ONE H*LL OF A PARTY OF ONE
If I were to round up our beloved president’s three favorite topics, it would be drugs, the Catholic clergy, and hell. The last one would find him in the company of our Lord Jesus Christ who talked about hell and its reality more than anyone else in the Bible.
In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus shared a story of a terribly rich man and a terribly poor man living side by side and dying almost at the same time. In the afterlife, the two are still living out their parallelism as the rich man suffers in hell and the poor man is in the company of Father Abraham. And it is here that we see what hell is really like, totally different from what Hollywood has been churning out and lulling us into complacency.
HELL IS REAL.
“In Hades, where he was in torment” v.23
Some people outrightly reject the notion of hell but the fact that Jesus who is Truth Himself (Jn. 14:6) talked about it as-a-matter-of-factly is enough evidence that it is real.
And then there are those who only accept it as an allegorical concept. If such were the case, then Jesus, who is again Truth Himself, would have pointed it out but what He made clear was that this place of “darkness” (Matt. 25:30) is real.
THE SOULS THAT END UP IN HELL ARE ALONE AND CONSCIOUS.
“He looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side” v.23
Some people boast about looking forward to going to hell because they will see their old friends there and have one grand reunion party. But based on this story, the rich man was alone as he did not see anyone with him. All he saw were Abraham and Lazarus from afar, with a great chasm between them. People in hell won’t see their friends there. They won’t see anyone else, not even Satan or the demons except for the worms that do not die (Mark 9:48). Souls in hell do not stop existing; they are conscious and aware of where they are and where they will be alone forever.
THE SOULS SUFFER TREMENDOUSLY.
“So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’” v. 24
Have you ever experienced a heat wave where it seemed like you’re leaking sweat all over and can’t breathe? Have you ever been so thirsty that a cup of lukewarm water tasted like the best refreshment there was? In hell, you will forever be thirsty and hot with no relief and no end in sight. Nothing to quench your thirst. Nothing to cool your soul. Not ever. You will only have the memory of how it felt and tasted like.
And it’s not like you will just be sitting in darkness, thirsty and hot perpetually. You will be in a “blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt. 13:42)
THE SOULS REMEMBER THEIR FORMER LIFE AND HOW THEY REJECTED CHRIST.
“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things….” He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” vv.24-31
The rich man remembered his earthly life but did not feel nostalgic. At the instance that he opened his eyes in hell, he immediately knew how he had wasted his life by rejecting God. He didn’t even argue his case how he wasn’t as bad as some were. He didn’t express hope that the prayers of the loved ones he had left behind would help his situation. He knew hell was his permanent address.
Then he remembered that he had five brothers who also shared the same godless life and will suffer the same fate. He was pained at the thought so much so that he developed an evangelistic heart and became an instant missionary-sender. He understood that hell was not a place for bad people but that it was for those like him and his five brothers---those who rejected Christ. And now he will be in one h*ll of a party for one for all eternity---in torment, in agony, and in constant remembrance of his rejection of Moses and the Prophets.
Sermons based on this parable usually end with a call for repentance for non-believers. But what about us who have accepted the One who rose from the dead and are heaven-bound? I pray that the rich man is not more perspicacious on what we can glean from this parable. But in case you need a nudge, the answer can be found in vv.24-31. Read it and go apply the lesson before it is too late for our loved ones.
If I were to round up our beloved president’s three favorite topics, it would be drugs, the Catholic clergy, and hell. The last one would find him in the company of our Lord Jesus Christ who talked about hell and its reality more than anyone else in the Bible.
In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus shared a story of a terribly rich man and a terribly poor man living side by side and dying almost at the same time. In the afterlife, the two are still living out their parallelism as the rich man suffers in hell and the poor man is in the company of Father Abraham. And it is here that we see what hell is really like, totally different from what Hollywood has been churning out and lulling us into complacency.
HELL IS REAL.
“In Hades, where he was in torment” v.23
Some people outrightly reject the notion of hell but the fact that Jesus who is Truth Himself (Jn. 14:6) talked about it as-a-matter-of-factly is enough evidence that it is real.
And then there are those who only accept it as an allegorical concept. If such were the case, then Jesus, who is again Truth Himself, would have pointed it out but what He made clear was that this place of “darkness” (Matt. 25:30) is real.
THE SOULS THAT END UP IN HELL ARE ALONE AND CONSCIOUS.
“He looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side” v.23
Some people boast about looking forward to going to hell because they will see their old friends there and have one grand reunion party. But based on this story, the rich man was alone as he did not see anyone with him. All he saw were Abraham and Lazarus from afar, with a great chasm between them. People in hell won’t see their friends there. They won’t see anyone else, not even Satan or the demons except for the worms that do not die (Mark 9:48). Souls in hell do not stop existing; they are conscious and aware of where they are and where they will be alone forever.
THE SOULS SUFFER TREMENDOUSLY.
“So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’” v. 24
Have you ever experienced a heat wave where it seemed like you’re leaking sweat all over and can’t breathe? Have you ever been so thirsty that a cup of lukewarm water tasted like the best refreshment there was? In hell, you will forever be thirsty and hot with no relief and no end in sight. Nothing to quench your thirst. Nothing to cool your soul. Not ever. You will only have the memory of how it felt and tasted like.
And it’s not like you will just be sitting in darkness, thirsty and hot perpetually. You will be in a “blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt. 13:42)
THE SOULS REMEMBER THEIR FORMER LIFE AND HOW THEY REJECTED CHRIST.
“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things….” He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” vv.24-31
The rich man remembered his earthly life but did not feel nostalgic. At the instance that he opened his eyes in hell, he immediately knew how he had wasted his life by rejecting God. He didn’t even argue his case how he wasn’t as bad as some were. He didn’t express hope that the prayers of the loved ones he had left behind would help his situation. He knew hell was his permanent address.
Then he remembered that he had five brothers who also shared the same godless life and will suffer the same fate. He was pained at the thought so much so that he developed an evangelistic heart and became an instant missionary-sender. He understood that hell was not a place for bad people but that it was for those like him and his five brothers---those who rejected Christ. And now he will be in one h*ll of a party for one for all eternity---in torment, in agony, and in constant remembrance of his rejection of Moses and the Prophets.
Sermons based on this parable usually end with a call for repentance for non-believers. But what about us who have accepted the One who rose from the dead and are heaven-bound? I pray that the rich man is not more perspicacious on what we can glean from this parable. But in case you need a nudge, the answer can be found in vv.24-31. Read it and go apply the lesson before it is too late for our loved ones.