May 01 2025

Thursday May 01

Luke 16:22-31 – Hell is a Terrible Place

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. 24 Then 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.' 25 But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.'

It's hard to smile as we begin this chat today because we're talking about a terrible subject: the subject of hell, the destiny of those who reject Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, or perhaps even those who have never heard that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. They tried their religion, their rituals, their sacrifices—everything on earth to prepare for the other side—but no one told them about Jesus. Those people will end up in this terrible place called hell. That's a terrible thought, but my friend, it's the truth of Scripture. Jesus spoke about hell, and in Luke chapter 16, He gives us one of the clearest descriptions of what hell will be like if you end up there.

In verse 22, it says, "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." Two people, a beggar named Lazarus, and a rich man, both had to face death. Then, in verse 23, it says the rich man died and was buried, "and being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom." Somehow, there in paradise, there in Hades, there in Sheol, with this great gulf fixed between them, the rich man could literally see the pleasures of heaven, and he's forever condemned in torment. So 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 in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted, and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us."

We see that hell is a place where you have all your faculties. He had eyes, “he lifted up his eyes”. He had a tongue, "Please send him to dip his finger in water and cool my tongue; I'm tormented." He was tormented; he had physical feelings in hell. You hear people say, "Well, if I go to hell, all my friends will be there," thinking they'll have a New Year's Eve party for eternity. My friend, that is not the truth. There'll be no parties in hell. It's a place of screaming, crying, and torment for eternity. You don't want to go there, and you don't want your friends to go there.

Then the rich man cried in verse 27, saying, "I beg you therefore, father, that you would send Lazarus to my father's house. I have five brothers, that he might testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment." Abraham said to him, "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." And he said, "No, Father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent." But Abraham replied, "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead." How interesting, because later there would be a man named Lazarus who rose from the dead in John 11, and they wanted to kill him. Instead of believing in Jesus and trusting Him, they still would not get saved.

My friend, I'm telling you, people don't need miracles to get saved and believe. They get saved by faith in the words of the Lord Jesus Christ while they're living, because the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, the law and the prophets, convicts them that they need to repent and in faith turn to Jesus Christ. This is a story that ought to cause us to shake us in our boots, shake us to our knees, shake us to pray and cry out to God for mercy! And do all we can to warn our friends, our family, our neighbors, that they do not want to go to this terrible place. Please warn them!

Abraham said, "In your lifetime, you were comforted. You had good things." The problem for most people going to hell is that they're enjoying the good things of life; money and the things money buys. Remember, Jesus was speaking primarily to the Pharisees in this passage, who loved money rather than God. Jesus was telling them, "If you keep down that path, this is where you'll end up." We have no evidence that they ever turned from their love of money, materialism, the things of this world, the lust of the eyes, or the lust of the flesh.

My friend, today, please turn to Jesus Christ. Do all you can to keep others from going there. Pray, love, give, and live a life that shows there is a difference, and that reflects the peace of God, that you have when you know Jesus Christ. For sure, all of us one day will have to face God and judgment.

God bless.