HAPPY THANKSGIVING
FOR THE HELL JESUS SAVED US FROM
Luke 16: 19-31
Hell is
real.
We don’t like
to talk about hell. If you talk about
Jesus, you
are talking about hell. Jesus is your salvation from Hell.
You can’t
talk about Jesus without having hell in your rear view
Mirror.
If there was
no hell, we would not need Jesus.
We are first
introduced to hell in the garden of Eden.
We were
first introduced to the reason for Hell in the Garden
Before Adam
and Eve disobeyed God’s command, there was
Complete
harmony and peace in the world
They would
talk with God in the cool of the evening.
Genesis 3:8
Then the man
and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in
the cool of the day.
Can you imagine
having a little talk with Jesus at the end of
Your day.
There was
harmony in the Garden of Eden. There was great freedom In the Garden, but the danger was close by.
God had
given one command:
Genesis
2:16-17
And the Lord God commanded the man, "You
are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely
die."
Be careful
who you listen to. Your decisions can cause you much trouble.
Genesis
3:4-5
"You
will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows
that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,
knowing good and evil."
God allowed
Satan in the Garden of Eden to test our obedience.
It is our
failure to know the Word and live by the Word that causes
Our misery.
After Adam
and Eve sinned, God pronounced Judgement on
Them. The ground was cursed. Pain in childbirth was
pronounced.
They were
kicked out of their home. Locked out by the Lord.
Doomed to hell
on earth and an outlook of an eternal hell.
Genesis
3:23-24
So the Lord God banished him from the Garden
of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the
man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a
flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
After that,
they needed a Jesus to get back to their heavenly home.
Satan was cursed
with the prophecy
Genesis
3:14-15
So the Lord God said to the serpent,
"Because you have done this,
"Cursed
are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals!
You will
crawl on your belly and you will eat dust
all the days
of your life.
15 And I
will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between
your offspring and hers; he will crush your head,
and you will
strike his heel."
Satan became
the ruler of darkness
The Father
of all lies.
He would bruise
Jesus on the heel, a superficial scratch.
Jesus would
bruise him on The head, a fatal eternal blow
Victory over
death was announced.
God gave us
a beautiful moving story about Heaven And Hell.
Let's listen
to what God has said.
Luke 16:
19-31
V:19
"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived
in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered
with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the
dogs came and licked his sores.
A. This shows us the extreme contrast
between the rich and the poor.
1. The rich live in extreme luxury.
2. The poor live without basic needs.
22 "The
time came when the beggar died, and the angels carried him to Abraham's side.
The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell, where he was in torment, he
looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called
to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his
finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'
A. The sin of the rich man was his
selfishness;
1. He lacked compassion
2. He did not love his neighbor
3. He was ungrateful
B. The rich man knew about God but had
no relationship with Him.
1. He called on God as a last resort.
2. Once in hell, there is no relief
3. Once in hell, there is no communication
outside of hell.
4. Once in hell, there is no reasoning
with God.
5. People in hell may be able to view
heaven from a distance
V:25
"But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received
your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted
here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great
chasm has been fixed so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor
can anyone cross over from there to us.'
A. God blesses us so we can bless others.
1. What we do here on earth, determines
our eternal future.
2. According to the text, in hell, you
will remember what you did
While you were living.
3. Those in heaven will have no memory
of their life on earth.
B. Once in hell, there is no way out.
V:27
"He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house,
28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them so that they will not also come
to this place of torment.'
A. Once in hell, you cannot communicate
with the living.
1. Once in hell, you can’t be a role
model for the living.
2. In hell, you may wish you were a
better role model.
3. In hell, you may wish you had obeyed
the Word of God.
4. In hell, you will remember your sins
on earth,
V:29
"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to
them.'
30
"'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to
them, they will repent.'
31 "He
said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be
convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"
A. God gave us the Bible, His Word so we
will know about heaven
And hell.
1. We have God’s Word, so we know the
consequences of sin
2. You cannot convince someone to do
right. They must be
Convicted in their heart.
B. There is no excuse for not obeying
God.
1. God gave everyone the ability to know
him.
Romans 1:20
For since
the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and
divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been
made, so that men are without excuse.
We have two main
choices before we die.
Heaven or
hell
All have
sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
We were born
in sin and shaped in iniquity
The wages of
sin is death
We all deserve
the eternal hell
HEAVEN IS
A DESIGNATED PLACE
For the
Christian who dies today, his or her spirit moves directly from the body
at the moment of death into Christ's presence in the Heavenly throne room
escorted by angels, according to Jesus in Luke 16. As Paul explains:
2Cor. 5:6 Therefore,
being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body
we are absent from the Lord —
2Cor. 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight —
2Cor. 5:8 we are of good courage, I say and prefer rather be absent from the
body and to be at home with the Lord.
2Cor. 5:9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to
be pleasing to Him.
HELL IS
A DESIGNATED PLACE
On the other hand, the destination for unbelievers in death is
very different. Hades is still occupied and its numbers grow by the hour. Every
unbeliever who dies is separated, soul from the body, and the spirit
enters Hades where they await their day of judgment. Hades is under our feet in
the center of the earth, according to the Bible, and the spirits of all
unbelievers go to this place regardless of when they died in history. They
suffer in torment day and night, according to the Bible, yet Hades is not their
final abode.
(Act 2:27)
A final, future judgment called the Great White Throne
Judgment awaits all unbelievers after the thousand-year Kingdom on earth,
according to Revelation 20. At the start of this judgment, all unbelievers are
removed from Hades and given new physical bodies in the Second
Resurrection, according to Revelation 20. At this judgment, these will be
condemned to the "second death," which is the Bible's term for an
eternal existence in the Lake of Fire.
HELL IS A
CREATED PLACE
Hell was
created before the creation of the universe.
Job 38:4-7
4
"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if
you understand.
5 Who marked
off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who
stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what
were its footings set,
or who laid
its cornerstone—
7 while the
morning stars sang together
and all the
angels shouted for joy?
HELL WAS
NOT CREATED FOR MAN
Hell was
created for Satan and his demons?
Hell was in
operation before the creation of man
Let me
suggest Lucifer, now called Satan sinned soon after he was created.
Isaiah
14:12-16
12 How art
thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down
to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou
hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in
the sides of the north:
14 I will
ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou
shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
When Adam
and Eve Sinned against God, hell became an optional destination for man
Each of us
has some unclaimed real estate in hell
Anytime we sin, we dangle our feet in
hell
But by the blood of Jesus, sin can be
covered
There is a
separation between Hell and heaven
You can’t
pray someone out of hell into heaven.
The decision
for heaven must be made before you die.
The word most often translated as “hell” in the NT is Gehenna, the Greek equivalent for “the
valley of Hinnom”. This valley is immediately southwest of Jerusalem, still
visible from the Mt. of Olives. At one time it was there that human sacrifices
were made to the pagan deity Moloch (2 Kings 23:10; 2
Chron. 28:3; 33:6; cf. Jer. 7:31-32; 19:5ff.).
HELL IS A PLACE OF ETERNAL
TORMENT
Revelation 14:9-11.
“And another angel, a third, followed them,
saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and its image and
receives a mark on his forehead or his hand, he also will drink the wine of
God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be
tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the
presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever,
and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its
image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.
THE OCCUPANTS OF HELL
Philippians 3:18-20
many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their
destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their
shame. Their mind is on earthly things.
THE JUDGMENT DAY FOR HELL IS UNANNOUNCED
1 Thessalonians 5:2-3
for you know
very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While
People are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them
suddenly, as labor pains
on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
HELL IS RESERVED FOR UNBELIEVERS
2 Peter 3:6-7
By these
waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same
word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the
day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
2 Thessalonians 1:9-10
They will be
punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the
Lord and the majesty of his power
SIN IS THE REASON FOR HELL
Mark 9:47-48
And if your
eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom
of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where
"'their worm does not die, and the fire is not
quenched.'
WE HAVE AN ADVOCATE FOR HEAVEN
Jesus our Lord and Savior paid the price for our way
to Heaven
Jesus bloodshed on the cross, atoned for our sin
past, present and
Future.
The ticket to heaven is faith in Jesus
Christ.
A TRIP TO HELL IS UNNECESSARY
Hell shows the extent of God’s
love in saving us.
Matthew 27:46
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud
voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-which means, "My God, my
God, why have you forsaken me?"
Jesus took the
hell of the sins of the whole world into Himself on the cross
Hell is an
unnecessary event. Jesus made it plain to all who will listen.
For God so loved
the world, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting
life.
THE GOOD ABOUT
HELL
If we believe the
scripture, All thing works to the good of those who love
The Lord and are
called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28), then there must be something
good about hell.
Let me suggest
the following:
1.
The thought of hell should make us uncomfortable.
2.
The knowledge of hell should remind us of the
consequences of sin.
3.
The knowledge of hell is introduced us to the horrors
in hell
4.
The benefit of knowledge of hell should force us into
a
Relationship
with Jesus.
5.
Knowledge of hell should remind us of the magnitude
of the forgiveness
Of the Lord.
6.
The knowledge of hell should remind us of the tolerance
of the Lord.
7.
The knowledge of hell should remind us of the great
love of God.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son
That whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but
have
Eternal life.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
Rev. M. Mitchell
