The first day of the rest of my life
Hell’s Biggest Party
A man dies and goes to hell. There he finds that there is a different hell for each country.He goes to the German hell and asks, “What do they do here?”He was told, “First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the German devil comes in and beats you for the rest of the day.”The man does not like the sound of that at all, so he moves on and checks out the USA hell as well as the Russian hell and many more countries… He discovers that they are all more or less the same as the German hell…
Then he comes to the Indian hell and finds that there is a long line of people waiting to get in. Amazed, he asks, What do they do here?”He was told, “First they put you in an electric chair for an hour..Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the Indian devil comes and beats you for the rest of the day.”"But that is exactly the same as all the other hells—so why are so many people waiting to get in here?” asked the man.Because maintenance is so bad that the electric chair does not work, someone has stolen all the nails from the bed and the Indian devil is a former Govt. servant, so he comes in and signs the register and then goes to the canteen!
Isaiah 14:9 – “Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee
at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief
ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings
of the nations.”
l. INTRODUCTION — WHAT AMERICA THINKS ABOUT HELL
-Hell has fallen on hard times. A recent George Barna survey
found that 67% of Americans do not believe in hell. That means
that only 33% of Americans believe in a literal hell.
-Couple that idea with a rapidly declining biblical knowledge and
in just a few short years there will be no hell. . . . At least in the
minds of Americans.
-Hell is being “frozen out” by many preachers who downplay
damnation in their sermons. According to a lengthy report June
19, 2002 in The Los Angeles Times, the mention of hell from
pulpits is at “an all-time low” as a result of the influence of
secularism on Christian theology.
-“There has been a shift in religion from focusing on what
happens in the next life to asking, ‘What is the quality of this life
we’re leading now?’” said Harvey Cox Jr., an author, religious
historian and professor at the Harvard Divinity School. “You can
go to a whole lot of churches week after week, and you’d be
startled even to hear a mention of hell.”
-I think that sometimes we are even startled to hear about hell
here. In fact, it is now 2012. The last sermon that I can recall
being entirely related to the subject of Hell was in 2 years ago or maybe more.
-The Los Angeles Times said the tendency to forsake the fire and
brimstone “has grown in recent years as nondenominational
ministries, with their focus on everyday issues such as child-
rearing and career success, have proliferated and loyalty to
churches has deteriorated.”
-“It’s just too negative,” said Bruce Shelley, a senior professor of
church history at the Denver Theological Seminary. “Churches
are under enormous pressure to be consumer-oriented.
Churches today feel the need to be appealing rather than
demanding.” And to “Tickle” ears.
-But despite what the popular preachers and theologians of our
seminaries say about hell, they forget what the greatest preacher
who ever lived had to say. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke about
Hell twice as much as He did about Heaven. There was only one
subject that He dealt with more and that was money.
-Suffice it to say, if the Lord thought it important enough to speak
about then I too am bound by that same task. The doctrine of Hell
was not a doctrine that was developed by Paul, or Peter, or even
John. The certainty of Hell was clearly established by Jesus
Christ.
-Billy Graham was quoted in the Los Angeles Times article as
saying that he could not any longer, in good conscience preach
about a literal, burning hell. He felt that hell was more a
separation from God than a literal place. He said that the thirst
which the rich man in Luke 16 experienced was an unquenchable
thirst for God that could not be filled and that would remain with
him for eternity.
-Billy Graham said that hellfire and brimstone preaching was
good for the ‘40’s and ‘50’s but is no longer good for the new
millenium. It is funny how we change because in the late ‘50’s,
Mr. Graham was quoted like this, “If there was more hell in the
pulpit there would be less hell in the pew.”
-Yes, indeed,
hell is having a bad day. Hell is being frozen out. But regardless
of what our genteel “Christian” society thinks about hell, their
opinions and views neither destroys hell nor changes the fact of
it’s existence.
ll. OUR TEXT IN ISAIAH
-Isaiah 14 is a description of what happened to Satan. It gives to
us what happens when pride begins it’s evil work of destruction.
There is a pit waiting on evil.
-Consider with me some other renderings of this verse in various
translations:
Isaiah 14:9 — Hell from beneath is excited about you, To meet
you at your coming; It stirs up the dead for you, All the chief ones
of the earth; It has raised up from their thrones All the kings of the
nations. New King James Version
Isaiah 14:9 9 Sheol beneath is stirred up to meet you when you
come, it rouses the shades to greet you, all who were leaders of
the earth; it raises from their thrones all who were kings of the
nations. Revised Standard Version
-But this rendering from the Living Bible should strike something
in all our hearts. . . . . Listen carefully:
Isaiah 14:9-11 — 9 The denizens of hell crowd to meet you as you
enter their domain. World leaders and earth’s mightiest kings,
long dead, are there to see you. 10 With one voice they all cry
out, “Now you are as weak as we are!” 11 Your might and power
are gone; they are buried with you. All the pleasant music in your
palace has ceased; now maggots are your sheet, worms your
blanket! The Living Bible
lll. THE BOOK OF LUKE
-When we look at the book of Luke there is a story there that is
bigger than life. It gives us some insight as to the world beyond
this one.
-In Luke 14, one finds a chapter rife with the lessons that come to
the “haves” and “have nots.” Lessons of humility are taught by the
Lord. He speaks of honored seats and points of exaltation but
also of points of abasement.
-In Luke 15, one finds the poverty of the small sheperd who lost
one sheep and was willing to risk all to save it. One finds the
poverty of the woman who lost a single coin and turned over her
world looking for it. One finds the poverty of the man who lost one
of his sons.
-If the sheperd had been a large rancher, nothing would be lost
over one sheep. If the woman would have had plenty, nothing
would have been lost over one single coin. If the man would have
had a small heart, he would have forgotten the lost son. But all of
them were steeped in the ways of the lowly. Therefore their small
losses were much more highly valued.
-Then, and only in the book of Luke (Luke 16), the Lord starts
with the shady story of a crooked manager who shrewdly used
his master’s money to buy friends for himself after he lost his job.
The moral of the sordid tale struck the hearts of the Pharisees
because they were covetous and lovers of money. . . . . they
scoffed at Him (16:14). Then He concludes Luke 16 with the
most troubling tale of all, the rich man and Lazarus.
lV. THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS
A. Life’s Greatest Loss
-Within this riveting story that the Lord would give of the Rich Man
and Lazarus, one finds lodged within the story the greatest gain
of all, which is Heaven. But one also finds the greatest loss of all,
the soul of a man.
-Each of the Evangelists that it important enough to mention the
words of the Lord:
Matthew 16:26 — “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the
whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul?”
Mark 8:36 — “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the
whole world, and lose his own soul?”
Luke 9:25 — “For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole
world, and lose himself, or be cast away?”
-Your greatest losses in this life are not the things that you
possess. Your greatest and most guarded possession must be
your soul. Life is made up not of what you possess but what
possesses you.
Hebrews 9:27 — “And as it is appointed unto men once to die,
but after this the judgment:”
-The first sermon of Jesus and the last sermon of Jesus have the
same message. In the first
sermon, the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7), Jesus calls for us
to choose between the rock and the sand. In the last sermon
(Matt. 24-26), Jesus calls for us to choose between Heaven and
Hell.
B. The Rich Man
-This rich man lost his soul gradually. The accumulation of the
things of his life came over the course of time. The Bible never
mentions that he was dishonest about how he had gained a
temporal kingdom. But his greatest mistake appears to be the
fact the he invested himself in things confined to time while
negligence nibbled away his time when it came to the crucial
matters of the soul.
-There was nothing that he could not afford in this life. He had it
all and what he did not have, he had access to it. But while he
was down here, there was an unseen world above that he was
seemingly unaware of.
-I do not think that the rich man was necessarily a bad man. In
fact it appears, if anything, he was somewhat concerned about
Lazarus. Every day, crumbs were sent out to him. These crumbs
were large and tasty for the Bible declares that Lazarus lay at the
rich man’s gate for an extended period of time.
1. The Caddis Worm
In many of the rapid flowing streams in the countrysides of
England there is a very slender worm called the caddis worm. It
gathers around itself a compact coccoon of little bits of sand,
rock, sticks, and any substance that happens to float past it. In
this case it hides itself and will attach itself to the bottom of the
stream and resists the force of the current. This case is many
times the size of its own body and when you reach to pull it into
pieces, and reach the worm inside, you will be very surprised to
find how thin and small it really is. How little living material there
is at the heart of all this great mass of sand and rock. It is often
so of those who pass in this life. The things that encase our lives
are the bulk of our existence. Take away the case and you find
how tiny and small the life really is.
-Obviously those who carried Lazarus to the gate thought that this
was the best place for him. They had probably tried other places
but found that this was the best place for Lazarus. No matter what
place that life brings you to, there is a Lazarus at your gate that
needs your assistance.
-Our holdings in this life are on a very short tenure. Death will
strip them from as robbers steal from a traveller.
-Often the concept of a man investing here with the payoff to
come in the afterlife is foolishness to most. For that reason, that
is why most never invest in things that they cannot see growing.
Men invest in buildings, properties, businesses,
and in the trading of stocks, because those are things that they
can track the growth in.
-For that reason, that is why the majority of this world and
sometimes that majority of the church never invest themselves in
avenues of prayer and fasting, never open up the treasures in the
Word of God, never are concerned with efforts of witnessing,
never a hunger for revival, and never a hunger for growth. Let’s
just stay right where we are, stay comfortable, don’t talk to me
like that preacher. Leave me alone with my miserly holdings
down here.
-But there came a day that the rich man died. The man who
gained the whole world ended up losing his soul. When he died
he left it all behind him.
• He is torn from the body that he had pampered.
• He is torn from the treasures that he had amassed and now
they amount to nothing and was given to others.
• He is torn from the forms that he once worshipped for they are
lost.
• He is to enter into a world of spiritual and eternal realities with
which he has nothing in common and he has not prepared
himself to face.
C. The Contrasts Between the Rich Man and Lazarus
-In their external circumstances:
• One was rich, the other was a beggar.
• One was clothed in elegance, the other in rags.
• One was fed sumptuously, the other existed on crumbs.
• One in health, the other in a wretched physical state.
• One moved in the high social circles, the other in beggarly
isolation.
-In their spiritual conditions:
• One exulted in his wealth, the other content in his poverty.
• One satisfied with his earthly possessions, the other longing for
a heavenly treasure.
• One selfish and ungodly, the other a self-sacrificing believer.
• One had great possessions but one thing he lacked and that
one thing was needful. The other “as having nothing, yet
possessing all things.”
-In their eternal destiny:
• One cast into hell, the other carried into heaven.
• One tormented, the other comforted.
• One associated with demons, the other in fellowship with
Abraham.
• One in absolute anguish, the other in permenant peace.
-Another of the greatest lessons that we learn from this narrative
is that Lazarus very easily could have been in Hell with the rich
man. His temptations were just as great as the rich man’s. He
could have very easily became embittered and complained with
such a wrath as to find fault with both man and God. Lazarus had
Asaph’s temptation of Psalm 73 over and over again. To
consider the prosperity of the wicked and allow it to overcome
his soul.
V. THE FOUR FLAMES OF HELL
-The Lord uses the symbol of the flame, the blistered tongue, and
the cry for water, the separation, and the unanswered prayer.
Revelation 20:14-15 — “And death and hell were cast into the
lake of fire. This is the second death.” “And whosoever was not
found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
The word “lake” must connote a body of matter having liquid
form. This eternal fire must be in liquid form. The very simple
proofs of Scripture lies in the existence of the singular
phenomena of the skies known as the midget or white dwarf
stars. A midget star is one that because of some things which
have happened to it astrologically, should be some 5,000 times
larger than what it is. To gain the proper reference, we must
imagine the earth has having shrunk from it’s diameter of 8,000
miles to 400 miles.
This enormous density has a great deal of power in it. The sun,
which is our nearest star sits at between 25 to 30 million degrees
Fahrenheit. Atoms can be exploded at such temperatures. At
such high temperatures all matter would be in the form of gas. At
the white dwarf star because the size is much smaller than what it
should be, the gases are liquid fire. Before it could become a
normal star it would have to cool off and expand to natural size.
However the midget stars never cool off and because of the
compression it can never burn out. Astronomers and scientists
recognize the high heat intensities and can fully document what
has been said.
-In hell there will be four distinct torments that a man will have to
endure and never have relief from.
-Just to think that everything that you have now, you will trade it for
a glass of water in hell.
A. The First Flame — Pain — 16:24 — I am tormented in this
flame. . . . .
-You will be burning but never be consumed. Falling into a
bottomless pit. There will be weeping and wailing and the
gnashing of teeth around you.
-Unbearable pain but never any sense of relief. Nothing to stop
the flames.
B. The Second Flame — The Memory — 16:25 — Son,
Remember. . . . .
-He will remember everything about this life. Locked away in the
mind will come forgotten things. He will scrutinize his earthly life.
He will weigh and measure every single motive.
-In this life the conscience speaks at intervals. It speaks only
when we find a slippery path of temptation that we are trying to
navigate. In Hell, there is no intermission from the voice of the
conscience.
-The voice of the conscience will remind you of a God offended,
a Savior spurned, and the Heaven lost. The conscience will
remember every note that distracted you when conviction was
trying to get your attention. The conscience will prompt us of the
people who we allowed to stand in our way of greater
commitment.
-What will be remembered:
• All of the times spent in the house of God.
• All of the times the Spirit tugged at the heart with conviction.
• All of the times that you prayed and someone prayed with you.
• All of the times that you shrugged off the call of commitment.
• All of the times that you sat uninvolved and preoccupied during
the moments of worship.
• All of the times that you laughed it off.
• All of the times that you watched others find spiritual relief and
blessing.
• All of the sermons that you ever heard.
• All of the Sunday School lessons that you heard.
• All of the excuses you used about why you could not serve God.
• All of the times that you were wandering about the halls when
Church was going on.
• All of the times that you said that there were problems with the
Church.
. . . . . Nothing will escape your memory.
-The memory is so powerful.
• Who will be the Judge? The memory.
• Who will be the Accuser? The memory.
• Who will be the Witnesses? The memory.
• Who will be the Jury? The memory.
-These words sum up the power of the memory:
I’ll tell thee what is Hell–thy memory
Still mountained up with records of the past,
Heap over heap, all accents and forms,
The best occasions trifled o’er or spurned;
All that hath been that ought not have been,
That might have been so different, that now
Cannot but be irrevocably past.
Thy gangrened heart,
Stripped of it’s self-worn mask, and spread at last
Bare in it’s horrible anatomy,
Before thy own excruciated gaze.
-The words, “Son, remember. . . .” is a voice of warning for this
life.
C. The Third Flame — The Separation — 16:26 — A great gulf . . . .
Luke 13:26_28 — “Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and
drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.” “But
he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from
me, all ye workers of iniquity.” “There shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you
yourselves thrust out.”
-In hell apparently it’s inhabitants will have a limited view of the
rests that are present to those who are in heaven.
-This view will be a living illustration to you of the lost
opportunities in this life and the chances that were not taken. But
you will not be there, you will be separated from God, from the
moving of His Spirit, and from those you knew in the Church.
D. The Fourth Flame — An Unanswered Prayer — 16:27 — I pray
that you would send. .
-The rich man had five brothers who were on the road to ruin. If
somehow Lazarus would just return from the dead and preach
and witness to my brothers. But it was an unanswered plea. The
answer was given that there are others who are right now
working toward reaching the lost.
-The man in hell suddenly had a change of heart about
preaching, particularly earnest preaching.
-As I have preached, you probably have given me more of your
attention than any time in the past when I have preached. But I tell
you that you have not been nearly as attentive and reaching as
some have been. Those you cannot see.
-As I have preached they have been as the rich man. Please
preach with passion. Please preach like you believe. Please
preach with an anointing.Hell and satan
-No doubt somewhere there are mothers and fathers and sisters
and brothers and grandparents who are begging that someone
should reach their families right now during this message.
• Please warn them of the pain.
• Please tell them about the separation.
• Please tell them about the memory that never stops speaking.
• Please tell them about the remorse for even the simple sins.
Vl. CONCLUSION
-I only have one question to ask you before these altars are
opened:
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul?” Name(required) Email(required) Comment(required)