Place: Lurgan Baptist 2:11:2003

Readings: Luke 16:19-31 John 3:16

THE WONDROUS STORY

6. IT DOES NOT HAVE TO END THAT WAY

Two men struck gold during the great Klondike Gold Rush. Each day they could hardly wait to get out of their bunks to continue their search for gold. They found more and more each day. They were so busy, so taken up with their accumulating wealth that they didn’t notice that summer had passed and that Autumn was upon them. They did not notice the chill in the air because they were so eager to get more and more and more of the glittering yellow gold. One morning they awoke to find themselves in the midst of a howling snowstorm that lasted for four days. When it was over they found that they were snowbound. The winter months had come and within a few weeks their food supply was exhausted. Several years later the prospectors cabin was discovered. All that remained of them were their skeletons. On a rough-hewn table, next to bags of gold was found a note describing what had happened to them, of how they had not noticed that winter was coming, and they were caught unprepared.

My …. do you realise that eternity is coming for you ?

Or have you been so caught up with your “ bags of gold,” that you have failed to recognise that you are perishing ? Can you hear “ the hiss of hell,” in that word perish ? Do you realise that if you are living without Christ you’re perishing ? Every day you’re getting closer to the edge, each moment you’re coming closer to the abyss. And if you die without Christ you’ll perish ! Spurgeon cried on one occasion, “ As the Lord liveth sinner, thou standest on a single plank over the mouth of hell, and that plank is rotten, thou hangest over the pit by a solitary rope, and the strands of that rope are breaking.” But my …. the good news of the wondrous story of redemption is that it does not have to end that way. I wonder what way it will end for you ? I want to take that word “ perish,” this …. and say three things relating to it.

(1) A TRUTH THAT IS UNDENIABLE

You see, if you die without faith in Christ, you’ll perish, you’ll be eternally lost, and that is a truth that is undeniable ! Do you see this word “ perish,” ? Its an awful word. Someone once approached C. H. Spurgeon with a problem text asked him if he knew what it meant.

“ Why of course I do,” he said “ it means just what it says.” My …. this word “ perish,” ( apoletai ) means just what it says. We find it used by the disciples in the extremity of their terror on the storm tossed lake, when they awoke the Lord saying, “ Lord save us we perish.” ( Matt 8:25 ) The word is translated “ destroy,” in the urgent command to Joseph to take the Lord Jesus and Mary to Egypt out of harm’s way “ for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.” ( Matt 2:13 ) This word is also used of wineskins that burst ( Matt 9:17 ) it is also used of an eye that is plucked out. ( Matt 5:29 ) But when the word is used in a spiritual sense as in our text it denotes the final condition of the soul, the awful state of those who are “ filthy still,” under the eye of God. ( Rev 22:11 ) My …. that is what is inferred by the word “ perish,” an eternity spend in hell ! (1) Yet this truth is:

(a) DENIED IN THE WORLD OF MEN:

Its seems from polls that have been taken in Great Britain that no more than 24% of those questioned believed in hell. The English agnostic John Robinson once Bishop of Woolwich said, “ there are still a few who would like to bring back hell as some want to bring back hanging.” J.M Dawson said, “ the old idea about hell has faded out and pastors of cultured churches refuse to revive it.” If that is true then this is a church without culture for the truth about hell has not faded out with this preacher. Yet hell is denied in the world of men. Do you know what folk say about hell ? They say:

1. Hell is what you make of life here:

Hell is in this life. Do you ever people talk like that ?

“ My life is hell.” The Lord demolished that when He said, “ the rich man also died and was buried and in hell.” ( Lk 16:22 ) So hell is not what you make in this life. It is the after life.

2. Hell is annihilation:

When you die that’s it. You just died like a dog. Do you really believe that ? Here the Lord says, “ the rich man died …. and in hell he lift up his eyes being in torments.” ( Lk 16:23 ) it was not complete destruction.

3. Hell is a purgatory:

That fit’s the soul for heaven. Not so says the Lord for He said that between Heaven and Hell there’s a great gulf fixed and no-one ever passes from hell to heaven.

On one occasion Col. Robert G. Ingersoll the agnostic lecturer was announced to gave an address on hell. He declared that he would prove conclusively that hell was a wild dream of some scheming theologians who invented it to terrify people. As he was launching into his subject a half-drunken man arose in the audience and exclaimed, “ Make it strong Bob. There’s a lot of us poor fellows depending on you. If you are wrong we are all lost. So be sure you prove it clear and plain.” He was wrong for there is a hell, for while this truth is (a)

(b) DECLARED IN THE WORLD OF GOD:

When North Carolina evangelist Vance Havner was beginning his ministry, he pastured a country church where an old farmer didn’t like the sermons he preached on hell. The man said, “ Preach about the meek and lowly Jesus.” Havner replied, “ that’s where I got my information about hell.” My …. the Lord Jesus was the

most gracious, gentlest, purest, tenderest man that ever walked on this earth. Christ would never have attempted to picture the sufferings of the lost unless He wished to impress upon his hearers the awfulness of living and dying without God. This Christ who spake as never man spake ( Jn 7:46 ) time and again in His ministry spoke about hell. The Lord Jesus spoke about the danger of hell fire. It was He who cried to the religious leaders of His day, “ ye serpents ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell ?” The Saviour spoke about the place where there would be “ weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth.” ( Matt 5:22 13:42 23:33 25:41 25:30 )

My …. (1) Do you believe in the reality of hell ? Do you believe that hell exists ? My …. to perish is to go to hell and hell is as true as heaven. As true as the fact that Christ died on the cross. Disbelieve hell and you unscrew, unsettle, and unpin everything in Scripture.

“ From no hell to no God, “ is but a series of steps. (1)

(2) A TORMENT THAT IS UNIMAGINABLE

Some years ago on U.S.A. television a reporter asked a girl involved in punk rock, “ what are you looking forward to ?” She said, “ I am looking forward to death.” The reporter asked her why. She said, “ I want to die so I can go to hell and have fun.”

What deception ! America’s television’s Ted Turner referring to Christ’s death on the cross said this, “ I don’t want anybody to die for me. I’ve had a few drinks and a few girlfriends and if that’s going to put me in hell then so be it.” My …. if Ted Turner and that punk rocker had an idea of what it means to perish, they would never think of speaking the way they do. You see, the Lord Jesus in ( Lk Ch 16 ) pulls back the curtain of time and lets us see a soul in a lost eternity. And off that soul we read, “ And in hell he lift up his eyes being in torments.” ( 16:23 ) (2) You see, to perish is to be in:

(a) AN INDESCRIBABLE STATE:

My …. there are no words to describe the awfulness of perishing. There is no way to describe hell. Nothing on earth can compare with it. No living person has any real idea of it. No madman in wildest flights of insanity ever beheld its horror. No man in delirium ever pictured a place so terrible as this. No nightmare racing across a fevered mind ever produces a terror to match that of the mildest hell. No murder scene with splashed blood and oozing wound ever suggested a revulsion that could touch the border lands of hell. My …. hell is

1. A Place of Intense Agony:

Here was a rich man who saw, felt, cried, pleaded, remembered, heard he was awake alright in the flames of hell. Would you think of what it must be like to have the body and soul in the flames of hell forever ? Will this be your destiny ? One moment after you die will you life up your eyes in torments ?

2. A Place of Total Darkness:

The Lord Jesus spoke about “ outer darkness.”

( Matt 22:13 ) It is totally devoid of light. Have you ever heard people quip that they want to go to hell to be with their friends ? You might want to point out that while there friends may be hell they will never be seen. My …. its pitch black in hell, there’s nothing to distract people from their suffering and torment ! You know, when we are sick our suffering seems to intensify in the middle of the night. We long for the daylight to come. Somehow just the light of day makes us feel better. But in hell the dawn never comes. Darkness will encompass those who will be in hell forever. 1.2.

3. A Place of Eternal Separation:

For each person who goes to hell will be separated forever from the source of life, from the heart of love, and from the very One for Whom they were created.

( Matt 7:23 ) Indescribable ! Someone has written,

“ Hell, the prison of despair

Here are some of the things that will be there

Fire and brimstone are there we know

For God in His Word hath told us so

Memory, remorse, suffering and pain

Weeping and wailing but all in vain

Blasphemers, swearers, haters of God

Christ rejectors while here on earth trod

Muderers, gamblers, drunkards and liars

Will all have their place in the lake of fire

The filthy, the vile, the cruel and mean

What a horrible mob in hell will be seen

Yes, more than humans on earth can tell

Are torments and woes of eternal hell.”

(b) AN INTELLIGIBLE STATE:

You see, the rich man in hell knew what was happening. He saw, felt, prayed, heard, even remembered. My …. in hell you won’t be able to forget anything. Felix is in hell this …. what do you think he is remembering ?

“ Felix, what are you recalling down there in the caverns of the dammed ?” “ The day I trembled before Paul’s preaching, but didn’t trust the Saviour.”

“ Agrippa, what is it that is gnawing at you in hell ?”

“ The day I said, Almost thou ….,” ( Acts 26:28 )

“ Judas, you’re still in hell after almost 2,000 years, what is it that you are occupied with every second ?”

“ The day I sold the Saviour for 30 pieces of silver.”

( Matt 26:15 ) What will you remember in hell ? Will you recall your father sitting by side your side and urging to trust the Saviour ? Will you remember your mother’s tears in hell ? Will you recall this preacher urging you to “ flee from the wrath to come ?” To perish is to be in (a) (b)

(c) AN IRREVOCABLE STATE:

For once in hell men are in hell for how long ?

Forever ! Did you notice what Abraham said,

“ And beside all this …. there is a great gulf fixed.”

( Lk 16:26 ) You see, there is no exit from this terrible place. I suppose that one of the most famous prisons in the world is Alcatraz. It was known as “ The Rock,”

“ Uncle Sam’s Devil Island,” and “ Hellcatraz.” For almost 30 years ( 1934-1963 ) this prison housed some of America’s worst criminals. It was surrounded by towers and walls and the cold waters and strong currents of San Francisco bay made it virtually impossible to escape. Of the 1535 prisoners, 36 tried to escape, 7 were shot, 2 were drowned, 5 were lost and the rest were captured except for John and Clarence Anglin and Frank Morris who were never heard of again. But my …. we are not speaking of Hellcatraz we are talking about the hell of the Bible, where it is totally impossible to escape.

For hell is for all eternity ! Have you got the message ? Do you realise that there is no chance of being saved after death ? My …. are you beginning to see the awfulness of this word “ perish,” ? It suggests (1) (2)

(3) A TRAGEDY THAT IS UNNECESSARY

One day when Vice President Calvin Coolidge was presiding over the American Senate, one senator angrily told another senator to go “ straight to hell.” The offended senator complained to Coolidge as presiding officer, and Coolidge looked up from the book he had been leafing through while listening to the debate. “ I’ve been looking through the rule book,” he said. “ You don’t have to go.” My …. here is the good news of the wondrous story of ( 3:16 ) you don’t have to perish, you don’t have to go to hell. Here is (3) why ? Because of the Lord Jesus ! Do you see what Christ says in this passage ? “ And as Moses …. eternal life,” ( 3:14-15 )

(a) CHRIST WAS LIFTED UP ON A TREE:

Peter said, “ Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.” ( 1 Pet 2:24 ) Paul said, “ Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us, for it is written cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.” ( Gal 3:13 ) My …. 2000 years ago, God took every sin we have committed and all we will ever commit in our lifetime and laid those sins on His perfect Son, the Lord Jesus. And while the Lord Jesus was bearing those sins in His own body, God punished Him in our place to pay the debt we owe. On Calvary’s cross He cried, “ I thirst,” He was thirsty in the heat of hell on Calvary’s Cross. On Calvary’s cross He cried,

“ My God, My God …., Me.” He felt the forsakenness of hell at Calvary. But bless God He cried also, “ It is finished,” and He came forth bleeding and broken, scarred and marred, but He came shouting, “ Save them from going down to the pit of hell for I have found a ransom.” My …. in His hand he carried the ransom and the ransom was His precious blood ! He was crowned with thorns that you might be crowned with glory, He was reviled that you might be redeemed, He was cursed that you might be cleansed. “ For God so loved the world that He gave ….,” God gave Him up to the spitting, the scourging, the slaying. My …. God gave, but have you accepted ? (a)

(b) CHRIST WAS LIFTED UP FROM A TOMB:

You see, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is a declaration of God that He is satisfied with the payment that Christ made for our sins. ( Rom 1:4 ) When Christ died for us He paid our sin debt on the cross, and God was satisfied with the payment that His Son made. For He raised him from the dead. Did Calvary satisfy the just demands of a holy God ? The answer is simple, look at the empty cross, look at the unoccupied tomb, looked at the filled throne, look at the risen Saviour. “ How do you know Jesus lives today,” a sceptic once asked a little boy, “ because I spent time with Him this morning.” My …. Christ is alive to save you, He is able to save you, and He is available to save you. (a) (b)

(c) CHRIST WAS LIFTED UP TO A THRONE:

“ Wherefore God also hath highly exalted,” the Lord Jesus has been lifted up to a throne and is “ set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” ( Heb 12:2 )

Carl Steinman was fascinated by volcanoes and going against the advice of his guide he ventured to the edge of an active volcano while visiting Mount Hecla, in Iceland. The volcano was showing every sign of erupting, and as Steinman leaned over the edge, the earth and quaked throwing him forward. He fell into the crater, his feet lodging themselves in blocks of lava, and there he hung suspended over the yawning gulf. He later wrote, “ Oh the horrors of that awful realisation. There over the mouth of a black and heated abyss I was held suspended …. to be hurled downward by the next great throe of trembling nature. Help, help, help I cried. I had nothing to rely on but the mercy of God and I prayed to God as I had never prayed before, for the forgiveness of sins that they might not follow me to judgement.”

Steinmans pleas were answered by his guide, who risking his life scrambled to save him. Do you know what Steinman said when he saw his guide ? “ Save me for I am perishing.” I wonder is this where you are this …. spiritually ? Are you hanging over the mouth of

hell ? Are you on the very precipice of a lost eternity ?

My …. there is an infallible guide who wants to save you. Will you call on Him ? Will you say this, “ Lord save me for I am perishing ?”