Book of Luke - Ch. 16, Vs. 19-31 (03/14/2004)

Park Meadows Church

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All right, open your Bibles to Luke the 16th chapter and the 19th verse, please.

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Luke 16, 19. There was a certain rich man named

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Thorndike Murglethorpe, Esquire III, Doctor of Philosophy, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day.

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But the Bible doesn't give us his name. And there was a certain beggar named

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Lazarus, was laid at his gates full of sores. The Bible gave us his name.

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I wonder why. The different state and condition of good and bad men in the other world from what they are in this.

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Here the wicked prosper, grow rich and great, and the good and virtuous are in calamity.

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Suffering, poverty, distress, which has staggered many men, yea, the best of men, in the belief of a divine providence.

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That our Savior did not censure the rich man for being rich.

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Why is that, verge? And after all, what good is our censure one of another?

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But for being carnal, he was extremely carnal.

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Not for wearing costly apparel, keeping a plentiful table, but his sensuality and luxury and for getting to feed the hungry with the abundance of his table.

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These are the things for which he was censured. Now, who made that man rich?

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It has to be. But he didn't know it. He didn't see it that way.

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That pride and luxury and temperance, lust, are such abuses of worldly riches as worldly men are very prone to do.

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Rich men too often make their back and their belly their gods, sacrificing and devoting all they have to the servants of these idols.

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You know, I get rather tired, and I'm going to get more tired, of the politicians, the

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Democrats, preferably place the

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Republicans as rich people. When there's just as many rich Democrats as there are

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Republicans. But a poor condition is the lot of many good men, and we know that's true.

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Then a man may be poor and miserable in this world, and yet be very dear to God.

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The grace of sanctification is sometimes bestowed most eminently where the gifts of providence have been dispensed most sparingly.

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Consequently, from the present state of men in this world, we can make no judgment of their future condition in the world to come.

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21. Desiring, now the rich, the beggar, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table, moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.

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Now, Bob, if you're where you can get no medication, and you do have a dog, and he wants to lick the sore, let him.

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And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.

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The rich man also died, and he was buried. The Savior represents all men, both good and bad, passing immediately out of this life into a state of happiness or misery.

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Now, David, do you lose a spiritual consciousness at death?

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No. Even though you're in this life, and you can't speak, and you seem to be dead already, the spiritual consciousness is alive, and there is no pain to death.

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Now, maybe pain associated with it, but not to death itself. Well, these two men died.

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Lazarus died and was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom. Russell, what does that signify?

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All right. What do we call that? Where they went.

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All right. In case you're, he misled you a little, they went to paradise in 80s.

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The souls of men survive in consciousness and activity after the death of their bodies.

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Now, remember that. And do not sleep with the body until the day of resurrection.

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Remember that. That all holy souls, and among the rest of the godly poor, are instantly, after death, conveyed by angels to their place of rest and blessedness.

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I have twice experienced being with people when they passed away, or just before they passed away, and they mentioned the angels that were there.

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Her father didn't know exactly who they were, so they were very tall.

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I envied him a little in being able to see them, but he got a little unhappy with me because I couldn't see them.

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But I couldn't. He says, well, they've been here off and on ever since I've been down here.

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But they were there to take him home. So, Russell, they come early, but they don't leave without you.

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The rich man also died. This is added to let you know that the riches for all men's confidence in them will not deliver from death.

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I can't think that anybody believes that. Now, there may be some misinformed someplace that really think their money will keep them out of dying.

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The rich man might be gorged by faring deliciously every day while Lazarus was famished, but that come to an end and was buried.

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There's no mention of Lazarus' burial. Probably he had none, but was flung out of the way into some hole or pit.

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Or if he had a burial, a very mean one, a meager one, which was passed over in silence.

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All the advantages which a rich man has by great estate after he is dead is only to have a pompous funeral after he's dead, means nothing to him because he's not aware of it.

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Then comes those words in hell, he lifted up his eyes. Now, let's talk about hell a little bit.

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He feels at once both his own misery, and he's sensitive and perceives

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Lazarus' happiness. He lifted up his eyes.

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David, I get the thought here that that's all he could see.

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It makes sense to me that hell would be black without any light, with the absence of God, the spiritual blackness.

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You can hear, but you cannot see. The souls of wicked men, while their bodies lie in the grave, are in the state of the greatest misery.

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He is in hell today, at this very moment, is miserable. Now, Bob, I don't know where hell is.

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David and I were discussing it the other day, and he thinks it's in the center of the earth, which it may be, but the earth is going to disappear.

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Well, he's aggravated by the sense at the same time of the saint's happiness, for probably the dam shall see the glory of the blessed.

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I think that would be fitting and proper, that he would look into paradise, or now heaven, and that's all he could see.

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Everything else was black. Now, understand, this is just my idea.

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I don't have scripture except bits and pieces, but I've never made the trip, so I don't know.

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And in hell, he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeing Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom, and 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 place.

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What? In this flame. Now, David, I forgot what

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I was going to ask. My wife knocked it out of my head. It's her fault.

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Well, it'll come back. And he cried and said,

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Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip. Now, the thought

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I was going to ask, David, the first thing that I would want to do would be,

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Father Abraham, get me out of this. But he didn't mention that.

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Why? Well, that might be part of it.

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Now, realize that in hell, you're going to hate God more and more and more every day that goes by, if there's days.

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But I just cannot get over the fact that he did not want to get out. It never entered his mind.

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That was blocked out from his thinking. This is what

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I'll have for the rest of my life. And I'll die here in hell.

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Only thing wrong with that statement, he's not going to die. The place where the rich man suffers, this is where death lives.

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The souls of wicked men, when they leave their bodies, do certainly go into a place of torment, which is not only beyond expression, but our apprehension.

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And we have scripture that says, I hath not seen, nor hear heard, nor hath it entered into the hearts of man to conceive those dreadful things which

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God hath prepared for them that hate him. Them that hate him.

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The sin for which he suffers, it is the sin of unmercifulness.

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Unmercifulness to the poor. A very great sin. And such a sin as alone and without any other guilt is sufficient to ruin a man forever.

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There is found in this sin great impiety towards God and great inhumanity toward our own nature.

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Unmercifulness. The nature and quality of his sufferings, they are exceedingly painful and void of the least degree of comfort.

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Not a drop of water is granted to cool an inflamed tongue. Just one drop.

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That the least refreshments are impatiently desired by the damned souls in hell, but righteously denied and withheld from them.

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A drop of water was desired, but not granted. No cup of water, no bowls of wine in hell.

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There is but one full cup in hell, and that's a cup of God's wrath.

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Without any mixture of mercy or pity, that throat will be forever parched with thirst, which is drenched and drowned with excess now.

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Now, if you abstain from liquor now, that won't keep you out of hell.

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The songs of the drunkard here will be turned into howlings and lamentation there.

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Please note there was and is no thought of escaping this place.

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Here we live in expectation of tomorrow, the rest of today.

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Think what it would be if that was all taken away in hell.

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25. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receiveth thy good things, and likewise

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Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

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The title given to the rich man by the father

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Abraham was son. I thought that rather strange. He does not revile him.

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Why? Virgil, why? That's right.

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If we revile the good, we are unjust. They deserve it not.

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If we revile the bad, we are unwise. We shall get nothing by it.

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The reprimand given, remember. So, David, they're going to have memory in hell.

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I think they will remember everything they did. What? Well, that's everything they did.

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It was all against Christ. Even in their trying to be for Christ, it was against Christ.

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The reprimand given, remember that thou in thy lifetime received thy good things, thy good things in which thou placed all of thy happiness, thy good things which thou looked upon thyself as the proprietor and not as the dispenser of.

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Now remember what thou had and what thou abused, that the outward blessings which are afforded to wicked men on earth will be sadly remembered in the hell.

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Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things.

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No man ought to measure his happiness hereafter by his temporal delight here.

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We may receive our good things here and yet be tormented hereafter. That no man ought to be excessively troubled if he meets with hardship here because those for whom

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God designs good things hereafter may have their evil things here.

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Son, thou hadest thy good things and also Lazarus evil.

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The word remember implies that human souls in hell in their state of separation do exercise memory, thought, reflection on the past occurrences, action of their lives, and consequently they do not sleep or fall into a state of insensibility and inactivity until the resurrection.

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Well, we'll take it up right there next time. Are there any thoughts from anybody on hell?

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All right. All right.

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He's speaking as a Jew. Russell?

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That's a good point. That's a good point.

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A good way of explaining it. Bob? I think our happiness will add to their torment.

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I think they'll see it and there'll be no sleep.

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No sleep. I'm tired today.

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I want to go home and take a nap. But to what?

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That's right. So sleep belongs to this world.