Luke 16:24-26

This morning, I invite you to turn with me to Luke, chapter 16. I’m going to read verses 19 to 31, but our focus this morning is still on 24 to 26. Luke chapter 16, and let me read verses 19 through 31. There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple, and in fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full 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 lifted, he lifted up his eyes, being in torments. And seeing Abraham afar off in Lazarus in his bosom, cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, or I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, son, remember that thou in thy lifetime received, received, thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted, and thou are tormented. And beside all this, Between us and you, there’s 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 would send him to my father’s house, or I have five brethren that he may take. testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. And Abraham saith unto him, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. 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. May God bless to us, the sacred and holy word this morning. Walter Harpe Hoppin, who was the secretary for the writer C.S. Lewis, laughed when he read this following grave inscription. Here lies in atheists. all dressed up with no place to go. Lewis, however, did not completely a share in his secretary’s laughter. He responded more soberly. He says, I’m sure he wishes now that that were true. Most people wish they could declare hell a myth. Most people, I think, would like they call it a fairy tale, would call it an ancient legend, which enlightened man can easily dismiss today. Jesus, however, declares the imminent danger of those who make manman their God, verse 13 of this passage. His ministry emphasized the urgent need to repent before it’s too late. except you repent Jesus said you shall likewise perish when you die you don’t vaporize into non-existence your body goes to the grave we know the soul lives on in either paradise or hell Lazarus here being a true son of Abraham is carried into heaven by the angels and he finds peace and comfort in this. The rich man, however, awakens in hellfire, tormented by the flames. Thus we see the two places where one may end up. Let me begin by saying this. You see depicted here the misery of hell You will see it depicted here the misery of hell. find how is punishment? I am tormented in this flame, verse 24. You know the idea of punishment is not very popular today. Long ago people stopped talking about the punishment even of criminals and they started talking about rehabilitation. And I guess, uh, I guess, remedy. Supposedly that our jails are filled with people who are sick and they need a prescription from a pharmacist to get better. But when you turn to the Bible, you truly will find it shocking, perhaps, that God has no qualms about punishing sinners, throwing them into the prison of hell. will punish the world for their evil and the wicked for their iniquity. Isaiah 13, verse 1. Therefore you read about the day of judgment. When those condemned shall go away, the Bible says in the everlasting punishment, as Russell read from Matthew 2546. Punishment is a theme runs throughout the whole Bible in all the instances and stages of God’s dealings with the wicked. So why should it be thought strange that a holy God would punish people throughout eternity? What matters is that God’s justice is satisfied. And therefore, torment of your unrighteous soul is certainly in line with the character of a thrice holy God. The wicked shall be tormented with fire and brimstone, and the smoke of their torment ascended up forever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night. Revelation 14, verses 10, and 11. Over 1,500 years ago, John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, emphasized what this will mean. He said this and I quote, The dam shall suffer an end without an end, a death without death, a decay without decay, they shall have punishment without pity, misery, misery without mercy, sorrow without succorough without succor, crying without comfort, torment, without ease, unquote. So you will find hell is punishment, according to our text. Secondly, you will find hell is deprivation. Dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. Verse 24. Here the focus is on what must be considered a most basic need when you think about those in a place of heat and flame. That’s water. People think that surely God will provide some small mercies to those who must suffer on and on in everlasting flames. The rich man here doesn’t ask for a whole glass of water. merely a drop or two to cool his tongue. Now the rich man had all he desired in his previous life on Earth, now he longs for just a drop of water. There’s no water fountain in hell. When your thirst becomes unbearable, there’s not a single drop of water to make hell a bit more tolerable. That’s what we find. here. You know, when John Blanchard visited Thailand or Thailand to preach, the meeting place took place in a building that was open-sided on a camp in Hangnam in central Thailand. He was told that during a hot season, a water sprinkler, which was situated on the roof of this. building would go off and lower the temperature by two degrees Celsius. Very little, but at least it provided a small bit of relief when the sun was bearing down on the building. This is what the rich man desires. Just a drop. Just a tiny drop of relief from the fires of hell, and it’s not to be found. And this is the sad fact that we see here. So you find hell is deprivation. Third thing is, you find hell is separation. There’s a great gulf that’s fixed. Verse 26. Jesus will say to sinners on the day of judgment, depart from me, workers of iniquity, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Matthew 2541. In the words of Paul, the wicked shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. 2. Vestalians 1.9. Therefore, those in heaven with the Lord are completely separated from the ungodly and hellfire. There’s this great gulf between them. They cannot pass one to the other. And while the righteous are rejoicing with the Lord, the wicked are suffering and agony completely at a distance. And to perhaps add to the misery is the sight, it seems, of the righteous. Far off in heaven, verse 23. It may be that the wicked will be able to see the glories of heaven, but not participate in them. Be like a criminal or prisoner, if you would. Longingly look out, looking out, looking out his prison bars through those walking around in the streetly in the city. So you see depicted here the misery of hell. It’s a place of punishment, deprivation, and separation. Secondly, this morning, you see that there are those that go to hell when you will seek to mitigate the misery of hell if you go there. You will plead your nominal religion. Father Abraham, verse 24. a Jew, the rich man here pleads his religious affiliation. I’m a son of Abraham. He was counting on this fact to assure him entrance into heaven. He sees that as a means of mitigation. Paul says, though, they which are the children of the flesh, In other words, Jews by birth, these are not the children of God. But the children of promise, those who have been called by God, are counted for the seed. Romans 9.8. So while the rich man claimed Abraham of his father, the truth is, his father was the devil, as Jesus proclaimed in John 844. So he was the devil. he ends up in everlasting fire, which has been prepared for the devil, as scripture tells us. This man blindly followed his religion, perhaps diligently, you know, attending worship and bringing his sacrifices to the temple, but it was all of no avail. It was a vain religion that he had. You know, many people draw near to God with their lips, but their hearts are far from him. Your religion may simply be that of the be seen of men, and there’s no real worship of God taking place. There is a grave danger of pursuing religion without having Jesus Christ. If ye be Christ, then are ye Abraham seed and heirs according to the promise, Galatians 329. But if you’re not Christ, you’re not the true seed of Abraham and perish. Let it be noted that there will be an awful lot of religious people in hell. People who engage in all sorts of religious people who engage in all sorts of religious rituals and empty ceremonies. You will plead your nominal religion. You will pray for mercy. Father Abraham have mercy. On me, verse 24. No sooner was the rich men in the place of torment and began to pray. Sadly, you may never feel your need for God until you find yourself in hell. and he had such a prayer for mercy came too late. Did it not? The day when divine mercy could have been found has now passed away. Archimedes, one of the greatest of the ancient Greek mathematicians and scientists, was working on a math problem during an enemy invasion. He was in his name. native city of Syracuse when it was conquered by the Roman general Marcellus in 212 BC. The man ignored the final assault and kept working on his math while the enemy entered the gates of the city. And of course, you got run through with a sword and put the death. Many unbelievers are like Archimedes. You become so preoccupyenne. with your worldly interest that you’re not paying attention. And you never take seriously the need to be right with God before it’s too late, before punishment comes. But the prayers of the dam come way too late. The essential thing to note here is how utterly self-serving this prayer is. It had nothing to do with the glory of God. Real prayer is true, is always seeking the glory of God. God. But this is no real prayer. And there is no real prayer in hell. There is no reflection on why he was in hell. There’s no repentance for his former manner of life. All he wanted was some relief, some kind of relief from the punishment he’s enduring. This is the only instance of prayer in scripture being addressed to a dead saint. I think about that a minute. Only instance of prayer addressed to a dead saint, Abraham, and it’s of no avail. Didn’t help one iota. There was no mercy granted. Let’s keep that in mind. We see the folly of such thinking. mercy. You will promote your association with the righteous. Send Lazarus! Seeing Lazarus comforted in paradise, the rich man attempts to take advantage of his earthly association with the now glorified Lazarus, the beggar. Why, there’s Lazarus. That poor beggar, he used to eat crumbs that fell from him. my table. Surely he’s willing to do me a favor and returned. All of a sudden, the despised believer, never given a second thought, treated with utter contempt and neglect, becomes very important to the rich man. There’s a day coming when those who hate and despise the people of God will gladly seek some little kindness. from them. And you see how desperate those in hell are to grasp at anything that will give them a tiny bit of relief. But it wasn’t coming. So you look to mitigate the miseries of hell. You plead your nominal religion. You pray for mercy. You promote your association with the righteous. And it’s all to know the veil. this morning. You will find the misery of hell cannot be mitigated. You will have everlasting remorse. Son, remember. Verse 25. You know, one of the never dying worms of hell that eat away at you is that you will remember. You’re going to think about what all took place in exchange for your never-dying soul. What you took, what you accepted for the sale of your soul, what must be the of the memories of Balam and Aiken. Think of Herod. Think of Felix. Think of Agaqa. Think of Agrippa. Think of Anon. Think of Arapa. Think of Anon. Think of Anonaison. Judas and Demas. There’s a sense of justice in the Almighty God in this. A sense of the justice of the punishment of hell will be impressed upon the conscience of the wicked. The rich man here had to plead for mercy and like him you will plead for mercy. But you dare not openly complain. knowledge of every evil done and every good neglected will be devastating to you. You know, King Charles, the Fourth of France, had a reign that during the mid-16th century, which was marred by his fierce persecution of the Euganaut Christians, It is reported that he told his doctor. For months, I have been in a fever physically and spiritually. If only I had spared the innocent, the weak-minded, the crippled. I might get some sleep. But my conscience torments me day and night. Such a thing will be multiplied in hellfire when those were cast. into it. Who are the wicked. Those memories will haunt you throughout eternity. There will be no mitigation, no shutting off the remembrance. It’ll be replayed everlastingly throughout your time there. You have everlastinging remorse. Your enjoyment of good things is over. Verse 25. Thou in my lifetime received good things, but now thou art tormented. The roles are reversed in eternity. The first in this life are last in the next. And the last in this life are first in the next. The rich man enjoyed every good gift from God imaginable. He lacked nothing. He enjoyed the best of everything, the food, clothing, housing, and so forth. He was highly respected. He had servants to do his bidding. He had a life of ease. My friend, there is no comfort for being at ease in hell. The torment is unbearable day and night without ceasing. When you die, all your earthly possessions, your pleasures, your comforts, your powers are gone. and there’s no possibility of you enjoying these good things in the life to come. You know, when I was young, one of my punishments was I had to stand in the corner for misbehaving with my backside still sore from the spanking that I had gotten. And it was torturous. for I couldn’t play baseball or a board game or run around with my friends, all I could do is think about what placed me in such a predicament. My friends, that is the way it is with the wicked. They’re going to think about it for all eternity. Your enjoyment of good things is over. Your condition is irreversible. There is a great goal. fixed in June of 1964, Nelson Mandela of South Africa, the South African apartheid campaigner was sentenced to life imprisonment for attempting to overthrow the government. But at 215 on Sunday, February 11th, 1990, he was released from Victor Volster prison farm near Cape Town in a massive media event. including the time he spent under arrest awaiting trial, we find that he was in prison nearly 27 years, but he didn’t serve a life sentence. He got mitigated. Some or other, people think that everlasting does not mean everlasting. It doesn’t mean forever. Surely, a merciful God will reduce the sentence eventually. What you must realize is God is not a man, that he should repent, that he should change his mind. He has spoken of everlasting punishment, and shall he not do it? I’m my friends. Yes, he shall do it, and you shall not get a reprieve. You know, there is the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory, but we see it’s proved wrong by this text. it’s an evil error. You don’t suffer for years and eventually escape and enter into heaven. There’s a great goal fixed. That’s impossible. That’s what the scripture teaches. If you desire everlasting life, you must place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. And this is the will of Him that sent me. That everyone would see if the sun and believe, believeeth on him may have everlasting life, John 640. Let us not forget that. Without Christ, there is no hope. But with Christ, eternal life is sure for us. Let me close by saying this. Walter Hooper, C.S. Lewis’s personal secretary, laughed at the gravestone. We talked about, here lies an atheist all dressed up with no place to go. I wish, I would think that people would wish there were no hell. It was all a figment of their imagination. But Jesus tells us otherwise, in this passage of Scripture, this parable, is very clear about the matter. The misery of hell is real, and it’s eternal. And therefore there is an urgent to proclaim the gospel to the loss, lest they end up in this place of damnation. Let us keep that in mind as we ponder this passage this morning. May God bless for his sacred and holy word.