2007-03-25 - A Choice to Make - Luke 16 19-31
Message: A Choice to Make Newport Baptist Church
Scr: Luke 16:19-31 Date: 2007-03-25
C.S. Lewis was told about a gravestone inscription that read: “Here lies an atheist—all dressed up and no place to go.” Lewis quietly replied, “I bet he wishes that were so!”
Background – Jesus had offered salvation – the feast
Challenged to count the cost – lost sheep, coin, son
Pharisees professed to trust God, but they measured life by wealth and possessions, the same as the unbelieving worldly crowd. Far too many professed Christians today are making the same mistake. With their lips, they honor the Lord; but with their wealth, they live like the world.
Pharisees took pride in their obedience to the Law and the Prophets (OT) but they rejected the saviour that the OT promises, Jesus himself!
In response Jesus raises the whole question of stewardship versus entitlement. We are in a time right now where we all think we are entitled. We believe what we have is really ours.
Charles W. Bray Ill, Deputy Director of the U.S. Internal Communication Agency, wrote something brilliant about all this in Quote magazine (Jan. 15, 1981). “We have come to a time where we say, ‘You deserve a break today.’ Too many of us believe that. If we’re poor, we deserve welfare; if we’re rich, we deserve a tax break; if we are workers, we deserve better fringe benefits; if we own Chrysler, we deserve a bail-out; if we are a special interest, we deserve a special hearing.”
The Pharisees thought they were entitled. They had the strange idea that money was deserved. Money was a sign that they were blessed by God, and poverty was the result of God’s curse. Jesus repudiates that whole idea. All of us are stewards of what we have, and we are to use it to bless others, to bring life, to bring health and hope and joy.
Only time in all the parables that a character has a name - Lazarus
Some scholars suggest that this may not be a parable but rather an actual story.
1) The two Men (16:19–21)
a) The rich man (16:19) : He wears the best of clothes and lives in total luxury.
i) Purple – very rare, very expensive
ii) Linen – like the finest silk, used for underclothes
b) The beggar (16:20–21)
i) His pain (16:20) : He is covered with sores (ulcers, open and awful)
(1) Dogs – wild dogs or guard dogs – unclean – only pity he receives comes from animals –makes him unclean!
ii) His poverty (16:21) : He longs to eat what falls from the rich man’s table.
(1) Has to fight the dogs for it!
(2) Garbage better than nothing
(3) The very least expected by the rich towards the poor
2) The two places (16:22–23)
a) Abraham’s side (16:22a): The beggar dies and is carried by angels to be with Abraham.
i) No mention of burial… body left to rot
b) Hell/Hades (16:22b–23): The rich man dies, and his soul goes to hell.
i) Rich man dies and is buried.
ii) Hades is what is called hell today. NT Hades has an additional negative force of awaiting judgment (Rev 20:13).
3) The two prayers (16:24–31) – Irony – only once in Hades/Hell that the rich man begins to pray! Agony / Torment - 4x
a) The rich man’s prayer concerning relief for his body (16:24–26)
i) The request (16:24) : He asks Abraham if Lazarus can come over and help ease his agony in the fires of hell.
(1) Refused to help Lazarus in life even though he knew him well enough to know his name
ii) The Reasons
(1) Lazarus’ reward (16:25) – he suffered enough in life
(a) Son – gk – Little child, little one… term of love!
(2) The chasm - (16:26)
b) The rich man’s prayer concerning redemption for his brothers (16:27–31)
i) The request (16:27–28): He begs Abraham to send Lazarus back to warn his five evil brothers about this terrible place.
(1) He begs- never had to in life
ii) The refusal (16:29–31)
(1) “Moses and the prophets have warned them” (16:29–30).
(a) Whole of the OT is the story and promise of God’s salvation
(b) Rich man still looking for a sign (wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign!)
(2) “If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even if someone rises from the dead” (16:31)
(a) Abraham understands faith required for a sign to be of value.
The rich man used his wealth only to please himself and maintain his extravagant life-style. He did not use it to care for the poor and needy, not even the poor man begging at his very door. Lazarus in effect witnessed to the rich man (vv. 27–28); but in his false security, the rich man would not repent. To him, death seemed very far away.
Moses and the Prophets tell sinners how to repent and be saved, and the Jews heard them read every Sabbath in the synagogue. Though miracles can attest to the authority of the preacher, they cannot produce either conviction or conversion in the hearts of the lost. Faith that is based solely on miracles is not saving faith (John 2:23–25). A man named Lazarus did come back from the dead, and some of the people wanted to kill him! (see John 11:43–57; 12:10)
Self centred even in death – most concerned about his pain and his family. Argued with God!
How convicting it is to hear people in Hades calling for somebody to go to witness to their loved ones! People cannot be forced or frightened into trusting Christ: they must be persuaded. If God’s people could spend one second in hell, perhaps they would become bolder witnesses for the Lord. We all need to take this to heart.
“The safest road to hell,” wrote C.S. Lewis, “is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”
What will you do with your time – With your talents – With your treasure.
We can let money be our god (19–31). The rich man did not go to Hades because he was rich; he went there because riches were his god. Abraham was a wealthy man, and yet he was in paradise. Money can help send people to heaven (v. 9), or it can help send people to hell.
“Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” - John Wesley
Who will you serve? What will you pursue?
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36)
Jesus asked that question.
What is your answer?