Lucas 16

Lucas 16

Sproul wrote (“Tabletalk [11/90]), The fact is, however, that virtually every statement in the Bible concerning hell comes from the lips of Jesus Christ. We cannot take Jesus seriously without also taking seriously what He said regarding eternal punishment. There is very little about hell in the Old Testament, and very little in the epistles. It is almost as if God decided that a teaching this frightening would not be received from any lesser authority than that of His own Son. There are primarily two popular views that we must reject. One, universalism takes the forever out of hell; the other, annihilationism takes the hell out of forever . A third false view is purgatory which also to some degree also takes the forever out of hell. The first is universalism, the view that everyone will eventually be saved. The universalist says, “A good and loving God could not condemn anyone to hell. There is some good in even the worst of people. God will take that into account, so that no one will be condemned.” But the universalist underestimates both the awful sinfulness of the human heart and the absolute holiness of God. The rich man in the parable was not an evil man in human terms. He wasn’t a mass murderer or child molester. He wasn’t deliberately hurting people. He was a just living for himself, oblivious to the poor man at his gate. And yet here he is in the place of eternal torment! Clearly, Jesus did not teach that everyone, let alone everyone who isn’t terribly evil, would be in heaven. Universalism has never been widely accepted by those who take the Scriptures seriously. Obviously if this teaching were true, there would be no pressing reason to fulfill the Great Commission or to urge unbelievers to accept Christ in this life. The second popular view we must reject is annihilationism. This is the view that God will destroy the unrepentant sinner, so that he ceases to exist. In other words, the soul is not immortal. Perhaps God will punish the person for a time, proportionate to his sin. But at some point, God will say, “That’s enough,” and the person will not suffer eternally. God will annihilate the person’s soul. Several professing evangelicals, most notably John Stott, have suggested if not embraced this idea. The Seventh Day Adventists teach this doctrine. Frankly, the idea sounds humane and appealing. But I cannot dodge Mt 25:46, where Jesus uses the same word “eternal” in the same verse to refer to eternal punishment and eternal life. If life is eternal, then so is punishment. Also, Rev 20:10 states that the devil, the beast, and the false prophet will be tormented in the lake of fire and brimstone “day and night forever and ever.” Then, just a few verses later (Re 20:15), it states that all of those whose names are not found written in the book of life are also thrown into the lake of fire. “Day and night forever and ever” sure sounds eternal! The best defense of eternal punishment that I’ve read is Jonathan Edwards’ sermon, “The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners.” He argues that since any sin is against the infinite God, it is worthy of infinite punishment. The third popular view that this parable refutes is the doctrine of purgatory. Both the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church teach that when a believer dies, unless he has attained a state of moral perfection on earth, he goes to an intermediate place where he suffers until all sin is purged away. The sufferings vary according to the guilt and impenitence of the sufferer. Gifts and services to the church, prayers on behalf of the deceased, and Masses provided by friends or loved ones, can all shorten the amount of time the person spends in Purgatory. If anyone was a candidate for Purgatory, this rich man was. As I said, he was not a bad man. He called Abraham his father, showing his devotion to the Jewish faith. He had a concern for his five brothers’ eternal destiny. But he wasn’t in Purgatory, with a chance to get into heaven after he had suffered a while. He was in hell and there was a great chasm fixed so that he could never cross over. The doctrine of Purgatory is not taught in Scripture (it is based on the apocryphal 2Ma 12:39-45). It undermines the doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ alone. It adds human works to His finished work on the cross. So while it is a hard doctrine to fathom, both intellectually and emotionally, we cannot say that we believe in Jesus and the Bible and at the same time reject the doctrine of eternal hell. There are two and only two eternal destinies. Related Resources to help you defend the faith to those who hold to false teaching on hell: Denials and Their Answers - 10 pages on Universalism, 4 pages on Annihilationism - in Buis' book The Doctrine of Eternal Punishment Is annihilationism biblical? Is universalism / universal salvation biblical? What does the Bible say about Purgatory? Larry D. Pettegrew has an excellent article on annihilationism entitled A Kinder, Gentler Theology Of Hell?. Below are quotes from the introduction and the conclusion. If you are someone to whom you are ministering is enraptured by this dangerous, deceptive doctrine, this article is highly recommended: INTRODUCTION - Annihilationism has, as the Niagara Creed of 1878 foresaw, become a doctrine that plagues the evangelical church of the late twentieth century. It comprises a multifaceted compromise of biblical systematic theology, affecting most major doctrines of the Christian faith, not just the area of eschatology. Its compromise stems from the influence of postmodernism as proponents of annihilationism bring to the text unwarranted theological preunderstandings. Their emphasis on God’s nature to love disregards His many other attributes such as holiness, justice, truth, grace, and omnipotence and thereby sentimentalize God’s love. Further, their preunderstandings distort biblical teaching about man’s immortality of the soul that is derived from God. A third affected area is the doctrine of sin when they assert that God would be vindictive to mete out eternal punishment for finite sin. In addition, the system of annihilationism undervalues Christ’s atonement for sin by claiming that His death only paid the price for man’s temporary rather than our eternal punishment..... CONCLUSION - It has been the purpose of this essay to demonstrate by a survey of the doctrinal categories that the doctrine of annihilationism as taught by a few contemporary evangelicals is a significant part of a multifaceted compromise of a biblical systematic theology. I have also suggested that annihilationists often come to the Scriptures with cultural and theological preunderstandings that negate the historical-grammatical meaning of the passages. Carson is right in his observation: Despite the sincerity of their motives, one wonders more than a little to what extent the growing popularity of various forms of annihilationism and conditional immortality are a reflection of this age of pluralism. It is getting harder and harder to be faithful to the “hard” lines of Scripture. And in this way, evangelicalism itself may contribute to the gagging of God by silencing the severity of his warnings and by minimizing the awfulness of the punishment that justly awaits those untouched by his redeeming grace. (D A Carson - The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism - borrow this book) Moreover, the doctrinal compromises of annihilationism have serious consequences. J. I. Packer concludes this study with this penetrating question: Does it matter whether an evangelical is a conditionalist or not? I think it does: for a conditionalist’s idea of God will miss out on the glory of divine justice, and his idea of worship will miss out on praise for God’s judgments, and his idea of heaven will miss out on the thought that praise for God’s judgments goes on (cf. Rev. 16:5–7, 19:1–5), and his idea of man will miss out on the awesome dignity of our having been made to last for eternity, and in his preaching of the gospel he will miss out on telling the unconverted that their prospects without Christ are as bad as they possibly could be—for on the conditionalist view they aren’t! These, surely, are sad losses. Conditionalism, logically thought through, cannot but impoverish a Christian man, and limit his usefulness to the Lord. That is why I am concerned about the current trend towards conditionalism. I hope it may soon be reversed. (J I Packer - The Problem of Eternal Punishment - Evangel 10/2 - Summer, 1992) (from A Kinder, Gentler Theology Of Hell?) Denial of the Doctrine of Hell By The Cults by Harry Buis One of the common characteristics of the modern cults is their denial of the doctrine of eternal punishment. This is obviously one of the reasons for their popular appeal. Their success is a witness to the dislike of this doctrine on the part of the natural man. Since in the main section of our study we have limited ourselves to beliefs within the main stream of the Christian Church, we here briefly present the viewpoints of the modern cults. 1. Christian Science. There is no hell in the traditional sense. Rather hell is "mortal belief; error; lust; remorse; hatred; revenge; sin, sickness, death, suffering, and self-imposed agony, effects of sin, that which worketh abomination or maketh a lie." 1 (NOTE: CLICK HERE FOR BIBLIOGRAPHY - SCROLL TO BOTTOM OF PAGE) There is no such thing as annihilation, but at death, man passes to another plane of existence where there is further opportunity to overcome erroneous thinking, and thus attain salvation. 2. Jehovah's Witnesses. In his early youth Charles Taze Russell was nurtured in the Presbyterian Church. The traditional belief in hell was one reason why he turned against historic Christianity. He became a skeptic, but was later deeply influenced by Seventh-Day Adventism, from which he borrowed the doctrines of soul sleep and the annihilation of the wicked. Russell spoke very strongly against what he called "the nightmare of eternal torture." Russell's successor, Joseph Franklin Rutherford, was equally vehement in his opposition to hell. "It was written of him that he went to hell. 'Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell' (Psalm 16:10). If hell is a place of endless torment and Jesus went there, he could not have been released. The fact that he did not remain in hell is proof conclusive that hell is not a place of eternal torment."2 "Eternal torture is void of the principle of love. 'God is love.' A Creator that would torture his creatures eternally would be a fiend, and not a God of love."3 3. Mormonism. Mormons believe in hell, but they do not believe that it is everlasting. Braden, who has made a careful study of the cults, says, "Mormonism believes that salvation is universal and that there is still a chance beyond the grave . . . . To the many who have died, having deliberately refused to accept the gospel, must be added innumerable others who died never having heard the gospel. What provision is there for them? The former are not to be punished 'beyond the time requisite to work the needed reformation and to vindicate justice, for which ends alone punishment is imposed.' And it would be blasphemous, Talmadge asserts, to believe that God would condemn a soul under any law not known to him. It becomes plain, then that the gospel must be preached in the spirit world where these dead dwell."4 4. New Thought. Hell is "the torment of experiencing that which contradicts the truth."5 Says Braden, "What is perfectly clear is that the older stress upon another worldly heaven and hell of eternal reward or punishment is rejected and this is a pleasing thought to many who grew up under the older orthodoxy, but no longer find it possible to believe it, for many reasons."6 5. Spiritualism. Braden says, "The Spiritualists completely repudiate the traditional concepts of heaven and hell, and of course all idea of 'everlasting' punishment or reward. In the literature there is frequent report of the surprise of those who have recently passed over at not finding themselves in heaven or hell. Yet there is something approximating the idea of both heaven and hell of a temporary nature. The lower spheres to which those of evil character and a low state of development go at death constitute a sort of purgatory, at least, where they must remain until they have developed to a higher degree. If not punitive it is at least purgative, and the soul remains at this level until it merits promotion to a higher sphere."7 The following statements from outstanding spokesmen for Spiritualism give us further understanding of their position. A. Conan Doyle says, "Hell, I may say, drops out altogether, as it has long dropped out of the thoughts of every reasonable man. This odious conception, so blasphemous in its view of the Creator, arose from the exaggeration of Oriental phrases, and may perhaps have been of service in a coarse age when men were frightened by fires, as wild beasts are scared by the travelers. Hell as a permanent place does not exist. But the idea of punishment, of purifying chastisement, in fact of Purgatory, is justified by the reports from the other side."8 Colville says, "It (the ancient Egyptian view of trans-migration) is immeasurably superior to any view of endless useless torment such as many benighted Christian theologians have proclaimed — a conception for which there is neither rational explanation nor apology."9 Sir Oliver Lodge says, "There is nothing that can properly be called Hell in the medieval sense of eternal hopelessness; but yet Hell is very truth in so far as they suffer the pangs of remorse when their rebellious spirit is broken, and when in their felt poverty of soul they begin to long to return to the Father."10 6. Theosophy. This cult also denies eternal punishment. Annie Besant, one of the leaders of the movement, says, "If this (Luke 13:23-24) be applied in the ordinary protestant way to salvation from everlasting hell-fire, the statement becomes incredible, shocking. No Savior of the world can be supposed to assert that many will seek to avoid hell and enter heaven, but will not be able to do so. But as applied to the narrow gateway of Initiation and to salvation from rebirth, it is perfectly true and natural."11 Leadbeater, another leader of the movement, says that the astral life "corresponds to what Christians (Catholic) call purgatory; the lower mental life, which is always entirely happy, is what is called heaven" . . . Hell is "only a figment of the theological imagination."12 7. Unity. Speaking of Fillmore, the founder of Unity, Braden says, "Nowhere that the writer has discovered, does he enlarge extensively on the idea of heaven, and it will be noted that here only by silent inference is there any reference to any opposite state, corresponding to the distressing dreams of the anxious, troubled sleeper."13 Speaking of the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Fillmore himself says, "The material avenues are lost to the outer, and the soul finds itself in a hell of desires without the flesh sensations with which to express itself . . . the body consciousness, the peace of union for all the attributes of man, has been removed, producing in the life consciousness a great gulf or chasm that cannot be crossed, except by incarnation in another body."14 Unity's official "creed" says, "We believe that the dissolution of spirit, soul and body, caused by death, is annulled by rebirth of the same spirit and soul in another body here on earth. We believe the repeated incarnations of man to be a merciful provision of our loving Father to the end that all may have opportunity to attain immortality through regeneration, as did Jesus."15 Thus we see that the cults, in one way or another, deny the doctrine of eternal punishment. Could it be that if all who held the orthodox position had been more careful in their statement of the doctrine, avoiding the excesses which we have noted to have been all too prevalent in past ages, then some of these cults would never have arisen? Certainly if all who propounded the doctrine had not gone beyond a sane interpretation of the Scripture many who have done so would not have turned from orthodox Christianity to the cults. (NOTE: CLICK HERE FOR BIBLIOGRAPHY - SCROLL TO BOTTOM OF PAGE) (Denial by the Cults) Luke 16:23 "In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom . BGT Luke 16:23 καὶ ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ ἐπάρας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ, ὑπάρχων ἐν βασάνοις, ὁρᾷ Ἀβραὰμ ἀπὸ μακρόθεν καὶ Λάζαρον ἐν τοῖς κόλποις αὐτοῦ. KJV Luke 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. NET Luke 16:23 And in hell, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side. CSB Luke 16:23 And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side. ESV Luke 16:23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. NIV Luke 16:23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. NLT Luke 16:23 and his soul went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side. NRS Luke 16:23 In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. YLT Luke 16:23 and in the hades having lifted up his eyes, being in torments, he doth see Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom, GWN Luke 16:23 He went to hell, where he was constantly tortured. As he looked up, in the distance he saw Abraham and Lazarus. NKJ Luke 16:23 "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. NAB Luke 16:23 and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. MIT Luke 16:23 In the grave he lifted his eyes upward—while he experienced great agony—and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus right next to him. In Hades he lifted up his eyes Ps 9:17; 16:10; 49:15; 86:13; Pr 5:5; 7:27; 9:18; 15:24; Isaiah 14:9,15; Mt 5:22,29; 18:9; 23:33; 1 Cor 15:55; *marg:; 2 Pe 2:4; Rev 20:13,14 being in torment Luke 16:28; 8:28; Mt 8:29; Rev 14:10,11; 20:10 saw Abraham far away Luke 13:28,29; Mt 8:11,12 Luke 16 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Hell in W G T Shedd's Dogmatic Theology - one of the best on the subject of Hell Luke 16:19-31 A Great Chasm Fixed - Steven Cole Luke 16:19-31 A Testimony of One Surprised to be in Hell, Part 1 - John MacArthur Luke 16:19-31 A Testimony of One Surprised to be in Hell, Part 2 - John MacArthur Luke 16:19-31 A Testimony of One Surprised to be in Hell, Part 3 - John MacArthur Luke 16:19-31 A Testimony of One Surprised to be in Hell, Part 4 - John MacArthur Luke 16:19-31 A Testimony of One Surprised to be in Hell, Part 5 - John MacArthur Sheol (Hades) SHOCK AND SURPRISE UPON FINDING ONESELF IN HELL In Hades (hades) he lifted up his eyes, being in torment (basanos), and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom (kolpos) - Death is the door into eternity for every soul - either into heaven or hell. As someone has said "Hell is truth seen too late!" Hades (hades) is like a “holding cell” for unbelievers until their final judgment at the Great White Throne. That’s why in Revelation 20:14+, Hades is said to be thrown into the lake of fire, gehenna, the final Hell. He lifted his eyes does not indicate a geographic location for Hades. In other words, this statement does not mean that Hades is in the heart of the earth and Abraham's bosom is up in the clouds! We simply cannot say from the text. The rich man died physically but now saw truth that he was clearly alive in Hades. He was conscious, conscious of self, able to see, to feel, to speak, to remember, with immediate awareness of where he was. There is no Biblical basis for the notion that death is an unconscious state. There is no such thing as soul sleep (see note). In hell there will be immediate and continued consciousness and awareness of where one is. He was in torment (basanos) and being (huparcho) means literally to begin under and then to exist and here in the present tense signifies he would exist in this state of torment forever! 🙏 THOUGHT - This is a story about a rich man who thought he was going to Heaven and ended up in hell. And tragically, this will be the common experience of many if not most of the occupants of hell who find that "Too Late" is written on the gates of Hell! As noted earlier most surveys show that the large majority of people polled think they will go to heaven when they die. I share the gospel often beginning with the question "If you were to die tonight, where would you be tomorrow?" I would say approximately 90+% of the time the answer I get is "Heaven" or "I think in heaven." And then we talk about why they think they will be in heaven and the most common answer is "I am a good person most of the time." Most of them won't pass the Father's test for He is calling for perfection (cf Jas 2:10+). Remember the solemn warning of Jesus in Mt 7:21-23+ declaring that "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does (present tense - not perfection but direction) the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many (NOTE THIS ADJECTIVE IS NOT "FEW" BUT "MANY" - cf "MANY" in Mt 7:13, 14+) will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ (RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE WILL NOT SAVE. ONLY RIGHT RELATIONSHIP SAVES! Jn 8:24+, Acts 16:31+, Eph 2:8-9+, Jn 14:6+) 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never (ABSOLUTELY NEVER AT ANY POINT IN TIME) knew you; DEPART (present imperative - a command you do not want to hear!) FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE (present tense = as your lifestyle) LAWLESSNESS (WHICH JOHN EQUATES WITH SIN - 1Jn 3:4+)." As John Blanchard adds "To believe in Heaven but not in Hell is to declare that there were times when Jesus was telling the truth and times when He was lying." Erwin Lutzer comments on the phrase in Hades (hades) and points out that we need to understand that "the rich man of Luke 16 was not yet in hell (GEHENNA) but hades. Because the King James Version often translated both sheol and hades as "hell," this has needlessly confused two different kinds of regions. The Bible seems clear that no one is yet in (eternal) hell today. Someday, hades will be thrown into hell, but that has as yet not happened (Revelation 20:14+). What about the believer, Lazarus? He was in that region of sheol, or hades, which is called here “Abraham’s bosom.” But after the Ascension of Christ believers are said to go directly into heaven (ED: ALLUDING TO Eph 4:8ff, BUT NOT ALL EVANGELICALS ACCEPT THIS INTERPRETATION). In other words, the two regions of hades no longer exist side by side; there is reason to believe that Abraham’s bosom is in heaven today. So if you die and your spirit goes to heaven, I believe you will not be able to see those who are suffering in hades as Lazarus did. Perhaps (ED: OR ALTERNATIVELY THE OT SAINTS WENT DIRECTLY TO HEAVEN A BELIEF HELD BY A NUMBER OF CONSERVATIVE EVANGELICAL COMMENTATORS) at the ascension, Christ took those who were in Abraham’s bosom (located near those who suffered in hades) to heaven with him....Hades, as far as we know, now has only one region, and that is where unbelievers enter (ED: ON THIS POINT ALL EVANGELICALS AGREE). I believe it is still an abode for departed spirits, a temporary intermediate state where those who have not received God’s forgiveness must wait until further notice. When they hear their names called, the news that awaits them will not be encouraging." (Borrow Lutzer's book - One Minute After You Die) Watch Lutzer's message - you might let some of your skeptical friends listen to Dr Lutzer's message! One Minute After You Die - A Preview of Your final destination Warren