I want to invite you, if you can, join me in
the Word of the Lord, Book of Luke, Chapter 16.
Book of Luke, Chapter 16, and Verse 19. Amen.
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