Lucas 16
Charles Spurgeon · Citado em PreceptAustin
Lucas 16
Spurgeon - Absence from Christ is hell; but the presence of Jesus is heaven. If these truths or the doctrine of hell are troubling you, consider doing additional Bible study on these topics. You might also read one of the books by C. S. Lewis mentioned above. The Screwtape Letters (borrow this classic) offer “advice” from a senior devil to a junior one, while The Great Divorce (borrow this book) narrates a “bus tour” from hell to the edges of heaven. Bad Choice Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting lift, some to shame and everlasting contempt. -DANIEL 12:2 An elderly TV star was asked by talk-show host Larry King about heaven. King prefaced his question by referring to Billy Graham, who had told King he "knew what would be ahead. It would be paradise. He was going to heaven." King then asked his guest, "What do you believe?" The man replied, "I'd like a lot of activity. Heaven sounds too placid for me. There's a lot to do in hell." Sadly, this man is not alone in thinking that an existence in Satan's realm is a preferred destination. I've heard people say that they'd rather be in hell because all their friends will be there. One person wrote, "If hell was real, I don't think it would be bad. There would be a lot of interesting people." Don t choose to spend eternity Where pain will never dim; Instead decide to trust in Christ And choose to follow Him. —Sper The same Christ who talks about the glories of heaven also describes the horrors of hell. If a person sees a house on fire and does everything he can to rescue the occupants, he is heralded as a hero. And that’s the way it should be. Why is it, then, that a Christian who accepts what God says in the Bible about hell and tries to warn people is ridiculed as an alarmist? DAISY CHAINS - I was an adult when I made my first daisy chain. Seated in a meadow with a friend, we crafted delicate necklaces by joining daisies together. It was so absorbing that we momentarily forgot about life's pressing needs. Afterward, however, those needs were still there, urgent as ever. That experience reminded me of a story I read about a woman who dreamed that she saw a meadow next to a precipice that dropped hundreds of feet to the rocks below. Scores of blind people were walking toward the edge. She tried to warn them, but there were too many. Then she noticed others in the meadow who could see. But instead of warning the crowd, they sat on the grass making daisy chains. There's certainly nothing wrong with harmless pursuits and times of leisure. But are we so absorbed with our own interests that we forget the countless people who are stumbling blindly into hell? Paul understood the urgency of such a situation. His constant focus was Christ. “Him we preach,” he wrote, “warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Colossians 1:28). What are you absorbed with? Making daisy chains? Or making disciples? – J E Yoder Many years ago in Waterbury, Connecticut, a black evangelist wanted to emphasize the truth that men are "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1). The overflow crowd at the African Methodist Church one Sunday morning was shocked to see a casket covered with flow-ers in front of the pulpit. They were even more amazed when the evangelist gave a graphic description of hell and all of its horrors. As he dwelt on the darkness, isolation, pain, and remorse experienced by the soul that is eternally separated from God, some in the congregation began to weep and tremble. The preacher said he found it impossible to eulogize the dead person, for he had committed grievous sins that deserved only God's wrath. "The one you will soon view is justly condemned to eternal torment," he said. At the end of his sermon the flowers were removed from the coffin and the audience was asked to walk past the casket, keeping about 10 feet apart. They were to look once at this horrible sinner and then return to their seats in silence. Each person peered fearfully into the casket, but found it empty. However, a full-length mirror in the bottom reflected his own face as he stared in amazement. In the closing moments of the service, the solemn and convicted audience was reminded that although sin brings the penalty of death, the gift of God through Christ provides a way of escape. Jennifer Benson Schuldt writes "My friend was having a conversation with a man who didn’t have much good to say about the Christian faith. My friend knew that if he were to sound too “religious,” he would jeopardize any chance to witness. So, in the middle of their discussion, he said, “Hey, Bob, do you know where sinners go?” “That’s easy,” he replied. “You’re going to tell me they go to hell.” “No,” my friend responded. “They go to church.” Bob was speechless. That wasn’t what he expected. He wasn’t ready to hear from a Christian who realized he wasn’t perfect. My friend had a chance to share that Christians understand their sinfulness and their need for continual spiritual restoration. He was able to explain grace—the unmerited favor we have with God despite our sinfulness (Rom. 5:8-9; Eph. 2:8-9) Lecture on Hell - On one occasion Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, the agnostic lecturer of the last century, was announced to give an address on hell. He declared he would prove conclusively that hell was a wild dream of some scheming theologians who invented it to terrify credulous 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.” No amount of reasoning can nullify God’s sure Word. He has spoken as plainly of a hell for the finally impenitent as of a heaven for those who are saved. Illustrations of Bible Truth by H.A. Ironside, J I Packer on preaching hell - To announce the reality of hell is a testing and grueling task. The compassion and fellow-feeling that should mark all Christian communicators require us to do it, not with gloating and contempt, but with tears, if not in our eyes, then in our hearts. Any appearance of off-handness in our manner will surely discredit our matter, just because it discredits us as human beings. It is hard to take seriously a message from a messenger who does not appear to take it seriously himself, or at any rate not to feel about it as a good man should. R. W. Dale once said that D. L. Moody had a right to preach about hell because he so clearly did so from a weeping heart. Alistair Cooke...The time was the 19th of May 1780. The place was Hartford, Connecticut. The day has gone down in New England history as a terrible foretaste of Judgment Day. For at noon the skies turned from blue to grey and by mid-afternoon had blackened over so densely that, in that religious age, men fell on their knees and begged a final blessing before the end came. The Connecticut House of Representatives was in session. And as some of the men fell down and others clamored for an immediate adjournment, the speaker of the House, one Colonel Davenport, came to his feet. He silenced them and said these words: "The day of judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish therefore that candles may be brought." C S Lewis - There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this (hell) if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, especially, of our Lord’s own words; it has always been held by Christendom; and has the support of reason. J I Packer - Wisdom directs us to admit that there is no biblical alternative to the biblical doctrine of eternal punishment. C H Spurgeon - 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. John Thomas - A hard look at this doctrine should first change our view of sin. Most believers do not take sin as seriously as God does. Billy Graham - As hell was becoming for many no more than a swear word, sin was also an accepted way of life. . . . If people can ignore what the Bible calls sin, then they can quite logically discount what it says about the reality of hell. Vance Havner - Long ago a man said to me, "I don't like sermons on hell. Tell me more about the meek and lowly Jesus." It is the meek and lowly Jesus who gave us most of our information about hell. He took the last verse of Isaiah and the Valley of Hinnom and compounded them into the most fearful picture of future punishment to be found in the Bible. Time/CNN Polling Data from a telephone poll of 1,018 American adults, conducted by Time/CNN by Yankelovich Partners, Inc., asked these questions: Do you believe in hell, where people are punished forever after they die? Yes: 63% No: 30% Do people get into heaven based mostly on the good things they do or on their faith of God, or both (asked of 809 who believe in heaven): Good things they do: 6% Faith in God: 34% Both: 57% Immediately after death, which of the following do you think will happen to you? (asked of 809 who believe in heaven): Go directly to heaven: 61% Go to purgatory: 15% Go to hell: 1% Be reincarnated: 5% End of existence: 4% J C
Lucas 16
Spurgeon - ‘Shun all views of future punishment that would make it appear less terrible’ ILLUSTRATION - A man on an ocean liner was leaning over the ship’s rail, tossing something in the air and catching it. An onlooker asked, “What are you tossing?” “A diamond of great value,” the man said. “It is all that I have in this world.” “Aren’t you afraid of losing it, tossing it over the water like that?” “No, I’ve been doing it for the past half hour, and I’ve caught it every time,” the man casually replied. “But there might come a last time,” remarked the onlooker. The man laughed and tossed it again—but this time he missed. For a moment he stood aghast. Then he cried out, “Lost! Lost! Lost!” You say, “That story is not true.” But, it is true of many people! The ocean is eternity. They are on the vessel of life. That diamond is their soul. If they do not know Christ as their Savior, they are taking great risk that every day will be their last on this earth. If they should die without Him, they would be eternally lost. How can people be so careless about their eternal destiny? One answer is that they get so caught up with the good things of this life that they neglect thinking about the life to come. The great deceiver, Satan, gets them focused on the here and now. Every once in a while—when a friend dies or when a major catastrophe claims many lives—they think briefly about death. But they figure, “I’m a basically good person. God is loving; He wouldn’t condemn a decent person like me.” And, they put it out of their minds and get on with pursuing the good life. ILLUSTRATION - A business was opening a new store, and a friend of the owner sent flowers for the occasion. The flowers arrived at the new business site, and the owner read the card, inscribed “Rest in Peace.” The angry owner called the florist to complain. After he told the florist of the obvious mistake and how angry he was, the florist said, “Sir, I’m really sorry for the mistake, but rather than getting angry, you should imagine this: Somewhere there is a funeral taking place today, and they have flowers with a note that reads, “Congratulations on your new location.” DOCTRINE OF ETERNAL PUNISHMENT Steven Cole on the doctrine of eternal punishment - Scholars debate whether Hades (hades)(and the Hebrew Sheol) was the abode of all the dead, with separate compartments for the righteous and the wicked, or whether it refers only to the place for the wicked dead. We can’t be dogmatic about such specifics, but we can say with certainty that hell is a real place and that you don’t want to spend eternity there! Sometimes cartoons picture hell as a place where the wicked party throughout eternity, while the righteous sit around bored on a cloud in heaven. Mark Twain said, “I’ll take Heaven for the climate and Hell for society.” But there won’t be any society in hell! Jesus uses awful word pictures to teach us that it isn’t going to be a fun place. He refers to it as the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mt 25:30). He cites Is 66:24, describing hell as a place “where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” (Mk 9:48-note). He says that it would be better to have a millstone hung around your neck and be thrown into the sea than to go into the unquenchable (Greek = asbestos = inextinguishable - used 4x = Mt 3:12 Mk 9:43 9:45 Lu 3:17; no uses in Septuagint) fire (Mk 9:43) (See ISBE entry unquenchable fire). The flames of hell may, like the golden streets of heaven, be symbolic. But if so, they are a most frightening symbol to warn us that hell will be a place of awful torment. The rich man in the parable says, “I am in agony in this flame” (Lu 16:24). If it were a fun place, he would want his brothers to join him for the party. But he doesn’t want them to “come to this place of torment” (Lu 16:28). The doctrine of eternal punishment in hell is not pleasant, but you cannot accept Jesus and reject hell, because He taught it so plainly and frequently. R. C.
Lucas 16
Spurgeon - Heaven is rest, perfect rest—but there is no rest in hell; it is labour in the fire, but no ease, no peace, no sleep, no calm, no quiet; everlasting storm; eternal hurricane; unceasing tempest. In the worst disease, there are some respites: spasms of agony, but then pauses of repose. There is no pause in hell’s torments. The dreadful music of the eternal miserere has not so much as a single stop in it. It is on, on, on, with crash of battle, and dust and blood, and fire and vapour of smoke. Heaven, too, is a place of joy; there happy fingers sweep celestial chords; there joyous spirits sing hosannahs day without night; but there is no joy in hell; for music there is the groan; for joy there is the pang; for sweet fellowship there is the binding up in bundles; for everything that is blissful there is everything that is dolorous. No, I could not exaggerate, that were impossible; I cannot come up to the doleful facts, therefore there I leave them. Nothing of the joy of heaven can ever come to hell. Heaven is the place of sweet communion with God— ‘There they behold his face, And never, never sin; There from the rivers of his grace, Drink endless pleasures in.’ There is no communion with God in hell. There are prayers, but they are unheard; there are tears, but they are unaccepted; there are cries for pity, but they are all an abomination unto the Lord. God wills not the death of any; he had rather that he should turn unto him and live, but if that grace be refused, then eternal vengeance is his portion. Brian Bell has an interesting note on flame (fire) as to whether or not it is real flames - Well, it seems it is a real torment, thus a real thirst, which desires real water, from a real finger, to touch his real tongue. So I believe real flames. Is the fire spoken of literal fire? It is an accepted law of language that a figure of speech is less intense than the reality. If “fire” is merely a figurative expression, it must stand for some great reality, and if the reality is more intense than the figure, what an awful thing the punishment symbolized by fire must be. (William Evans) On the other hand Ray Stedman takes the position that flame is symbolic but quickly agrees that "We must face it that these symbols mean something. They are not mere empty expressions, mere words used only for effect, but they convey a deeper reality. The flames, though they do not mean literal flames, do refer to something that is like literal flames, perhaps a consuming, burning experience -- probably that of memory or of desire unfulfilled (ED: THESE COMMENTS OF COURSE ARE SUPPOSITIONAL, SOMETHING THAT IS SUPPOSED). We all know that in our inner life we can have a sense of being burned, consumed by some burning passion within. The only thing we can compare it to is being burned with physical flames, but, though it is not the same thing, it is often more real....Many people say they are going to go to hell because their friends are all there. They will never see one if they do. Hell is a lonely place, a place of utter aloneness. There is no one in view here but the rich man. He sees no one but himself. (The Main Thing) Cried out (5455)(phoneo from phone = voice) means to utter in a loud voice (with considerable volume) - cry out, shout, call out, speak loudly. Have mercy (cf Lk 17:13; 18:38–39)(aorist imperative)(1653)(eleeo from eleos) means “to feel sympathy with the misery of another, especially such sympathy which manifests itself in action, less frequently in word.” It describes the general sense of one who has compassion or person on someone in need. Tongue (100)(glossa) means the literal tongue, the organ of the body. While we recognize that this is a parable and one must be cautious interpreting details, the fact that Jesus describes the rich man's tongue supports the idea that the lost in hell will present in bodily form and will have full sensation, for otherwise how could they perceive torment and agony. We know that at the Great White Throne judgment (Rev 20:11-15) I am in agony (torment) (3600)(odunao from odune = sorrow, torment, grief, pain) means actively to cause intense pain but is used only in the passive in the NT meaning to be in severe or great pain. The other meaning is to experience mental and/or spiritual pain manifest by being grieved, anxious, very worried, deeply distressed). (Lk 2:48) TDNT on the root noun odune - a. of “physical pain,” Hom. Od.,9, 440; common in Il.: 11, 268, 398, esp. of severe sudden pains due to a wound or fracture, and felt as stabbing, piercing, or cutting.2 ὀδύνη is common in the plur., since pains of this kind are often felt individually, Il., 5, 397, 399; 4, 117. The physical sensation then affects the soul and fills it with great anguish, Il., 15, 60, hence b. “mental distress,” “grief” etc., Hom. Od., 1, 242; 2, 79, esp. in the plur., which is also common after Hom. Friberg says odunao has two main senses (1) of violent physical torment feel pain, suffer torment, be in agony ( Lk 16.24); (2) of spiritual or mental distress be grieved, be pained, be anxious, be very worried (Lk 2.48) Odunao was used particularly to describe the pain inflicted by the ancients in order to induce men to make confession of their crimes. These torments or tortures were the keenest that they could inflict, such as the rack, scourging, or burning. The present tense depicts agony is his continual state. This could be physical and/or mental suffering but either way it is unrelenting for all of eternity! No wonder some evangelical theologians try to do away with the Biblical concept of hell! D L Moody - O THAT we would wake up to the thought of what it is to be lost! The world has been rocked to sleep by Satan, who is going up and down telling people that it doesn’t mean anything. I believe in the old-fashioned heaven and hell. Christ came down to save us from a terrible hell, and any man who is cast down to hell from here must go in the full blaze of the gospel, and over the mangled body of the Son of God. We hear of a man who has lost his health, and we sympathize with him, and we say it is very sad. Our hearts are drawn out to sympathy. Here is another man who has lost his wealth, and we say, “That is very sad.” Here is another man who has lost his reputation, his standing among men. “That is sadder still,” we say. We know what it is to lose health and wealth and reputation, but what is the loss of all these things compared with the loss of the soul?