hellbooklet

Cork Free Presbyterian Church, 10 Briarscourt (Annex) Shanakiel, Cork, Ireland
Pastor: Colin Maxwell. Email: colin.maxwell@fpcmission.org

19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And 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. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. (Luke 16:19-31)

THE MOST SOLEMN WORDS EVER SPOKEN BY THE LORD JESUS

* Contrary to the popular notion which people have, the Lord Jesus is no soft touch. Although the Bible portrays Him as One who is “meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29) and whom many saw as immensely approachable, yet we should not mistaken these wonderful truths as a sign of weakness. The Lord Jesus spoke words which His wicked generation did not want to hear. That is one reason why they crucified Him on the Cross. Yet He never retracted any statement which He made and He has no need to. “Every word of God is pure” (Proverbs 30:5)

* The words which follow were spoken by the Lord Jesus. Now, as then, they do not increase His popularity any. That many churches and religious spokesmen do not believe them does not negate them in any way. These words will be seen to stand and all objections to them will be seen to fall.

* I, for one, am happy to throw in my lot with the Son of God on this issue. Truth does not have to be palatable to be acceptable. Denying a problem does not solve it. It only gives rise to a false and therefore cruel form of security.

* We do not print these words with any sense of glee or pleasure. But print them we must if we would be faithful to Christ.

A FEW NOTES ABOUT THIS ACCOUNT:

* There is no indication that this is a mere parable. Even if it was ... it must teach us something about what happens after the grave. Attempts to explain it away have all proved inadequate.

* Death is not the end. It is only the gateway to the great ETERNITY where the souls of men live on and have a conscious experience, either in Heaven or in Hell.

* The rich man did not go to Hell because he was rich, nor did the poor man go to Heaven because he was poor. Abraham (mentioned in the passage) was a very rich man. The poor man went to Heaven because He had been born again of the Spirit of God (John 3:1-7) The Rich man went to hell because he died in the wretched sin of unbelief (John 3:18-19)

*The Rich man came (albeit too late) to see the necessity of repentance for sin. To repent from sin is to confess, hate and forsake it and to embrace the message and way of salvation as outlined in this gospel booklet.

* It is vain to say “If someone returned and told us it was true, then we would believe” If you do not believe the Bible account of it (as given, for example, in this booklet) then if the Rich Man or even some other person known to you returned, you would still live on in unbelief (v31) The Bible must be believed.

THE END