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THINGS YOU WON'T FIND IN HELL

LUKE 16:19-31

Introduction:

This is the passage of Scripture that is most often used to preach on the subject of hell.

Understand that this passage of Scripture is not a parable, but an actual account of a man who died and went to hell.

Jesus does not say that this is a parable and in none of Jesus’ parables did He give names to the people in the parables.

Even if it were a parable and the characters were not real, the truth of what Jesus is teaching is still just as real. The truth Jesus is teaching here is that there is an awful place called hell to shun and a wonderful place called heaven to gain.

Hell is a place just like Parker City is a place. Hell is just as real as Heaven. Its just as real as your being here this morning. You are here this morning aren’t you–at least in body!

We could preach this passage from many different aspects this morning, but I believe the Lord would have us look at this from this particular aspect–what is missing in hell?

I want to preach this morning on this subject–“Things You Won’t Find In Hell.”

I.         YOU WON’T FIND ANY MERCY IN HELL. (Luke 16:24)

This rich man cried out for mercy. However, none was given.

            What is mercy? Noah Webster defines it in this way:

            1.         That benevolence, mildness or tenderness of heart which disposes a person to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves.

The disposition that tempers justice, and induces an injured person to forgive trespasses and injuries, and to forbear punishment, or inflict less than law or justice will warrant.

            2.         Pity; compassion manifested towards a person in distress.

            3.         Clemency and bounty; pardon; the act of sparing punishment.

All through the Bible, when men cried out to the Lord for mercy, they received it.

            But that won’t be the case in hell.

In the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican found in Luke 18:9-14, the publican asked for mercy. He cried "God be merciful to me a sinner"

            He knew that he deserved to die and go to hell for his sins.

            However, we are told he received mercy - "...this man went down to his house justified."

The prodigal son in Luke 15 asked for mercy from his earthly father who is a picture or type of our Heavenly Father.

He said to his father, "...I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son."

            He had gotten in with the wrong crowd and spent all his inheritance on riotous living.

His father's response is found in Luke 15:22-24, "But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry."

            He received mercy from the Father that he did not deserve.

In Luke 17, ten lepers cried out to Jesus for mercy in verse 13 - "And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus Master, have mercy on us."

In Luke 17:14, we see that they received it. - "And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that as they went, they were cleansed."

In Mark 10:46, on the road to Jericho, sat a blind beggar called Bartimaeus. When he heard that Jesus was coming he cried out,"Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me." Jesus answered his cry of mercy and restored his sight.

In Luke 23, we see that the dying thief on the cross asked Jesus for mercy and received it. Luke 23:42-43, "And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise."

All of these accounts illustrate that when a person cries out to the Lord for mercy that they usually receive it.

But it is important to note that each of these cried out for mercy before death, not after.

            Remember, it is too late to cry out to God for mercy after you are dead.

There are no chances after death according to the Word of God, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" - Hebrews 9:27.

            The rich man in hell cried out for mercy, but he was denied. It was too late.

If you are sitting here unsaved today, then you need to repent of your sin and cry out to God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ to have mercy on you and to save you from your sin before it is too late.Do it before you die lost in your sins!!!

II.       YOU WON’T FIND ANY SAINTS IN HELL. (Luke 16:23b)

            God's people will not be there.

Ephesians 2:12-13 - "That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ."

If we got what we deserved we would wind up with the rich man burning in hell!!

            We would be afar off from God and God's people.

            But, Praise God! We who are saved are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

If you have not been saved, then you need to draw near to God through the blood of Christ or you will end up like the rich man--afar off from God and God's people with no hope.

III.      YOU WON’T FIND ANY WATER IN HELL. (Luke 16:24)

People joke all the time about various aspects of hell. We’ve probably all heard someone say at one time or another, “When I get to hell I’m going to peddle ice water there.”

            First of all, hell is no joking matter! What we are talking about here is real!

The rich man requested that Lazarus dip his finger in water and cool the rich man's tongue.

            Hell is a place where one's thirst is never quenched.

We can all testify to the fact that there is nothing like a cool glass of water to quench a thirst, especially if working out in the hot sun during the summer.

Imagine never being able to quench your thirst. Imagine, always being in the state of constant thirst. Just picture the taste in your mouth. Imagine that your lips, your tongue, and your throat are all parched like the ground that is so dry it has begun to crack.

IV.      YOU WON’T FIND ANY RELIEF IN HELL. (Luke 16:23a)

            Notice torments is plural. He was experiencing more than one kind of torment.

            V24 - The rich man said, "I am tormented in this flame"

            V25 - Abraham said to the rich man concerning his state, "thou are tormented"

            V28 -The rich man refers to hell as "this place of torment"

            In hell there is no relief from the torments.

            Jesus tells us that there exists in hell an actual fire, an actual flame.

            In Mark 9:43, he calls it, "... the fire that never shall be quenched."

Three times Jesus says in Mark 9:44,46, and 48 about hell, "where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

The fire in hell is never extinguished, can never be put out. The fire in hell is an eternal fire and an eternal flame.

            Matthew 25:41 - Jesus says about hell it is a place of "everlasting fire."

            Revelation 14:10-11, the Apostle John said this about the occupants of hell.

            v. 10 - "...shall be tormented with fire and brimstone..."

            v. 11- "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever..."

            Again, there will be no end, no relief from the torment, no relief from the suffering.

Just like the life Jesus gives us when we get saved (eternal life) so is the fire in hell eternal.

I don’t know about you, but I would rather go through the fires and trials of life now with Jesus, which are but for a moment, than to spend eternity in the fires of hell without Jesus.

V.        YOU WON’T FIND ANY ANSWERED PRAYER IN HELL.

            The rich man makes two separate requests.

            v. 24 -             For Lazarus to come cool his tongue.

            vs. 27-28 -       For Lazarus to be sent to witness to his family.

            Both requests were heard but denied.

            The first request was for mercy. As we saw before, you will find no mercy in hell.

            The second request was for a supernatural witness to be sent to the rich man's family.

Abraham told the rich man that if his family did not believe the word of God then they would not believe one who came from the dead.

If you think about it, Jesus is a supernatural witness from the dead. Yet, people today do not believe the record of Him in the Word of God. And Jesus is the Word.

Right now, I can tell you where the greatest burden for lost souls is--in hell.

However, it is too late to pray for lost family members once you are in hell. Because your prayer will go unanswered.

VI.      YOU WON’T FIND ANY UNBELIEVERS IN HELL.

What I’m talking about here is that as soon as they hit the flames of hell, they become believers. But it is too late to become a believer then.

We all get one window of opportunity to get saved and that is while we are alive on this earth. There may be many chances on earth, but there is none after death.

vs. 27-28 Hell made a believer out of the rich man. So much so that he wanted his family saved.

            The Bible tells us that an individual is "saved by grace through faith"

            Something cannot be of faith if you can actually physically see and touch it.

The Bible says this about faith, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

            Jesus said, "blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed".

You must believe on Christ now before it is too late! What a wake up call someday to die and wake up in hell. To find out that you have been lied to by some of those you trusted.

What a tragedy to wake up and find out that what the Bible said was true and what that fanatical narrow minded preacher down at Bible Baptist Church said was true.

VII.     YOU WON’T FIND ANY COMFORT IN HELL. (Luke 16:25)

This verse shows us that all the comfort an unsaved person will ever get is while he is alive.In hell there will only be torment and no comfort.

We see that Lazarus had it rough while he was alive (Look at verses 20-21)

            But when he died, because he was saved, he was eternally comforted.

Lazarus had lost the torment of life on earth and gained the eternal state of comfort in Abraham's bosom.

I tell you that I would rather suffer the persecution and the torment this world has to offer than to suffer the eternal torment at the hands of God.

            Lazarus suffered affliction, but the rich man chose the pleasures of sin for a season.

            And that season was short compare to eternity.

Paul, the Apostle reminds us whatever we suffer down here on earth is nothing compared to the glory that we are going to receive in heaven.

2 Cor. 4:17 - "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;"

            There is no comfort in hell.

VIII.   YOU WON’T FIND ANY ESCAPE IN HELL. (Luke 16:26)

            There is no escape from hell, no way out. You cannot break out of hell!

            In hell, there is a final separation from the Saviour, the Saints, and the Scriptures.

The Great Gulf - Cannot be spanned when you are dead because the bridge won’t be there for you. Jesus is the bridge!

            The hymn, “At Calvary” says, "Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary"

My dear friend either you trust Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour for the forgiveness of your sins, now while you are alive and cross the span of that great gulf between heaven and hell, or someday you will wake up in hell and it will be too late to cross the span over that great gulf. The span won’t be available any more.

Conclusion

Maybe you are thinking that, "I am not bad enough to go to hell".

Revelation 21:8 - tells us about the occupants of the lake of fire - "But the fearful , And unbelieving, 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."

You may not see yourself as being abominable, or a murderer, or a whoremonger, or a sorcerer, or an idolater, or a liar. But you could be one of the fearful–fearing what you might have to give up, fearing what others might think of you, fearing what you’ll miss out on if you get saved.

But I can tell you this for sure. If you have never repented of your sin and believed from your heart that Christ died for your sins, was buried and arose the third day to save you from going to hell, if you are trusting in anything else except the shed blood of Jesus Christ to save you, then according to the word of God you are an unbeliever and will end up in the lake of fire someday to burn for all of eternity, for ever and ever.

My dear friend before it is too late won't call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to save you and cross the span over that great gulf that exists between your sins and God. Jesus is the bridge!

The Bible says "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved"

Won't you be saved today? 

Many of you, if I were to ask for a show of hands, would claim that you are Christians. What does your life say about that? Are you walking like a Christian? Are you consistent in your walk? Are you saying you believe with your mouth, but your life says something different?

What is your life teaching others about the things of God?                                                     

Do the people in hell have more concern for your lost loved ones and friends than you do?

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NOTICE:   THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!