Scripture Teaches of Heaven and Hell

Trinity 1

Luke 16:19-31

Pastor James Preus

Trinity Lutheran Church

June 7, 2026

Jesus teaches us a very troubling and a very comforting lesson today. It is very troubling, because He speaks about hell. It is comforting, because He speaks about heaven. Hell is real. Jesus speaks of it frequently. He quotes the prophet Isaiah (66:24) to describe it in Mark 9:48, “where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.” He frequently describes it as a fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:42, 50). Hell is eternal punishment. It will never end. In Matthew 25, Jesus says that the wicked will be sent to the eternal fire where there will be eternal punishment (vss. 41, 46). And in this lesson, we again are given the image of fire, of thirst, of complaint in hell as the rich man suffers in torment. In hell, there is no comfort. It lasts forever. And it is impossible to pass from hell to heaven.

Heaven is real. Lazarus was carried by angels to Abraham’s side. Abraham’s side is figurative. It means to be with Christ and all the saints. God promised Abraham that in his seed, all nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 22:18). St. Paul teaches us that this seed is Christ (Galatians 3:16), who descended from Abraham. So, to be at Abraham’s side means to be with Christ Jesus. God also promised Abraham that his seed would be numerous as the stars in heaven (Genesis 15:5). And St. Paul tells us that “it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.” (Galatians 3:7) and “those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” (Galatians 3:9) And so, to be at Abraham’s side is to be with Christ and all the faithful saints in paradise. Heaven, likewise, lasts forever. Jesus frequently describes heaven as eternal life. Abraham says that Lazarus is comforted. Scripture says that in heaven we will neither hunger nor thirst anymore, neither suffer from scorching heat. Rather, we will be rejoicing forever.

And so, since heaven and hell are most certainly real and every one of us will spend the rest of eternity in either heaven or hell, it is imperative that we learn how we can go to heaven and how we can avoid going to hell! But where can we learn how to get to heaven and how to avoid going to hell? Abraham tells the rich man. “They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them.” Moses and the Prophets refer to Holy Scripture. Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. The Prophets wrote the rest of the Old Testament. It is in holy Scripture that we learn how to go to heaven. Jesus says in John 5 to search the Scriptures, because in them you have eternal life (vs. 39). Scripture was written primarily for this purpose, that we may know Christ Jesus and be saved. Abraham is so adamant that there is no other way to learn how to get to heaven that he says not even a dead man rising from the dead can scare a person into faith. Only Scripture can teach you. That is why we should take the Third Commandment seriously and not despise preaching and God’s Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it. The stakes are too high not to.

But to learn from Holy Scripture how to get to heaven, you must recognize that the Bible is divided into two teachings: the Law and the Gospel. The Law is what God commands of us, as summarized in the Ten Commandments. The Law can be summarized further into two commandments (called the two tables of the Law), as Jesus says in Matthew 22, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The Law commands you to love. The Gospel is the Good News that God loved the world so that He gave His only begotten Son to die for us, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Despite the Gospel’s clear promise of eternal life to all who believe, most people believe that you get to heaven by works of the Law. “I’ve got to be good to go to heaven,” is pretty much the opinion of every person. People are so convinced of this, they even claim it is Jesus’ teaching. And a quick look at the rich man, you might think the same thing. The rich man went to hell. Why? Well, what do we know about him? We know that although he dressed in fine linen every day, he did not clothe Lazarus who lay naked at his gate. Although he ate sumptuously every day, he did not feed Lazarus even the crumbs that fell from his table. He let Lazurus languish with his sores, although he had a clean bed for him to lie where he could have his wounds treated. In short, the rich man did not love his neighbor Lazarus! And by this sin of omission, he was condemned to hell. Whereas Lazarus was so near for him to help him in his life, he is now so far away that he can never receive help from Lazarus.

Yet, the world takes from this lesson a strange conclusion and says that all that matters is that we love our neighbor. In fact, they throw out the first table of the law entirely, which commands that we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. The world teaches that it does not matter whether you are a Christian or a Muslim, a Hindu or a Jew or an atheist. Don’t argue about who God is or which god you should worship. Just be kind to one another, and that is how you get to heaven. But that is not what this lesson teaches us. Scripture never says to love your neighbor apart from loving God. Rather, we ought to love our neighbor because we love God. You cannot separate the two tables of the Law. St. John writes, “Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (1 John 4:21)

And it is precisely because the rich man did not love God that he hated his neighbor so. The rich man did not store up treasures in heaven, but rather stored up his treasures here on earth, as Abraham told him, “You in your lifetime received your good things.” St. John warns, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15) And our Lord Jesus says, “You cannot serve God and money.” (Luke 16:13) The rich man worshipped his possessions and wealth. He did not love or serve God. And that is why he did not love Lazarus. Whoever loves God is bound to love his neighbor. Whoever does not love his neighbor, does not love God. You must love both God and your neighbor.

Do you love your neighbor? Do you love God? Do you think you have loved your neighbor and your God sufficiently to earn your way to eternal life in heaven? Are you sure? You better be sure, because there is no going back once you die. Hell is forever, as is heaven. Well, if the rich man teaches us how to go to hell, let us look to the poor man Lazarus to learn how we go to heaven.

No one wants to be the rich man in hell, yet neither do they want to be Lazarus in this life. Poor, hungry, covered in sores. Yet, Jesus does not tell us of any particular virtue in Lazarus. Only this we know, He trusted in God. Lazarus means “God is my help.” And so, while Lazarus could not expect any help from the rich man who worshipped his own pleasure, he trusted in God to help him. And all his suffering worked out for good. It is those of faith who are children of Abraham, and so we know that Lazarus had faith.

You do not need to be poor to go to heaven. Some rich people, including Abraham, have gone to heaven. Yet, you should soberly consider Jesus’ warning, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24) You must be poor in Spirit (Matthew 5:3). You must not store up treasure here on earth, but set your heart on things above. For it is better to lose everything here on earth, even your life, than to forfeit your soul.

But it wasn’t Lazarus’ love that earned his way to heaven. Rather, it was God’s love for Him that saved Him. The Law commands our love, but our love is always incomplete. And so, the Law always accuses, convicts, and condemns us for our lack of love. The Gospel tells us that God’s love for us is complete in Christ Jesus. Through faith in God’s love for you in Christ Jesus, you have certainty. St. John writes in 1 John 5, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” (vs. 13)

There is nothing Lazarus suffered that Christ Jesus did not suffer more. Because suffering is the result of sin, and Jesus bore all our sins on the cross. In fact, not even the rich man in hell or all the souls now languishing in hell know suffering as our Lord Jesus knows suffering. Jesus bore the sins of the world on His very soul, and He suffered not only brutal, excruciating pain on the cross, but the incomprehensible anguish in His soul from the guilt of all mankind. All the suffering in hell does not compare to what our Lord Jesus suffered for us to redeem us from our sins. So much does God love us.

And so, we should be confident in our salvation. Scripture is not a secret code where you have to figure out which rules are the most important to follow or how you can earn eternal life. Scripture reveals Christ Jesus, God’s own Son, who became a man, suffered and died for our sins, and grants us eternal life as a gift. And so, although Lazarus was poor on this earth, he was already infinitely richer than the rich man, because He trusted in the God who saves.

It is through faith in this love that God shows us in Christ Jesus that we learn to love.  St. John again writes, “By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” (1 John 3:16-17) We ought to show love to one another, because we have the example of Christ Jesus who laid down His life in love for us. This is why you should hate greed and guard yourself against the love of possessions, be generous and seek to help your neighbor, especially your fellow Christian, as St. John writes, “everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.”

The Law cannot save us, because we are sinners. And it dishonors Christ to claim that we can be saved by our own love, because Christ suffered and died for us because He knows we can’t. Yet, through faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit does enable us to love. And we should pursue this love. When we see our love for our neighbor lacking, we should examine our love for God, and our faith in God’s love for us. And so, we should return to Scripture and the preaching of God’s Word, so that we may again be immersed in God’s love for us through Christ Jesus, so that His love may be at work in us until finally our angels bear us home. Amen.