A Great Gulf Fixed

Temple Baptist Church - 9-12-2021

Luke 16:19-31

 

Introduction:

 

A.  Over the past couple of weeks, I have preached within the context of these verses, first on the reality of hell and secondly on the reality of heaven.  I have nothing new to add to that preaching.

 

B.  Our Lord Jesus Christ, in our text, sets forth truths concerning hell as well as Abraham’s Bosom or Paradise under the Old Covenant of Atonement

 

C.  The reality of hell.

 

1.  Hell is a real place!  There have been many attempts by men to ignore hell.  Hell is as real as heaven.  More is said by our Lord about hell than heaven because it is a place to be shunned.

 

2.  The horror of hell.  While many ignore or do not believe in hell, others have tried to put out the fire.  Hell is a place of torment.

 

The Orlando (Florida) Sentinel for April 10, 1983, asked Billy Graham: 
"Surveys tell us that 85% of Americans believe in heaven, but only 65% believe in hell. Why do you think so many Americans don't accept the concept of hell?" He replied: "I think that hell essentially is separation from God forever. And that is the worst hell that I can think of. But I think people have a hard time believing God is going to allow people to burn in literal fire forever. I think the fire that is mentioned in the Bible is a burning thirst for God that can never be quenched."

 

3.  The permanence of hell.  I have often said that the “heaven” of heaven is its eternality.  The “hell” of hell is its eternality.  No destruction of the soul; no second chances; and no escape or ultimate release from it.

 

D.  The reality of heaven.

 

1.  Heaven is a real place!  I thank God this morning that I will go to heaven and not to hell!

 

2.  The blessings of heaven.  I will not take the time to innumerate the message from last week, but heaven will be even more than I could ever hope for! 

 

3.  The permanence of heaven.  As hell is forever, heaven is also forever.  “Never grow old, never grow old, to a place where we will never grow old!

 

E.  This morning, I want to focus in on verse 26 which says:

 

Luke 16:26  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.

 

Gulf – A wide gap; a chasm; an abyss.

 

1.  It is great gulf.  Forever impassable.  The separation between saved and lost is one that can never be crossed without the finished work of Christ coupled with the New Birth.  The lost cannot be saved within themselves and neither can the saved be lost.

 

2.  It is a fixed gulf.  Forever immovable.  It has been placed there by Almighty God.  It cannot be either moved or can it be removed.  It is fixed.

 

3.  Those in both hell and heaven will never be able to cross over from one to another.  In the New Testament and eternity, no one will be able to see from one to another as there will be an eternal separation of the saved from the unsaved.

 

F.  Three things about the “great gulf fixed:”

 

1.  The Gulf of Sin.  A gulf created by man.

 

Genesis 3:6-9  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.  (7)  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.  (8)  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.  (9)  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

 

a.  Adam could not keep one rule for long as man’s choice is to sin.

 

Romans 5:12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

 

Romans 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

 

b.  In our day, people have this misguided thinking that God is good with their sin.  He is not!  Where Adam and Eve hid their sin by hiding and covering, mankind in our day flaunt their sin and tell God that He must accept it.

 

c.  God will not!

 

d.  People love their sin more than they love God.

 

e.  GOD GAVE US A REMEDY FOR SIN.  THE GOSPEL: DEATH, BURIAL, RESURRECTION!  THE ONLY WAY ACROSS!

 

John 1:29  The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

 

John 10:1  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

 

f.  There are a lot of thieves and robbers out there.

 

 

2.  The Gulf of Unbelief.  A gulf created by man!

 

a.  Unbelief is a personal choice.  You can either believe the gospel or you can refuse to believe the gospel.  Just that simple, the choice is yours.

 

2 Corinthians 4:3-6  But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:  (4)  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.  (5)  For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.  (6)  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

 

b.  Satan did not blind mankind in general as many hear and believe.  The Bible says that He blinds them “which believe not.”  When man makes up his mind to “believe not,” Satan then uses that unbelief to blind them to further truth, the “glorious gospel of Christ!”  When the blind follow the blind, both fall into the same pit!

 

c.  The gulf of sin is too often followed by the gulf of unbelief.

 

d.  GOD GIVES US NO REMEDY FOR UNBELIEF! 

 

3.  The Gulfs or Sin and Rejection will ultimately lead to the Gulf of Rejection. 

 

a.  Rejection of the natural revelation (the universe: heavens and earth) and the rejection of supernational revelation of God (the light that is in thee and the light of the glorious gospel of Christ).  For those who ultimately reject, God has no remedy.

 

John 5:39-40  Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.  (40)  And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

 

Luke 13:34  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!

 

b.  GOD GIVES US NO REMEDY FOR REJECTION!

 

Luke 16:26  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.

Heaven

 Temple Baptist Church - 9-5-2021

Luke 16:19-31

 

Introduction: 

 

A.  Last week, I preached on the reality of a place called hell.  You can believe it or not, the choice is yours.  If you deny hell, you did not either do away with it nor did you cool it down one degree.

 

B.  This week, I want to preach on heaven using an Old Testament example. 

 

1.  When our Lord told the story of two men, one who went to hell and one who went to heaven, He gave an Old Testament example to teach a New Testament principle.

 

2.  When our Lord told the story, His death according to the scripture, His burial, and His resurrection according to the scripture were future events.  This brings the story under the Old Covenant of Atonement; therefore, we need to look at it as such.

 

3.  Prior to the resurrection of Christ, the Old Testament saints were held in a wonderful place called Abraham’s Bosom.  The Old Testament lost were held in an awful placed called hell where there were torments.

 

4.  There was an impassable gulf fixed between the two that could not be crossed by either saved or lost.  This gulf was FIXED, meaning immovable.

 

C.  Now, let us look at a few truths found in our text that give us a look at what heaven is all about for the child of God.

 

1.  Verses 22-23.  The Truth of the Places.  Both heaven and hell are real places.  People tend to believe in a real heaven more than they believe in a real hell. 

 

1.  This is because they always want something for nothing.  I have heard so much of “the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man” over the years.  A heaven without a New Birth.

 

John 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

 

2.  A brotherhood with no spiritual DNA.  Saved people love God and have changed life.

 

Titus 2:13-14  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;  (14)  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

 

2.  Verses 19-20.  The Truth of the People.  Heaven and hell have nothing to do with either wealth or social standing. “The ground is level at the foot of the cross, no man stands higher than I.” 

 

a.  The rich man had both wealth and social standing yet died with no hope.  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven.  I am glad that the Lord did not say that it was impossible for a rich man to go to heaven though.  He may if he repents of sin and places his faith in the finished work of Christ for salvation.

 

b.  The beggar had neither wealth nor social standing yet died in hope.  I thank God that the poor are rich in faith.  This does not mean that every beggar will go to heaven and neither does it mean that every rich person will go to hell, but poor people have no hope in this world and, therefore, find it much easier to place their hope in the world to come through repentance and faith.

 

3.  Verses 22-23.  The Truth of the Personal Choice.  Heaven (God’s choice) or hell (personal choice). 

 

a.  When God breathed into Adam the breath of life, that life was the life that came from within God who is eternal.

 

b.  God has never had to breathe life into anyone else including Eve, as her life came through the eternal life in Adam.  Therefore, babies are just that, babies, at the moment of conception.  Breathing air does not make a child live, conception from two eternal beings who come together give the child life from the beginning.

 

c.  Every man, woman, child (born or unborn) will live forever in either heaven or hell.

 

4.  Verses 22-23.  The Truth of the Presence. which was and is immediate when death comes. 

 

a.  Psalms 55:15-16  Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.  (16)  As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.

 

b.  Genesis 25:8  Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.

 

c.  2 Corinthians 5:8  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

 

Revelation 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

 

5.  Verse 23, 25.  The Truth of the Peace. Lazarus was in Abraham’s “bosom.”  The word “bosom” can be used in two ways which give us beautiful picture of comfort and rest.

 

a.  Bosom – the chest or breasts of a woman.  What a wonderful thing it is to see a baby or small child comforted by lying its head on its mother’s breast.  A place of comfort and safety that causes the child to stop crying and sleep.

 

b.  Bosom – close or intimate.  We often use the phrase “bosom buddies or friends.”  This speaks of a close, intimate relationship with the Lord as well as with each other.  A place of rest instead of a place of fear.

 

Hebrews 4:9-10  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.  (10)  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

 

6.  Verse 24.  The Truth of the Provision.  Lazarus had access to water.

 

a.  The child of God will never want again!  The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.  The blessing of eating and drinking in eternity. 

 

b.  The child of God will not be a beggar when he/she reaches that wonderful place called heaven.  There, we find the “river of life.”  Clear as crystal and perfectly pure.  The “tree of life,” bearing 12 manner of fruit, yielding her fruit every month!

 

Revelation 22:1-2  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.  (2)  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

 

7.  Verse 26.  The Truth of the Purity. There was a great gulf fixed.  A place of separation from all discouragement, defilement, sin, pain, and suffering.

 

Revelation 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

 

Revelation 22:11  He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

 

Revelation 22:15  For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

 

8.  Verses 27-28.  The Truth of the Permanence.  Both heaven and hell are eternal truths so often realized too late.

 

a.  The permanence of a beggar named Lazarus.  Lazarus may not have had much in this world, but his desire to be with Lord gained him an eternity in heaven.

 

b.  The permanence a rich man in hell.  The rich man had all that this world could give but missed an eternity in heaven and then desired heaven for his family.

 

2 Corinthians 6:2  (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)