A Story of Judgment

B: Luke 16:19-31

Welcome guests, introduce yourself. Thank the band. Invite guests to parlor after service.

Our student ministry, COMPLETED grades 6-12, will be attending BCNM Student Camp at Inlow this week, June 24-28. Please keep them in your prayers this week as they look at the theme of Koinonia. We will pray for them collectively in a moment.

We are going to again have our Independence Day church-wide picnic on Thursday evening, July 4, beginning at 6pm out front in the courtyard. You can bring your food to eat, and we will have hot dogs, chips, watermelon, and drinks. Bring a summer dessert or some homemade ice cream to share, and your safe and legal fireworks to set off. We’ll have some lawn games and we’ll have a great time together! Feel free to invite your friends, and maybe even your one.

If you were unaware, we do have online giving for those who are interested in it. You can find it through our website. But what I wanted to let everyone know about today is that our online payment provider recently updated their look and feel for the online giving page, and so it will look different the next time you go there. If you get there through the website, it is legit, even if it looks strange.

Give quick prayer update for Georgia Crabtree and Barbara Shiplet.

Luke 16:19–31 CSB

19 “There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen, feasting lavishly every day. 20 But a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, was lying at his gate. 21 He longed to be filled with what fell from the rich man’s table, but instead the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22 One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side. 24 ‘Father Abraham!’ he called out, ‘Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this flame!’ 25 “ ‘Son,’ Abraham said, ‘remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony. 26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us.’ 27 “ ‘Father,’ he said, ‘then I beg you to send him to my father’s house—28 because I have five brothers—to warn them, so they won’t also come to this place of torment.’ 29 “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ 30 “ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 “But he told him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

I have a confession to make. I’m not super comfortable preaching today’s message. It’s not that I’m not convicted by today’s passage or the truth that it contains, because I am. It’s more that

Pray, including praying for our student ministry going to camp.

We are nearing the end of our series called “Who’s Your One?” We’ve been considering the importance of evangelism, with the hope that as we consider how important evangelism is in the life of the church, being evangelistic will become a part of who we are, a part of our DNA. We’re asking the question, “Who’s Your One?”, meaning who is one person that you believe God would have you share the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with this year.

We have maybe one or two more weeks to go in this series, and then we’ll be on to a study of the book of ’m looking forward to us going through that book together.

But for this morning, I want to give a short recap of what we’ve looked at thus far in our “Who’s Your One?” Series:

We started with the calling of Andrew, Peter, James, and John by the Sea of Galilee in . We looked at the definition of a disciple: a committed, lifelong learner and follower of Jesus. And we saw the fact that at salvation Jesus calls us and we respond in surrender to Him and His will. Those who are disciples of Jesus are called to reproduce spiritually, and that includes evangelism.

Then we looked at the healing of the paralytic whose friends did all that they could to bring their friend to Jesus in . We considered that disciples of Jesus should join in Jesus’s mission in : to seek and to save the lost.

After that, we saw the calling of Philip and Nathanael in , and gave some thought to the need for us to be intentional witnesses for Jesus, turning away from our excuses and fears.

Then after VBS, we looked at the call of Saul in , and we learned about how God calls each of us to have an amazing encounter with Him, and that we have privilege of sharing that invitation with those we share the Gospel with.

Last week was Father’s Day, and we considered the introduction to , and the idea that we must have a multigenerational perspective: that we tell each other and the next generation what God has done, so they will tell the next generation, and so on and so on, so that God’s name and fame will be magnified.

Again, the point is that we be challenged and encouraged to share the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those in our circle of influence, and it all begins with ONE.

Our passage this morning brings to light another reason that we must be willing to share with our One: because every one of us has an eternal destiny in store for us. Let’s start with a discussion about the passage itself this morning, as it has a couple of interesting questions.

. What kind of passage is this? Most would say that it is a parable, which is a story with an eternal meaning or point. Most commentaries call it a parable as well, However, if it is a parable, then it is unique among Jesus’ parables, because He does something in it that He doesn’t do in any other parable: He gives a character a name. Look at every other parable, and none of the characters have names. They only have titles: the younger son, the landowner, the persistent widow, the shrewd manager, the unmerciful servant.

But here, we have a character with a given name: Lazarus. There are three ways to take this fact:

Jesus just felt like naming this character. It is, after all, His parable and He can do what He wants to do with the characters;

Jesus named this particular character this, Lazarus, for a particular purpose; and

This isn’t a parable at all, but is instead a historical account that only Jesus could have known about.

I find the first reason unlikely. Sure, Jesus can do what He wants with His parable characters, but I highly doubt that this choice had ZERO meaning.

So what about possibility number 2? Could Jesus have had some reason for naming this character Lazarus? Certainly He could have.

The name Lazarus means, “One whom God helps.” This would certainly be a fitting name for a character such as Lazarus, whom God does indeed help. Not only that, but very likely later in the ministry of Jesus, he raised another Lazarus from the dead, and rather than believing because of that incredible miracle, the religious leaders decided that not only did Jesus need to die, but probably Lazarus as well. We find that in . So then, Jesus uses the name before raising Lazarus to essentially predict what the Pharisees were going to do when someone named Lazarus really did rise from the dead: They would simply not believe, which is exactly what Abraham in the story said would happen.

This is definitely a fair position to hold, and one that is especially good if you take as a parable.

NOT SURE IF I WANT TO KEEP STUFF BELOW THIS

I have to admit that I struggle taking this as a parable because of the uniqueness of the story. However, while I think that this is an actual historical account that only Jesus could have known about, I can’t say that with total certainty.

NOT SURE IF I WANT TO KEEP STUFF BELOW THIS

There are just some things about it that lead me in that direction, especially when put together with passages like :

Revelation 20:11–15 CSB

11 Then I saw a great white throne and one seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. 12 I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books. 13 Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them; each one was judged according to their works. 14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Hades gets destroyed in the lake of fire, which we commonly think of as hell. So, while we often think about this passage in Luke as a passage about hell, I tend to think of this as something else… an intermediate state for the wicked between physical death and final judgment. Not a place like the Catholic idea of purgatory, a place where baptized people go to work off their sin, still with a hope of salvation. No, this would be a place where the beginnings of the eternal judgment of God are dispensed before God wraps everything up.

Matthew 25:41–46 CSB

41 “Then he will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels! 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger and you didn’t take me in; I was naked and you didn’t clothe me, sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of me.’ 44 “Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help you?’ 45 “Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

If you

NOT SURE IF I WANT TO KEEP STUFF ABOVE THIS.

Regardless of how you take this passage, as a story of hell itself or something different, the point is the same: this is a story of judgment. This passage paints a great picture, whether it is a parable or not, of the fact that there is a fixed destiny for each person. says that it is appointed to man to die once, and after that to face judgment.

One of the things that I noticed when I was studying this passage this week is the number of contrasts that are found in it. These contrasts make up the basis of the story:

Luke 16:19–21 CSB

19 “There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen, feasting lavishly every day. 20 But a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, was lying at his gate. 21 He longed to be filled with what fell from the rich man’s table, but instead the dogs would come and lick his sores.

luke 16:

The first contrast that we see between the rich man and Lazarus is a contrast in life:

The rich man is, well… rich. And Lazarus is poor. The rich man has everything he could want, even down to his clothes: he was covered in purple and fine linen. Purple cloth was HIGHLY expensive because of the process to create it, using shellfish. The poor man is also covered, but in something a little less impressive than purple and fine linen. He was covered alright, but covered in sores. Ick.

The rich man lived in what essentially amounted to a compound. He had a gate. Lazarus, on the other hand, stayed lying down at that gate in the elements.

In this culture, where giving to needy people was seen in a very positive light, Lazarus landed at a place where he should have expected that he was going to be okay. Either the rich man would care for him, or those coming to the gatherings the rich man held would take care of him, because they were probably rich too. But it doesn’t appear that that’s what happened.

The rich many would feast lavishly every day. He never had to give any thought to where his next meal was coming from. In contrast, Lazarus longed to just eat the scraps that came from the rich man’s table. He wished that he could rely upon the rich man to give him the leftovers, but apparently that didn’t happen.

But

Instead, the Scripture says that the wild dogs of the city would come and lick his sores. At BEST, commentary writers suggest that perhaps this might have provided some relief from the sores. I just have to say ick again. No thanks. I’ll pass on the dog licking bit.

So we see that there is a stark contrast between these two men in life. One is rich, the other is poor. One is clothed in beautiful clothing, the other in sores. One had a house and a gate, the other had neither. One had food to spare but didn’t spare it, the other needed the spare food but didn’t receive it.

But while we have these massive contrasts between these two men here in , they have one major thing in common according to the book of Proverbs:

Proverbs 22:2 CSB

2 Rich and poor have this in common: the Lord makes them all.

So we have these two that the Lord has made, with these gigantic contrasts in life. But that’s not the end of the story:

luke 16:22-

Luke 16:22–23 CSB

22 One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side.

Luke 16:

Luke 16:22–24 CSB

22 One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side. 24 ‘Father Abraham!’ he called out, ‘Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this flame!’

James 2:14–17 CSB

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself.

Each of the men die. For Lazarus, his death is mentioned and no burial included. In the Hebrew culture of the time, even the poorest would ordinarily be given a burial, but it might not have been anything close to proper. The rich man, on the other hand, could afford a proper burial, and so it is mentioned as well.

However, Lazarus is mentioned as being “carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side.” The idea of “Abrahams’ side,” was that the patriarch of the entire Hebrew family, Abraham, had gone on before his descendants, and was waiting there in a place of peace and paradise to comfort them in death from all of the affliction that they had faced in life. However, as we see in the rich man’s side of the story, it wasn’t a guarantee: He finds himself in this place Hades, but he is being anything but comforted. He is torment in flame. In contrast, Lazarus finds himself in comfort and rest.

Matthew 25:41–46 CSB

41 “Then he will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels! 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger and you didn’t take me in; I was naked and you didn’t clothe me, sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of me.’ 44 “Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help you?’ 45 “Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

For the Hebrew, this

So one is buried, the other isn’t. One goes to Hades, the other to Abraham’s side. One is in torment, the other in comfort. Contrasts continue to abound.

But the rich man can somehow see the contrast that he is experiencing. He can see Abraham and Lazarus. So seeing this contrast, he calls out:

Luke 16:24 CSB

24 ‘Father Abraham!’ he called out, ‘Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this flame!’

and so he calls out, asking that Lazarus could just come put a drop of water on his tongue to comfort him.

The rich man cries out, asking that Abraham have mercy on him and to send Lazarus to could just come put a drop of water on his tongue to comfort him.

Have you ever been that thirsty? I have been. I was terribly sick one night of a youth lock in, and had to go to the hospital for IV fluids the next day because I was so dehydrated… I was desperate for just a little water at that point. I would suspect that the rich man’s experience was that times a million.

But he hasn’t really changed much. He’s still just as focused on himself as he was in his life. He asks that Lazarus would leave the comfort he is receiving in order to come and serve him. He hadn’t served Lazarus in life, and here he demands that Lazarus serve him in death. When he says, “send Lazarus,” he doesn’t actually ask. He tells. It’s a command in the Greek.

Lazarus has no need of anything else. He is in comfort and at peace.

Abraham’s response to the rich man’s request paints the contrast even more clearly:

Luke 16:25–26 CSB

25 “ ‘Son,’ Abraham said, ‘remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony. 26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us.’

luke 16:

He speaks of the contrast in their lives: that the rich man received “good things,” and Lazarus “bad things.” Contrast in the grave: Lazarus is comforted, and the rich man is in agony. This isn’t a question of “earning” their position. The rich man could have lived his life by faith in God, and not by faith in his wealth, and he would be with Lazarus. At the same time, Lazarus would have had a more comfortable time in life as well. Lazarus apparently lived by faith, but we don’t see that since Lazarus never speaks in this passage.

Abraham tells the rich man that there is a chasm “fixed”: it is firmly established. This chasm can’t be crossed by those in paradise even if they wanted to. And those in agony cannot cross, and the desire to do so is assumed here. There’s a separation. There’s nothing to be done for it.

And suddenly, the rich man becomes an evangelist:

luke 16:

Luke 16:27–31 CSB

27 “ ‘Father,’ he said, ‘then I beg you to send him to my father’s house—28 because I have five brothers—to warn them, so they won’t also come to this place of torment.’ 29 “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ 30 “ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 “But he told him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

He apparently realizes that he can’t go tell his brothers himself, so he begs that Abraham would send Lazarus to them to tell them about what he’s going through… to warn them against living their lives in such a way that they would end up in Hades. He wants his brothers to know the truth of what he’s experiencing.

But Abraham responds that they should know about this from the Scriptures. They, just like the rich man himself, will have no excuse if that is where they end up. None of us will, according to :

Romans 1:18–21 CSB

18 For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, 19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse. 21 For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened.

But the rich man says that if someone rises from the dead and tells them, they will repent. Abraham disagrees, if they won’t listen to the Scriptures, then even a person rising from the dead will not persuade them.

There’s

I think that in this story, whether a parable or not, Jesus ends by making the point that many will reject the message of the Gospel, because the Gospel of Jesus Christ was proven true in the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.

Romans 1:3–4 CSB

3 concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh 4 and was appointed to be the powerful Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead.

There are exactly two eternal destinies for each person who lives or has ever lived. One is paradise, the other is torment. You see, God created us to be with Him, but our sins separate us from Him. I’ve heard people argue that “a loving God wouldn’t send people to hell.” He doesn’t. We choose it. We choose to look out for number one (ourselves). We choose to lie, cheat, and steal to get our way. We are broken and flawed at the very core of who we are because of our sinfulness. We can never forget that. It is our sins that separate us from our loving God who wants to have be in relationship with us.

Unfortunately, we can never be good enough to wipe out the red in our ledger, so to speak. So our sins simply cannot be removed by good deeds. So Jesus came and lived a perfect life in our place, dying on the cross instead of us to pay the price for our sins, and He defeated death and rose from the grave again, proving that He is who He says He is.

And if we will surrender our lives to God through faith in Jesus, believing that He died and rose, and giving our lives to Him, we will be saved. This is the only way to be saved and have eternal life: the paradise that Lazarus experienced was the beginning of a forever life of peace with God in His presence, but if we put our faith in Jesus, then he will live in us by His Spirit, and we have that right relationship with God NOW, not just later.

This is what God has done to save us. All we can do is respond.

My primary goal this morning is not to call the lost to salvation, although if you are here this morning and you have never trusted Jesus with your forever by giving up your life to Him, then I certainly pray that today will be the day of salvation for you. In our sins, apart from God, we are spiritually dead. And if you die physically while you’re dead spiritually, you’re headed for judgment, just like the rich man.

The rich man had everything the world had to offer to him, but was not rich in the things of God. He lived for himself and himself alone. When he cried out to Abraham to send Lazarus to tell his brothers about his torment in hell or in Hades, it showed that he and his brothers never actually believed those things were real. And now that he discovered the reality of it, now he wants to change. But it’s too late. Look at what Jesus said in Matthew 25:

The contrasts in this passage of Scripture, even if it is a parable, are still very much real. The dividing line between the two is Jesus. When we respond to the call of God to believe in Christ and be saved, we go from being the rich man

Matthew 25:41–46 CSB

41 “Then he will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels! 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger and you didn’t take me in; I was naked and you didn’t clothe me, sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of me.’ 44 “Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help you?’ 45 “Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

If you die physically while you’re dead spiritually, you’re headed for judgment.

There are not going to be any unbelievers in hell. Once they are there, everyone in hell will believe that God is real and that hell is real and that Jesus is Lord. But it will be too late for any change of heart to save them. And make no mistake: hell is a terrible, terrible place.

CONTRASTS

mark 9:4

Mark 9:43–48 CSB

43 “And if your hand causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go to hell, the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to fall away, gouge it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

The contrasts in this passage of Scripture, even if it is a parable, are still very much real. The dividing line between the two is Jesus. When we respond to the call of God to believe in Christ and be saved, we go from being the rich man

Matthew 25:41–46 CSB

41 “Then he will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels! 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger and you didn’t take me in; I was naked and you didn’t clothe me, sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of me.’ 44 “Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help you?’ 45 “Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Unquenchable fire. The worm… a term for the inner part of the person, will long for death forever, but will never die, but will live on in the torturous flame forever. Hell will in no way be any sort of fun.

Hell is terrible.

Mark 9:42–48 CSB

42 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 43 “And if your hand causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go to hell, the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to fall away, gouge it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

The contrasts in this passage of Scripture, even if it is a parable, are still very much real. It really is an either-or proposition. The dividing line between the two is Jesus. Place your hope in Christ by giving Him your life, and follow Him.

Hebrews 9:27–28 CSB

27 And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment—28 so also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

So, believers in this room this morning. Who’s your One? Who is a person in your circle of influence that is headed for judgment, like the rich man? The rich man went to this place of judgment and torment, and longed for Lazarus to go and warn his brothers.

What if the rich man had believed before he died? Would he not have warned his brothers then? Are we not willing to warn those we know and love around us about the judgment waiting on the other side of this life? Don’t be afraid! Tell your one about what Christ has done for us, about how to pass from death to life.

John 5:24 CSB

24 “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.

John 5:24-

John 5:24–29 CSB

24 “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life. 25 “Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has granted him the right to pass judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.

Don’t be like the rich man. He would have regularly seen this man lying at his gate, and it says that this man “longed” for the food from the rich man’s table. He just didn’t engage. He didn’t care. I wonder if he ever walked by Lazarus and offered a blessing to him, when he could have and should have done something more. James condemns this kind of thinking:

John 5:24–27 CSB

24 “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life. 25 “Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has granted him the right to pass judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

And brothers and sisters: Don’t be like the rich man. He would have regularly seen this man lying at his gate, and it says that Lazarus “longed” for the food from the rich man’s table. He just didn’t engage. He didn’t care. I wonder if he ever walked by Lazarus and offered a blessing to him, when he could have and should have done something more. James condemns this kind of thinking:

James 2:14–17 CSB

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself.

Be a blessing, don’t just offer a blessing. Show that you believe by how you live. Make a difference in the lives of others as God leads and as you have opportunity to do so.

Hebrews 9:27–28 CSB

27 And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment—28 so also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

CONTRASTS

Closing

If you have never trusted in Jesus Christ for your salvation, then right now, where you are, give up. Believe in Jesus Christ, surrender to Him as your Lord and Savior, and turn from going your own way in sin. And while the band is playing in a moment, if that is you today, come and share it with one of us.

Believers, are you catching the vision of the series? Who’s your one? We have been given a mission by God to share the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a lost and dying world. I pray that sharing the Gospel is becoming a part of our DNA: that it’s becoming a part of who we are in Christ. If we aren’t, then there’s only one thing for us to do: repent of our disobedience and obey. Maybe you need to get on your face before God and confess your own sin, which is keeping you from sharing the Gospel. The steps are open for you to come and pray, or you can come and pray with one of us. Trevor and Camille will be down here with me, and Joe and Kerry will be in the back.

If God is leading you this morning to become a member of this body of believers, that this is the church where He would have you plug in, serve Him, and be a part of building up the body of Christ, then we will receive you for that as well.

Invite the band down. Pray.

Invite to the Parlor.

A Story of Judgment

Bookmarks & Needs:

Housekeeping Stuff & Announcements:

Opening

Passage Study

TEACH THE PASSAGE

Contrast in Life

Contrast in Death

Contrast in Death

Contrast in Death

Contrast in the Grave

The Hope of the Gospel

Warnings to the Lost

Encouragement for the Saved

Invitation

A Story of Judgment

Bookmarks & Needs:

Housekeeping Stuff & Announcements:

Opening

Passage Study

TEACH THE PASSAGE

Contrast in Life

Contrast in Death

Contrast in Death

Contrast in Death

Contrast in the Grave

​

The Hope of the Gospel

Warnings to the Lost

Encouragement for the Saved

Invitation