THERE will be no impaired memories in hell. Each mind will be strong, active, reflective; the past, every stage of it, and the dreadful future will be present to the mind, ―an eternity without God, the thought of which will fill the soul with unutterable woe.
Luke 16:19-3119There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26And 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. 27Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: 28For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. (Luke 16:19‑31) gives us a sight of eternity. The Lord Jesus draws aside the curtain, and before us lies a scene of unutterable woe on the one hand, and of unspeakable happiness on the other. One man is comforted, the other tormented.
It is not a parable, as some will have it, but a statement of facts, as known by the Son of God, and surely it is our wisdom to learn of Him. But supposing it to be a parable, what of it? It is a parable of something. God never deceives; it is impossible for Him to lie; and if He speaks thus plainly, it is of His mercy that sinners may be warned, “lest they also come to this place of torment.”
It is figurative, highly figurative, say some; but if it is figurative, it is figurative of something, and what is that something? God cannot deceive; He never overdraws, and with Him the reality is never below the figure. Who can suppose that the Holy Son of God, who came into the world to seek and to save sinners, could deliberately deceive them as to the future? No; He loved, He came, He taught, He warned, He pleaded, He reasoned, He spake as never man spake, He bled and died. And what for? To deceive? no, but to save. His purpose was to save; and in giving us these solemn words about the future, it was that we might be warned to flee to the place of eternal safety, in order to escape the just and awful consequence of living and dying in our sins without God and Christ, and being doomed to that outer darkness where light and hope can never come.
The Lord speaks of two men―a rich man and a poor man―the one enjoying all the good things of earth without reference to God; the other, whose lot was hard, as men speak, was one whose trust was in God, and who in the midst of his earthly afflictions drank of a cup, that the rich man, “clothed in scarlet and fine linen, and faring sumptuously every day,” knew nothing of. In the secret of his soul, in his heart of hearts, was a peace that the world’s favors cannot give, nor the afflictions of the world take away.
Mark what is said of the two men. “And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom; the rich man also died, and was buried, and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.” Each of the men die, for it is appointed unto men once to die; nothing can stop the onward progress of death. But mark at once the awful change, the terrible contrast between the condition of the two menthe one “tormented with the flames,” the other peacefully resting in “Abraham’s bosom.” The one, though surrounded by God’s blessings, had lived and died without recognizing His authority―died without God―and, therefore, an eternity without God was before him; the other, deprived of earthly comforts and blessings―a beggar―had in his heart turned to God, and found Him a gracious Saviour-God, one willing to accept all that come to Him; and now his life of trial, a fit discipline for eternity, is over―an escort of angels wait on the ransomed spirit to take it to the place of plenty, and of everlasting repose.
A gulf, deep and wide, an impassable gulf lies between. No angelic wing can carry the message of mercy from heaven to hell, and no judgment-doomed soul can cross from hell to heaven. All is fixed, eternally fixed! As the tree falls, so it lies. As man dies, so he lives for eternity! Appalling fact! and yet, alas, how few heed it.
The rich man calls for mercy― “Abraham, have mercy on me.” No; in life God’s mercy had been slighted, rejected, and trampled underfoot, and mercy thus treated in time is mercy lost forever. He calls for a drop of water from the finger of Lazarus; but no―the “water of life,” free, flowing, and costless, he had despised all the days of his existence here, and now an eternity in the desert, parched, waterless, gloomy regions of the lost, is the awful consequence!
As to himself, all hope is lost; he yields to the tremendous fact; and though no mercy can reach him, he would fain have some messenger to be sent to his “five brethren” to testify to them, “lest they also come to this place of torment.”
What is the answer? “Reader, you have the same, and more. Have you heeded God’s word through them? Oh, if not, think of the awful and eternal consequence!
The rich man replies, “Nay, father Abraham; but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent.”
How solemn and conclusive is Abraham’s answer― “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”
Beloved reader, I make no comment here. I leave it with you and your conscience. In that heart of thine is there “repentance towards God, and faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ”? Have you as a needy sinner put your trust for eternity in the Lord Jesus Christ? If so, it is well with you, blessedly and eternally well; but if not, it is not well, you are in danger of “dying, and in hell lifting up your eyes being in torments.” I solemnly beseech you to lay these things to heart.
E. A.