EIGHTY WORDS OF TERROR FROM THE DEPTHS OF HADES ( LUKE 16:19- 31)

INTRODUCTION:
1. Imagine you just received a very special gift for your

birthday. It is something you've always wanted - a short-wave radio. You unwrap it from it's packaging, follow all the instructions in setting it up, plug it in, flip the "on" switch, and begin to turn the dial. Suddenly, you're receiving your first transmission. You quickly assess, however, that your first transmission is a desperate message coming over the short wave radio at sea: "Mayday! Mayday! This is the Blue Dolphin One Seven Seven. We have encountered a storm (static)... taking on water (static) ...two overboard... (static) repeat... taking on water! (static)... Mayday! Mayday! ...any ships in vicinity, please... (static).." then silence. Those few words of terror picked up on a short-wave radio, set you into motion. You quickly contact the Coast Guard to relay the message, giving them the name of the vessel, the frequency of the broadcast, and the exact time you picked up the transmission.

2. A few words spoken in terror from the high seas... they set

you into motion. You identified with the panicked person on the broadcast. For a few short moments, his terror became yours.

THIS MORNING, I WOULD LIKE TO CALL YOUR ATTENTION TO A FEW WORDS OF TERROR - EIGHTY OF THEM TO BE EXACT - THAT ARE RECORDED IN THE BIBLE. THE TRANSMISSION DID NOT COME FROM SOMEONE IN DISTRESS ON THE HIGH SEAS. THEY WERE SPOKEN BY SOMEONE IN DISTRESS FROM THE VERY DEPTHS OF HADES.
The words are these: "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue; for I am in agony in this flame... "Then I beg you, Father, that you send him to my father's house--for I have five brothers-- that he may warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment. "No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!" 3. The eighty words you just heard make up the only

transmission we have from that place the Bible calls Hades. Like the short-wave mayday message, these words from Hades ought to set us into motion. We should identify with
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the person transmitting them. I hope I can help you do that in this message.
4. The words from Hades are recorded in Luke 16:19-31.

Please turn with me to this section of the Bible.

(Read Luke 16:19-31 NASV).

THIS MORNING, WE WILL LEARN SOME LESSONS FROM THIS POWERFUL BIBLICAL ACCOUNT OF A MAN WHO ENDED UP IN THE DEPTHS OF HADES.

FIRST, IN THIS PASSAGE, WE SEE A MAN CAUGHT IN A TERRIBLE CIRCUMSTANCE .

I. Verse 23 says, "and in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment."

1. In our lives, we do our very best to remove or set aside unpleasant circumstances. Many of us do not even want to talk about death. 2. Consider the last funeral you attended of an unbeliever someone who lived all the way through life with no regard for the things of God. Look around in your mind's eye. What do you see there at the funeral? The flowers are meticulously placed, the music is soothing, the funeral director is wearing his best sad/pleasant/understanding face, and the person bringing the eulogy is engaging as he recounts the person's accomplishments in life. However, little or nothing is mentioned about life after death. Everyone carefully avoids that subject unless it's the oftened mentioned and misleading phrase, "at least he's in a better place."
3. Now imagine that suddenly the funeral of that unbeliever is

interrupted by the terrified voice of the deceased coming over the loud speaker system. "Please, somebody help me! I'm in agony in this flame! I'm in torment! Help me!"

4. It would certainly change the mood, wouldn't it? All the somber faces would change to looks of horror. The farce would be exposed for what it is. All the talk of peace and rest and "he's in a better place" would cease as people came face to face with the truth.

5. Now, of course, such a thing is likely to happen. But if it

did, it would be an accurate picture of what it would be like for the death of an unbeliever. He would want to scream out to his loved ones present at his funeral "get your life right with God, because you don't want to come here -- a place of agony and torment!"
a. Twice in this passage the word "torment" is used. Twice

the word "agony" appears - once the word "flame." No, you won't hear any of these words every mentioned at a funeral. Rest assured though, according to the Bible, in the context of the deceased unbeliever, that is what is going on. Brethren, we must not allow this to happen to us. We cannot die without the Lord. We must remain faithful to our Savior and stay away sin. If we die without the Lord, then we will be put up in the hotel of torment and agony. We need to start taking our spiritual lives more seriously and prepare ourselves for heaven.

SECOND, IN THIS PASSAGE, WE SEE A MAN WHOSE SITUATION WAS DESPERATE .

II. Verse 24 says, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me..." 1. Considering the rest of the story here, we need to realize

that this man was not use to asking for help. He had probably never been desperate in his entire earthly life. According to Jesus, he had lived a life of splendor. He regularly wore clothing of purple and fine linen from only the best shops. He had no needs. Human need was as far away from his conscious mind as his wealth could keep it. Though such desperation existed just outside his front gate in the beggar who lay there, this man managed to keep it from spoiling his day.
2. Now suddenly, he was crying out for mercy. As Lazarus

once "longed to be fed with the crumbs" that fell from his table, now he was longing for just one drop of water.
3. It is hard to imagine a more desperate condition than the

one this man was in. Yes, people have died horrible deaths in fire here on earth, but the key word there is "died." They died. This man wasn't dying! All the agony was there without the ending of it.
Revelation 14:11 contains these words: "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night..." Matthew 25:46 says, "And these will go away into eternal punishment..."

No wonder the man was crying for mercy. He was experiencing eternal punishment!

4. How do you describe eternity? I don't really know. It's

longer than a lifetime. It's longer than a millenium. It's longer than the entire history of man. It is forever!
5. If the punishment in Hades or Hell lasted only a week,

perhaps one could endure it without crying out for mercy. If it went on for a year, at least he could dream of the time when it would be over. But to imagine a punishment that never ends, that is a desperate situation. 6. Listen, on this side of death, you can obtain ten thousand gallons of the water of God's mercy whenever you need it. On the other side, if you die outside of Christ, there will be none not even one drop.

THIRD, IN THIS TRANSMISSION FROM HADES, WE SEE A MAN FOR WHOM NOTHING COULD BE DONE .
III. Verse 26 says "there is a great chasm fixed...that none may cross over from there to us." 1. In the beginning of the story, the two men are separated by

a gate, by the end of the story they are separated by a gulf.

2. You can step through a gate. You cannot step across a

gulf. The point is, there was nothing anyone could do - even if they had wanted to.
3. There is no remedy for one in Hades or Hell. The only thing

that can be done is preventative and it has already been done. This man was told, "They have Moses and the prophets, let them here them." In other words, having lived and died under the Old Testament, he should have listened to the Old Testament Scriptures. That was the only hope for his relatives, too.
4. You see, many living today think that if there were really

such a place as Hell, God would somehow alert them in a special way so as to get their undivided attention.
5. The rich man in Luke 16 chose either to be ignorant of the

Scriptures or to disregard them. There was no additional warning.

6. Neither would there be a special warning to his five

brothers. Nor will there be any more warning to you and me or to others living today.

7. It is possible that someone here is thinking, "One of these

days God will do something really big to get my attention, then I'll change. That didn't happen in this man's life. He had received all the warning he was ever to get. Once a person gets to Hades, there will be nothing anyone can do to help him.

Verse 25 says, "During your life you received your good things... [now] you are in agony."

8. God had already extended all the goodness this man was going to get. His problem was, he did nothing with it. The key words there are "during your life." "During your life" is all the time you get. If you blow it, it will be too late afterwards to change the result. 9. Don't interpret God's goodness toward you today as an indicator that everything is all right. Don't think to yourself that since you have money or good jobs that God must be blessing you and that you will automatically make it to heaven. The rich man thought he had it all, but he was lacking one thing: salvation--a relationship with God. I think that many people are going to be surprised when they find themselves in Hades. They will be there because they spent too much time focusing on worldly pleasures and not enough time serving and loving God. 10. If you end up in Hades, it will be too late.

CONCLUSION: ILLUSTRATION: On May 11, 1996, ValuJet Flight 592 crashed into the Florida Everglades. On that day 110 people came face to face with the horrifying reality of death. For the people aboard Flight 592 that fateful day, there is nothing we can do. There is no way to undo what happened. But preventative steps can be taken in the future to keep such a thing from happening again. You see, ValuJet cut corners in their maintenance. They squeezed every bit of profit out of business that they could, all the while ignoring warning after warning in regards to their aircraft maintenance.
1. Likewise, today there is nothing that can be done about

those already in Hades. But preventative steps can be taken to assure that other people don't end up there. But we cannot cut corners. We cannot live as though it could never happen to us. Like a "black box" containing a voice recording of disaster-in-progress, the words of Jesus here in Luke 16 warn us to be careful of the maintenance of our relationship with Him. They also spur us into action to try to reach our loved ones and neighbors before it is too late.
2. If you are not a Christian, don't wait! Don't risk an eternity

of torment for the sake of a few years of pleasure. Be reconciled to God today.
3. For those of us who are Christians, we dare not let up on

our commitment to Christ. The danger is too great and the stakes are too high.
4. At this time, the Lords invitation is extended. If you have

any needs, please come now as we stand and sing.

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"Now there was a certain rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, gaily living in splendor every day. 20 "And a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21 and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man's table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. 22 "Now it came about that the poor man died and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. 23 "And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *[4] saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 "And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue; for I am in agony in this flame.' 25 "But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, in order that those who wish to come over from here to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.' 27 "And he said, 'Then I beg you, Father, that you send him to my father's house 28 for I have five brothersthat he may warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' 29 "But Abraham *[5] said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.' 30 "But he said, 'No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!' 31 "But he said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.'"

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