You're listening to Heath World with our pastor and teacher Kim Davis. Pastor Ken is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro in Burleson, Texas. Please join us as we study the Gospel of Luke verse by verse.

Can I tell you that if we as Christians could spend one second in hell, just one second, we would have a passion for winning souls that exceeds anything that we can imagine. We would gladly lay down our life to see just one person come to Christ. And yet as it is, we won't even get it.

The Gospel of Luke is the third account in the Gospels of the life and teachings of our Savior, Jesus Christ. As believers, there are a few studies that will benefit us more spiritually than studying the life and teachings of the Master. Hell is a real place. And oftentimes, even as believers, we forget that. If we took a moment to step back and think about the realities of heaven and hell, then we might function differently in our day-to-day lives. Not only would we focus more on the Father, but we would also focus more on sharing with the lost the hope that we have in the shed blood of Jesus. Don't forget to stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Heather Word, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 16, verse 19, as we join Pastor Kent.

What about Lazarus? What do we know about him? Well, certainly we know one thing: he was a believer. We know that from his end, we could also derive it from his name. Jesus didn't provide the name of the rich man, but he did provide the name for Lazarus. And the name Lazarus literally means whom God helps. So we see that Lazarus was he whom God helps. We say, well, how did God help him? He's got sores, he's being licked by dogs, he's begging for bread. Gee, thanks for the help, Lord. Can I tell you that I would rather be Lazarus and end up where Lazarus ended up than be the rich man and have my end be his. You see, we look at today. We look at this life, these moments that we spend between the year we were born and the year we die, and we sum up our lives and determine and evaluate our success by what we have accomplished or accumulated within that time span. But God judges differently. You see, this life is temporary. It's a moment. It's like the grass which grows up today and is gone tomorrow. But life, eternal life, never ends. So we see two lives. Now let's take a look at two different deaths. Verse 22 of Luke 16. So it was that the beggar died and was carried by angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. Angels are ministering spirits, messengers of God. And they are sent oftentimes to minister to us. The Bible says that precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. My mom was sharing a story with me about my grandmother. My grandmother had a very long and a very painful battle with cancer. And toward the very, very end of her life, there was a period of time where she did not speak at all for several weeks. Three months, excuse me, thank you, mom. For about three months, she didn't speak at all. Now, my grandmother was a believer. She knew the Lord. She wasn't a perfect woman by any means, but she believed in Jesus with all of her heart. And my mom took care of her through much of her sickness and was there with her up till the very end. And one day, when they were in the house, just the two of them, my mom heard my grandmother speak in her natural voice. You see, when a believer dies, when someone who knows Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior dies, and they depart this earth, they are ushered in by the angels of God to his very presence. They are ushered into glory. What is it that Jesus said to the thief on the cross who said, Remember me when you come into your kingdom? Jesus said, This day I say to you, you will be with me in paradise. And so here's Lazarus, this man who had nothing in his life, who had not two pennies to rub together. And yet when he dies, angels carry him to Abraham's bosom, to paradise. So it was that the beggar died and was carried by angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. He was buried. C.S. Lewis was once told about an atheist who had died and was buried, and on that atheist's tombstone were engraved these words. Here lies an atheist, all dressed up and no place to go. And C.S. Lewis replied, I'm sure he wishes that were so. Here lies an atheist all dressed up and no place to go. I'm sure he wishes that were so. Because the fact of the matter is, apart from Jesus Christ and his shed blood upon the cross, there is one destination for the immortal soul of man, and that is hell. Did I say hell? Yes, I said hell. Because apart from Jesus Christ, apart from that name which is above every name, there is no salvation. The Bible tells us that there is no name, no other name under heaven by which man may be saved, but by the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. And anyone who would deny that is no minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, regardless of what his title may say. Now I'm not casting stones, nor am I passing judgment. I'm just telling you what the Bible says. Those words are not mine, they belong to our God. Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. So it was that the beggar died and was carried by angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. This tells us something: that after death there is a consciousness, there is an awareness of our surroundings. There is a recognition of not only who we are and where we are, but also of those whom we knew and even of those whom we did not know. This rich man had never seen Abraham, and yet he saw that there was Lazarus and there was Abraham, and he knew who they both were. He knew who they were. You see, when we pass from this life into the next, we will know a whole lot more than we know today. We will see a whole lot more than we see right now. We will be conscious. You know, there are those who teach the doctrine of soul sleep. And I don't think they'll lose their salvation for believing it, but they're wrong. You see, they look at it and they say, when we die, we just go to sleep and we're buried in the ground, and our soul is asleep, and that's it. That's all that happens to us until the day of the resurrection. And then we're raised from the dead and we're with Christ or cast into hell, whichever the case may be. The Bible doesn't teach soul sleep. The Bible teaches that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And we see from this story, from these words, that whether we believe in Jesus or not, we will be conscious after death. And I would not want to be there without him. Because it says here that he was in torments in Hades, in the grave, in shell. Now, this place, Hades, that's being spoken of here, is not hell as we think of it, that great lake of fire. But this is a place where the dead await the final judgment. And this is where this rich man found himself. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. Then 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. Does that sound like a pleasant place to be? And yet, there are so many people who are bound and determined to go here. They say, How could a loving God send someone to hell or he'll even allow hell to exist? The fact of the matter is, he sends no one. We were already going there when he sent his son to save us. God doesn't want anyone to end up in this place. And yet, when we choose, by rejecting the gospel of Jesus Christ, to live a life separated from God, and we die in that state, then we have chosen to be separated from God for all eternity. Someone once asked Billy Graham what he thought hell would be like, and he said this. I don't really know what hell would be like per se, and I'm quoting him loosely. He said, but I do know this. To be in hell is to live all eternity completely separated from God. And that's bad enough for me. Because you see, we don't know what it's like to be completely separated from God. Now we are separated relationally from him before we come to Christ, and yet we live in a world that surrounds us with testimony of his presence. He causes the rain to fall on the just and on the unjust alike. Even though we don't know him, we receive his blessings through life, don't we? And yet in hell, we're completely cut off. Forever separated. The rich man cried out for mercy, but mercy was gone. The time for mercy had passed. But Abraham said, Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things. And likewise Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted, and you are tormented. Now let me say this Lazarus was not in paradise because of his poverty, nor was the rich man in Hades because of his wealth. Lazarus was in paradise because his trust was in Jesus, was in God, was in the Word of God. The rich man was in Hades because his trust and his faith was in himself and in what he possessed. Abraham goes on in verse 26. And besides all this, between us and you, there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us. Then he said, the rich man, I beg you, therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment. Abraham said to him, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said, No, Father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent. But he said to him, If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rise from the dead. See, the rich man is saying, If I cannot be helped, then please help my brothers so that they don't end up right here. Can I tell you that if we as Christians could spend one second in hell, just one second, we would have a passion for winning souls that exceeds anything that we can imagine. We would gladly lay down our life to see just one person come to Christ. And yet, as it is, we won't even get off the couch most of the time. I say this to our shame. I didn't say your shame. I said our shame. I don't want you to feel this morning that I'm beating you without being beaten myself. We are at fault. We live, with few exceptions, the life of that rich man. Our efforts, our energies, our resources, our strength is spent upon our own comfort and our own pleasure. When right outside our gate is a world that is in need of Jesus, we have what they need. And yet we seem so unwilling to share it with them. Now, when Jesus died and he descended into paradise, and he preached to those that were there and ascended to heaven, many teach that that side of Hades, which was paradise, Abraham's bosom, was emptied. And I believe that that is so. You see, because before, when a righteous person died, they died having believed in the Messiah, looking forward to him. But the cross had not yet come. His blood had not yet been shed. But when Jesus died and paid the price for all of our sins for all eternity, I believe that he brought those people into the very presence of God. That's why Paul says that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. But what of those others who were there in torment? What of them? Will they be there in Hades for all eternity? What is their end? We've seen two lives, we've seen two deaths, we've seen one destiny. What is the destiny of Lazarus? It's that he be in the presence of God. What is the destiny of this rich man? Let's look to Revelation chapter 20. Now the revelation was given to John, and John was shown those things that were to come. Starting in verse one, John writes, Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and he cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus, and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. You see, I believe that when we come to this time, that we come to the millennial reign of Christ, where Christ rules upon this earth for a thousand years. This is after the Great Tribulation, this is after the rapture of the church which preceded it. This is that time when Christ will establish his kingdom upon the earth. But the rest of the dead, verse five tells us, did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. Now, this first resurrection, those that took part in this first resurrection, guys, that's us. Because it says that the dead in Christ shall rise first, and that those who remain shall be caught up together with them in the air. That is the rapture of the church. Those who believe in Jesus, who are called by his name, who put their faith, their hope, and their trust in him and him alone, will have part in this first resurrection. And the scripture tells us here that they are blessed and they are holy, and that the second death has no power over them. Verse 7. Now, when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Verse eleven. Then I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. That's important. Books Were opened. What's in those books? I believe that that is the record of the lives of the people of the earth. Everything that they have done, everything that they have thought is recorded in those books. But then, aside from those books, another book was opened, a different book altogether than those, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works. Now let me ask you this. If you are a Christian, are you dead? You are not dead, nor shall you ever die. Jesus said, He who believes in me shall never die. So even if your physical body has been put in the ground and your soul separated from it, you are, as a believer in Christ, going to live forever. And so when it says here that the dead were judged according to their works, it is talking about the dead apart from Christ. Because as Christians, you will not be judged according to your works. Now you will be judged to give an account of your stewardship, you see. And there will be rewards, but that is not a judgment, that is not condemnation to you. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God. And books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it. I believe that that refers to those who died in the flood of Noah. Not just those who died at sea, but those who died in the waters of judgment. The sea gave up the dead who were in it. And death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. Guess who's there? That rich man, right here. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Friends, Hades is a bad, bad place. But that lake of fire is hell. And there isn't one person on the face of this earth that has to go there. Will there be those that go there? Absolutely. But they didn't have to. And because of the grace of God and the shed blood of Jesus Christ, you don't have to go there either. Jesus did not come to condemn you. He came to save you. Turn with me to John chapter three. Verse sixteen. Actually. For no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. And Nicodemus was right. They knew who Jesus was. That is what made their sins so grievous.

Do you ever feel like the circumstances you're going through are more than you can bear? That God is in some way punishing you? Well, consider the words of Paul, and we know that all things work together for the good. To those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. So we learn from this verse that all things, not some, but all things work together if we love God and are called according to his purpose. Just something to think about from your friends here at Heather Word. Heed the Word is the daily Bible teaching ministry of Ken Davis, Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel in Burleson, Texas. There's a great deal more that Pastor Ken has to share with us from the Gospel of Luke, so please join us again. Now, maybe you'd like to add today's message to your study library. Our online media is always available and free of charge. CD copies are also available upon request for free, but supplies are limited so ordered today. To order a CD, simply log on to HeedTheWord.org and select the order a message option. There you'll find a convenient order form to fill out. The only information you need to remember is today's day. This ensures we get you the right teaching. So log on to heedheword.org and place your order today. Or better yet, join us this Sunday for worship at 10:30 a.m. Directions are available on our website. That's heedtheword.org. Well, we've run out of time today, but tune in next time as Pastor Ken will continue teaching verse by verse through the Gospel of Luke. That's next time on Heatheword.