R928 Life After Death Pt.3

We all need some encouragement and we'll find it together today through the Bible-based teaching of Dr. Don Wilton on this edition of The Encouraging Word. Today, Dr. Wilton takes us to Luke chapter 16 as we continue in this study of life after death. As we study, know that we're here for you connecting 24 hours a day at www.tewonline.org.

Now, Dr. Don Wilton. Well, it's a wonderful thing to know the Lord Jesus Christ and it is the reason why we can be glad is because we know that when we trust Him, that we are going to heaven to be with Him forever. I love you today and I thank God for each one of you. I'm going to invite you to open your Bibles to Luke's Gospel chapter 16. And I'm going to preach on my least favorite subject that I could possibly ever preach on. In fact, I would rather not preach on the subject if you would beg my pardon, but I must. It is an awful subject. This is the worst subject you've ever heard preached on. It is pitiful and I wish that I didn't have to preach on it. It's the saddest subject.

But I've got some good news. I'm preaching on the subject because the Bible tells us about it. Jesus speaks of it.

And not a single person needs to ever go to this place of which Jesus speaks called hell. Where in Luke chapter 16 and verse 19, Jesus said, there was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and he lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores, longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table.

Even the dogs came by and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side right there into God's presence into heaven. The rich man also died, but he was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and he saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. So he called him, Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because I'm in agony in this fire. But Abraham replied, Son, remember that you in your lifetime, you received your good things while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here and you are in agony and beside all of this, between us and you, there is a great chasm fixed so that those who would want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us. And so he answered, and I beg you, Father, send Lazarus to my father's house.

For I've got five brothers who have not yet died, let him warn them so that they will not also come to this place of torment. Abraham replied, they've got Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. He said, no, Father Abraham, if you send somebody back from the dead, they will repent.

And Abraham said to him, if they do not listen to the word of God and to the preachers of God, they will not be convinced. Even if someone were to come back from the dead, and we've already proved that, Jesus was saying, by inference. I have already come back from the dead and the world knows it and yet there are so many who still will not believe. Jesus even went as far as to appear to over 500 people after he died and rose from the dead and yet they would not believe. The absolute certainty of life after death, I've agonized over this.

We've discovered some great truths. These two men were alive just like you and me. They had to make a decision for Jesus Christ while they were alive, but they both died. It was unavoidable.

There was nothing they could do about it. Death comes to all people. And when they did die, they were separated. One went to heaven and one went to hell.

I wish that I could sugar coat that for you. I wish that I could try to call on the pope or call upon Dr. Billy Graham or call upon myself or our church or a constitution or a tradition or a religious organization to make a pronouncement, somebody with some authority somewhere help us, please. Because when they died, they were separated for all time and eternity. Jesus said it. And we've discovered some of the biblical facts that Jesus teaches about this. I can't wait for next week because next week you and I are going to get on a golden chariot and take a ride like you and I cannot imagine. Right there into heaven. But before we get there, I've got to deal with something.

I don't want to do it. But if I don't tell you these things, I will be disobedient to what Jesus said. He said, listen to the preachers. This is the truth.

This is what you need to know. And I've got a word for you today. Well, we've discovered that hell is a place of burial. We've discovered that hell is a place of torment.

We've already discovered that hell is a place of life. This man had a personality, a name. He was recognized. He had a face. He had eyes.

Last week we touched our eyes and our face. Bible says he looked up and he saw. He had a tongue. He had a brain.

He had feelings. We discovered that. Jesus told us that all of these things were there.

They were intact. And I thought that when you're dead, you're dead. But Jesus said, you're wrong. And it doesn't matter what your church has said. And it doesn't matter what Dr. Wilton has said. And it doesn't matter what your mother said. And it doesn't matter what the tradition has said.

And it doesn't matter what your culture has said. When you're dead, you're not dead. This man was dead.

But he was in a place of life and he was alive. And I don't know how to describe. I don't know how to describe somebody in hell. I don't know how to describe their face. But Jesus said they had one.

I don't know how to describe their eyes. But Jesus said he looked up and saw. I don't know how to describe how you talk when you're in flames, when you're being burned alive. But you never die.

I don't know how to describe that. But Jesus said it. That's why I don't want to preach on this. These are just too remarkable.

They're things that you and I just struggle with. But Jesus said it. But we've also discovered here that this is a place of remembrance.

I mean, look what the Bible says in verse 25. Remember that you in your lifetime. By the way, have you ever remembered anything? Well, of course you have. Life is full of remembering things. Well, I thought that when you die, it's over. Well, this man had the capacity to remember.

I don't know how to describe that. And not only that, Jesus was so deliberate in trying to tell us about this awful place, folks. What he's doing is he's begging us to give our hearts and lives to him. He's trying to tell us, don't go there.

You don't have to go there. That's what my grace is all about. My grace is sufficient for you. I died for you upon a cross. I love you. God loves you.

Give your heart to him. You don't need to go because this place is a place of remembrance. And what did he remember? He remembered three things, folks, according to this. He remembered, number one, his lifetime.

That's what Abraham said. Remember that you in your lifetime. In your lifetime, that means he had the capacity to remember the span of his life after he had died. He not only remembered his lifetime, but he remembered his lifestyle.

What is your lifestyle today? Well, the Bible says of this man, he was a rich man dressed in purple. He lived in luxury every day. I don't think Jesus was picking on rich people. But what Jesus was saying is this man, in his lifestyle, had everything. And evidently didn't see that his greatest need was to know the Savior during his lifetime. He remembered his lifestyle. He said, you received your good things, didn't you?

You had it all. You were born and raised in America, if you beg my pardon. Folks, the word of God's applicable for anybody, but have you ever wondered why you weren't born in some poverty-stricken place in India? Or Africa? Or South America? Or China? Or even here in the United States of America where we're surrounded by poverty?

Why me? Well, evidently this man was very blessed when he lived on this earth. Jesus was not condemning his blessing.

What he was saying is I want you to know it's harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. He saw no need of God because he had everything. Why God?

It's why so many people in America today say, well, God's just a crutch. I don't need a crutch. I don't need someone to lean on, man. I've got my box at the ballgame. I've got my own bus. I've got season tickets for crying in a bucket. I get to tailgate. I've got my own boat.

I live in my own home. I don't ever go hungry. Can you see the people out there? They're all around us, ladies and gentlemen. That's what Jesus was saying. This was a place of remembrance. He remembered his lifetime. He remembered his lifestyle. But number three, he remembered Lazarus.

Oh, man, now I'm way out in the left field. He remembered Lazarus. He recognized him, called him by name. Hey, Lazarus.

My phone rang earlier this week and a pastor friend from a neighboring state said to me, Brother Don, I've got to tell you something. He said, you know, that book you've just written, The Absolute Certainly of Life After Dead, he said, I called and they sent me a copy from the office and he said, I sat down and read it. He said, man, what made you write something like that? I said, I don't know. I said, I've never sweated like that in my life.

How do you write? How do you explain someone being in torment day and night forever, being burned alive but they never die? How do you explain that? He said, well, I'm telling you, this convicted me so much. He said, what came to my mind was a man in my community. He's a businessman.

And he's very well known in his community. And he said, I don't know what happened to me. He said, but man, I got this book. And he said, I went over to his home and I knocked on his door. He said, I was shaking in my boots. He said, I knew if this man came to the door, he'd eat me alive.

He's a powerful businessman. And the guy wasn't there. So I just laid it down right there at the doorstep. I turned around and walked off, wrote my name and address. He said, the next day, my phone rang.

And heart attack city, it's this man. He says, preacher, I need to see you. He got in his motor car, went back to this man's home, walked in the door and the first thing that this man said to him was, he said, preacher, you left this book here, didn't you? He said, yes, so I did. He said, have you read it? He said to the preacher, the preacher said, yeah, I've read it. And he looked at that preacher and he said, well, I'm all right.

And I need to give my heart to Jesus now. If you haven't read the book, Albright's the main character. Lazarus is Billy Bob. We're dealing with Albright right now. Do you know that Albright lives next door to you? Do you know that Mr. and Mrs. Albright, that he and she are everywhere that you and I go?

They're in the mall, they're down the street, they're at the ball game. Do you know that Mr. and Mrs. Albright are Mr. and Mrs. America? They're people no different from you and me, and yet Jesus said that after this man died, he went to a place of remembrance. Please forgive the interruption. We'll be back with the rest of today's message with Dr. Don Wilton in just a moment, but he wants you to know we're here for you. We'd love to pray with you, not just now, but anytime on our prayer line at 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. It'll also connect you with great resources that'll help you grow in your faith, resources like this. My book, Saturdays with Billy, is about an extraordinary relationship with a precious man who impacted lives across the world. You don't want to miss this opportunity to be inspired by his life too. And in hell, he remembered his lifestyle and he remembered his lifetime and he remembered Lazarus, Billy Bob, the servant, the man who had nothing, who lived in his backyard, who wept over the soul of his master.

But it's also a place of eternity. Verse 26, the word they're being in, we've discussed it, it means it goes on. I've asked the Lord, I've said, oh God, would you give me something? Please, let me call the Pope and ask him to issue a termination to eternal damnation. I've wondered if our church could convene a convocation. Maybe the Southern Baptist denomination meeting in Indianapolis in June. We could bring up the subject. Maybe we could go to the Methodists or the Presbyterians or the Roman Catholics.

Maybe we could rely on our own cultural heritage, somebody there, somebody help us. I'm surprised nobody's got up and walked out of this service here. I'm really surprised, folks.

You wouldn't offend me if you did. But the reason I'm surprised that nobody's got up and walked out is because who wants to listen to this? I don't wanna listen to this. I'm surprised that a parent hasn't called me yet and said, preacher, I want you to know, I don't think our children should be listening to this. I'm surprised I'm not looking at parents with their fingers in their children's ears saying they're not old enough yet. And yet Jesus said, suffer the little children to come under me and forbid them not. In fact, Jesus also said it would be better that a millstone be tied around your neck and that you be dropped into the depths of the ocean and drown rather than prevent a child from coming to know Jesus Christ.

Jesus said that. Well, pastor, you need to understand there's a lot of people not gonna wanna join our church, man, with preaching like that. I'm gonna tell you, man, we're gonna have the biggest move your letter campaign going on in Spartanburg.

They're gonna be running to this church and that church. They don't wanna listen to this, man. There's somebody out there that's gonna say, you better get off your pedestal, preacher. You better calm down. Don't you talk to us about stuff like this.

This is America. I want you to know you're meddling with us, man. You don't need to talk about these things. Stop it. If it cost me my pulpit, I will not stop talking about what Jesus Christ teaches us in His Word. I will not do it.

I love you so much. This is what Jesus said. It's not fair to me. This is not fair to me, folks. It's not fair to make me have to talk to people that I love about stuff like this.

It's just not fair. But it's also a place of hopelessness. You know, in verse 26, the Bible says here, Jesus was clear. He said beside this, between us and you, there's a great chasm. There's a great gulf between heaven and hell. It's a place of hopelessness.

By the way, did you know that heaven and hell are two irreconcilable differences? Can never come together. His hope was unattainable, folks. His broken heart was unfixable. His predicament was unresolvable. His destiny was unchangeable. Hell is a place of hopelessness.

Never be changed. Number seven, it's a place of pleading. He said, I beg you. Have you ever tried to plead for something? Well, in America, we don't even really know what that is. We, not a lot of us proportionately who know what it's like to sit on a sidewalk and beg.

Folks, I'm just asking, do you think in the description of this man that he lived in luxury every day, that he ever had to beg for anything? Please, somebody give me something to eat. Please, would somebody come and pick me up? I don't have a motor car to get to the shop.

Please, somebody help me to fill my refrigerator. Please, you know, I've never been to a ball game. Would somebody give me a ticket so I can actually go to a ball game? Please, I don't even have a nice TV to watch.

Please, would somebody just give me some air conditioning because I can't pay for my air conditioning. I don't know that this man ever had to plead for anything, not according to what, and yet, after he died, the Bible says he went to a place of unmitigated pleading. It's also number eight, a place of earthly awareness.

Now, I'm telling you, folks, I'm about to walk out of here because I don't want to talk on this. Bible says right there, without any question, Jesus told us that after this man died that he was completely aware of everything going on on the earth. I thought he was dead. I thought that when you die that you're dead. I thought it's over. Jesus said, you're wrong. Doesn't matter how uncomfortable that makes you.

I want to make an announcement. I believe that unless you can prove me otherwise in the Word of God, I believe according to the Word of the living God that every person who has died outside of Jesus Christ knows exactly what you and I are doing right now. They can see us, they're watching us, but watch this. They are begging for those that they love. I wish I could try and describe because number nine, it's a place of futile compassion.

Hell is. Compassion is what makes us a great nation. Did you know that, by the way? Please don't misunderstand me, but if there are some of the side lessons we learn from great tragedies like 9-11 is the incredible compassion in this country. Have you noticed that? We're a family country.

Boy, that's my favorite thing. You want to talk to me about doing stuff, I want to do it with my family. I told someone the other day between my church and between my family, I don't really have a lot of time left over. We love and we are a compassionate people. Folks, we live in a caring community. I've seen a time without number.

And you can't go far. Carolina Pregnancy Center, Habitat for Humanity, and Child Evangelism Fellowship, and our church ministries all over the place, and mobile meals. Folks, we live in a compassionate society. This man was compassionate, but the Bible says that after he died, he went to a place of futile compassion. What was he compassionate about? He had a continuing awareness, he had a continuing love, he had a continuing concern for his five brothers and for his family, but it was too not available.

Let me ask you something. His compassion, his awareness, his love and his concern for his five brothers when he was alive, could he have done something about it? You better believe it. I'll bet you this was the kind of man when it came to Thanksgiving, everybody came to his house. I bet he provided the barbecue, Seth, I mean this man could put the dinner on the table.

He was the centerpiece. Everybody came to him. They loved it. He probably loved his grandkids, had them sitting on his knees. I bet you the number one thing he wanted to do with his grandkids did this bebo. I'll guarantee you what Albright wanted to do, just what you and I wanna do, hold them, rock them, take them fishing. Man, I taught my boy how to hit the ball.

Sit in the stands, go out to eat, get an ice cream on Friday night. I mean, this man was no different to you and me. He was a granddaddy. He was a man. He loved his kids. He wanted to be around. He wanted them to have the best and to be the best. He was filled with compassion, but he died without Jesus Christ and he went to a place called hell and the Bible says his compassion for his family continued, but he could no longer do anything about it.

It was futile. There is only one life to live and that will soon be passed. It is only what is done for the Lord Jesus Christ that will last. What are you leaving your kids? A bank balance, that's a good thing.

Are you leaving them as the greatest ball player that ever came out of Spartanburg? That's a good thing. Are you just simply spending all your time and effort going from one game to another because the absolute most important thing in your life is not unimportant, but it's not the most important thing.

It's not the most important thing. Why are we spending time in our church holding back ministries? Why this week did I have to call an emergency meeting and tell the ministers they can't do this and cut back on that and no, we can't do this and it doesn't matter about that. Why can you see the people?

Have you sat in the stadiums? Do you know how many people there are in Spartanburg who don't know Jesus Christ? Could it be that you're one of those that don't know Jesus Christ? You've been listening to Dr. Don as he's been teaching and preaching from the Word of God. Now, as he steps into the studio to share his heart, I pray you'll open your heart to what he wants to share next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today I repent of my sin and by faith I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God. This is exciting news! or call right now.