1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,860 Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest 2 00:00:15,860 --> 00:00:21,060 questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search 3 00:00:21,060 --> 00:00:27,300 and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Meador, lead 4 00:00:27,300 --> 00:00:32,440 pastor of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth 5 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:43,160 for the life we're searching for. Thank you so much for being here today. Please take 6 00:00:43,160 --> 00:00:49,720 your Bibles and turn to Luke 16 today. Luke 16, beginning in verse 19, maybe one of the 7 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:55,360 most sobering, serious subjects I could talk to you about today is the subject of hell. 8 00:00:55,360 --> 00:01:01,080 And the title of the message is, would a loving God send people to hell? We need to know about 9 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:06,280 heaven. We need to know about hell. We need to know about the afterlife. What happens 10 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:11,760 after someone dies? What if they're in Christ? What if they're not in Christ? What's the 11 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:18,940 destination like for those who die without Jesus Christ? And the question itself, would 12 00:01:18,940 --> 00:01:24,320 a loving God send someone to hell is something just about everybody wonders about. We kind 13 00:01:24,320 --> 00:01:29,600 of try to reconcile in our minds how those two things could be true at the same time. 14 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:35,240 How can God be good? I think that creates something that we know to be a place filled 15 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:41,640 with suffering and torment and revenge and suffering. How can those two facts be true? 16 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:47,160 And today we're going to be looking at the Bible at what it says, Luke 16, beginning 17 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:51,920 in verse 19. Please stand with me as we read God's word together. It's a long story. It's 18 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:57,960 not a parable. It's a story Jesus tells. It's not just a story. It has specific names, specific 19 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:04,440 details that leads us to believe that everything Jesus says is reality. And we'll tell you 20 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:09,120 why we believe that in just a few moments. But notice that this story is not just a little 21 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:17,160 story with a truth alongside it. It is an actual unfolding of the picture of hell. It 22 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:21,360 says in verse 19, and these are the words of Jesus. Now there was a rich man and he 23 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:26,560 habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, enjoying himself in splendor every day. And 24 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:32,160 a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed 25 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:37,480 from the scraps which fell from the rich man's table. And not only that, the dogs were also 26 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:43,440 coming and licking his sores. Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away 27 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:48,360 by the angels to Abraham's arms, and the rich man also died and was buried. And in 28 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:53,720 Hades he raised his eyes, being in torment, and he saw Abraham far away in Lazarus in 29 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:59,480 his arms, and he cried out and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, 30 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:04,560 so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in 31 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:10,200 agony in this flame. But Abraham said, child, remember that during your life you received 32 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:15,160 your good things and likewise Lazarus' bad things, but now he is being comforted here 33 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:20,920 and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been 34 00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:26,000 set so that those who want to go over from here to you will not be able, nor will any 35 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:31,200 people cross over from there to us. And he said, then I request of you, Father, that 36 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:35,880 you send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers in order that he may warn 37 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:41,320 them so they will not come to this place of torment as well. But Abraham said, they have 38 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:45,640 not heard Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. But he said, no, Father Abraham, 39 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:50,640 but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. But he said back to him, 40 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:55,080 if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone 41 00:03:55,080 --> 00:04:02,440 rises from the dead. Man, what a powerful story, text that Jesus gives us today. And 42 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:07,840 what we want to do is pray that we will get a sense of exactly what it means, how it impacts 43 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:14,720 us and how it impacts the way we look at the afterlife. Father, in Jesus' name, for your 44 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:21,800 illumination of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we pray. Father, I desperately ask you today 45 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,640 that if there are those in this room that have never given their lives to Jesus Christ, 46 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:32,840 that they, because of this topic, will seriously consider taking that step of faith in you, 47 00:04:32,840 --> 00:04:38,040 Lord Jesus, today, now. Father, I pray that no one would leave this room today without 48 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:42,720 knowing exactly where they will spend eternity. Father, I pray all of them would choose to 49 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:47,560 spend eternity with you. I ask this in Jesus' name and all God's people said amen. Please 50 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:58,120 be seated if you would. A recent article in National Geographic had the headline, hell 51 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:04,480 isn't as popular as it used to be. Not that it ever was. But the article really alludes 52 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:09,480 to the fact that less and less people believe that hell is real. And some of the stats they 53 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:13,200 gave were over the last 20 years the number of Americans who believe in the fiery down 54 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:20,200 under has dropped from 71% to 58%. Heaven fares much better and among Christians it's 55 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:26,400 almost a universally accepted concept. So most people believe in heaven, but fewer and 56 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:33,360 fewer people believe in hell. By the way, that same survey said that 91% of those surveyed 57 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:37,440 said they were going to heaven, beyond doubt. They knew they were going to heaven. And this 58 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:43,040 was not a survey of religious people or people that acknowledge Christianity or not, just 59 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:48,680 a general survey. And 91% of all those people said, pretty sure I'm going to heaven. Not 60 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:55,000 really sure that hell even exists. One of the reasons there's an eroding belief in the 61 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:59,720 subject of hell is because how we view God is different than it used to be. We really 62 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:04,120 live in an age where we want permission to do whatever we want without anybody calling 63 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:08,680 us into account. And we certainly don't want you calling me into account and we don't want 64 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:13,080 God calling me into account. We don't want anybody to look at our lives. We don't want 65 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:18,480 anybody to hold us accountable. We don't like revenge and we do not like to be punished 66 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:23,840 for things that we do wrong. In fact, we prefer to say that we don't do things wrong. We just 67 00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:30,360 make mistakes. That's the world we live in. As a matter of fact, more and more people 68 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:36,120 have this view of God that God only has one side to him and it's the loving side. That's 69 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:41,280 why people say today, and many do say, my God would never send a person to hell. My 70 00:06:41,280 --> 00:06:47,120 God would never do that. And the moment you make a statement like that, you say that you've 71 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:55,120 created a God that won't do what he said he will do. That's why I call this having the 72 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:59,760 wrong kind of God. You have a God of your own creation. You have a God that you made 73 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:04,960 up and not the God that scripture reveals to be who he is. Now when you walk through 74 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:10,600 the scripture, you find God revealing himself in so many different ways. And it's true that 75 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:15,680 God is a God of love. Aren't you glad for the loving kindness of God? Somebody say amen, 76 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:21,720 no mercy. I am so glad that God loves us with an everlasting love. So glad that God chases 77 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:27,280 us down until we're found. So glad for Luke chapter 15 that talks about the lost coin, 78 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:32,120 lost sheep, lost son. And in each case, the point of the parable is there's a loving father 79 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:37,760 that's going to find the lost. I love that concept of God, especially since I'm a sinner 80 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:43,920 and I need to have a loving God. But the same God the Bible said who is loving, the Bible 81 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:54,240 also says is a just judge. And that he will take revenge on wickedness and unbelief. Same 82 00:07:54,240 --> 00:08:00,360 God. And since God is both loving and just, then the afterlife that God has created has 83 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:06,240 both a loving side and a just side. That's why we say there's a heaven and a hell. The 84 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:11,840 heaven is where God gathers all those that have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ 85 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:17,680 as Lord and Savior to this place of eternal love and eternal glory of God. And that's 86 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:23,920 why those that have not accepted Christ are going to another place that we know as hell. 87 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:30,200 So there's a place of great love and also a place of great condemnation and great punishment 88 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:37,440 that is only just. God reveals himself to be both loving and just. And so the afterlife 89 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:43,080 has to be the same way. If God is God, he must be a God of love. And if God is God, 90 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:49,280 he must be a God of justice, otherwise there would be no justice on the face of the earth. 91 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:54,720 So we worship this God. Not a God of our own imagination, but a God revealed in the scripture 92 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:59,480 in this way. And so when we talk about eternal life and the afterlife, we talk about heaven 93 00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:04,680 and we talk about hell. And yet the doctrine of hell is the most offensive doctrine of 94 00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:10,160 Christianity. Those who do not know Christ, who have not read the Bible, hear about the 95 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:15,120 doctrine of hell and they go, oh man, whatever religion believes in hell, I don't want to 96 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:19,600 be a part of that. And some even go so far as saying, any God that were determined that 97 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:26,080 there is a hell, I don't want to worship that God. That's where people are today. So today 98 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:30,840 in our tough question series, our Dear God series, this question comes up, would a loving 99 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:35,680 God send people to hell? I want to share a couple of things out of this text that will 100 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:40,840 help us answer that question and also answer other questions about this subject. First 101 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:46,400 of all, I want to answer the question, what does God say about hell? Really in a final 102 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:50,280 analysis, it doesn't matter what I say. It doesn't matter what you say about hell. It 103 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:55,600 matters what God says about hell, right? Now there are three things this text says that 104 00:09:55,600 --> 00:10:01,600 God says about hell. Three things that Jesus gives us in this text that help us understand 105 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:07,960 this. And keep in mind that hell is not some place or some figment of an imagination that 106 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:13,880 some religion has thought up. We're hearing this literally from the words of Jesus Christ. 107 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:18,640 The one we know as God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, the one who so loved the world that 108 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:22,600 He gave His only begotten Son, the one that we look at when we want to know how do you 109 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:26,880 love one another? We want to know how do we love each other? We want to know where is 110 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:31,480 love best exemplified? We look at the person of Jesus. That Jesus is going to tell us about 111 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:37,600 hell today. He's going to reveal things about the afterlife that we need to know. Now let 112 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:42,600 me talk about this text for just a few moments. Why do I say this text is not a parable? There 113 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:49,600 are so many parables in the Bible. Jesus used parables to teach truths. And every one of 114 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:54,640 those parables that He uses to teach truths are parables that have to do with living in 115 00:10:54,640 --> 00:11:01,640 the here and now. He gives an analogy and He says, so it is that you should do this 116 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:06,680 after you've heard that, right? So we have these stories that Jesus tells us that are 117 00:11:06,680 --> 00:11:11,840 parables but this is not a parable. A parable has one point and all the details are just 118 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:15,640 contributing to that one point. And many are the parables of scripture. We walk through 119 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:20,640 them often. But there are some reasons we know this text is not a parable. Number one, 120 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:26,200 it's not a parable because it doesn't say it's a parable. Usually Jesus acknowledges 121 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:30,080 the fact that He's about to tell a story, about to tell a parable that we can learn 122 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:35,640 from. Secondly, we know this is not a parable because it has an actual name in it. No other 123 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:41,040 parable has an actual name. But here we have an actual person whose name is Lazarus being 124 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:46,880 identified. We have a wrist man and we have Lazarus. Very specific. The third reason we 125 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:52,440 know this is not a parable is because there's no earthly metaphor. In other words, there's 126 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:58,000 nothing we can look at this parable that teaches us something about life and then go apply 127 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:04,680 it. It is about the afterlife, not the here and now. So Jesus is not giving us a little 128 00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:08,880 story about which we might walk a little closer to Him. He's not giving us a story so we can 129 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:14,200 understand some spiritual truth a little bit better. He's telling it like it is as to what 130 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:21,200 hell is like. And it's going to affect us profoundly if we embrace what He says. So what 131 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:28,280 does that God say about hell? First of all, it says that it's one of two destinations 132 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:34,040 in the afterlife. Most of us know this. In verse 22, the story unfolds with, now it happened 133 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:39,560 that the poor man died. So death begins the afterlife. He died and was carried away by 134 00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:46,160 the angels to Abraham's arms, and the rich man also died and was buried. So Jesus begins 135 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:53,760 the story pulling back the curtain of the afterlife in hell and says, so death is what 136 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:59,080 begins this journey. By the way, as Jesus tells us the story, He makes it very plain 137 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:05,440 that death is not soul sleep. You don't just die and stay asleep as your soul until some 138 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:10,480 event later on down the road. It also does not say that death just begins a period where 139 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:16,280 you just rot, you just become annihilated. There's nothing else about you, nothing else 140 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:23,180 about your life in the future. It's not just you in a grave once you die. It also teaches 141 00:13:23,180 --> 00:13:29,040 us that death is not about reincarnation. It's not this idea that when one dies and 142 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:34,040 according to how they live, they'll be reincarnated in a different kind of creature. Sometimes 143 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:38,760 those who teach reincarnation say, you'll come back as somebody else later on down the 144 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:44,560 road. And if you've lived a poor life, you're going to come back as something else down 145 00:13:44,560 --> 00:13:49,840 the road. And they actually teach something like this, that if you live life like a dog, 146 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:56,640 you're coming back as a dog. Sparky, you're coming back as a dog. Now I want to think 147 00:13:56,640 --> 00:14:00,160 about that for just a few moments because I can think of a lot of instances where I 148 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:03,280 didn't live the way I should have lived, but man, I don't want to come back as a dog or 149 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:08,860 anything else. That's what reincarnation teaches. But Jesus teaches us something radically 150 00:14:08,860 --> 00:14:14,880 different. From the moment of death, you move into your afterlife. And the Bible teaches 151 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:19,820 that the greatest existence we will ever know in terms of time and significance is the 152 00:14:19,820 --> 00:14:26,240 afterlife. In other words, a bigger part of your life will be spent in eternity than it 153 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:33,660 is on earth. And as beautiful as you have seen things on earth, as great as your life 154 00:14:33,660 --> 00:14:37,860 may be on earth, it is so much more greater in the afterlife in heaven that you can't 155 00:14:37,860 --> 00:14:44,360 even imagine it. And as bad of a painful existence that you may have had, as many disappointments 156 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:51,000 as you might have had, in hell there's no way to compare the worst of life on earth 157 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:56,680 with eternal suffering and eternal torment in hell. So the greatest life that you will 158 00:14:56,680 --> 00:15:05,520 have or the worst and the longest life you'll have is in eternity. Now the idea that that's 159 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:09,200 going to be longer than what our life is on earth is kind of a shock for some of us because 160 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:13,620 all we know is here and now. And we say, well man, I'm right here and now and I'm not thinking 161 00:15:13,620 --> 00:15:18,040 about eternity yet. Some years ago a book was written called Whatever Happened to Hell. 162 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:22,680 It was an appropriate book because it questioned why we don't teach about hell. And then not 163 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:27,580 long after that, Dave Hunt, another great Christian author wrote the book Whatever Happened 164 00:15:27,580 --> 00:15:32,200 to Heaven because we don't talk much about heaven. And in his book he says the reason 165 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:37,160 we don't talk much about heaven is because we so emphasize life right in front of us 166 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:41,600 that we forget that the greatest life that we will ever have is life beyond the grave. 167 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:46,040 So let me just say something to you today. If you're a little worried about death and 168 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:50,560 what that means for you, if you are in Jesus Christ, then when death happens you are about 169 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:56,440 to embark on the greatest adventure you can imagine. You are about to get to a place that 170 00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:00,440 you never could have envisioned that you'll be face to face with Jesus Christ and you'll 171 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:04,880 see the glories of a new heaven and a new earth. You'll have incredible love like you've 172 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:10,040 never experienced before. If you are closing in on death, you're closing in on the greatest 173 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:16,120 experience of your lifetime. And at the same time, let me say to those of you that do not 174 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:21,400 have Christ, if you do not have Christ and you're getting close to death, you're about 175 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:27,640 to have the worst experience imaginable apart from God forever and ever in a place called 176 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:34,320 hell. That's why I want you to hear what I say so clearly today. And I will plead with 177 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:39,840 you to believe the words of Jesus about heaven and hell. I will plead with you not to listen 178 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:43,680 to everyone that's trying to write off the afterlife, that's trying to make you believe 179 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:48,000 that you'll have some reincarnated experience, that will try to help you think that you'll 180 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:52,160 just be asleep in that casket forever and ever and ever. Let me just tell you, Jesus 181 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:59,160 knows life, Jesus knows death, and he's going to tell us about life and death today. But 182 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:05,600 first of all, this story in Jesus teaches us that hell is one of two destinations in 183 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:12,600 the afterlife. Secondly, it is a place of torment and pain. Look at verse 23 and 24. 184 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:18,720 And in Hades, he raised up his eyes being in torment and he said, have mercy on me for 185 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:25,720 I am in agony in this flame. Now let me just give you some phrases that you find in various 186 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:31,160 parts of scripture. By the way, scripture is without contradiction when it comes to hell. 187 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:37,120 Every reference to hell lines up with every other reference to hell in the Bible. There's 188 00:17:37,120 --> 00:17:41,920 nothing controversial about what this existence will be like. No one questions that the Bible 189 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:46,320 has a message about hell and what that message is. It's very plain. And let me summarize 190 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:53,320 it for you. First of all, scripture calls hell a place of burning flames. It is a place 191 00:17:53,320 --> 00:18:00,320 of darkness, Matthew 22. It's a place of great grief. It's a place of horror. It's nearly 192 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:13,080 unimaginable the degree that we will face all those things in a place called hell. It's 193 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:21,280 a place where there is no hope of ever seeing the light of God again. It's dark not just 194 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:26,280 now, but dark forever and ever and ever. It's torment not just now, but tormenting forever 195 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:33,280 and ever. It's burning not just now, but burning forever and ever and ever. Some years ago, 196 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:38,280 as you know, the World Trade Tower was under attack by religious terrorists. And as you 197 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:43,280 might remember, both those towers burned to the ground. Probably the most vivid memory 198 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:50,280 that I have of that shocking attack on US soil was seeing the individuals on the 100th 199 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:57,280 floor, 115th floor, climbing over a balcony, the flames coming at them, the pain already 200 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:04,240 happening on their bodies. And they'd leaped from all those stories up to their certain 201 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:10,040 death just to escape the flames, the pain of being burned. I mean, I can't get that 202 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:16,160 out of my mind. And when I try to put that into this story that Jesus told, I can't imagine 203 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:22,320 being in a body that is not consumed, that never escapes the torment, that can never 204 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:27,160 find a window to jump out of, a door to run away from, it can never be out of the flames 205 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:33,040 once it's in. That kind of torment is happening. It's a place of solitary suffering where God 206 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:39,740 has no part of and is not going to be in in order to rescue. It's a place of regret, having 207 00:19:39,740 --> 00:19:46,560 rejected God and the open door of heaven. Now why do you think Jesus tells such a comprehensive 208 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:53,320 story with all of these details? And the only conclusion I can have is that He wants us 209 00:19:53,320 --> 00:20:00,320 to know. He wants us to know. He doesn't want you to be blindsided by someone who died 210 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:06,120 to hell, even though they have no qualification, they've not been anywhere in the afterlife, 211 00:20:06,120 --> 00:20:11,800 they can't come back and speak authoritatively in any way. They just fight against the idea 212 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:17,840 of hell. Jesus doesn't want us to be confused by that. He doesn't want us to be confused 213 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:23,120 by our own desires, which of course we don't really want to see anyone suffer ever, and 214 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:28,920 so He doesn't want us to be swayed by our emotions or our feelings that might be motivated 215 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:32,880 by people we know who may end up in hell, and we just can't imagine that, handle that, 216 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:37,800 don't want to talk about that. Jesus gives all these details so that we will know clearly 217 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:44,240 what He is saying about the afterlife. We read this story and you'll find there's no 218 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:51,240 water in heaven, I mean in hell, there's no water in hell. No comfort in hell. No company 219 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:58,960 in hell. No complaining in hell. No escape in hell. No silence in hell. No chance to 220 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:05,960 repent in hell. No hope in hell. No mercy in hell. No savior in hell. Jesus wants us 221 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:15,640 to walk away from this story with no question that this is a place of torment. It's not 222 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:20,520 a place where people go to party. It's not a place where people go to get their own way. 223 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:25,480 It's a place where people who have had their own way get to go to have their own way, separated 224 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:32,480 from God forever and ever and ever in this place called hell. We don't really struggle 225 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:38,160 with who is in hell in this story because when you look at the characters in this story 226 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:43,080 intuitively, we almost realize that justice and vengeance must be served in some way. 227 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:49,600 There's a rich man that's in this place called Hades or hell, ignored the poor and sick man 228 00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:55,160 who longed to eat the scraps off his table. So this guy is insensitive, he's not helping 229 00:21:55,160 --> 00:22:00,240 at all, he's not a good character and we don't really struggle too much with the fact that 230 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:07,040 that guy is in hell. We understand when murderous terrorists end up in hell. We understand when 231 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:12,940 the hardened rapists and murderers of our time end up in hell. We even have a way to 232 00:22:12,940 --> 00:22:17,360 express this. When we see some awful thing happen, most of us have said at one point 233 00:22:17,360 --> 00:22:20,880 or another in our life, there's got to be a special place in hell for something like 234 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:27,880 that. Be honest with me, how many of you ever said that? I don't think we say that out 235 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:36,140 of spite, I think we say that out of wondering what is to come of people who create these 236 00:22:36,140 --> 00:22:42,760 awful things. And there's a sense of justice inside of each of us. Randy Alcorn made this 237 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:47,480 statement, he said, hell is not pleasant, appealing or encouraging, but neither is it 238 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:54,280 evil. Rather, if it is a place where evil is judged, indeed, if being sentenced to hell 239 00:22:54,280 --> 00:23:01,280 is just punishment, then the absence of hell would be evil. If God had not created hell, 240 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:07,760 where would the punishment and the justice take place for those that have done the worst 241 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:12,720 of worst things and ignored God and rejected God to the nth degree, where would justice 242 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:18,520 ever have been served? Often we don't see it served in our justice system on this planet. 243 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:22,800 Often we don't see it after war, horrible crimes that take place in war. Often we don't 244 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:28,120 see it in the hidden recesses of life where someone does something almost unspeakable 245 00:23:28,120 --> 00:23:32,320 and no one ever finds out about it. Where's justice? Where's justice? Well, hell is a 246 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:39,320 place of justice and that's why hell is not evil, it deals with evil. That's what Jesus 247 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:46,320 deserves. What else do those deserve who create the mass surfing on the planet due to those 248 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:54,480 incredibly wicked choices? Then we have the question of Satan and all the demons. I guess 249 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:57,960 most of us in the room know that Satan is not one of the good guys, right? We know that 250 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:04,960 he's not. And yet sometimes when an artist will depict hell, they'll have this smiling 251 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:11,960 red creature with horns and a tail perhaps and a pitchfork, you know, and he's kind of 252 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:16,160 the head of hell, right? He and his demons kind of are the doorkeepers there and you 253 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:20,720 come into hell and he talks to you and sends you to different places in hell. That's the 254 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:26,640 cartoon configuration of hell. But did you know that hell was created originally for 255 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:33,640 the sole purpose of punishing Satan himself and all of his demons? That one that rebelled 256 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:39,560 against God in heaven and came down to wreak havoc on the earth, that's the place he'll 257 00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:43,880 be punished forever and ever and ever. Read the book of Revelation, it's a great read 258 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:50,040 and it reminds you that God will at one point exact vengeance on Satan himself. Though Satan 259 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:54,880 does not rule hell, he doesn't leave his demons in tormenting or in partying with the people 260 00:24:54,880 --> 00:25:01,880 that are banished there. Rather the eternal fire is awaiting Satan. It was the place originally 261 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:08,880 created to punish him and his demons. Mankind only chooses to go there. The place of torment 262 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:20,200 and pain. Thirdly, Luke 16 says it's a place of no return. No return. In verse 26 we read 263 00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:27,680 a great chasm has been set so that those who want to go over from here to you will not 264 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:34,680 be able nor will any people cross over from there to us. You can't go, they can't come. 265 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:42,240 Once death happens to a non-believing person there's no recourse. Once the person dies, 266 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:48,160 they have lived out their opportunity to choose Christ or not and they are immediately sent 267 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:53,640 to eternity and once in hell they are banished to that place of no hope, no return, no turning 268 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:58,800 back eternally, forever and ever and ever and ever. There's no turning back, there's 269 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:02,960 no rescue, there's no hope of future change, no group's going to get together and bust 270 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:09,960 into hell to get you out. It's forever. So God says hell is those things. God does speak 271 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:18,720 about hell and tells us about hell. But I want to get to another question today that 272 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:23,480 I think is one of the most encouraging questions I could possibly bring today and that is what 273 00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:30,480 does hell say about God? What does hell say about God? Now we know that hell is not actively 274 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:35,960 speaking but the fact that there is a hell says something to us about God that we need 275 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:39,900 to know. Now those that don't know God, that don't know the scripture and that don't know 276 00:26:39,900 --> 00:26:45,920 hell will often say, well hell only says bad things about God because I mean if God is 277 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:50,400 good why would he create something that's so bad and so awful and so painful? But hell 278 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:56,120 says some amazing things about God that you need to know today. First of all it says that 279 00:26:56,120 --> 00:27:02,560 God is a generous God who allows us to choose our destination. Does you know that not one 280 00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:09,560 person in this room will go to hell unless they have exercised a choice to not go with 281 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:16,920 Jesus? It's an amazing thing that we have a God who says I'm going to create an afterlife 282 00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:22,000 but I'm going to tell everybody what it's like and I'm going to give everyone that wants 283 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:27,680 eternal life with me in heaven an opportunity to come to faith in me and they will live 284 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:32,960 forever and ever in heaven with me. God is a generous God who allows us to choose our 285 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:37,800 destination. Now I know it's a big leap to talk about hell and the generosity of God 286 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:43,520 at the same time in one sentence but it's true. Now we may be troubled by the fact that 287 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:48,360 there will be some good people who simply do not believe in Jesus Christ who will be 288 00:27:48,360 --> 00:27:53,080 in hell and we're not as troubled by the fact that hardened criminals will be there but 289 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:58,040 we're bothered sometimes by wondering how can God allow someone to go to this place 290 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:03,720 who simply doesn't believe and the answer to how God could do that is in one word choice. 291 00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:10,720 They choose to accept Christ or not. Now think with me through that. The pursuit of all humanity 292 00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:17,720 today is choice. I want to choose what I get to do. I want to choose how I get to live. 293 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:26,800 I want to choose who I'm going to believe in. I'm going to choose what to do with my 294 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:31,800 body. I'm going to choose what to do with my sexual desires. I'm going to choose what 295 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:38,800 you call me. I'm going to choose my future. And the interesting thing is God allows us 296 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:44,080 to make those choices in life but one of those choices we make in life is the choice of whether 297 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:49,400 to go to heaven or go to hell based on either choosing to follow Jesus or choosing to go 298 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:56,160 our own way. The generosity of God is that you have a choice about how you're going to 299 00:28:56,160 --> 00:29:02,920 spend your life. We cannot say that God sends people to hell. He gives people the choice 300 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:09,920 to be saved or not saved. He's generous with his freedom. You say, well, can you prove 301 00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:15,840 that? And I can prove it from Genesis to Revelation. You remember in the Garden of Eden where Adam 302 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:19,040 and Eve were given a choice about the one tree of the garden they were not supposed 303 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:25,480 to eat of and they chose sin. In the middle of the Old Testament the people of God led 304 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:30,560 by Joshua were given a choice. Even though they were the people of God, Joshua said, 305 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:34,760 choose you this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. 306 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:40,720 And it's served at a key moment in Israel's history. You choose who you're going to follow. 307 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:47,720 You get to choose who you'll follow. You just can't choose the consequences. What about 308 00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:55,040 all the others who've made choices to follow Jesus or not? Jesus made it abundantly clear 309 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:59,760 that whoever chooses to believe in him will escape perishing in hell. John 3.16, for God 310 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:04,640 so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him, that word 311 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:10,280 needs to be underscored. Whoever believes in him should not perish, that is not face 312 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:17,280 torment in hell, but have eternal life. That is eternal life with God in heaven. The choice, 313 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:22,920 the choice that we have in our lives is one way or the other. Jesus constantly offered 314 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:26,880 an open door to heaven. And a choice means you're at a fork in the road. You're going 315 00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:32,120 to go one way or the other. You get to choose heaven or hell, Jesus or not, but you can't 316 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:39,120 choose the destination after that choice. It goes to where it goes without Christ. We 317 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:42,800 either make the choice to follow Jesus who is the way, the truth, and the life, or we 318 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:47,880 argue that he has the wrong idea about eternity and therefore we want nothing to do with him. 319 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:53,080 And that's what's happening in our culture today. C.S. Lewis, writing decades ago, argued 320 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:57,640 that hell is for those who have said to God, I don't want you in my life. I just don't 321 00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:02,680 want you here. I don't want you telling me how to live. I don't want your rules. I don't 322 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:08,280 want anything you say for me to do. I want to live life my way. And he goes on and says 323 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:14,760 this, he says, what are you asking God to do? Leave you alone? Alas, I'm afraid that's 324 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:21,760 exactly what he does. Hell is the place where you've been left alone by God forever and 325 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:27,720 ever and ever. That's why it's dark. There's no light. There's no way to get out. And God 326 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:33,320 does not predetermine your response. You have not been predestined to hell from the moment 327 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:38,800 you've been born. That's why we preach the gospel so that everybody in every part of 328 00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:44,720 the planet can hear that Jesus Christ offers them life. G.K. Chesterton, a great guy to 329 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:50,600 quote, said God's great compliment to the reality of human freedom and dignity of human 330 00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:57,600 choice is hell. He's generous to your last choice. Look at me today. The choice you make 331 00:32:01,760 --> 00:32:07,640 will determine heaven or hell for you. The choice you make. Not the choice your parents 332 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:11,160 make for you. Not the choice your friends make for you. Not the choice somebody down 333 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:15,560 the road makes for you. Nobody makes this choice for you but you. The choice you make 334 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:20,360 determines your future. God is a generous God. God is also a patient God who allows 335 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:27,360 us an entire lifetime to decide. Now think about this with me. He's so patient. He doesn't 336 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:32,960 put a deadline on it before death. As long as you're alive you have an opportunity to 337 00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:38,000 turn to Christ. And he reserves final judgment to the very end. Only after a lifetime of 338 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:44,840 living and a lifetime of opportunity to become aware that God brings judgment at some point, 339 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:50,800 do you die and do you face the consequences? He's patient. All the way through the Bible 340 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:55,240 you read this and you hear about this. Remember Noah and the ark. Noah's built in the ark 341 00:32:55,240 --> 00:32:59,680 for 120 years. The Bible says he preached righteousness the whole time. Preaching that 342 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:04,320 God's judgment would come at some point and not one person listened to him except the 343 00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:10,040 ones that went with Noah in the ark. Peter writing about this years later said these 344 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:15,520 words when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah. The implication was that 345 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:20,560 God was just waiting for someone to make the choice of turning to him, of repenting from 346 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:27,560 sin and they didn't. The thieves on the cross, remember those thieves on those two crosses 347 00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:33,280 who were crucified next to Jesus? They're a great illustration of coming to the end 348 00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:37,840 of their life. They knew they were dying. They knew they were not long going to be dead 349 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:43,440 in a tomb somewhere and yet one of them chose to mock Jesus on the cross. The other one 350 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:47,560 said Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom. Remember what Jesus said to him, 351 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:51,960 today you shall be with me in paradise. You made the choice to trust me and I'm going 352 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:58,960 to take you to paradise with me. If you're talking about the end times, in second Peter 353 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:03,760 referring to the coming of the Lord said the Lord is not slow about his promise, as some 354 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:09,440 counts lowness, but is patient towards you, there's that word again. Not wishing for any 355 00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:16,440 to perish but for all to come to repentance. If you have not put your faith in God yet, 356 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:22,500 if you've not trusted Christ for salvation yet, let me tell you the patience of God allows 357 00:34:22,500 --> 00:34:26,200 you to be here today alive and breathing and understanding these words and knowing that 358 00:34:26,200 --> 00:34:33,200 you have a choice in front of you to trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Finally, 359 00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:40,200 God is a merciful God who allows us to warn others. That's what hell says about God. He's 360 00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:47,240 a merciful God. He is all those things we've said, he is a generous God. He's a patient 361 00:34:47,240 --> 00:34:51,280 God. He's a merciful God who allows us to warn others. Interestingly, Jesus allows the 362 00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:58,280 rich man in hell to talk, to converse and here's what he says. It's intriguing to watch as 363 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:03,160 you read this story and look at this conversation. The rich man doesn't say let me out of here 364 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:08,440 with his few words. He doesn't say why am I here? He seems to grasp the reason that 365 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:13,440 he is in hell. He's aware of where he is, why he's there. He's aware that it's irreversible. 366 00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:20,440 Instead, he says that please warn others. Warn my brothers. What an interesting line. 367 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:27,640 Verse 28, then I request that you send him to my father's house for I have five brothers 368 00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:32,160 in order that they may warn them that they will not come to this place of torment as 369 00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:35,880 well. In other words, there's a way out of this hell and I didn't take it and I want 370 00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:42,880 you to tell my five brothers there is a way out. They don't have to come here. Now what 371 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:49,880 does this story say about the mercy of God? Keep in mind Luke 16 comes after Luke 15. 372 00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:54,520 You remember what's in Luke 15? The parable of the lost coin, the parable of the lost 373 00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:58,800 sheep, the parable of the lost son. And every one of those parables depicts this loving 374 00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:05,040 merciful God who's doing everything necessary to find the lost. That is the sole point of 375 00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:11,480 those three parables. So on that foundation, looking at the subject of hell, this idea 376 00:36:11,480 --> 00:36:17,040 of being able to warn other people is an indicator of this merciful God. Jesus is giving us a 377 00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:22,360 great and merciful opportunities to help others avoid this place called hell. The story is 378 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:27,880 included in scripture that remind us of the reality of hell and the opportunity to avoid 379 00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:32,560 it. The doctrine of hell should motivate us the way it did this rich man. Somebody warn 380 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:39,560 those I love. Somebody warn those people. And maybe it should say, I should warn those 381 00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:46,800 people. Warning people of the existence is not enough of course. You must also tell them 382 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:53,840 the way of escape. I mean I'm stunned by the fact that today the enemy has had such a field 383 00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:58,160 day and creating so much confusion about how to get to heaven. Today many people think 384 00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:02,880 there are many paths to heaven. Right? That's what our culture would say. That's what world 385 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:09,680 religions would say. Everything except Christianity says there are many, many ways to God until 386 00:37:09,680 --> 00:37:16,680 you just go any way you want. The scripture points very plainly there's one way. You notice 387 00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:23,280 the very last line of this story, verse 31. But he said to him in response to that request 388 00:37:23,280 --> 00:37:28,520 to warn his brothers, if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets they will not be 389 00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:35,520 persuaded even if someone rises from the dead. Moses pointed to Jesus through the law, through 390 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:42,280 the Passover, through the tabernacle sacrifices, looking ahead to a perfect sacrifice. The 391 00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:46,800 prophets prophesied of Jesus he would come to be born of a virgin, laid in a manger. 392 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:51,480 I mean the message of Moses, the message of the prophets was that there was one way for 393 00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:56,560 a person to be saved and that's through the blood of Jesus Christ. And then think about 394 00:37:56,560 --> 00:38:03,560 the words of Jesus himself. Think about all Jesus said and did about heaven and hell. 395 00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:10,600 Look at me. You cannot possibly with a logical mind read all the words of Jesus in Matthew, 396 00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:17,600 Mark, Luke, and John and think that there's any other way to heaven except through Jesus. 397 00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:22,360 So when someone says to me, oh I think there are many ways to God and I'm not sure Jesus 398 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:28,240 is the only way, I say have you ever read the Bible? Have you ever read the Gospels? 399 00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:31,800 Have you ever read even just one of them? What makes you qualified to say that there 400 00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:38,800 are many ways to God? So there is one way. His name is Jesus and he offers eternal life. 401 00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:45,800 There's a stone that has John 14, 6 engraved on it as you walk in our front door. It's 402 00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:49,160 there for a reason, it's there for all of us. But it's there so that every person that 403 00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:56,160 walks to that front door, should they pause and should they look, read these words. Jesus 404 00:38:56,160 --> 00:39:00,160 said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except 405 00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:07,160 through me. No one except through me. I love the mercy of Jesus Christ. I love the mercy 406 00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:14,160 of God in giving us this witness. And that's what it said to this man in Hades. They have 407 00:39:14,160 --> 00:39:21,160 the witnesses they need. It's important for us to sound the warning to those we know. 408 00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:27,160 Now this is where I began to close the message down to complete it and this is where I began 409 00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:37,160 to plead and beg you, don't leave this room today without Christ. This is when in the 410 00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:42,160 message, I hope, your mind is not wandering, you're not sleeping, you're not thinking 411 00:39:42,160 --> 00:39:46,160 about what's for lunch, you're not worried about who you're going to talk to before 412 00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:52,160 you get out of here. This is the point in the message where I hope and I pray and have 413 00:39:52,160 --> 00:40:02,160 prayed that he would say, I need to do business with God. I need to make sure that my salvation 414 00:40:02,160 --> 00:40:09,160 is secured through Jesus Christ because that other direction is not what I want to go in. 415 00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:13,160 I want to be with Jesus for all time and all eternity. I don't want to be in hell separate 416 00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:17,160 from him for all time and all eternity. I want to make the simple decision of trusting 417 00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:22,160 him to forgive me of my sins and give me the gift of eternal life. I want to, when I come 418 00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:27,160 to that fork in the road, to choose the Jesus side of that fork and not the self side of 419 00:40:27,160 --> 00:40:31,160 that fork or any other religion side of that fork. I want to know there's no question that 420 00:40:31,160 --> 00:40:37,160 I have Christ in my life and I can sleep at night and I can face any trouble or turmoil 421 00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:42,160 or anything unexpected in my life knowing that if I died I would spend eternity with 422 00:40:42,160 --> 00:40:51,160 Jesus in heaven. I want to know that for sure and I want you to know that for sure. 423 00:40:51,160 --> 00:40:57,160 Hell and the doctrine of hell and the story Jesus told about hell is there to help you 424 00:40:57,160 --> 00:41:04,160 take a step away from hell and towards heaven through the one who is away, the truth, and 425 00:41:04,160 --> 00:41:10,160 the life knowing that no man comes to the Father except through him. Choose Christ on 426 00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:16,160 this day. I'm going to close this message with a prayer and then I'm going to dismiss 427 00:41:16,160 --> 00:41:21,160 us. The decision stations are at our back of a room and I want you to stop if you pray 428 00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:24,160 this prayer that I'm going to lead you to pray. It's really amazing how simple it is 429 00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:29,160 to trust Christ for salvation. I know sometimes we build it up in our minds. Don't I have 430 00:41:29,160 --> 00:41:33,160 to change something or don't I have to do something to deserve this and the answer is 431 00:41:33,160 --> 00:41:38,160 no, he did all that was necessary to provide you with this gift of eternal life but you 432 00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:42,160 do have to choose if you're going to follow him. You have to be willing to turn away from 433 00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:47,160 your sins and put your faith and trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior. It's that simple. 434 00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:50,160 It can happen in a moment. It can happen right here in this room today. It can happen in 435 00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:54,160 this prayer that I'm about to lead you in and then as you walk out I invite you to stop 436 00:41:54,160 --> 00:42:00,160 and talk to someone behind that decision station. Tell them today I chose the fork in the road 437 00:42:00,160 --> 00:42:06,160 where Jesus was. I chose him. I also invite you to come to guest reception today. I would 438 00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:11,160 love to talk to you about our church and our message. I also want to invite you to invite 439 00:42:11,160 --> 00:42:15,160 others to come back next week. We're dealing with tough, tough questions that God answers 440 00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:22,160 in the Bible. But in this important moment is the prayer I want to focus on. Would you 441 00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:27,160 bow with me? And today if you've never accepted Christ, you've never made that decision in 442 00:42:27,160 --> 00:42:31,160 your life and you're at that fork in the road, I want you to take a step towards Jesus and 443 00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:36,160 I want you to pray with me inviting him to be the Lord and Savior of your life. I'm going 444 00:42:36,160 --> 00:42:41,160 to pray a phrase at a time and I want you just to simply call out to him. It doesn't 445 00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:46,160 have to be out loud. You can whisper to him. You can just acknowledge this prayer in your 446 00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:50,160 heart. But it's so important that you tell somebody that you've done that and we can 447 00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:56,160 help you with next steps. Here's the prayer and you can say it with me. Just repeat this 448 00:42:56,160 --> 00:43:05,160 to him. Dear Heavenly Father, today I know that Jesus is the only way. And today I make 449 00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:16,160 this choice to trust Jesus for my eternity. Today forgive me of all my sins. Today give 450 00:43:16,160 --> 00:43:27,160 me the gift of eternal life. Today I choose to follow you and believe you. And today I 451 00:43:27,160 --> 00:43:37,160 ask you to lead me to a different life. Thank you so much for the promise you make in Scripture. 452 00:43:37,160 --> 00:43:45,160 I now turn from the old way of life I was living and I choose to follow you. Thank you 453 00:43:45,160 --> 00:43:53,160 for the promise of eternal life. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.