Mills Memorial Baptist Church
Sunday Morning Worship - 4/19
  • Praise Him Praise Him
  • I Run To Christ
  • There Is a Fountain

      • Luke 16:19-21KJV1900

      • Luke 16:22-23KJV1900

      • Luke 16:24-25KJV1900

      • Luke 16:26-27KJV1900

      • Luke 16:28-30KJV1900

      • Luke 16:31KJV1900

  • Luke 16:19-31
    Last Sunday we began this series by asking, Why did God let it happen?
    We looked at suffering, sorrow, and the struggles that shake the heart.
    This morning we come to another difficult question.
    It is not an easy question.
    It is not a light question.
    It is not a question many christians want to answer.
    But it is an important question.
    Why would a loving God send people to hell?
    There are some subjects people do not mind talking about.
    There are other subjects people would rather avoid.
    Politics and Religion are the big two that most people try to avoid.
    But if they do talk about religion—they certainly don’t want to talk about Hell.
    Some laugh about it.
    Some make jokes about it.
    Some use the word carelessly.
    Some deny it altogether.
    Some treat it as though it were a relic from a harsher age.
    But when we come to the Word of God, we find that hell is not a human invention.
    It is a biblical reality.
    And interestingly enough, the One who spoke of it most clearly was the Lord Jesus Christ.
    That matters.
    The most loving man who ever lived spoke plainly about hell.
    The One who welcomed children, touched lepers, healed the broken, and wept at graves also warned men about eternal judgment.
    That tells us something.
    Jesus did not speak of hell because He was excited about judgment.
    Jesus spoke of hell because He did not want people to go there.
    Luke 16 gives us one of the clearest and sobering pictures in all of Scripture.
    The Lord tells us about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus.
    One dies and is comforted.
    The other dies and is tormented.
    The language is serious.
    If we are going to be faithful to the Lord, we must not skip what He said just because it is difficult to hear.
    If hell is real, then the gospel matters.
    If hell is real, then this next hour matters.
    The great truth of this message is this.
    A loving God does not delight in judgment, but His holiness requires justice, and His love provided a Savior so sinners do not have to perish.

    I. Hell Is Real

    As we begin, we need to start where Jesus starts.
    Before we can understand the justice of hell or the mercy that rescues from it, we need to face the reality that hell is not imaginary.

    A. Jesus Spoke Of It Plainly

    Luke 16 is not vague.
    The rich man dies in verse 22.
    In verse 23 the Bible says, “And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments.”
    Jesus did not speak here as though hell were a symbol only.
    He spoke of a real place with real consequences.
    The rich man was not annihilated.
    He was not unconscious.
    He was not merely inconvenienced.
    He was in torments.
    That is strong language because this is a serious truth.
    Some people say, “I just cannot believe a loving God would speak that way.”
    But the issue is not what we prefer to believe.
    The issue is what the Lord Himself has said.
    And the Lord Jesus Christ, who is truth, spoke of hell as a reality.
    In Matthew 25:46 Jesus spoke of “everlasting punishment.”
    Matthew 25:46 KJV
    46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
    In Mark 9:43…
    Mark 9:43 KJV
    43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
    In Luke 16 He speaks of torment, memory, thirst, separation, and finality.
    We do not do anyone any favors by softening what Jesus spoke about very plainly.
    Not only did Jesus speak of hell plainly, but He also showed that hell is not fictional because the people there are conscious.

    B. Jesus Showed It Personally

    In verse 23 the rich man “lift up his eyes.”
    In verse 24 he cried, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me.”
    In verse 25 Abraham spoke to him and said, “Son, remember.”
    The rich man could see.
    The rich man could cry.
    The rich man could feel.
    The rich man could remember.
    The rich man could think about his brothers.
    This is not the picture of a man who simply ceased to exist.
    This is the picture of a man who is fully conscious of where he is.
    He remembers his life.
    He remembers his privilege.
    He remembers his opportunities.
    He remembers that he has brothers still living.
    One of the sobering truths in this passage is that lost people do not lose awareness in eternity.
    Hell is real not only because Jesus spoke of it plainly and showed it personally, but because Scripture reveals it repeatedly.

    C. Jesus Confirmed What Scripture Reveals

    The Bible does not treat hell as a side note.
    Revelation 20:10 shows Satan cast into the lake of fire.
    Revelation 20:10 KJV
    10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
    2 Thessalonians 1:9 KJV
    9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
    Matthew 13 speaks of a furnace of fire.
    Matthew 25 speaks of everlasting punishment.
    Luke 16 speaks of torment in hell.
    This is not a stray verse.
    This is not a minor idea.
    This is a repeated warning in the Word of God.
    And that means faithful preaching cannot ignore it.
    We must say with sorrow what Scripture says with clarity.
    Hell is real.
    That leads us naturally to the next question.
    If hell is real, then why does it exist?

    II. Hell Is Just

    Many people don’t just struggle with whether hell exists.
    They struggle more with whether hell is fair.
    They ask, “How could a loving God judge anyone like that?”
    That is the very question our text and the rest of Scripture help answer.
    There are a few things we need to understand…

    A. God Is Holy In His Character

    We will never understand hell rightly until we understand God rightly.
    God is not merely nicer than we are.
    God is holy.
    God is pure.
    God is righteous.
    God is altogether without sin.
    Habakkuk 1:13 KJV
    13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, And canst not look on iniquity: Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, And holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
    Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up and heard the seraphim cry, “Holy, holy, holy.”
    God does not grade sin on a curve.
    God does not wink at evil.
    God does not excuse rebellion because it is common.
    His holiness means He is perfectly opposed to sin.
    And if God were not holy, He would not be God.
    There is a second thing we need to understand about God.
    Not only is God holy in His character, but because He is holy, He must also be just in His judgment.

    B. God Is Just In His Judgment

    In our text, Abraham tells the rich man in verse 25, “Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things.”
    Then in verse 26 he says, “And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed.”
    There is no protest from the rich man that God has been unfair.
    He asks for relief.
    He does not argue injustice.
    Why? Because in hell the truth is no longer hidden.
    The rich man understood what he had refused to face in life.
    God had judged righteously.
    This is important because our culture often wants a God of love without a God of justice.
    But that god does not exist.
    If God is truly good, then He must hate evil.
    If God is truly righteous, then He must judge sin.
    We all feel this at a human level.
    When we hear of abuse, violence, cruelty, murder, or betrayal, something in us cries out, “That must be answered for.”
    Why do we feel that way?
    Because we are made in the image of a just God.
    Hell is not a stain on God’s justice.
    Hell is the expression of God’s justice against sin and evil.
    Revelation 20:10 (the verse we read earlier) shows that hell is the place where Satan himself is punished.
    The devil, the deceiver, the destroyer, the father of lies, the one behind so much darkness and death, will be cast into the lake of fire.
    We don’t recoil at that justice.
    We say Yeah! that’s right!
    So the problem is not with justice itself.
    The problem is that we do not naturally want to include ourselves among the guilty.
    And that is exactly where Scripture confronts us next.

    C. Man Is Guilty In His Sinfulness

    Romans 3:23 KJV
    23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
    That one word all levels the ground.
    All have sinned.
    That includes the immoral.
    That includes the respectable.
    That includes the self-righteous.
    That includes the churchgoer.
    That includes you and me.
    Sometimes people ask, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”
    But biblically, the deeper problem is that there are no sinless people standing before a holy God.
    We have lied.
    We have lusted.
    We have disobeyed.
    We have been proud.
    We have been selfish.
    We have failed to love God with all our heart.
    We have failed to love our neighbor as ourselves.
    And the rich man in Luke 16 is not condemned because he was wealthy.
    He is condemned because he lived in unbelief and self-indulgence with no repentance, no mercy, and no regard for God.
    His life revealed his heart.
    He did not need more comfort.
    He needed conversion.
    Hell is just because God is holy, God is righteous, and man is guilty.
    Now once we see that, the next truth becomes even more sobering.
    Hell is not only real, and hell is not only just.
    Hell is dreadful.

    III. Hell Is Dreadful

    The Lord Jesus does not merely tell us that hell exists.
    He lets us see enough of it to tremble.
    This is not to satisfy curiosity.
    It is to awaken urgency.

    A. Hell Is A Place Of Torment

    Verse 23 says the rich man was “in torments.”
    Verse 24 says, “I am tormented in this flame.”
    This is not temporary discomfort.
    This is not mild regret.
    This is torment.
    There is suffering there.
    There is anguish there.
    There is no relief there.
    This is one reason I said earlier that this sermon must be preached with tears.
    Because Jesus spoke of hell in terms people could not lightly dismiss.
    He was warning men because the danger is terrible.
    Some people say, “Hell cannot be that bad. I’ll just have a big party with my friends down there.”
    But, here me!
    If the Son of God uses language like torment, flame, and everlasting punishment, then it is far worse than our minds can imagine.
    But Hell is not dreadful only because of what is felt there, but because of what is forever absent there.

    B. Hell Is A Place Of Separation

    Verse 26 says, “Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed.”
    The rich man cannot cross over.
    Lazarus cannot come to him.
    The separation is permanent.
    Second Thessalonians 1:9 says the lost will be punished forever.
    2 Thessalonians 1:9 KJV
    9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
    This may be the most terrible reality of all.
    Every good gift in this life comes from God.
    Every kindness.
    Every beauty.
    Every mercy.
    Every breath.
    Every laugh.
    Every sunrise.
    Every comfort.
    Every meal.
    Every friendship.
    All goodness flows from Him.
    To be forever shut out from the presence of the Lord is to be forever cut off from all that makes life life.
    No grace will be there.
    No gospel will be there.
    No hope will be there.
    No relief or change will be there.
    No second chance will be there.
    This is why Jesus warned so strongly.
    There is yet another dreadful truth in this passage.
    Hell is not only torment and separation.
    It is also memory and regret.

    C. Hell Is A Place Of Memory

    Abraham says in verse 25, “Son, remember.”
    The rich man remembered his life.
    He remembered his comfort.
    He remembered Lazarus.
    He remembered enough to beg for his brothers.
    There is no indication in this passage that he forgot what had been offered to him in life.
    And when he begged in verse 27, “I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house,” he revealed something very significant.
    He knew his brothers were in danger.
    He knew they needed warning.
    He knew he had lived his life in a way that was lead to ruin.
    In hell, all illusions are gone.
    All excuses are gone.
    All self-deception is gone.
    Only truth remains, and truth gotten too late is a dreadful thing.
    But the dark background of this doctrine is what makes the light of the gospel shine so brightly.
    If hell is real, just, and dreadful, then we need to hear the good news that heaven’s mercy is offered now through Christ.

    IV. Heaven’s Mercy Is Offered Now Through Christ

    This is where we must not stop merely with warning.
    The Bible never leaves us with judgment alone.
    It points us to mercy.
    And this is where the question itself is transformed.
    Why would a loving God send people to hell?
    The fuller biblical answer is this.
    A loving God warns sinners about hell and has provided a Savior so they do not have to go there.

    A. God Desires Repentance

    2 Peter 3:9 KJV
    9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
    That verse does not mean God has no justice.
    It means judgment is not what He delights in.
    He warns because He is merciful.
    He is patient.
    He calls.
    He pleads.
    He sends the gospel.
    He gives space to repent.
    Even in Luke 16, the concern for the rich man’s brothers shows the heart of warning.
    “Send Lazarus to my father’s house.”
    “Let him testify unto them.”
    Why?
    “Lest they also come into this place of torment.”
    Jesus told this account because He wanted listeners to hear the warning while there was still time.
    The same is true today.
    Every time the gospel is preached, mercy is being extended.
    Every invitation to repent is an expression of God’s patience.
    But it is not enough to know that God is merciful in His disposition.
    We must know how that mercy reaches sinners like us.

    B. God Provided A Savior

    Romans 5:8–9 KJV
    8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
    Don’t miss the wonder of that.
    We are sinners.
    We deserve judgment.
    We cannot save ourselves.
    We cannot do enough good works to erase our guilt.
    We cannot clean ourselves up before God.
    So what did God do?
    He sent His Son.
    The Lord Jesus Christ lived the righteous life we could not live.
    Then He died the sacrificial death we deserved.
    At the cross, the justice of God and the love of God meet.
    God did not ignore sin.
    He judged it.
    But He judged it in the body of His own Son for all who will believe.
    That means the gospel is not God pretending sin does not matter.
    The gospel is God paying sin’s penalty Himself through the death of Christ.
    This is why hell should make us marvel at the cross.
    If hell shows us how serious sin is, Calvary shows us how great God’s love is.
    We have seen how mercy has been desired by God because He loved us.
    We saw how mercy has been provided on the cross.
    Now we see that mercy must be received.

    C. God Calls For A Response

    In Luke 16:29 Abraham says, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.”
    In verse 31 he says, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”
    The issue is not lack of revelation.
    The issue is the heart refuses to respond.
    And the same is true today.
    We have more than Moses and the prophets.
    We have the gospel of Christ crucified and risen again.
    We have the testimony of Scripture.
    We have the warnings of Jesus.
    We have the invitation of grace.
    The question is not whether God has spoken.
    The question is whether we will hear.
    This is where every person must come.
    Not merely to think about hell.
    Not just to discuss justice.
    But to respond to Christ.
    Have you repented of your sins?
    Have you trusted in Jesus Christ alone?
    Have you fled from wrath to the refuge of the cross?
    Heaven’s mercy is offered now.
    Not after death.
    Not after judgment.
    Not after eternity begins.
    Now.
    Now is the accepted time.
    Now is the day of salvation.

    Conclusion

    Why would a loving God send people to hell?
    Because God is holy, sin is real, justice matters, and guilt must be answered.
    But that is not the whole story.
    A loving God has also warned sinners about hell.
    A loving God has also provided a Savior from hell.
    A loving God has also sent His Son so that sinners do not have to perish.
    Jesus did not speak of hell because He enjoyed frightening people.
    He spoke of hell because He loved people enough to tell them the truth.
    And He went to the cross because He loved sinners enough to bear judgment in their place.
    So this morning, do not leave this truth at a distance.
    Do not merely say, “That was a heavy sermon.”
    Ask yourself the deeper question.
    Am I ready to meet God?
    If I died today, would I be with Christ, or would I be lost forever?
    If you are without Christ, I do not say this harshly.
    I say it earnestly.
    You do not have to perish.
    Mercy is offered now.
    Forgiveness is offered now.
    Christ offers Himself to you now.
    Turn from your sin and come to Him.
    Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.
    And Christian, if this truth is real, then let it do its work in us.
    Let it humble us.
    Let it deepen our gratitude.
    Let it stir our evangelism.
    Let it put urgency in our prayers.
    Let it put tenderness in our witness.
    Let it move us to tell others about the Savior who rescues from the wrath to come.
    Perhaps there is someone listening to my voice this morning, and if you are honest, you do not know Christ.
    You may know church.
    You may know religion.
    You may know the language of Christianity.
    But you do not know the Savior.
    Today you can.
    Jesus died for sinners and rose again.
    If you will repent and trust Him, He will save you.
    He will forgive you.
    He will cleanse you.
    And He will make you His own.
    And for those who know Him, what a mercy it is to say that because of Jesus Christ, there is now therefore no condemnation.
    Not because we were better.
    Not because we deserved it.
    But because the Son of God loved us and gave Himself for us.
    Now let’s get busy telling the Good News before it is too late!

      • Matthew 25:46KJV1900

      • Mark 9:43KJV1900

      • Revelation 20:10KJV1900

      • 2 Thessalonians 1:9KJV1900

      • Habakkuk 1:13KJV1900

      • Romans 3:23KJV1900

      • 2 Thessalonians 1:9KJV1900

      • 2 Peter 3:9KJV1900

      • Romans 5:8–9KJV1900

  • Is Your All on the Altar
Mills Memorial Baptist Church
millsmemorialbapt@gmail.com
989-843-6433
https://millsmemorial.faithlifesites.com
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