The Parable of Hell
Pastor Tan Thai · Sep 11, 2022
This sermon examines the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, presenting Jesus' teaching on the reality of hell and heaven after death. The pastor emphasizes that Jesus himself, the greatest expression of God's love, taught about hell more than any other figure in Scripture, and that this teaching flows from his deep love for humanity.
The sermon opens by raising difficult questions that many people avoid when the topic of hell arises: How can a loving God condemn people to eternal punishment simply for not believing? Is the punishment too severe for the crime? The pastor firmly states that the image of God taking satisfaction in watching sinners suffer in hell is completely contrary to Scripture, citing Ezekiel 18:21-23 to show that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but rejoices when they turn from their ways and live.
The pastor presents two reasons to listen carefully to what the Bible teaches about hell. First, only by understanding hell can one fully grasp the immensity of God's love. Second, and more significantly, Jesus himself taught about hell more than any other figure in the entire Bible, more than Paul, Peter, or David. Because Jesus is the very embodiment of God's love as confirmed in 1 John 4:7-10, his warnings about hell come from that same deep love, since he desires that no one should suffer eternally.
The core of the sermon analyzes the parable in Luke 16:19-31, which Jesus told specifically for the money-loving Pharisees. The pastor explains the significance of the names given to the two characters: the rich man has no name because his entire identity and life's purpose was wealth and material things, while Lazarus is named (from Eleazar, meaning 'God is my helper') because despite extreme poverty, he knew God was everything to him. The two lives stand in complete contrast: the rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, feasting lavishly every day, while Lazarus lay at his gate covered in sores, longing even for the crumbs used by guests to wipe their hands and thrown to the dogs.
After death, the destinies of the two men are completely reversed. Lazarus is carried by angels to Abraham's side, a place of eternal honor and blessing. The rich man suffers torment in Hades, unable even to receive a single drop of water to cool his tongue. The pastor highlights the striking detail that the rich man's character remains unchanged after death—he still wants to command Lazarus and indirectly blames God. Drawing from C.S. Lewis, the pastor explains that hell is the eternal projection of the sin and hardened selfishness that grows in a person's heart when they continuously reject God.
The sermon closes with a call for the congregation to seriously reflect on eternal life beyond the door of death and on the complete reversal of fortune after death, drawing on Paul's encouragement in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 that present suffering cannot compare to eternal glory. The parable also clearly warns that wealth is not proof of God's blessing, and it is the rich man's cold indifference to the suffering of others and his heart consumed by material things that leads him to hell, not wealth itself.