Teaching Notes

The Story Part 1

There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
Luke 16:19-24

What is Hades like?

A place of fire
A place of “blackest darkness”. (Jude 13)
A place of solitary confinement from God’s presence

They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.
2 Thessalonians 1:9 ESV

What is Abraham’s Side like?

A place that is restful & peaceful.
A place for Old Testament believers.

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Hebrews 10:1-4

Look the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!
John 1:29

Today you will be with me in paradise.
Luke 23:43

What is heaven like?

A place in the very presence of God as we await our resurrected bodies and the life we were made to live.

The Story Part 2

“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Luke 16:25-31

How do we avoid hell and get to heaven?

Call out and asked Jesus to forgive you and save you, not so much to save you from hell and banishment from his presence but to save you for life with him as he intended from the beginning!
“God doesn’t send anyone to hell; he merely honors a person’s choice.”

I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside…They enjoy the horrible freedom they have demanded and are therefore self-enslaved: just as the blessed, forever submitting to obedience, become through all eternity more and more free.
C.S. Lewis