You know, one of the enduring hit songs of rock guitarist Eric Clapton is a song entitled Tears in Heaven.
Clapton wrote this song after the tragic death of his four-year-old son Connor, who fell out of a window in New York City in 1991 and plunged to his death below. And in his song, Clapton asks a number of doleful questions about the afterlife. Would you know my name if I saw you in heaven? Would it be the same if I saw you in heaven?
Would you hold my hand? Would you help me stand if I saw you in heaven? Now it seems to me that every thinking person ever to live has at some time or another wondered about what's on the other side of the grave, what the afterlife really looks like. And that's what we want to talk about today because we're in a series of messages entitled People Jesus Met. And today Jesus is going to meet two people and then he's going to tell us about what happened to them after they left this earth on the other side of the grave. We want to go back and look, see what Jesus said 2,000 years ago. Then we're going to bring all of that forward and we're going to talk about, well, what difference does that make to you and me today?
So that's the plan. Our passage today is Luke chapter 16. And before we start, please just let me say that the Bible never calls what we're about to read a parable or an allegory. In fact, Jesus actually uses the real name of one of the people in the story, Lazarus. And as a result of this, most commentators consider this to be a real life story about two real life people. Now I agree with that, but even if it is a parable, it doesn't change at all the truths about the afterlife that Jesus teaches in this story.
So here we go. Luke 16, beginning at verse 19. There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. And there was a beggar named Lazarus covered with sores who would lie at the rich man's gate and who longed to eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. Now the implication here, of course, is he never got any of those crumbs.
The Bible goes on to say, even the dogs came and licked the beggar's sores. Verse 22, and the time came when Lazarus died and the angels came and carried him to Abraham's bosom. Lazarus probably died right there on the street, right in front of the house of the rich man. He didn't have a funeral service. He didn't have a casket. He didn't have a gravestone, but oh my gosh, what a bunch of pallbearers this guy had.
The Bible says the very angels of heaven came and carried him to Abraham's bosom, a very common expression in Jesus's day for heaven. So Lazarus dies, goes to heaven. What about the rich man? Well, verse 22 continues, and the rich man also died and was buried and in hell.
Stop, stop, stop, stop. Look, and in hell, you say, yeah. See, the rich man died. I'm sure he had a mammoth funeral. I'm sure everybody that was anybody was there at the service, but in contrast to Lazarus, the Bible says that the rich man suddenly found himself in hell. And in hell, where he was in torment, the rich man looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. And what follows is one of the most amazing conversations to have ever occurred in human history.
Watch. So the rich man called to Abraham and said, Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because I am in agony in this fire. Here, maybe for the first time in his life, the rich man humbles himself and begs God for mercy. Now, we should stop here and ask the question, did the rich man end up in hell because he was rich?
Well, the answer to that is absolutely not. Abraham, when he lived here on this earth, was one of the wealthiest people on the face of the earth. And he's obviously in heaven here. Folks, the rich man didn't end up in hell because he had lots of money. The reason that the rich man ended up in hell was because his money had made him so arrogant that he refused to humble himself here on earth. He refused to admit that he was a sinner in the sight of God here on earth. And he refused to beg God for mercy while he was here on earth. That's why he was in hell. But Abraham replied, son, remember that in your lifetime, you received your good things while Lazarus received bad things.
So now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, Abraham says, between us and you, a great chasm, a great canyon has been established so that those who want to go from here in heaven to help you, well, we cannot, nor can anyone cross over from where you are to us. Abraham says to the rich man, hey, listen, you had your chance on earth to ask God for mercy and you spurned it. Now there's this big canyon between you and us that's been fixed, that's been established by Almighty God. And we in heaven all see what's happening to you down there.
And many of us would like to cross over and help you, but we are simply not permitted to do so. The rich man replied, well, then I beg you, Father Abraham, to send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Please let Lazarus warn them so that they will not also come to this place of torment. Then Abraham replied, they have Moses and the prophets, let them listen to them. In Jesus's day, the Jewish people divided the Old Testament into two sections.
The first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, the Torah written by Moses, and the rest of the Bible written by various prophets. And so when Abraham says they have Moses and the prophets, what he's saying is, hey, your brothers have the word of God. Your brothers have the Bible. They have God's written offer of salvation. What they need to do, he says, is they need to humble themselves before the authority of God's word and call on mercy from God the way the Bible tells them to, and they will get mercy.
And they won't end up where you are. No, Father Abraham, the rich man says. He says, man, you don't know my brothers. My brothers are as proud.
My brothers are as arrogant as I was when I was on the earth. There's no way that they're going to humble themselves just because the Bible tells them to. No, Father Abraham, he said. But if someone rises from the dead, I mean, if they could see a drop dead miracle like Lazarus rising from the dead, they would repent. Abraham said to him, if they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.
Abraham says, you just you still don't get it, do you, to the rich man? He said, it's all about people's hearts, your brothers. If their hearts are tender towards God, they will hear the word of God in the Bible, calling them to repent, and they'll do it. And if if your brother's hearts are hard towards God, even if somebody rose from the dead, it would make one bit of difference. And folks, could I remind you, somebody did rise from the dead.
And yet there still were massive amounts of people who refused to believe. And so this is where the narrative ends with Lazarus securely in heaven forever, with the rich man tragically in hell forever. And with the rich man's five brothers needing to humble themselves and believe the word of God and cry out to the Lord Jesus for mercy in order to avoid the same fate as their brother. Now, since the passage ends, we're going to stop here as well, and we're going to ask our most important question of the day. And all of you watching on the Internet campus, we want you to be a part of this. So are we ready? Are we ready? Nice and loud. Here we go.
One, two, three. Oh, how sweet it is. Yes. So what you say, Lon? I don't really care whether it was a parable or whether it's true life story. I still don't see what difference any of this makes to my life today.
Well, let's talk about that, shall we? Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, who investigated thousands of near-death experiences as part of writing her epic book on death and dying, she said this, and I quote. She said, up until I did these studies, I had absolutely no belief in an afterlife.
The data, however, has convinced me, and now I have no shadow of a doubt that there is life after death. End of quote. Now, as we all know, lots of doctors don't agree, like House, for example. Also, like Dr. Dorothy Whipple, who wrote in the Johns Hopkins University magazine, and I quote, when you die, you don't land anywhere.
You just blow out the candle. End of quote. Okay. So who's right? I mean, is there an afterlife or isn't there? And if there is an afterlife, what does it look like and what goes on there?
Where are we going to go to get authoritative, definitive information to answer that question? Well, friends, the only place to get the answer to that question is from the Lord Jesus Christ. Because he's God wrapped in human flesh and therefore knows everything about everything. Because he is the owner and sole proprietor of the afterlife.
And because he's the only person who's ever been there and come back. So I'll put my chips in the bucket of the Lord Jesus Christ any day when he tells me about the afterlife. And what does the Lord Jesus Christ say in this passage about the afterlife? Well, number one, he says, indeed, there is an afterlife. And number two, here in this passage, he tells us that there are four important facts about the afterlife that we need to know. There are probably thousands of facts about the afterlife. But Jesus picks these four and says, this is what I want you on earth to know about the afterlife. This is the main four facts.
Here we go. Fact number one, Jesus tells us in this passage, is that in the afterlife, people keep the same identity that they had here on earth. I mean, hey, Lazarus was still Lazarus.
The rich man was still the rich man. Two thousand years after he died here on earth, Abraham was still Abraham. The point, my friends, is that after you and I die here on earth for the rest of eternity, you are still going to be you and I and still going to be me. Fact number two, Jesus says in the afterlife, people keep their memory and their reasoning ability and all of their senses. I mean, Abraham, Lazarus, the rich man, they were all fully conscious, fully awake, fully aware. They could all see and speak and hear and feel pain. They could all think logically.
As a matter of fact, the rich man was able to remember that he had five brothers back on earth and he even tried to negotiate for them. Number three, fact number three, Jesus says, I want you to know that in the afterlife, there are only two options where a person will spend eternity. There is a real place called heaven, which is a wonderful place, the Bible says, and there is a real place called hell, which is a horrible place, the Bible says. And I'm sure all of us have met people who will say things to us like, well, you know, if I do go to hell, all my friends will be there and we can just party on for all of eternity.
Like this is some sort of cosmic wanes world of some kind. Listen, Jesus doesn't describe hell at all like that. He calls it a place of fire. Four times he uses the words torment and agony regarding hell.
And hey, the rich man, he wasn't having a blast in hell, was he? All he wanted to do was get out of hell, which leads us to the fourth and final fact about the afterlife Jesus wants us to know. And what is for many people the most tragic fact about the afterlife. And that is number four, in the afterlife, people's eternal destiny is fixed.
It is set in concrete. People who are in heaven are in heaven forever. And people who are in hell are in hell forever.
Look here, look here. Because we must understand, we must understand that when it comes to the people in hell, God withdraws his offer of mercy to them. It was an offer of mercy that they spurned while they were here on this earth. And now that they were in hell, the offer is retracted forever.
We must understand that. So in Dante's Inferno, if you've ever read that, there's an inscription over the gate that leads into hell. And here's part of what that inscription says. Through me, one enters the sorrowful city. Through me, one enters into eternal pain. I, hell, exist, endure eternally, all hope, abandon ye who enter here.
Friends in truth, hell is orders of magnitude worse than I could even possibly begin to describe to you today. And this above every other reason, look here, this above every other reason is why Jesus came and died on the cross for you and for me. Because he knows the awful reality of hell. Do you really think that Jesus would have died on the cross to save us from a myth? Do you really think that if the worst thing that could ever happen to us in eternity is we get blown out like a candle?
Do you really think Jesus would have gone to the cross to save us from that? Listen, if you're here today and you've never trusted Jesus as your real and personal savior, I'm here on behalf of God to beg you to take to heart the advice that Abraham gave the rich man's brothers. He said they have Moses and the prophets. They have the word of God, God's written offer of salvation and mercy. They need to listen to it. They need to humble themselves in front of it. They need to admit that they're sinners and they need to call on God for mercy while they're on earth and they'll get it. Friend, that is exactly what you need to do.
And I hope you'll think about that and more than that, I hope you'll do that while there's still time. Because once people leave this earth, the offer is withdrawn. We've got to understand that. They say, well, Lon, that's wonderful. But you know, I'm a follower of Jesus Christ. I've trusted Christ as my savior. I know I'm going to heaven when I die. I know my eternal destiny is settled.
So what difference does any of this make to me? Oh, friends, listen, as followers of Christ, the so what for us here is that I believe our witnessing and our evangelism needs a fresh glimpse of the reality of hell. We need to realize in a new and in a compelling way, listen, that when we offer Jesus Christ to people, we are not just offering them a nicer way to live, a better way to live. We're offering that. But friends, the stakes are astronomically higher than that. The stakes are eternity in heaven versus eternity in hell.
And if knowing that doesn't kindle a passion in us for lost souls, then I don't know what will. You know, I was in Chicago this past summer while I was on summer break, visiting my son Justin and his wife, Kim. Brendan and I were there. And we were staying at a hotel downtown not too far from where my son and his wife live. And on Saturday night, we'd been watching television together, just kind of talking. And my son and his wife said, Well, it's time for us to go now. So I said, OK, we'll see you tomorrow.
So they went down about two minutes later after they'd gone down the elevator. I get this call on my cell phone from my son. He said, You dad are not going to believe who's in the lobby of your hotel. Randy Jackson from American Idol is in the lobby of your hotel with his security guard right now.
I just walked past him. I said, Are you kidding me? Because I'm a real fan of American Idol.
Now that they've canned Paula, I don't know. Maybe I'm not. But but I am. I said, Are you kidding me?
He goes, No. So I grabbed a CD. I always travel with CDs of my life story to use in giving to people. You know, I grabbed a CD. I ran out the door. Brendan said, Where are you going? I said, I'll be back in a minute. I ran down, got on the elevator, went down the first floor, went into the bar, went everywhere looking for Randy Jackson, went outside the hotel.
Nowhere to be found. I was like, dog gone it. Lord, how could you let me miss Randy Jackson? Honestly, I was pretty frustrated. I got to tell you.
I was like, Lord, he was right here. How could you let me miss him? So nothing to do. We wasn't there.
So I knew if I asked what his room number was, there was no chance of that. So I went back up, went to bed. The next day, Sunday, we were going to go to church on Sunday with Justin and his wife. And so it's a five thirty. So around four forty five, we've been watching golf up in our room at the hotel. And Justin said, we're going to go back to get the car.
We'll pick you up for church. Fine. So about two minutes after he left, I get this phone call on my cell phone. No lie. He said, Dad, you are not going to believe it.
Randy Jackson is in the lobby of the hotel again. I said, all right. All right.
All right. I said, Lord, not this time. So I grabbed the CD, ran to the elevator, went down the elevator. Sure enough, the doors open 20 feet in front of me is Randy Jackson talking to this lady. And next to him was the biggest security man you have ever seen in your life. So I kind of, you know, circled waiting for him to finish talking to this girl. And I'm the security man's watching me and I'm watching him. Finally, he got done talking to this person and I started to walk towards him. Security man stepped right in between us.
Randy Jackson kind of went just like this. And I got up right to him and I reached out my hand. I shook his hand. I said, Randy Jackson, my name's Lon Solomon.
I'm a Jewish person who believes in Jesus. And this is my life story. And I want to give it to you.
I want you to listen to it, because on here, you'll hear about how Jesus Christ can change your life for all of eternity. And he's like, yo, dog. I mean, just like on television, like, yo, dog. So I'm like, all right. And I noticed when we were talking, I said, yeah, street preacher led me to Christ. And I was just trying to give him a little bit.
I noticed that somebody had some people had come up from behind from where the elevator was. But I thought if they want to listen, that's fine. I don't care. And so I'm talking to him and suddenly I turn and stand in three feet in front of me is Simon Cowell. I lie not.
I am not kidding you. And here he's standing right there. He'd been listening. And I went, oh, Simon, if I'd have known you were going to be here, I'd have brought another CD. He said, that's OK. Randy and I will share. That's what he said to me. So anyway, he goes, Randy, come on now.
The cars are waiting. We got to go to dinner. So I shook Simon Cowell's hand. I shook Randy Jackson's hand and and off they went.
I mean, the whole thing lasted 30 seconds. Maybe it was surreal. Trust me. You say, Lon, I mean, you talk about a wild eyed, crazy thing to do. What in the world motivated you to go do something wild and crazy like that?
Well, friends, I'll tell you. With God's help, as much as is humanly possible, I don't want there to be a single person in hell who might ever look up to me in heaven and say, you mean you live next door to me for 10 years? You mean you worked at the desk next to me for 10 years? You mean you knew I was in the lobby of your hotel?
And you made no effort to tell me how to stay out of this horrible place that I'm in? Listen, folks, I believe the apostle Paul was motivated in that same way. Acts Chapter 20, verse 26. He said, Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men, for I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole truth of God. You say, Lon, what is he talking about there?
Innocent of the blood of all men. He's talking about Ezekiel 33. Listen to what God says there. He says to Ezekiel, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. You are to hear the words I speak and then give them warning from me.
Next verse. When I say to the sinner, God says, you will surely die and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways. That man will die in his sins, but I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you warn the sinner to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die in his sin. But you will be innocent of his blood. Paul said, I am innocent of the blood of all men.
Why? Because Paul said, every single person I've passed, that it was humanly possible. I have told them the truth, the whole truth about the afterlife, heaven, hell, the gospel. I've given them the truth. I'm innocent. I have no blood on my hands. You say, well, Lon, I hear what you're saying, but I have a couple of objections to what you're saying.
All right, let me hear. You say, well, my first objection is I resent the fact that you're trying to put this kind of pressure on me to share Christ. I mean, listen, Lon, if I never open my mouth, the elect will still get saved.
God will see to it. Well, now, wait a minute, folks. If you're talking about the doctrines of unconditional election and irresistible grace, you go, what was that?
Well, it's not that complex. Let me tell you what it means. These doctrines simply mean that God elects certain people to be saved and that he gives them grace so that they can't resist salvation. And then he elects other people not to be saved and they can't be saved. Friends, if this is what you're talking about, then let me just tell you, I'm sorry, I don't buy it. I don't believe this.
And the reason I don't believe it is because the Bible expressly contradicts it. Revelation 22, 17 says, the Spirit and the bride say, come. And what's the next word? Whoever. Hey, God either made a mistake or he means whoever. And whoever is thirsty, let him come.
And what's the next word? Whoever wishes, let him take of the water of eternal life freely. 1 Timothy 2, verse 3 says that this pleases God, our Savior, who wants what? Say it. All men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, not just the elect. Jesus said, John chapter 12, if I be lifted up from the earth on the cross, I will draw the elect to me. Is that what he said?
What did he say? All men. Listen, friends, besides, believe whatever you want. But whether you're a Calvinist or whether you're an Armenian or whether you're animal, vegetable or mineral, it doesn't matter.
The Great Commission still reads the same. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to what? Every person, every creature. Listen, Jesus says, don't sit around there and worry about who's elect and who isn't elect.
You just get out there and share Christ with everybody you meet. Friends, God forbid as followers of Christ. Look here, God forbid that we should ever use any understanding we might have of the doctrine of election, that we should ever use it as an excuse for evangelistic apathy or witnessing cowardice.
God forbid. You say, all right, all right, all right. Then I got another objection. My other objection is, are you saying that we should just be rude? Are you saying we ought to just elbow our way into every situation and share Christ, even if it's just not good protocol, even if it would be offensive? Is that what you're saying?
No, not at all. There were people clearly, the Bible says Jesus didn't share himself with. Why? Because the Spirit of God has to lead us. The Spirit of God has to open doors for us.
I understand that. But friends, once again, way too many Christians use this as an excuse to never share Christ. They go, oh, well, God didn't open many doors today. Well, ho, were you looking for him?
Did you want him opened? Were you anxious for God to do it? Hey, what does Peter say? 1 Peter 3.
15. Be always ready. Be anxious. Be like a loaded spring.
We're just ready to go off. Be always ready to give it an answer for the hope that you have in you. God says walk out of your house every day just chomping at the bit to share Christ. And if the Spirit of God says no, fine. But be looking for open doors.
Be looking for opportunities. Be asking God, the Holy Spirit, to do that. This is the balance of the Bible. And this is the way the early church lived. And this is the way God wants us living today.
No, I don't want us to be rude, but I want us to be ready and anxious. Let me conclude by saying that every message in the Bible is not a happy message. There are some people on radio and television who would have us believe everything in the Bible is a happy message.
It's not so. Friends, there are some very tough messages in the Bible, and this is one of them. That people who fail to accept Christ here on earth spend eternity in hell without remedy. My grandparents, for example, I shared Christ with them six different times. To the best of my knowledge, they never asked Jesus Christ to be their Savior. Now, it might have happened on their deathbed, and I don't know about it. But based on what I know, the Bible is clear that they're in hell today for all eternity. And that makes me really sad.
Now, I can refuse to believe it if I want. Now, I can pretend like the Bible doesn't say it if I want, but my friends, as followers of Jesus Christ, we must not live in that kind of theological denial. The UPS man that shows up at our front door, the cashier that rings us out at the grocery store or the department store, our neighbors, our friends, our coworkers, our relatives, when we look in their faces, we must remember that apart from faith in Jesus Christ, they are going to spend eternity in hell, and it is our duty. It is our responsibility. It is our obligation. And, yea, it is our privilege to share Jesus and His offer of mercy with them so that they can escape that awful fate. Folks, this is my dream for us at McLean Bible Church, that just like the early church, we would be a mighty army of evangelists here in Washington, D.C., that we would be passionate witnesses for Jesus Christ here in this city. But look here now, look here. But this kind of evangelistic passion, this kind of evangelistic fervor will never happen.
It can never happen unless we are willing to believe everything Jesus tells us, every detail, the happy details and the sad details, everything He tells us about the afterlife. You say, well, Lon, I hear what you're saying, but you don't understand. You know how nerve-wracking it is to try to start talking to people about Jesus?
You know how nervous I get? My armpits get wet and I get cotton balls in my throat and, you know, do you understand that? Oh, what do you mean do I understand that? Of course I understand that. I'm the same way.
I'm just like that. But, friends, when we look at that person standing right in front of us and we look in their eyes and we realize that we know what it would take for them not to end up like the rich man and we remember that there may come a day that they may say to us, you mean you stood six inches from my face and you never tried to tell me? I tell you, folks, that's the motivation that helps me bust through that membrane of fear and nervousness and open my mouth and start. And I found once I start, it's easier.
And even if it isn't, people's souls are worth a little perspiration and a little cotton ball in the throat. This is my challenge to you. It's my challenge to myself that we get out there and we share Christ in every situation that the Lord Jesus allows us to. And I hope that you'll take seriously what we've talked about today. Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, every message in the Bible is not a happy message and certainly this one isn't.
But that doesn't mean it's not true. Father, I pray that you would give us the courage today to deal with truth and that you would motivate us and inspire us to step outside our comfort zone and share Christ with people as we have opportunity. Lord make us passionate evangelists for you. Make us willing to endure a little nervousness and a little embarrassment and a little anxiety for the sake of men and women's souls. And Lord, use us as a church family, as a mighty army of evangelists here in this town, that we might see hundreds and thousands of people who lived in Washington or passed through Washington that we might see them in heaven because of the outreach of this church family. God use us for your glory in this town and for the sake of men and women's souls. And we pray these things in Jesus' name and God's people said, amen. Amen. . . . . .
