Dr. Edward Carter is the founder and director of Death Unto Life Ministries in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He has preached across this country and literally around the world.
"There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores. And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 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 lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And 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. But 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. 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. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And 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
Today, I want to preach to you a message entitled: Hell: The Abode of the Lost. Many people do not believe that hell is a real place. The Jehovah's Witnesses teach that if a person dies, they merely go to the grave and that is the end of it. Others have erroneous ideas about where hell is and what hell is all about. But here in these verses the Lord Jesus makes it clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that hell is a very real place and those who are not prepared to meet Him when they die will wind up in this place for all eternity.
THE PLACE KNOWN AS HELL
I want you to know that throughout the Bible there are various scriptures that point to the place known as hell. In Revelation 20:15 hell is referred to as a "lake of fire." In Isaiah 33:14, Isaiah refers to hell as a "devouring fire." In Revelation 20:1, hell is referred to as a "bottomless pit." Then in Matthew 13:42, it is referred to as a "furnace of fire." Then in Luke 16:23, our text for this morning, hell is a "place of torment." Then again in Revelation 22:11, hell is a place of filthiness. In Matthew 25:46, hell is a place of "everlasting punishment." Then in Matthew 25: 41, hell is a place "prepared for the devil and his angels." God never intended for men to go to hell. He originally prepared hell for the devil and his fallen angels.
In Revelation 19:20, hell is a place of fire into which the unsaved are cast alive. That verse says: "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone."
Revelation 21:8 says it is a place where murderers and liars and the fearful and the abominable shall be cast for all eternity. Then Mark 9:44-46 says hell is a place where the inhabitants have no rest. Then again in Matthew 12:32 hell is a place where the inhabitants can never repent. And then again the Bible records in Matthew 8:12 that hell is a place where the inhabitants gnash their teeth.
There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth the Bible says. And then in Revelation 14:10, it is a place where the inhabitants drink the wine of the wrath of God. The Bible says in Luke 16:28, hell is a place where the inhabitants do not want their loved ones to come. Then in Revelation 14:11, it is a place from which the smoke of the inhabitants torment ascendeth up for ever and ever.
You know, it's an amazing thing, but this place called hell was spoken of more by Jesus Christ than any other person who ever lived! Jesus spoke more on hell than John. He spoke more on hell than Peter and Paul and all the Bible writers combined. And in Matthew 5:21 and 22 we find the very first allusion to hell and Jesus is the very one speaking of this place. "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgement: But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement: and whosoever shall say unto his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." Listen, this was Jesus, the babe that was born in a manger, speaking about this place called hell.
I want you to look in our text and I want you to notice some things about hell. First of all, I want you to notice that God doesn't want anybody to go to hell. He doesn't want young ladies to go to hell. He does not want young men to go to hell. He does not want men or women to go to hell. But God is holy and because He is holy His holiness demands that sin be penalized. And the Bible says in Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death..."
In our verses we have a very amazing story. There are two characters. First there was a rich man. Verse 19 says: "There was a rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen..." I want you to see this rich man this morning. He was a man that had all of the world's goods. He had fine apparel. He had servants that waited on him hand and foot. He lived in a very spacious mansion. This man had everything going for him. But you know the amazing thing about this rich man is, he was so engulfed in his riches that he forgot Jesus Christ. And Paul says in I Timothy 6, speaking about riches and how they lead to an uncertain end: in verses 9 and 10 he says: "But they that will be rich shall fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
O, there was another man. The Bible says in verse 20, there was a certain beggar. His name was Lazarus. He was laid at his gate full of sores. I want you to see the beggar -- his clothes are dirty and filthy, he smells, his body is covered with sores. The Bible says: "And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores."
Can you picture him as his body is covered with sores that perhaps may be a type of leprosy, or a cancer of sorts? And those sores are oozing out. And as he lays there, the dogs come by and lick his sores and the flies are swarming around him.
Then the Bible says: "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." The old beggar lived a terrible, hard life. He begged every single day of the year for goods, and to be fed and to sustain himself. But now he was dead. The rich man also died. Listen, the Bible says in Hebrews 9:27: "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Everyone will die one day except those Christians who will be taken alive in the rapture. But if He doesn't come before our time is over all of us will die one day. From the youngest to the oldest we are all facing death. The question is, when you die where will you spend eternity? This is why I have traveled across America warning people and pleading with people to trust Jesus Christ so that they can know they are going to Heaven.
The rich man also died. How would you have liked to have been this rich man? Imagine your living in a spacious mansion. You had servants that waited on you hand and foot. And say like this afternoon, you went to your home, had a meal, watched a few television programs and then you went to your favorite room and laid your head down, and when you opened your eyes instead of being in that bedroom, the demons of hell were staring you in your face? The flames of hell were engulfing you?
You see the Bible leaves nothing to the imagination. This rich man laid his head down on his bed and the next time he opened his eyes, instead of being in his spacious mansion, he was in hell! That's what the Bible says -- He was in hell!
PEOPLE IN HELL HAVE A BODY
I want you to know first of all that people in hell have a body. They have a very real body. You say, how do you know?
Look in Matthew 5: 29-30: "But if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." This reveals that people in hell have a real body. But look again in Mark 9. This gives a more graphic description of the fact that sinners who go to hell have a literal body. Mark 9: 42-43: "And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched."
Several years ago I talked to a Jehovah's Witness. She said hell is an imaginary place and it's not real. I said, Okay, let me see your Bible. I took her Jehovah's Witness Bible, opened it and found this passage and her Bible says this, "Hell is a place where the fire shall not be put out." That's even more graphic. Our verse says it shall not be quenched. And literally it does mean, "Shall not be put out." Her Jehovah's Witness Bible says the very same thing. Verses 44-48 say: "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut if off: it is better for thee to enter into life halt, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."
Back in our text in Luke 16, Jesus talked about the body that men will have in hell. In Luke 16:23 we find that men and women who go to hell will have eyes: "And in hell he lifted up his eyes..." Listen, you can't have eyes without having a body! That man had his very eyes in hell that he had in life! But now in hell he wasn't able to see the beautiful landscape that was around that mansion. He couldn't see the beautiful family that he once loved. He couldn't see the good things of this life because now he was engulfed in hell in the flames. The Bible says: "...He lifted up his eyes, being in torments."
Not only did he have eyes but he could see. He says, he seeth Abraham afar off. I wonder what went through that rich man's mind when he woke up. Maybe he woke up and said I'm having a nightmare. I'll close my eyes and go back to sleep and when I wake up I'll be in my home. And then he closed his eyes. But when he opened it he was still in hell. That's right. He could see.
Not only did he have eyes in hell, but verse 24 reveals something else. "And he cried..." He had a mouth in hell. He had to have a mouth to be able to cry out to others. And in hell the Bible says 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..." That word tormented means suffering. He said, I'm suffering in these flames.
You know, in this life before he died, he never cried out to Jesus for mercy. He was too busy entertaining his friends. He was too busy singing the world's song. But now in hell he cries and says, Cool my tongue.
Not only did he have a mouth, but he also had the sense of feeling. He could feel. He wasn't an imaginary being. He could feel in hell just as well as when he was alive. He said: "Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." I'm suffering! He said I can feel these flames.
He had eyes in hell. He had a mouth in hell. But he also had a memory in hell. In verse 25 Abraham said: "Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented." Abraham said, do you remember rich man, when you were on planet earth you had all kinds of opportunity to be saved but you wouldn't do it? Could you imagine being in hell and having a memory, and being able to remember that you almost got saved? You almost did! But you didn't do it. The rich man had a memory in hell.
O, but I'll tell you something else he had in hell. He was able to hear. You see he was holding a conversation with Abraham. The Bible says he saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom and he cried to Abraham and asked him to have mercy on him, but Abraham said, Son, remember. This rich man could hear Abraham -- a miraculous mystery of God that I can't explain. But the rich man could hear in hell.
WHO WILL GO TO HELL?
"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous,, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."
-- I Corinthians 6:9 & 10
People in hell will have a body, but second, who is it that will go to hell? You say, Can you predict who will go? No, I can't predict who will go. I don't believe anybody can and the heresy that some are destined to go to hell and some to heaven is not scriptural.
But I'll tell you, the Bible tells us something in I Corinthians 6:9. If these dear people don't turn away from their sins, they are going to wind up in hell. "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God." There are people going around today saying they are going to heaven. They have never repented of their sins. They are merely church members. They may have been baptized. They may put money in the offering plate. And they may outwardly appear to be saved, but they have never repented of their sins to Jesus. The Bible brands those individuals as being unrighteous.
"Be not deceived: neither fornicators." That is what's being taught all across America and around the world. These are usually the individuals who have never been married -- the young man or young woman involved in premarital intercourse. It's a sin. I don't care what the TV program says about it. I don't care what the book says about it. It's a sin! Hebrews 13:4 says: "Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." Fornicators, if they don't repent of their sins and let Jesus save them, they'll wind up in hell.
He says "idolaters." Idolaters are people who worship gods made out of stones and gods made out of golden images. But who in America would do such a crazy thing as that? But I'll tell you the sin that America is guilty of -- materialism. And we have people that want cars and want clothes and want fancy homes. There's no sin in having these things. What I'm talking about are people who are consumed with a desire for things. We're so busy getting degrees and getting all the finer things of life that we've left God out of our lives! And when we do, you and I, in twentieth century America become guilty of idolatry.
Idolatry is the worship of anything or anybody other than God. You can worship cars, you can worship clothes, you can worship sports, you can worship prestige, you can worship popularity, you can worship power and even people. Idolaters, if they don't repent of their sin of idolatry, they will never make it to heaven.
Not only did he say "fornicators and idolaters," but he said, "adulterers." Who are the adulterers? This is a man or woman who has been united in holy matrimony and who is involved in extra-marital intercourse. Perversion! God says people who are involved in this sin and this is their manner of life, this is their custom, this is their practice, this is their desire, this is what they live for, He said adulterers, if they don't repent, are going to wind up in hell!
And then He says the "effeminate." This is a compromiser. They'll be one way with one group and another way with another group. They do what ever everybody else is doing. The effeminate. But also it could refer to men who have feminine features and characteristics and qualities. These people need to be saved.
Who else? "Abusers of themselves with mankind." Who is this? I'll tell you who it is. These are lesbians and homosexuals. Listen, God loves sinners but He hates sin. Homosexuals can be saved. Lesbians can be saved. Adulterers can be saved. Fornicators can be saved. But God hates these sins. And if these people don't repent of their way of life and let Jesus save them and change their life, they'll never make it to heaven.
Then he says "thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God." Paul says these people, if they fail to repent of their sins, will never make it to heaven.
But you know God has a way of keeping all of us in our places. In verse 11 he says: "And such were some of you..." You see the Holy Spirit knows that some of us who are saved have a tendency to put our pious noses up in the air and we wouldn't go tell a drunkard in the street of Chicago about Jesus. We wouldn't go tell a pimp or prostitute about the Lord. That's beyond our dignity. But we better get off our high horses and go down and talk to sinners of all walks of life and from all categories because Paul said, "Such were some of you..."
Every one of us are guilty sinners; despicable before God. And we're not only sinners, but we're sinners saved by grace now. But we deserve hell. That's what we deserve. But only because of the grace of God are we saved and we do have the authority to go and warn the lost about Jesus' soon coming and about the impending judgement. O, if sinners don't repent of their sins, they are going to wind up in hell!
I want you to know people in hell will have a body. I also want you to know who will be in hell. And third, people in hell will beg. Do you know what they'll beg for?
PEOPLE IN HELL WILL BEG
First of all, in Luke 16: 23-44 they'll beg for mercy. "And 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." I talk to men, I talk to women, I talk to boys and I talk to girls, and I don't believe it when they tell me they don't care about heaven, they don't care about hell and they're not concerned. I don't believe they're telling the truth. I believe they're talking off the top of their heads and they're just pretending and they're trying to be Mr. Hard-head and Miss Hard-head. But deep down in their hearts they are concerned about where they will spend eternity. If they have any kind of a mind at all they will be concerned about where they will spend eternity.
You see the rich man was too busy in life to call out to God and ask for mercy. And now in hell, he is crying out for mercy. The Roman Catholics teach that if a person dies he goes to purgatory. They spend some time there and then after they have suffered, God will allow them to escape purgatory and come up and then go on to heaven. But there's no such teaching in the Bible. Listen, my friend, if you die and you failed to receive Christ and repent of your sins you are trapped for all eternity in this place called hell. There's no escaping it. And it will be too late to beg for mercy after that. The time to ask God to be merciful is now.
And in Luke eighteen the old Pharisee stood and said, I thank thee God that I am not as these extortioners and adulterers. I tithe all that I have. And he went on and told how good he was. But the old Publican would not even as so much look up to God. He smote himself and said, God be merciful to me a sinner. The Bible says, I tell you that man went home justified because he realized how wicked he was. And he pleaded for the mercy of God. If you've never received the Lord as your Saviour and never been born again you need to plead the mercy of God today.
Not only will sinners in hell plead for mercy, but they'll beg for miracles. "Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue." Can you imagine being in hell and being surrounded by the flames of hell and begging for one drop of water to cool your tongue? Nothing short of a miracle? What can one drop of water do? But he was begging for a miracle. And sinners in hell will never see a miracle.
He begged for a miracle, but there is something else he begged for. He begged for a clear mind. You see in verse 25 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." He said, Rich man, don't you remember when you were on planet earth you "fared sumptuously everyday." You had servants that waited on you hand and foot and you had a social life. You had everything that a person could want! Rich man, do you remember when the disciples of mine came and told you about the kingdom of God? Do you remember when they told you you need to repent because the kingdom of Heaven was at hand? Don't you remember when they pleaded with you to go to the synagogue and you heard the words of God and you turned away and turned a deaf ear on them?
There are people who will die and they will stand before the Lord and they will say, I remember that gospel tract. I remember that preacher telling me to get saved. I remember my mother praying with me and pleading with me to get saved. I remember my aunt. I remember that person talking to me about my need to get saved. But I didn't do it! And throughout all eternity their minds will haunt them because they could have gotten saved.
Agrippa said: "Almost thou persuadest me" to Paul. If we could raise Agrippa from the dead today, he would say, I wish I had gotten saved. I heard Paul. He told me. Felix would say, Paul, I told you to come back at a more "convenient time," but I never got around to it. People are always going around saying, I plan on getting saved. I'm going to get saved. I'm fixing to do it. But time's going to run out on you. Proverbs 29:1 says: "He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
They will beg for a clear mind in hell, but they will beg for something else too. They will beg that their lost family members will be saved. In verse 28 the Bible says: "For I have five brethren..." He already said in verse 27, I wish you would send someone to my father's house, "For I have five brethren: that he may testify (or witness) unto them." He said when I was up there on planet earth, I didn't believe in hell. I didn't believe in the gospel. I didn't consider any of that relevant. But now I am in hell and I don't want my family to come down here. He said, Abraham please send somebody to warn them lest they come to this terrible place. I don't want my brothers to be here. It's awful! It's terrible! It's tragic! It's horrible! Please send somebody to tell my brothers.
I'll tell you why I believe this rich man didn't want his brothers to come here. See, he was probably the eldest brother and they followed his example. And he told them that hell wasn't real and they didn't have to worry about the kingdom of God and all that fanatical preaching from those followers of Jesus. And they listened to him. He influenced them. And he knew that if they died and came there to spend all eternity, they would point a finger at him and say, Older brother, you told us hell wasn't real. Well, we're here!
He said, I don't want my five brothers to come to hell. I believe now that people who die without Jesus really will wind up in hell.
They will believe that one must repent. They'll believe that you must repent! Look at verse 30: "And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent." See, he wasn't willing to repent when he was on planet earth. He never repented. But now as he was down in the midst of hell, and as demons in hell were torturing him and those flames were engulfing him, he suddenly realized that he did need to repent. And though he never did he said, Send someone back to my five brothers and let him testify to them and maybe they will repent because they certainly need to.
In Acts 17:30, the Apostle Paul says this: "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent." I want you to know that God says you must repent. You must recognize that you are a sinner, that you're guilty and deserve the judgement of God and then be willing to admit that to God and ask Him to forgive you of all of your sins -- past, present and future -- and ask Him to help you forsake that type of a lifestyle and to change your life. They'll believe that a person who went to hell went there because they failed to repent and be saved.
NO SECOND CHANCE IN HELL
And then they'll believe, finally that there is no second chance in hell. In verses 26-27: "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. And then he said, I pray thee, therefore father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house." You see, this rich man was in hell and before Jesus went to Calvary's cross and rose from the dead, paradise had two chambers or two compartments -- hell and paradise proper where Abraham's bosom was located. And there in that dreadful place the poor rich man said, I realize now just because of what Abraham told me that it's impossible. Abraham said, Rich man, though you can hear me and though I can hear you, though you can see Lazarus and though we can converse with one another, it's impossible, there's a great gulf fixed between you and me so that it's impossible for us to ever be able to make contact with one another. But I'll tell you that chasm is even wider now because Jesus ascended on high. And when a believer who knows the Lord dies he goes to be in the presence of the Lord while sinners are in hell. It's impossible for sinners in hell to go up to heaven. And I'm sure that those in heaven certainly do not want to go to hell.
You say, well, what's the remedy? The Bible says in Romans 10:9-13: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation, for the scripture saith, WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH ON HIM SHALL NOT BE ASHAMED, For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. FOR WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED."
If you have never repented of your sin, and you're merely relying on your church membership and your baptism and your putting money in the offering plate and your trying to be a good person, you may as well forget about those things and be honest with yourself. Be honest with the Lord. Come today and repent of your sins and be honest with the Lord before you wind up in hell.
Listen, there will be some beautiful people in hell. There will be some attractive people in hell. There will be some handsome people there. There will be some intellectual people there. There will be some strong men there. There will be some weak men there. There will be people from all walks of life in this place called hell.
Hell is no respecter of persons. Anybody who fails to do it the way that God says to do it will wind up in this place. And there are some believers who need to ask God to give you an injection of a new birth and a desire to see sinners saved. I tell you, the average Christian doesn't believe hell is a real place! You say. O yea, I believe hell is a real place. Then why is it that we don't go knocking on doors? Why is it we don't give out gospel tracts? Why is it no one's heart is broken for the lost? Why is it we don't plead for sinners to get saved? We don't believe hell is a real place.
You know if we believe hell was a real place, the average crowd, that crowd that comes out on a Sunday morning, that same crowd would be here on Thursday or whenever your visitation is. And everyone of us whenever we went to work, we would be uneasy until we told those around us how that hell is real and how that they need to be saved!
Some of us, we've lost our burden for the lost. You say, I believe in hell. You come to church when you get ready. Some don't come but to one service on Sunday morning. You know, if you really believe hell is real, you would be in God's house for Sunday school and Sunday morning worship and Wednesday and whenever the doors of this church are open. You would be here.
We have too much callousness. We have too much unconcern. And I'm telling you that even Christians have become engulfed in the sin of materialism. We're too busy seeking material things. And everybody's too busy trying to get all of this old world's goods and sinners are dying and going to hell.
I heard my pastor say, some years ago, he went next door to this church to talk to a person that lives there and do you know that person said, "In all the years I've lived here no one from that church has ever come over and invited me to come. Nobody from that church has ever come and told me how to be a Christian." I hope that is not the testimony of your church.
There are people all around us who need to know about Christ. And I want you to know that young people can talk to people about the Lord. Married couples can talk to people about the Lord. The elderly can talk to people about the Lord. Each one of us needs to have a burden for the lost. Each of us as Christians need to be busy telling others how that they can be saved from hell.
there are so many wrongs,lies,and innuendos in this fable,I really don't know where to start. Let me say first, that you error because you know not the scripture. You are such as the men Christ spoke of when He said in Matt 15: 8&9"This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth,and honoureth me with their lips:but their heart is far from me." "But in vain they do worship me,teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." You take scriptures out of context, and twist the word around until they fit your twisted ideas of what a holy sovereign God would do,if He also possessed a carnal mind.The idea of place of torment in a pit called hell was introduced into the church at Rome,in the first century and was used as a means to scare the superstitious folk into regular attendance at church.To get back to your fable,if you put the parable,and it is a parable by the way,Matt 13:34, says "all these things spake Jesus unto the crowd in parables;and without a parable spake he not unto them."in it's proper context,you will see that it follows other parables which explain it and you will come to see God's truth. God has always wanted a people here to act as intercessors on behalf of those who do not know him.God wanted Israel to be a "nation of priests,"but Israel violated God's commandments even as He was writing them (Ex. 19:6-8,32:21-29;Deut. 21:5) So God selected only the tribe of Levi under the Mosaic Covenant to be His priests. These priests were to offer up prayers, intercessions,and sacrifices not only for Israel,but for all the nations around them. Ultimately Israel became so degenerate that the priests refused to offer up sacrifices on behalf of the Gentile nations. For this reason, in 70AD God destroyed the Nation of Israel and took the priesthood away from the tribe of Levi and gave it to "another Nation".In the story you find a rich man clothed in purple and fine linen,and fared(ate) sumptuously every day. you find a beggar named Lazarus,laid at his gate,full of sores desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table:moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. (Lazarus was a gentile whom the priests refused entrance and the dogs, the name given to the other Nations by the Jews were also left outside.)when God did take the priesthood from the tribe of they were in torment because they now say the Gentile Nations abiding in the"bosom of Abraham" or now the favored Nations,the rich man wanted Abraham th send some one to wan his Five brothers(Levi was the son of Leah and Jacob who also had Five other sons) Abraham said "They have Moses and the prophets,let them hear them" Then he said "nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead,they will repent."And he said if they hear not Moses and the prophets neither will they be persuaded,though one rose from the dead." Christ did raise his friend Lazarus from the dead,but the same pharisees still rejected Him as the messiah that Abraham Moses and the other prophets said was coming This is the true meaning of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. when John the baptist saw Jesus for the first time he proclaimed;"behold the Lamb of God,which taketh away the sin of the world."To say that God sent His son into the world to save the world and He could not do it,but allowed untold billions to perish,is saying that they both were failures.This is akin to blasphemy.You,sir, labeled your little story,"Hell:the abode of the lost."Christ said, in Matt. 18;11'For the Son of man is come to save that which is lost.'I hope you will take time to at least go back over your work and put the scripture back into context,realizing that all these stories are just that,spiritual fairy tales delivering a higher meaning. All the preceding parables speak of the down fall of the priesthood through debauchery,decadence,a general falling away from the laws and commandments of God,thinking themselves to be above the law.Those who call themselves Christians,who are called to intercede on behalf of sinners but find it difficult to pray for them let alone love them are in danger of following in the footsteps of the first priesthood which God removed because of their lack of mercy.Many Christians are filling their minds with a 'fly away' mentality while expecting non-believers to finally get what they deserve, 100 pound hailstones,nuclear wars and horrible diseases. This teaching did not come from Christ1 It came from the same spirit that drove the disciples John and James to want to command fire to come down upon the heads of those who did not believe on Jesus Christ(Luke 9;52-56)but please note, the Samaritans who rejected Jesus were NOT condemned to hell by Jesus for their rejection of Him; it was His disciples who were condemned for the foul they had which wanted those unbelievers burned instead of saved.Much of the church world is in the same foul spirit John and James were in.Search your heart and conscience. Ask the holy spirit if some of these reasons listed above are blocking you from receiving the full truth regarding this matter.And above all else 'Study to show yourself approved.'In closing I would like to say I believe your are a sincere man of God I read in your works your desire to help your fellow man.But like so many of us, and I include myself, who have been led astray by the deceiver,it is time we prayed for guidance and a fresh supply of God's holy spirit. In the garden God told Adam that the day he ate the fruit from the tree of good and evil he would surly die.The serpent told eve, she would not die. And man has chosen to believe Satan ever since. Ken Richards kenjackier@aol.com