to receive mercy from God is in this life – period!
The prophet Isaiah said, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Is. 55:6-7).
8. Hell Is A Place Where People Remember Their Earthly Lives
Look at what Abraham told the rich man in verse 25, “Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.” Remember! In the afterlife, the rich man was able to remember what his life was like on earth. Truly, that would be the source of much of his agony in Hell. He would remember every sin he ever committed. He would remember every time he had heard the gospel and was offered forgiveness through the blood of Christ. He would remember every time a Christian friend or preacher had urged him to repent. He would remember every opportunity to be saved that he had squandered.
Can you imagine being in Hell and never being able to forget about the missed opportunities you had to believe in Christ and follow Him? Judy, my mother-in-law tells a story of how someone told her once that she should invest in this new stock. The stock was for Walgreens when the pharmacy chain was relatively new and unknown. If she had taken their advice and invested then, she would be a wealthy woman today. But how much greater regret will we feel if we wind up in Hell, because we didn’t obey the gospel of Jesus Christ?!
9. Hell Is A Place Inhabited By The Unrepentant
This truth emerges 27-29, where the rich man urges Abraham to send Lazarus back to warn his five brothers, so that wouldn’t wind up in Hell along with him. Abraham replies that they already have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them. The rich man says, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!
This ungodly, unsaved, damned rich man had better theology than tens of thousands of American Christians. This unsaved man knew that the only way a person can be saved is by repenting! He knew that Hell is filled with unrepentant people, and Heaven is populated by repentant people. This is in stark contrast to many contemporary Bible preachers today who tell us that a person doesn’t need to repent to be saved. They say all a person has to do is have simple faith in Jesus Christ.
It is true that the one condition of salvation on man’s part is true saving faith in Jesus Christ. However, true saving faith always includes repentance! Faith and repentance are two sides of the same coin. Where there is one, there will always be the other. When a person is saved, his faith is penitent faith, and his repentance is believing repentance.
That’s why Jesus could say, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” That’s why Peter writes, “The Lord is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). That’s why the apostle Paul preached in Athens and said, “God is now commanding that all men everywhere should repent, for He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).
10. Hell Can Be Avoided Only By Heeding God’s Word
When the rich man asked Abraham to send Lazarus back to warn his five brothers, so they didn’t end up in Hell, Abraham’s response was, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.” Moses and the Prophets is a phrase that simply describes the Old Testament Scriptures. Abraham was telling the rich man that it wasn’t necessary for someone to come back from the dead to warn his five brothers. All those brothers needed to do was to listen and heed the Word of God. God, Himself, had made it abundantly clear how they could avoid Hell.
In Deuteronomy 18:18-19 God says, “I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.” Jesus is that prophet that God would raise up. Anyone who refuses to heed the message of Christ, will be damned.
If a person under the Old Covenant could avoid Hell by heeding the Old Testament Scriptures, how much more true is it that a person today can avoid Hell by heeding all of God’s Word, Old and New Testaments?! Do you want to avoid Hell? The way to do so is abundantly clear. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Conclusion
Did you notice how the rich man refers to Abraham? Look at verse 24. He calls him “Father Abraham.” What does that tell you about this man? He was a Jew! However, his Jewishness had not saved him! Jesus is reaching out to these proud, hypocritical, money-loving Pharisees, and warning them of the Hell they were headed for.
My friends, never, never think that just because you believe in God, and go to church, and are somewhat religious, you are guaranteed Heaven! This rich man believed in God, went to synagogue, and was religious. Yet, he went to Hell! I urge you, to make your peace with God, by turning from all your sins, and putting all your trust and confidence in Jesus Christ. “There is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).
Let me speak to those of you who are true Christians. Do you believe in Hell? You answer quickly, “of course, of course I believe in Hell.” I’m not talking about a simple mental assent. I want to know if you truly believe that every person you know, every family member, every neighbor, every person you see will go to Hell that does not repent and trust in Christ. My friends, if you truly believed in Hell, it would have a dramatic impact on your life. You would be unable to go day after day, week after week, month after month without telling others how they could escape Hell. If you drove by your brother’s house late one night, and saw that his house was on fire, you would surely do something about it. You would call 9-1-1, or you would rush into the house, screaming to try to wake him up and save him before he and his family burned to death. How can we claim to believe in the truth about Hell, if it doesn’t even affect our lives?!
If you show little or no concern for the salvation of lost people, you really don’t believe in Hell. Let the reality of an eternal Hell wake you up to reach the lost while there is still time!
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