Hell(8)[Luke 16:22-26]

Passage

[Luke 16: 22 -26]
“Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. [23] “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. [24] “And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ [25] “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. [26] ‘And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’

Introduction

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

This is the 8th session of ‘Hell’ sermon series.
The contrast between the colors white and black is clear.
We feel the black color to be very dark but the white color is pure and clean.
It’s the same with Heaven and Hell.
The more you know about Hell being so horrifying and dirty, the more you will feel what a happy and beautiful place Heaven is.
Then, you can have earnest hope to enter into the heavenly kingdom.
If you feel the great difference between Heaven and Hell, you can also feel the comparison between good and evil more clearly.
You can realize such things as, “Goodness is so good and beautiful. Since God is goodness itself how beautiful He must be! Good-hearted people are so blessed! On the other hand evil, like Hell, must be frightening and ugly.”
If we realize things like this in our hearts, we can choose only goodness, which is always beautiful, gives us happiness, and leads us to Heaven.
You will hate the evil that leads us to Hell.
Through this message, I urge you to cast off all evil from your heart as quickly as possible.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will save numerous souls by showing true goodness to this world that is becoming more and more darkened.

Main

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, through the last session, I talked about the Lower Grave in general.
Lower Grave is a place for those who are not saved where they wait before being cast into Hell’s Lake of Fire or Sulfur.
According to justice everyone will go to either Heaven or Hell once they die.
As I explained in the last session, even the new-born babies are no exceptions.
If they die without receiving salvation, they will fall into the Lower Grave.
It’s the same with even fetuses who die before they are born.
If they die before the 6th month, it will be the end because they haven’t received the spirit.
But from the 6th month, a spirit is given. Thus, if they die without receiving salvation, the spirit will fall into the Lower Grave.
Of course, most of the fetuses that die will receive salvation.
It’s very rare that an unborn baby is not saved.
But there are a few who are not. It’s because they inherit too much of the evil characters from their parents.
When the parents or ancestors stand against God and do so much evil, it will affect their fetuses.
But they don’t have any perception and they are dead even before they are born. So, they don’t commit any sins in thought or action.
Namely, they don’t have ‘self-committed sins’.
Therefore, they will not be tortured so harshly like the adults.
In the same way as newborn babies, they will be deserted in a particular place in the Lower Grave.
They are deserted with the comfort and warmth of their mother’s womb taken away. This is punishment for them.
I told you those who go to Hell will have the same appearance as the time of their death forever.
Those who die of young age will have the body of that same age and mental ability.
Next, let us consider the case of toddlers who can speak a couple of words, when they are not saved.
They will also be placed in a separate place according to their age.
The place is packed with the souls who are in the same age group.
These souls also do not have enough perception or knowledge.
They are too young to logically think or make judgment. So, they just feel the pain and react according to their instinct.
They don’t even know whether they died, whether they are in Hell, or why they are there.
But they still have a memory of their mom and dad, and they cry out calling them.
They call their mom thinking, ‘Why am I here? Where am I? Where are mom and dad? I want to go home!’
When children lose their mom in a very crowded place like a market or amusement park, they will be terrified and cry so much.
And just how much more terrified these babies will be, for they are in this horrifying Lower Grave without their parents to protect them!
It is just unbearable terror for them.
When they were alive, just if they fell and their knees were hurt, their mom would come and hug them.
But now, they cry for their mom bleeding so much, but their mom is nowhere to be found.
In addition, there are cries and screaming of children, and the menacing voices and uncanny laughing of messengers of hell. They just don’t know what to do.
Meanwhile the messengers of hell come and scourge them and step on their whole body. They will just be so frightened.
Or, some of them try to run away staggering.
But there is no escape from this place full of little children.
They go about here and there with tears all over their faces and runny noses. They step on one another, and they get hurt. Their blood vessels rupture and they get bruises.
They miss their mom and dad in this wretched place and cry out with hunger and panic.
Next, I will explain the punishment for children who can run and speak well.
This is roughly from the age of three to five.
For these little children, namely from birth to the age of five, their salvation will depend heavily on the faith of parents, especially that of their mother.
Of course, these children will also have the judgment of conscience.
But they have to fall into this Lower Grave if they do not pass the judgment of conscience.
These children will also be grouped according to the age and be placed in a dark and wide place.
They will just run about as if insane.
They are trying to run away from the messengers of hell that are chasing them with three-pronged spears.
The messengers of hell will stick the backs of the children with spears. They will drive them like hunters driving their prey before them.
They keep on running with their little legs and finally reach the top of a cliff. Underneath the cliff is boiling water.
So, at first, they cannot jump down immediately.
But finally they jump down in order to get away from the messengers of hell that are piercing them.
Once they jump, they can avoid the pain of being pierced, but soon they have to suffer the pain in the boiling water.
The boiling water goes into their noses and mouths, and they try to keep their head out of water at least.
Seeing this scene from the top, the messengers of hell make fun of the children.
They will mock even their parents saying, “Who sent them to hell? Who are their parents? Let us bring their parents here, too and show this scene to them!”
After the children suffer in the boiling water for some time, they are taken out of water in a way a fish is caught by a hook. Then they are placed at the place where they began to run away.
Then this whole process will repeat all over again from the beginning.
This will go on and on without end.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I will talk to you about the children who are from six years of age to their puberty, about 12 years of age.
Those who die at this age will be placed where there is a river. But the river is not river of water but blood.
It is the river that is made by the blood of the souls who are being punished in the Lower Grave.
Every part of their bodies are torn and cut by torturing, and blood gushes out.
But soon, they are completely recovered, and they are torn and cut again to shed more blood.
As these tortures are going on continually, and because there are just so many souls in the Lower Grave, their blood forms a river.
Even on earth, on a battle field or at the sight of a massacre, a stream or a small pond can form as a result of the bloodshed.
These places are full of the smell of blood and carnage, and the stench of decay is everywhere.
If it is in the summer many insects will come and there will be some epidemic diseases.
But in the Lower Grave, the blood of people does not just form a pond or stream. It makes up a big river.
Children from age 6 to 12 are buried standing upright around this river of blood with foul smell.
The greater their sin, the nearer to the river and the deeper they will be buried.
Those who are placed farther away from the river will not be buried under the ground.
But, with pale faces they keep on digging in the ground with bare hands looking for something to eat.
But the ground is hard, and they will only hurt their hands without getting anything.
Their nails will come off and their finger tips will begin to bleed.
The closer you get to the river, there are children who are buried half-way.
They also look for something to eat, and finally, they bite each other.
Children who are more evil than these will be buried up to their necks very near the river.
They will suffer from the extremely foul odor coming from the river.
Also, harmful insects that look like flies or mosquitoes come from the river and sting their faces.
Since their bodies are buried, they cannot even wave the insects away.
As they are stung by the insects, their faces will swell so much with the poison.
They will swell so much that they cannot be recognized.
But their pain does not end there.
The messengers of hell will talk and laugh among themselves at the riverside.
Their laughing is so loud that the eardrums of the children will burst.
These messengers sit on the children wearing armor-like clothes with sharp objects on them.
They also step on the children with their shoes that have sharp objects on them.
These sharp objects will make gaping wounds just by touching.
Hair will be torn off in large tufts. Their skin of their heads will be ripped off. Their faces will be torn.
You might wonder what kind of evil such young children could have committed that they have to be punished so cruelly.
But even little children have original sin and they also commit many sins.
The spiritual rule that says ‘the wages of sin is death’ is applied to everybody regardless of age.
The more evil one commits, the more serious the punishment he will receive.
For example, in 2 Kings 2:23-24, we can see how evil little children can become, and how dreadful the retribution can become.
As Elisha, a man of God, was departing Jericho and going to Bethel, children came out from the city to mock him.
When Elisha finally cursed them, two female bears came out and tore up 42 of the children.
The souls of these children who died there are buried up to their necks very near to the river of blood.
Elisha didn’t curse those children just because of a couple of words of mockery.
They followed Elisha for quite some time, continually mocking him, and they did not just mock him verbally.
I remember my childhood. When evil children gather and harass somebody, they don’t just do it with words.
They also throw rocks, trip the person, or even poke the person with sticks.
This kind of thing happened thousands of years ago when people had much more goodness than now.
Nevertheless, they were giving a hard time to an adult, especially a prophet of God who was manifesting the power of God.
We can see how evil those children were, for the curse of Elisha was fulfilled immediately.
Some children between the age of 6 and 12, receive judgment of conscience, but most of them are saved by their own faith.
These children in the Lower Grave are receiving the appalling punishments as the retribution for their own sins.
Today, if we watch the news, we can see that children of today are deeply stained by evil.
As it is the end of the time and so full of sins, are we surprised by the evil things that children do!
For example, they leave out and bully another child just because they don’t like him.
They beat up other children, take their money by force, and give them such a hard time they commit suicide.
Even elementary grade school children form gangs and commit crimes.
Some of them even kill people just for a little money.
Even more appalling is that they have no pangs of conscience doing those things.
This is today’s situation. Children, who are supposed to be purer than adults, are stained by evil to this extent.
Now, don’t you feel you have to become the light and salt of the world to shine in this world?
In the next session, I will explain the four levels of punishment inflicted on people after puberty.
[Conclusion] Let me conclude the message, Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, especially those who are parents, what about your own children?
Have they been set aside from the darkness of this world and growing up as children of faith?
If not, I hope you will check yourselves first.
Children are like mirrors that reflect their parents.
For example, Samuel was given to the Temple of God right after weaning.
He heard the voice of God at a young age and later became a great leader of Israel.
His mother, Hannah, stood firmly behind Samuel acting in faith.
She made a vow that if God gave her a child, she would give the child to God.
She didn’t change her mind after receiving Samuel and fulfilled her vow. She gave the baby Samuel into the hands of God.
The most important thing in raising children in faith is that the parents stand before God uprightly.
They have to set a good example.
If the parents love God, read the Word, and pray all the time, the children will do the same.
If the husband and wife serve each other and also the children, the children will also serve and love others.
Of course, the parents have to do this with a truthful heart to influence their children.
Also, when they truly commit their children into the hands of God, God will take care of them and not let them go astray.
My wife and I raised our daughters with faith from the time we accepted the Lord.
We always tried to set a good example of faith.
We always tried our best in worship, prayers, and service for God’s kingdom.
We never had any quarrel raising our voice at home.
We also planted faith in them to acknowledge God in all matters since they were very young.
Even when they were sick, we didn’t take them to hospital or give them medicine.
We prayed to God with faith so they were healed by God.
Also, it’s not that we didn’t pay attention to them just because we were so busy and we left everything into God’s hands.
We tried our best so that they would feel the love of God and the love of parents. I taught them how to love God specifically.
As a result, after they grew up, we saw that they chose the way of faith in any given situation.
Dear parents, even little toddlers can pray if you teach them how to pray.
They will close their eyes with their hands together saying ‘Amen’.
If they are full of the Holy Spirit, even kids in kindergarten will repent with tears and runny noses and even speak in tongues.
Elementary school children love to read the Bible and also some read scores of my books.
I hope you will guide your children with love and endurance so that they will learn to revere God.
Also, I urge you to become a fence of love and keep your children from this tough world.
You wouldn’t want to imagine your children falling into such a horrible hell as described.
Psalm 127:3 says, “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.”
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will fulfill all your duties as parents with love and devotion and be able to say before the Lord, “I guided your precious soul before You,” and receive a great reward!

[Amen]