From His Heart

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Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, a message that will live forever and ever.

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Now, did Jesus believe in an eternal heaven and in an eternal hell? Of course he did. He talked about heaven and he talked about hell. And interestingly, if you read in the Gospels, he talked more about hell than he did about heaven. Both are real places.

The reason he talked more about hell is because hell is a real place and real people go there, and he doesn't want anyone to go there. So he warns about hell.

There is treasure, there is love, there is hope that you always dream of. He can heal every scar of true, real love. You hope from his heart.

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Welcome to From His Heart with Patrick Jeff Shreve, beginning a new week and a new month with the series called Forever and Ever, the Reality of Eternal Heaven and Eternal Hell.

Now, the Bible is very clear. Heaven or hell awaits every person. In this revealing series, you'll learn about the afterlife and how to be sure that your name will be securely in the Lamb's Book of Life. Because once you breathe that last breath, you'll either experience the glory of heaven or the agony of hell. It's the decision that you make in this life that determines eternity.

Do you know where you're going after you die? Open your Bible now to Luke chapter 16 as Pastor Jeff Shreve begins the series Forever and Ever, the reality of eternal Heaven and eternal Hell with part one of the lesson entitled Life and the Afterlife.

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Now, our minds have a hard time really grasping the concept of eternity, of forever and ever and ever and ever. But see, when God made you and God fashioned you, God fashioned you and made you to live forever. And there are two places to go after you leave this life. You're either going to go to eternal heaven or you're going to go to eternal hell. And all of us are going to pass from this life. We are on the brink right now. Where are we going to go?

Now, did Jesus believe in an eternal heaven and in an eternal hell? Of course he did. He talked about heaven and he talked about hell. And interestingly, if you read in the Gospels, he talked more about hell than he did about heaven. Both are real places. The reason he talked more about hell is because hell is a real place and real people go there. And he doesn't want anyone to go there. So he warns about hell.

Now, in Luke chapter 16, he speaks mainly to the Pharisees. He's speaking to a crowd, but he's really pinpointing to the Pharisees about life and the afterlife. The Pharisees had gotten things so wrong. And so Jesus tells them a story, a shocking story, probably a parable, probably not a real situation, probably a parable. But it's a shocking story that they heard. And it really was pinpointed. This is you, and this is what is going to happen to you unless you repent.

Luke, chapter 16. I'll begin reading in verse 19. Now there was a certain rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, gayly living in splendor every day. He was stinking, filthy, stinking rich, this guy. And a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate covered with sores and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man's table. Besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. How gross.

Now it came about that the poor man died and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom. And the rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame."

But Abraham said, "Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things. But now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you, there's a great chasm fixed in order that those who wish to come over from here to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us."

And he said, "Then I beg you, Father, that you send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers that he warn them lest they also come to this place of torment." But Abraham said, "They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them." But he said, "No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent." But he said to him, "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead."

What a story. What a parable of what happens in life and afterlife. It's such a contrast. It's a contrast between a rich man and a poor man. A contrast between a man who lived in splendor and a man who lived in squalor. A contrast between a man who every day was a day of pleasure versus a man who every day was a day of pain and degradation. And all that gets flipped when they die. The rich man becomes a poor man, and the poor man becomes a rich man. The rich man goes to hell and the poor man goes to heaven. The rich man is now in pain, and the poor man is now experiencing the pleasures of eternity. The rich man is in flames, and the poor man is now in comfort.

What does Jesus want us to learn from this story that he told about life and the afterlife? Three key truths. Truth number one: Learn the truth regarding earthly success. So I said that Jesus, he gave this parable in direct relation to the Pharisees. He is in a situation with them, and he tells this story to open their blind eyes.

Now, in Luke chapter 16, the beginning of the chapter, he's talking about wealth. And he says this in verse 13: "No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon, God and wealth, God and riches." Now, the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things, and they were scoffing at him. They were rolling their eyes at him. They were turning up their nose at him like, "Oh, what a rube. What a dummy. He doesn't understand this at all. Does he not know that when you're wealthy, that shows that you're blessed of God, that you have the favor of God, that you have the approval of God?"

And they equated money and success with God's approval and God's favor. And Jesus said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts, for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God." And then in just a few verses, he goes into this story about this guy who was so wildly rich. I mean, he would have been on the television show "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." He had so much because it says of him, he was a certain rich man. He habitually dressed in purple. Purple is the color of royalty. And to make a purple dye, you had to get it from a certain shellfish. It was expensive to come up with a purple dye, to take the linen and dye it purple. Well, that's how this guy dressed. He dressed to the nines every single day. And it says he was gaily living in splendor every day. Every day was a big party. I mean, he was just. He had so much.

So wealthy was this rich man. And then the contrary was the poor man just dumped at his gate. Lazarus, whose name means "whom the Lord helps." But he didn't seem like he was getting much help. Definitely not getting any help from the rich man. He's just dumped at his gate. He's covered in sores, which is probably an indication that he was crippled and he had bed sores. And the dogs would come and lick the sores and kind of gnaw on the sores. You know how dogs do if you got a cut on your leg or something like that and the dog starts licking it and he starts to kind of nibble at it and it's like, "Quit doing that." But that's what the dogs do.

And this isn't when Jesus talks about the dogs licking Lazarus' sores. He's not talking about the nice little dog that you have, little Fifi. He's not talking. It's not little Fifi, it's little mongrel dog. It's the nasty dogs that would roam the cities and the slums and the back alleys. It's that kind of dog. Well, such a contrast. No one was giving anything to this guy. He was longing to eat the crumbs that would fall from the master's table. So you have the rich guy and he's super rich. You have the poor guy and he's super, super poor. He has nothing.

Now, in the minds of the hearers, in the minds of the Pharisees, because they said, "Hey, when you have a lot economically and monetarily, that shows that God is blessing you. That shows us God is favoring you. God is approving of you." And so in this story, when the rich man dies, they would have said, "Well, he's going to be ushered straight into heaven." The poor man, why is he so poor? Why does he have no? Why does he just have sores that the dogs are licking? Well, because he's cursed of God. And when he dies, he's going to go to hell. That's in their mind, and Jesus is shocking them with his story.

Learn the truth regarding earthly success. Listen. Riches are a hurdle to heaven. They're not proof of assured entrance. A hurdle to heaven. Why? Because no man can serve two masters. The default setting for us, especially in today's world here in America, is we worship money. Everything is about money. We make the decisions that we make based on money. We worship money and use God when we're supposed to worship God and use money. Money is amoral. That means it's neither good nor bad. It's not immoral, it's amoral. Your attitude toward money, money can be moral or immoral.

And the love of money, the scripture says, 1 Timothy, chapter 6: "For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil. And some, by longing for it, have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many a pang." The religious leaders, the Pharisees, were lovers of money. They said they were lovers of God. And they said, "Those things are equal. Love God, love money. It's a good thing. Because if you have a lot of money, that means God is approving of you." No, that's not the case. And riches are a hurdle to heaven.

You remember the rich young ruler who came to Jesus? He had so much. And Jesus said, "You know the commandments?" He said, "Yeah, I've kept all those from my youth up." He said, "One thing you lack, because here's your real problem. You have another God other than God. And the other God is money. So sell all you have, give it to the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me." And the guy said, "I'm not gonna do that. I don't wanna do that." And he went away sad. He was one who owned much property. And Jesus said, after that guy walked away, he didn't run after him. After that guy walked away, he said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God."

And the disciples were amazed at his words. Why? Because they believed like the Pharisees believed. "Hey, if you have a lot, that means God is approving of you." And Jesus said, "No, when you have a lot, you have to watch out for that. Because that can become your God. And that can be a hurdle to heaven." See, riches, they're amoral. It's not good or bad. You have a lot of wealthy people in the Bible. Abraham was a wealthy guy. Lots of people in the scripture. Solomon wealthy. David wealthy. Lots of people in the scripture were wealthy. Joseph in the book of Genesis, he's wealthy. He's the number two guy in all of Egypt. But your attitude toward riches, that's what makes the difference.

And riches are given, and they're to be used to honor God and help men. So here is this guy in the story. He has so much. And he's not honoring God, and he's not helping his fellow man. Proverbs 3, verse 9 says, "Honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of all your produce." Honor the Lord with what he gives you. Jesus said this: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Question: Where's your treasure? Where's your treasure? If your treasure is all here, that's where your heart will be. But if your treasure is in heaven, that's where your heart will be. Now this rich guy had so much that he's got an opportunity right at his front gate. As they dump Lazarus there, he's laid. It uses the word "laid" like you would lay a little infant down in his or her bed. But that's not what that word means. That word "ballo" in the Greek means to throw down, to cast down. It's like Lazarus is a piece of human trash and they just dump him at the rich man's gate, hoping that the rich man will help him.

He's longing to eat just even crumbs. And the rich man doesn't do anything for him, doesn't help him at all, doesn't care about him at all. Now remember this: when it comes to helping people, we are to help those who cannot help themselves, not to help those who will not help themselves. It's a big difference. We help those who cannot work, not those who will not work. We have a lot of people today, a growing number of people today who are able-bodied people that have chosen not to work. We don't help people like that. The scripture says, "Don't do that." 2 Thessalonians 3:10. Paul told the Thessalonians, "When I was with you, I gave you this order. If a man will not work, neither let him eat." Don't help the guy if he won't help himself. We help those who can't help themselves.

This guy Lazarus, he couldn't help himself. He was totally destitute. He was probably crippled, covered in sores. He needed. I love what John Wooden, the legendary coach of UCLA, said: "The worst thing you can do for the ones you love is the things they should be doing for themselves." Don't enable people to be slugs and ne'er-do-wells. And those that don't do just look to you to do it for them. But now, in this situation, what's earthly success? Earthly success is given to further God's kingdom, to help other people. That guy didn't do that because he was just like the Pharisees. He was a lover of money.

Second truth: Learn the truth regarding life after death. So I like how succinctly it puts it. Verse 22: "And it came about that the poor man died and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom. And the rich man also died, and he was buried." The poor man wasn't buried. Why? Because it costs money to bury somebody. And this guy doesn't have anything and he doesn't have anybody. He's just dumped at the gate. And when he dies, they just pick up his body and they dump him in the garbage pit. The rich man no doubt had a big funeral. He died and was buried.

Listen, you mark it down. Apart from the return of Christ, everyone dies. Everyone dies. I don't care how much money you have, you're not going to cheat death. You're not going to somehow get out of death. And Lazarus died. And that was a wake-up call to the rich man. "Hey, what happened to me is happening to you." As that tombstone said, "I'm in eternity and you're on the brink." Lazarus died, and the rich man also died. Death is the great leveler, the great equalizer. Hebrews chapter 9, verse 27 says this: "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this comes judgment." We die once. We don't go through reincarnation. God is not into recycling. And so you don't get recycled, you die once. And then what happens? Then comes the judgment. That's what happens. Everyone dies.

Hey, listen, 100 years from now, if Jesus delays his coming, 100 years from now, everyone in this room is dead. Everyone in this room, you say, "I'm only six years old."

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Yeah.

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How many 106-year-old people do you know? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but 100 years from now, everyone is. You say, well, that's not very comforting. Well, it's just reality. It's just the way it is. Everyone dies, and then everyone lives eternally in either heaven or hell. Either heaven or hell.

So Lazarus died. He was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom. And the rich man also died. And it says in Hades, he lifted up his eyes being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. Now you can press this to the point where you have places for all these things. And I don't know how much in this story you have to press and say, okay, there's a place called Abraham's bosom. It's also called paradise. We get that from the Gospel of Luke where Jesus said to the thief on the cross, truly, I say to you today, you shall be with me in paradise. So Abraham's bosom and paradise, they say, are the same thing.

And then you have this place in the Old Testament, it's called Sheol. Sheol is the place of the dead. And Sheol has two compartments in it. It has Abraham's bosom or paradise, and this place called Hades. Hades is the place of the unrighteous dead. Paradise, or Abraham's bosom, is the place of the righteous.

In the Old Testament times, when a person died believing in God, they didn't believe in Jesus because they didn't know the name Jesus, but they had faith in God's provision. Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. So they had faith in God's provision. They had faith that God would take away their sin. They put their faith and trust in Yahweh and the provision he had for their sin. They were declared righteous. When they died, they went to the place of the righteous dead, which is, in this terminology, Abraham's bosom or paradise.

As for the unrighteous dead, they went to Hades. You may ask, well, is Hades the same thing as hell? Not exactly. Very, very similar, but not exactly.

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You're listening to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, who today has begun his series Forever and Ever, the reality of eternal heaven and eternal hell, and today's message is titled "Life and the Afterlife." The Apostle Paul said there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. This means that either heaven or hell awaits every person. The reality is that eternity is a long time to be wrong. That's why so many people need to hear the good news of Christ, our Savior and our Lord. You can make a major impact on that effort through From His Heart.

Tomorrow, December 2nd, is this year's Giving Tuesday. It's a global celebration of generosity when people everywhere give extra to the causes that are closest to their hearts. Giving Tuesday is an exciting day, and that's why, through your partnership with Promise Heart Ministries, this effort won't just be a day for charitable giving. It'll be a day that can change a person's eternity.

Right now, there are multitudes of people around the globe looking for truth, love, and hope. They are scrolling, searching, and yearning for something that is real. We all know that the only thing that can truly satisfy this kind of spiritual hunger is a living and life-changing personal relationship with Christ. That's why proclaiming God's truth with clarity is so important, and this mission has never been more vital.

We're praying that you'll help us and step up generously to hit our $20,000 goal in just one 24-hour giving period. Everything you give goes directly to reaching more people for Christ. So please join us and give as you can this Giving Tuesday, knowing that your gift will make an eternal impact on the lives of people around the world. If you'd like to give today toward that goal, you can do that and then designate it to be a gift for Giving Tuesday. Call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-BIBLE) or go online to promisheart.org. Thank you so much, and God bless you.

Well, today you heard part one of the lesson "Life and the Afterlife," and Pastor Jeff Shreve will continue on From His Heart tomorrow with part two. That's on Giving Tuesday when Pastor Jeff opens God's Word to share real truth, real love, and real hope from His heart.

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He can heal every scars.

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From His Heart is the listener supported Broadcast Ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world. Remember, no matter what, God loves you and he has a wonderful plan for your life. Find out more@fromisheart.org.