Luke 16:19-31 - Before It's Too Late
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Church planting has given me a sensitivity toward evangelism/discipleship.
I’m not naturally drawn that way.
By God’s grace, He has drawn us to engage with people who no longer go to church or have never been.
He’s given us opportunities to engage with people who have been hurt by Christians or have stepped away from Jesus because of experiences with the church.
We’ve had alcoholics and drunks forsake that lifestyle.
We’ve had former addicts commit to our fellowship.
We’ve had Wiccans profess faith in Jesus.
Graceland Dearborn is messy, and Jesus loves it.
Why do I open with this?
These people are here in Switzerland County.
Switzerland County claims about 79% no religious affiliation.
Did you know that?
Many people who live here do not trust in Jesus, or even pretend to.
Last week, Chris preached Colossians 4:2-6.
Colossians 4:5 “5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.”
I want to look at a parable Jesus gave to really emphasize that verse.
Luke 16:19-31
Jesus contrasts two men
Rich man (v. 19)
His name remains unknown
He wears purple and fine linen
He enjoys every day splendor and luxury
This guy lives on vacation.
He eats all of the best foods, with the best company.
He lives the elegant high life
He’s continually adding the fresh clothes
His table is filled with delicacies
The plates were solid gold
His servants were decked out in fine clothing!
There weren’t any spots on this table where missing food.
It was more food than you could eat.
Poor man (v. 20-21)
Jesus reveals his name is Lazarus
This is to show us that the people in poverty and awful living situations are still people.
Lazarus desired to eat the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table.
This is what dogs do.
They quietly and patiently wait for food to fall.
The problem is that the Rich man knows Lazarus is there, but he is completely unmoved to compassion over the poor man’s poverty.
He’s watched these dogs lick Lazarus’s sores.
Now the poor man couldn’t get enough food to keep himself alive, but these dogs were plump, I’m sure.
The rich man made sure to feed the dogs!
Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke (Luke 16:19–31)
Had there been a drop of humanity in him, he ought at least to have ordered a supply from his kitchen for the unhappy man. But the crowning exhibition of his wicked, and savage, and worse than brutal disposition was, that he did not learn pity even from the dogs. There can be no doubt that those dogs were guided by the secret purpose of God, to condemn that man by their example.
-John Calvin
He was a wicked man, with no compassion or love for anyone but himself.
Self-indulging rarely avoids falling into self-destruction.
We all do it. We often think that the temptation to self-exaltation looks like the devil jumping up on a hickory stump saying, “Boy, let me tell you what.”
In reality, it’s just a glimpse of the golden fiddle that traps us.
It only leads to more self-exaltation, the need for more stuff
More me, more pleasure, and more glory
This man will have a lot to answer for having fat dogs yet neglecting the poor man.
Now both men died.
This parable is not like other parables, where Jesus liken a worldly story to a heavenly reality. He usually masks spiritual things with images we can understand.
What Jesus does is pulls back the curtain to let us see justice and mercy at work after death.
He lets us see passed the funeral into the very real spiritual realities themselves.
The conversation we are about to look at reveals a true, everyday reality.
The poor man is taken to “Abraham’s side.” (v. 22)
Why Abraham?
Jesus’s audience here is the Pharisees/Jewish people.
Father Abraham was a pillar for their faith.
They were the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham!
In Abraham’s presences was a happiness more desirable than anything else in the world.
Lazarus being drawn to Abraham’s side shows us that we shouldn’t look at someone as cursed or abandoned by God simply because of their poor living conditions or health issues.
He lived a dreadful life and died of malnutrition. He lived full of distress.
You couldn’t see God’s mercy and grace due to the deformity of his body.
This guy was hard to look at.
His body was full of rottenness and infection
But inside that body was a soul that the Lord loved and it was unspeakably precious!
So much so that he was carried by angels into a more blessed life.
He was much more honored in death than he was in life.
The Rich man was buried, but nothing was mentioned of the poor man.
It was thrown carelessly into a ditch, but the rich man had a splendid and ceremonial funeral
Just as elaborate as his life.
However, on the other side of eternity, this rich man, who people are celebrating at his funeral, and living in torment in hell (v. 23)
He began to beg for mercy
When the poor man sat at his gates, he sat quietly and humbly, only desiring the food.
This man is screaming (v. 24)
He is miserable and in unthinkable anguish.
This man who devoted himself to worldly pleasures is now experiencing eternal torment.
He’s experiencing mercy without judgement.
His misery is aggravated by his knowledge Lazarus’s blessing
He saw Abraham
Which was not a sight of peace, but a sight of judgement
Lazarus is in eternal blessing and satisfaction.
He is not where the rich man is.
He calls Abraham “father”
He gives him a title of respect
This is a representation of Christ
Many wicked people try to scrape acquaintance with Jesus
Many try to say they follow Jesus, but in actuality it’s not true.
Many people who live in opposition or indifferent to Jesus, will see Him. But they will not be welcomed as a child.
They’ll be addressed just as this rich man is.
He begs for a dip of water.
The dude is in hell and still asking to be served.
The day is coming when those who make light of God’s divine mercy will beg hard for it.
The rich man gave no mercy to Lazarus, yet he expects mercy from Abraham.
He does not receive it. (v. 25)
The damned in hell shall not have any the least abatement or mitigation of their torment.
Abraham calls him “child” and it serves to intensify the denial of the request.
“Child, remember” this is a cutting word (v. 25)
He is reminded of all of the evil he had done in his life.
Being reminded of our failure is a shot to our prides
When someone reminds me of the bonehead thing I did, I feel weight for that.
Nothing brings more gas to the flame than, “Son, remember”
Remember the Creator you blasphemed
Remember the God you turned your back on
Remember the Master you refused to obey
Remember the Savior you refused to trust.
Remember the evil you turned to
Remember the people you abused
Remember the blackness of your heart!
The rich man is being reminded that he deserves this.
This is justice.
He couldn’t appeal or object.
This man was now totally abandoned.
Abraham reveals this great chasm or giant space that separates them.
There’s a canyon between them that makes the Grand Canyon look small
There will be no communication between glorified saints and condemned sinners.
There is no ministry in hell to grant comfort and relief.
“In order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able” (v. 26)
They will not leave beholding the face of their Father, or the work of the Throne to fetch you some water
The kindest saint cannot visit the prison of Hell.
The most daring sinner cannot force their way out of hell.
They cannot cross the ravine.
There is no parole, no bail, not even for an hour.
God has placed the stone in front of the door of hell.
Unlike Jesus’s tomb, that stone will not be rolled away.
Then go to my brothers! (v. 27)
No requests will be granted in hell. He’s denied again.
They have the book. (v. 29)
God will not go out of the common method of His grace for them.
They have this privilege. They have Moses and the Prophets.
Let them believe the book and that will be sufficient to keep them from the fire.
Let them have faith, that they will not find the torment!
That’s not good enough. (v. 30)
“Let them see a sign! Let them see a dead man raised! They’re used to the Bible. They’re used to Moses and the Prophets. Give them a new thing. Something more jarring!”
Abraham persists in the denial saying that if they don’t believe Moses and the Prophets, they won’t believe in someone who comes back from the dead.
How do we know that now?
Jesus’s followers didn’t.
Luke 24:36-43.
Jesus showed up and they thought he was a ghost and they still disbelieved!
Luke 24:41 “41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?””
Abraham says if they won’t believe the book, they won’t believe the sign.
Note here that foolish men are apt to think any method is better than the one God has chosen and appointed to save sinners.
This is the sermon Peter preached to the rulers of the Pharisees when he and John were arrested because in the name of Jesus they healed the crippled man!
Acts 4:8-12 “8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.””
Romans 10:9-13 “9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.””
This is the method of Salvation!
Believe the preached Word of God!
There is no salvation apart from faith in Christ alone!
You cannot earn your salvation by being a good person.
Some people thought the rich man was a good person.
The only way to get to heaven is through faith in Jesus Christ, the Captain of our faith!
Application
Application
This reality is occuring at this very moment with people in our neighborhood.
There are people in po-dunk Pleasant, Indiana who do not believe in Jesus, that if they will die will spend eternity in hell.
But their destiny and eternity doesn’t have to be that way.
This reality ought to lead us in two ways:
Urgency for the Lost
You can’t be indifferent.
The Rich man was indifferent to the Lazarus’s poverty.
We have to be driven to compassion for people’s poverty physically and spiritually.
People are spiritually broken, and this is a problem because they don’t even know it.
Does this bother you?
When Jesus returns, He will not ask to see the church attendance reports.
He’ll ask, “What did you do with the fields of harvest I gave to you?”
“What did you do with the resources I gave you to serve and preach the gospel?”
Reliance on the Word
Telling people to be good does not lead them to eternal life.
Showing people your self-righteousness and tradition does not lead them to Jesus.
You can’t save anyone.
Abraham pointed out that “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them” (v. 29)
They have the Bible.
This means that we need to understand and preach the Word faithfully.
Not as a bludgeon. The Bible does not need your help to offend people.
We preach the Word in gentleness and love, and the Holy Spirit will call people to Himself.
This means you need to know your Bible.
This means we need to be tethered to our Bibles.
You don’t know when the opportunity to share the hope that is in you, so Peter would tell you to be prepared to share the hope that is in you at any given moment.
We need to trust that God will save people the way that He has always saved people.
Through His proclaimed Word