The Gospel from the Graveside
TEXT: Luke 16:19-31
TOPIC: The Gospel from the Graveside
Pastor Bobby Earls, First Baptist Church, Center Point
Easter Sunday, April 16, 2006
A certain rich man died this past week. The nature of his death is still a question for some. Whether his death was an accident or a homicide as first reported is not the pressing issue. The question that matters most in eternity is “Was this man saved?”
Whether you are rich or poor or somewhere between, the fact of the matter is that we all live and we all die. (Since yesterday was April 15, I can imagine someone thinking “And if you’re an American, we all pay taxes.”)
On this Resurrection Easter Sunday the Lord has given me a challenging biblical text. If you have your bible, please open it to the Gospel According to Luke chapter 16. Luke 16.
There once was another rich man who lived and died. There was also a poor man, and many somewhere between who did the same. This story takes place nearly 2000 years ago. It’s a story told by Jesus, who by the way, lived, died, and lived again.
Luke 16, beginning with verse 19. Would you stand?
19“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20“But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21“desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22“So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23“And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24“Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ 25“But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26‘And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ 27“Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28‘for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ 29“Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30“And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31“But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”
May God add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word. Amen.
The first question to ask is whether or not this story of our Lord is a parable. Almost every commentary I read on the passage indicates it is indeed a parable. A parable being an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.
If it is a parable, then our Lord broke with His accustomed pattern of story telling. For example, in most of His parables Jesus announced it as such. And never before had He named an individual in a parable. Personally, I have never regarded this as a parable but as a true account known by our Omniscient Christ.
Regardless, whether it be a parable or not does not detract from the reality of the truthfulness presented by the story itself.
So what does the story present? It is a story of comparisons and contrasts between the rich man and the poor man Lazarus.
There is what one writer called the visible situation. The rich man’s life is pictured before our eyes with all its indulgences and ostentation. He is described as dressing in purple. Purple was a dye reserved only for the wealthiest. Made from a fish in the area, it produced three rich colors, velvet, deep blue, and crimson.
The words “fine linen” refers to a finely woven silk-like product from Egypt as soft as air used for the rich man’s undergarments. To say that he “fared sumptuously everyday” meant that he ate the finest foods of the day, everyday. There are lives like this, and people who can afford to live them.
By contrast, Lazarus was a beggar whose body was covered with ulcerous sores. He lay at the rich man’s gate entrance begging to be fed with the crumbs that fells from the rich man’s table. The word for “was laid” is actually more forcible having the idea of being thrown down at the rich man’s gate.
In that day, the wealthy would use the soft inner part of freshly baked bread to wipe their oily hands and then throw it under the table for the dogs or poor to eat. Lazarus apparently existed on the castaway bread-napkins of the rich man.
The dogs that licked the sores of poor Lazarus have often been understood as the only compassionate friends of this poor man. But don’t believe it. These dogs were wild, savage beasts. They would have been competitors of Lazarus for the bread crumbs. They probably licked the pus-filled sores for the moisture they provided adding to Lazarus’ discomfort.
That is the visible situation. The invisible situation is described in a world into which both Lazarus and the rich man soon enter as must we all. In the afterworld, the roles of the two men are reversed. It is Lazarus who feasts while the rich man suffers.
First, notice that at Lazarus’ death there is an angelic host acting as pall bearers to Heaven. It is of course Lazarus’s soul that is carried to Heaven and not his diseased body. His body would have been carried out to the south wall of Jerusalem and cast on the garbage heap in the Valley of Hinnon. Although his lifeless body was burned, his soul rested in Paradise in Abraham’s bosom.
The opposite is true for the rich man. It says rather matter of factly, “the rich man died and was buried.” I am sure his funeral services were accompanied with much pomp and praise. But our Lord Jesus says, “in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments.”
By the way, this is not a message on the subject of Hell on Easter Sunday. In fact, it is a message of how to escape Hell by the Gospel from the Graveside.
Please notice the first words of Abraham in response to the rich man’s request that he send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool his scorching tongue. He says, “Son, remember….”
There is something inexpressibly awful in the words, “Son, remember.”
Some regard that the greatest agony of Hell will be the inability of the doomed to forget. The misery of Hell will be to always remember the lost opportunities of life on earth; the chances that were given but not taken of accepting God’s grace and gift of Heaven.
Just as awful, too, is the finality implied in the words: “between us and you there is a great gulf fixed.” No second chances, not purgatory here.
ILLUSTRATION: I read of an American statesman who sinned a certain sin. On his deathbed he asked for a dictionary. He wanted, he said, to look up the word “Remorse.” The attending physician told him there was no dictionary in the room. “Take a card then,” he said, “and write on it the word that best describes my soul. Write it in large letters. Underscore it—the word Remorse.”
It was done as he described, and after he had gazed upon it for a time, he handed the card again to the doctor. “What shall I do with it?” asked the puzzled physician. “Put it in your pocket,” came the feeble reply, “and when I am gone, take it out and look at it, and say, ‘That is the soul of John Randolph.’”
I think it very important to stress at this point that our Lord is not saying that the rich man went to the place of torment because he was rich and that the poor man went to Abraham’s Bosom because he was poor. Going through the doorway of death changed their status, but it was due to what was in the hearts of these two men while they lived on earth.
It is interesting that today’s Easter message comes through the words of a lost rich man. But Dives, as he is known in the Latin, knew in death what men can only ponder in life.
I. THE GOSPEL FROM THE GRAVESIDE EXPRESSES CONCERN ABOUT THE LIFE TO COME,(FOR THE LOST) Luke 16:27-28
27“Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28‘for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’
Accepting his eternal fate is fixed he shows concern for others for perhaps the first time. Notice his concern for his living brothers. He wanted them to repent, change their minds before it was too late. Friend, if the lost could come back, they would preach the gospel to us.
The Gospel from the Graveside reminds us that we have an Easter morning because of our Lord’s uncompromising love for the lost. Jesus summed up His purpose for coming when He said, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which is lost.” And what is lost but all men apart from His saving grace. Oh do you know Him today as your Savior and Lord?
II. THE GOSPEL FROM THE GRAVESIDE EXTOLS THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE SCRIPTURES, Luke 16:29
29“Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’
Abraham’s response is “you have Moses and the Prophets.” Today He would say to us, “You have the Bible. You have God’s word. That is enough.
The Scriptures are sufficient. Jesus said, “Search the Scriptures for in them you have the words of eternal life.”
Southern Baptists have won the battle for the Inerrancy of the Scriptures, now we need to ask ourselves, do we believe in the Sufficiency of the Scriptures.
If we really believe the Bible is the word of God and that as the word of God, all the truths and principles man needs for eternal life in Heaven and abundant life on earth are contained within its pages, then the question of the hour is this one: “Why do we not read it and study it? Why do we not keep its commandments and instructions for us? Why do we not love God’s word and look longingly for time spent feeding on its riches?
One more thing on the Sufficiency of the Scriptures, remember that Abraham’s words are really the words of Christ. He says the word of God is a reliable, trustworthy book. It is sufficient for our salvation.
What an honor, and what an emphasis our Lord places on the Bible!
III. THE GOSPEL FROM THE GRAVESIDE ENCOURAGES OUR REPENTANCE, Luke 16:30-31
30“And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31“But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”
Many believe that multitudes would repent if someone returned from the dead to tell them what it was like. Well, someone has come back from the dead! His name is Jesus Christ! They did not believe Him any more than they believed Moses and the prophets.
There is no single fact in history that will convince men of God. Men are constantly dreaming up fabrications of the existence of God. So called appearances of the face of God on church walls, or in the clouds, bleeding stigmata from a modern cross, and other miraculous occurrences all appeal to a crowd that looks for a sign. But the sign that God gives is the sign of the prophet Jonah. Jesus said, “As Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights so shall the Son of Man be in the belly of the earth.”
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most scrutinized event in human history. More has been written, and said on the subject than any other topic.
But it all rests on faith. Our faith, our willingness to accept the truth as proclaimed in the reliable word of God.
Friend, do not delay in making your choice. There will be no opportunity after death.