Waking Up In Hell

[0:00] Well if we could, with the Lord's help, and the Lord's enabling this evening, if we could turn back to that portion of scripture that we read, the gospel according to Luke, in chapter 16.

[0:23] Luke chapter 16, and we're reading again, we're going to walk through the whole of the parable, but if we just take as our text the words of verse 22 to 24.

[0:35] Luke 16 and verse 22. The poor man died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died, and was buried.

[0:47] And in hell, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.

[1:09] And so on. These words are some of the most solemn words that Jesus spoke during his life and ministry.

[1:28] We know that Jesus said many things, and Jesus did many things. We know that Jesus told many parables, and that he taught many people. We know that Jesus performed many miracles, and that he healed many diseases.

[1:42] But for all that Jesus said and did during his earthly ministry, I believe that the words of this passage are some of the most solemn words that Jesus ever spoke.

[1:55] Because there cannot be a more solemn subject than the subject of hell. But when we hear Jesus talking about hell, we have to ask, why would he talk like this?

[2:10] Why would Jesus say these things? Is he trying to manipulate us? Is he trying to scare us? Is he trying to take control of us? Or is it a loving warning?

[2:25] Because Jesus, as you know, he was the most loving man who ever lived. Even those who were rejected by the rest of the world, they were deeply loved by Jesus.

[2:37] And so the reason Jesus warns us about hell is surely because he loves us, and he doesn't want us to go to hell. Jesus wants us to avoid going to hell.

[2:48] But Jesus also knows that if we reject God throughout our lives, God is just and right to reject us. Jesus knows that if our sin is left undealt with, it will take us to a place of unimaginable pain and unending suffering, which is why he warns us.

[3:11] He warns us because he loves us, and he wants us to be saved. And that's the reason I preach on this subject of hell to you this evening. As you know, I want you to be saved.

[3:25] My greatest desire, the greatest desire of every Christian, is that those who are still out of Christ will be saved. And I look at you, and you and I both know that if you were to die tonight and enter into eternity, you would wake up in hell.

[3:47] You would wake up in hell. And my friend, I have no delight in preaching about hell. If I'm honest, I tremble at the thought of it. But I do it in order that you will see your need and so that you will just run to Jesus.

[4:02] That you'll run to Jesus. And so we come to this solemn subject of Jesus that he's teaching us. This subject of hell.

[4:13] And he's telling us about hell through the medium of a parable. The parable that's well known to us, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. And if I were to give this sermon a title, it would be the title, Waking Up in Hell.

[4:29] Waking Up in Hell, because this parable warns us that there are two types of people in this life. Those who die and they wake up in heaven.

[4:40] And those who die and wake up in hell. But as we said before, the parables of Jesus, they weren't just sermon illustrations in order to make the teaching of Jesus easier to understand.

[4:53] They weren't just a little story in order to entertain his crowd and keep their attention. The parables were to get us deeply involved in what Jesus is saying.

[5:06] And see that we are being portrayed and represented in the parables. And that these parables, they're there to compel us to make a personal decision about following Jesus Christ.

[5:19] Now, of course, we can't take every part of the parable literally. Because it's only a parable. But the truth of the parable is to be taught and emphasized.

[5:31] Not every detail. And the truth of this parable, as you know, it was originally directed towards the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the original audience.

[5:41] They were the religious elite who believed that their good works and their religious righteousness and their clean living, they believed that it earned them favor with God.

[5:52] But the truth of the parable is that religion doesn't save. Religion and religious righteousness doesn't save us. Only faith in Jesus Christ saves us.

[6:06] And because salvation and heaven and hell are such solemn issues, Jesus is warning us in this parable of the rich man and Lazarus.

[6:16] He's warning us about how we live and how we die. And Jesus is asking us, when you die, not if you die, but when you die, when you die, where will you wake up?

[6:37] When you die, where will you wake up? Will you wake up in heaven? Or will you wake up in hell? And so this evening, I'd like us to consider this solemn parable which Jesus told.

[6:52] And I'd like us to just look at it under four headings. The headings are the refusal, the reality, the reversal, and the request. The refusal, the reality, the reversal, and the request.

[7:07] So we look first of all at the refusal. The refusal. Look at verse 19. Jesus says, Jesus introduces this solemn parable by presenting two contrasting figures, two different people.

[7:42] And they couldn't be any different. Because the rich man was rich and Lazarus was poor. The rich man was clothed in purple, which was an expensive color in the ancient world.

[7:55] And he was clothed with fine linen, which was an expensive material in the ancient world. Lazarus was clothed with sores. Sores that were licked by wild dogs.

[8:07] The rich man was healthy. He thought that his whole life was ahead of him. Lazarus was sick and slowly dying. The rich man, he ate well. He feasted many times with his friends.

[8:21] Lazarus, he longed for only crumbs, which fell from the rich man's table. The rich man was admired and envied by others. Lazarus was despised and rejected by others.

[8:34] But you know, when the Pharisees heard these contrasting descriptions of the rich man and Lazarus, they would have concluded that the rich man was a righteous man and Lazarus was a sinner.

[8:48] Because the Pharisees, and many of the Jews at the time, they believed that a person's wealth was proof of God's favor and blessing upon them. And so if you were like Lazarus, poor, sick, and dying, you were considered to be unclean and an outcast.

[9:07] You were under the judgment of God and receiving God's curse. And in the opinion of many people about Lazarus, they would class him as a burden of society and a waste of space.

[9:20] The rich man and Lazarus, they had very different experiences and very different lives. And yet for all their differences, they were well acquainted with one another.

[9:34] Because Lazarus, as we're told, he was laid at the gate of the rich man's house daily. The extent of Lazarus' illness meant that he couldn't walk, therefore he couldn't work.

[9:47] And so others had to lay him there. And they laid him at the gate of the rich man in this hope that the rich man would have compassion on him and feed him. But it seems that Lazarus' desire for food, it was never satisfied.

[10:03] Lazarus was always longing to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table, but the crumbs, they never came. But even though the rich man would have been favored by the Pharisees because it seemed that the Lord had blessed him with all this wealth, even though he looked like a righteous man on the outside, Jesus is telling us that the rich man wasn't living as the Lord had commanded.

[10:29] Because throughout the Old Testament, we read that the Lord always made provisions for the poor. The Lord never alienated the poor and isolated them from people because the Lord believed that they too were precious and made in the image and likeness of God.

[10:45] And therefore, they were precious in God's sight. And the Lord, he always commanded his people to take care of the poor. Whether it was at harvest time, the poor were given the provision of gleaning the harvest fields.

[11:01] Or even when it came to worship, the Lord always made provisions for the poor that they too could come and offer sacrifices. The Lord always made provisions for people like Lazarus to ensure that their daily needs were met.

[11:15] And that included the rich providing for the poor and taking care of them. But the rich man didn't do that. He refused to look after Lazarus.

[11:26] He refused to love his neighbor. He refused to help the beggar sitting outside his front gate. Now, I'm quite sure that none of us in here this evening that we would do what the rich man did.

[11:42] I'm sure that we would all help a Lazarus in need if he sat every day outside our front gate. I'm sure that we would all provide help in any way that we could.

[11:53] We'd go the extra mile, you could say, if a Lazarus came to our doorstep. But every day, the rich man, he refused to help Lazarus because he was so consumed with his own life and his own things.

[12:09] And yet every day, Lazarus was a constant reminder to the rich man that he wasn't living his life the way he should have been. As Lazarus sat outside the front gate of this rich man, he pricked the rich man's conscience that he wasn't doing what God's word said.

[12:31] And you know, I was thinking about this, that for the unconverted here this evening, although you may not have a Lazarus who is sick and in need of your help sitting outside your front gate every day, I'm sure that you have a Lazarus in your home or in your family or in your village or in your workplace that convicts you that you're not living your life the way you should.

[13:05] I'm sure that you have a Lazarus. The name Lazarus means God is my help. I'm sure that you have a Lazarus, a Christian, who testifies that God is their help and they convict you either by the way they live or by what they say and they convict you that you're not doing what God's word is telling you because you know that God's word tells you plainly and clearly to seek the Lord while he's to be found, call upon him while he is near.

[13:33] You know that the Bible says to you, repent and believe in the gospel. You know that the Bible says believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved and yet like the rich man, despite the conviction from your Lazarus, you refuse to act upon it.

[13:52] You refuse to act upon it and despite the fact that your conscience is being pricked by a Lazarus, it might not always be there, it comes and goes, but they're always at your gate and you always know that they're at your front gate and yet you refuse to do anything about it and let's be honest here, you know that you need to become a Christian, you know that you need to be saved, I don't need to tell you that.

[14:20] You know that you need to have your sins forgiven, I don't need to tell you that. You know that Jesus is the only one who can help you, I don't need to tell you that. You know that were you to die tonight, you would wake up in hell, I don't need to tell you that.

[14:36] And you know that you need to do something about it, you know that. And yet, up until now, despite all that you know, you have still refused to do anything about it.

[14:48] Despite all that you know, all that you've been told for so many years, you still refuse to listen. And what's so sad is that you know that this is the one thing needful in this life and in the next.

[15:05] But like the rich man, you refuse to do anything about it. And instead, you fill your life with other things. Instead of dealing with the issue that is outside your own front gate, Jesus Christ, instead of dealing with Him, you ignore Him.

[15:22] And you fill your life with more and more distractions. And you know, only a few chapters earlier, Jesus told a parable about another rich man who did the same thing, filled his life with so many distractions.

[15:36] And Jesus called that man a rich fool. Because that rich fool, he failed and he refused to look at life for what it really is.

[15:48] Short. It's short. And the rich fool, he distracted himself by building all his bigger and better barns, but he didn't get to see them.

[16:02] He'd even told his soul, soul, take it easy. Go into retirement. Eat, drink, and be merry. But he didn't get to see that.

[16:13] Doubtless to see the distraction of his wealth and everything he had, it led him to the place where it is leading countless millions. The place called a safe, a false sense of security.

[16:28] A false sense of security. You know, there are many people throughout this world where their business, their job, their money, their property, their health, their fitness, their finance, their family, that's their security.

[16:47] And there's nothing wrong with having any of these things. Don't get me wrong. Nothing wrong at all. But not one of them provides eternal security. Not one.

[16:59] And yet every one of them, it distracts us from the one thing that is needful. The one thing that's needful. Eternal life in Jesus Christ.

[17:10] But if like the rich man and the rich fool, you refuse to deal with the issue that is outside your own front gate, your refusal, as Jesus says, it will lead to the reality of death and hell.

[17:29] My friend, your refusal to act upon what you already know, it will end with the reality of eternal death in an eternal hell.

[17:40] And that's what Jesus speaks about secondly. He speaks about the reality of death and hell. He's spoken about the refusal, but secondly, the reality.

[17:52] The reality. Look at verse 22. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. And in hell, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.

[18:08] And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am being tormented in this flame.

[18:20] And in these verses, we see that the contrast between the rich man and Lazarus, that contrast, it continues. But what they both had in life was not what they had in death.

[18:36] Because like many of the parables, Jesus turns the whole thing on its head. And the unexpected happens. Because for the Pharisees listening to Jesus telling this parable, the statement that Lazarus went to heaven and the rich man woke up in hell, that would have come as a complete surprise to them.

[18:54] It was unexpected. Because as the religious leaders of the day and as far as they were concerned, it was Lazarus who was the sinner. He was the one under God's judgment.

[19:05] He deserved to go to hell. By all outward appearances, Lazarus must have been this unfaithful and disobedient man to God. Or else, why would he suffer so much in life?

[19:17] Why would he have all these sores and be so poor unless God was punishing him? But of course, that was a completely wrong understanding of who God is. And the Bible reminds us God doesn't look at the outward appearance.

[19:35] God looks at the heart. And it seems that the heart of the rich man was far from God. In fact, the heart of the rich man had replaced God and ignored God because of other things.

[19:52] Yes, by all outward appearances, the rich man looked as if God had blessed him greatly. He had his wealth. He had his health. He had his family. He had everything that life could give him except salvation.

[20:07] But you know, despite all the contrasts between the rich man and Lazarus, despite all these contrasts, they had one thing in common. they both died.

[20:21] They both died. Lazarus wouldn't even have had a funeral. He would have been thrown on a common grave with all the criminals and all the murderers.

[20:35] But when the rich man died, his funeral would have been full of pomp and ceremony. There would have been many mourners, the costly spices, the extravagant tomb, and many people celebrating his life and all that he was.

[20:51] But as you know, my friend, death is the great leveler. It levels us all onto the same plane. And death, it's no respecter of persons.

[21:02] Doesn't ask us who we are. Doesn't ask us how old we are. Doesn't ask us what position we are in life. Doesn't ask us if we're married, if we have children, if we've got a good job, if we're wealthy, if we're a good person and an upstanding member in that community.

[21:18] Death doesn't ask us any questions. Death just takes. It robs us of everything. And it doesn't care who it hurts or what it's doing.

[21:31] My friend, death is an awful enemy. And we all know it. And unfortunately, it's a reality. It's a reality.

[21:43] There's no getting away from it. The Bible says there is a time to be born and there is a time to die. And that time, it has been appointed.

[21:54] It's appointed unto man once to die. After that, the judgment. But the truth is we don't want to think about death.

[22:06] Or if we do, we don't want to think about our own death. We think about others dying. We don't want to think about ourselves just now. We want to keep it at arm's length as far away from us as possible.

[22:20] We don't want to think about that just now. That's in the distance. That's not now. That's in the distance from me. And we fill ourselves and our minds with all these distractions.

[22:33] All our hobbies, our work, our music, our sport, our family, everything. Nothing wrong with any of these things but when we fill our lives with them, we fill them just so that we don't have to think about the greatest reality in life.

[22:48] Our own death. Our own death. And yes, Satan, he'll feed you the lie plenty of time. Plenty of time.

[23:00] You're still healthy, still fit, still working, still in control. Plenty of time. I'm sure that's what the rich man thought too. Plenty of time. But in the end he was too late.

[23:16] My friend, are you ready to die? That's what Jesus wants to know. That's what God is asking.

[23:29] God himself, Jesus Christ, asking, are you ready to die? Because, do you know what I believe is one of the most solemn chapters in the Bible? It's right at the beginning of the Bible.

[23:44] Genesis chapter 5. Because in Genesis chapter 5, we're given a list of all these names. Some names we know, some names we don't know.

[23:57] But what it says about each and every one of these names is how long they lived and then they died. And the words that are repeated, just three words repeated again and again, and he died.

[24:12] And he died. And he died. And he died. And as you read through Genesis chapter 5, it's like walking through a graveyard.

[24:25] And you read all the names of these people who once lived. And then you read the age they died. And you know, thinking about it for each and every one of us.

[24:37] not very long from now, that will be said about us. He lived so many years and he died.

[24:52] She lived so many years and she died. My friend, Jesus is stressing to us in this parable that a refusal to deal with our own front gate, a refusal to deal with Jesus Christ in the gospel will end in with the reality of death and hell.

[25:15] But you know, when the Pharisees heard this parable of Jesus with Lazarus being taken up into heaven and the rich man waking up in hell, it would have annoyed them.

[25:27] It would have got their backs up. It would have frustrated them that Jesus would have said something like that about a rich man. Because as we said, the rich man, well, he was believed to have been someone who was favored by God, blessed by God, a righteous man.

[25:44] They were good people. They certainly didn't deserve to go to hell. Now, of course, the rich man didn't go to hell because he was wealthy. The rich man went to hell because he didn't love God.

[25:55] He had filled his life with everything else. He didn't love God and he didn't love his neighbor. He woke up in hell because he refused to deal with what was outside his own front gate. But when Jesus told this parable, it inevitably caused the Pharisees to ask the same question that everyone else is asking.

[26:17] How can a good God send good people to hell? How can a good God send good people to hell? What kind of God is that?

[26:29] That's not right. That's not fair. That's not just. justice is sending pedophiles and rapists and murderers to hell. That's what justice is, not good people.

[26:40] You don't send good people to hell. Good people go to heaven. Good people who attend church and pay their tithes and pay their taxes and help their neighbor and do good work, surely they go to heaven.

[26:54] How can a good God send good people to hell? But my friend, why do we always start with the wrong question? The question is not why does a good God send good people to hell?

[27:09] The question is why does a good God and a just God and a holy God who demands the absolute perfection in the life and conduct of mankind, why should he allow us sinners?

[27:30] why should he allow us into heaven if we willfully reject the message that his son came to die?

[27:42] Why? my friend, don't refuse to deal with what is outside your own front gate because the reality is death is coming.

[27:57] Life is uncertain, death is sure, sin is the cause, Christ is the cure. Christ is the cure. evil. And so we've considered the refusal, the reality and thirdly the reversal.

[28:13] The reversal. Look at verse 24. And he called out Father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am being tormented in this flame.

[28:27] But Abraham said child remember that you in your lifetime received your good things and Lazarus and like man are bad things. But now he is comforted here and you are in torment.

[28:38] And besides all this between us and you a great chasm has been fixed in order that those who would pass from here to you may not do so and none may cross from there to us.

[28:51] None may cross from there to us. The parable continues and Jesus explains that there was this conversation between Abraham and the rich man.

[29:03] But of course we have to remember that this is a parable. We can't read it literally and think that there is conversation between heaven and hell because there isn't.

[29:15] As with many parables Jesus is just trying to get his point across that to wake up in hell will be an awful experience. But Jesus first of all says that Lazarus woke up in the bosom of Abraham which of course it isn't true because when a believer wakes up in heaven the wonder of heaven is that you're in the arms of Jesus.

[29:44] But because Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees who held Abraham in such high esteem. Abraham was the man of righteousness. He was the father of the faithful. He had received the covenant promise from God and through him all the nations of the earth were to be blessed.

[29:59] And so for the Pharisees to get to heaven was to be with Abraham. And as Pharisees and religious leaders and self-righteous men they assumed that the rich man would go to heaven because he was a good person.

[30:13] But you know it's something we can never assume. We can never assume the eternal outcome of a soul. And Jesus makes very clear that if we're not trusting in Jesus Christ for our salvation then the reverse is through.

[30:31] Because when the rich man closed his eyes on this world he didn't go to heaven as the Pharisees thought he would. He woke up in hell. He woke up far away from Abraham.

[30:42] He was as far away from righteousness, faith and blessing as he possibly could be. He woke up in hell. But Jesus explains that when the rich man woke up in hell, the first thing he did was cry for mercy.

[31:01] He had never cried to God for mercy whilst he was living. But as soon as he woke up in hell he cried for mercy. Don't be like him my friend.

[31:13] Don't be like him. Don't wait until it's too late. We have to cry to God for mercy. But Jesus says that the rich man he not only cried for mercy, he also cried to Abraham.

[31:25] And in crying to Abraham, the rich man said, send Lazarus. Send Lazarus. The absurdity of his request that Abraham would send the very man the rich man had ignored all his life.

[31:41] The rich man had refused to feed Lazarus or help him in any way. He refused to deal with what was outside his own front gate. But now in hell, the rich man is pleading, pleading, send Lazarus.

[31:56] Send him that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am being tormented in this flame. And it's interesting that the word tormented is repeated four times in this passage.

[32:11] And Jesus is emphasizing the pain and the awfulness of hell. And there's no doubt, my friend, that the description which Jesus gives of hell is an awful description.

[32:26] And during his ministry, Jesus spoke more times about hell than he did about heaven. And that's because Jesus knew the seriousness of telling people the truth.

[32:41] He knew how serious it was to tell people the truth. The truth that hell is a real place and real people go there.

[32:52] The truth that hell is a place of unending pain and eternal torment. The truth that hell is the place where you cannot die. You're dying but never dead.

[33:03] It's unending sorrow. And Jesus wants us to know the truth about hell, that hell is the place where, as he says himself, the fire is not quenched. It's the place where there is wailing and grinding of teeth because of the severity of the pain.

[33:20] It's the place of outer darkness. We know that heaven is a place of eternal light where there is no night. But hell is a place of eternal darkness where there is no day.

[33:35] My friend, hell is a place of great separation. And that's what Abraham says to the rich man. There's this great chasm. chasm between heaven and hell that cannot be crossed.

[33:49] It's a place of separation. Separation from life. Separation from blessing. Separation from family. Separation from friends. Hell is a place of great separation.

[34:02] A place of great separation. salvation. But as we said earlier, when we hear Jesus talking about hell, we have to ask, why would he talk like this?

[34:14] Why is Jesus saying these things? Why is he talking about this subject of hell? Why would he speak about the awfulness of hell more than the wonder and glory of heaven?

[34:26] Well, surely it's because he wants us to know the truth. Why would Jesus say these things? Surely it's a loving warning. He says it because he loves us.

[34:41] And he doesn't want us to go to hell. He loves us so much that he even demonstrated his love for us. In dying in our place on the cross.

[34:55] My friend, Jesus doesn't want us to go to hell. He wants us to be saved. He wants us to go to heaven. He wants us to experience eternal life. He doesn't want us to go to hell.

[35:07] I don't want you to go to hell. I want you to be saved. But the only person who can change all that is you.

[35:21] Now, don't give me the doctrine of God's election. Don't give me God's sovereignty. None of that. The only person who can change all this is you.

[35:34] You have to cry to Jesus for mercy. You have to seek Jesus with all your heart. You have to commit your life to him before you're too late.

[35:46] You have to deal with what is outside your own front gate. The only person who can change all this is you. And so in this parable we've considered the refusal, the reality, the reversal, and lastly and briefly, the request.

[36:06] The request. Look at verse 27. And he said, this is the rich man speaking, he said, then I beg you father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them lest they also come into this place of torment.

[36:24] But Abraham said, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said, no father, Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. He said to them, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.

[36:43] And it seems that for the first time in this parable, the rich man was showing concern for someone other than himself. And he requests that Abraham send Lazarus to his father's house to speak to his five brothers and warn them about the torments of hell.

[37:00] He wants his brothers to repent and turn to the Lord. He doesn't want them to make the same mistakes that he made. But his request is refused.

[37:12] And the rich man is told that his brothers, they have the word of God. They have Moses and the prophets. They have the law and the prophets. They have the Bible. The Bible is sufficient for their salvation, he says.

[37:25] They don't need anything else. If they're not willing to listen to the Bible and believe the Bible and repent of their sins, then they'll never believe. If they don't believe what the word of God is saying, they will never be convinced to change their ways.

[37:41] They will never deal with what is outside their own front door. They will never repent. And Jesus even says in the parable that they will never believe.

[37:52] Even if someone was to rise from the dead. And of course, Jesus is speaking about himself. And what he's saying is true.

[38:04] Because there are many people who remain unconvinced and uncommitted, even though they have the word of God before them in black and white. Even though they know it, they've been brought up with it, they read it, they understand some of it, yet they're still unconvinced and uncommitted.

[38:22] And my unconverted friend, you still remain unconvinced and uncommitted, even though you know the Bible is to be true. You know it to be true. You still remain unconvinced and uncommitted, even though you know that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is true.

[38:38] You know that his birth is true. His miracles are true. Everything that the Bible says is true. His death is true. His resurrection is true. His ascension is true. His second coming is true.

[38:49] You know it all to be true. And the reason, the reason that you remain unconvinced and uncommitted is because you keep refusing to deal with the issue that is outside your own front gate.

[39:08] You keep refusing. But as we said, if you continue to refuse to deal with Jesus, then your reality will be an eternal death in an eternal hell.

[39:25] And that's what the rich man had. He woke up in hell. He woke up in hell. But his request for Lazarus to tell his brothers about the torments of hell, that wasn't out of love for his family.

[39:43] It might look like that, but that's not the truth. Because there's no love in hell. In fact, there's no grace in hell. There's no mercy in hell.

[39:54] There's no faith in hell. There's no restraint in hell. There's no compassion in hell. There's no kindness in hell. There's no forgiveness in hell. There's no relationships in hell.

[40:05] There's no friends in hell. Because everyone will hate one another. And they'll hate God. And they'll want to kill one another. but that will never happen because in hell you are dying but never dead dying but never dead it will go on and on and on and on and on but the request of the rich man for Lazarus to tell his brothers about the torments of hell it wasn't about his love for his own family it was actually a selfish desire because the rich man knew that if his own family ended up in hell it would make his hell all the more sorrowful hell would be far worse for him if he was the reason he had led his family away from God and into the pit of hell and you know there are some people who think all this is just too far-fetched it's all make-believe this is all fairy tales but all I want to say to that is there are no unbelievers in hell there are no unbelievers in hell they all know who God is and they all know that their sin has brought them to hell they are very aware of why they are there and so my friend if you're unconverted uncommitted unconvinced whatever you want to call yourself you ought to thank God tonight that you're not in hell that you're still on mercy's ground that there is still time you still have hope there is still forgiveness and so what is the lesson from the parable of the rich man and Lazarus hell is the truth realized too late hell is the truth realized too late and so we must not refuse this Jesus standing outside our own front gate because the reality is life is uncertain death is sure sin is the cause

[42:41] Christ is the cure my friend committing your life to Jesus Christ is the only way to ensure that when you die you don't wake up in hell it's as simple as that it's as simple as that Jesus is asking us tonight when you die where will you wake up and it's a question we all have to answer will we wake up in heaven will we wake up in hell oh my friend I hope and pray I hope and pray that after hearing this loving warning from Jesus I hope that you will know that it was preached in love I hope that you will know that it was preached out of concern for your soul but after hearing this loving warning from Jesus

[43:43] I hope that none of us not one of us will wake up in hell may the Lord bless these thoughts to us let us pray oh Lord our gracious God we give thanks to thee for the loving warnings that thou dost give to us and how thy word reminds us that if we spare the rod we spoil the child and how Lord we need to be taught we need to be shaped we need to be warned we need to be warned about the reality of our end to bear our end in mind we need to be warned about the eternal outcome that if we don't deal with our sin that we will be found in the torments of hell oh Lord bless us we pray bless thy word to our souls help us to see thy word speaking to us help us to take it to ourselves and not to others help us to respond to it as we ought by committing ourselves to this Jesus this Jesus who loved us and gave himself for us oh Lord bless us in the week that lies ahead a week that is unknown to us we do not know what a day nor an hour may bring but we give thanks that every day has been mapped out for us every day is known to thee help us then to trust thee to trust thee with our life and to trust thee with our death and to trust thee with our eternal outcome oh go before us Lord we pray for we ask it in Jesus name and for his sake

[45:24] Amen we shall conclude by singing in Psalm 86 Psalm 86 in the Scottish Psalter page 341 Psalm 86 we're singing from verse 9 down to the verse marked 13 all nations whom thou made shall come and worship reverently before thy face and they O Lord thy name shall glorify because thou art exceeding great and works by thee are done which are to be admired and thou art God thyself alone teach me thy way and in thy truth O Lord then walk will I unite my heart that I thy name may fear continually O Lord my God with all my heart to thee I will give praise and I the glory will ascribe unto thy name always because thy mercy toward me in greatness doth excel and thou delivered hast my soul out from the lowest hell these verses of Psalm 86 to God's praise to God's praise all nations whom thou made shall come and worship reverently before thy face and they O Lord thy name shall glorify because thou art exceeding great and works by thee are done which are to be admired and thou art God thyself alone

[47:46] O Lord then walk will I unite my heart that I thy name may fear continually O Lord my God with all my heart to thee I will give praise and I the glory will ascribe unto thy name always because thy mercy toward me in greatness doth excel and thou deliver hast my soul out from the lowest hell the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forevermore

[49:34] Amen