On this day of remembrance, we have taken occasion to remember those who have fought that we might have our freedom, to remember those who died so that we might live, to remember those who endured hardship so that we might enjoy life. When we consider the world wars, when we consider the other conflicts, then we are remembering something that is not pleasant. There is nothing glorious about war. It is not that which we will happily be mindful of. Indeed, for those who have come through the wars, their only wish would be at times that they could forget those things which they witnessed with their own eyes. There are things which people do not like to remember, and there are things which people do not like to be reminded of. And what is true of life itself My dear friend, it is also true of some of the truths found in God's Word. There are those scriptures where we are reminded of the anger and the judgment of a holy God. We are exhorted, for example, to remember Lot's wife. We are to be mindful of the warnings that she received, of the way of escape which was opened up before her. But we are also to be mindful of her willful disobedience to that Word, and that which led to her sad and her sorry end. And there surely is a lesson there for us to remember that God's Word does come to pass and His judgments against sin are very real. We live in a day when the tendency is to forget about the real wrath of God against sin. We live in a time when the reality of hell itself is forgotten about. It is cast to the side and it bears, as it were, no relevance to the present day. Oftentimes, and the last week was no exception either, the news bulletins are highlighted by some person who was famous in the sporting world or the music world or some other world and have passed away. was brought up in the glory days of Liverpool, a football club where they were winning their trophies here, there and everywhere. As a young person, I used to look at that team. That team was captained by a man called Emlyn Hughes. At the age of 57 years old, having suffered from a brain tumour, he was to go out into God's eternity last week. And there's great eulogy made of the man, of his sporting achievements, of his smile, of his pleasantries to be in his company and all the rest. But you know the question that comes to my heart, where is that man now? Where is that soul in eternity? For it doesn't matter what he accomplished on the football pitch. Where was he with God? And he is but one of many examples. And I want to tell you tonight that hell is certainly not something to be remembered in the world in which we live in. And I tell you of that man and of every other soul that dies, if he did not receive the Lord Jesus Christ as his own and personal Savior, then he's in a lost eternity. But that's set aside. But when we turn to this portion of God's Word in Luke 16, the reality of that place where God will judge sin forever cannot be passed by. For here we have been given an insight into what it is for a man to be in that place. God the Holy Spirit has opened the lid of hell so that you and I, the reader, may take a look in. And in the words of verse 25, we are to remember three things about what it is for a soul to be in hell. You see those words? But Abram said, Son, remember, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things. And likewise, Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted and thou art fermented for a soul in hell. I want you to remember tonight that their memory is active. Their memory is active. When this rich man was to open up his eyes in hell, He was to long for a drip of water to be placed on his tongue. And seeing Abraham afar off, he was to notice that his neighbor and a man whom he knew on earth was in his bosom. And it was this man's request that this man would come and but wet the tip of his tongue with a drop of water. But you will notice that the response to such a request was to activate his memory. For the opening part of the verse says, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest the good things. The memory of a lost soul is active when it is in hell. And we could even suggest tonight that it will be better there than your memory will be here on earth. It is implied here that when this man had his memory invoked And it took in all his actions in one foul sweep. He could remember the blessings that he had enjoyed upon the earth. He was a man of wealth. He wore those costly robes, those garments of purple and linen every day. He had considerable wealth behind him for to be able to live in such a style as that. He was a soul who was to eat and to fare upon the very best that money could buy. He was from a family who had five other brothers in it. And it can be seen that here was a man who enjoyed an abundance of temporal blessings. He was in want of no good thing, and money seemed to be no object of concern to this man. Ah, but I want to tell you tonight that there in hell is a concern. And in hell he has an anxiety. For he longs for a meagre drop of water, that which was the most commonest of commodities, to be merely placed on the tip of his tongue. He had no pleasures nor abundance of blessings now. They were but earthly, and they were all left behind. We are reminded in 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 7 For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. Not bring it with you. Here is a rich man and he could not bring his abundance with him. But his memory was active enough. And it was active enough to recall those blessings, blessings which he had day after day. And I tell you something, inhale, the memory will be constant. and that in itself will add only but to the punishment of a lost soul. Can you imagine what it would have been like for this rich man to have a memory which could never turn off, a memory which would never blank out those scenes above, and of taking one's ease on the earth of those times when he reveled in his sin day by day? A memory will be constant. always throwing up those blessings and privileges which were given by God and yet which were never recognized from such. And the greatest blessing and the greatest privilege of all is for a man or woman to hear that they are lost sinners and that they need to be saved. The greatest blessing of any soul is to hear the message of the Gospel through the Lord Jesus Christ, because the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. What a blessing to be told your state as a sinner before God, to understand that God, where God's Word tells us, that we have fallen short of the glory of God, and that we have been born in sin and shape and iniquity, and to realize that our sin has taken us to a lost sinner's eternity. But the Gospel does not only show us the sinful condition, but man or woman, tonight on seed, I want to tell you, and I want to remind you, it also tells us, it also declares to us the only remedy for sin. The Gospel is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the center. He is the core. He is all of the message. Because it was Christ who should come to this earth to save a people from their sins. The price has been paid so that we, the sinner, can be set free. And to hear that the way of salvation and to hear that a pardon from our sin is through faith in Christ and is through the atonement through His precious blood, what a blessing! the greatest blessing that any soul can have. But on the other hand, what a judgment for a man or woman or young person who has heard that message, that message which is able to save their souls and yet reject that message and go to a lost sinner's eternity. What a judgment! I tell you, it will be a greater judgment for the one who hears it often than for the one who has never heard it. I base that upon God's Word. For if you come with me to Matthew's Gospel and to chapter 11, and we find the Savior begins to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done because they repented not. He mentions places here where they had seen the Master at work, where His voice was heard in preaching forth the gospel of the kingdom, and yet they did not repent. And I read in verse 21, Woe unto thee, Chorazin! And when God says, Woe, it is the woe of heaven upon the place. Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you. You see, Chorazin knew the workings of God. You see, Bethsaida, that is the place where three of the disciples came from. Peter and Philip and Andrew were born there. And from Bethsaida they left, and they followed the Saviour. It was at that place that the blind man was to receive their sight. But alas, many of that town, they repented not. And God said, it will be more tolerable for sighting and for tire on the day of judgment than it will be for you. All right, let's go a wee bit further. Verse 23. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Solomon, it would have remained until this day. Solomon is no longer in the face of this earth. But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Solomon in the day of judgment than for thee, Capernaum. That was the place where the Saviour was found to be preaching in the synagogue, Mark 1 and verse 21. He preached there often times, yet they still repented not. And the Lord says to them, it will be more tolerable for Solomon, a place that is not even on the face of the earth now, because of the judgment of God. But it will be more tolerable for Solomon than it will be for you who heard the preaching of the gospel. And so it will be for those souls that sit in the gospel meeting night after night, hear the claims of the message, and this message that is able to save their soul and yet night after night reject the Lord. Every message that your soul ever heard And even if you don't let on as if you're listening tonight, every preacher who's sounded forth the gospel in all its glory and uplifted Christ before your eyes, every message will be revealed by your memory in hell! Your memory will be active there. Every time a little track or message was to prick your conscience about getting right with God, You'll remember it in hell. And that memory will be constant. And that memory of yours will be inconsolable for every text of Scripture that you ever read or you ever heard, it will come as clear as day to your heart. You might be like the young man who was offered a gospel track and he said, I haven't time to think of those things. I will ask you tonight That young man was to hear the reply, if you have time to think of those things, God will give you an eternity in which to think about them. But then it will be too late. Here is a man who had been blessed in his lifetime. He was to know temporal blessings in their abundance. And I suggest to you that here is a man also who was to know the spiritual blessings. For at his gate there sat a beggar, a man who had nothing, a man who was covered in his body with sores, a man who only desired to have a few crumbs to fed off the rich man's table. But yet that beggar had more wealth than the rich man. Why? Because he had the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour. His faith was in his God. And every time that Lazarus came before the view of this rich man at his gate, do you see him there? Every time that rich man looked out and that beggar was sitting there, it was a message preached to that man's heart. Why? For the name of Lazarus in the Greek, it is the equivalent to the name of Eleazar in the Old Testament. And the meaning of that name is, God is my help. And that was something that the rich man could not testify in life, and now he could not lay hold upon it or claim it in eternity either. God is my help. You see, dear soul, reject the Savior. And in hell you will remember this night. And you'll remember every other night the preacher urged upon you to receive Christ as your Saviour. For your memory will be active. You'll have a better memory then than you have even tonight. That's the first thing to remember about a soul in hell. The second thing to remember is that mercy is afar off. You see, Abraham, the father of the faithful, was to remind this rich man of the great contrast that there was between them. He was called upon to remember that in life, Lazarus was the one who had a difficult and a hard life. He was a man of scant resources. He obviously had no income. He could not provide for himself. And so far, the very survival of life, he took to begging. To the natural mind, a beggar would be drawn to that place which was overflowing with abundance and where he saw that there was an abundance of provision. And he may have thought that from such a place he would be cared for. And the Holy Ghost sums up his life in those few words in verse 25. Lazarus received evil things. Life was to throw up that which harmed him. It threw up reproach and heartache. But what a contrast there was with the state now, and how those words must have caused sufferings to no end to the rich man in hell. For we read, He is confident. He may have had a difficult and a hard life, but that which made the difference was that he had a soul that was saved. The soul was saved. His outward appearance was nothing to be desired, but the state of his soul was one of being a peaceful God. and something to be desired above all other things. There was little by way of glory about this beggar, but his glory was in the Lord. He was a man who was unfavoured in life, aye, and rejected by men. The beggars in society were considered as outcasts, and they were forgotten about at large. But contrast that with his acceptance by God. That acceptance is seen in the fact that we read in verse 25, but now he is comforted. As this one-time beggar is pictured in the lap of Abraham, it has acceptance ruled all over it. He was in the company of God's redeemed. The acceptance of Lazarus can be seen to be nothing of himself. There was nothing in him. There was no merit found in him. There was no favour found in him. He did not pay for salvation. He had nothing. He could not work for salvation. He was one who was bankrupt and could do nothing for himself, but his acceptance was through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And Lazarus, as is every other penitent sinner, he was to know that he was accepted in the Beloved. We can think of the two men in the temple In Luke chapter 18, what a contrast there is there of one a Pharisee in all the trappings of religion about him, one who made a great outward show in the flesh, one who was found to be saying his prayers. That's all he was doing, his prayers. He didn't even reach the ceiling. Another man, he was a mere publican. He feared to lift so much of his eyes toward heaven when he smote upon his breast and he said, Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner. And I tell you in the authority of God's Word, and you can check it out when you go home, it was that man who found acceptance with God. It was that man who at home justified and saved. And Lazarus, he had found mercy with the Lord. And because his faith was in Christ, the well-beloved and the only accepted of the Father, He was to know that comfort in eternity. But for the rich man, the mercy and the favour and the acceptance which Lazarus now knew and was to experience, it was something which is a far off, and it was beyond him, for he was too late. He was too late that he was now in hell. I wonder, my dear friend, do you know tonight, are you accepted in the beloved? Do you know what it is to be a recipient of His grace and mercy? Are you favoured tonight knowing that your sins are pardoned, your sins are forgiven, and you are placed in the presence of the King and the congregation of the faithful? It is assured, and it is assured as much as if you were already there. For that is what God's salvation gives to the old sinner that comes by faith to Christ. Do you know any of those blessings? This mercy of God was something which the rich man in hell knew nothing of. I want to remind you tonight, there's no mercy there. There's no mercy in hell, not so much as to give a slight drop of water on a burning tongue. That's why, dear friend, I seek On this Remembrance Sunday, I seek to bring to your remembrance this evening that which awaits you should you die in your sins when without Christ. Now is accepted time. The Scriptures remind us that now it is the time to seek the mercy of God for your soul. Can I read to you Isaiah 55 and verse 7? It says, Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord. In Adam you have sinned. In Adam you are blackest toward God, and you are far off from the Lord tonight in your sin. God says through His servant Isaiah, it's time that you returned unto the Lord. And the promise? He will have mercy upon you. And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. Seek ye the Lord while ye may be found. Will ye not call upon Him while ye is near? You know the mercy of God tonight. that mercy that finds you under the preaching of the gospel again, that mercy which has preserved your life, that mercy that has kept you out of a lost sinner's eternity. But it's time to seek the Lord. For be assured, for a soul to be in hell, The mercy of God is something which is never realized again. There are three things to remember about a soul in hell. I've already spoke to you that their memory is active. And the mercy of God is something that is far off. I want you also to remember this. Remember that their misery is actual. It actually happens. See, he was being told that Lazarus was being comforted. He was comforted in the place of the redeemed. Abraham is the father of the faithful. He believed God. God counted on to him for righteousness. But this man was reminded of his own condition. He said, but now he is comforted. But thou, thou art demanded." It was something which he didn't need to be reminded about. For it was something which he appended his request with. You see, in the words of verse 24, he cried for mercy. He cried and he pleaded for water to be placed in the tip of his tongue. Why? Here's what he appends. Hear tonight, careless soul in this service, unsaved loved one, you whose names are mentioned in the Pyramidines. Here's the personal testimony of a man in the caverns of hell tonight. He says, for I am tormented in this flame. in this flame. It is a misery which is actual, because the flames of hell are literal. I do not accept the notion that the modernist will preach that the flames of hell are not literal. I do not subscribe to that notion, for I don't believe God's Word teaches us that. If that was the case, if the flames of hell weren't really literal, why on all the earth would a man plead for water if those flames were not real? Why would he do that? The Lord himself was to speak of the fire of hell. I said to you this morning, turning to the book of James, that the Lord and James alone is those who use the word for hellfire. And I find the Lord speaking about this place to John in the Isle of Patmos. In Revelation chapter 14, let me read to you the words of verse 10 and 11. It says there, the seer shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into a cup of his indignation, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascended up forever and ever. They have no rest day nor night. no rest, who worship the beast in his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." When the Lord speaks those words, you'll notice we learn that the fire and brimstone that the Christ rejecter will receive will be such that they will be tormented. This same expression is used of hell as was used of Solomon Gomorrah when it was destroyed. And there is no one to suggest to me that the fire which fell upon Solomon was not literal. It is not even on the face of this earth, as I have already said tonight. Such was God's judgment. Look at this verse in Revelation. Look at the pure wrath of God being poured out. Here is wrath that is not diluted down. Here is wrath where there is no mixture poured in. It is the pure wrath of God against sin being poured out upon the murderers and upon the whoremongers and upon those who dabble with sorcery and idolaters. Aye, but also upon the unbelievers For you see, you read and I read in Revelation 21 verse 8 about the fearful and unbelieving. Oh, preacher, I'm not a murderer. I'm not an adulterer. Aye, but you're an unbeliever tonight if you're not saved. And the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Oh, listen, I tell you in the authority of God's Word that the fire of hell, it's literal. And this rich man knew that only too well, for he said, I am tormented in this flame. But something else about these flames, they're lasting. In Revelation, that little verse 11 which we read in chapter 14, the little word forever, is repeated forever and ever. The Lord was to speak of hell as the place where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. And the sense of the term is, it is a fire which is never put out. It's a fire which is never extinguished. It's lasting. And it shall last for all time. And there's no rest day nor night there. It is only a fool who will flippantly speak of meeting up with his friends in the flames of hell. Oh, don't be a fool tonight. The smoke of their torment ascends day and night. And there's the picture of endless punishment that God will mete out against the Christ-rejecter as he pours out his complete wrath against sin. It is a misery from which there is no escape. For verse 26 of our chapter in Luke 16 says, Abraham said, Beside all this between us and you there is a great gulf fixed. So they which would pass from hence to you cannot. Neither can they pass to us that would come from thence. In hell there is no way out. You see that sign there? And that sign down there? That denotes to you if there's a fire in this building, that's the way to go. That's a fire escape. There's none of them in hell. No fire escape there. And if you want to escape from hell, then you've got to make sure that you'll never be in it. That's your only escape. And I remind you that the only way of making sure of that is through the way and through the work of the cross. For the way of escape is open up to your soul tonight in the gospel. That's the good news. The Saviour upon the old rugged cross was to pay the penalty for our sins. He was to endure the wrath of God, that pure wrath being poured out against your sin. And He was to bear that hell that you deserve and that I deserve. Because He finished the work and opened up that way from the dark paths of sin. He opened up the entrance into God's heaven for lost mankind. And all who come to him by faith can be assured that they will never be in that place, that place called hell. For Hebrews 7 and 25 reminds me, Wherefore, he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. There is only one way to God, and that is through the throne. That's through the Lord Jesus Christ. There's only one way to heaven, and that's through Him. That's your only means of escape from a lost eternity in hell. You can know tonight forgiveness of sins. And bless God, you can go home assured of a place in the glories of heaven. But dear soul, I wonder, I wonder will you feel of yourself tonight of God's wonderful salvation in the person and the work of his only begotten Son. For I ask you earnestly, and I ask you from my heart, for how shall you escape if you neglect so great salvation? I want you to answer that. If you will not come to Christ, And how will you escape if you neglect his wonderful salvation? On this Remembrance Sunday, remember that hell is real. Remember that there's no mercy there. But remember also something else. Remember that Christ died on the cross. to purchase your salvation so that you might have heaven. May God be merciful to your soul tonight and give you deciding grace to get this question dealt with now. That you will not be like this rich man who, when he died, when he was buried, He lifted up his eyes, being in hell. Flee from the wrath of God that is to come. Come to grace now. Let's borrow his word of prayer, please.