What a tremendous real story! What a frightening experience it must have been for the rich man to perish into the fires of Hell. Some Bible students claim this passage of Scripture is not true. They say it is only a parable. However, Jesus didn't say it was a parable. Also, the Lord never used proper nouns when He told a parable. He always used vague terms; such as, “a certain man” traveled into “a far country.” In Luke 16:19-31 we see Abraham and Lazarus (proper nouns of actual real people). Furthermore, when the Lord told a parable, He always explained afterwards what the parable means. Jesus didn't explain anything here. It would be wrong to say that this passage of Scripture is anything less than a factual account of something that literally happened. Hell has fire ladies and gentlemen!
Evangelist John R. Rice (1896-1980) wrote a helpful booklet in 1945 titled: “Hell—What The Bible Says About It!” Here is a quote from chapter four titled: "Will A Loving God Send A Sinner To Hell?," page 23:
Sin Continues In Hell
“The torments of Hell seem to be so terrible! Would a short life of sin here earn an eternity of torment? Is God fair to keep a man forever in Hell for the sins of his life? That is an intelligent question, and there is an intelligent answer. The reason centers must stay in Hell is because they are sinners still. Hell is not only a place of punishment for sin; it is a place where sin continues.
When the rich man died and was buried and in Hell lifted up his eyes, being in torments, he was still the same sinner, unchanged in character and heart, as when he lived on earth in plenty and did not repent. When you consider the case as told in Luke 16:19-31, you will find that the rich man uttered no word of sorrow for his sin He asked Abraham for mercy, but did not ask God for mercy. As a lost Jew, he revered the memory of Abraham, the founder of the Hebrew race, but he did not love God. He asked for water to cool his tongue, but he did not ask that his sins be forgiven. He knew that he was in Hell because he did not repent, and yet in Hell he still did not repent! The rich man, unsaved, on the earth loved his brothers and wished them well. When he died and went to Hell, he loved them still with natural human love, but he did not love God. He was a sinner on earth, and he remained the same in Hell.
In fact, there is every reason to believe that in Hell there will be an abandonment to wickedness such as is not possible on this earth. On earth there are many restraining influences, many holy and blessed impulses which will never affect any man in Hell. Here there are Christian people on every side to restrain the sinner, to warn him. There he will be forever in the presence of those who hate God. There he will never hear a gospel sermon. In Hell one will never hear a sacred song. There the influence of respectability will even be lacking and we may be sure that people in Hell will give themselves over to unbridled sin forever. How freely men will be permitted to indulge their sinful appetites we do not know. But that their wicked hearts will grow even more wicked through the years seems almost certain. Even the Holy Spirit of God, it appears, will call no longer at the heart door of the men and women in Hell. The most terrible thing about Hell is that it is a place of sinning as well as sinners. sinners themselves continue to make Hell what it is.
Men Will Be Without Honor, Women Without Virtue, In Hell
Thousands of men go to Hell who in this world call themselves honest men. Remember that paying grocery bills does not make one a Christian. "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." But no man in Hell, we may be sure, would remain an honest man very long when every motive for virtue and honesty is gone.
Thousands upon thousands of virtuous women, chaste wives and mothers it may be, will be in Hell. Human virtues are not enough to save the soul, "for there is no difference: for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Christ is the only way of Salvation. But we may well believe that virtuous women will not remain virtuous and chase in Hell. Hell will have been given over to the unsaved, and the leading spirits there "are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie quotation" (Rev. 22: 15). When every restraining influence of respectability and example and the Holy Spirit and good advice is gone, there will be no virtue in Hell, no honesty, no goodness.
Preachers Have Misrepresented Hell
There are preachers, Good men, who picture sinners in Hell repenting, loving God, begging for forgiveness, and picture God as laughing and mocking and their torment. That is not the Bible teaching about the people in Hell or about God. The rich man in Hell was sorry to reap what he had sown. He wanted mercy for his body, but he did not seek for forgiveness of his sins. On the other hand, Abraham, speaking for God in this case, did not laugh at the rich man's torment nor mock his cries. instead, Abraham said with tender sadness, "Son, remember." When evil catches up with the sinner, then wisdom, even his own commonsense, laughs at the sinner's calamity and mocks when his fear comes (Prov. 1:20-27). We may be sure that this is true about sinners in Hell. But God does not rejoice over their torment; and the reason sinners are left in Hell is that they have the same rebellion, the same wickedness, the same unbelief that they had here on earth, intensified by the environment of Hell, unrestrained by a single godly influence.
Can you see why sinners who reject Christ, deliberately choose evil instead of good, and then when they go to Hell continue in sin; can you see why they should continue to be punished? Sinners in Hell make their own Hell. People go to Hell because they deserve it. They stay there for the same reason. Punishment continues because sin continues in Hell.” —Dr. John R. Rice, “Hell—What The Bible Says About It!”; pages 23-25.Amen and amen! I praise the Lord for Brother Rice. He founded the Sword Of The Lord in 1934, which has been a bastion of truth throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century. I encourage you dear reader to visit the Sword Of The Lord's ministry website, and to support their labors for Jesus Christ. They are inspired King James Bible only! Amen for that!!! The Sword Of The Lord has Bibles, books, tracts, hymnals, gifts, sermons and everything a local New Testament church needs! You will be blessed!!!
“'Pray to be saved. Ask the Lord to save you.' This is what I heard a minister say to a convicted sinner who came forward for prayer at the close of an evangelistic service. Nowhere in the Bible are men told to pray to be saved. There are examples where men did pray and were saved. Men are told to repent, to believe, to obey the Gospel, but the Bible never says to pray for salvation. It does say that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, but nowhere does the Bible command men to pray to be saved. I think I know why, God, who made the human heart, knew that it was not necessary to tell convicted sinners to pray. If a sinner can see Jesus Christ on the cross, it is as natural for him to pray as it is for birds to sing or flowers to bloom. 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.'” —Dr. Bob Jones Sr., “Comments On Here And Hereafter,” chapter: "Prayer And Praise," page 163; Bob Jones University Press, Inc., © 1942
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