Carried by the Angels to Paradise (Luke 16:19-31 - Part 2)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

The Rich Man, Lazarus, and Conscious Existence After Death

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. So this story from Luke 16 is often remembered for the negative elements, obviously, but it's a great comfort that those who die in a state of grace, their last moments of life may be surrounded by the angels waiting to escort them from earth to paradise, where they will be conscious in this state of eternal bliss.

The bad news, though, is that those who die and go, there is a place of torment, and they are also conscious. There is a doctrine out there called annihilationism. Obviously, there's people who don't believe in any God or any afterlife, but even those, some who believe in an afterlife, believe in this teaching of annihilation, that yes, people will face a judgment, but they go out of existence.

Is that what we see here? It's not what we see here. This rich man was in conscious torment in this place called Hades. Now, we need to be careful not to draw some faulty conclusions. You would be wrong to think that the rich man went to hell because he was rich, and while Lazarus was poor, so he went to heaven.

That is not the point, although I could understand how someone might get that from reading it. Now, a few things are true. What did Jesus say in Matthew 19, 23? He said, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Why is it difficult for those who are rich to enter into heaven? Well, they're so used to getting what they want, and they have all this money. They are very secure in their position. They feel like they are in need of nothing.

Also, it's very easy to get proud and boastful when you're rich. Poor people have to deal with the same issues of pride and unbelief, but it just tends to be more common among those who are rich. They're in need of nothing.

They find it hard to humble themselves. There are some rich, powerful people. Usually, the last thing they are is humble. So, when you find a rich, powerful man and he's humble, wow, that's something that we're impressed by.

But the gospel, here's the point, the gospel requires us to humble ourselves. And in Bible times, just as it is today, the poor were much more willing to receive the message of Christ and the gospel. So, money is not the issue.

Money is not the issue. Alright, turn to James chapter 2. Just more along that line. Rich or poor, no matter what a person's station is in life, a person, whether they go to heaven or not, depends on what they have done with this knowledge of Christ and the gospel.

A person is saved by grace through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament says, the just shall live by faith. The New Testament says, the just shall live by faith.

So, Lazarus would have been redeemed because of his trust in God, which enabled him to faithfully live this life of hardship and suffering. You know how it is when some people, and we could all be tempted by this, but when you go through hardship and suffering, the first response, something bad happens, blame someone else, or blame God.

That doesn't seem to be what Lazarus did. He did not blame God. Instead, he endured. If he went to paradise, he obviously loved God. The rich man, on the other hand, despised God. You say, well, how do you know he despised God?

Well, because he despised the one made in God's image. Lazarus, in a sense, was sort of like a type of Christ to the rich man. Lazarus was made in the image of God. The rich man sees Lazarus. He doesn't care.

He can live or die for all I care. Lazarus made in the image of God. The rich man treated him that way. He might as well treat God that way. Now, I'm sure the rich man, as a Jew himself, would have said he believed in God.

So what? So what? You realize that makes no difference? Somebody says, oh, I believe in God.

Okay.

Yeah, I mean, 90 of the earth's population would say that they are a theist, that they believe in God or some kind of God. That's not the question. So certain things are implied in this passage. We could get a lot more out of it.

But let's look at James 2, verse 1, talking about the rich and the poor and how one treats the other. James says, my brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with what?

Partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings and fine apparel, and there should come also into the assembly a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing fine clothes and say to him, you here sit in this good place.

Sit up in the front. Sit in this place of prominence. But you say to the poor man, you stand over there. You sit here by my footstool. Have you not shown partiality among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

You think that ever happens, even in churches? You know, somebody comes in with a suit from Target. Maybe you're treated okay. Somebody comes in with the Armani suit and the gold rings and the $20 ,000 Rolex.

He's going to get special treatment. I've heard of some churches having VIP areas.

What is this?

What is that?

But the guy who comes in and just dirty clothes or just doesn't have anything, people ignore him. They don't care. That's like spitting in the face of God. Verse 5, listen, my beloved brethren, has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he promised to those who love him?

You know, here in the United States, we can all manage and afford to wear something halfway decent. But there's places in the world where people go to church in rags. There's other continents where people go and more or less they go dirty.

That's all they have. That's all they have. They have no other choice. But you have dishonored the poor man. Okay, skip down to verse 14 of James chapter 2. What does it profit my brethren? So here's the thing.

Well, I believe in God.

I have faith.

I believe in God. What does it profit my brethren if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, like Lazarus was, and one of you says to them, depart in peace, be warmed and filled, but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body.

What does it profit? That's a rhetorical question. What's the answer? What does it profit?

Nothing.

Thus also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, it is dead. So the rich man could have said he believed in God. He could have gone to the synagogue. He could have given money to whatever group.

I really wouldn't have made a difference because he could have said one thing with his words, but his actions showed something very different. So hopefully we can see the relevance of what James is talking about with the story of the rich man and Lazarus.

Lazarus was poor. He was ignored by the world, but he was chosen by God. Lazarus was chosen by God. How do I know that? Because he went to paradise. That means he was rich in faith. The rich man dishonored and I would argue despised the poor.

Hades, Abraham's Bosom, and the Two Compartments of the Dead

Lazarus had no ability to work, to support himself, whether he lived or died, was totally dependent on the mercy and kindness of others. Okay, let's go back to Luke 16. I don't even think the rich man said, be warmed and be filled.

I don't think he said that much to Lazarus. Well, I'll allow Lazarus to eat out of my garbage. That's not a merciful thing. The rich man refused to do what God's law required. Say, well, but at this point he didn't even know about Jesus and he didn't have the New Testament.

He didn't have the gospel. Yeah, but he had Moses, didn't he? And what did Moses say? You shall love your neighbor as yourself. And people kind of know that instinctively. You know, the law of God is written on our hearts, Romans 2 15.

So there's naturally we know that we should treat others the way we want to be treated. This is just innate. So the way the rich man treated Lazarus, that was the issue, not his wealth. The way he treated him because it reflected what was in his heart.

So Lazarus dies, was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. Look at verse 23. And being in torments in Hades, or if you have the King James Version, I believe it translates it being in torments in hell.

Who has hell?

Okay.

Being in torments in Hades or hell, he lifted up his eyes and he saw Abraham.

Far off.

And Lazarus in his bosom. And 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. This really wouldn't help all that much, would it?

Okay.

What relief are you going to get? The point is he was looking for any relief at all. It was so bad he would take anything. So the rich man, the tables have turned. He becomes the beggar. And he pleads with Abraham to send who?

To send Lazarus. Now this is what I really like about this. Lazarus, he was a cripple. In his life he couldn't walk. But now that he's in paradise and now I guess he's able to walk and move around, the rich man's viewing Lazarus like he's his servant.

You know, people in hell are not in a position to make demands. They're not in a position to say, hey, send him as if Lazarus was his errand boy. I don't think the rich man's heart changed one bit. Some people think that, well, when people get to hell, they're going to realize the error of their way.

Well, to some degree, I guess they would have to. But people don't get better. They get worse. It's like a downward spiral. Like in this life, if you reject God, the longer you reject God, it's a downward spiral.

People get worse and worse and worse. And that's the way it is in the afterlife. So Lazarus is no longer suffering, no longer lame. So now he can do this for me, the rich man, thanks. He asked for even the slightest amount of relief because he's tormented in what?

In, the scripture says, in this flame. This is the way the Bible describes hell, as flame, as fire. I'm using the New King James Version, and it calls hell Hades. And that's taken directly from the Greek language into English.

So hades becomes Hades, or develops into hell as the languages progress. Can also be translated as the grave. So Hades can be translated as, just remain as Hades, hell, or the grave. These are the three options.

Hades, hell, or the grave. And basically it refers to the place of the dead. So this is a real place. It's not a state of mind. It's a real place that people go to. So envision this place for a moment.

I could easily lose you here. Be helpful to have a visual, but try to visualize this in your mind. Before Jesus died and rose again, this place is still there. But there is this place called Hades. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word was Sheol.

So Sheol or Hades, there is this place, Hades. When a person died, no matter who they were, saved, unredeemed, it doesn't matter, everyone died and went to this place called Hades, the place of the dead.

In this place, there were two compartments. So there's one side here, one compartment here, another compartment over there. The two compartments are either called Abraham's bosom or paradise. And the other side is Hades or hell or torment.

Thanks for listening.

I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Moores Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, moorescornickchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, with the grace of God be with you.