Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
The following account is from a Pastor named Ray in California:
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When I pastored in Chino, CA we lived in a parsonage right next to the Church.
I soon noticed that a certain man was walking up and down our street almost every morning.
So one day I waited out there to see if I couldn’t catch him and get to know him.
Sure enough, when I greeted him with a good morning, he stopped to chat.
He told me his name was Ulysses.
He told me the reason he was walking so briskly every morning was because a relative was getting married soon and he needed to lose some weight so he could fit back into his old tuxedo for the wedding.
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The following week we were having a garage sale on our driveway.
He came walking by and stopped to look at our stuff.
We started to talk and had a really good discussion.
Somehow the subject of hell came up and he said:
“I don’t believe in Hell.
A good God would never make a place like that.”
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So I asked him:
“Do you believe in Jesus?
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He said:
“Yes.”
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I asked:
“Do you believe Jesus was good?”
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He replied:
“Yes of course!”
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I asked:
“Do you believe Jesus would ever tell a lie?
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He said:
“No, I don’t believe Jesus would ever lie.”
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I then said:
“Well you know Jesus spoke more about Hell than anyone else in the Bible.
And He didn’t do that because He enjoyed talking about it but because He didn’t want anyone to go there.
Jesus taught about hell because He knew it was real and He really cared about people’s eternal destiny.”
Then he said:
“I didn’t realize that.”
We talked a little more and he headed back home which it turns out was the corner house just down the street from our house.
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Well, the very next week I heard some sirens and went out to see what was going on.
I saw the Ambulance pull up to Ulysses’ house and stop.
I watched as he was rolled out the front door on the gurney and put in the ambulance and taken to the Hospital.
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I waited a few hours and then went to the Hospital to see if I could visit Him.
They gave me his room number and I went to see him.
As soon as I entered the room, Ulysses said thank you for coming to see me.
Then he said:
“Ray, do you remember we were talking about hell last week.
Well I almost died.
I was facing death and I didn’t know where I was going.
And that was a very scary thing.”
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Ulysses and his wife were both of a Catholic background and didn’t really understand the difference between Salvation by the grace of God through faith in Christ alone and trying to earn your salvation by your own good works.
I was able to explain God’s plan of salvation and both of them prayed a prayer of repentance and accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and LORD.
They both started faithfully coming to church and Ulysses became one of the most fervent members in our church and a good personal friend.
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I will never forget the Sunday I announced that I would be leaving to go pastor another Church.
Both Ulysses and his wife came up to me with tears in their eyes and she said:
“Thank you for introducing us to the LORD Jesus.”
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God still uses the reality of Hell to bring people to salvation in our Savior and LORD Jesus Christ!
In fact if we would be more faithful in “declaring all the counsel of God” we would undoubtedly see more people trust in Christ sooner.
Hell is included in the “all things” that Jesus taught us and commanded us to teach to “all nations.”
You will find that most people already know about Hell; they just don’t know the truth about it.
And most people just don’t believe they are in any immediate danger of going there.
Part of our Great Commission is to make the truth of “eternal judgment” well known.
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So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 16 and focus on verses 19 through 31.
Our message this morning is titled “Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.”
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As you are turning to our passage today please keep in mind this fact...
The parable we are going to be studying today served as a rebuke and warning to the Pharisees of Jesus’ day...
However, the warning was not meant for them alone...
The warning in our passage is meant to be shared with all people...
For the decisions we make in this life will impact where we will be spending all eternity.
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So, this morning we will cover three main points:
1) The Life on Earth
2) The Life in Eternity
And...
3) The Words of Life
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Heavenly Father...
You are the Sovereign One who has created all things seen and unseen...
You are perfectly merciful and perfectly just...
And You are like no other.
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Help us to always remember that You are Holier than we can imagine...
And our sin is worse then we can imagine...
But You saved us when we didn't deserve it and showed us that the power of grace is greater than we could have imagined.
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Thank You for sending Your Son to our broken world...
Thank You for Your Son’s loving sacrifice on the cross...
And thank You for giving Your followers the Holy Spirt to guide us in all our acitons.
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And it is in Jesus’ name we pray all these things...
Amen.
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.
20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried,
23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.
24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’
25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.
26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’
27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house—
28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’
29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’
30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) The Life on Earth
1) The Life on Earth
Verses 19-21: “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
Beloved, let’s start our study be defining a few key terms.
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First, I would like us to take a look at why the color of the clothing of the rich man is recorded.
You see, Beloved, the color “Purple” in the 1st century was a dye used for clothing worn by the wealthy.
The reason for this is that the purple dye is derived from snails and the process of getting with dye was extremely expensive.
So, only the wealthy could afford clothing that used purple dye...
Therefore, it became a color used by royalty and the very rich.
In fact, that is why the Roman soldiers mocked Jesus by putting a purple robe on Him...
They mocked Him by dressing Him up like royalty not realizing that Jesus was truly the Lord of Lords and King of Kings.
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Anyways, the purpose of mentioning the purple clothing is to show how wealthy this rich man was...
In fact, this man was so rich that he celebrated with great feasts daily.
So, his life was filled with all kinds of luxuries and comfort.
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But not only that...
This rich man thought that he was right with God...
As Revelation 3:17 says:
17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
So, even though he saw himself as blessed by God due to his great riches...
We will see that his status is actually very dreadful...
But we will get into that more later in our study.
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Now, at the very opposite of the spectrum, in regards to wealth and social status, you had Lazarus.
So, “Lazarus,” was a common name and it was the Greek form of the Hebrew name Eleazar...
The name meant “he (whom) God has helped.”
Additionally, Eleazar was the third most common male name in Jesus’ day...
So, it was fitting that the name of this poor person was so typical of this time.
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Now, to avoid any confusion I need to clarify that this Lazarus is not the Lazarus who was Mary and Martha’s brother and who was Jesus’ friend that was raised from the dead.
That Lazarus was part of a family with wealth and means and he certainly was not poor like the Lazarus described in our passage.
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Another fact that is worth pointing out is that this beggar was the only character in any of Jesus’ parables ever given a name.
Therefore, some have speculated that this was no ordinary parable, but may have been an actual incident that really took place.
Either way, Christ employs it in the same fashion as all His parables...
And that goal is to teach a vital lesson for us to learn.
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Now, Lazarus, the poor beggar...
His poverty and situation was very depressing by worldly standards...
We see that Jesus mentions the poor man’s desire of even eating the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table...
In fact, those crumbs mentioned were pieces of stale bread used by the dinner guests of the the rich man to clean their hands, and then tossed under the table for dogs to eat.
The poor man just wanted the food that would be given to the dogs...
Although, Lazarus would have gladly eaten even what fell from the rich man’s table, there is no indication that the rich man ever gave him anything.
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Lazarus is also described as having sores all over his body that dogs would come and lick them...
The mention of these dogs that came and licked his sores was truly the culmination of the poor man’s misery.
The reference here is not to friendly household pets...
So, take that imagine out of your head...
We are not talking about 21st century America...
We are talking about Israel in the 1st century.
So, these dogs where dangerous unclean dogs that ran wild in the streets...
You see, Beloved, in Jewish eyes dogs were not romanticized as “man’s best friend” but were seen as impure, disgusting scavengers.
And these dogs actually tormented the poor man as they kept coming and licking his sores.
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And those sores....
They were most likely ulcers since he was begging in public and at the gate of this man’s house...
That would not have been the case if the poor man had been a leper.
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Now, all this together made this poor man appear as unfaithful in the eyes of the Pharisees and religious elite.
You see, Beloved, as we have discussed in previous studies, they Pharisees were inclined to see all such things as we have mentioned about Lazarus as proof of disfavor from God.
In fact, they would have viewed such a poor person as not only unclean, but also despised by God.
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Now, that is how one judges with wrong judgement...
That is how someone judged in a worldly way.
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So, we have ourselves a pretty shocking image...
We see a rich man who daily feasts inside his mansion, while a crippled poor man lies outside the gate of this same mansion in hopes of receiving a few crumbs from the owner of the grand residence.
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Like the priest and the Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan, the rich man in Jesus’ story ignored someone who urgently needed help.
Despite being outwardly religious, the rich man disregarded the second most important commandment of the law...
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
So, although he passed the poor man every time he went through his gate, the rich man never did anything to relieve this poor man of his continual suffering.
His indifference in this parable of Jesus is designed to mirror the disdain with which the Pharisees treated the outcasts of their own society...
An this serves as a warning for us too...
As Matthew 16:26:
26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Jesus is warning us...
A heart that is in love with possessions is a heart that has not been born again...
A heart that is filled with greet and the desire for earthly things will miss out on eternal and everlasting treasures.
Beloved, check the status of your heart.
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There is no sin in being rich....
And poverty does not lead to eternal life...
But what is the object of our affection reveals where our allegiance stands.
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Remember, Beloved, even the religious leaders of Jesus day found themselves in this dangerous sin...
As Jesus said in Matthew 23:25:
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
On the outside, we many look like a Christian...
We may attend church regularly...
We may be able to answer all the the important theological questions with the right answers...
But what about your relationship with the Lord?
Is the relationship true?
A good test is to see how you love others...
Does your heart break for the broken hearted?
Do you use the gifts God has given you to help those with little or nothing?
Do you love your neighbor as yourself?
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As you ponder those questions...
Let’s take a look at what happens when both the rich man and the poor man pass away...
And that takes us to our second point.
2) The Life in Eternity
2) The Life in Eternity
Verses 22-26: The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’
So, Beloved, we can see here that after death, the situations of the two men were completely reversed.
The rich man became poorer than the poor man had ever been...
And the poor man became richer than the rich man could have ever imagined.
For example, the extra detail with the words “was buried,” not mentioned in relation to Lazarus, is appropriate for someone who is wealthy.
The implication was that Lazarus was so impoverished that he was not even buried properly.
However, now Lazarus finds himself in the position of honor and the rich man is in the position of disgrace.
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As the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament on Luke says:
“All the benefits that the rich man possesses in this life are lost in the next, while all that the poor man lacks on earth is provided for him in the afterlife.
The account is a warning that the possession of wealth now does not necessarily mean one will possess wealth later.
It also calls on the wealthy to be generous with what they have to meet the needs of those who have nothing.
Callous indulgence in this life will be met with an absence of blessing from God in the next.
One reaps what one sows.”
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Now, let’s clarify a few key terms...
For example, the term “Abraham’s side” or “Abraham’s bosom” is the same expression that was used in the Talmud as a figure for Heaven.
The idea behind the expression was that Lazarus was given a place of high honor, reclining next to Abraham at the heavenly banquet.
Lazarus may have been poor and lived a very hard life...
But he faithfully followed our Lord and Savior...
Therefore, when he drew his last breathe, he was entered into paradise.
As Matthew 5:4 says:
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
And on Judgement Day...
All who are in Paradise will find themselves in Heaven...
And they will have eternal life with their Master, Jesus Christ...
As Matthew 25:34 says:
34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
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Now, Beloved, I want you to understand how profound this truth was that a poor man like Lazarus was able to enter Paradise...
You see, just the mere suggestion alone that a rich man would be excluded from heaven would have scandalized the Pharisees...
However, what was even more scandalizing, was the idea that a beggar who ate scraps from his table was granted the place of honor next to Abraham.
In the eyes of the religious elite, this was not possible...
It was against so much of their man-made traditions that they help on to so dearly.
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Next, lets take a look at the word “Hades” which was the Greek term for the abode of the dead.
In the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, the word “Hades” was used to translate the Hebrew word “Sheol,” which referred to the realm of the dead in general, without necessarily distinguishing between righteous or unrighteous souls.
So, In the Old Testament it can mean the place of the dead or the place where the unrighteous dead go.
One must pay attention to the context to understand the proper use...
And in some instances the words “Hades” even contrasted with “Heaven” as used in passages like Psalm 139:8 and Amos 9:2.
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However, it is very important to note, that in New Testament usage of the word, “Hades” it always refers to the place of the wicked prior to final judgment in Hell.
The imagery Jesus used paralleled the common rabbinical idea that Sheol had two parts, one for the souls of the righteous and the other for the souls of the wicked—separated by an impassable gulf.
The New American Commentary on Luke has this helpful note:
“Following physical death, but prior to final judgment, souls of the departed were believed to inhabit an interim state in Hades that included a separation of the unjust from the blessed, along with their initial punishments and rewards.
The eschatological topography of the remainder of the parable describes his interim state.
Neither Lazarus nor the rich man is experiencing his final state, although both experience a foretaste or anticipation of it, the “firstfruits (or thistles)” of a fate that cannot be revoked but only increased at the final judgment.”
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Now, there is no reason to suppose...
As some do like the Catholic and Orthodox Churches believe...
That “Abraham’s side” or “Abraham’s bosom” spoke of a temporary prison for the souls of Old Testament saints, who were brought to Paradise only after Jesus had actually atoned for their sins.
Scripture consistently teaches that the spirits of the righteous dead go immediately into the presence of God.
Just look at what Luke 23:43 says:
43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Likewise, consider the truth found in 2 Corinthians 5:8 which says:
8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
And Philippians 1:23 which says:
23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
Furthermore, the presence of Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration disproves the notion that they were confined in a compartment of Sheol until Christ finished His work.
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Likewise, the doctrine of Purgatory that the Roman Catholic Church subscribes to...
And the doctrine of Toll Houses that many in the Eastern Orthodox Church believe in is contrary to what the Word of God says.
As the ESV Study Bible says:
“The unbelieving dead seem to have some awareness of the blessedness of believers in heaven.
Though this is a parable, and thus it is unclear how far the actual details should be pressed, the story seems clearly to teach that, immediately after death, both believers and unbelievers have a conscious awareness of their eternal status and enter at once into either suffering or blessing.”
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So, based on what we see in Scripture and in our main passage, Christ pictured Hades as a place where the unspeakable torment of Hell had already begun.
Among the miseries featured here are unquenchable flame.
You see Beloved, the punishment of the wicked is never-ending.
The wicked are not given a second chance, nor are they annihilated as some falsely believe.
The punishment of the wicked dead is described throughout Scripture as:
“Eternal fire,”
“Unquenchable fire,”
“Disgrace and everlasting contempt,”
A place where “their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched,”
A place of “torments” and “flame,”
“Eternal destruction”
A place of torment with “fire and brimstone” where “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever,”
And a “lake of fire and brimstone” where the wicked are “tormented day and night forever and ever.”
That is the definition of Hell from the Bible.
Here Jesus indicates that the punishment itself is everlasting—not merely the smoke and flames.
The wicked are forever subject to the fury and the wrath of God.
They consciously suffer shame and contempt and the assaults of an accusing conscience—along with the fiery wrath of God for all of eternity.
Just look at what is says in Revelation 20:10-15:
10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
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Additionally, we see that a great chasm has been fixed by God between heaven and hell so that the fate of the dead is irreversible.
Now, during his life, the rich man had regarded his worldly possessions as his own—as things to be used by him only for the sake of his own honor, ease and pleasure, and had not regarded them as gifts entrusted to him by God for the purpose of using them for the welfare of others (especially the needy ones) and to the honor of God.
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The situation is ironic.
The rich man seemed not to notice Lazarus on earth, but now he appeals through Abraham for the poor man’s aid.
The use of Lazarus’s name in his appeal suggests that the rich man knew about Lazarus all along, making his neglect of the poor man that much worse.
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So, the situation for the rich man was hopeless...
The time for repentance had passed...
It was too, late for him and he knew it...
So, he turns his attention on his remaining family members and wants to see them warned from falling to the same fate he is experiencing...
And that takes us to our third and final point.
3) The Words of Life
3) The Words of Life
Verses 27-31: And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
I would like to start our final section with wise words of theologian Robert H. Stein who said this regarding our passage:
“The plea for his brothers at first seems less selfish than his earlier pleas.
The plea is not free from self-justification, however, for it insinuates that in life the rich man did not have adequate opportunity to know and do what he needed to.
‘If God had warned him sufficiently, he would have escaped this place of torment.’”
You see Beloved, the refusal to repent and the corresponding refusal to believe the Gospel is not primarily due to lack of evidence...
The true reason for the refusal to believe the Gospel is due to a hardened heart.
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You see, Beloved, the statement that “they have Moses and the Prophets” means that these five brothers had the Old Testament Scriptures.
In fact, later in the Gospel of Luke we will show how Jesus points out that Moses and the Prophets all testify to Him as the true Messiah as recorded in Luke 24:27:
27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
So, Abraham’s reply was that the brothers already had the Old Testament, which warned them of their need to repent and which witnessed to Jesus as recorded in the New Testament.
However, to all this the rich man said, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.”
This statement by the rich man is very telling...
His statement was both a complaint and a request.
The implication is that he and his brothers had insufficient data...
He is saying that they lacked a sufficiently convincing sign...
And that, my brothers and sisters in Christ, is a direct insult to our God!
Unfortunately, the Pharisees did exactly that...
They repeatedly demanded a sign from Jesus, which He refused to give them...
And that is why He is sharing this parable.
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In dismissing the Law and the Prophets, the rich man also dismisses the Gospel and Good News of Jesus Christ.
Understand this, Beloved, the rich man’s false premise—that there is something greater than God’s message through His servants—is significant.
He is convinced that some type of sign from the afterlife will be more effective than the Word of God!
Yet, as Jesus Himself says in John 6:63:
63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
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You see Beloved, most Christian heresies result from additions to the Gospel not present in the New Testament...
In this instance the rich man demands something more than “mere Christianity.”
However, we know from 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that we only need Scripture as our source for every good deed...
And that passage says:
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
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The Abraham responded to the rich man by saying, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”
So, Abraham replied that a sign would not compel faith for even if someone rises from the dead, this will not compel faith.
This is confirmed in the Gospel of John when another man named Lazarus was resurrected by Jesus which helps some to believe but does not compel faith from those who oppose Jesus and reject the truth found in the Word of God.
Instead of faith the result of Lazarus’s resurrection was a plot to kill him.
We see the see thing the same thing with Jesus’ own resurrection.
It helps some to believe but it does not compel faith from those who oppose Jesus and reject the truth found in the Word of God.
Instead of faith and seeing Israel turn to believe in Jesus the result of His resurrection was for the religious leaders to bribed the Roman soldiers who had been guarding the tomb to falsely claim that the disciples had stolen His body as it says in Matthew 28:11–15.
Then, they persecuted believers as we see recorded in Acts.
The reality is that miracles, no matter who amazing, will never convince those whose hearts are morally blind and wickedly unrepentant.
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So, this speaks powerfully of the singular sufficiency of Scripture, both Old and New Testament, to overcome unbelief.
The gospel itself is the power of God unto salvation as Romans 1:16 says:
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Since unbelief is at heart a moral, rather than an intellectual, problem, no amount of evidences will ever turn unbelief to faith.
But the revealed Word of God has inherent power to do so.
Theologian Darrell L. Bock puts it this way:
“How one responds to the previous revelation will determine how one responds to Jesus.
One is to take revelation as a whole.
The two—Jesus and ancient Scriptures—are linked.
To reject the ancient message is to reject Jesus, and to reject his teaching is to reject the ancient message.
If God’s Word is believed, a resurrection is not necessary to engender faith; it only bolsters it.
If they cannot hear God’s voice, they will not see his hands at work.”
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Beloved, the Word of God is powerful!
We don’t need signs to lead people to Christ...
We need to handle the Word of God properly...
For as Hebrews 4:12 says:
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
The Scriptures...
They cut right to the heart!
Anyone who hardens their heart to Scripture has no chance of salvation...
Period!
That is why we can’t compromise the truths found in the Bible...
For it is by the power of the Word of God that we are even made born-again as recorded in 1 Peter 1:23, which says:
23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
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So, we, as followers of Christ, are to armor up!
We are to grab our swords...
And by swords I mean our Bibles...
And we are to sharpen our blades...
We are to train in handling the our surgically precise blade like samurai master!
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Or let me put it this way for all my Star Wars fans out there...
Pick up your lightsaber and train hard!
Handle that lightsaber like a Jedi Master because your enemy will not relent!
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If you come with a mere blaster to a lightsaber duel, then you are done!
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Beloved, God’s Word needs to be part of your very DNA...
Breathe in Scripture...
Breathe out Scripture...
If you get a cut, may you bleed Scripture!
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Beloved, I have said it before...
And I’ll say it again...
And I’ll continue saying it until I draw my last breathe...
Beloved, be a Berean!
As Acts 17:10-12 records:
10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.
11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
12 Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.
.......
Not giving the Scriptures their proper priority can be damning...
The rich man and his brothers...
They had access to the Word of God...
But it meant nothing to them...
They thought they could earn their way into Heaven...
They thought they could buy their way to Heaven since they are so used to solving their “problems” with money...
Yet, God does not care about how many zeros are in your bank account!
God cares that you love Him...
And the only people that love Him are the ones who both know His commands...
And those who obey His commands...
Or as John 14:15 says:
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
So, as this message comes to a close...
I would like you to consider this:
A Sunday School teacher told her class of 2nd graders the story found in Luke 16 of the Rich man and Lazarus.
How that when they were here upon the earth the rich man had everything that money could buy and poor Lazarus had to beg for mere crumbs.
But when they died, the rich man due to his selfishness went to a place of horrible torment while Lazarus went to a place of paradise.
In conclusion, the teacher asked her students the question:
“Now, which man would you rather be, Lazarus or the rich man?”
One little boy’s hand shot up immediately and he said:
“Well, while I’m alive I want to live like the rich man, but when I die I want to be like Lazarus.”
.......
Well, the little boy was cleaver...
But, the reality is...
You can’t have it both ways...
Nothing is wrong with being rich...
But is your heart possessed by your possessions?
Or is have you surrendered your heart to our Lord and Savior?
Because if you have surrendered to the Lord...
Then whether you have a lot or a little...
You will use your possessions to glorify the name of our Lord!
Whether you have a lot or a little in this world...
Yor main priority will be building your treasure in Heaven!
As the Word of God says in Matthew 6:19-20:
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Let’s pray...
.......
Heavenly Father...
If anyone hearing this message right now does not know You in a saving way...
Then I beg You to give that person a Damascus Road experience...
Open their eyes...
Open their ears...
Open their minds...
And open their hearts...
.......
I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
.......
For those hearing this message who already know You...
Thank you for transforming us into brand new beings...
Equip us to reach the lost...
Equip us to handle your Word properly...
Equip us to love the broken hearted like You...
And Equip us minister to our fellow brothers and siters in Christ.
.......
Again, I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
.......
It is in Jesus’ name we pray all these things...
To God be all the glory.
Amen.
