BULLETIN STUDY QUESTIONS:
1. What are some of the big questions you hear people asking that are barriers between them and God?
2. What are the 3 A’s of money?
3. List some “God-incidences” or “divine appointments” you’ve had lately? What helps/hinders your seeing these?
4. List some of the characteristics of Hell and Heaven mentioned today.
5. Randy Alcorn makes a biblical case in Heaven (book) that it is a continuation & expansion of earth only without S___ & D______. List some supporting evidence. Are you convinced?
6. List the miracles in the Bible that had a LASTING effect on people.
7. How do Eph 4:8-9; I Pet 3:19 show Hell will be even worse?
I. Intro Three big questions that come from non-Christians to argue against Christianity: “Why do bad things happen to good people, and vice versa; How could a good God condone and command all the violence in the OT; and How could a loving God send people to Hell?” I will conclusively answer all 3 today…then pull a rabbit out of my hat and make the Statue of Liberty appear on stage. I’m kidding about almost all of this, except the part about Hell. The Bible will answer some key questions about Hell, that subject no one likes to talk about…or do we?
A. I saw a survey listing the most commonly used swear words. The number one was “Jesus Christ.” Not far behind was “Hell.” The word voted most annoying was “whatever.”
B. Other than using it as a swear word, no one wants to think about, talk about, or take Hell seriously. People joke that they want to go there because all their friends will be there. You’ll see some fatal flaws in that logic.
II. (Luke 16).
A. Note the context of this chapter is money: our attitude, action and how we acquire it (3 As). In the first parable Jesus is saying “use worldly wealth, money, for kingdom goals/ends (v 9).
B. (vs. 19-21) The rich man “who was dressed.” He was used to having others do for him, even dress him, bossing people around. The poor beggar was also used to having things done for him, but for very different reasons.
C. The rich man was dressed in fine clothes. The poor man was carried and deposited by the rich man’s gate to beg. He got the crumbs from the rich man’s table. In ancient times they’d wipe their hands on bread and throw it out. This is what the beggar got. So the rich man wasn’t necessarily mean, he just was into himself.
D. Maybe the beggar was placed delicately there by friends who loved him. Maybe he was callously dumped there by others who wanted him someplace else (out of sight…).
E. Regardless there is this divine appointment between Lazarus and the rich man. No one comes into our lives by accident. If we could only remember that. I believe we should change two words in our vocabulary as Christ-followers: the word “coincidence” and the word “interruption.” Change coincidence to “God-incidence,” and change “interruption” to “divine appointment.” What differences would that make in your life?
III. (vs 22-24). These men had very unequal lives on earth. “The beggar died.” DL Moody said they’d etch that verse on his tombstone because he had no problem asking people for money for Christ’s causes.
A. Death changes things. Formerly this poor beggar is carried by whomever. Now he’s carried by angels. And he has a name. Did you know he’s the only person in all of Jesus’ parables who gets a name? Why do you think that’s true?
B. He is not righteous because he’s poor. The rich man is not evil because he’s rich. Money is neutral in Scripture. The 3 As are what add the moral element to money (I Tim 6:10).
1. Jesus was dealing a death blow here to one of the most common beliefs of His day; that riches were always God’s reward for righteousness. That’s pretty much the prosperity theologian’s doctrine today. Jesus says it’s not true, right here in this parable.
2. Poverty is not a sign of righteousness or wickedness. There are righteous poor, and poor people who are very materialistic and far from God.
3. This man obviously is close to God ONLY through Christ. Though this passage doesn’t say so, there are plenty, which indicate the ONLY way anyone gets to God is through Christ. Angels are travel agents; Jesus is THE ONLY WAY (Jn 14:6).
IV. In Abraham’s bosom, Jewish Paradise, or the place souls went to immediately after death, was Lazarus. The rich man went to Hell where he was in torment. Scholars, theologians and Bible students have debated whether hell will have physical, spiritual or both kinds of pain. Suffice it to say there are indications of both.
A. There’s repeated refs to “fire that never goes out” (Mk 9:43-48). The imagery here is hyperbolic. The saints of old did not believe in self-mutilation to avoid sin. Jesus could have been using fires of hell in a hyperbolic way to indicate the pain involved. But the Bible uses fire to describe Hell several times (Rev 20:15). We should not push the point that Hell’s pain is only symbolic or spiritual.
B. There’s “weeping (Lk 13:28), wailing (meaning to be hurt beyond repair, a soul seeking escape, Mt 13:42 KJV), and gnashing of teeth” (Mt 13:42; Lk 13:28). People would grind their teeth after they were too tired to cry.
C. We can agree Hell is clearly a place of torment.
D. Some of it could be spiritual because it is “utterly dark” (Mt 8:12).
1. Most people hate being in darkness for long periods of time. That will be Hell. Our senses get out of whack in darkness.
2. It’s not hard to stand on one foot for most people. But try it with your eyes closed. I’ll bet hardly anyone here over 35 can do it for more than 15 seconds. Any takers?
3. Most people need to see to get their bearings. BUT if I would have let them feel something solid that would have changed everything. There would have been instant stability and security even in darkness. But what is hell often referred to? A “bottomless pit” (Rev 20:1-2 KJV). Space floating sounds fun till you do it in darkness forever.
V. Note how this rich man is still ordering people around (24, 27). I believe the person we are becoming here throughout our life is largely going to continue after death. This earth truly is preparation time. Heaven is an extension/expansion of earth. Ills. in the Bible.
A. How about (16:10-11)?
B. (I Jn 3:2-3) says we are to be purifying, preparing ourselves now so we can be like Him when we see Him.
C. The world we’ll live in is called the new heavens and new earth (Rev 21:1). That strongly implies Heaven is an extension of this. Read Randy Alcorn’s marvelous book Heaven. He makes a solid biblical case for that, except it will not include sin and death. One of his best arguments is: How can we look forward to something we can’t envision somewhat; and we’re often told to look forward to Heaven.
D. (Mt 25:21, 23, 41) tells that good work done here results in even greater work in Heaven; handling responsibility well here results in greater responsibility in Heaven as a reward, not a punishment. We won’t sit around on clouds strumming chords on harps flapping our wings. Heaven in many ways will be a continuation of what happened here, what preparation/maturing that happened here.
E. CS Lewis has a terrifying thought on that in (Ill.)
F. (2 Cor 4:16; Rom 8:29). What are you becoming?
VI. (vs 25-26) There’s the first uncrossable chasm. There’s another (still ordering poor Lazarus around. Didn’t he realize he was not calling the shots [=Hell?] anymore? vs 27-31) There is also an uncrossable chasm between the world of the dead and the land of the living.
A. We hear of people making trips into Heaven or Hell, and back. Be very cautious and skeptical. OBEs are different.
B. One of the most gripping lessons here is: miracles like this don’t really lead to lasting change. But the Word of God does.
C. My favorite Christian author, Phil Yancey, makes a great case in his articles how miracles seldom produced lasting changes in people. May I give two vivid ills?
1. One: the nation of Israel as it left Egypt. They saw ten miracle plagues, then the parting of the Red Sea to finally deliver them from Pharaoh. How long did it last until they grumbled like jr high boys at the symphony? They wanted to kill Moses and go back to Egypt where they said they had “food without cost” (Num 11:5). Huh! Duh-FREEDOM!
2. Then there was the raising of the other Lazarus (“God the Helper”) from the dead (Jn 11). What effect did that miraculous raising of the dead have on people? It made the religious leaders that opposed Jesus all bow down and worship Him, right? Actually it cemented and unified the warring parties of the Jews to kill Jesus, because he so threatened everything they held dear. Jesus taught God’s ways of grace and love that brought life; they preached legalism that killed the spirit (Jn 11:48).
VII. One of the most awful things about Hell is we will be absolutely convinced we could have escaped it and so now we truly deserve it. (I Pet 3:19; Eph 4:8-9) says the message of Good News Jesus preached in Hell will continue to ring there so that all who go there are fully convinced that a. He provided a way of escape, salvation, and b. we all rejected it. We all chose this place so c. we totally deserve it. That will only add to the torment.
A. Have you rejected His free gift of deliverance from sin and its wrath called Hell? Hell wasn’t made for man (Mt 25:41). God doesn’t send people there, they choose it. CHOOSE LIFE now and forever through Jesus.
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