Thank you, Dave. We're in the midst of a month-long expedition into what the Scriptures say about eternity. I don't know if you know this or not, but up until the point when Jesus came on the scene Mankind knew very, very little about what happens after a person dies. As a matter of fact, if you look through the entire Old Testament, you'll find that there's very few references at all. to what happens to a human being after they die. Now you might find a few sporadic things, like when we were preaching through Genesis, you heard me talk about how when Abraham died, he was gathered to his people, right? And how when his offspring died, they were gathered to their people. But just sporadic references like that. It's never the main point of any passage of the Old Testament. That is until Jesus came on the scene. When Jesus came on the scene, He revealed the truth about eternity that changed our understanding of life after death forevermore. When Jesus arrived on the world scene, Jewish people had come to believe, get this, they'd come to believe that your eternal destiny was probably indicated by how well off you were in this life. So if you were wealthy or if you were healthy, they thought that that meant that you had the favor of God upon you, And so it would stand to reason that if you had the favor of God upon you now, when you crossed over, you probably would have the favor of God upon you then too. And the reverse was also true. That if you were unhealthy or not wealthy, you probably didn't have the favor of God and that too would continue on. That's why when the blind man stood before the Pharisees who'd been healed, they said, whose sin was it? that resulted in this man being born blind, his parents or him. And of course, Jesus corrected their thinking. When Jesus came on the scene, he turned their idea completely around and revealed that the truth is actually the opposite of what all those Jewish people, those ancient Jewish people thought. And here's the one speaking from authority, the one who came from outside of time. Last Sunday, we preached on heaven, according to Jesus, the Sunday before that eternity, according to Jesus. I hope you were here last Sunday, heaven, according to Jesus. If not, you can go back online and listen to it. It's one of my favorite messages because I long to be there. I hope you do, too. Today's message will be the antithesis of that place. The title for today's message is Hell, according to Jesus. Just, you don't have to answer this, but when was the last time you listened to a message entirely devoted to the subject of hell? Probably been a long time. It has been for me too. I want you to know right from the beginning that I take no delight at all in preaching an entire message on this subject. Save one objective, that someone here might be saved because of it. D.L. Moody, the great evangelist said, I cannot preach on hell unless I preach through tears. Because if you really believe the things I'm about to show you about God's penal system, if you really believe it, it ought to bring you to tears. And so this morning I want you to know that I spent a lot of time this week looking at what the Bible says and specifically what Jesus had to say about this subject. And I spent a lot of time wiping tears away from my eyes. And so I want to invite you to pray with me. And as we do, I just want to ask you to ask the Lord for help to show you the truth, because there's a lot of lies out there about hell. There are even some bestselling books out there that would like to make you feel more comfortable than Jesus would have you feel. There is a truth about hell that we need to be given, and it's not easy. And so I need you to help me by asking God for his help this morning. Would you do that, Lord? I'll be honest when I say I do understand why people fall into the temptation about not wanting to think about this or read about this or preach about this, because it is scary. But Jesus talked a lot about it. And so if we were to follow him and truly follow him, we want to know what he has to say so that we can live our lives accordingly. I pray, dear Lord, that you would use this message for your glory and that someone here might be saved because of it. To that end, we commit ourselves to your word in Jesus name. Amen. In 2010, a book was published. I imagine there probably won't be anybody here who hasn't heard of it before. It became a bestseller. And since then, there have become a whole series for people to study about this subject because of this book. It was even turned into a blockbuster movie. It's called Heaven is for Real. I put some pictures of all these things that have come about. DVD-based conversation kit. Kids' version of it. Discussions about it. There's a lot of controversy about this book and the movie. It was written based on the testimony of this little boy, cute little kid, Colton Burpo, and his dad, Todd, who wrote this story. I'm not going to get into the controversy about the book, but I put it up there to show you the title is absolutely true. But here's why I put it up there. There are four books written in here that are the testimony of the one who came from there. telling you that heaven is for real. And he says, I know because I came from there. I'm curious about why so many Christians need any further testimony than the one who came from there to tell you that that place is real. Jesus said, I came from there and I can tell you all about it. Why do we need this? And I'll tell you what, it's a really hot seller among Christian people. I'm confused by that. So here's why I bring this up at the beginning. If the world and the church need such a simplistic message, heaven is for real, well then it will be a no-brainer as to why I've made the big idea for this message so generic. According to Jesus, hell is for real. If you believe that heaven is for real, then you cannot believe that hell is not. Because Jesus spoke about it in the same context using the same language. So if you don't believe that hell is for real, then you cannot believe heaven is for real either. This is a subject about which he spoke more than any other subject. He spoke a lot about heaven, but he spoke way more about the subject of hell. Allow me to show you how Jesus spoke about this place using only a handful of references. I'm going to show you five places, real short, where Jesus spoke about hell. And I want you to take note of how forthright he is. Now, listen to me. For a man who spoke so often using metaphors and parables, he doesn't do that very often when it comes to the subject of hell. He wants you to know this is a real place, not a metaphor. Let me show you five occasions where he spoke about hell, and you look for yourself. Matthew 10, 28. All these are Jesus speaking. Do not fear those who kill the body but who cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 5, 22. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council. And whoever says, you fool, will be liable to the hell of fire. Matthew 25, 41. Then he, speaking about himself, Jesus, will say to those on his left, depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Key idea there. Matthew 13. And throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Mark 9. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It's better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It's better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It's better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched." According to Jesus, it's pretty clear, hell is for real. Now, I don't have all the answers about hell. I do not. I have questions of my own about the doctrine of hell. You will probably leave here and you will have questions about this place. You will have questions about the nature of God. I promise you, you will. At the end of those questions, when you yourself go to the Scriptures, you will be driven to one place. What does Jesus say? That's the place that I've come to after all these years of examining my own questions about hell. What does Jesus say? And I encourage you, that's the only place, that's the stop. It's the start and it's the stop. I will hang on whatever Jesus says. And even if I'm not able to fully understand all the questions that I have about this place, whatever He says, that's where I stop. Because He's the place who came from beyond time and He's telling you from authority. What does he say? That's my authority. Jesus revealed truths about a place that we cannot ignore. If he spoke about a church, shouldn't we at least talk about it? Shouldn't we? We should talk about this place as scary as it may be, because he did. There's one place in the Gospel of Luke where Jesus offers the most comprehensive look at what hell is like. Listen closely to me, because some of you will misunderstand this. Some have taught down through the years that this is a parable. It is not a parable. A parable, usually, the way Jesus teaches, He gives you some kind of an interpretation most of the time. He doesn't use real names in parables ever. He does here. When he's giving this account, those of you who understand literature will understand right away that this doesn't have any of the common usages of words that parables typically have. Now I tell you that because I want you to read this as a real historical account given to you from the mouth of the God-man who came from outside of time and understands a realm of reality that you and I never will until we're there. With that in mind, turn to Luke 16, verses 19 through 31. It's up on the screen if you'd like to read it there. Jesus said this. There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died. and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades, 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. 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 anguish. 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 be able, and none may cross from there to us." And he said, "'Then I beg you, Father, to send him 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.' But Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. He said, no, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they'll repent. He said to him, if they don't hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. Key word there, Hades. Did your eyes kind of fix on that for a second? It's a key word, it should have fixed on that. You should have said, do I really understand what Hades is? Because you will now. There are lots of different terms that the Bible gives for this place that this rich man was carried off. I'd like to clear up some of those terms right now. As you go through the Bible, you'll come across several terms which will make you wonder, is this talking about hell or someplace else? Let me go through some of those terms. The first term I'd like to refer you to is this place, the second death. It's mentioned only in the book of Revelation. It's mentioned a couple of times there. The second death is talked about as death for the soul. Everybody here knows that your body is dying. You know it. It's an inevitability. Revelation reveals the obvious truth that death for the body is not the most important death, but death for the soul. And here's what it says in one of those places, Revelation 21, verse 8. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur." Then you should say, what is that? And he says, that is the second death. So you know the second death equals the fiery lake, the lake of fire. So the broad understanding that I want you to take away from this is this. Human beings are eternal. All of us. Good, the bad, and the ugly. We are eternal beings. After your body dies, your soul goes somewhere else and awaits the resurrection of your body. The whole counsel of the Bible is that there is a place, listen close, because some of you already have misunderstood this, there is a place where the conscious soul goes awaiting the resurrection of the body. When Jesus Christ comes, all of the bodies will be resurrected. Incorruptible. That means they will not ever perish again. It will be an imperishable body. That is where three other terms come in. These three other terms are Sheol, Hades, and Tartarus. Three different terms that the Bible uses. Let me explain these three terms. Sheol, if you remember, in Genesis I taught about what this place is. It is a Hebrew word. Hades is the Greek word that means the same thing as Sheol. Sheol in Hades, the place of the dead. Okay? It is the place where the conscious souls go awaiting the resurrection of the physical body, which will happen one day. The Greek word Tartarus is the place where fallen angels go. It's only used one time in the Bible, and it's in the New Testament. Let me show it to you. 2 Peter 2, verse 4 says this, God did not spare angels when they sinned. Really? Wow. But sent them to hell. They use this English word hell for all three of these words. Most of your English Bibles, they translate Hades, Sheol in Hebrew, or Tartarus as hell. And it's really unfortunate that they do that because it doesn't mean the same thing. Tartarus is where fallen angels go. putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment. This word, Tartarus, some of your Bibles may translate as the deepest abyss of hell or the lowest level of hell. And yes, there are different levels of this place called hell. The lowest abyss. is this place called Tartarus where the angels who have fallen are in chains and will be sent. The final word which you need to know is the word Gehenna. Gehenna. Just a few moments ago I read to you from the Gospel of Mark where Jesus said this. Mark 9. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It's better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to Gehenna. There he uses a different word. Here's where that came from. In the Old Testament, there was a place called the Gehenna Valley. And when the Israelites went into captivity, into Babylonian captivity, the Babylonians, who you all know, worshipped false gods, they took this valley in Israel, because they were in charge there, and they used it as a place for two things. Animal sacrifice and child sacrifice. And they would go there and they would burn the flesh of these animals and children to their false god. It was also a place where they would burn sewage and trash. And so this was the most vile place in all of Israel. The smoke of this place was constantly burning and you would not even go near there because the scent was so terrible. And so this was the place that Israelites knew was where flesh went to burn. It was a disgusting, vile thought in the minds of any ancient Jew. And so when Jesus taught about hell, he called it Gehenna because every single listener would have said, I don't even want to think about that place. I can't even let it come into my mind. You ever thought about that when you think about hell? For good reason. Jesus called it a place that every Jew would have known I can't even let this thought linger around in my head because it is the most disgusting, vile thought that we know in the history of our people. That's the way that Jesus described hell, Gehenna. In this description with the rich man and Lazarus, let's bring you back to Luke 16 now, Jesus reveals three critical things about the nature of this place called hell that I think every single Christian ought to know. I've divided this passage into three different parts, and let me show you three basic realities about hell that every Christian needs to know, and here's the most interesting part. I would say about half of the Christian community in the world today doesn't believe these things because of books that have been written recently. So you need to listen very closely, okay? Point number one for today. Hell is the final judgment of the bankrupt. the final judgment of the bankrupt. Let me show you. Verses 19 through 23. There was a rich man. Everyone would have called him that anyway. There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. If you have the NASB, that says joyously lived in splendor every day. Do you get the idea of how he lived his life? joyously lived in splendor, feasted sumptuously. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus. Not the same Lazarus that Jesus raised from the dead. This was a common name. Different man. Covered with sores who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. Do you get the idea of how pitiable this man was? The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried." Stop right there. He's buried. Those who would believe that after you die that's it, it's annihilation, no more existence, look at the next two words. He was buried, carried off. He went on. He was buried, now he's in Hades. Buried, something continues. So if anybody tells you, no, you're just annihilated, walk away from that person. Tell them to go read this passage. He's buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. Clearly, there's a comparison going on, right? Two people, a rich man who feasted sumptuously every day, and Lazarus who begged at his gate. The more literal phrase for being carried off to Abraham's side is Abraham's bosom. Some of your translations probably say that. Here's why it says that. In the Jewish Talmud, the Talmud, in case you've heard that term before, Talmud. Now keep your hands up, keep your hands up. How many of you know what the Talmud is? Okay, most of your hands went down. The Talmud, if you have a study Bible down at the bottom, you have a commentary, right? Of what theologians taught about those verses. The Talmud is a Jewish ancient commentary of what the Old Testament teaches. So Jewish rabbis wrote a commentary, this is what it means. And all throughout the Talmud, there was this term, Abraham's bosom. And it was synonymous with heaven. That's the way that ancient Jews referred to heaven. Abraham's bosom. Whether you agree with that teaching or not, here's all you need to know. Abraham was called the friend of God, right? The friend of God. When you die, would you like to be where friends of God go? That's where Lazarus went. Wherever the friend of God was, Abraham, that's where this poor, pitiable man who was begging outside of the rich man's gate went. So Jesus wants you to know, the friend of God is here, and Lazarus went where the friends of God go. and the rich man somewhere else. Now, let's ask him an important question. Why did the rich man go there? And your assumption, which would be wrong, would be, well, maybe it's because he was rich. And that's wrong. His riches did not equal his being sent to Hades, which I know a lot of Christians might believe that. It's not true. The rich man's wealth did not result in him being sent to Hades, but it was his belief that his wealth was a sign that God had approved of him. Do you understand what I'm saying? He believed that because he was rich and living in comfort, God must be okay with me. He must have overlooked my sins because look at what he's given me. He obviously approves of my lifestyle. Just look. Look at what He's given me. This was the Jewish commonly held belief. And it's wrong. It's wrong. As a matter of fact, Jesus paints this picture of this rich man as an utter fool. You want to know what else is interesting? The Gospel of Luke seems to make this a common theme in the teachings of Jesus. Let me show you in a couple chapters back, Luke chapter 12, Jesus tells a parable which is related to this one that we're reading in Luke 16. Take a look in Luke 12. You'll see the relationship. Luke 12, 16 through 21. And he, Jesus, told them a parable. See, he's telling a parable now. Saying, the land of a rich man produced plentifully. Good for him. And he thought to himself, What shall I do? For I have nowhere to store my crops." That's a good problem to have, right? And he said, I'll do this. I'll tear down my barns and I'll build bigger ones. And there I'll store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years. Relax, eat, drink and be merry. But God said to him, fool, fool, This night your soul is required of you. And the things you've prepared, whose will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God." What does that mean? You should want to know that, right? Because you don't want to end up being called a fool. What does that mean? Rich toward God. It's a key phrase. You might want to jot it down. The rich man, the one back in Luke 16, the one who was carried off to Hades, was not rich in the sight of God, despite the fact that every one of us here probably would have defined him that way. Because he had all the stuff that we say, wow, that's a rich man. Not in the sight of God he wasn't. Not in the sight of God. On the contrary, he was the poor, wretched, and miserable one. He was, not Lazarus. In the sight of God, it was exactly the opposite as it is in the sight of men. This rich man was the broke one because he'd never been made rich, listen close, with the currency that God requires of your soul. I hope you're paying attention. This man was completely bankrupt in the sight of God. Like the other man in the parable in Luke 12, he'd squandered away his life, giving no thought at all to eternity. He just assumed that because he lived comfortably, that God must have overlooked his sin and that he was okay in the sight of God. That God overlooked or forgiven his sins even. Listen very carefully. This is the point that I hope you'll all keep close tabs on as you listen to the rest of this message. This rich man did not go to Hades. because of his sins. No one goes to hell because of their sins. No one. The only reason anyone will go to hell is because they've rejected God's offer to pay for their sins. That's the only reason someone goes there. Key difference there. Do you understand the difference? To this rich man, In Luke 16, he died totally bankrupt in debt to a God to whom he could never repay because he didn't have the currency. He didn't have the kind of currency that God requires of your soul. To the rich and well-respected Pharisees, look what Jesus said. John 8, then Jesus told them, you're from below. I'm from above. You're of this world, I'm not of this world. You see where he's trying to get them? That's why I told you that you would die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. If a person dies in their sins without having their sins paid for, and it doesn't matter how rich you are, you will die completely bankrupt. You will die in your sins and you'll stand before God and you will have absolutely nothing to show for your life. That's the way Jesus taught. You'll die in your sins unless you're made rich toward God. Hell is the place for the guilty who never saw themselves as guilty. Did you hear me? Hell is the place for the guilty who never saw themselves as guilty. Every single person on planet Earth, every one of you in this room, including the man speaking, is totally and utterly guilty before God. And the only ones who can be saved are those who will say, I know it, and I beg you for mercy on me. Until you know that you are guilty and in need of a Savior, you can't be saved. A.W. Pink. It's an interesting name, right? A.W. Pink was one of the great theologians of the second half of the 20th century. He's written many Christian classics. Many of the books that I have have been written by A.W. Pink. And he said something that I think all of you should see. Take a look up on the screen. A.W. Pink said this. There will be many in the lake of fire who commenced life with good intentions. Honest resolutions and exalted ideals. What's he saying? People we'd say, oh, he's a good guy. She's a good lady. Those who were just in their dealings, fair in their transactions, and charitable in all their ways. Good businessmen, right? Men who prided themselves in their integrity, but who sought to justify themselves before God by their own righteousness. Men who were moral. merciful and magnanimous, but who never saw themselves as guilty, lost, hell-deserving sinners needing a Savior. Until you see yourself that way, you can't be saved. This is why we have to talk about this place. We have to. Hell is the final judgment of the bankrupt. If you confess before God today that you're bankrupt morally and that you need a savior, then no one has to go to this place that was prepared for the devil and his angels. No one has to go to this place. You don't have to worry about standing before God and being bankrupt. You can be made rich toward God. because you can be given the perfect righteousness of the only rich one who has ever lived, and that's the truth of the gospel. You want to be rich toward God? Right now you have nothing of your own to show when you die. He can give you riches beyond measure, the treasure of heaven. There's a second thing that we need to look at, a second reality of this place called hell. Point number two, hell is permanent, eternal and expansive anguish. There is a best-selling book that is written to disprove all four of those things. So you better make sure that I'm telling you the truth. Look back with me at verses 24 through 28. And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me. And sent Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame. But Abraham said, Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things. But now he's comforted here and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you, a great chasm, think of the Grand Canyon or ravine, a great chasm has been fixed in order that those that would pass from here to you may not be able and none may cross from there to us. And he said, Then I beg you, Father, to send him 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. Now again, I'm telling you four things, four different things about this final judgment that you need to know for sure if the Bible teaches. I'm telling you that hell is permanent, Eternal, and those are not the same thing, I'm going to show you how. Expansive, and that this place is characterized by real physical torment or anguish. Okay? First let me tell you why it's permanent. Hell is permanent in that there is no crossing over once this life is done. If you've come to believe in a place called purgatory, you've come to believe a lie. There is no such place. You do not have a second chance after this life is over. This is exactly what Jesus meant when He said, between us and you, a great chasm has been fixed in order that those who would, I want to pass, I want a second chance, those who would pass from here to you may not be able. and none may cross from there to us. There is no second chance. That's why you're hearing this message now, and why we send missionaries to hard places, because people need to hear this. Second, I'm saying that it's eternal, and this is a big one. I'm also saying that hell is eternal, which some have recently protested. Here is what the entirety of the Bible says about this. I'm going to let you make up your own mind. I'm going to let you make up your own mind. What does the whole Bible teach about hell? Is it eternal, or will God eventually let people out once they've served their prison sentence? I'm going to give you a paragraph so you can see eight different phrases that the Bible uses, Old and New Testament. You decide for yourself. Here they are. Hell is described as eternal fire. The unquenchable fire. Shame and everlasting contempt. A place where the fire is not quenched. If you're hoping this will burn out, it won't. Everlasting destruction. A place where the smoke of torment rises forever and ever. and a lake of burning sulfur where the wicked are tormented day and night forever and ever, you need to make up your own mind. As hard as it is for us to understand, this is what the Bible teaches about this prison place the Bible calls hell. Now I'm also saying that it's expansive. What do I mean by expansive? Well, it's expansive in that the anguish of this place is both physical and psychological. Did you notice in this account of Luke 16 that this rich man cries out in physical pain? Notice he was in a literal flame and he longed for a single drop of water to touch his tongue. It will be physical anguish, but it doesn't stop there. It is also psychological anguish. Notice that he had longings. He longed to escape from this place, and not only that, he longed for his family to be made aware that this place exists. So not only is it physical, tormented anguish, it is also psychological. Now here's the objection. Here's the point that I bet some of your minds have already gone to today and why some of these books have been written, because the objection is what does the truth and reality of this place reveal about the goodness of God? Right. That's where some of your brains have already gone. How can God be good and this place actually exist? It's a hard question, isn't it? Dave sang those songs for a very good reason, because ultimately the answer comes to the holiness of God. The reason why any of us have even come up with that answer is because none of us have really fully understood who this God is. Nobody in this room. If you ask a question about how severe the punishment is, And that tells me, and it should tell you, if your focus is on the severity of the punishment, you have never fully understood the immensity of His holiness. Because if you had, never even would that kind of a question have crossed your mind of the severity of the punishment. Let me show you something that Dr. Erwin Lutzer wrote in his book, One Minute After You Die. I highly recommend the book. If you've never read it, read it. Dr. Erwin Lutzer said this, From God's viewpoint, the greatness of sin is determined by the greatness of one against whom it is committed. So stop right there. What if you say, my sin isn't that bad? He's saying, do you really know the one whom you're committing this crime against? If so, you never would have said it's not that bad. Keep reading. Then the guilt of sin is infinite because it's a violation of the character of an infinite being. What if, in the nature of God, it's deemed that such infinite sins deserve an infinite penalty, a penalty which no one can ever repay? If that went over your head, I'm going to make it real simple for you. Listen to this. A friend of mine, his name is Daryl Updike. Some of you know Daryl. He's preached here once or twice. He's a seminary student. He also has a podcast that he and his wife do every single, I think it's every week. And Daryl, in one of his podcasts, used an illustration that I thought, I'm going to tell that to my church." So I give all the credit to Daryl because he's the first person who said this, that I heard anyway. Let's take a sin. Let's take the sin of a young child slapping or hitting their sibling when they got angry. I did that. We'll take that same sin and we're going to use it through an analogy, okay? The sin of a young child, five years old, got angry and they slapped their brother or their sister. What kind of a penalty would you expect mom or dad to enforce toward a child who committed that sin of slapping their brother? Time out maybe in my house when I did that, I got spanked. Mom or dad spanked me. Now let's take the same action of slapping and move up to someone of greater authority. What if you slapped your mother? How great would the penalty have been from your father? Pretty severe, right? More than if you slapped your brother or sister. Let's move it up a notch. What if you slapped a police officer? You know what our penal system would do to somebody who slapped a police officer. Much higher penalty, same sin. Let's move it up a notch. What if you slapped a judge? What do you think would happen to you? What about a governor? What about the president? How long do you think your prison sentence would be? The only reason anyone asks about why God would punish sinners is because they have no idea how holy this God is. Do you know how great of an offense it is to a holy and pure and perfectly righteous, infinite creator of the universe? Even the smallest of our sins, from these dust creatures who were made out of the ground, to this infinitely pure and holy God. I hope that helps you to understand what it will be like and why God created this place. Again, I don't have all the answers and neither do you. But I hope that moves you a little bit closer. So the rich man begs Abraham to let Lazarus go and warn his family so that they won't have to go to this place. He's convinced that if someone rises from the dead, they'll listen to that testimony, right? And so he begs Abraham to send somebody to his family. Let's see how Abraham responds in our final point. Point number three, hell is a warning for those who will hear. Hell is a warning to repent for all those who will hear. Look at how Abraham responds, verses 29 through 31. But Abraham said, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said, no, Father Abraham, but if somebody goes from the dead, they'll repent. He said to him, if they don't hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. Abraham's response is that if they won't listen to their own Bible, I marked my Bible right here. Can you see that? You know what that says? That says the New Testament. This is the New Testament, this tiny little piece. This is Moses and the prophets. All of this, you know what it is? It's voices from the dead testifying to you about the nature and character of God and His plan of salvation. All this. And He says to this man, if they won't listen to those people from the dead, what makes you think they'll listen to any testimony from the dead? And remember, this is Jesus telling this. It has a double meaning, of course. Jesus is referring to Him. who rose from the dead." Do you realize right now that you're hearing the testimony of the man who rose from the dead? I'm telling you the truth about hell from the man who rose from the dead. And Abraham said, trust me, they won't believe even if a man from the dead gives them testimony. Do you believe what I'm telling you about this place from the mouth of the one who rose from the dead? If you don't, you're proving his point. They won't believe. because they can't justify it in their human brains. They've made themselves God. If I can't figure it out, I refuse to believe it. You're not God, and neither am I. That's why I said, if Jesus said it, believe it. That's the place where you have to camp out and live for the rest of your life. If Jesus said it, I take it as truth and law. Those who hear this message, Can you hear it? Those who hear it, not asking if you're listening, if you can hear this, you'll respond. Those who hear respond to this message. And there's only one response. The rich man's hope was that if his family heard this, they would what? Repent. That was his motive. If they hear, they'll repent. And he's right. That's the goal of a message on hell. He wanted someone to go to his family, preach a message on the reality of hell with the hope that they would repent. So now I have to leave you with a question. two critical questions that I've put up on the screen every person in this room needs to take seriously. Number one, have you changed your mind about Jesus? And I'm not asking, do you believe the facts about Jesus? Lots of people believe the facts. What I'm asking you is, do you believe that He is the Lord of your mind? the Lord of your heart, the Lord of every action you will ever take. He is the boss. Second thing, and probably the more important one, has your changed mind changed how you live? Because that's the definition of repentance. You say, I've changed my mind. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and I believe everything that he says is true. Well, has that changed anything about your life? That's what this kind of a message is supposed to accomplish. So this morning I want to leave you with this. Hell is a warning to all those who will hear. Because hell is for real. Just as heaven is for real, so is hell. If you would leave here today and say this, you can close your Bibles. Some of you will probably leave here today and you will say, when I leave here today, I am going to do better. I'm going to try harder. I'm going to be a better person. I'm going to do it this time. Let me tell you, you are in for a huge surprise because you will fail miserably. As a matter of fact, let me turn up the dial on that a little bit. You should walk out of here and say, I must be perfect because unless you're morally perfect, you won't get into heaven. That's the standard. You have to walk out this door after hearing this message and say, I got to be perfect. Because only perfect people get into heaven. That's the message that Jesus came to bring. And so God has a solution for you that is far better than walking out the door saying, I'm going to try harder, I'm going to try harder. Here is the beautiful news of our gospel. That God sent his son, and sacrificed Him on a Roman cross, the perfect, spotless Lamb of God. And He did that to take away the sins of the world, but that's too generic. He did that to take away your sins. so that you might be made rich toward God. Rich with the perfect righteousness of Him, who offers to trade you your sins for His perfect life, so that when you stand before God, you can say, I have been made clean. Not because there's anything good in me, but because I've put my faith and trust in the only good one that has ever walked the face of the earth." And God will say, I've prepared a place for you because you're in my Son. The only ones who go to heaven are the ones who've been made rich toward God. Is that you? Rich toward God like Lazarus was rich toward God. You know why he was rich toward God? Because he was a beggar. because he begged God for mercy. If you've never done that, I want to invite you to do that this morning. If you know that you haven't been saved and you have not repented of your sin, today is the day of salvation. This Christmas of 2018, I'm imploring you, beg God to save you of your sins because tomorrow you could stand before him. Let's pray. Father, The reality of this place is the heaviest burden that there is in the universe. It is the truth of the weight of our own sin. And when we look at the greatness of your glory and your holiness, we know that we are deserving of such a punishment. And Lord, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts and we are about to sing of your greatness because you have not desired that anyone should go to this place of eternal fire. You are not willing that any should perish, but that all should find salvation and find eternal life in your son. And so I pray, God, that if there's anyone here who has never turned their life over to Jesus Christ, that today would be the day. And if you're here this morning and you've never made that confession, I don't care if you've been coming to church all your life. Just slip up your hand. I can see you. I'll pray for you this week. Lord, I pray that you would be so glorified that someone today would be saved. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.