The Rich Man And Lazarus - [Luke 16]

Don't know about you, but for myself and my family actually this is an exciting time of year for a number of reasons

The fall is one of them. We had a privilege of driving up to Methuen last

Sunday quite a drive But it was a beautiful beautiful trip with all the foliage that we saw along the way

And that is why I don't understand pastors who prefer the son of California over the

New England foliage But we also like this time of year because of Thanksgiving of course and my daughters in particularly love they're already beyond Thanksgiving They're looking to Christmas One of our favorite things to do at home is to sit down as a family and decorate the tree

And I asked my oldest daughter which ornament she will put up first this year and her response was

You're a Larry Bird ornament dad. We usually at Christmas time gather at my cousin's house

The night before Christmas Eve gather with my uncle and aunt parents and cousins and others and we exchange some gifts and Then Sunday Then the day after at Christmas.

We're alone as a family But the time together as a family with cousins and uncles is a precious time

This year though will be different for us as I'm sure some of you that may have already Experienced my uncle will not be with us for the very first time

Last Christmas, I remember seeing him Sitting on the couch in pain the doctors didn't know what it was they thought at first it was some kind of muscular pain

They couldn't decipher what it was until about four months later about April of this past year that it was cancer

They had to go into his leg operate on his bone Take it out put in some plates got to visit him in the hospital and then in at the house and Then on August 12th a

Sunday is when he passed away Excuse me

Three days later August 15th. I had the privilege of doing his funeral And when you're at the funeral as many of you have been to different funerals life comes to a sudden halt

Your mundane things that you go through in life, whether it's work or school or church

Worship everything that you do from Sunday to Saturday come to a sudden halt and you begin to think maybe as never before I Remember being at the church service and then we were at the grave site and seeing them lower him in the grave

So Christmas will be different this year. It'll be without my uncle for the first time in funerals and situations like that is a reminder of the brevity of our lives as James puts it so well

Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring What is your life you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes

Moses in Psalm 90 put it this way The years of our life are 70 or even by reason of strength 80

Yet their span is but toil and trouble they are soon gone and we fly away

Away We were chatting about that with my wife earlier this afternoon

And I said one day We'll be gone Our life is but a mist. I Like you to turn if you will with me to the gospel of Luke chapter 16 the gospel of Luke chapter 16

The words of our Lord Jesus Christ here it's one of in my estimation one of the most riveting

Passages that our Lord teaches us concerning the brevity of life concerning life and death and The lessons we have to learn from this passage

Luke chapter 16 beginning in verse 19 There was a rich man who was clothed in purple

And fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day At his gate was laid a poor man named

Lazarus covered with sores Who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table?

Moreover even the dogs came and licked his sores The poor man died was carried by the angels to Abraham's side

The rich man also died and was buried and in Hades being in torment

He lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side and he called out father

Abraham Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue

For I am in anguish in this flame but Abraham said child remember that you in your lifetime received your good things and Lazarus and like men are bad things but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish and besides all this between us and You a great chasm has been fixed in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able and None may cross from there to us and he said then

I beg you father to send him to my father's house For I have five brothers So that he may warn them lest they also come into this place of torment

But Abraham said they have Moses and the prophets Let them hear them and he said no father

Abraham But if someone goes to them from the dead they will repent

He said to him if they do not hear Moses and the prophets Neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead

Notice how our Lord paints the picture here at the very beginning in verses 19 through 21

He puts a stark contrast between these two the rich man and the poor man verse 19

He says there was a rich man who was clothed in purple and in fine linen and who feasted sumptuously how often every day in Contrast verse 20 at his gate was laid a poor man named named

Lazarus covered with sores Who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table?

Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores rich man and Poor man live in quite different lives and Jesus sets us up with these two

To teach us what I believe are five essential lessons for our lives this evening

Five important truths that Jesus wants to teach us through this story The first one is very simply the certainty of death the certainty of death

Notice after he sets up the contracts of the rich man and the poor man in Their different states in this life.

He says Jesus does in verse 22 The poor man died Was carried by the angels to Abraham's side the rich man also died and Was buried

Notice that Jesus began the story with the rich man in verse 19 and then contrasted the poor man but when he talks about their death he begins with a poor man and Then kind of finishes our finishes it off with a crescendo by saying the rich man also died

Highlighted bold the Jews according to the

Talmud believe that a man could purchase salvation with alms So the richer you were the better chance you had to earn salvation

That is why later on in the gospel of Luke in chapter 18 The story of the rich young ruler is so riveting also

He comes to Jesus and says what must I do to inherit eternal life and Jesus, of course gives him the law

And he says yeah, I've done all this since my youth Jesus knowing that he was rich and Money had a grab on him said to him go and sell your possessions

Give to the poor and come follow me The text says according to dr.

Luke that the man went away sad Because he was a rich man. And of course Jesus's remark.

It's easier for camel to go through the eye of a needle than for rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven and That hit hard to his audience who were listening and it so it does here because they believed the richer you were

The better chance you had there was a divine blessing if you will upon your life and And so Jesus says the poor man died, but the rich man also died

Notice to that the poor man died. He says and what does he say after that was carried by the angels to Abraham's side?

But with a rich man, he says he also died and what happened he was buried Death plays no favorites rich or poor male or female young or old

That is why the writer of Hebrews makes it very clear it is appointed for man to die once Hebrews 9 27 and of course

Christ highlights here that the rich man also died and was simply buried Because all the things that he enjoyed in this life

Clothed in purple and in fine linen Feasting every day the things that the poor man

Lazarus didn't have he did not bring with him Job said at best in Job 1 naked.

I came from my mother's womb and naked. I shall return The Lord gave and the

Lord has taken away Blessed be the name of the Lord after he had lost everything from his children to his land to his livestock

When we lived in New York, my wife and I used to love visiting the city right in Rockefeller Center I found out some stories about Rockefeller rich man in New York when he passed away the story goes

Somebody had found out he was a millionaire. How much did he leave behind? They asked the response everything everything

That is why Jesus said What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and yet forfeits his soul

So we see here the first lesson that Jesus wants to teach us To remind us as we live our lives the certainty of death the poor man died, but the rich man also died

Secondly he wants to show us the reality of the afterlife the reality of the afterlife

Notice in verses 23 through 25 in Hades Referring to the rich man from verse 22 being in torment

He lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side and he called out

Father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue

For I am in anguish in this flame But Abraham said child remember that you in your lifetime received your good things and Lazarus and like men are bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish

The rich man was in Hades to understand a little bit

We don't have the time to go through this at this point Maybe a future IBS class or something but to understand the afterlife as the scripture

Teaches there are three basic terms that are important to know the three terms are

Sheol Hades as is outlined here and Gehenna Sheol is a

Hebrew term in the Old Testament Hades and Gehenna are in Greek in the

New Testament Hades is actually the Greek parallel of the Old Testament Sheol Peter in 2nd

Peter 2 9 puts it this way Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment

This was Hades keeping the unrighteous under punishment until the future day of judgment when the day of judgment comes

Hades will give up its inhabitants and the wicked will be cast into Gehenna Gehenna is the

Greek term for hell in the New Testament Revelation clarifies this a little bit more revelation 20.

It says the sea gave up the dead who were in it Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them and they were judged each one of them

According to what they had done Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire

This is the second death the lake of fire And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire so she all in the

Old Testament or the Greek equivalent Hades as Jesus says here of the rich man was a temporary abode of the dead until the future judgment and until future resurrection into the eternal state

The point here Jesus wants to make is simple The afterlife is a reality

There is a conscious existence here Notice the terminology he uses of this rich man.

He says in verse 23 that he was in torment He says in verse 24 that he was in anguish

In contrast Lazarus verse 25 was comforted while he the rich man was in anguish

We do not just pass into nothingness There is a conscious existence in the afterlife.

That is the reality of the afterlife that Jesus is pointing us to not only the certainty of death and the reality of the afterlife, but number three

Jesus wants us to learn the finality of judgment the finality of judgment notice in our text in verse 26

Abraham says between us and you a great chasm has been fixed in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able and None may cross from there to us a huge chasm

This there's a finality to God's judgment There are no second chances after death.

There is no Purgatory a temporary abode for a future possibility of salvation

Hebrews 9 27, which I referenced earlier Continues it just as it is appointed for man to die once and after that comes judgment judgment

By whom by the righteous judge himself Who would be right and just to judge all

Christ through this wants to show us the finality of judgment There are no second chances after death fourthly, he wants us to see the necessity of repentance the necessity of Repentance and I want us to camp on this a little bit here tonight the necessity of repentance

You can almost hear the tone in the rich man's voice as Christ Tells the story verse 27 to 28

I beg you father to send him to my father's house For I have five brothers

So that he may warn them lest they also come into this place of torment verse 30 if someone goes to them from the dead they will repent in His conscious existence in the afterlife as he as he's facing the judgment of God in torment and in anguish

He is pleading with father Abraham pleading with him Begging him for what purpose that he may go and warn his family

And it's interesting that the rich man knew what was needed He knew of the necessity of repentance because he says in verse 30 if someone goes to them from the dead they will repent

They will repent the rich man knew at this point that repentance was a necessity

Repentance, of course was a major theme and thrust of preaching of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Actually, dr Luke earlier before he gets to Luke 16 He shows us that this was a major theme of Jesus preaching turn back with me a couple of chapters to Luke chapter 13

Luke chapter 13 By the way, if you ever want to understand repentance, you have to go to the

Greek. Dr. Luke the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts Now there are many who will say

Well repentance is not a requirement is not a necessity for salvation it's just a synonym for faith and the argument goes as follows the gospel of John being the most evangelistic of all the

Gospels because his Authorial intent is written in John chapter 20 verse 30 and 31 where John says

Jesus did many other signs John lists about eight signs that Jesus did miraculous signs but these these seven or eight have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the

Christ and I believing you may have life in his name and the argument goes well the gospel of John being as it is

Evangelistic in nature not once mentions repentance it mentions faith

So it has to be a synonym. Well, the problem with that is the gospel of John and we'll get to Luke 13

To see that this was a major theme of Jesus preaching. Why isn't it in the gospel of John?

The first three are synoptic Gospels. They were written much much earlier than the gospel of John John was not trying to cover old ground because they had set the precedence for repentance

Also, it was as if to say that because Jesus Christ from his own lips from the lips of our

Lord Jesus Christ Because he never mentioned the term grace There you go.

The Lord Jesus must not believe in grace Never came out of his lips But we see here.

Dr Luke shows us as he comes to this passage of the rich man and Lazarus even before that a few chapters before That this was a consistent theme in Jesus preaching repentance

Luke 13 beginning in verse 1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the

Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices And he answered them.

Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners and all the other Galileans?

Because they suffered in this way Question Jesus answer. No, I tell you but unless you repent you will all likewise perish

Or those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them Do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?

Question same answer verse 5. No, I tell you but unless you

Repent you will also likewise perish Turn to chapter 15 of Luke Luke chapter 15

He sets up here what is going on with our Lord Jesus and who he is interacting with who is his audience here verse 1 now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him and the

Pharisees and the scribes grumbled Saying this man

Receives sinners in each with them Jesus being omniscient and sovereign knew what they were grumbling about So, of course

He gives the three parables that we are familiar with The first one is the parable of the lost sheep at the end of which he says in verse 7

Just so I tell you there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance

Then he goes to the parable of the lost coin and finishes that by saying in verse 10 Just so I tell you there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents repentance

Was the theme of our Lord's preaching because as he highlights here in our story tonight the rich man and Lazarus It is a necessity

But what is repentance we throw that term around what is repentance? First and foremost it is a change of mind by definition from the

Greek metania It is a change of mind the change of mind about what about a few things

It's a change of mind as to how one is saved We have people living in churches who have certain views of how one is saved people think that Your religious affiliation can save you if they think this way they must repent of that People today even in churches believe that because they were baptized they are saved if they think this way they must repent of that People think that your faithful church attendants can save you they must repent of that being born into a

Christian family Can save you if they think that way they must repent of it.

They think morality can save them They need to repent of that Repentance is to repent of clinging to and embracing any false way of salvation other than what is outlined in Scripture as we know only the

Lord Jesus Christ can save That's why they gave him the name Savior Matthew 1 because he will save his people from their sins

It's not only a change of mind as to how one is saved But it's also a change of mind as to one spiritual state each one is a lost condemned sinner who is guilty of offending a holy

God and Therefore deserving of his divine wrath It's a change of mind also as to who

Jesus is Who is this Jesus? It's a change of mind as to who is on the throne of one's life self

Or the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords But not only is repentance a change of mind it is also a turning from sin and a turning to Christ turning from sin to Christ That is why in his opening chapter to the

Thessalonian Church. Paul says you turned to God from idols

You turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God That is why the

Apostle Paul said even in Acts 26 verse 20 that they should repent and turn to God the necessity of repentance of changing one's mind the necessity of turning from sin and turning to Christ But why is repentance required?

Why is it necessary as this rich man? Realized and he was pleading to Abraham to send someone from the dead to tell his family

Repentance is required for one primary reason because of judgment Remember the finality of judgment.

There's a chasm as we'll find out in a few weeks the tail end of Paul's message to those proud

Athenian Greeks Acts 17 verses 30 and 31. He says the times of ignorance

God overlooked But now he commands all people everywhere to repent why because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in Righteousness by a man whom he has appointed and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead

Repentance is required and necessary because of future judgment because of future judgment

So not only do we see the certainty of death here. We see the reality of the afterlife in a conscious existence

We see also the finality of judgment and the necessity of repentance, but finally we see here in our story

Jesus wants to teach us this the sufficiency of Scripture the sufficiency of Scripture verses 30 and 31

If someone goes to them from the dead the rich man says

They will repent He seemed pretty assured of that pretty confident verse 31

Abraham he said to him if they do not hear Moses and the prophets

Neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead We hear it all the time

People put out fleeces all the time Lord if you do this for me, then I will repent

He was convinced that his family would repent but father Abraham the father of our faith as we are children of Abraham Assured him otherwise in this text he assured him that they had

Moses and the prophets and If they didn't hear the scriptures neither would they listen if someone would rise from the dead people are looking for the sensational people are looking beyond the scriptures, but here

Abraham is saying that the scripture itself is sufficient is

This not what Paul was telling his young protégé pastor Timothy in 2nd

Timothy chapter 3 As Paul gives Timothy instructions as a young pastor to how he is to lead the church

Paul swan song 2nd Timothy, he says in chapter 3 right before that all familiar verse all scripture is breathed out by God verse 15 right before that Paul says to Timothy From childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for Salvation through faith in Christ Jesus Why from childhood because earlier in chapter 1 of 2nd

Timothy Paul reminded Timothy of his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois And he says here to Timothy you have been acquainted through them of the sacred writings literally the holy

Scriptures that which is written down Which verse 16 is breathed out by God say up niftos that is the written sufficient revelation of God and Abraham is saying the same thing to this rich man here.

No your family will not repent Because they have not heard the scriptures.

They will not be convinced. Otherwise What can we take away from this tonight for ourselves?

first of all The response to the gospel is repentance Repentance that is a response to the gospel

What is the gospel it begins with? God The gospel begins with God that is why

Paul in Romans 1 said it is the gospel of God. It's not the gospel of man

It begins with God and it begins with the character of God. Who is God? God is the one who created everything

By the breath of his mouth He is the creator He is also the righteous judge

He has a right to justly judge all Why simply because he is holy he is without blemish without sin

Pure above all others. He is separate from us. The gospel is also about who man is

Man is a sinner in Need of a Savior near man is desperately dead totally spiritually dead in trespasses and sins

The gospel is about who Jesus is Jesus is Lord the term Lord when used in the

New Testament Primarily focuses on two aspects of Christ his deity and his sovereignty

That Jesus is God He was without sin and that he is sovereign that he is

Lord he is master He is ruler the King of Kings and the gospel is not only about who

Christ is But it's also about what he did as Paul outlines as we know in 1st Corinthians 15

He died for sins and he rose again the third day and unlike this rich man who did not repent

Despite the sufficiency of Scripture if as you're listening this tonight if you have never Repented I exhort you

Martin Lloyd -Jones put it very simply Studies in the Sermon on the Mount he said this about repentance

Repentance means that you realize that you are a guilty Vile sinner in the presence of God that you deserve the wrath and punishment of God that you are hell -bound

It means that you begin to realize that this thing called sin It's in you that you long to get rid of it that you turn your back on it in every shape and form

You renounce the world whatever the cost the world in its mind and outlook as well as its practice and You deny yourself and take up your cross and go after Christ your nearest and dearest And the whole world may call you a fool or say you have religious mania

You may have to suffer financially, but it makes no difference

That is repentance Secondly if you have genuinely repented what this story ought to cause for you is a heart filled with worship and praise and Thanksgiving Paul again in instructing in his final letter to young pastor

Timothy said in 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verses 25 to 26 God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth

And they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will

When you realize that you at one point were also enslaved you didn't have freedom of will

Your will was enslaved to do the will of your father the devil and that is why

Paul says to Timothy God grants repentance It's the same

Greek word for grace repentance is ultimately a gift of God's grace so that should cause you to overflow with thanksgiving and worship and praise to God for granting you that repentance and delivering you from slavery to the devil's will and Finally what it should cause you to do is to be more zealous for the sake of evangelism as we heard this morning

People are lost in the need of a Savior and We have that which is sufficient

People might be looking for other things might be putting out fleeces might be looking for the sensational

But we have that which is sufficient the Word of God Because it is the Word of God that is able to make people wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ And when we preach the gospel to them as the people asked

Peter on the day of Pentecost after he preached his Sermon at Pentecost they were cut to the heart the scripture says and They cried out to him and said what must we do to be saved in his response?

repent That is our call to people as we seek to evangelize

Father thank you for just as fresh lesson tonight of the truth of this story

We realize that we go through life and maybe not even have a thought of Eternity as we go through the everyday affairs of our lives

Maybe not until we come to a loved one or a friend passing away or someone within our church family

But Lord help us to keep eternity in our hearts and in our minds and help us to remember father the certainty of death

Help us to remember The reality of afterlife that we don't just pass away into nothingness

But there is a conscious existence after this life help us to remember the finality of judgment

Help us to remember also the necessity of repentance and the sufficiency of Scripture If there's anyone who's listening to this message who has never repented

Never changed their mind never turned from their sin to Jesus Christ. I pray that your Holy Spirit Will quicken them to do that that you would grant them repentance and I pray for those of us whom you've already done that for that our hearts would overflow with a sense of Gratitude with a sense of worship and praise

For the fact that you have delivered us that you have granted us Repentance and that you would stir us father with a heart for lost people that we would evangelize

Knowing that we have the scriptures We might not be smarter or better than anybody else, but we have the all -sufficient