Luke 16:26-31
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded,though one rose from the dead.
In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, we find the story of two individuals with two different lives and two different eternities. They both go from one extreme to another. Jesus’ purpose is not to show that wealth condemns someone or poverty saves someone. Instead, Jesus is demonstrating that our lives now are of eternal consequence and when we die, our eternity is fixed.
One thing we find is that the rich man was not able to get a drop of water to cool his tongue. Verse 26 tells us that there is a chasm or “gulf” that is “fixed.” The word “fixed” means firmly established. It describes something that is permanent. M.R. Dehaan provides an ever true statement on the matter, “Once we have passed through the door of death we can’t pick up our suitcase and move out because we don’t like the accommodations.” We don’t get a second chance to get life right. We only get one life and it is brief (James 4:13-14), but eternity is forever.
We have already described hell as a place that is suffering, fire, darkness, etc., but perhaps the worst part about hell is that it is eternal. While the current hell is temporary. It and those in it await the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15) where it and all in it will be cast into the final hell, the Lake of Fire. It is described as a place of “eternal punishment” (Matthew 25:46); “eternal fire” (Jude 7); “everlasting fire” (Matthew 25:41); and a place “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:46). Of those who enter there it is said, “the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever” (Revelation 14:11).
Sir Francis Newport captures this terrifying aspect of hell, “Oh that I was to lie a thousand years upon the fire that is never quenched to purchase the favor of God…But it is a fruitless wish. Millions and millions of years would bring me no nearer to the end of my torments than one poor hour! Oh, the insufferable pains of hell!” A million years will go by and the rich man will still be there being “tormented in this flame.” All suffering we endure now has an end, but hell has no end.
Finally, we find that hell is a place of judgment. The ultimate reason this man ended up in hell is because he did not believe the Word of God. After asking for Abraham to send someone to his five brothers, Abraham’s response is that they, unlike him, must listen to “Moses and the prophets.” This is essentially telling him that his brothers have the Old Testament and that is enough to avoid this place of suffering. The rich man had rejected the truth of God’s Word and his brothers were doing the same. Even if Lazarus went to them from the dead, that would not cause them to believe in a saving way.
The real issue people have is not evidence, but surrender. It is not evidence, but commitment. God’s Word is sufficient for a person to be saved. The gospel message itself is enough. Paul wrote in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” God has given us the truth. The judgment is not that some are deserving of judgment and some aren’t. All are sinners and all deserve judgment (Romans 3:20,23; John 3:18). The real issue is not whether we are guilty or not, because we are, but the real issue is whether or not we have heard the truth and believed. John 3:19 tells us, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” People deserve hell, but people end up there because they choose hell. God has provided salvation in His Son.
For the rich man, thinking of his five brothers was the first time in the parable he thought of someone other than himself. For him, it was too late to be saved or to lead his brothers to salvation. A.W. Tozer once said, “People on Earth hate to hear the word Repent. Those in Hell wish they could hear it just once more.” May we not let the opportunity pass us by. While Jesus calls, may we turn to Him in faith and be saved. May we be faithful to tell our loved ones the truth before it is too late.