"The Gospel of Luke (70): The Rich Man and Lazarus July 21, 2024

First Baptist Church Leominster

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world. And so here's the beginning of it, Acts chapter 21.

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We read of the faith of the Apostle Paul, the concern of his brothers and sisters in Christ, but there's a sense of confidence in God's providence that God will, the

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Lord will fulfill in Paul's life what he told him he would do. He would speak the gospel before kings.

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Acts 21, and when he had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cause, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patera.

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And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo.

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And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days, and through the spirit they were telling

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Paul not to go to Jerusalem. When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city.

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And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship and they returned home.

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When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for one day.

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On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the

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Evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

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While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea, and coming to us he took

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Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, thus says the Holy Spirit, this is how the

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Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the

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Gentiles. When we heard this, we and the people were there, urged him not to go up to Jerusalem.

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Then Paul answered, what are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the

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Lord Jesus. And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, let the will of the

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Lord be done. After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem, and some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Nason of Cyprus, an early disciple with whom we should lodge.

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When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. On the following day,

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Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the

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Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, you see, brother, how many thousands there are among the

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Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law, and they have been told about you, that you teach all the

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Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children, or walk according to our customs.

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What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. Do therefore what we tell you.

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We have four men who are under a vow. Take these men and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads.

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Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law.

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But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from that which has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.

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Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them, and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled, and the offering presented for each one of them.

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When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd, and laid hands on him, crying out,

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Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place.

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Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple, and has defiled this holy place. For they had previously seen

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Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together.

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They seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all

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Jerusalem was in confusion. He at once took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them.

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And when they saw the tribune, and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. Then the tribune came up, and arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains.

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He inquired who he was, and what he had done. Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another.

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And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks.

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And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd.

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For the mob of the people followed, crying out away with him. As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, may

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I say something to you? And he said, do you know Greek? Are you not the Egyptian then, who has recently stirred up a revolt, and led 4 ,000 men of the assassins out into the wilderness?

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Paul replied, I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city.

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I beg you, permit me to speak to the people. And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people.

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And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying. Let's pray.

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Our Father, you are the Lord God who is over all things, all circumstances, even political unrest.

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And Lord, we live in a world that is not at rest. We live in a world that is upheaved right now.

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And Lord, we thank you that you are over all these things. We're thankful that you are faithful, that you are trustworthy, that you are reliable.

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And Lord, we know that your promise to the church will stand, that this church will never be brought down, but it will only expand.

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And Lord, we thank you for this tremendous promise, that your church will reign with you. We thank you,

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Lord, that you have saved us. We thank you that you have redeemed us, that you have reconciled us to the

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Father. We thank you, Lord, that you have achieved peace because of the cross, peace with one another, and peace with the

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Lord God. And we pray, Lord, that we would be diligent to pursue that peace in this church and in our lives.

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And Lord, we pray now that as we continue our worship through the preaching of the sermon, we pray that we would hear what the word says, that we would line up under it, and that by the power of the

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Spirit, we would live it out in our daily lives. Be with Pastor Lars as he proclaims your word.

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Give him clarity of thought and voice. We pray, Lord, that you would be honored by your preaching this morning.

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Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, let's turn in our

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Bibles to Luke 16. We're going to begin with verse 19 and address the rich man in hell and Lazarus in paradise.

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I knew this passage was coming up, but I assumed, you know,

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I had dealt with it before, and so I, you know, a lot of the foundational study have already been done, and I figured

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I could build on it. And lo and behold, I discovered this week I had never preached on this passage in this church in 26 years.

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I was quite surprised, and so I hit it fresh, at least from my perspective.

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The passage before us contains an account told by our Lord Jesus that is alarming in its depiction of the damnation of an unbeliever.

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I recall reading this in the fall of 1971, November, December, thereabouts, and before I was unconverted.

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I was converted in January, second week of January, 72. It scared the bejeebies out of me, this and the passage in Revelation 20 of the last judgment.

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And so it's quite alarming in its depiction of the damnation of an unbeliever, but our

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Lord, through this passage, also gives cause for comfort and joy to the one who may suffer in this life, like Lazarus, if he but lives and dies in faith.

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And so before us is this story of the rich man and Lazarus. We read of the existence of two men.

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After their death and burial, a rich man is in the flames of hell, and Lazarus, the poor beggar, is comforted in paradise.

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We want to read the passage first before we make comments. There's a certain rich man who is clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day, but there was a certain beggar named

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Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desired to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table.

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And moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom.

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The rich man also died and was buried, and being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw

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Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And then he cried and said,

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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.

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But Abraham said, Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise

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Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 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.

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Then he said, I beg you therefore, Father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.

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And Abraham said to him, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them.

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And he said, no, Father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.

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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.

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This account of our Lord is stated forthrightly, which arrests the attentive soul to his need to prepare himself in this life for eternity.

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It is one of the most terrifying passages of Holy Scripture. Interestingly, I saw that John Bunyan wrote and published his first of many books.

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He wrote dozens of books, but his first book was on this passage, and he entitled the book,

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A Few Sighs from Hell, or The Groans of a Damned Soul. His first work was published by Bunyan in 1658, a full 20 years before he wrote

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The Pilgrim's Progress. And the first edition of this book was so popular and well read that during Bunyan's lifetime, it went through nine published editions.

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And so, this was really the sermon that brought Bunyan to notice there among the

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Christians in England. Bunyan included as a subtitle of this book, wherein it discovered the lamentable state of the damned, their cries, their desires, and their distresses, with the determination of God upon them.

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A good warning word to sinners, both old and young, to take into consideration be times early, and to seek by faith in Jesus Christ to avoid lest they come into the same place of torment.

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They wrote long titles and subtitles back then. And so, this passage of Luke 16 is an encouragement to poor, struggling disciples who suffer difficulty in this world, and is a warning of certain doom and damnation for the careless or indifferent soul who lives in this life for his interests only, for the comforts of this life.

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There will be a day when many people of this world will encounter a great reversal of their condition and situation.

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The rich man of the earth who lived only for himself is tormented in hell, while the poor needy men of faith, such as Lazarus, will enjoy eternal rest and comfort.

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We want to give a few words to help us understand our passage before we address it directly.

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And first, we need to say a few words about the Bible's teaching on the intermediate state.

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And so, this passage provides the clearest and most detailed information in the Holy Scriptures regarding the intermediate state.

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The intermediate state speaks of the existence and experience of a soul between his death and the future general resurrection of the dead on the day of judgment.

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We addressed this subject not all that long ago. In fact, it was in November of 2020 that we went into some detail about the intermediate state.

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And so, we'll attempt to only summarize a few matters here this morning. When we come to the

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Bible to understand the state of existence after death, it's important that we do not attempt to develop a full understanding based on what we only read in the

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Old Testament. Of course, the Old Testament speaks of death frequently, and it describes souls in the state of death.

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And of course, the Old Testament is accurate in every way, but the Old Testament does not reveal the full reality with clarity of the afterlife.

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It's just not there. The Hebrew word that is used frequently in the

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Old Testament to depict the state of the dead is the word, Hebrew word, Sheol.

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It's found in 18 verses in the New King James version of the Old Testament.

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Sheol is actually a rather broad term. It carries different meanings in different contexts where it's found in the

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Old Testament. Oftentimes, in fact, probably most times, it's a word used for the physical grave.

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When a person's in Sheol, it speaks about their body being in the grave. In other contexts, however, it describes the abiding place of conscious souls, which continue to exist, whose physical bodies have died, and their bodies are buried in the ground, but their souls continue to exist in Sheol.

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Sheol was regarded as a rather shadowy existence in which souls are conscious, but they are not technically living.

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I put living in quotation marks, and this is because the Hebrews understood that true life could only be experienced through the five senses of the physical body, and so you couldn't really live unless you were living in a physical body.

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If the body was dead in the grave, then life could not be truly experienced. True life would be enjoyed upon the future resurrection of the physical body from the dead.

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Daniel 12, 1 through 3, is one of the Old Testament passages that speak about the future resurrection of the body.

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At that time, Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people, and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there that was a nation, even to the time that it, and at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who's found written in the book.

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And then verse 2 of Daniel 12, and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.

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Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, who order their lives according to the will of God, perhaps speaking about those who win other people to faith, and those who turn many to righteousness, the

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Lord uses them in a wonderful evangelistic way, they'll shine like the stars forever and ever.

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But notice that all shall awake speaks of their bodies, not their souls. All humanity is included here in the general resurrection at the end of history, one general resurrection of the righteous and the wicked, but here it's talking about the body's awakening.

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It's important to understand that in the Old Testament the souls of all people who died, whether saved or lost, went to Sheol.

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King David declared respecting his own soul in his prayer to God, you will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will you allow your

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Holy One to see corruption. Now he was speaking about himself directly, but of course this verse is quoted by Peter in the

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New Testament on the day of Pentecost, applying this prophecy to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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Okay, the body of Jesus Christ would not remain in Sheol, but it's a Old Testament prophecy of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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And there I have quoted Acts 2 25 through 28 where Peter quotes

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David, for you will not leave my soul in Hades, which is the

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New Testament equivalent, the Greek word for the Old Testament Hebrew word Sheol. And so here the

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Hebrew word Sheol, using the Greek word Hades, Sheol in the Old Testament is

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Hades in the New Testament. It was the abode of all souls who died, whether redeemed or damned.

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Everyone who died went to Sheol or went to Hades. Now one of the problems with the early

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English translations of the Bible, including the King James Version, is that it translated the word

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Sheol from the Old Testament Hebrew and Hades in the New Testament Greek with the

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English word Hel, hence the confusion. And this is how, by the way, the

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King James Version translates Acts chapter 2, because thou will not leave my soul in Hel.

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And again this is David speaking of himself, but prophetically speaking of Jesus Christ and his resurrection.

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But of course in our English understanding, Hel is a place where only the souls of the unsaved go upon death in order to suffer for their sins.

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But when the King James scholars translated the English Bible, Hel was not just the place of punishment for damned souls, but it was a place of redeemed souls enjoying rest and comfort awaiting the future resurrection.

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And so Hades is broader than just, in our English mind, Hel being a place of punishment.

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But as the English language developed after the King James translators, the word Hel came to be regarded exclusively as a place of punishment for damned souls.

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For modern English readers, Hel is understood only to be a place of punishment and hence the confusion and at times error.

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And so this faulty translation, English translation the word Hel for the Hebrew word Sheol and Hades has contributed to confusion and errant teaching that after Jesus died on his cross he went for three days into the fires of Hel in order to be punished for our sins.

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It's a teaching that Jesus's death on the cross did not fully atone for sin, but rather only after he endured the fires of Hel on our behalf could he save us from sin.

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And this is error. It's terrible error. You know Jesus didn't tell the thief on the cross today you'll be with me and in the flames of Hel today you'll be with me in paradise.

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And so when Jesus cried out from his cross it is finished he did not mean it's almost finished but will be finished after I go to Hel for three days.

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Now Jesus's death on the cross brought an end to his suffering and secured a full payment for our sins.

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Salvation was accomplished on his cross it is finished. Jesus went to paradise not to Hel as a place of punishment or torment but his soul did not go to Sheol the abode but his soul did go to Sheol by the way the abode of all the dead.

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Thou shall not leave my soul in Sheol in Hades was the prophecy of David.

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Those in Sheol are as shades. Think of a blurry image and they are without a lively personality and they're without strength and so Sheol is seen to be a place where people existed but they weren't really living.

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It's also described as a place of darkness where there's not a clarity and understanding and Job described his approaching death in this way before I go to the place from which

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I shall not return to the land of darkness in the shadow of death a land as dark as darkness itself as a shadow of death without any order even where even the light is like darkness.

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He's describing Sheol. Sheol was understood to be a place of stillness or silence.

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Again life was not fully experienced in Sheol without the body and the five senses.

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Sheol was understood to be far from God distant from heaven a place below but not not beyond God's control.

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You know David in the psalm said if I make my bed in Sheol God is there. He's not there in his redemptive presence but his his presence is there.

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I should qualify his redemptive presence is obviously showed to the redeemed who were in Sheol but the lost soul in Sheol there's no redemptive presence there's no mercy of God in in soul's damnation.

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God pronounced judgment to his prophet Amos in which he would search them out. God would search them out whether they be in the lowest

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Sheol or in the highest heaven. As biblical history unfolded the idea of Sheol began to develop in other ways.

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After the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BC and the Jewish remnant returned to the promised land it was common in Jewish writings to describe

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Sheol as the abiding place of departed souls both the righteous and the wicked but that they were in different compartments separated from one another and this is what's reflected in our

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Lord's teaching here in Luke 16. We should understand that God's full revelation to his people regarding the afterlife was not revealed until his son

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Jesus Christ came and revealed what had not been previously known. And so the scriptures speak to this

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Paul wrote of the gospel ministry to Timothy do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor me as prisoner but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God who saved us called us with a holy calling not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the time began but notice verse 10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our

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Savior Jesus Christ who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

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We didn't understand the full nature of immortality and and and life spiritual life after death until the gospel through Jesus Christ brought it to light and so the gospel of Jesus Christ brought to light that is revealed spiritual truth to his people regarding life death and immortality.

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So the New Testament has a full revelation regarding these matters although the Old Testament scriptures address the state of the dead in some ways and much of what we know of the intermediate state between the physical death and the future resurrection of the body from the dead is set forth for us here in Luke chapter 16 verses 19 through 31 and so it's an important passage with that regard.

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Now let me address again before we address the details of the passage some challenges to the teaching of Luke this passage is not liked by a lot of people there are those who recoil from the horror of the implications of our

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Lord's words and some attempt to dismiss this account as a fantasy of which

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Jesus was making a point but that it's not true to fact. It's just a story to embellish spiritual realities but it's not actual history or true and some argue you'll hear it's only a parable and therefore we need not read it literally and fearfully.

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They attempt to diminish or lessen the impact of the idea of hell to dismiss the reality that Jesus spoke before the crowds well in doing so they expose their ignorance of biblical literature when they make such an assertion well it's only a parable so we don't have to take it literally and so their argument betrays their failure to understand the true nature of parables.

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A parable is never a fictional story that's invented to illustrate a teaching. What those deniers of biblical truth are really saying though they call it but a parable they really saying that this account is a fable.

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A fable is a literary form of a fictional story in which the principal actors are not real or the account is made up of imaginary people or events that are not to be regarded as literal or actual and there are a few fables in the

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Bible but not many they're few and far between they're rare and this certainly is not one of them it's not a fable.

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For example we read in Judges 9 of trees vines and brambles desiring to be ruled by another they wanted a king it's a fable but a parable by definition is not a story of fantasy that's imaginary or not true to existence and experience.

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A parable makes an illustration of what is commonly seen or known in reality in order to illustrate or explain a spiritual truth that's not readily perceived or understood and so the details of every parable of our

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Lord are true and reflect common experience. Fishermen cast out dragnets and bring in both good and bad and they're catched.

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Matthew 13 that is what fishermen do. Farmers go out into their fields and sow seed that's what farmers do.

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Tares grow among wheat that's what weeds do. Parables record true to life experiences.

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Parables are always true to life events that are called upon to illustrate spiritual truth and these words of Jesus reveal true conditions of the intermediate state of the redeemed and the damned.

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Jesus gave a true account of two men who had lived different kinds of lives both died and their bodies were buried and the soul of the one went to a place of peace and rest

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Lazarus and the other went to a terrible place of pain and punishment in fire.

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But it was in the same arena in which they could communicate with one another. Redeemed Abraham spoke with the condemned rich man though they were separated from one another and experiencing different conditions and realities.

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I came across a sermon by Jonathan Edwards I read it this morning I had a little bit of time and he preached on this passage and he thought that Abraham and Lazarus were in heaven the rich man in hell but the man in hell the rich man could see

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Abraham and Lazarus in heaven. Well I don't think that is the case but it was interesting to read that was

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Edwards view. But we see that although both the righteous and the damned were in the same region they were separated from one another by vast chasm a canyon.

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Their fates were sealed there's no bridge to cross from one side to the other. Death brought an end of any further opportunity for salvation.

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Well this setting of course permits no allowance for purgatory or a second chance after death or a period of suffering in order to pay for one's sin.

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The concept of purgatory is a denial of the sufficiency and finality of Jesus Christ to atone fully for sin when he died upon the cross.

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Purgatory was the invention of Roman Catholic leaders who viewed salvation achieved through a person's own effort and merit by his own payment of sin in addition to what

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Jesus did upon the cross. It really reflects another gospel from what is set forth in God's Word.

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And so the story of our Lord tells here of the rich man and Lazarus although it's frequently referred to as a parable and all the commentators do

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Matthew, Henry, Jonathan, Edwards, John Calvin they all do and I understand that but I would say that technically it's not a parable.

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Luke does not call it a parable as he does most other parables. There's no comparison drawn between the known physical world to illustrate spiritual realm that's not found here and further in every true parable of the

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Lord Jesus gave he never named an individual as he did here that being Lazarus.

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And so Luke records this account I believe as historical narrative not a fable or even an illustrative parable although I'm not gonna reject people who call it a parable

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I understand but I think there ought to be caution about it. Thirdly let's consider the story of the rich man and Lazarus and in the context of Luke's gospel and I think this is important because we're not just reading these little accounts in isolation from one another but Luke's gospel is unfolding the

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Holy Spirit has laid it out in a way to record truth and to give emphasis to it and so this is one more matter that we should consider before considering the details.

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It is such a direct arresting story it can be seen to stand alone without recognizing the context in Luke's gospel in which it's relayed to the reader.

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Within this account there are really two points of emphasis that serve to contribute to the unfolding gospel of Luke.

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First the first is connection in what Luke recorded of Jesus teaching his disciples regarding their responsibility as stewards in this life.

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Just a couple weeks ago in the first section of Luke 16 we considered our Lord's teaching regarding the unjust steward.

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There Jesus taught that a true disciples responsibility is to subordinate his money to the

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Lordship of Christ. Jesus declared in his parable of the unjust steward and I say do you make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon money that when you fail they may receive you into an eternal home.

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The rich man here in Luke 19 failed to do that didn't he? Jesus said you cannot serve

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God and mammon. This rich man before us was a man who served mammon rather than God and his eternal punishment in hell was the outcome of his life of selfish hoarding and refusal to assist others and relieve the afflicted when it was in his ability and he had opportunity in other words responsibility to do so even daily and so here was a man who did not conform to what

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Jesus taught in the parable of the unjust steward. The second connection in this account with what

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Jesus had earlier taught his disciples concerns the authority of the Holy Scriptures over the personal lives of all people.

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Back in chapter 16 verse 16 and 17 Jesus said the law and the prophets were until John.

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Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached and everyone is pressing into it. It's easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law that is the

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Holy Scriptures to fail and then here at the end of Luke 16 we read of the words given to the rich man in hell

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Jesus declared that his five brothers had the Holy Scriptures available to them which could alone instruct them and lead them to salvation and so this episode underscores what

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Jesus had asserted the authority and sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures of the Word of God over all of life and that it is the essential means that God has ordained to bring sinners into eternal life so the authority of the

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Word of God has been confirmed. They have the law of the prophets they have the scriptures and if they don't believe the

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Holy Scriptures they're not going to believe somebody even though it comes back from the dead and by the way on YouTube there's a score of YouTube videos of some person claiming to die on the offering table and going to heaven or going to hell and they come back with a message you know that I don't look at those

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I don't consider those because Jesus says the scriptures alone and that God's not revealing truth by bringing a person back from hell to let you know what it's like in order to warn you

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God uses the Holy Scriptures to convert people and sanctify people.

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One last thing that we might consider before dealing with the details is what did

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Jesus Christ do while his body was in the grave? He died on the cross they buried his body and he rose on the third day.

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Well he went to paradise. Jesus told the thief who believed on him today you'll be with me in paradise and we would say that what

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Jesus described as Abraham's bosom here in Luke 13 or 16 is paradise.

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Some would say that the soul of Jesus immediately went to heaven upon his death and I understand that and I'm not going to reject that out of hand but it's likely that after death on the cross and his subsequent resurrection from the dead the abiding place of redeemed souls was in shale or Hades or paradise which was a section of Hades in which redeemed souls existed.

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Abraham and Lazarus and just by way of support we might consider what our

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Lord said to Mary Magdalene after he was raised from the dead she thought that he was the gardener where his tomb lie but when she learned that he was her

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Savior Mary ran and apparently grabbed his legs or feet and Jesus said to her do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to my father.

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If his soul had immediately gone into heaven upon his death on the cross well he would have gone to his father but he said he hadn't yet on the morning of his resurrection.

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I'd rather go to my brother and say to them I'm ascending to my father and your father to my God and your

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God and so Jesus said he had not yet ascended to his father but where has his soul been while his body was in the grave for three days?

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Well he'd been in paradise that place he had described somewhat in Luke 16 but it was upon his resurrection and ascension into heaven that he emptied

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Sheol of the redeemed and brought their souls with him when he ascended from the grave to come before his father to be coronated as king of kings and I would say

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Daniel foresaw this event that John witnessed on the Isle of Patmos. Daniel wrote

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I was watching in the night visions and behold one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven and that shouldn't be understood as literal cumulus clouds or serious clouds he came to the ancient of days this is not

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Jesus Christ coming back the second time this is Jesus coming to his God his father in heaven he came to the ancient of days they brought him near before him the

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Son before God the Father and then to him to Christ was given dominion and glory in a kingdom that's when

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Jesus took that scroll out of the hand of his father in Revelation 5 to what end that all people's nations languages should serve him he became king of kings

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Lord of lords his dominion is everlasting dominion which will not pass away it is kingdom the one which will not be destroyed

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Daniel 7 13 and 14 well I think that these clouds of heaven included

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Lazarus and all the redeemed souls of the Old Testament era who came with Jesus when he ascended into heaven was enthroned as Lord of lords king of kings

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Jesus Christ came to the ancient of days that is God the Father even with the clouds of redeemed souls that he had won and reconciled to God through his death and William Hendrickson a very sound and well -known reformed commentator agreed with this understanding reflected in his comments on Ephesians 4 verse 8 when

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Christ ascended he was not returning to heaven with empty hands on the contrary as a result of accomplished mediatorial work he returned in triumph to heaven in the full possession of salvation for his people these people were so to speak in his triumphant procession they were captives in his train following him as it were chained as it were to his chariot and there is a vast host of captives he led captivity captive bringing the souls of the redeemed up with him when he ascended to his father in heaven upon his resurrection and so inclusion conclusion these preliminary matters let us affirm that here in Luke 16 our

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Lord gave forth an account that is terrifying in its depiction of the damnation of an unbeliever but it's also comforting to the one who suffers in this life but believes in Jesus now let's begin to work through the passage in the time we have so we come to this story of the rich man and Lazarus in verse 19 to 31 we should see this story in the context of Jesus addressing the

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Pharisees the Lord had been warning his disciples about the importance of serving

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God rather than money it's important for earthly riches to be subordinated to the

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Lord for the time is coming when true riches will be distributed by him to his people his faithful stewards and so if you desire to be a recipient of these true riches which is a phrase meaning salvation in its fullest all of life now including your earthly wealth must be regarded as God's your steward

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I'm a steward governed by your Lord Jesus Christ as Christians we have a responsibility to manage our stewardship properly on his behalf the scriptures say it's required of stewards that they be found faithful the reaction came from the

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Jewish Pharisees now the Pharisees who were lovers of money also heard these things and they derided him they made fun of him they laughed at him and then the

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Lord responded with a warning that they were to listen to the law the force of which was still binding upon them and then

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Jesus told them this story of two men whose fortunes were reversed upon their death and it's a sobering story to many in this day it's a revolting story and to many

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Christians it's an embarrassment to justify before ungodly people in fact the whole issue of hell is something that evangelicals don't talk much about there is silence in the pulpit regarding hell but before we're too quick to condemn preachers only let's admit their silence among us all about hell how often have you brought up the issue of hell in your discussion with non -christians we speak of judgment of God's wrath but the matter of hell is only discussed when we're challenged with it by a skeptic or an objector but in this story our

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Lord was pulling back the curtain of death to give people a glimpse of their outcome if they refuse to order their lives according to the law the prophets that is the

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Holy Scriptures the Holy Bible this is the result let's consider the contrasting conditions in this life in this life between the rich man and Lazarus verses 19 through 21 we can first consider the rich man he lived in ease dressed well ate well these are of course not things evil in and of themselves

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God's given us all things richly to enjoy and there are cases of wealthy godly people in the scriptures there's nothing wrong with wealth it's

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God who gives wealth and the ability to enjoy it and use it he gives wealth without a curse but this man was clothed with costly fabric which

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Kings adore with which Kings adorn themselves he lived in luxury indulging himself to excess every day but the real problem is that he failed miserably what the

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Lord Jesus taught in the previous parable in Luke 16 9 Jesus said

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I say do you make friends for yourself by unrighteous mammon you used to use your money in the employment of furthering the kingdom of God so that when you fail they may receive you into an everlasting home but this rich man had no concern or sense of responsibility to relieve the affliction of those less fortunate than he he did not view his wealth as a trust from God to be administered on behalf of God to be used to glorify

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God and serve others rather he saw as wealth as its own to indulge and consume that's the way of the world isn't it but furthermore he lived as though there were no accountability no death before him no judgment afterward no accounting to God he lived for himself and with respect to this life only he didn't use his money with view to accountability as a steward coming judgment but in contrast to this rich man we read a poor

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Lazarus there was a certain beggar named Lazarus full of sores who was laid at his gate desired to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table and moreover the dogs came and licked his sore aggravating his miserable condition and so Lazarus experienced a life of poverty he was a beggar probably crippled for he was laid by others at the gate of the rich man he may have had some type of sickness he was a man acquainted with suffering and grief he suffered disease he suffered poverty he suffered neglect in contrast to the rich man this man was not covetous he would have been content with food and raiment as the scriptures command us he would have been happy with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table scraps which were normally given to dogs would have satisfied him the rich man had the ability to relieve the suffering of this poor man daily opportunity was before him the rich man had more than he needed but he saw what he had in his possession was his own to indulge and squander the rich man had everything in this life he had no needs the poor man it would seem had nothing in this life he had every kind of need but there was one thing the poor man had that the rich man lacked and that's the favor of God this is indicated by the name of the poor man

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Lazarus which means God has helped here is a man who was poor in the eyes of the world but chose to be rich in faith to inherit the kingdom and that's how

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James describes the poor of the world and the Jewish people of Jesus day seen this poor

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Lazarus sitting helplessly begging for food at the gate of this rich man's house and viewed the rich man passing him which one do you suppose the

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Jews would have thought was blessed of the Lord why it's the rich man of course that's how the

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Jews viewed the world and one another by the way this underscores a spiritual truth that one should never look at the condition or circumstances of his own life in order to assess or determine his spiritual health or the presence of spiritual well -being you cannot make that determination by what's happening day -to -day let those expound this passage before us those who advocate the so -called health and wealth gospel that health and riches and prestige are a sign of God's blessing and that sickness and poverty are a sign of God's curse they got it wrong the opposite is true this parable this story is a rebuke to Joel Osteen's and Benny Hinn's that dominate so many people throughout the world and most often that's the kind of gospel that appeals to the nations of the third world and you can understand why they're in poverty many of them are sick they don't have access to health care and when some charlatan comes in and says if you have enough faith all your problems are going to be solved it has a powerful appeal but it's a lie of the devil and you know you go ask pastor

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Andrew there in Kizhi Kenya and find out how much true gospel is being proclaimed in the region it's not all that frequent but there is solid gospel

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I got an email from a man in Nairobi this week who has a very nice picture of about 12 or 15 men this is my preacher school and he's teaching preachers there in Nairobi and he really was thanking us for the notes that we send him weekly that he distributes so thank the

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Lord for that and so the Lord has his people notice the contrasting conditions in death between rich man and Lazarus again our

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Lord's words so it was the baker died was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom the rich man also died was buried his body's in the grave but his soul being in torments in Hades he lifted up his eyes and saw

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Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom we have time to address the fact that one commentary thing was

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Hendrickson who said you know his body is in the grave his senses bodily five senses are in the grave and yet he's got eyes to see he feels the flame what is this and he went on to explain the

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Lord Jesus was explaining his condition in ways that we could relate we can't relate any other way except to a physical image and so in time they both went the way of all the earth they both died and perhaps the rich man had a magnificent burial whether or not

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Lazarus had a burial is not mentioned both died both bodies are buried in the earth but now things are reversed with regard to their soul existence a great reversal takes place upon death the beggar now has no need his suffering has ended but the rich man suffering has just begun and will continue in eternity he suffered in the flames of hell desiring a drop of water on his tongue and 2 ,000 years later he's in the same condition and he will be for eternity eternal hell incredible when you consider it the beggar died but was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom first I thought about this we might say a word about the role of angels upon the death of a believer if what we read of Lazarus and normative and I think it is in other words that this account reveals a fact that's true in all places at all times for every child of God then we can perhaps say the following perhaps or at least

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I hope when we receive our resurrection bodies like our glorified our Lord glorified body will be able to fly at will

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I hope so our Lord ascended into heaven into a cloud in Acts 1 but we can probably say that when you die as a true believer in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior your body planted in the ground that the

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Lord is going to send at least two angels to escort you to the place of the redeemed so you'll ever be with the

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Lord and his people J .C. Ryle wrote this expression is most probably a proverbial one the angels took his soul it signifies the place of rest and safety to which all believing

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Jews were carried after death Abraham was the father of the faithful and the head of the whole Jewish family and to be with him after death implies happiness the expression to sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God is somewhat like it talking about Abraham's bosom but perhaps we can enhance our understanding and appreciation of this expression

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Abraham's bosom Abraham is set forth in Scripture as the father of a great family throughout the

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Bible the family of God that is all true believers who are justified by God's grace alone through faith alone and this was one of the leading details of Abraham's life it said of Abraham he believed the

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Lord when the Lord promised you're gonna have a child and you're gonna have a multitude of descendants it says

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Abraham believed in the Lord and he the Lord accounted it to him for righteousness okay he was justified forgiven of his sins and declared righteous the righteousness of Christ was imputed to Abraham although he lived 2 ,000 years before the birth of Christ and then afterwards

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God promised Abraham he would father a vast number of offspring these would include all ethnic

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Jewish people who came forth from Abraham and Sarah's marriage Union but also

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God promised Abraham that he would be a father of many nations those aren't

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Jews those are Gentiles Genesis 17 as for me the

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Lord says behold my covenants with you Abraham you should be a father many nations no longer show your name be called

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Abram but your name should be called Abraham for I've made you a father many nations I'll make you exceedingly fruitful

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I'll make nations of you and King shall come forth from you what this reveals that not only

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Abraham would be the father of all the ethnic Jews that is his physical seed or descendants but he would be a spiritual father to people from all over the

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Gentile world who have the same faith in God as Abraham manifested

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Abraham was a physical father to ethnic Jews but more importantly and eternally he's the spiritual father of all believers if you're a

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Christian Abraham is more wonderfully your father than he is the father of any ethnic

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Jewish person in this world outside of Christ Paul reasoned that Abraham demonstrated

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God's salvation from sin through faith alone Romans 4 it's a faith that it might be according to grace or that the promise might be sure to all the seed not just Jews only but Gentiles too not only to those who have the law

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Jews but also to those who have the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all as it's written

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I've made you a father of many nations in the presence of him who believed God who gives life to the dead calls those things which do not exist as though they did who contrary to hope

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Abraham in hope believe so that he became the father of many nations according to what was spoken so shall your descendants be if you're a believer in Jesus Christ you were a descendant of Abraham according to faith not ethnicity according to Paul and Romans true the true

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Jew is one who believes like Abraham believe not because you have the same physical genes that Abraham had and that is a truth that is lost in today's evangelical world where it's a commonly said the

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Israel the Jews are the true people of God know the true eternal people of God are those who have the same faith as Abraham Abraham is your father he's my father spiritually speaking and that's all that counts for eternity and elsewhere

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Paul declared that all true believers in Jesus Christ are the spiritual descendants or offspring of Abraham he is their father whether they be

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Jewish or Gentile believers therefore know that only those who are faith are sons of Abraham he wrote elsewhere not all

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Israel national ethnic Israel are true Israel clearly he's talking about a spiritual

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Israel and a physical Israel and so the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the

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Gentiles by faith preach the gospel to Abraham beforehand saying and you all the nation should be blessed so then those who are a faith are blessed with believing

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Abraham Abraham is our father and although true

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Jewish people are physical descendants of Abraham although some would debate that they are not his true spiritual descendants to whom

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God gave his promise of salvation rather anyone anywhere whether Jewish or Gentile if he believes on Jesus Christ as Abraham did in faith he rejoiced to see my day

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Jesus said then that true believer is the true descendant of Abraham a member of the

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Israel of God to whom God has promised salvation and the promised land was a type the antitype is the new heavens and the new earth the world that God has prepared for us and we're inheritances inheritors of that world when our

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Lord said that Nazareth or Lazarus was escorted to Abraham's bosom he was saying that Lazarus had brought among the family of God over which

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Abraham was his spiritual father and so from our

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Lord's words we see how God viewed these two men one had a wonderful and desirable life in this world in the sight of men but he had been viewed by God as utterly selfish and corrupt

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God regarded him as a fool and in Scripture a fool is not someone who's stupid or uneducated a fool is one who is immoral who doesn't order his life rightly on the other hand a man who is poor despised in the eyes of the world was viewed by God all that time in this world as his own one who is precious who would be destined to inherit the true riches of the kingdom of God the rich man lived only for this world and had no inheritance in the next the poor only live for the world to come and thus had a rich inheritance

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Lazarus was taken to the side of Abraham where he sat perhaps dining at the great messianic banquet which we've just discussed before and so before Lazarus was hungry now he's being fed

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Lazarus now enjoys rest from his labors his eternal Sabbath rest what of the rich man the rich man in hell so Jesus told of this man being in torments and Hades he lifted up his eyes and saw

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Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom the rich man is now in a place of torment was then is now the one who formerly had no concern for the beggar at his gate now himself becomes the beggar he begs for a bit of relief from his pain little water on my tongue but his suffering has only begun no relief has given him indeed no real life relief is possible for him and so beat and hell will be the administration of God's justice upon sin and sinners without a hint of mercy think about that no mercy for the unsaved there is torment after death the retributive justice of God will be seen and the wrath of God will be poured out upon all those who live in rebellion to him and this is a hard thing most people refuse to believe it these days but it's so the

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Word of God describes it in graphic detail and so we read of the hopeless pleas he cried and said father

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Abraham have mercy on me send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger and water and cool my tongue for I'm tormented in this flame but Abraham said son remember that in your lifetime you received your good things likewise

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Lazarus evil things but now he's comforted and you are tormented and besides all this between us and you there's a great gulf fix so those who want to pass from here to you cannot though and can and those from their pet nor can those from there pass to us so notice the rich man calls out for mercy from whom he called whom he called father

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Abraham the rich man was a Jewish man who had descended of Abraham but it's clear he was only a physical son of Abraham not a spiritual descendant not a spiritual son if he had been a spiritual child of Abraham he would have also been carried to Abraham's bosom but he was a

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Jewish man without faith as Abraham and so he was no true spiritual child offspring of the patriarch

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Abraham he was as other Jewish leaders who were Pharisees who made the claim that Abraham was their father well he was physically but not spiritually and you know the account in John 8 when the

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Pharisees claim we're the offspring of we're that we're the children of Abraham and Jesus I know you're the descendants of Abraham but he's not your father the devil's your father spiritually speaking

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Abraham was not their father even though they were ethnic Jews you only can experience

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God as father through union with his son Jesus Christ then you become a son of God a daughter of God but should be recognized a rich man is not in his final place of punishment he's now in Hades hell and he's waiting however the final day of judgment it's a place of confinement and punishment but it's not the final place of punishment note that his body is still in the grave this is just a description of his soul and the

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Lord Jesus taught that one day there will be a general resurrection of all people who have ever lived and Jesus said this is not something you should marvel at it it's a given there is going to be a resurrection of everybody do not marvel at this this is in contrast to Jesus say you should marvel at the fact that God can cause a spiritually dead person to come alive to God that's something that should cause you to marvel that he can save a sinner like you and me but don't marvel that he can bring life to a dead body he caused him to come to life in the first place don't marvel at this the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth those who have done good they order their life according to the

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Word of God not their righteousness doesn't earn a place but they're described as ordering their life according to the will of God he who does the will of God abides forever and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation those who live to themselves who do not live with view to faith in Christ and so one day the soul of the rich man will be reunited with his resurrected body won't be a glorified body but a resurrected body and he'll stand to hear the sentence declared his final fate

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Revelation 20 at the great white throne judgment contrary to dispensationalists who say only the unconverted will be there and it's a thousand years after the first resurrection no it's a general resurrection all the saved and unsaved

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Jesus will be on his throne and separating the people of the world like a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats the goats on the left side go into eternal torment the sheep on his right side enter into the kingdom prepared for you from before creation and so the final judgment and the rich man will be there and he'll be condemned in his sin and of course the response is that he will be cast into the lake of fire which of course is a terrible destiny sometimes described as a place of darkness in another place it's like an onto a bottomless pit the rich man appeals for relief from his suffering he's suffering pain which is inflicted by the fire of hell but he there was no escape no mercy and remember eternal hell is not overkill

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God is not over killing people because of they committed sin finitely here but they're going to suffer in eternity yes because they've sinned against an eternal infinite holy

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God and they can never atone for their sin ten thousand years in hell it will not to atone for one sin before God an eternal

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God will punish sin and sinners eternally it's scary I wish it wasn't so you know

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I wish what the seven -day Adventist thought was true that annihilation is the end at some point of suffering but that's not what the scriptures teach it teaches eternal hell for the damned soul you and I are going to live or exist for eternity either in the blessed presence of the

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Lord or in the eternal damnation of the lost the response of Abraham he refused the rich man's request son remembered your lifetime you received your good things like Lazarus evil things but now he's comforted you're tormented and besides this it's impossible between you and I there's a great gulf fix those who want to pass from here to you cannot nor can those there pass to us and so Abraham said no he first argued it'd be wrong to bring relief to you and then he and then he argued that it was impossible there's this great gulf fix and so there will be a time when the righteous and the wicked will part company forever once again it refutes the idea of purgatory one of the main many

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Roman Catholic inventions additions to Scripture the place after death is punitive it is not a cleansing action and that's what

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Catholicism teaches purgatory will purge you of sin through suffering for ten or twelve twenty thousand years but if you purchase this indulgence we can shorten it some and Martin Luther in his 95 theses rightly argued

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Pope if you have the ability to shorten people's time in purgatory and you're willing to do so if they buy an indulgence why not out of love release everybody out of purgatory you know those 95 theses which began the product

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Reformation was just devastating on the sale of indulgences regarding purgatory well then of course and we have to close it's really late well if that can't happen send

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Lazarus to my five brothers lest they come to this place of torment notice he still has his attitude of Lazarus that he's this beggar and ought to do his bidding you can go on my behalf to my five brothers he first can bring me water and he's my you know he still got this wrong attitude toward toward Lazarus but Abraham says no to a second request the brothers have the scriptures the

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Word of God already gives them warning about this place but the man protest no

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Abraham they won't listen to the scriptures but they'll they'll listen to a man who comes back from the dead and Jesus is affirming the authority and sufficiency of scripture the sufficiency of scripture the law and the prophets only the

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Holy Scriptures is the means that God uses to bring salvation to his people and even a person coming back from the dead will not convert anybody we if I could stand up here and claim as some do that I have the power to raise the dead and raise a person physically from the death every

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Sunday I mean before long we wouldn't in about three weeks we wouldn't have room in the sanctuary would we but that would not convert a soul miracles do not convert anybody it takes the power of the

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Holy Spirit using the Word of God to create life in a dead sinner and that's what

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Jesus is affirming as Peter declared you've been born again not by perishable seed but by imperishable through the living and enduring

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Word of God and this is the word I preached to you Peter declared and we'll conclude with this thought imagine if the rich man could escape his place of torment for a few moments and come in here and visit with us

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I think he'd be quite a good evangelist in some respects he would earnestly plead with all of us to heed the scriptures repent of our sins obey the

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Word of God and all its precepts trust the Lord Jesus now rely on him and he'd call out to us look to Christ alone follow him don't put off doing so furthermore he would go go immediately to your loved ones and tell them your brothers your sisters call them to the scriptures present to them the

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Lord Jesus in his saving power lest they also come to this place of torment people in hell want unconverted people in this life not to go there and suffer as they are suffering as this brother was concerned about his five may the

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Lord give us compassion and and be so overwhelmed with the fate of the lost that we're moved to overcome our fear of rejection and humiliation derision and speak to people about their souls that the

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Lord gives us opportunity and gives us wisdom to do so may the Lord help us may the

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Holy Spirit use us and that we might see many people truly come to salvation because none of us want to see anybody in hell and I mean that the fields are ripe on the harvest

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Jesus said it's time is now and they're out there and the gospel will find them out it's our purpose to sow the seed and it and you never know who's going to show up and respond it's often the the one you least expect you know a

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Lazarus at the gate but the Lord knows what he's doing may he use us as a church and us as individuals to tell people about Christ amen father help us we pray to be faithful to you help us to take to heart our

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God this this fact of eternity lying before us and our

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Lord too often we're selfish creatures and we use what you've given us as gifts to be employed

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Lord in service to you and to your people and to the gospel yes you've given us so much our

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God that we can enjoy comfort and ease and security and satisfaction our

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God with the food you give us the clothing you give us the housing you give us but help us our

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God not to neglect our responsibility to care for those our God who need help and assistance especially when we can do so on behalf of you our father help our light to so shine among men our