My message today is The Rich Man in Hell and His Big Mistake, or In Hell and Still Ignorant. Got a double title out of this morning. You can choose that. The Rich Man in Hell and His Big Mistake, or In Hell and Still Ignorant. All right, let's begin to read there. Verse 19. There was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sowers, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sowers. 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 lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember, that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you, there is 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." In other words, we can't go where you are, you can't come where we are. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, Father, that thou would send him to my father's house. For I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come to this place, into this place of torment. Abraham said unto him, They have Moses and the prophets, they have the Old Testament, in other words, the Word of God. Let them hear them. And 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. Thank you, and you may be seated. All right, the rich man in hell and his big mistake are in hell and still ignorant. Now, this morning as I speak to you, the sad fact is that Mr. Richman, and that's what I'm going to call him. Some people call him by another name, but the Bible gives no name here. Mr. Richman was, is, and forever shall be doomed to the eternal torments of hell. Now, I don't know how long he's been there, because when Jesus was talking about this, he was already there. So I don't know how long he's been. I know he's been there 2,000 years at least, and he's just getting started. Now, that should be a sobering fact today, but people who are living in sin or lost are not worried about going to hell this morning. They're worried about getting the money to do some more sinning. They're worried about where they're going to go next week, what they're going to do next week to sin. They're sleeping off a hangover for this week, and they're trying to get over the effects of that and spend all their money in sin and so forth and so on. They're not thinking about hell. But the Lord knew people wouldn't think about hell, so he actually put this story here, true story, of a man who's there. So as we sit here this morning, underneath our feet, down there in the heart of the earth, Mr. Richman resides. He's been there a long time. He was, he is, and forever he'll be doomed to the eternal torments of hell. There's no hope for him. I want to reemphasize that this morning, because somehow today people just aren't getting it. They just aren't getting it. It just seems like they'll believe the newspaper, they'll believe the television, they'll believe the politicians, even though they lie all the time. They'll believe anybody and everybody but God. And some folks say they believe what the Bible says, but they're just not going to do it right now because they've got some more sinning they want to do, and they won't put God right on the tail end of it because they want to wait until their life is over, and then they want to make a profession of faith so they can get it or put it over on God. They're going to spend their life in sin, enjoying it like they want to, and then they've got it all timed and figured out where, when it's all over with, at the last moment, they'll be saved. Well, that won't work. Well, somebody said, the thief on the cross will say, that's right, but he didn't plan it. That's where he hurt Jesus. That's where he was convicted of his sins. He didn't plan and say, ha ha, look here, Lord, I've spent all my life, and now I'm ready to die. I'm going to just, you know, go ahead and make a profession. No, God knows the genuine from the false. There are some folks that are in hell today that figured it out like that, and they lost. They figured wrong. But the rich man is in hell. Just as you and I sit in this auditorium today, he's in hell. And you say, well, I don't know about that. Well, I do, because God said it. And there's a lot of things in this life I don't know about, but what the Bible says, I know it's true. Now, the next thing about this rich man is he didn't go to hell because he was rich. And I say this, and I've said this every time almost I've preached on this, because you take people that aren't rich, they think they're going to get to heaven because they aren't rich. They think only rich people are going to hell. But he didn't go. The Bible doesn't teach at all for one minute that he went to hell because he is rich. This man went to hell, and the Bible makes it very plain, because he had never been forgiven for his sins. That's what the Bible says. Jesus said, you'll die in your sins if you believe that I'm not He. You'll die in your sins. He had never been forgiven for his sins, therefore he had to personally pay for them. And the bill was a big one. It said, forever and ever and ever and ever, without end, you'll be paying on this bill. Now, I know today that it's possible to get deeply in debt in credit cards and pay for 30, 40 years, and even more, and still die and leave some balance behind. But, dear people, you do get some relief at least when you die. But folks that are paying for their sins in hell, they'll never get relief. They'll never come to the end. Nobody will ever walk to the gates of hell and say, all right, your time's up, you've paid. Because that sentence is eternal. And that's the choice that you have today. You can reject the Lord Jesus Christ and not have His blood cleanse you from your sins, or you can pay the bill yourself. And that's exactly what a life of sin and unbelief is going to cost you. I don't care what a lost sinner thinks is so great today that he uses and says, I can't turn to Christ because you think about it a long time because whatever it is that you're using as an excuse, and there's probably a bunch of them, are they worth an eternity in hell for? That's an awful big price tag. That's a terrible price tag. And you can be sure if you die without Jesus Christ, you'll be there. And you'll be there forever. And the Bible makes that very plain. Mr. Richman, though, as you read the story of him, never asked one time to be freed from his eternal punishment. I don't have any doubt in my mind, though, that if somebody had offered him escape, or had said, we're going to let you out, he'd have jumped at the offer. But if you'll notice, when you read this account, he never mentions the hope of he himself ever escaping the situation that he was in, paying for his sins. He doesn't do that at all. Why? Because he knew quite well what everybody in hell knows today. They know that their case is hopeless. Their case is hopeless. He never said, you know, y'all let me out of here. He didn't say, somebody come from over there and give me a hand to get out. None of that stuff. None of that stuff at all. And we know by his own words and his own description that he was in a terrible shape. And if you've ever wondered why he wasn't asking for himself to be let out, there's only one reason why. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had never seen the day when he was doing anything but what he was doing at that moment, and that was paying for his sins. He realized, though, what multitudes don't seem to understand. He realized that it's now or never, what I mean. As far as salvation from sin is concerned and the penalty for it is concerned, it's either settled in this life or it's never settled. In hell, you pay forever. He realized that. You say, why did he say he realized that? Well, look on down at what he said about his brothers. He didn't ask for himself, any hope for himself. He didn't ask for any help for himself. He realized that that was gone. That was a thing of the past. But he realized it was now or never for the folks that he left down here behind. And he was very concerned about them because He said, I've got five brothers back there. These little boys I grew up with, ran and played with, and we had fun and games together. And these are the fellows that, you know, we didn't pay any attention to the Word of God. We had bigger fish to fry. Why, man, we were a success, or we inherited it from our father. In a way, we became wealthy, all six of us. And he said, we just lived it up down there, and we didn't have any time for God. We didn't pay any attention to the Word of God, being priests. We never thought about eternity. Man, we were too busy enjoying our wealth. But now in hell, while he doesn't say anything about himself or request anything for himself, he remembers those five old brothers of his. He could have named them for you if you'd ask him. His mind was clear. He still loved them. He still cared for them. And he realized that it's now or never for them. At the time he was speaking there, he realized that they were in what you'd call the land of opportunity. They were still alive on the earth. You know why he realized that? Because none of them had shown up in hell yet. He realized they were still back there. There was still hope for them. He was hopeless. They were in the land of hope. If you were going to hang a sign on the door of hell, or the gates of hell, an appropriate one would be hopeless. Hopeless. That's what he was, but not so with his brothers, because they hadn't got there yet. And so I don't know whether they're there today or not, but he's concerned about them. Now, he wasn't concerned about his own soul. He wasn't concerned about theirs while he was here. That's exactly the way it is today with so many people, so many families. Here in this little town of Oakdale, I've never seen so many people going to hell and happy about it. I don't think about God. Do you know what some of them think? And probably some of them that I'm speaking to out in radio land when they hear this message will think, you know, well, old brother Sweet Lips will get up there and he'll preach me into heaven. You'll be in hell a long time before brother Sweet Lips gets up and tries to persuade everybody that you actually made some kind of profession back there one time you passed through the church house doors and somebody dipped you in water and let you loose. You'll have been in hell a long time, several hours before that ever takes place. Nothing's going to change your destiny this morning, but repentance and turning to the Lord Jesus Christ in real heartfelt, wholehearted belief in Christ as Lord and Savior. And you'll never do that as long as you're satisfied with the sinful life that you're living, and as long as you treasure it and value it as you do. Now, he knew those five brothers were still back here, and he cared for them very much. He didn't want them to show up where he was. Can you imagine that? He didn't draw any consolation from the fact that those boys were lost and that, well, he was down there and at least he'd have five brothers there, and they'd all be together. People in hell don't draw consolation from the fact that their families are showing up down there. That's one family reunion that They don't want to see take place. Now there might be some people out there that are so angry at some people out back here that they hope they show up there. But there are some of them there, at least we know from this, that are hoping and praying that their family doesn't show up. And some of them have already had that family showed up. And imagine the horror when the one that you thought about back here that was living just like you were, You laughed at God, laughed at the church, called it hypocrites. One fellow said, I just did a Bible conference, and one fellow said, I tell you what, I'd rather go to church with one or two hypocrites than die and go to hell with a whole bunch. I thought, that's pretty good. I'll have to remember that one. That's pretty wise. I can put up with them a while. People in hell down there with a whole bunch of them. But this man was there. Can you imagine folks today? Can you imagine a mama? Said, oh my goodness gracious of life, I neglected my children. I never took them to church, put them on the Word of God. I hope they don't continue to live like I raised them up. Can you imagine when she counts? One, there's Sally. Two, there's Susie. Three, there's Bobby. Four, there's Billy. Oh, count them all. Wouldn't it be a tragic thing? Can you imagine a father down there today doing the same thing? Man, this is the land of opportunity. This is the time whenever folks need to get concerned about their souls. This is the time when the gospel is being preached. This old boy didn't want them to come down there. It was a place of terrible punishment. And he knew if they died in their sins, they'd get the same punishment he did. And so he said, I'd like to get Lazarus. They know Lazarus. We saw him. No doubt the Bible doesn't say this, so you don't have to believe this. No doubt they laughed a lot of times and said, look out there, there ought to be a law against something like that laying around at your fence. Just, oh, we got a beautiful place here and a beautiful lawn, keep it manicured, looking nice. And there he is out there, you know, just sort of takes away from the beauty of the place. You know, goodness gracious life, every day we look out there and we got to see this day in and day out. Boy, isn't that terrible? Isn't that, isn't that, that's just, oh, that's a torture to watch out, watch this fellow every day. They bring him and lay him there every day. Every day. I don't think people have changed all that much. I think that's in the realm of possibility. You can disagree with me. It's not written down in the Bible, so you don't have to believe it. But people don't change. People don't change. Basically, they're the same generation after generation. So he said, they all know Lazarus. He said, what you do, send him back to them and let him return and speak to them. And he is convinced, you know, that if someone went to them from the dead, and especially somebody that they knew that was dead, And you old asses were dead, because I imagine you folks, when he didn't show up there one day and the brothers heard he was dead, that they were just tickled to death, said, well, at least we don't have to look at him anymore. But anyhow, he said, if one come to him from the dead, then repent and turn to God. That's what he said. And you know what the answer was, you see? He said, oh, well, he was sore. He said, Abraham said, they have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. They have the Word of God. Oh, man, that struck terror into his heart. I wonder why. Had he, along with them, heard the Word of God before and refused it? I think he did. I think even in hell he remembered that that Word of God, they laughed at it and rejected it and refused to believe it. And he knew what they'd been doing in the past about that and what he had done about it. He said, I'll never do that. It'll never work. You've got to send somebody back from the dead. Now he was refused and he was assured that such a thing would make no difference whatsoever in his lost brothers, and soon to be companions in a fiery hell. That's an amazing statement. And as I've said so many times before, if it wasn't in the Bible, I wouldn't believe it. But I'm going to tell you something, dear people, it's in the Bible. And it's God's way of saying this. that if people will not be converted by what I'm doing today, the preaching of the gospel, that they wouldn't be converted if the Apostle Paul was raised from the grave and sent back and preached the gospel to them. And the truth here this morning is that if you won't believe the Word of God, this is what it all boils down to, you wouldn't believe it if your own grandpa came back from the dead. and said, grandson, grandson, you need to turn from your sin and unbelief to Christ. You'd give him the same treatment you'd give him the Word of God up to this point. Cody, wake Cody up, please. He needs to be hearing this. Listen, it's hard to believe that, isn't it? That somebody that's been dead would come back and say, you don't want to go there. He didn't request anybody from hell because nobody from hell was coming back. Did you notice that? He asked somebody that was saved, right with God. Some others enjoyed all the heavenly bliss. He said, let him go back. Let him go back. You see, dear people, what he was asking for, he was asking what you'd call a signed miracle. A signed miracle. He thought if that dead man Lazarus goes back. Those brothers of mine know he died. They lived in the same town. If he showed up, that would be such an event, such a miraculous event, that it would have an effect on them. And it would be the means whereby they would be saved. But you see, that was his big mistake. Because the truth is, And he was told that right there. The rich man didn't grasp the fact that people are not converted by means of great sign miracles, but by the working of the blessed Holy Spirit through the Word of God. That's it. You see, here was a man who was in hell and he was still ignorant about what salvation was all about. He didn't get it. He didn't understand it. He didn't understand it. It didn't break through on him. He still lost and inhaled, did not understand the truth. He had to be told the truth, even there. And then, to show that he was where he deserved to be, he even argued. He was told that Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said, no, no, no. Even there he is rebelling against the truth of God's word. That's what his problem was when he's on this earth. You couldn't tell him anything here and you still couldn't tell him anything there. He was correcting. God's Word is given to him there through Abraham who spoke to him. He said, No, no, no. But if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. I'm right. I know I'm right. Y'all are wrong. I know I'm right. Wait a minute, fella. You're right where you ought to be. He was in hell, and that's where he deserved to be. Because he's still doing what he did on earth. He was still pitting his knowledge and his understanding against God in his Word. He hadn't changed a bit. Hadn't changed a bit. And so he was told once again, he said, if they will not hear Moses and the prophets, in other words, the Word of God, the Old Testament. And you say, well, the Old Testament, couldn't it get saved through that? Why, the Ethiopian eunuch did. That's what Philip preached to him from the Old Testament in Isaiah 53, and he was converted. Yes. He said, they have Moses and the prophets. And he said, if they'll not hear Moses and the prophets, they wouldn't be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. He said, you don't get it. You don't get it. I don't care what kind of a miracle they saw, they would not be converted if they won't listen to the Word and turn because of what it says to them. But there he was, ignorant. But even though he argued, he lost the argument. It was repeated again by Abraham, who spoke there the Word of God itself. He insisted and said, No, there will be no going back. And they have the opportunity. Let them listen. Let them pay attention. Or let them pay the price. Pay attention, or pay the price. And dear people, this morning that rich man sat just like Travis sits back there, just like Cody sits back there, just like Brother Mike sits over there. He sat back there. That day when he heard the gospel, he rejected. He had five brothers, and they were doing the same thing. And we have no place in the Bible where it's told, we're told that they ever were converted. And we sit here this morning like this is a fairy story. No, it's not. It's God's way of saying, OK, so you're going to hell. I'm going to tell you, I'm going to, OK, you're going to hell. I'm going to let you hear about a man from a man who's really there. One preacher preached from this verse one time, these verses one time, and he called it a letter from hell. A letter from hell. Now, I'm going to tell you something worse than that, is that you sit here this morning rejecting Christ, and then you die and go to the same hell he is, and you get there and he said, didn't you hear my story? You mean to tell me you heard about what I said and you still didn't come? Abraham was right. He said, if they won't believe the Word, they wouldn't believe. Somebody came back from the dead. I couldn't come back from the dead, but they took my story because somebody down here told me they heard it. And you had it. And like a fool, you did not believe it. You insisted that you had it all taken care of, that you were the man or woman in control, and that you had nothing to worry about. I'm telling you, dear friends, this morning, that's not the way it is. That's not the way it is at all. You see how hardened in sin people are? Somebody said, oh, I hate to think about my son or daughter going to sin. If they reject the Lord Jesus Christ and live in sin and deliberately reject the gospel of Jesus Christ and won't listen to it, they head to it and they go to hell. They're right where they ought to be. And you say, that's hard. It's hard, but it's right. I've got to take God's side. I'm saved. I've got to take God's side. You see, there are people, if every Gordon I know of that's lost today ends up in hell, I've got to take God's side. Because they've heard the gospel. And they rejected it. They had other things they wanted to do. And the things that they wanted to do was live a life of sin. And this is what this fellow had been doing while he was down here. And this is what he knew his brothers were doing. And this is what shook him. And I think it added a little bit to the agony of hell. Just thinking about what could happen to him in the future. Let me ask you this morning. You sit here today. You're without Jesus Christ. You've never trusted him as Lord and Savior. What makes you think that before the day's over, you won't be in the same hell the rich man is? And I heard about you. I heard about you. We just heard about you this morning. I'm sure, dear people, that there are people there today who have heard these same verses of Scripture preached from that got there and said, it's right, it's right, it's everything, it's everything that they said it was, but they didn't describe it adequately. So you sit here this morning, you've read about this rich man, you know where he went, you know he was concerned about those behind, you know about his request, you know about how it was rejected and how twice he was told. They better listen to the Word of God. If they don't listen to the Word of God, there's no use. to send somebody back from the dead, there's no miracle that could be worked that would turn them from their sin and unbelief if they will not listen to the gospel of Jesus Christ. There's nothing. Could raise their whole dead family from the dead and send them back to Him, and they still wouldn't listen. They still wouldn't repent. They still wouldn't turn. If they will not listen to the gospel, there's no use to send the whole clan back. Now, dear people, this morning, that's the situation that you face if you're without Jesus Christ. I picked up the paper this morning. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there weren't but a few names in the obituaries. I always go to the obituaries. I don't get the paper every day. I go to the computer, and I look in the Alexandria Town Talk place on the computer, and I look for names of people that I know. Because nowadays, people you know will be buried. Many times it's already happened anyway. Sometimes they've showed up on the beach away, and they already had everything prepared, and it was that day. I always look through that. But I tell you, I've turned over to Lake Chardon and I found a longer list over there. Do you realize that those are folks that this time last week were alive, just like you are? Do you realize that when I went down that list and looked it out, and you go down that list and look out, that those were people that last week were in the land of the living? And today, they're planning their funeral, and their souls have been in eternity, for however long it's been since they died. And you realize that according to the Bible, most of the folks you read about in the paper and the obituary have gone to hell? For why does the gate that leads to destruction, and many there be that go in? And narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it. And dear people, this morning, that is a tragedy. in the making. You sit here this morning. Your life is a tragedy in the making. That's right. You're headed for hell, and you're as sure to make it there as you are to have made it here to this building this morning to listen to this message. And some of you haven't paid much attention, and that just shows that if you end up in hell, God's just incendiary there. For it's not this creature that you rejected. It's not this creature that you found this interesting. It's not this creature's problem. It's your sin problem. You and the devil are buddies. And he already knows what's written in the Bible about where he's going to end up at. And he knows good and well what you serving him is going to cost you. But together you're joined arm in arm against God and His Word. And you're fighting a losing battle. You might as well find out what time that freight train is coming down that railroad track. and go out there and stand in the middle of that track and throw your arms up and say, I'm going to stop that freight train just as soon as it gets to me. I'll stop it dead in its tracks. And you'll say, well, I wouldn't do that. Man, that freight train would run over me and grind me up like hamburger meat. Yes, and hell's going to be your home just as surely as that train would grind you up into hamburger meat. If you can see danger to you physically, Why is it you can't see danger to yourself spiritually? It's because you love sin. The Bible says that men love darkness rather than light. Light has come into the world. But men love darkness rather than light because they love their sins because they're evil. Therefore, they will not turn to Christ. Do you ever feel that sad this morning? That sad. It's sad. Folks don't like to, you know, I preached a fellow's funeral, and I didn't know where the man went. And so I just said to nobody, he never made a profession of faith, and so to anybody's knowledge, if you ever made one, nobody knew it. And so here's the story. If he ever trusted Christ as Lord and Savior in heaven, and if he's not, it's too late now. That's a fact. I heard of a family one time that a preacher preached a funeral and thought one of their loved ones passed away. And a young man who lived without God, and he lived for pleasure, and he lived for what young men live for. Every night of a Saturday night, when he made his payday, he got killed in a car wreck, in a life of sin. And the preacher came, and he dared tell the truth. He dared tell the truth. The young man, as far as he knew, died in sin and therefore was gone forever in hell. And you know what? His parents got mad at the preacher. The people got mad at the preacher. That won't do any good. That won't do any good. That won't do any good. The preacher cannot send a man to hell, and the preacher cannot get him out of hell. The preacher can only say what God says, and the preacher can only talk to the living. And that Stephen Shorter said, well, we've got to admit, he was wicked, and he didn't live without what he thought of God in his mind, as far as we know. But all the rest of the young people that were there could be misled if that preacher had given the impression that he was saved. People don't stop to think about that. than to, for the devil, for some religious person to die and go to hell. And then the preacher make out like that fellow was saved. And the young people sitting there say, well, if he's saved and lived like that, I can do that too if he's saved too. That just assures the devil more control over their life. And that old rascal is in hell still helping lead people to hell because Everybody's running around saying, well, I think he went there. Let me tell you about these people. You better be careful. You better be careful about these people you try to say, tell everybody they were in heaven when you know good and well their life was just as much without God as you'd ever seen. All the devil will do is take what you say and lead some other young people that are still alive to hell, too. Saying, well, I can do that. He did that. He saved. I can be saved, too. Terrible thing.