April 29 2025

Tuesday April 29

Luke 16:19-23 – The Reality of Death and Hell

19 "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Today, we're looking at Luke 16:19-31. The subject of this passage is hell. I'll never forget my very first message to preach in 1973 as a student at Liberty University, then called Lynchburg Baptist College. It was in the back dining room of the Echo Village restaurant in Winchester, Virginia, and the title of my message was "Hell Is No Joke." As I said yesterday, God used this passage to alert me to the reality of eternity in hell if I did not receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

As a child, I had been encouraged to memorize Mark 8:36-38: "For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" That verse, along with this passage of Scripture on hell, reminded me as a 19-year-old teenager that I would face eternity in hell if I did not repent of my sins and trust Christ as my Savior. I had to make a choice, and I came to the reality that I did not want to spend an eternity in hell for a few years, (10, 15, 20, or even 50 years) of pleasure on earth. It would not be worth it. The Holy Spirit convicted me of my sin, woke me up, and I trusted Jesus to come into my heart on February 21, 1971. My life has never been the same, and I'm thankful for this passage.

Some people don't like to talk about hell, but it's a reality. Some don't like to talk about death, but it's a reality. In this passage of Scripture, there are two men: a rich man and a poor man. One was very, very rich—we don't know his name; he's anonymous, but he was a real man. Jesus said, "A certain man." Then there was a very poor man, a beggar named Lazarus. Oh, he had a name—Jesus named him because Jesus knows His sheep by name, and they follow Him.

The reality is, it doesn't matter whether you're rich or poor, educated or uneducated, famous or unknown. There is one equalizer for all of us: death. “It's appointed unto man once to die, and after this, the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). “Our lives are but a vapor; they appear for a little time and then vanish away” (James 4:14). Proverbs 27:1 says, "Boast not yourself of tomorrow, for you know not what a day may bring forth."

The reality of death is always before us. Sometimes we dread or avoid funerals because they remind us of that reality. It was at a funeral for his cousin, killed in Korea, that my dad woke up to the reality of facing eternity and having to die one day. That realization led him to a pastor to ask about salvation, and he got saved. Our family's life changed forever, and my life changed when I met Jesus. My friend, I'm telling you, you do not want to go to a terrible place called hell.

We'll talk more about the place of hell, but right now, we're emphasizing the fact that there was a certain beggar and a certain rich man, and they both died. They both died, but where they went was two different places. When they died, the beggar was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. Abraham's bosom, as we study Scripture, was a place called Sheol in the Old Testament, the place of all the departed dead. It had two compartments: a paradise side and a Hades side. We see that from this passage. Jesus told the thief on the cross, "Today you will be with me in paradise."

We'll go into more details about what we believe this place is, where it is, and how long it will last tomorrow. But today, the reality is that there is a place called hell, and one day we will die. We'll either go to a place of paradise, which today is heaven, or we'll go to a place called hell, the place of eternal torment. We must make a choice—that's the reality of it. What is your choice today? Have you trusted Christ? If not, why not? Today, why not make the Lord Jesus Christ your Savior, invite Him into your heart, and find true salvation as you repent of your sins?

Today, will you fix your eyes upon the cross of Jesus Christ and trust Him to be your Lord and Savior?

God bless.