If You Wake Up in Hell

I want to invite you, if you can, join me in

the Word of the Lord, Book of Luke, Chapter 16.

Luke 16 · chapter mention

Book of Luke, Chapter 16, and Verse 19. Amen.

Luke 16 · chapter mention

I'll give you a moment to get there. If not,

it'll be right there on the screen. We are in

a series called Countdown to Eternity. And if

there's ever been a time, ever been a moment

where we need to focus, redirect our lives, our

hearts, align our decisions, everything in light

of eternity, I believe that time is now. And

I come today with a burden in my heart, really.

And I'm just delaying a few more moments before

I read the verse and and then we'll all be seated.

But but I need you to understand that today's

message is not just another sermon. I don't take

it lightly, the subject matter, but it is one

that must be preached. And so with that in mind,

I'm going to invite you now to read with me the

words of Jesus. It says there was a certain man.

rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen

and fared sumptuously every day. There was a

certain beggar named Lazarus full of sores who

was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with

the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table.

Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.

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. And being in torments

in Hades, which is another word for hell, he

lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and

Lazarus in his bosom. 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. Somebody say amen. Today, church, I'm

going to preach about something that doesn't

get preached in churches much anymore, but I'm

going to do so reverently, and I'm going to entitle

this message respectfully, but this is the title

God gave me. If you wake up In hell. If you wake

up in hell, which I pray to God that you never

experience. Would you bow your heads? Would you

close your eyes? We're going to give this moment

to the Lord. We're going to pray. We're going

to ask God to speak because. This is a heaven

or hell kind of message, but God's going to work.

Father, I thank you, Lord, for what you're doing

in our midst today. I thank you, God, because

you have kept us, you have preserved us. I thank

you for your grace, Lord, that we stand on today.

And even though you are a judge and even though

you are righteous, you sit on your throne, God,

you've also been so patient, so gracious and

merciful towards us, God. Today, Lord, is no

exception. And I pray, Lord, that every word

that comes out of my mouth, Lord, would be seasoned

with holy salt and that would fall on good ground,

God, that you would talk to us today, Lord. Father,

I pray in the name of Jesus, God, that you would

anoint our hearing, God. I thank you, God, for

everything that you're going to do in this place,

and we... We submit it to you, Lord. Anoint my

lips of clay and put your word in my mouth. In

the name of Jesus, I declare this right now.

I declare salvation over somebody's life today.

I claim the blood of Jesus over somebody today.

Oh, God, I pray, Lord, you will have mercy on

somebody today. In the name of Jesus. Somebody

say, in the name of Jesus. Come on, clap your

hands. Let's give God one more praise. Amen.

Amen. You may be seated. You may be seated. I

must confess to you today that my job, my assignment,

is not one that I take lightly, but it is one

that I take very, very seriously, and I can tell

you without going into a lot of details the fact

that the devil don't want me to preach this today.

I'm going to say that again. It said the devil

doesn't want me to preach this today. If there's

one message the devil wants to silence in the

church, it's messages on hell. Because what the

devil wants is for us in our minds and in the

world at large, even in the church, for us to

pretend like this place doesn't exist. It kind

of helps keep him in business. I want you to

understand that hell, is not a scare tactic.

It's not a fictional or metaphorical place. It's

a real place. And if you believe in heaven, which

I would assume we all do, somebody say amen.

If you believe in heaven, then you must also

believe in hell. Heaven can't be heaven if hell

isn't hell. What would make heaven so special

then if everything was heaven? It may surprise

you to know that hell or the subject of the afterlife

is mentioned ten times more in Scripture than

heaven. Think of that. Ten times more the Bible

talks about that place than it does heaven. And

no passage... In the Bible, it evokes more emotion,

more thought, contemplation, maybe even repentance,

than the one that we are looking at today. Jesus

tells a story, and scholars are not all agreed

on whether this story was a parable or a true

account. Some say that it was a true account

because he uses names, and most of the parables

that Jesus teaches, He doesn't name the people

in it. They're like anonymous figures. But in

this story, names are mentioned. And so some

believe that that means that this was a true

account. And whether it's a true account or a

parable is really not the fact of the matter.

It's the content of the story. And Jesus gives

us a sobering look into life after death. Seen

through the eyes of a rich man who lived a sinful

life and a beggar named Lazarus who lived a godly

life. These two men lived very different lives,

different roads, different decisions, different

paths of life. One enjoyed a life of ease and

opulence. The other? ate from the crumbs that

fell from the rich man's table. One was presumably

in good health, maybe could afford the best health

care he can get, while the other had sores on

his bodies. That as graphic as it sounds, as

horrendous as it is, even the dogs would come

and lick the sores as he begged at the gate of

the rich man. One had it all, and one had...

But here's the thing. Both of them died at some

point. And when these men die, both wake up in

eternity. Both wake up in eternity. One was carried,

and another was buried. One was carried away,

another was buried. Buried away. One woke up

in heaven. The other woke up in hell. Now before

I can talk about the reality of hell, which is

what I'm going to preach about today, I must

establish or cement in our minds the reality

of death. Now I know this topic makes us uncomfortable.

But sometimes we have to be made uncomfortable.

Somebody say amen. We have to be made uncomfortable.

And sometimes messages need to be preached like

the one I'm preaching to make us uncomfortable.

You know, we can't just always be preaching your

blessings on the way. Feel good message. I love

a good feel good message better than anybody

else. I love them. But sometimes we need to be

made uncomfortable and. A subject like death

makes us uncomfortable because we think we're

just going to live here forever. But the reality

is that there is a time for us all. There's a

time for us all. Jesus said, and it came to pass

that the beggar died and the rich man. You see,

the thing about death is that death is the ultimate

equalizer. It's the great equalizer. Death doesn't

respect who you are. Death doesn't care how much

money you have in your bank account. Death doesn't

care who you know. Doesn't care what street you

live on. Death doesn't care about any of those

things. It is no respecter of persons. It is

the ultimate equalizer. That's what death is.

It doesn't care about your status in life, whether

you're educated, uneducated, powerful, powerless.

Every one of us has an appointment with death

that we cannot cancel. Those that have tried,

those that have tried to prolong, reschedule,

eventually it comes knocking at your door. In

Hebrews 9 and 27, it states, it is appointed

for men to die once, but after this, the judgment.

So we have an appointment with destiny. We've

got an appointment with eternity. We've got an

appointment with death. Can't avoid it, can't

cancel it, can't escape it. That's just the reality.

It is appointed for man to die. And this is what's

going to happen at some point. Now, if the Lord

should tarry and we live here, now we hope that

that doesn't come for a long time. But only God

knows. Furthermore, there is no delay, no detour

between death and eternity. In some religious

schools of thought, in some denominations, they

teach this doctrine of purgatory. that says that

there is this middle place that if you didn't

do the right things in this life, you can go

to this next in -between phase and kind of work

things out there and have your sins purged there,

and then you can qualify for heaven. It's kind

of like a backup plan. I think people have made

a lot of money on that backup plan, selling that

backup plan to people. But there is no third

option, my friend. There's only two. There's

only two options. You're either, if you're born

again, amen, born again of water, baptized in

the name of Jesus Christ and filled with the

Spirit and been living right, because you can't

just get baptized and then go back to living

in sin. You immediately enter the presence of

God. Whoo! Praise be to the Lord. This is what

Paul said. He said to be absent in the body is

to be present with the Lord. So I thank the Lord

that whenever God should take me, amen, I don't

have to go to a holding room. I don't have to

wait somewhere. From that point, I'm immediately

carried into the presence of God. Praise be to

God. Hallelujah. No delay. No detour. It's immediate.

But if you die without being saved, sadly, it

will also be immediate. But instead of waking

up in the presence of God, you will wake up in

hell. If you wake up in hell, this is what you

need to know. Is that, number one, you'll be

consumed in pain. Talking about physical torment.

I know. We don't want to hear this. We don't

want to think about this. We don't want to accept

this reality of life, truth, but it is what it

is. You know, there is this concept people have

about... About how both, you know, mainly in

the secular world, but sometimes it kind of creeps

into the church, is that hell is like this big

old party. You know, it's a big rock concert

or something. And everyone's just going to live

it up down there. And that's a big lie from the

devil. Hell is not a party. That's one of his

biggest lies. Some, they think that it's just

a dark and lonely prison. You know, just going

to sit there and just be lonely and, you know,

in a dark place. And, I mean, that's not good,

but it's much worse than that. Jesus said, and

in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment.

And the first thing the rich man who this is

describing feels after death, immediate pain.

Immediate, conscious, he's aware, and it's relentless

pain. He's awake, he's aware. It's important

for us to understand this biblical truth about...

the reality of hell, and the literal, the physical

pain that comes with it. He's not dreaming. He's

not hallucinating. He's not just having a bad

day. It's not a nightmare. He's not in a coma.

He is in hell. Not a theoretical hell. Not a

figurative hell. Some would say, my week has

been like hell. No, that's not what we're talking

about here. Oh, my life has been hell on earth.

No, I can assure you that hell and hell is worse

than hell on earth. Not a theoretical hell, not

a metaphorical hell, not a figment of one's imagination,

but a literal place of torment. What was tormenting

him physically there? Well, verse 24 tells us,

Jesus said, then he cried, and he said, Father

Abraham, Have mercy on me. You see, he's repenting,

but it's too late. Oh, my God. There's a lot

of repenting going on in hell, but it's too late.

Have mercy on me. Send Lazarus that he may dip

the tip of his finger in some water, just a little

drop. And cool my tongue. Why? For I am tormented

in this flame. He was burning. He was burning.

This man is burning in the fire. And all he wanted

was just a drop. A sprinkle of water to cool

his tongue. Just one drop. He said, I don't want

a whole bottle. I don't want this. I don't want

that. Just give me a little drop. That's all

he asked for. Just cool my tongue. But none can

be found. There was none there. No drop. No water.

And you know, it's not hard to imagine. If you've

ever touched a little flame, you know, if you

by accident ever encountered a flame, it's not

hard to imagine what that might feel like now.

Imagine that pain multiplied, magnified, and

eternal with no relief. Oh, help us, Holy Ghost,

today. In Mark 9, Jesus described hell as a place

where the worm does not die. I'll spare you what

that means today, but... But I'm just focused

on the fact that he said, and the fire is not.

Ultimately, a lake of fire awaits those who reject

Christ. And all of these words that God, he's

not talking about just metaphysical or, you know,

just spiritual fire. He's talking about an actual

flame. This is a place of torment. This is a

place of physical pain, literal pain that never

dies. This is a place where there is no water,

a lake of fire. And you say, well, how could

a loving God send anybody to hell? How could

a good God send anybody? How could this place

actually be if God is love and God is good and

God is merciful? How could he send anybody there?

Well, let me correct that line of thought today

and tell you that God doesn't send anybody there.

We are given a choice. Hallelujah. Hell is a

place where the fire never dies and there's no

water to quench your thirst. But I've got good

news for you here today. You don't have to go

there because Jesus has already given us the

water. He said, if anyone thirsts, come to me

and drink. And so if you're thirsty today, if

you want heaven today, all you got to do is drink

the living water. Somebody give God. water is

here. There won't be any water there, but there's

water here. Hallelujah. There's a drink here.

And this water that I offer, like Jesus told

the Samaritan woman at the well, is a perpetual

spring and you will never thirst again. And that

is the promise of giving your life to the Lord.

That is the promise of salvation, is that we

will never thirst again in this life and in the

next life. Oh, there's plenty of water in heaven.

In fact, there's a whole sea of glass in heaven.

But if you wake up in hell, you'll be consumed

in pain. And if you also, God forbid, wake up

in hell, you'll forever be separated from God.

The first... Is a physical torment. But this.

Is a spiritual. Torment. The rich man was. Able

to see Abraham. The father of faith. A far off.

And right next to him he sees. Lazarus. Right

beside him. Now. Here's. Here's the rich man

on one side, and there far off is Abraham and

Lazarus, and he's thinking to himself, man, if

I could just get over there, if I can just find

a way to cross over to where they're at. I mean,

they look happy over there. They're in the joy

of the Lord over there. They're not suffering

like I am. And so he wants to cross over to the

other side. He sees where they are, and he sees

where he is, but in verse 26, Abraham tells him,

after he prayed, have mercy on me, Abraham tells

us, between us and you is a great gulf fixed

so that those who want to pass from here to you

cannot, nor can those. from their past to us.

This great gulf represents eternal separation

where you, if one is found in hell, is forever

and permanently cut off from the presence of

God. You see, the greatest torment of hell may

not even be the fire, but the fact that you'll

never feel the presence of God again. And I believe

that there's no greater pain than that. It's

heavy in here, I feel it. But I also feel the...

Presence of God. I feel God is speaking to somebody

right now. Somebody say amen. Can I keep preaching?

Is that all right? Then he says the gulf is fixed.

Fixed. It's immovable. There's no bridge between

heaven and hell. They are permanently divided.

Those in heaven can't reach those in hell, and

those in hell can't reach those in heaven. Now,

here's the thing. This man, the rich man, he

was used to maybe through his means, through

his money, through his power and influence, getting

certain things that other people couldn't get,

and so perhaps he thought, I can buy my way out

of where I am, but your money ain't good there.

Can't pray your way out. Can't beg your way out.

Can't buy your way out. Like the door to Noah's

Ark, once it's shut, nobody can open it. Hmm.

Cannot be opened again. But again... It's the

separation from the presence of God that makes

this place so miserable. You know, there's a

lot of things, church, that you and I can endure

in this life. You know how we can endure it?

Because we have the Spirit of God. Some of us

have had, we had bad weeks, or some of you are

getting over sickness, getting over emotional

things, and there's a lot of things in this life

that are terrible. There's troubles in this life.

But you know, we can get through those things.

Why? Because we have the presence of God. Amen.

Hey, let me go a step further. Even the unbelievers

are benefiting from the presence of God. What

would happen to this world when the church is

not here anymore? Even the atheists and the ungodly

and the sinner, even they are benefiting from

the Spirit of God being here. What would happen

to our community if there wasn't a praying church

that was still there? But if you remove the presence

of God, if you remove the spirit of God, life

is hard enough with his spirit. I can't imagine

what it would be like without his spirit and

in a place like there. Be forever separated.

There is no bridge between where the rich man

was and where Abraham and all the Old Testament

saints and Lazarus were. There's no bridge to

span that gap, to get him over that place. But

I've come today with good news today. Because

if you're sitting here in this church on this

afternoon, there is a bridge that you can cross

over. And that bridge is named Jesus Christ.

Somebody give him some praise today. 2 ,000 years

ago, he went up that hill, Calvary, and he died

for us, and he bridged the gap between the earth

and heaven. of sin. And the Bible says, for there

is one God and one mediator between God and men,

the man Christ Jesus. But here's the thing, you've

got to cross that bridge now. Because if you

ignore it and you think you're going to cross

it later, there won't be any bridge to cross.

You've got to cross it now. Someone say now.

This is the day of salvation. Oh, hallelujah.

Would you pray with me just for a moment? Come

on, hallelujah. Somebody just lift your hands

and give God some glory. Hallelujah. I feel the

presence of the Lord. I feel God working in somebody's

life today. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Oh, thank

you, God. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord.

Just give me a few more moments, church. Give

me a few more moments, friend. I need to tell

you, there's one other reality, there's one other

thing that you must understand, that if you,

God forbid, if you wake up in hell, you will

be full of regrets. This is an emotional. Once

the rich man realizes there's no hope for him,

he starts crying out. Notice what he says in

verse 27. He said, I beg you, therefore, Father,

that you would send him, speaking of Lazarus,

to my father's house. For I have five brothers

that he may testify to them lest they also come

to this place of torment. Not only does the rich

man regret his own choices, but he regrets not

warning others about the consequences of dying.

Without God. The rich man is tortured over the

thought of what could have been. If I only had

listened. If I only had paid attention. If I

had only stopped making excuses and ignoring

and resisting the call. Of God. His word. I wouldn't

be. And that was plaguing him in that place.

It was emotional. Psychological. Torment. That

he was dealing with. That I only listen to the

teachings of scripture. And the prophet. And

Moses. And so his heart was full of regrets.

As he starts remembering his family. His brother.

those that he loved, and he starts thinking of

them and all the times that he ignored God, all

the times that he had heard the preaching but

said, oh, that's just a bunch of hocus pocus.

That's just a bunch of nonsense. I've got all

the time in the world. I'll live life on my own

terms. I'll come when I'm good and ready. No,

now he's burning in hell, and he wished he had

a second chance. And so the rich man becomes

an evangelist in hell. But it's too late. Hell

is full of evangelists. But no one will ever

hear their message. If only we got a burden for

people like that before eternity. Oh, he's got

a burden. He cares about souls now, doesn't he?

Because that's where he is. Hallelujah. And so

he is consumed there. He's got this great. And

then he tells, send somebody. And you know what

Abraham tells him? I don't have the verse up

there, but he basically says. If they don't listen

to Moses and the prophets, they're not going

to listen to somebody who rose from the dead

and goes and talks to them. They've got Moses.

They've got the prophets. In other words, they

already got the word. So they need to make their

decision based off of what they have heard. The

emotional anguish must have crushed him. And

Luke... 13, 28, it says, Jesus said, there will

be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Come on up,

brother. I'll be closing here in a minute. There

will be weeping, gnashing of teeth. And the weeping

is not just from the physical pain, dear friend,

it's the regret. The weeping, the gnashing of

teeth, you know what gnashing of teeth is? It's

another term for grinding teeth. You know when

something hurts so bad or you feel anxiety or

you grind your teeth? Squeeze your teeth together.

Well, this is what happens in hell. There's weeping.

Why are they grinding their teeth so much? Why

are they weeping? It's the sound of people. Hear

me today. It's the sound of people who could

have responded. To God. But didn't. The sound

of regret. The sound. Of how things could be

different. Oh, hallelujah. Hell is full of people

who thought they had more time. Hell is full

of people who thought there's going to be a next

Sunday. There's going to be another opportunity.

Hell is full of people who thought it was just

a fictional idea, a scare tactic that preachers

use to get people in their church. Hell is full

of people who gambled with eternity. If you wake

up there, there will be no redos, no makeup test,

no do -overs. That'll be it. That'll be final.

Maybe the rich man had an opportunity like some

of you have today. Those of you, I'm talking

directly to you. Number one, those of you who

are not baptized in Jesus' name in water. For

the remission of your sins. And I'm also talking

to those of you who have been born again. But

you're not living right. Can I minister just

a few moments here? Not living right. I'm talking

even to some saints that you need to get over.

You need to forgive in your heart. Get that bitterness

out of your heart. Oh, Jesus. Get that anger

out. That disobedience out. Get that rebellion

out of your heart. Oh, Lord. Oh, Jesus. But those

who have not yet made that decision, I don't

want you to be like this rich man. You know why?

Because hell is a terrible place. But you know

the craziest thing is that it was never made

for man, really. The Bible says that hell was

prepared for the devil and his angels. You and

I, we're made for heaven. Jesus said, I go to

prepare a place for you. I'm preparing a place

for you, and I will come again and receive you

to myself. Now, where I am, you may be also.

Would you close your eyes all over this building?

I feel the Spirit of the Lord. I feel the Word

of God tugging on someone's life today. Hallelujah,

Jesus. I tell you what, I wouldn't be behind

this pulpit today, church, young man, young lady,

I wouldn't be standing behind this pulpit today

if I didn't hear a message like I'm preaching

to you right now some 30 years ago. I wouldn't

be standing here today if I didn't hear a preacher

tell me about that terrible place. You say, well,

why do we got to talk about it? Why does it got

to be? Because you got to know where God is saving

you from. know how serious it is. You gotta know

that you can't play games with God. You can't

play, you know, you just can't fiddle and, you

know, mess around with the things of God. That

this thing is serious and it's for real and it's

eternity! Pray that somebody right now as the

Lord just begins to work in your heart. I know

there's somebody here today under the sound of

my voice, maybe even watching the live stream.

There's somebody today that said, I don't want

to go to that place. Oh, there's going to be

a lot of repentance in hell. There's going to

be a lot of crying. There's going to be a lot

of... There's a lot of that. There's a lot of

sorries. There's a lot of apologies. There's

a lot of people falling on their knees down there

saying, oh, man, God, if I just get one more

chance. But once you're there, if you wake up

in hell, you're out of chances. That's it. It's

over. It's done. But the fact that you're sitting

there today. And considering, some of you, I

don't even know why you're taking as long as

you are to get baptized in Jesus' name. I'm telling

you that in a couple of weeks, we're having another

Baptism Sunday here at City Light Church. We're

having another Baptism Sunday. She's not here

today because, oh my God, because she's been

sick. But my daughter, Chloe, has given her life

to Jesus Christ. And in a couple of weeks, I'm

going to baptize her in the name of Jesus. For

the remission of her sins. It's going down in

Jesus' name. She told us just a few weeks ago,

just, you know, wasn't trying to, you know, people

think preacher's kids, well, you know, they're

supposed to give. No, everyone's got to make

their own decisions. And we don't force, I've

never forced my children to tell them, you know,

you're 12, so you're getting baptized. No, it

doesn't work like that. God's got to do it. And

if God does it, then let the Lord work. But I

wonder, I wonder if... if there might be somebody

who wants to join my daughter in a couple of

weeks from now and getting baptized in Jesus.

Now, I wonder if there's somebody. We're going

to fill up the tank. We're going to fill it up.

Amen. Would you stand with me here today? Hallelujah.

We're going to fill up the tank. I mean, as it

is, we've got to tell our landlords I love them,

but we've got to give them like weeks in advance

notice and say, can we please fill up the tank?

do it every Sunday if they'll let us, but we're

going to fill up the tank in a few weeks, and

I wonder if there's somebody else today that

says, you know what, Pastor? I don't want to

wake up in hell. I want to make heaven my home.

Oh, I wonder, do you hear the Lord today? Do

you hear him? He's calling on you. Oh, in the

name of Jesus, hallelujah. I want everyone to

lift up your hands right now. I want everyone

to lift up. We're going to say a prayer. I'm

going to lead us into a special prayer right

now. A special prayer. And when I'm done with

this special prayer, this is what I'm going to

want. I'm going to want those of you who are

not baptized, but because you've heard the word

of the Lord, you want to give your life to Jesus,

and you want to get baptized. Now, it can be

in two weeks. Hallelujah. Or it can be before

then, or it can be maybe the following. But you

know that you need to get baptized. Amen. And

I'm going to want you to come up to this altar

after we pray because we're going to do a special

prayer for you as well. And then also I'm going

to want those to come up who just need, you feel

like you just need to get some things right with

the Lord today. There are just some things that

you need to restore. Maybe you just need to get

right with God. But we're going to pray first.

Hallelujah. We always wait to the altar to start

praying. But sometimes I believe that the reason

why some of you get stuck, you don't come to

the altar like you should, is because you need

to get a breakthrough right there where you're

at first. Hallelujah. You need God to do some

things right there where you're at to give you

the faith to come forward to this altar. So right

there by the authority of the Word of God and

the... power that's in the name of jesus i speak

life and i prophesy over every one of your souls

and your spirits today i speak with the authority

of god i speak with the authority of the holy

ghost i come against every hex every curse every

lie from the pits of hell that's been trying

to stop you from coming closer to god I rebuke

the hand of the enemy today. I command the enemy

to take his hands off of your life. I command

it right now in the name of Jesus. And I speak

over you. I speak an anointing over you right

now. I speak salvation over you. I speak the

blood of Jesus over your life today in the name

of Jesus. every addiction will be broken every

curse every sin every bondage in Jesus name I

speak it right now I speak it right now some

of you need to get you need to get delivered

from some things right now you got to get delivered

from some things that are that Might threaten

your eternal security. You need to get delivered

from that devil. We need to cast that devil out

of your life. Cast him out of your heart. Cast

him out of your family. Cast him out of your

marriage. In the name of Jesus. We've got to

cast him out. I speak over every saint of God.

Who's been already washing the blood of the lamb.

But the devil's been fighting you too. and mail

he's trying to drag your soul to hell he's trying

to he's trying to trip you up he's trying to

cause you to fall he's trying to lead you astray

he's trying to deceive you confuse you and bind

you but right now in the name of jesus i bind

the works of the enemy feet. Be free in the name

of Jesus. Come on, somebody worship him. I want

you to worship him right where you are. I want

you to love him right where you are. I want you

to praise him right