For Whom The Bell Tolls - Part 1

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. Ever since Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden had failed the single test that God had given, mankind has found out that the final reality of their physical lives is death. Paul wrote in Romans 5 and verse 12, In Adam all die. Death in the Bible always means separation. And when we die physically, what it means is our soul is separated from our body. In fact, that separation is so complete that that's why whatever is left behind, what do we call it? The remains.

That's because we've gone. What is most important is what happens to our souls after we die. And I hope to illustrate today that the choice that you make will determine that for your destiny. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's Word meets our world. This past week was one of the most memorable weeks in our church.

I've been here a long, long time and this was one of the most memorable weeks for me. This week we had four deaths in our church. Two were regular attenders.

One was an occasional attender and the other was the mother of one of our regular attenders. And this week, more than any week I can remember, I have been reminded of life's greatest reality, death. It's a subject that most of us would not even rather talk about. It's interesting.

And yet it is inevitable. But this week, as I prayed and talked with the people who had gone through the experience firsthand with their loved ones. I was struck by their response. I was encouraged by their faith.

Euripides said that death is a debt we all must pay. And John Dunn, clergyman in the Church of England, a metaphysical poet. In the 17th century. Lived in a small village and he said that he was accustomed to hearing church bells ringing before religious services in the village.

And also church bells ringing to announce funerals. In the village in 1623, Dunn was seriously, grievously ill, and he wrote devotions upon emergent occasions. Strange title, but this is what he said. He said, No man is an island entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for me. That's where that expression came from, for whom the bell tolls. We never know when the bell is going to toll for us.

Or someone that we love. One day, the bell will toll for me, just as it will for you. And the question I have for you this morning is simply this. Are you ready for that?

Because you need to be. Ever since Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden had failed the single test that God had given him, mankind has found out that the final reality of their physical lives is death. Paul wrote in Romans five and verse 12, In Adam all die. Death in the Bible always means separation. And when we die physically, what it means is our soul is separated from our body. In fact, that separation is so complete that that's why whatever is left behind, what do we call it? The remains.

That's because we've gone. What is most important is what happens to our souls after we die. And I hope to illustrate today that the choice that you make will determine that for your destiny. Open your Bibles first to 2 Corinthians chapter five, verse six, 2 Corinthians chapter five, verse six. The Apostle Paul is speaking. And Paul says in verse six of 2 Corinthians five, he says, therefore, being always of good courage and knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. He said, for we walk by faith, not by sight. He said, we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body.

To be at home with the Lord. That's exactly what happens when a person physically dies, when the bell tolls for them and they're a believer in Jesus Christ. That person is absent from their body and they are at home with the Lord.

It's instantaneous and it makes such a difference. But that's only true of the one like Paul, who is a believer in Jesus Christ. For the rest, there is a different destiny. Turn with me now to Matthew chapter 25, Matthew chapter 25. Jesus is speaking here prophetically, but he says something that's almost incidental to his conversation.

But I want to look at that one verse, 41. This is Jesus Christ speaking and notice what he says. He says, Then he will also say to those on his left, Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. In other words, what you and I would call hell, the eternal place of judgment, the lake of fire. In this case, Jesus using the term that it's the eternal fire. He says that was originally reserved for Satan and all the angels that fell with him, a third of the heavenly host.

That's how it originated. But it also becomes because of sin, the possibility for man. Go with me now back to Matthew 13. Matthew 13. And Jesus is speaking here about the wheat and the tares.

But notice what he says in verse 41. He said the son of man will send forth his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom, all stumbling blocks and those who commit lawlessness and will throw them into the furnace of fire. And in that place, he says, there will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

He says the same thing at forty nine and fifty. He says it will be at the end, he said, of the age, the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous and will throw them into a furnace of fire. And that place there will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Notice Jesus is very nobody in the Bible speaks as much about hell as Jesus Christ. In fact, he speaks more about it than everyone else in the Bible combined. It's interesting because I think it's such an important thing to say, one last verse I want to go to is is Mark Chapter nine.

Mark Chapter nine. In verse forty three. Jesus says this, if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than having two hands and go to go into hell into, he says, unquenchable fire where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It's better that you enter like enter life lame than having two feet and be cast into hell where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. And he said, if your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out, it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into hell, he says, where the worm does not die. And he said, and the fire is not quenched.

Those are really interesting words. There's there's such a popular idea that, you know, it's not going to be really in that bad place. There's just a lack of existence. Jesus goes out of his way to say no. He talks about the worm not dying. He talks about the fire is never quenched. He talks about it being a place of torment. He's as specific as he can be about this. And I believe that the reason that Jesus is saying that is that it's a very, very important thing to him.

That everybody understands what he means when he talks like this. In the Old Testament, the word that was used when a person died, what we call the grave, was sheol. In the New Testament, the word became Hades. And so on what we call hell was the word Gehenna. But you went to the grave.

And I want to talk a little bit about that period of time in a very specific way. Once again with Jesus. And I want to spend most of the morning in this part. I want you to go with me to Luke Chapter 16. Luke Chapter 16. And Jesus is going to tell a story here. And in that story, he's going to divide virtually everyone who ever lived into the idea of two different camps.

He wants to just make it as clear as he can so that we all understand this. And so he starts out by saying in verse 19, Now there was a rich man and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in the splendor of every day. He is the success story. He's as successful as a man can be. He's joyful. He lived all of his life in splendor.

He loved his life. He says in a poor man named Lazarus. Was laid at his gate, the rich man's gate. The rich man had such an enormous piece of property, had his own gate. Lazarus used to be by the gate begging, just hoping to get crumbs from the rich man's table, as Jesus will say. He said he was covered with sores. Two different images couldn't be greater. And he says, longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man's table.

Besides, he said, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Then Jesus says, Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels into Abraham's bosom, and the rich man also died and was buried. What a contrast here. Two men, one rich, one poor, one joyful in life, the other miserable.

Two bodies, two deaths, then two bodies, both buried, and they go to two completely different destinations. You'll learn, as Jesus teaches us, that what he's talking about is the rich man always believed in his own resources. He always believed that he would be fine.

The poor man did not. He believed in the God of the Jews. That's why he ends up in the bosom of Abraham. He's carried off by the angels.

It's interesting that a lot of people today would be a lot like the rich man. You could ask countless people and they would tell you, I'm going to be just fine. God's going to grade on the curve and I'm not a bad guy and everything will work out for me. But nothing in the word of God says that at all.

That's just pretense on our part. Notice then what happens in Hades. He lifted up his eyes, being in torment. This is not pleasant for him. He said, And he saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and he said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue. For I am in agony in this flame. Terrible.

It's a terrible thing. By the way, he also sort of reveals himself of what kind of man he was and the kind of pride he had. He sees, remember, Lazarus was at his gate every day of his life. He saw that bigger. He sees him in Abraham's bosom and he says, Abraham, would you take the bigger there?

Send him over to me so that he could dip his fingers in water and give me a little bit of relief. That's what he thought of Lazarus. Lazarus, not like me.

You see, he can serve me. So he responds that way. But it's clear that he's in torment and it's not a good place for him to be. And then Abraham gives a shocking response. Abraham said to him, child, remember that during your life you received your good things.

Likewise, Lazarus, bad things. But now he is being comforted here and you are in agony. There's the choice. Two destinations for all of us. You'll either be comforted forever or you'll be in agony.

The choice is yours. But he said, that's what happens. He says, and besides all this, between us and you, there is a great chasm fixed so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able. And that none may cross over from there to us.

Let me summarize what he's saying. There is no second chance. There is no second chance. When the bell tolls for you, your destiny is sealed. There is no second chance here. You can't come over. You can't work it out later.

And by the way, it's pretty clear that I'll be as specific as I can. There is no such thing in the word of God called purgatory. It does not exist in the word of God. That is a religious institution trying to make something happen that's not true.

I mean it metaphorically, but that kind of idea could be fatal and come straight out of hell. There is no biblical support for this at all. Remember, where they're at right now is Jesus Christ has not yet been crucified when he's telling the story. He hasn't been buried, resurrected, and ascended to heaven. Now, once he ascends to heaven, it says he leads the captives free.

He takes them in with him. But right now what happened is if you were, when you died, you went to Hades or the grave. Part of it was the place of torment or judgment.

The other part was a place called paradise. Now, if you remember, when Jesus was being crucified, the thief on the cross, a man who said he deserved to be crucified, a man of what we would say terrible sin, said to Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, what, this day you will be with me in paradise. He didn't say, no, you know, you're going to go somewhere for 10,000 years and if people light enough candles and give enough money, they might be able to get you out. He said, this day. Now, if there was ever a man who deserved a purgatorial experience, it'd be this guy. But Jesus says, no, you put your faith in me. This day you'll be with me, he says, in paradise. So what ends up happening is, is that when Abraham says this chasm is fixed.

There are no other chances. The culture in which Jesus lived is similar to ours, but our culture spends an awful lot of time doing everything it can to diminish the consequences of rejecting Christ. I pray you don't do that. There are all kinds of things that the culture says.

One would be this, that some people have, I've heard people say this. You know, if I ever went to hell, it'd be a relief from how terrible my life is. It will be so much infinitely worse than your life, no matter what it was.

And it's not only infinitely worse, a place of torment and agony. It's eternal. It lasts forever. It never stops. The worm never dies, Jesus said. It'll never die.

Secondly, you hear people say this. Hell is just a figment of your imagination. It's all based on fear. Well, if it's a figment of an imagination, it's a figment of Jesus Christ's imagination, not mine. And I know enough about Christ to know he's not afraid of anything. So he had no fear. This is not a figment of Jesus's imagination.

He just made it up. Thirdly, one you hear often is, I'll be fine there. I'm going to be with all my friends. It's going to be great. You know, it's just like we'll all get together and we'll spend eternity either in Bourbon Street or Vegas. You see, all we'll do is just have fun. We'll be together. Every inference that I see in the word of God about hell is it's always in solitude. You're not in a big group.

You're not partying on Bourbon Street. You see, that's something we make up. I think sometimes, too, that you'll hear people say, well, how could a loving God send anyone to hell? Okay, that may seem like that makes a little sense, but he is a loving God. That's why he sent his son into the world. He sent his son. He sent his son to die for every single person on earth. He died for the sins of the world. That's a loving God. Now, the people in the world that want to reject that, you see, that's up to them. But to say he's unloving because everyone should go to heaven in spite of their sin is not true.

You see, I think that becomes a problem. I can remember years ago reading C.S. Lewis, and I've always remembered it because I thought it was so clear.

C.S. Lewis said that heaven is full of people who look to God and say, your will be done. And hell is full of people that God looks to them and says, your will be done. You see, that's the choice that you have. Each and every one of us, you make your own choice. There is no escape.

Notice then what the man does. Verse twenty seven, it says, And he said, Then I beg you, Father, that you send him to my father's house. For I have five brothers in order that he may warn them so that they will not, he said, also come to this place of torment.

Take Lazarus and send him back. It sort of takes on an evangelistic idea. You see, from this point of view, Darryl Bock, who's a New Testament Greek professor at Dallas in his commentary on Luke, writes this.

The rich man does not give up. He suggests trying a sign. He seems to argue that the word of God is not enough, but a message from the dead would be more convincing.

The reply is equally clear. Revelation is better than a sign. If God's prophetic word can cannot convince or put a crack into a hard heart, neither will miracles. Only an open heart sees the evidence of God's presence and hears his voice. Notice the response that Abraham gives to that request. Abraham said they have Moses and the prophets.

He said, let them hear them. The Old Testament's clear on this. It's the word of God. He then says, but he said, no, Father Abraham, if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent then. And Abraham says, but he said to him, if they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead. By the way, did someone ever rise from the dead in the Bible? Did he ever end a day except him then? They did not.

Remember, they even tried to bribe the guards and say that they came and stole them. Because they didn't want to deal with it at all, the rejection of Christ. And he says, look, the word of God is what decides. You know, if you are a born again Christian, the reason you're a Christian and I'm a Christian, somebody told you or told me what the word of God says. Somebody told me the word of God says I'm a sinner.

Somebody told me that the wages of my sin is death. You see, somebody told me that God sent his son to die for me. Somebody told me if I put my faith in him, somebody told you the same thing.

And I decided I'm going to believe that. But you always have the choice that you can reject it as well. You see, what does the word of God say? Go with me to John chapter 10. John chapter 10, verse 9. Jesus speaking.

He makes a picture of himself and this is what he says again. I am the door. All of us know what a door is, right? We know why we use doors, right?

You open a door, you go through, you're on the other side. He said, I am the door. If anyone, not a select group, anyone, if anyone enters through me, he will be saved. That's what it says. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved.

Doesn't matter who it is, but I'm the door. Notice all the way over at verse 28. He says, and I give eternal life to them and they will never perish. And no one will snatch them out of my hand. I give them the life.

They'll never perish and nothing can change them. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called oneplace.com. That's oneplace.com, and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

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That's fbcnola.org. At our website, you will find hundreds of Pastor Bill's sermons. You can browse through our sermon archives to find the sermon series you are looking for, or you can search by title. Once you find the message you are looking for, you can listen online, or if you prefer, you can download the sermon and listen at your own convenience. And remember, you can do all of this absolutely free of charge. Once again, our website is fbcnola.org. For Pastor Bill Gebhardt, I'm Jason Gebhardt, thanking you for listening to Fellowship in the Word.