A PARABLE ABOUT ME (4): YOU DONT HAVE TO GO

(Luke 16:22-27)
June 19, 2016
Intro As weve been looking at this passage, weve said its less about hell
than about the identity we choose in this life that follows us into the next.
Jesus is warning You must choose Me or Self. And who you choose will
define your eternal existence. With this in mind, Tim Keller says this about
hell as described in this text: Hell begins with a grumbling mood, always
complaining, always blaming others . . . but you are still distinct from it.
You may even wish you could stop it. But there may come a day when you
no longer can. Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood or even to
enjoy it, but just the grumble itself, going on forever like a machine. It is
not a question of God sending us to hell. In each of us there is something
growing, which will BE Hell unless it is nipped in the bud. The people in
hell are miserable. We see raging like unchecked flames in their pride, their
paranoia, their self-pity, their certainty that everyone else is wrong that
everyone else is an idiot! All their humility is gone, and thus so is their
sanity. They are utterly, finally locked in a prison of their own selfcenteredness. They continue to go to pieces forever, blaming everyone but
themselves. Hell is that, writ large.
Thats a fascinating description, but it could be taken right from our passage.
Our outline is I. The Eternal Me is Determined in This Life (Me Unformed).
II. Death Reveals but does not Change Me (Me Unveiled). The parable
reveals three things. A. There will be surprises. Saw those a couple weeks
ago. B. There will be suffering and C. There will be splendor. Last week we
looked at the first two parts of the suffering. 1. There will be torment
without termination. Are the flames real? Doesnt matter bc if not they
represent something worse the torment of an unchecked disintegration into
total and complete selfishness such that all sanity is lost and only anger,
bitterness and unremitting regret remain. 2. There will be darkness without
dawn. This is the darkness of the absence of Gods presence. The chance of
mercy is gone. All is despair. Not a sliver of hope. God is gone.
3. There will be regret without repentance
In v. 24 rich man asks, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send
Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in
anguish in this flame. Does this man regret not helping Lazarus all those
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years when he lay at his gate? I think its possible. It would have been easy for
him to provide relief, but he could not be bothered. Now with tables reversed,
I think its likely he regrets his indifference. BUT its for sure that he regrets
where he is. He is in anguish and begs for relief. When that was not
forthcoming, he says in v. 27, Then I beg you, father, to send him to my
fathers house 28 for I have five brothersso that he may warn them, lest
they also come into this place of torment. Regrets oh hes got a few but
then again not too few to mention. He is tormented by regret.
But repentance? No! Not going there. Not on the to do list. Those who
wouldt repent in this life will not repent in hell. Regret, yes. Repentance,
no. Did you notice something interesting in v. 24? Rich Man knows
Lazarus? He even knows his name. Isnt that interesting? Youd have thought
he was oblivious to Lazarus existence. You might have excused him for not
knowing Lazarus was there. But he knew. He even knew his name. But he did
nothing. He isnt just guilty out of ignorance; he knew and still did nothing.
So youd think he might be thinking, Oh, boy! Im in deep trouble now.
That he might have said, Lazarus, I want to apologize for ignoring your
trouble. I am so sorry. If I had a do over, Id do it differently. But nothing
remotely like that is forthcoming. Despite his circumstances he has not lost
one iota of his self-importance. Amazing, isnt it? As we said last week, he
still thinks he is the center of the universe that its all about him so he can
still issue the orders and his only thought about Lazarus is, Can you send
someone with a little relief. That guy Lazarus will do. But of repentance
there is none. Nor will there ever be in hell. Frankly, there is no God to turn to
there, and no Christ to forgive. But no one will have that inclination anyway.
A reporter once asked Sen. Clare Booth Luce if she had any regrets. She said,
Yes, I should have been a better person. Kinder. Sometimes I wake up in
the middle of the night, and I remember a girlhood friend of mine who had
a brain tumor and called me three times to come and see her. I was always
too busy, and when she died, I was profoundly ashamed. I still remember
that after fifty-six years. Thats hell. Unremitting regret, but no repentance.
You can picture Pilate walking thru the darkness of hell, forever washing his
hands saying, I am innocent of Jesus blood. But it will not wash. Regret
without repentance. You can see Judas eternally throwing the money back and
saying, I have betrayed innocent blood. And every other person there,
living in their own hell of regret without repentance so it will be in hell.
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4. There will be rebellion without restraint

Notice v. 29. Rich man suggests something more than Scripture is needed to
convince his brothers. But what hes really doing is blaming God for his own
fate. God didnt give me enough information! Hes the whole reason Im
here in the first place. Its all His fault! Rebellion underlies the whole
charade of a request. Its a backhand slam at God for not doing more.
Ravi Zacharias friend, Peter, heard a huge crash outside his home one night.
Rushing out, he saw that someone had violently crashed into a parked car and
then taken off. Water in the street indicated the radiator of the offending car
had been smashed, so Peter went to search. Rounding a corner, he found two
teens standing beside a steaming vehicle looking distraught. They had taken
their dads brand-new sports car for a joyride without his knowledge and knew
they were in trouble. Sensing their concern Peter asked if he could pray for
them. They looked surprised but welcomed any possible help and agreed. But
no sooner had Peter finished praying than one of the boys said, If God loves
me, why did he let this happen to me? With that eternal question before
those in hell, is it any wonder that they dont want heaven? The rich man
doesnt want to go and share Gods heaven, he only wants someone to come
and relieve his hell! And when relief is not forthcoming, what happens?
Weeping and gnashing of teeth. Self-pity and uncontrollable rage.
Unrestrained rebellion. If God loves me, why did he let this happen to me?
No personal responsibility at all. Just endless rebellion and rage. Hell!
5. There will be loneliness without let-up
Ever hear this? Who cares if I go to hell; Ill be with my friends. Well party
hearty! Aaron Lewis set the idea to music. Assuming hell never make
heaven he says: So lets have a party and tell em Im home. / Therell be
Waylon and Whitley as well. / And the Devil will be dealin the cards as they
lay / So lets have a party in hell. // Washed up, worn out, down on my knees
/ But the angels wont take me away. / The bartender serves brown liquor in
hell / And that sure sounds like heaven to me. // So lets have a party and tell
em Im home. / Theres be Janis and Jim Beam as well. / And Rick James
will bring all the cocaine you want. / So lets have a party in hell. If thats
your hope, I hate to burst your bubble, but youll be partying alone.
Notice, the rich man isnt asking for his brothers to join him. He wants them
warned lest they also come into this place of torment. There is nothing about
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this place that would make one want to see anyone else come there. Jesus
describes it elsewhere as a place of outer darkness. Contrary to popular
opinion, hell will not be party central. It is an utter darkness in which one is
totally alone. No friendship, no companionship just total desolation forever.
Imagine entering a dark cave with a large group of people. Soon the only light
are the candles and flashlights the leaders have. Now imagine missing a turn
and finding yourself utterly alone, in darkness so dense that you cant see your
hand in front of your face. Youre completely lost; totally alone. Multiply that
by a billion times and youve got hell. Its not exactly a party atmosphere.
During WWII the Japanese discovered that the best way to make someone talk
was to put them in solitary confinement with no human interaction. Worked
better than torture. Bertrand Russells atheism led him to say: We stand on
the shore of an ocean, crying to the night and the emptiness; sometimes a
voice answers out of the darkness. But it is the voice of one drowning; and
in a moment the silence returns. He sensed that even now, without God, we
go to the grave alone. Imagine when the darkness surrounds the unbeliever
forever. It must have been something of what actress Inger Stevens sensed
when she said, not long before she took her own life, Sometimes I get so
lonely I could scream. Loneliness without let-up. Thats hell.
6. There will be Gods glory without Gods presence
The Bible is God-centered, not man-centered. Eventually all things will bring
glory to Him and that includes the judgment of those cast into hell. Peter
says, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ
(I Pet 4:11). In everything. So God will be glorified in those who by grace are
in heaven. God will be equally glorified by the judgment of those who have
rejected grace. Rev 14:7 says, Fear God and give him glory, because the hour
of his judgment has come. Rev 19:1-2: Hallelujah! Salvation and glory
and power belong to our God, 2) for his judgments are true and just.
Judgment and Gods glory are not mutually exclusive. God will glorified in
those who choose hell as well as those Hes chosen because He will have rid
the universe of all sin, death, rebellion, disease, and corruption. We honored
and glorified men like General Eisenhower after WWII. Why? Because they
rid the world of the hideous plague of Hitler and Nazism. In a far greater way
God will be glorified for bringing an end to sin for all time.

But while Gods glory hangs over hell as a permanent reminder of His infinite
holiness and perfection, Gods presence as an active force will not be there.
The great chasm that has been fixed is not passable by the presence of
God. God is light (I Jn 1:5); hell is outer darkness. II Thess 1: 9) They
will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of
the Lord and from the glory of his might. Ravi Zacharias tells a story many
can identify with. He underwent an MRI for a herniated disc, a procedure he
found more distressing than the back problem. I was laid on a movable table
and slid into a narrow tunnel where the door was shut on me. The confines
were so small and the darkness so grim that I am convinced that whoever
designed it was inspired by studying Egyptian sarcophagi. It was a terrifying
experience, especially for one is who is as claustrophobic, as I am. An
attendant assured him thru a speaker that he would be right there throughout
the procedure and Ravi says, I want you to know that even a total stranger's
voice was immensely comforting in this closed box. But hell has no such
relief. No voice, no angels and no God on the other end of ones prayer.
But remember this. Those in hell with only themselves for company have
exactly what they have always chosen. Self as their identity and now thats
what they have self -- and nothing else! C.S. Lewis puts it like this: In the
long run the answer to all those who object to the doctrine of hell, is itself a
question: What are you asking God to do? To wipe out their past sins and,
at all costs, to give them a fresh start ? But he has done so, on Calvary
and they rejected it. To forgive them? They rejected forgiveness. To leave
them alone? Alas, I am afraid that is what He does. Thats what hell is. A
self-imposed divorce from God. Lewis continues: There are only two kinds
of people in the end: those who say to God, Thy will be done, and those to
whom God says, in the end, Thy will be done. All that are in hell, choose it.
Without that self-choice there could be no hell.
C. There Will Be Splendor (Heaven for the Christ-identifier)
Thankfully hell is only half the story. For the person who has changed
identities from Self to Christ -- like Lazarus, the one whom God has helped
there is great news. Splendor awaits them. You cant earn it; you can only
receive it. You cant be good enough to merit it or bad enough to be
disqualified as long as you give your heart without reservation to Christ and
begin to live for Him. For those there will be splendor. Unimaginable!

This passage is about the fate of the rejected; but we get a glimpse of the
enormous difference between eternity in heaven and hell. The rich man is in
torment, but in v. 25, Lazarus is comforted. The rich man is in outer darkness,
but Lazarus is in a place where according to Rev 21:23, the city has no need
of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp
is the Lamb. The rich man will exist forever filled with regret, but for
Lazarus no regrets. Rev 21:4-5: 4 He will wipe away every tear from their
eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying,
nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. 5 And he who
was seated on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new. No
regrets. The rich man rebels and hates God with eternal weeping and gnashing
of teeth. For Lazarus the rebellion was over the moment he reached out to God
in faith, and now he is living Rev 21:3, Behold, the dwelling place of God is
with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God
himself will be with them as their God. For the rich man it is an eternity of
the intense loneliness only himself for company. Lazarus is at Abrahams
side literally lying in Abrahams bosom a depiction of the 1st century
convention of reclining at feast times, like John reclined in Jesus bosom on
the night of the last supper. Heaven is a perpetual love fest of food and
fellowship for all who love Him. This is the splendor of glory in the presence
of Christ available to everyone who asks in faith.
John Piper tells of watching Ranger Rick when he was a kid nature show I
surmise. One show highlighted about 1,000 species of self-illuminating fish
who live at the bottom of the ocean. Some have a little dangling lamp hanging
out in front. Its a light to attract food to their mouth. Some have a little lighted
chin. Others have beacons under their eyes that send out little beams. And you
wonder, where do they plug these in? How can light be produced at the
bottom of the ocean without any batteries? And why didnt the Lord make
just one instead of 1000? Because He is lavish in beauty, lavish in creativity
and lavish in splendor. And if Hes done that at the bottom of the ocean, just
imagine what the splendor of heaven will be like!
Conc Dont you want to go there? You can. But only if in this life you give
up your identity as Me and take on the identity of He. Christ in you, the hope
of glory (Col 1:27). The only hope of glory. But also the certain hope of
glory. Have you invited Him in? Its your choice, the suffering of hell or the
splendor of heaven.

Ive used this before, but it is so appropriate. When Calvin Coolidge was
governor of MS, two state senators had a violent dispute that ended up with
one telling the other he could go to hell. The insulted politician went to
Coolidge to ask him to do something about it. Coolidge said calmly, Ive
looked up the law, Senator, and you dont have to go! Thats the best news
in history. You dont have to go not if you will renew your identity in Christ.
Lets pray.