Advice From One In Hell

What if those from the grave could talk?

What would they tell us?

Well, the Apostle Paul apparently went to heaven,

but he refused to say a word about what he experienced.

He talked about it in 2 Corinthians chapter 12.

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, beginning in verse 2, he says this,

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven.

Whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know.

God knows.

And I know that this man was caught up into paradise,

whether in the body or out of the body, I don't know.

God knows.

And he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.

The first heaven, to explain what he's talking about when he speaks of the third heaven,

the first heaven is what you see today in the sky.

If you go outside and look right after worship, don't go yet,

look right after worship and look up in the sky,

what you see is what's described as the first heaven.

The second heaven is what you see on a clear night.

I walked the dog last night about 1030.

I saw stars in the sky.

That's a second heaven.

The third heaven is the dwelling place of God.

Now, Paul is most likely talking about himself here.

However, he is so overwhelmed by the glimpse that he would not speak of it.

He said he cannot tell it.

It looks like it took him 14 years to even bring it up.

And I think that's the best account of a first-person look at heaven.

Paul, you understand, Paul wasn't trying to sell books.

There's a lot of people that talk about what they experience when they almost die

that love to sell you a book.

And some of those things have been proved to be not true.

Years ago, they were written about a child that supposedly went to heaven

and come to find out after they sold a million copies,

the child didn't have any experience like that.

The parents had fed it with them.

So be warned, those who talk about what they saw in heaven

many times have books to sell.

But in today's passage,

Jesus gives us a first-person testimony

of a man that went to hell.

And I believe the advice that he gives is worth taking note of.

It's found in Luke chapter 16.

Luke 16 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 16, beginning in verse 19, and it says this.

Luke 16 · chapter mention

There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen

and who feasted subtly 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 is like manner, 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 come 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.

And he said,

No, Father Abraham.

But if somebody goes to them from the dead,

they will repent.

And he said to them,

If they do not hear Moses and the prophets,

neither will they be convinced

if someone should rise from the dead.

Let's pray together.

Lord Jesus,

I am fully aware that the devil

does not want

this message

to clearly be preached today.

Because of the difference that it makes

when we realize

what's at stake

for our souls

beyond this life.

God, I pray

that the sweet Holy Spirit of God

will work and move

in such a way

today

that there will be no distractions

that will be clear

what you would have

for each and every one of us

in Christ.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

If the lost,

that is those

as Scripture describes them,

who reject Christ

could speak

from the grave,

what would they say?

Well, here you have

a situation

with two completely

different men.

You had one man

who was poor

and begging for crumbs

like a dog

at a lavish gate

of the rich man.

The man was covered

with sores,

which speaks

not only to hygiene issues,

but it also speaks

to health issue.

But in the first century,

yeah,

that gate,

I don't know

if we had a show

or not this morning,

that gate

must be something

like it looked

for that man,

okay?

Now, that's not the gate

that Lazarus

laid outside of.

That's a gate

outside of Buckingham Palace.

But I thought

I'd give you

some insight

into what it must

have been like.

So this man's laying

out in front of this gate

with sores

about his body

which is a first century,

to the first century audience,

speaks of a curse

from God.

Do you remember Job?

When Job went

through all of his difficulty,

he was scratching

his boils

with the shards

of pottery

as he lay

on an ash heap.

He looked cursed

even to the point

that Job's own wife

told him to curse God

and die

because that's

what it looked like.

It says this man

was licking,

the dogs were licking

this man's wounds.

Now that,

that,

I got a dog

and I love my dog

but we're not talking

about a good dog

that's worried

about your boo-boo

here, okay?

That's not what

we're talking about.

We're talking about

scavenger,

they didn't have

pet animals,

pet dogs.

That's what we're talking

about a scavenger dog

that's licking

ready to take a bite

is what we're talking about.

He looks cursed.

Surely he had to be.

And then there's

the other man.

The rich man

had a lot in life.

He was rich,

lavishly so.

Purple and fine linen

clothing is the finest.

A robe of fine linen

as is described here

was said to be worth

six times its weight

in gold.

This man was feasting

subtly daily.

This is an ostentatious

flamboyant kind of living.

I mean he's living

like a five star athlete

with an IL money,

you know?

He had all the frills

that you'd want

and that's exactly

what he was concerned with

and that's exactly

what his downfall with.

Life's luxuries

became a curse for him.

They spoke too loud

to him.

Now listen,

it's not always about money.

Jesus brings up

this particular situation

because he's speaking

with the Pharisees

and the Pharisees

that he's speaking with

that Jesus addressed

in verse 14 earlier,

that's what they particular,

that was their particular situation.

But in reality,

some people can be caught up

with so many other things

that make up

the pride of life.

Some people are caught up

with their looks.

I'm going to tell you,

it's not easy to look like this

every day, you know?

Some people are really,

I mean, they're caught up

with their looks, you know?

Some people are caught up

with their education.

Some people are caught up

with their family,

who they're from,

their heritage.

Some people are caught up

with their influence

and they're so,

they're so caught up

in these things

that they become a hindrance

to them

in really seeing reality.

All of these matters

can easily busy our lives.

They can drown out

the desperation

of our hearts.

And his focus

was on the importance

of things that rust

and wear

and do not last forever.

He loved his stuff.

And he prioritized

his life around it.

And the result is,

as Christ put it

about someone else,

that this man

gained the whole world,

yet he lost his own soul.

But Jesus then gives us

a view

of both of them

in eternity.

Now I want you

to notice in the passage

that it says

that the rich man

was buried.

Now he was buried

and surely it was

an extravagant gathering.

But there's no mention

of the burial for Lazarus.

There's no mention

of his burial

because beggars

typically didn't get a burial.

If their bodies

were not claimed,

they were thrown

in the trash dump.

The trash dump

was in the valley

of Hinnom.

Also called Gehenna.

Which is the very name

that Jesus used

to describe hell

throughout the Gospels.

It's not mentioned here,

but it's mentioned often.

So people didn't expect

for eternity

to be different

than life was

for these two men.

But Jesus is a table flipper.

I mean,

he upsets stuff.

I always like to say

God throws curveballs.

He lands in a place

that you don't expect

it to land.

And he does that here as well.

For the poor man here

is not cursed.

The poor man here

is not in hell.

The poor man here

is at the bosom

of Abraham.

Now understand

the significance of that.

In the bosom of Abraham,

that means that

that represents him

being in heaven

at the right side

of the father

of the nations.

Abraham.

The greatest pillar

of faith

in the mind

of the Jews

was Abraham.

And Abraham

is surely seated

close to God

in eternity.

A place of eternal splendor.

This poor man

was put

in a place

of privilege.

Now based on this account,

if this rich man

who's not in heaven

but in hell,

if he were speaking

to us this morning

from hell,

he would give us

some advice.

Hear the advice

from one in hell.

I believe

if he could speak

today to us,

he would tell us,

don't spend eternity

in regret.

Don't spend eternity

in regret.

It's alarming to me

that not only

can this man

see his brothers,

but he can see

their need of salvation

in hell.

He can not only see that

but he can also see

into heaven.

He can see that

there's this great chasm

that has been fixed.

In other words,

what he means by

great chasm

that's been fixed

is what's done

is done.

There's no returning,

there's no changing,

there's no difference

anymore.

He can clearly know

for all of eternity

the opportunities

that he had

and that he neglected

and that he ignored

and that's one thing

to suffer

of knowing of the missed

opportunities.

It's another

to know

that you didn't have

to suffer

and to constantly

be reminded

about what you missed.

I want you to think

about this for just a moment.

Based upon this passage,

people that go to hell

for failing to acknowledge

that God is pursuing him.

They sensed it,

they felt it,

but they never surrendered

to it.

Now let's personalize that.

So once in hell,

you are constantly

reminded of the loved ones

that tried to share

the truth with you

that you didn't listen to.

You are constantly

reminded of the messages

that you heard,

the conviction in your heart

that you ignored,

the opportunities

for your life

and for your eternity

that would change you forever

that you walked away from

for whatever reason.

Lost,

caught up in this world,

rolling through your mind

constantly

without any resolve

and without any type

of recourse,

without any hope at all.

Here,

sometimes in this life,

we get a second chance.

In hell,

there is no second chance.

It is eternal.

There's no going back.

And the regret

of eternity

without the Lord

must be a lot

of what hell's about.

I mean,

we could stop there

and it'd be enough,

but Christ didn't stop there

when he described it.

So nor should we.

I believe that man

was standing here today

and would tell us

about hell.

I believe he would tell us

don't spend eternity

in agony.

Nowhere in Scripture

do we gain a fuller

understanding

of the agony of hell

than we do here.

In verse 24,

he says,

tell him

to just get a wet

finger of water

on my tongue

to bring me

some relief.

He speaks of

two kinds of agony

in hell.

For one,

it speaks of a physical

agony in hell.

There's no doubt

that hell

is not on earth.

It is beyond us.

And if you ever say

in gist,

it's like a hell on earth,

I got news for you.

We don't have a clue

in this life.

To imagine it

in our terms

is only a slight glimpse.

It's much worse than that.

Christ is very clear.

There is torturous

agony in hell.

He describes it

again and again

in the New Testament.

He speaks of weeping

and gnashing of teeth.

That speaks of

a tremendous emotional

and physical pain.

He refers to

being thrown

into outer darkness.

That is a paralyzing fear

that I'll speak of

in just a moment

that I don't really think

we can imagine.

And then he describes it

as a fire,

a lake of fire

and brimstone,

an eternal place

with constant punishment.

Now,

this weeping

and gnashing of teeth

that he speaks of

so often about hell

is spoken of

in response

to the agony

of the eternal darkness

in Mark chapter,

excuse me,

in Matthew chapter 8

Matthew 8:12

verse 12.

The weeping

and the gnashing

of teeth

is spoken of again

in Matthew 13

Matthew 13:42

verse 42

and it's spoken of

in reference

to the furnace

of fire

as it is described

in the New Testament.

You cannot be biblical

which is my priority

by the way.

You can't be biblical

and hide the fact

that hell

is a painful,

physically torturous

place.

But see,

that's only the physical agony.

Then there's also

the spiritual agony.

The weeping

and the gnashing,

the darkness

and the thirst.

No doubt

that that only,

not only to speak

the physical pain,

it speaks of spiritual pain.

Weeping and gnashing

speaks of pain

as mentioned

but it also speaks

of eternal grief.

Never being able

to break loose from it.

The darkness

that it speaks of.

Utter loneliness

with no help

of a break.

With no companionship.

So much

for being in hell

with your friends

like a country song

kind of theology.

The reality is

it won't be like that.

In reality,

we don't quite

understand

darkness.

Some of you

may have had an occasion

to do that

to understand

real darkness

but most of us

are surrounded

by street lights.

Most of us

are surrounded

by night lights.

Most of us

have motion

detecting lights.

and if you wonder

in the dark

these days,

you do it by choice.

It's because you didn't

want to bother

to have light.

In a much

greater weight,

the folks that first

heard this story

from Jesus,

they understood

the real darkness

because real darkness

is desert

kind of darkness.

it is unsettling.

It is lonely.

Due to the fact

that often

you're in the desert

in the dark

not by yourself,

it is absolutely

horrific.

And that's the picture

that is drawn here.

There's no hanging out

with you buddies.

Just because you know

somebody

because they've never

given their heart

and life to the Lord Jesus

and because they live

in a way

that does not honor

the Lord

and you know

good and well

they've never given

their heart and life

to the Lord Jesus

and they will die

and go to hell

unless something changes.

Just because

you may see that

and feel that,

don't believe

that you

will have companionship

by your friend

in hell.

There's no evidence

of anything like that

in scripture.

scripture.

What I see

is this man

pining for the

relationships

that he lost

on earth.

That's just

a perversion

of the devil.

People have

killed themselves,

prided themselves,

and failed to

surrender themselves

because of the

devil's lies.

Don't believe them.

And the way

you ascertain

what's the devil's

lies and what's

the truth

is you invest

your life

in the word

of God.

You feed off

of it.

I want to be

clear today,

there'll be no

friends in hell.

The thirst

that it speaks

of, I'm sure

it's a physical

thirst, but it's

more than that.

It's a thirst

for relief.

It's a thirst

for a break.

It's a thirst

for help.

I believe

if this man

was standing

here today

based upon

this account

of scripture,

that Christ

gives us,

he would tell

us to tell

all the truth

of hell.

Tell all

of it.

It's sad

to know

that many

are more

concerned

about entertaining

others

and keeping

their friendships

than they are

about the souls

of those friends

and loved ones

and where

they'll spend

eternity.

We so often

fail to

acknowledge

the eternal

things.

Evie Hill

was an

African-American

pastor from

Los Angeles

who had a

wonderful outreach

ministry in his

church, a feeding

ministry that he

called, and only

the way Evie can

do it, the

Lodge Kitchen.

And every time he

said it, I wanted

to go to the

Lodge Kitchen.

Evie had a

wonderful, powerful

ministry.

I'm sure through

YouTube today you

can pick up on

that and catch up

on that.

Don't do it now.

You can do it this

afternoon.

Man, what a

blessed preacher of

the gospel.

One of the most

touching things that

I've ever heard is

him preach his own

wife's funeral.

What a blessing

Evie was.

He said he had a

friend named Jack.

He was an evangelist.

And he said Jack

was all about soul

winning, soul winning,

soul winning.

He always wanted to

reach somebody else

for Christ.

Every conversation

that he had, every

message that he

preached, everything

that he did was

soul winning, soul

winning.

He just wanted to

win somebody to

Christ.

So finally he asked

him one day, he

said, Jack, why all

the soul winning?

That's the only thing

you got.

You're always talking

about it.

He said one night

my sister called me.

And she told me

about a dream about

daddy.

She told me, she

said Jack, daddy's

in hell.

He was looking

through a gate.

Fire was all around

him.

Tongue parched,

swollen and cracked.

And he said to me,

please help me.

Save me from these

flames.

He said Evie, when

she told me that, it

got in my head and

it's never left me.

And ever since she

told me about her

dream, I must do

everything and

anything that I can

that all may know.

For I am convinced

that if we could

experience 15 seconds

of hell or 15

seconds of heaven, it

would change our

lives.

us.

But we can't.

The reality is,

folks, that I

believe if you were

exposed to 15 seconds

in heaven, we

couldn't do

anything but wait.

Paralyzed in

anticipation for what's

to come.

I believe it's

glorious beyond our

comprehension.

I did my best over

several weeks to try

to describe the way

the Bible shows us.

But I really believe

even the word of God

puts it in a way that

we can somehow

understand because it

is just beyond us.

I believe if we spent

15 seconds in hell, it

would drive us insane by

the horror of the scene.

But a piece of advice

from one in hell is, tell

all the truth of hell.

Don't hold back a thing.

Friend, let me tell you

something.

If you're not careful, you

will friend somebody right

into hell because you

never wanted to bother to

disrupt your relationship to

share with them the hope of

Christ for them.

I believe that if that man

could stand before us today,

I believe he would tell us,

listen to the word.

Listen to the word.

This man was desperate to

let his brothers know the

reality of eternity.

He was desperate.

He wanted to do anything he

could to let all know.

But in reality, it made

little difference.

If people can see the work

of God in his people,

if people can hear the

message of the prophets

and know the message

and death and resurrection

of Christ and not accept

him, they never will.

The sharing of that message

is what he wanted us to do,

Christ wanted us to do,

and it's the sharing of that

message that we are

responsible to do,

and it is by the sharing

of that message that the

Holy Spirit sparks in

people's lives and salvation

comes to them.

That's what Christ

commissioned us to do.

Christian, we have no

excuse.

The last thing he said to us

was tell somebody.

And the only unpardonable

and unforgivable sin

is to refuse to answer

God's pursuit of you

in his message of grace

and to instead

say no

to his offer.

Sometimes again and again

results in eternity

without him.

If you don't want the

Lord in your life,

you'll get what you want

in hell.

You will.

Take advice from one

in hell.

Listen to the message

of God's word.

Now listen.

I'll be completely honest.

I don't want anybody to go

to hell, nor does the

Lord.

However, in the freedom

of our decisions,

he gives us a choice

to surrender to him or not

because our sin

has separated us

from him.

There is that chasm

between us and him.

But it does not have

to separate us

forever.

If you've never

surrendered your life

to the Lord Jesus Christ,

never acknowledge the sin

that is within your life

that separates you

from God

and ask him to forgive you

and to cleanse you

and to come into your life

and change you,

I got good news for you

today.

Today's the day of salvation.

He'll work in you

and move in you.

All you have to do

is respond to his

speaking to you.

Don't live

an eternity

in regret.

Don't live

an eternity

in agony.

Don't live

an eternity

in hell.

hear the truth

of hell.

Christian,

share the truth

of hell.

If hell could talk,

well,

through Christ,

it has.

The question is,

are we listening?

with every head bowed

and every eye closed,

it is always

the nature

of my sermons

and my effort

behind them

to try to take

on the personality

of the way

the scripture

was originally

presented.

to understand it

in the same dire

way in which

it was to be

understood

in the day

it was first

spoken.

And honestly,

today,

folks,

through my

prayerful preparation,

I don't believe

I've exaggerated

any of the agony

of hell.

I don't believe

I've left

anything off

that scripture

would point out

about us.

I don't believe

I've exaggerated

that at all.

I've not tried

to play off

your emotions today.

That's not been

my effort.

My effort is

to be clear

to you

that this is

not all there is.

When they throw

dirt on your coffin,

there's more

left for you.

And if you don't

know the Lord Jesus,

you'll spend

eternity apart

from Him.

If you're here

this morning

and you've never

accepted the Lord

Jesus Christ,

we're going to

stand in just a

moment and we're

going to sing,

but more important

than singing,

I want you to do

what God tells you

to do.

Maybe there's

an uncertainty

in your life

and you're

struggling

with that.

You want some

guidance.

That's the time

to come.

Maybe you're

here this morning

and you know

that you're

a Christian,

but you know

that you've never

publicly acknowledged

that.

The biblical way

to publicly

acknowledge that

by Christ's

commission and

by His example

is to do that

through baptism.

And we're going

to celebrate

baptism in a

couple of weeks.

And if that's

a pending matter

in your life,

I encourage you

to respond to that.

Maybe God's

drawing you

to this congregation.

You know

this is the place

that God would

have you to serve.

And you just want

to follow His lead.

In just a few

moments when we

stand to sing,

that's the time.

We'll be happy

to guide you

in that process.

Or maybe you just

need to do business

with God.

you got lost friends

that you ain't

shared with.

You haven't taken

seriously the time

in which God's

given us,

the commission in

which He's charged

for us.

Maybe there's

hindrances in your

life that are

in the way,

just like this man's

money was in the

way for Him.

And you need to

lay those things

down at the foot

of the cross.

I'll never

pretend to know

how God is

speaking to you.

I have no idea.

But I never

want to leave

without giving you

the opportunity

to respond as God

speaks.