Jesus' Parables about money (8)

The Rich Man and Lazarus...

This morning, I’d like to take a few minutes and look at

Life after Death

This is an age old question that has been looked at from many religious perspectives, and by countless myriads of people.

Most, if not all, must come to grips with what happens to us when we die.

For many, what they believe determines how they live and how they die.

In Canada, MAID or Medical Assistance in Dying was passed in June of 2016. People that believe in LIfe After Death are more reluctant to have assistance in death than those who don’t believe that there is something more.

Hindu’s believe in Reincarnation

Karma affects what you will become in your next life. This means that how you live in this life will determine what you will become in the next. This cycle continues forever.

Buddhists believe in Nirvana

This “represents the end of physical and spiritual pain, constant labor, weariness, inequity, and the difficulties of life.”

- Prague Post

This represents “eternal rest”, but reincarnation takes place until one reaches “enlightenment”

Islam believes in Paradise and Hell

How one lives determines where you go after the Judgment. Paradise is like the Garden of Eden, and Hell is a place of Torment.

“God only knows” where you will go.

What does the Bible say?

Today, we’ll read about a story that Jesus told, and see what the Bible has to say,

Luke 16:19–31 NLT

Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores. “Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the heavenly banquet. The rich man also died and was buried, and he went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side. “The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’ “But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’ “Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’ “But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’ “The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’ “But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

This story speaks to life after death but there are some other things that we can draw from it first.

We must not

Trust in our wealth...

The rich man had lived a life of luxury. He had everything that he wanted in life.

He had the best of clothes, the best of food, and everything that he seemingly needed.

Money in and of itself is amoral. It can be used for good and it can be used for evil.

We could ask the question, “Did this man have money or did money have him.

1 Timothy 6:10 NIV

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

In contrast, there was a poor man. His name was Lazarus. (This was not Mary and Martha’s brother who died and was raised back to life.) (LANTC)

He was a beggar. He didn’t have any of this world’s possessions. He sat by the gate of the rich man and longed for even the scraps from the rich man’s table.

He would have cleaned the bones off of the Cross -Rib Roast. He would have gladly eaten what was left from the scraps of bread, any vegetables that were left over, but it seems that it was dogs that came and cared for him in his suffering.

Finally, Lazarus died. His miserable life was over. He could go to the grave in peace.

The rich man also died.

Lazarus was given a place to sit beside

Abraham. We’ll call this place paradise.

When Jesus died on the cross, He said to the one thief, “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Lazarus was taken to a place of peace, but the rich man was taken to a place of torment.

Luke 16:23 NLT

and he went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.

The Greek word for place of the dead is hades. The KJV uses the word, “hell.”

What conclusions do you think can we draw from this parable?

1. Social Status...

must play a role in our destiny.

I’m going to draw a wrong conclusion...

If you are rich in this life, you will pay for it after you die. Another conclusion could be that if you suffer on earth, your suffering will be over after you die.

In Luke 16:13-14, Jesus said,

Luke 16:13–14 NLT

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him.

The Pharisees thought that being rich equalled the blessing of God.

Maybe you’ve heard that if you are sick or poor, it is because you have sin in your life.

This could be true, but according to this story, it’s not necessarily true.

John 16:33 NIV

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Your destination after you die is based on the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:8–9 NIV

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

If we could save ourselves by being rich, Jesus wasted His time dying in our place.

If suffering here so that we don’t have to suffer in eternity was enough, Christ died for nothing.

1 Peter 1:18–19 NLT

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.

Here’s another wrong conclusion.

2. Everybody goes to heaven...

Jesus clearly taught that not everybody goes to heaven. You’ve probably gone to lots of funerals where people were preached into heaven.

You’ve maybe heard,

“They’re looking down on me.”

“Heaven gained another angel.”

I’m not sure where this belief came from, but we are children of the Most High God.

Philippians 3:20–21 NIV

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

I’m not exactly sure what our bodies will look like, but if you love Jesus with all your heart, soul, and mind, you won’t be like an angel, you will be like Jesus.

It’s wishful thinking to believe that everybody goes to heaven. In fact, it’s another gospel.

2 Peter 3:9 NIV

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

God’s heart is that no one would perish, but there is only one way to receive the gift of God which is eternal life, and that’s in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Many have stopped believing in Hell.

How could a loving God send anybody to Hell? Why would God create somebody, just to send them to Hell?

You may be asked questions that have no easy answers, but Jesus taught about a Lake of Fire.

This is what John wrote in the Book of Revelation. This was after the 1000 year reign of Christ.

Revelation 20:11–15 NLT

And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Here’s another conclusion:

Hell is permanent

Once the rich man was in Hell, there was no way that anyone could go to him and he was unable to leave.

Some Christians believe in annihilation, which means that when somebody is thrown into the lake of fire, they will be burned up and then they will be no more.

In Matthew 25, Jesus uses an example of sheep and goats. The sheep are on His right and the goats are on His left.

This is what

Matthew 25:41–46 NLT

“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

Maybe people will believe if the dead are raised...

Because the rich man was experiencing the agony of God’s judgment, he pleaded with Abraham to send Lazarus back to his father’s house to warn his five brothers.

Abraham said

Luke 16:29–31 NIV

“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.’ ”

Sometimes we ask God to do a miracle so that people will believe.

This man in Hades, the place of the dead, Hell didn’t want his family to go where he went…but people will not believe even if a miracle such as being raised from the dead occurred.

When Mary and Martha’s brother was raised from the dead, the religious leaders wanted to kill him. They didn’t want to become Christ followers.

When Jesus rose from the dead, the religious leaders tried to hide it and make a cover up.

No one can come to God unless they are drawn to Him.

John 6:44 NLT

For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up.

Since Jesus has gone to the Father, we have the Holy Spirit.

John 16:8–11 NLT

And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.

What if this is it?

What if there is no life after death? What if Jesus’ body was stolen and he is still dead?

1 Corinthians 15:12–23 NLT

But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.

Many are willing to bet that there is no life after death. Many are willing to take the risk that everybody goes to Heaven.

We have hope.

John 14:1–3 NKJV

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

Here’s

The Call

for each and everyone of us who believe.

Matthew 28:19–20 NIV

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Let’s pray!