## The Man In Hell Never Asked

## Luke 16:22-31

It is interesting to notice the conversation of this man. He asks for several things: For someone to dip the tip of their finger in water and cool off his tongue and for someone to be sent to his home. Let's consider several things he never requests.

I. First, he does not ask, "Why am I here?"

A. It seems to me that would be the very first question on his lips.

1. He would notice Lazarus, who undoubtedly was a beggar at his gate.

2. He sees him over in this place of comfort, but he is in a place of torment.

3. It seems that he would ask, "Why am I here?"

B. You hear prisoners interviewed and many times they will say they were framed, they didn't belong there.

1. Wouldn't someone in hell say, "I don't belong here; I was framed; It's somebody else's fault."?

2. And yet the question never comes, and I would surmise from that he knew exactly why he was there.

3. He knew he had not repented of his sins.

(LUKE 16:30) "AND HE SAID, NAY, FATHER ABRAHAM: BUT IF ONE WENT UNTO THEM FROM THE DEAD, THEY WILL REPENT."

4. So he knew that he had not repented.

5. He knew that the Messiah had come and that he had not received Him.

C. Friend, if you have never turned your life over to the Lord Jesus Christ, you will go to hell!

1. And when you are there, you'll never ask the question, "Why am I here?"

2. You'll know.

3. This man knew that he had not repented.

II. He never asked "Why is Lazarus in heaven?"

A. He sees Lazarus in heaven.

1. He's a man who has received few things here on earth, but now he is receiving rewards.

2. His rewards are because of his faithfulness in telling the story of the gospel.

3. He, no doubt, was one who would tell even the rich man, "Unless you repent, you will not know heaven as your home."

4. You see, the rich man knew something about repentance.

(ACTS 8:30) "AND PHILIP RAN THITHER TO HIM, AND HEARD HIM READ THE PROPHET ESAIAS, AND SAID, UNDERSTANDEST THOU WHAT THOU READEST?"

5. I believe someone had spoken to the rich man about the need of repentance; perhaps it had been Lazarus.

B. Those who will find themselves in hell will know why they are there.

1. In v25, Abraham told the rich man to remember.

2. One thing a person will never lose throughout the horrors of hell is their memory.

3. Remember every time someone invited you to come to Christ.

4. Remember every time you passed by the house of God and refused to enter in.

5. Remember every time someone offered you a gospel tract or an invitation and you refused.

III. He never ask, "When is this torment going to end?"

A. When I visit someone in the hospital, if they are still in pain, they want that pain to get over.

1. They're asking questions of the doctor, sometimes they even ask me questions.

2. "When is this going to stop? When is it going to be over?"

3. It's interesting to note that this man in hell never asked, "When is this torment going to end?"

4. He did ask for some relief.

(LUKE 16:24) "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."

5. You see, he says, "Have mercy," but he doesn't ask for the torment to end.

6. Note: It is not God's will that any human being ever goes to hell.

a. So, the man is in unending torment, because it is a place prepared for Satan and his angels.

b. If a man goes there, it will be because he rejected or neglected the message of the gospel.

IV. Another thing the man never asked is, "When do I get out?"

A. That is another common question.

1. In the military, it was a constant thought on the minds of most men.

2. In the factory, it is a goal of many who look forward to retiring.

3. Again, in the hospital folks are looking to when they will be able to get out.

B. The man never asked, "When do I get out of hell," because there is no end to it.

1. It is an eternal destiny of the soul.

2. Our minds don't even begin to grasp eternity.

3. One of the best ways I have heard eternity described, is to say, if there were a bird on the Atlantic coast, and that bird were to go to the beach and pick up one grain of sand and fly across the Atlantic Ocean and drop that piece of sand on a beach in Europe, and then fly back and pick up another piece of sand, and keep that up until all of the sand of the beaches on the Atlantic side of America were on the Atlantic side of Europe, eternity would have just begun.

4. The next time you are at a beach, reach down and pick up just one handful of sand and try to count the number of grains.

5. Those in hell will be there forever!

V. The man in hell never asked for justice.

(LUKE 16:24) "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."

A. He cried out for mercy, but not justice.

1. The reason is simple.

2. He was getting justice.

3. He never said, "I want to receive exactly what I deserve," because he knew he was receiving exactly what he deserved.

4. Note the conversation between the two thieves on the cross.

(LUKE 23:41) "AND WE INDEED JUSTLY; FOR WE RECEIVE THE DUE REWARD OF OUR DEEDS: BUT THIS MAN HATH DONE NOTHING AMISS."

5. The man in hell did not ask for justice because he was already receiving exactly what he deserved.

Mercy = not receiving what we deserve

Grace = receiving what we do not deserve

B. We certainly do not want justice.

1. We need to beg for mercy from God and then receive His wonderful grace.

2. Salvation is according to His mercy and grace.

(EPH 2:4-5) "BUT GOD, WHO IS RICH IN MERCY, FOR HIS GREAT LOVE WHEREWITH HE LOVED US, {5} EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN SINS, HATH QUICKENED US TOGETHER WITH CHRIST, (BY GRACE YE ARE SAVED;)"

VI. He never asked for company.

(LUKE 16:28) "FOR I HAVE FIVE BRETHREN; THAT HE MAY TESTIFY UNTO THEM, LEST THEY ALSO COME INTO THIS PLACE OF TORMENT."

A. Isn't that interesting?

1. People in the hospital like visitors.

2. People who are in jail like visitors.

3. This man said, "Don't come visit me. Don't come here."

B. If we could only get a glimpse of hell, we wouldn't want anyone else to have to go there either.

1. Hell is an awful place.

2. A place of eternal darkness, torment, and misery.

3. Notice the construction sites around town.

a. Whenever there might be danger of someone falling into a pit or otherwise endangering themselves there are always bright warning signs and lights.

b. The lighthouses stood on the shore to warn ships of the dangerous rocks nearby.

c. Shouldn't the souls of men have the same warning offered?

If you are here this morning without Christ, you are on your way to an eternal hell. Don't go there! Come to Christ and find the grace to save your soul.

Christians, are we warning those along the way of the dangers of continuing down the path of destruction? Hell is real, eternity is long, and there will be no escape!