convicted by this story. I've seen it before. We've looked
at it together. But if we read the word as little
children, we'll hear something new. The Lord is speaking to everyone, but especially the
Pharisees. In verse 14, the Pharisees heard
him talk about you can't serve God in mammon. and talked about the amendment
of unrighteousness money and so forth. And he says, they heard
these things, they derided him. They were covetous. They derided
him. I thought, how could anybody
deride the Lord Jesus Christ, what he said? How could you find
any fault? How could someone not listen
carefully to him? No man spake like him. with more
authority, more honesty, more love, more compassion, more mercy. And from the heart, no man. And
yet they derided him. Why? Because they were, he called
them hypocrites. They were playing a part. They
were just religious. And he knew their hearts. And
so they derided him. They didn't hear what he said. And so many today do deride the
Word of God. People will not hear the Word
of God. God is true. God cannot lie.
Everything the Lord says is true, and yet people would rather believe
a lie than the truth. And God's preachers are true,
just trying to tell the truth. But people deride them. But God's
true people now, like His disciples, they received the Word as little
children. They really did. They don't subject God's Word
to their thoughts, their opinions, human reasoning. They receive
it. They believe it. They're chastened
by it. They're instructed by it. They're
approved, rebuked, corrected by it. It says in verse 15, our
Lord said, You are they which justify yourselves before men.
He was talking to the Pharisees. God knows your heart. They cared
more for the fame, the favor, the applause of men than God. And he said, you justify yourself. But over in Luke chapter 7, it
says that the common people heard our Lord gladly. Sinners, it
says, the publicans and sinners, it says, justified God. They were baptized of John, the
baptism of repentance, but the Pharisees, it says, and the lawyers
rejected the counsel of God against themselves. God's Word doesn't pat us on
the back, it convicts us of sin, which is a good thing. And that's
the first step in salvation. And so the publicans and harlots
and the sinners justified God. What does that mean? They said,
everything you say is true. Everything you say about us is
true. It's true. Like David said, you're
going to be clear when you judge me. You're clear when you speak
and just when you judge me. So God's people don't derive
the Word of God, they don't subject it to their thoughts and opinions
and their reasoning, but they take it very personally and they
receive it. Then the Lord here, I'm building
up to this story, it all goes together. The Lord condemned
everything that man esteems highly. In verse 15, that which is highly
esteemed among men, people, things, philosophies, everything in this
world. Our Lord said, here's what the
Lord said about the world, all that is in the world, and this
is all that's in the world. This is what he said, lust of
the eye, lust of the blood, and pride of life. He said that's
all that's in the world. That which is flesh is what?
Flesh. And he condemned that which man
esteems highly. And what man esteems lowly, the
gospel, the truth, what we're doing right now is the highest calling. It's
true riches. We're going to see everything's
not as it seems. Those that are rich are not rich. Those that are poor are not necessarily
poor. That's what we're going to see.
Then he talked about the necessity of pressing into the kingdom.
I said, the law and the prophets have been preached, God's word
is preached, and our Lord is going to tell that Moses and
the prophet. And people, God's people press
into it. It's a pressing matter. It's
a pressing matter. Let me in. I want in. Remember, he said, strive to
enter into the strength of God. Didn't he? He just said that.
It's a pressing matter. Then he declared everyone's guilt
before the law. He brought up the law, these
Pharisees, you know, and everybody. He brought up the law, and the
one thing that convicts everybody. He brought up adultery, which
covetousness is idolatry, and spiritual idolatry is adultery.
And we're supposed to be, these Pharisees claimed to be God's
people. No, they were covetous. They loved money, they loved
the applause of men, they loved the world. His disciples are hearing this,
and we're hearing this. Do I love the world? Am I covetous? Am I rich toward God? Am I poor
in spirit? So this is leading up to them.
And he said, Not only, he said, is it easier for heaven and earth
to pass away than one tittle of the law to fail. In another
place, he said, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye
of a needle than a rich man enter heaven. And the disciples, right after
he said that, said, Lord, who can be saved? Because we're all
rich compared to Lazarus. All right, so it all builds up
to this. And the connection here, the
Pharisees with covetousness and the rich. Now here's what Paul wrote, who
like our Lord, he said, I've lost all things. Didn't Paul say that? I think
he was a rich young ruler. And he lost it all, he said,
but it's just dung. He said, oh, the unsearchable
riches of Christ. And Paul had sores, Paul had
wounds and bruises and putrefied sores in the jail cell from where
they'd beaten him. He was a rich man, a rich man. And here's what he wrote. Let
me just read this to you in 1 Timothy, if I can find it. Where is 1
Timothy? Here it is. He said this, 1 Timothy,
charge them that are rich in the world. Who's that? If you have more than food and
rain, you're rich. If you have a car, as very few
brethren in Mexico have a car, even have a motorbike, you're
rich. If you have electricity, you're
rich. Our Lord said having food and
rain, more than that is rich. You have a house? Our Lord didn't. Rich. Charge them that are rich
in this world that they be not high-minded. Why? What do we
have that we have not received? Nor trust in uncertain riches. The rich man thinks that's his
security, that's his safety. but trust in the living God who
giveth us all things richly to enjoy, and tell them that they
do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute."
And this is what our Lord, and this is what convicted me. I hope it lasts. Okay, now the
Lord gives a parable of a rich man and Lazarus. Look at verses
19 through 21. certain rich man clothed in purple
and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. There was a certain
beggar named Lazarus. That's not the Lazarus that our
Lord knew, just that was a common name. He was laid at his gate,
the rich man's gate. He was full of sores and he desired
to be fed with just the crumbs that fell from the rich man's
table. And moreover, the dogs came and licked his sore. It
came to pass that the beggar died, was carried by the angels
into Abraham's bosom, and the rich man also died and was buried. And in hell he lift up his eyes,
being in torment, seeing Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his
bosom. Our Lord had already said, how
hardly shall they that have riches enter the kingdom of heaven.
And this man ended up in hell. What we see here, and this is
a parable, this is not, this is a parable. Okay? There's no
dialogue between the living and the dead. There's no dialogue
going on between Abraham and the people in hell. No, no, no,
no. This is a parable. Okay? And this is a parable to
show us several things. Number one, God's sovereignty.
Number two, man's depravity. Number three, true riches. And
number four, one event happens to everyone, no matter who you
are, no matter what you have. Okay? God's sovereignty. It was Hannah who said in her
prayer in 1 Samuel 2, she said, talk no more exceedingly proudly. Let no arrogancy come out of
your mouth. The Lord is a God of knowledge. And our Lord just
say that. God knows your heart. He said, the Lord killeth and
maketh alive. Hannah. He bringeth up down to
the grave. He bringeth up. Salvation is of the Lord. Lazarus
ended up, the rich man ended down. The Lord maketh poor and
maketh rich. He bringeth low and lifteth up. This is God's sovereignty. Both
of these men were sons of Adam, weren't they? One was made rich,
the other was made poor. according to this sovereignty
of God. Both lived in the same world, both lived in the same
town or under the same government, had the same, if you will, same
opportunities. One became rich. How did he become
rich? Inheritance? Probably. Was he an industrious
fellow? Was he a hardworking fellow?
Did he turn? Maybe. You can get rich if you
do that. If you give yourself to something,
You'll be good at it, and you'll make some money. Yeah, you will. The other was poor. The other
was poor. Why? Why was he poor? Did he
squander his money? Maybe. Did he have troubles like
old John Warburton? John Warburton, mercies of a
covenant God, he tried everything and failed miserably. He'll be
a pig farmer. All his pigs died. I'll do this,
I'll do that. Everything failed. Why? Because
he was supposed to be a preacher. He was going to be a preacher
and he was. He ended up being a preacher. But our Lord said
this about the poor. He said, the poor you have with
you always. Always going to be rich and poor. Always. No government,
form of government is going to change that. If you try to make
everyone equal, it's not going to happen. Not going to happen. You give one man $20, he might
turn it into $40. You give another man, he's going
to drink it up and he's going to be poor again. Right? That's just the way it is. And God puts the world in people's
hearts. In Ecclesiastes, it says the
Lord puts the world in some people's hearts. Why? So they'll give
themselves to making money and provide jobs, and you and I have
a job. It's all for God's people. You
know that? Everything's for God's people.
Provide jobs, and this and that and the other. But God's people
are not to give themselves. And this brings me to my next
point. The depravity of man. God is
sovereign. He maketh rich, He maketh poor.
He raises it up, He casts it down. But man is sinful, he's
greedy. Man is greedy, man is selfish, man is worthless. If God didn't put the industry
and hard work in somebody's heart. He does that for some, just leaves
them to themselves, to be the worthless creature that we are
by nature. We're worthless. Here we are, too. We need to
settle it in our hearts and minds that the cause of all suffering
in this world is not inequality, it's not bad government, it's
sin. It's sin. That's the cause of
all suffering. Blame it on this, blame it on
that, blame it on his environment, blame it on the government. No,
sir, it's sin. Sin is solid. And the Lord restrains,
the Lord constrains. No government, no money, no education,
no attempt at equality will change you. Man is sinful. You're going
to have these classes. You're going to have these classes.
And now here's another thing. Let me point this out. Everyone rich is not lost. Thank God. Rich in this world. Everyone that's rich is not covetous
necessarily. The Lord Abraham was rich. and houses and land. He was rich in cattle. He lived
in tents. He was traveling all his life.
He was rich in cattle. Jacob was rich. It was a real source of his troubles.
David was rich. Oh, but was David generous? And David, here's what David
said. David never mentioned his house. Have you ever noticed
that? David never, nothing's ever written about David's house,
where he lived. He wasn't the least bit concerned
about that. He didn't want people to know about his house. Oh,
he talked about God's house all the time, yeah. And David said
this about himself. He's the king on the throne,
everything in the world at his disposal. He owned it all. And
he said, I'm bored, needy. Solomon. He had a large estate,
didn't he? But God said he had largeness
of heart. Every man in Solomon's kingdom.
Now, I would like to have a king like this. Everyone well on his
own vine and fig tree. Everyone. You want to see Solomon?
Come on. You could eat at his table. You
could eat at the White House every day. Solomon's king. Now, here's a picture of Christ.
So when everyone rich is not lost or covetous, the Lord, the
man years ago, and you know him, Paul Thacker, the Lord, and the
Lord generally makes people rich before he saves them. That's
right. Because you've got to give yourself
to whatever it is to get rich. You've got to be given to it. But Paul Thacker, the Lord, he
was an industrious man, a hardworking man. He was an ingenious man,
though he had very little education. Raised in the hills of eastern
Kentucky, and everybody thinks you're a bunch of dumb coal miners,
you know. Dumb? That man had wisdom that
the professors at Ferrum will never have. All right? And he
could turn a coal into gold, he would buy property on the
side of a mountain and build a house on it and make a profit
in it. Okay? The Lord had him hear Henry
Mahan and saved him. Saved his soul,
preaching on TV. And that's why TV is invented. Otherwise, it's pretty much an
evil thing. All right? So he heard the gospel. All right,
now he's well off. He's a rich man, okay? He heard
the gospel, and some of you have heard the story. It was wonderful.
He called my dad and said, he said, I want to have a church
here in Pikeville, Kentucky, where I live. I want the people
around me to hear this gospel. I want there to be a church here.
He said, I'm going to build a church. And dad said, okay. He said,
and Paul said, would you come down and preach? He said, I surely
will. Okay, dad thought he was going
to, you know, erect a little wooden building. And by the way, the Lord sent
a flood through eastern Kentucky and wiped out 50 bridges crossing
every creek in that county. The Lord sent a flood and Paul
Thacker got the contract to rebuild all those bridges. And with that
money, He built the finest church building you've ever seen in
your life. I mean, he, like the tabernacle,
the temple of old, brick building, paved parking lot, carpet, pews,
padded pews, chandeliers, baptistery, pulpit, had everything but a
preacher and people. And he called dad and said, come,
the building's ready. Dad said, okay, I'll be there.
He wasn't expecting what he saw. came down, what happened? The
Lord built a church there through that rich man. He cared nothing. He was so generous. This church,
every other church had been a recipient of Paul Thackeray. So, said that. Now, let's get to the story.
All right? This is a Picture of true riches. Judge not according to the eye. Our Lord said, don't judge according
to the sight of the eyes or the hearing of the ear. Don't do
it. Who's rich in this story? This rich man was clothed in
purple. This beggar's in rags. Who's
clothed in what? We're going to see someday while
the rich, those that don't care for God, are going to be cast
out naked. Well, God's people are all robed in purple robes,
white robes, king's children. Who's the blessed man? Who's
blessed? And we've got it all wrong, don't
we? We think the rich are blessed. No, the Lord said blessed are
the poor in spirit. True riches. This rich man, it's
certain that this rich man served mammon that loved the world,
didn't care for God, he didn't care about this poor man right
at his gate. It didn't bother him a bit that
that poor man is right there at his gate. And he could have
easily just fed him and he didn't care. It's certain that this
man cared for one thing, money. It's work. And now he's lost
everything. And he's tormented forever. He
wasn't really rich at all. And whatever you can't keep,
that's not true riches, is it? Whatever you keep. Remember,
Lot saw the well-watered plains of Sodom and said, that's what
I want. Abraham said, take it. And then Abraham said, Lord,
what do I get? And the Lord said, You get me. Oh, the unsearchable
riches. Everything, Christ is all. And we're going to lose everything
in this world. Every one of us is going to lose
every single thing. But if you have Christ, you're never losing.
And we're going to be joint heirs with Him. What does that mean?
It means everything He owns, we'll be partakers of. What's that? We just had to wait and see. And that's how we'll look back
and think, those were such toys, that was done. Didn't lose a thing, gain. So
who's rich and who's poor? You remember the story of Job?
Job was covered with swords. Who did that? God did. God did. His friends, they didn't
have any trouble in the world. They came. And they knew doctrine. They seemed to say all the right
things. You'd be hard pressed not to
find anything wrong with what Bill did and all of them said.
But God said, it's all wrong. It's all wrong. It's just doctrine
without heart. And Job ended up praying for
them. Well, now here's the next thing. One event happens to everyone. And would you turn quickly to
Ecclesiastes 9, Ecclesiastes chapter 9, turn there quickly.
Both of these men died. Both of these men died. No matter
who you are, no matter what you have, you're going to die. I'm going to lose everything
in this work. One event happens to all. And this is Ecclesiastes
9, look at verse 2. All things come alike to all.
There's one event to the righteous and to the wicked. To the good,
to the clean, to the unclean. To him that sacrifices or worshipeth,
to him that worshipeth not. As is the good, so is the sinner.
He that sweareth, he that feareth. This isn't evil. This is among
all things that are done unto the Son. There's one event unto
all. Yea, also the heart of the sons
of men is full of evil, madness in their heart while they live.
After that, they go to the dead. Listen to the relevance here. To him that's joined to the living,
there's hope. A living dog is better than a dead lion or king. Do you hear that? The living
know that they shall die, and they're preparing for it. Those alive under God. But the
dead, they know not anything, neither have they any more reward.
The memory of them is forgotten. Their love, their hate, their
envy is now perished. Neither have they any portion
forever in this thing that is done under the sun. So, one event
happens to all, and both of these men die. Go back to our text.
In Genesis 5, And you know, I said the other day, we're not living
longer. We're not. We're just not. Our Lord said
70, didn't it? Maybe 80. All right. Hey, I saw
a statistic. We're living, the average female's
living 72 years. Well, it's good living. It's
healthy living. It's all these herbs we're eating.
It's all this stuff we're not eating. No, it's not. It's God. But we're not living longer because
men used to live 900. Come on now. Are we living longer? No. The Lord said man's days are
going to be few. 900. And here's the
thing. Men back then lived 900. Adam
lived 930 years. Methuselah lived 969 years. It says about every one of them,
and he died. Didn't matter how long. And every
single one of them thought, oh, Methuselah was 969 years, and
he said, where's the time gone? See, it's like I just woke up,
and it's over. A day is a thousand years. A
thousand years is a day. That's how it leads. It doesn't
matter how long you live, it ends. So now what? Now what? Here's wisdom. Now
what? Now what? And right after, I
remind you, right after Genesis 5, when men were living all that
time, God sent a flood and wiped it all out. And man today thinks
we're going to live forever. Yeah, we're getting better. We're
getting higher. No, we're getting worse. And God sees it. That's about them. About them. But look at this. It says that
Abraham, it says, verse 22, the beggar died, was carried. The
rich man died and was buried. The beggar died and was carried. The angels came for him. and
took him up to sit with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the
saints at the right hand of Christ, the beggar. So he didn't really
die at all, did he? And none of God's people don't
die. Our Lord said that. They don't die. They just start
living. But the rich man, he died, and
he was buried, and he didn't just, wasn't buried six feet
under. He went down into hell itself. And he was tormented. We'll read
on in verse 23. In hell, he lift up his eyes,
being in torments. And he cried, Father Abraham,
have mercy on me. See, this is a parable. Abraham can't have mercy on how
he ended up dead anyway. Pray to men. We don't pray to
men. Send Lazarus. to dip the tip of his finger
in water and cool my tongue, I'm tormented in this flame.
Is there literal fire? I don't think so. I don't think
so. Our God is a consuming fire. The parable, this parable is
just that. As said, there's no dialogue between people in heaven
and people in hell. Much in Revelation is symbolic. Most everything in the Revelation
is symbolic, okay? But this flame, he says, I'm
tormented in this flame. Like fire, it's a burning all
right. There's a burning. And that describes lusts. Desires
of the flesh. In Romans 1, it says that men
burned in their lusts. Men for men, women for women.
And our Lord in the Revelation said, He that is filthy will
be filthy still. I'm going to leave him in that. And people in hell are still
burning with these lusts and these passions, and they can't
fulfill them. There's no outlet for them. My dad described it one time
as a bottle just out of the reach of a drum. Can't get it. Can't quench that craving. Says
the worm that dieth not. Our Lord said the worm dieth
not. Gnaw at that, Jim. Hunger and insatiable lust gnaws
at you. No way to fulfill it. No outlook
for the passion. This flame burning up and I can't
quench it. Oh, if the Lord will make His
Word burn in our heart. If the Lord will cause His Word
to burn away the dross. If the Lord will show us the
burnt offering. of our Lord Jesus Christ, what
it took for our sins to be paid for. Maybe we won't burn in lust
here and burn in hell when it's over. But he said, I'm tormented
in this flame. And Abraham said, son, remember.
Ralph Barnard preached a message on this. Son, remember. Memory. That memory being the worm that
dieth not. Memory being the torment of the
damned. The torment is memory. Remember
what all you had, and that's gone. Look at it. You received
in your lifetime, received. Didn't earn it, received it. God gives all things richly to
enjoy. Ecclesiastes, the whole book's
about that. Enjoy it, enjoy it, but remember who gave it to you. Give him thanks for it. Commit
adultery with it, give him thanks for it, and give of that which
he's given you. Freely give. Freely receive.
Freely give. Surely this is a lesson, isn't
it? To have compassion on the poor. And this was greatly convicting
to me. Our Lord, He met the needs of every poor person that asked
Him. Didn't He? Didn't He say give to him that
asked Him? Don't ask any questions. We see poor people all the time.
What do you think? I do what I think. I think that
fella squandered his money. He may be working for a syndicate.
They may be professional beggars. I'm not his judge. It could be me. That's what I
need to think. Whenever I see a poor person
anywhere, that could be My dad, my daughter, he said, give. Didn't he? I said, we're rich. We're rich. We could empty our change jars. We're rich. We've got much to
be accountable for. As James says, the gold, the
canker, the rust of the silver and gold of rich people is going
to rise up in the judgment. Look, it's just sitting there
and you didn't do anything with it. You had more than most people can
have in their lifetime. That's convicting, isn't it?
Cast your bread on the water. So surely this is a lesson in
that also, isn't it? But all right, look at this.
Here's verse 26. He said, beside all this, between
us, those in heaven and you there, there's a great gulf fixed. So
that they which would pass from hence to you cannot, neither
can they pass to us that would come from them. A great gulf
fixed. Now here's a glorious lesson. Here's the gospel. The Lord maketh
rich, the Lord maketh poor. James said this, rejoice you
rich in that you're made poor, spiritually. And rejoice you
poor in that you're made rich, meaning you know what true riches
are. For if you're a rich man, rejoice that you know that's
not riches at all. Like old Paul said, rejoice that
you know that because the Lord has to reveal it to you. If you're
rich in faith. And so he said rejoice in that. Rejoice. And there's a great gulf fit.
And this is a picture of God's marvelous, sovereign love and
electing grace and choosing people. Though we're rich, he makes us
poor. Shows us the truth. And you know, there's a great
gulf fixed. And the song, I was going to
have us sing it at Calvary. Oh, the mighty gulf that God
did span at Calvary. He who was rich, yet for our
sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. The great gulf. We can't, with
man it's impossible. How hardly should they have riches
in this kingdom. But God has made us, though we
have everything we could possibly desire and more than we could
ask for to think, don't we? Don't you just, you older people,
you know, Ed, he's 80 now. Don't you just sit and look at
this. Look at where I'm at. compared
to where you began. Amazing grace. But God has made his people poor
in spirit and given them their unsearchable riches of pride.
Now here's the thing. Where are you going to hear this?
Where are you going to learn this truth? God's Word. It started with the Pharisees.
We're not going to hear that. Okay? You're going to end up
in hell is what you're going to do. And he said, Father, send, I
pray thee, send to my father's house, I have five brethren,
testify to them, I don't want them to go to hell. See, he's not repenting of his
sins. Nobody in hell is repenting of their sin. What are they sorry
about? That they're in hell. That they've
lost everything. Cain said this, here's the difference
between Cain and a true True believers. Cain said, my punishment's
greater than I can bear. David said, my sin is ever before
me. There's a difference. The child
of God is sin. Conviction. The person in the
world, they just don't want to go to hell. They don't want to
lose everything. Lose their happiness here on earth. He said, send
Lazarus to warn them. And our Lord said, verse 29,
through this parable, they have Moses and the prophets, let them
hear them. He said, no, Father Abraham,
if one went back from the dead, a miracle, if they saw a miracle,
And he said, if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither
will they be persuaded that one rose from the dead. Now, what does this tell us? Salvation is not an experience,
it's not what you see, it's what you hear. Rather, who you hear
from, of whom you hear. Who did Moses and the prophets
write about? Our Lord. Our Lord. Here's what the Holy Spirit does.
He convinces of sin, righteousness, and judgment through the preaching
of the gospel, through the preaching of God's Word, to see their need
of Christ, to show a rich man, you're poor, you don't know it.
Wretched, miserable, blind, poor, naked, you don't know it. It's
mercy of God through the preaching of the gospel that you're hearing
it and realize, I'm poor. I got all this world could give
me, but it's nothing. I'm nothing without Christ. and Him crucified. And you won't
be persuaded. Do you know how many people rose
from the grave when our Lord was crucified? Do you remember
that story? When the Lord was crucified,
the veil of the temple was ripped, and it says many of the saints
rose from the grave and went into town. People didn't believe for that
reason. And they're only going to believe my sin won, crucified,
buried, and risen for us. That's the only way. The gospel
is the fire of God. Not miracles, not signs, not
wonders, not fear of losing everything. Christ. Okay.