[0:00] We read them last week. We'll refer to them again this week, but I won't read the whole passage for you again. We were talking about the fact that there's people who do things we don't know their name, but they have an impact on our Christian life.
[0:18] You know, there's people who come around, sometimes we have no clue who their name is, but they have an impact on our life some way or another. And in this case, we talked about the little boy with the five loaves and the two fishes.
[0:32] Don't know his name, but he had an impact. And in this case, we're talking about a no name in hell. And we were talking about the rich man. He goes to hell, verse 23.
[0:44] It says, and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments. And Lazarus, who was a man who had been begging outside his gates. We talked about the where.
[0:56] The fact that it says he's in hell, verse 23 there. We talked about the fact that hell is an actual place. You know, a lot of people think, oh, it's just a reference to a state of mind, or, you know, hell is here on earth, and those type of things.
[1:11] And we talked about people don't understand, because if they did, they would not use that word so lightly. You know, people say, I mentioned people using different things that said, oh, that was a hell of a good deal, or that was a hell of a game, or something like that.
[1:26] They don't understand what hell is. And we talked about the fact that it is an actual place. This man was there. Psalm 9, verse 17 says, The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
[1:40] We said, second of all, hell is an awful place, because it talks about the fact there in verse 23, it says that he was being in torment. If you look at verse 24, it says, 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.
[2:04] And it said, it's an awful place. You know, he talks about the torment that he's going through there, and the things that he is facing there. And I don't know if I pointed this out last week, but I find it interesting.
[2:16] He's there in hell. And he doesn't say, I didn't do it. You know, like most of the people who come into the jail and say, I didn't do it. It wasn't my fault. He doesn't say anything. He just asks, can you get a couple of drops of water on his finger to cool me off?
[2:32] He doesn't say anything about not being guilty. And then we said the third thing was that hell is an avoidable place. God says in Matthew 25, 41, Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, unto everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
[2:55] It's an avoidable place. It was prepared for the devil and his angels. It was not prepared for us. But because we decide not to accept what God did for us through Jesus Christ, we wind up going there.
[3:08] We make the choice to go there. God would rather us be in heaven. You all know John 14 where he talks about he's going to prepare a place for us. He wanted to prepare a place for us.
[3:19] But because of man's sin and because man wants to make his own choices, do his own thing, which we've been talking about in the morning services, trying to do our own works, people wind up in hell.
[3:32] And he says in Isaiah 5, 14, Therefore hell hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure. He says it's having to expand because of people's sin.
[3:46] Then the second thing we started to talk about was the what of the rich man. What? Yes.
[4:09] Kind of. Yep. And that's what this passage says. There's a gulf between the two. Yep. Yep. And hell.
[4:48] Because the bottom of the pit is going to have to be fire as well. So, yep. Okay, the what of the rich man. We've heard, first of all, it was a place of tormenting forces.
[4:59] And we talked about what was going on there. It's a place of fire. It tells us that in verse 24. It tells us that in many other places in the Bible. Matthew 3, 12, at the end of the verse, it says, He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
[5:13] Matthew 13, 40 through 42. It talks about the, well, as therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world.
[5:29] And in verse 42, it says, Then shall he cast into the furnace of fire. It shall be wailing and gnashing teeth. Mark 9, 44 says, And the fire is not quenched.
[5:40] So, we talked about it's a place of flame, fire. It's also a place of darkness. We talked about that. There's no light there. So, these people who talk about the fact that we're going to go there and have a big party, me and all my friends.
[5:55] No. It's a place of darkness. 2 Peter 2, 4. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment.
[6:09] Revelation 3, 9. Revelation 9, 2. And he opened the bottomless pit, and there arose a smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace.
[6:21] And the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. We talked about it's a place of loneliness. And the fact that Jesus will not be there. And if you've got flame and you've got darkness, you're going to be lonely.
[6:35] And Jesus is not there. Isaiah 41, 10. Fear not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. But if you haven't accepted Christ, he's not going to be with you there in hell. Hebrews 13, 5.
[6:46] I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. But if you haven't asked Jesus into your life, it's not going to happen. And then we looked at verse 25 here in Luke 16. And it said, but Abraham said, son, remember that in thy lifetime thou receivest good things.
[7:03] It's a place of remembrance. We talked about the fact people who are going to go to hell, they're going to remember. And it's not going to be the, oh, I remember this day when we did this picnic and all this sort of stuff.
[7:15] No, it's going to be the matter of, I had this opportunity to accept Christ, and I didn't do it. I saw it was in the church service, and I heard this invitation. I didn't take it. I had my friend at work who was talking to me, and I didn't take the opportunity.
[7:29] They're going to remember the chances they had. Which brings us to where we left off, which is hell is a place of tantalizing demons.
[7:42] Here's an interesting thing to think about. When we think about hell again, we're going to go there, we're going to have a big party. Well, we already said no, you're not, because of all of these things.
[7:57] But if you were to have a big party, you always want to know when you're having a party who's on the guest list. Right? You want to know who's going to be there. Revelation 19, 20.
[8:07] Revelation 20, verse 10.
[8:28] Revelation 21, 8.
[8:41] So who's on the guest list?
[8:59] The devil, the beast, the false prophet, and you want to go hang out with those guys? Huh? All bad guys. All bad guys. And then it tells other people who are going to be there.
[9:09] It says murderers and adulterers and this and that and the other. He says, here's the guest list. Is this who you want to party with? The first one of those?
[9:23] Revelation 19, 20. Yep. Yep. So. So. But that list is like in another place, such as you were such as those.
[9:36] Yep. Under the blood of Christ. You're not going there. All those people are not going there. Those who accepted Christ as Savior. Yep. And had taken what he did because he paid the punishment for it.
[9:49] And as long as we accept what he did, we're good. Again, the idea of the party. Think about what it says here in this chapter 16.
[10:01] And then verse 24. Send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water.
[10:13] There aren't going to be any six packs in hell. He says, if he could just dip the tip of his finger, I get one or two drops. It would relieve it.
[10:25] So. Think about what it's going to be like there. And then he's. Since hell is a place of terrifying rejection. Terrifying rejection. One of the most horrific things about hell.
[10:40] Is that. There's no end. When you go to hell. There's no doors. No windows. No way of escape. There's no vacations from hell.
[10:52] There's no break time from hell. This is an everlasting place of eternal rejection. Luke.
[11:03] 16 verse 26 there. It says. And besides all this. Between us and you. There is a great gulf fixed. So that they which would pass from hence.
[11:14] To you cannot. Neither can they pass to us. They would come from thence. You know. If I can see heaven. I want to go there. But he says.
[11:25] There's a great gulf fixed. There's no going. Once you're there. There's no. Coming out. So the idea of purgatory. And all those things. Not according to this passage of scripture.
[11:37] No more second chances. So. You know. No one can leave. And the scriptures. Emphasize that. It's an eternal thing. Second Thessalonians 1.9.
[11:49] Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction. From the presence of the Lord. And from the glory of his power. Everlasting. Revelation 14.11.
[11:59] And the smoke of their torment. Ascended up forever and ever. And they have no rest day. Nor night. They worship the beast. And his image. Who worshiped the beast.
[12:10] And his image. And whosoever receiveth the mark. Of his name. Says. There's no. No escape. It's going to be. An eternal thing.
[12:21] There was an African American man. By the name of James. Walden Johnson. He lived in the. Late 1800s. Early 1900s. And he wrote a poem.
[12:33] Called The Judgment Day. Let me read what he wrote. And the wicked. Like lumps of lead. Will start to fall. Headlong. For seven days and nights.
[12:45] They'll fall. Where you get that from. I'm not sure. Plumb into the black. Big black. Red hot mouth of hell. Belching out fire and brimstone. And their cries. Like howling.
[12:55] Yelping dogs. Will go up. With the flame. And smoke from hell. But God will stop his ears. Too late sinner. Too late. Goodbye sinner. Goodbye.
[13:07] In hell sinner. In hell. Beyond the reach. Of the love of God. Pretty. Hopeless. Situation.
[13:19] Number three. The why. The why. Of the rich man. Why. In this. Story.
[13:31] True story. Not a parable. Remember we pointed that out. It's not a parable. Why. Is the rich man. Not named. Why is his name not.
[13:44] Well. Think about it for a minute. There are no names. That's. What I'm going to get at. Yep. He was a man who on this earth.
[13:56] Had developed a name. We don't know his name. But he had developed a name. He was a rich man. People knew him. People respected him. You know. There's some eight billion people on the planet.
[14:07] Today. Many of them. Many of them. You know. Were alive before we were. Many of them. You know. Will live after we do. The Bible teaches us.
[14:19] That God knows each one of us individually. In fact. God created us. He forms us. He gives us. Our personalities and things. Psalms.
[14:30] I have. Psalm 139. Verses 13 through 16. Listen to what it says. For thou hast possessed my reins. Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
[14:42] I will praise thee. For I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works. And that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee. Though I was made in secret.
[14:54] And curiously wrought. In the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance. Yet being imperfect. And in thy book.
[15:05] All my members were written. Which in continuance were fashioned. When as yet. There were none of them. God put us together. God knows who we are.
[15:15] He knows all about us. He told the prophet Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 1.5. He says. Before I form thee in the belly. I knew thee.
[15:26] And before thou camest forth out of the womb. I sanctified thee. And I ordained thee a prophet. Of the nations. Unto the nations. He says. I know who each one of you is.
[15:38] Like I said. Eight billion people on the earth. Forget the people who have lived before us. Those will be coming after us. Eight billion people. And God knows every one of them. And he knows their name.
[15:49] One of the great things about knowing Jesus Christ. Is that when he comes into our life. One of the things that the Bible talks about is.
[16:02] Our name is sealed. The name is sealed. He says. We're sealed by the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1.13. In whom. Ye also trusted.
[16:13] After that ye heard the word of truth. The gospel of your salvation. In whom also. After that ye believed. Ye were sealed. With the Holy Spirit.
[16:24] Of promise. God seals us. God says. You're going to be mine. You're part of my family. We've talked about this in the morning service recently. He says. You're going to be part of my family.
[16:36] You have a heavenly position. With Christ. And when he returns. You're going to be with us. Verse 14 there in Ephesians 1. Says this. Which is the earnest. Of our inheritance.
[16:47] Until the redemption. Of the purchased possession. Unto the praise of his glory. God says. When you accept me as Savior. I'm giving you an assurance. You are sealed by the Holy Spirit.
[17:00] He is the down payment. The earnest. The down payment. On your inheritance. You get the Holy Spirit. With you now. And then when you get to heaven. You get so much more.
[17:13] Think about it. Nothing. The Bible says. Can separate us. From the love of God. Nothing can separate us. From our relationship with God. John chapter 10.
[17:23] Verse 28. 29. You know them well. I give unto them eternal life. And they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them. Out of my hand. My Father which gave them me.
[17:34] Is greater. Than all. No man is able to pluck them. Out of my Father's hand. And I've demonstrated. For you before. But. We have some here. Who. Probably haven't seen it.
[17:46] Jesus hand. I'm putting a cough drop. In my hand. I've got it inside my hands. And then take God's hands. Over top of my hands.
[17:57] Nobody's getting that cough drop. Out of my hand. He says. When you come to Christ. And you accept Christ. You're sealed. You're taken care of. You can.
[18:07] No one's going to pluck you. Out of God's hands. Because you've got God's hands. Over yours. And then you've got Jesus. Who is. God. In his hands.
[18:19] No one's getting through those. And he says. I've got you. I'm watching over you. I'm taking care of you. 2nd Timothy 1 12. For the witch cause. I also suffer these things.
[18:31] Nevertheless. I'm not ashamed. For I know. Whom I have believed. And in persuaded. That he is able to keep me. Keep. That which I have committed. Unto him.
[18:42] Against that day. I've committed my life to Christ. He says. I'm able to keep you. Until that day. You arrive here in heaven. I've got you.
[18:53] But. Here's where things get interesting. A name stricken. A name stricken.
[19:06] Revelation chapter 3. Verse 5. God assures the church at Sardis. That he will not blot their names. Out of the book of life. Revelation 3 5.
[19:17] He that overcometh. The same shall be clothed. In white raiment. And I will not blot out his name. Out of the book of life. But I will confess his name. Before my father.
[19:27] And before his angels. If I understand this passage right. God actually has his book. Names written.
[19:40] When we're born. Like I said. God knows every one of us by name. God has us. We trust Christ. The Holy Spirit seals. Our name.
[19:53] So that it can never. Be removed. From that book. But those who don't trust Christ. Hmm. What happens to their name.
[20:05] So why are there no names in hell? Because their names have been. Blotted out. In God's. Book of life. You know.
[20:16] Think about it. There's a potential for names. To be blotted out of God's. Book. Which makes me start. Stop and question some things. I'll get to in a minute.
[20:27] But I'll tell you what I question in a minute. Those who reject. What happens to their name? They're blotted out. Revelation 20 verse 15 says. And whosoever was not found.
[20:38] Written in the book of life. Was cast into the lake of fire. Thus. No names in hell. Now here's my question. We sing songs.
[20:58] One of the songs. I don't know. How many of you are familiar with it. It was written by a lady named. Marianne Pepper Kidder. Is my name written there? And the chorus of that song says.
[21:10] Is my name written there? On the page white and fair. In the book of thy kingdom. Is my name written there? That's a good question. Is my name written?
[21:21] Have I accepted Christ? Have I been sealed by the Holy Spirit? Is my name written? In that book of life. Then there's another song. We sing often. I was once a sinner.
[21:34] But I came pardoned to receive from my Lord. This was freely given. And I found that he always kept his word. There's a new name. Written down in glory. And it's mine. It's like. Okay.
[21:45] Which one of these songs is right? You know. So. I did some looking. I did some reading. From different ones.
[21:57] Matthew Henry. Albert Barnes. And a bunch of other guys. And stuff. Here's my conclusion. I don't know. I'll let you know.
[22:07] Someday after I get to heaven. So. Where there's some. All the names are listed. And they're blotted out when we die. If we haven't accepted Christ. Or when we accept Christ. The name is added in.
[22:19] I don't know. But either way. We're sealed. By the Holy Spirit. Dana. Well. I have to. Around. Where it says.
[22:29] There's actually. Two books of life. There's God's father. Which we can be blotted out of. And then there's. Christ. Or the lamb's book of life.
[22:41] That we can't be taken out of. I did look at that theory too. And that's one of the theories. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. When we're born. We go into a book. When we're saved.
[22:52] We go into another book. So that. Compare this book. To this book. That name. Is not in this book. Therefore. They're going to hell.
[23:02] I find it interesting. That there are a lot of people. That are quite wealthy. And. Their legacy. Is their name. On a building. For some of them.
[23:14] Who do not know Christ. That's the only place. They're going to know. Yep. Yep. On. On some stone somewhere. John.
[23:25] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. A couple of things. In hell. What about. The name. Satan. It said there.
[23:36] When we were reading earlier. It says. The devil. Will go. To hell. Doesn't use the name. Satan. Doesn't use the name. Lucifer. Just says the devil. Just says the devil. Yep.
[23:47] That's the name. Okay. It's more descriptive. Of who he is. But yes. We use that as a name. But. But. Okay.
[23:57] Okay. Another thing. In the world of the latinx. Mm-hmm. We all know. It's quite intricate. It talks about. The end of Christ.
[24:10] With the ten heads on. Mm-hmm. Because you know. You can set those up. And build them. We've got to serve them. You can do it. And. Mm-hmm. Herod. Nero. Yeah.
[24:22] People like that. Right. Yeah. Yeah. And. And. It talks about the sword. It comes out of. Jesus mouth.
[24:32] Mm-hmm. Now. Literally. I don't think it's a blade. I think it's the word. It's the word. Yes. It's the word. Yeah.
[24:43] And I think it's a word. It comes out. Well. The Bible. So. In Hebrews. talks about the fact. The sword of the spirit. And it talks about. The sword. Which is the word of God.
[24:54] So. Yeah. I think. The word. Yeah. So. It's like. It's a judgment. If. If. If. I think. hell and they go beyond that abyss on the other side that he created for the devil and the saint.
[25:11] If God can say at the beginning, let there be light. Let there be this. Let there be that. Yeah, he can say let there not be this and let there not be that.
[25:21] Yeah. So, yeah. Okay. Someone has said, no one is prepared to live until they're prepared to die.
[25:37] And no one's prepared to die until they trust in Jesus Christ. That's the key. Do we trust in Jesus Christ? Because that moment we put our trust in him that he is the savior.
[25:50] He died for our sin. He took our sin upon him. He paid the price for us. In fact, when we believe that and that he rose again and came back to life, that's when we're saved.
[26:05] And he says, when you're saved, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit. So whether your name is on the church rolls or your name is on a baptismal certificate or it's on the corner office, some office building, doesn't matter.
[26:21] What did you do with Jesus? I've often said when you stand before God at judgment, I think the first question he's going to ask you is, what did you do with Jesus?
[26:33] I don't have any scripture to back that up, but I think that's the gist of what's going to happen. What did you do with Jesus?
[26:46] And it says there again in Revelation 2015, and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast in the lake of fire. So when you think about that, and you think about these things we've talked about, it's an actual place, it's an awful place, it's an avoidable place and all that, how do we view the people around us?
[27:10] Are we a testimony to them? Are we praying for them? Are we warning them about hell? You know, most of them, you talk about hell, they're going to go, no, we need to convince them.
[27:26] It's an actual place. No parties, no six-packs, none of that. Hmm?
[27:38] John? John? I've been, as you all know, all the time, this isn't a challenge. There's a place outside of the city, and you talk about very, in bad shape.
[27:53] The great salt lake has to be important. Yep. Yep. So, all right. Any other questions this morning?
[28:06] Next week, you want to read ahead? I can't remember where it is now. Anyway, I can tell you the story and then you can find where it is. It's, it's, uh, Naaman.
[28:20] A little servant girl. No name. But she had an influence. Yes? Um, even in talking to Gemma, the idea of praying for someone to harm you, that they would be saved.
[28:41] Yep. Um, that's a real measure of the forgiveness in your heart, but to recognize they're going to help without time. And to pray for them that they won't.
[28:53] Yep. Yep. So. Okay. That's that word prayer. Father, thank you for this time to get... I think I want you to make sure I want you to make sure I want you to make sure I want you to make sure I want you to make sure I want you to make sure I want you to make sure