Your Choices Shape Generations

This summary and strategic rewrite draws upon a sermon by Jentezen Franklin, emphasizing the necessity of choosing eternal life, based on Jesus Christ’s teaching in Luke 16:19-31 about the rich man and Lazarus. The message argues that while hell is a terrifying reality, seeing your family there because of your influence is the only thing worse.

The Inevitable Reality of Heaven and Hell

The sermon asserts that whatever a person chooses, they “really don’t want to go to hell”. Jesus Christ, who knows more about heaven and hell than anyone, taught explicitly about eternal realities. The same Bible that contains prophecies that have come true—such as a virgin bearing a child in Bethlehem, the rebirth of Israel in May 1948, and the prophetic rise of nations like Russia, China, and Iran (Ezekiel 37 and 38)—is the source of Jesus’s teachings on eternity.

The Story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16)

Jesus told the story of two men who died, illustrating the separation of destinies:

• The Rich Man: Clothed in purple and fine linen, he “fared sumptuously every day”. Upon dying, he “was buried”. Being in torment in hell, he “lifted up his eyes” and saw Abraham and Lazarus afar off. He was tormented in flame and thirsted for a drop of water.
• Lazarus: A beggar, full of sores, he was laid at the rich man’s gate, desiring crumbs. When he died, he “was carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom or paradise”. He was comforted while the rich man was tormented.

Riches Do Not Determine Destiny

Crucially, the scripture does not teach that the poor man went to heaven because he was poor, nor that the rich man went to hell because he was rich.

• Lazarus’s Salvation: The poor man went to heaven because he “loved God [and] served God the best he could with what he had”. He was living for God, even when hard times came, he became sick, lost everything, and was reduced to a dying man whose sores were licked by dogs.
• The Rich Man’s Sin: The rich man’s damnation resulted from his arrogance, apathy, and hardheartedness. He became “ugly and mean and hardhearted and evil and proud,” refusing to get right and trusting in his wealth rather than God. He had so much that he could have given Lazarus crumbs, but he refused.

If anyone goes to heaven, it is only by the grace of God and a heart that loves God, not by their own works.

The Torment of Separation and Thirst

The rich man’s experience in hell was marked by torment, thirst, and separation.

• He cried out to Father Abraham to send Lazarus to “dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame”.
• Abraham explained that a “great gulf” (a body of water or river) was fixed between paradise and hell, preventing anyone from passing between the two realms. Once a soul is in hell, there is no escape.

(Note: The holding place described as “Abraham’s bosom” was the comfortable place where people who died living for God went before the resurrection of Jesus).