Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. I'd like to welcome you to our
program this morning. It's good to see you. I'm glad
you could join us. If you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles with today's message, I'm going to be preaching from
the book of Luke, the gospel of Luke chapter 16, beginning
at verse 19. And the title of the message
is The Value of God's Word. The Value of God's Word. preaching
the gospel for quite a few years, and I've been preaching it on
television, our television program for many years. And one of the
things that I've always tried to emphasize to the hearers,
those who listen, is the value, the power, the importance of
reading and studying the word of God, the Bible. the Old Testament,
the New Testament, from Genesis to Revelation, and especially
the issue of what the Bible calls in 1 John chapter four, testing
the spirits, which means literally testing preachers, those who
claim to be speaking by the Spirit of God. And that's what we do.
If we're a preacher of God, a preacher of the gospel, a preacher of
the word, preach the word, Paul told Timothy. In other words,
when I come to you preaching, excuse me, the gospel and the
word of God, what I'm telling you is that I'm not preaching
things that are from me originally or have any authority or power
because of the fact that I'm saying them, I'm claiming to
preach the word of God. And the only way that you can
know that is to test what I tell you by the standard and the rule
of the Bible. Is what I'm preaching biblical? Do I have the authority of the
word of God? The apostle Paul said, we are
ambassadors of Christ. And so Christ, who is himself
the word of God, who is the incarnate word of God, who is the main
subject of the Bible, the written word of God and the preached
word of God. is our authority. And so test me with the scriptures.
Now, I know what a lot of people say. They say, well, you know,
people read the Bible and they get different things out of it.
They interpret it different ways. But I believe if you will use
some wisdom here and start in this way, there are rules of
interpretation. I wrote a book about that. It's
called Rightly Dividing the Word. The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy
about that. Rightly dividing the word of
God. He talked about not being ashamed.
A workman that needeth not to be ashamed. Rightly dividing
the word of truth. In other words, rightly reading
and studying and interpreting the word of God. There are rules,
and I wrote in this book what I consider to be the main rules
of interpreting the scripture, and that would be a good place
to start, for you to start. We offer that book free of charge.
Just write to us, or email us, or go on our website, and you
can download it, or you can see the book there, and read those
rules of interpretation. But the word of God is everything.
Peter called it the words of life. When the multitudes turned
against Christ and he turned to the disciples and he said,
will you go away also? Peter said, to whom shall we
go? You have the words of life. The gospel, which is the good
news, is the power of God unto salvation. The psalmist wrote,
wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way? By giving heed and obeying
the word. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. Isaiah said, if they speak not
according to this word, there's no light in them. The Bible teaches
how the grass withereth, the flower fadeth, everything is
going to pass away, but the word of God abideth forever. It's
lasting, it's authoritative, it's truth. And the Word, which
is Christ, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. In John 1, 14, the Word was made
flesh and dwelt among us. Peter wrote how we're begotten
again by the Word of truth, or James wrote that. And Peter said
that the gospel, the Word, the spoken Word, is the means by
which God brings us to faith in Christ and repentance of dead
work and by which we persevere and all of this. Now, so what
I want to show you is the value of the word of God. Now, the
passage that I'm going to read here is a story that Christ told. Some people call this a parable
and that's okay, but it's a story that he told about a rich man
and a poor man. Now the rich man, we don't know
his name. Some people may speculate on that. But the poor
man's name was Lazarus. And it may seem strange to you
that I'm using this passage to preach about the value of the
word of God. But I want to show you this.
It begins in Luke 16, verse 19. And the Lord said, there was
a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen
and fared sumptuously every day. This is his state on this earth. And there was a certain beggar
named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores. Verse
21, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich
man's table. Just give me the crumbs. Moreover,
the dogs came and licked his sores. And verse 22 says, and
it came to pass that the beggar, Lazarus, died. and he was carried
by the angels into Abraham's bosom. Now, a lot of people speculate
about that phrase, Abraham's bosom. Some people relate it
to what the Catholics call purgatory, but that's heresy, that's not
true. Some people say, well, it's sort of some kind of a waiting
room that God's people go to. to wait for the second coming
of Christ. That's not true either. That's
just speculation. The only thing I can tell you
about Abraham's bosom is we relate it to Abraham, who was a sinner
saved by grace, who represents in type and picture and as one
who represents believers, is the blessings of salvation. Abraham's
bosom is a phrase that speaks of the blessings of being saved
by the grace of God through the blood and righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And that's Lazarus' situation
here, the poor man. And it says, the rich man, verse
22, also died and was buried. And verse 23 says, and in hell.
The rich man lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth
Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. Now, one thing
you want to be careful here. This could be a parable or just
an illustrative story that the Lord told. This is not teaching
any doctrinal theology of hell. And it's not saying that those
who go to hell will be able to look across the gulf there and
see people in heaven or anything like that. That's not what this
is teaching. But this is a story illustrating
something very important, and I'm going to show you what. But
it says, and look at it again, verse 23. And in hell, the rich
man lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar
off and Lazarus in his bosom. Now, the first lesson And I'm gonna get to the main
issue of the story here. But the first lesson you see
here is that a person's state here on earth as far as their
physical well-being or their physical sickness or poverty
has no bearing on their spiritual eternal state before God. Here's a rich man who fared sumptuously,
it says. And then here's a beggar named
Lazarus who just wanted the crumbs from his table. And yet the rich
man was a sinner lost in his sin. spiritually poor, spiritually
dead in trespasses and sins. That was his state on, that was
his standing before God and his state on earth, even though he
was rich physically, materially, and many people, especially these
health and wealth false preachers today, They would say, well,
the rich man was being blessed of God. And listen, riches can
be a blessing. Health can be a blessing. Abraham
was a rich man and he was virtually healthy except that he could
not have children, but he was a rich man. So riches and poverty
doesn't tell us anything necessarily about a person's state. But this
rich man, even though he had the, what we would call blessings
of material wealth, he was cursed of God. He was a sinner who had
no hope of salvation in himself. And he died and he went to hell.
So all of his riches here on this earth did nothing for him. And then here's Lazarus. A poor
man, poverty stricken, sick, sore, dogs licking his sore.
But in spiritual terms, he was rich beyond measure. He had the
wealth of God's grace and power in Christ. And that can't even,
an inheritance that's indescribable and incorruptible. And so understand
that. This teaches this, that just
because you may be faring sumptuously in this life is no bearing, has
no proof that you're a child of God, that you're a sinner
saved by grace. And if you're poor, that has
no bearing on it. You may be a rich person spiritually. And another thing I wanna caution
you before we move on on that, You know, some people use verses
like this to say that, well, it's a sin to have riches. It's
a sin to have wealth on this earth, and it's a virtue to be
poor. The Catholic Church sometimes,
in some ways, teaches that in some of their orders when they
take a vow of poverty. Now, the Catholic Church doesn't
say that riches means that you are evil necessarily, because
they're very rich. You know, it's a false church, it's very
rich. But some people take a vow of poverty thinking that that's
virtue, and it's not. It is not virtue. So let's read
on here and see the main issue of this parable. It says in verse
24, it says, the rich man 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. I'm tormented in this flame.
And that's indicative of the torments of being eternally separated
from God. It's an awful state to be in. My friend, the only way of salvation
from the torments of being eternally separated from God is the Lord
Jesus Christ, the grace of God. Salvation by grace through the
Lord Jesus Christ. Believe in Him, the scripture
says. Rest in Him. In order to be with
God forever and ever, we need a righteousness we cannot produce. Where are we gonna find such
a righteousness? Not in ourselves, not by our
works, not even by the decisions that we make. Righteousness can
only be found in Christ. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation to everyone that believeth, Jew first, the Greek
also, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed. And that's Christ,
that's the merit of Christ works in his obedience unto death for
the salvation of his people. Well, the rich man tormented. And in verse 25 it says, But
Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest
thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things? But now
he is comforted, and thou art tormented. The only comfort,
eternally and spiritually, that a sinner can find is that which
comes by God's mercy, God's grace, Oh, the comfort. Think about
it. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. What a blessing it is. The assurance
of salvation. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth righteousness without works. The blessings of God's
grace. The blessings of forgiveness
of sins. the blessings of being accepted
with God through the blood of Christ, the comfort. He's our
comforter, Christ is, and He sends the Spirit to be our comforter. And how does He comfort sinners?
By turning sinners towards Christ, to rest in Him, the glory of
His person. Who is Jesus Christ? He is God,
manifest in the flesh. And what did he accomplish on
Calvary's cross to save me from my sins? He accomplished redemption. The Bible says he was made of
a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under the
law. Christ paid the full redemption price for my sins in order to
save me. And he did just that. And even
the gift of faith and repentance comes through him. And so Abraham
says, remember this. In verse 26, it says, and beside
all this, between us and you, there is 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 thence. In other words,
it's too late. After you die, it's too late.
There's no possibility of salvation to any sinner after death. Now
we know that God is going to save his chosen people. They're
not going to die in unbelief because God has purposed to save
them. He chose them before the foundation
of the world. He gave them to Christ. He conditioned
all of their salvation on Christ. And Christ as their surety, their
substitute, their Redeemer, He came and He fulfilled all those
conditions as their surety, substitute, and Redeemer in their place and
fulfilled all righteousness to ensure their salvation. I can
tell you right now, if Christ died for you or if He died for
me, we're fine. But God, how do I know that he
died for me? How do you know that he died
for you? If he did, God's going to send the spirit to give you
life from the dead. That's called the new birth.
You must be born again. And what's the evidence of the
new birth? hearing ears, seeing eyes. He told the disciples,
blessed are your ears for they hear, blessed are your eyes for
they see. And what do you see? The kingdom of God, which is
Christ crucified and risen from the dead. You'll believe in Christ. You'll rest in him for all salvation. You won't look to yourself, your
works, Your goodness, because you have none, the Bible teaches
we're all sinners. There's none good, no not one,
not in God's standard of goodness now. You'll look to Christ, you'll
rest in him for all righteousness, for all goodness, for all forgiveness,
for all justification, for all life and glory. You won't look
to your decisions. Your salvation won't be based
upon you made a decision for Christ, as they say today. No,
your salvation will be based solely upon the person and work
of Christ on the cross. And that's how you know. So it
will be too late after you die. Christ told the Pharisees, he
said, if you do not believe that I am, that is the Messiah, the
Lord God, the salvation that God sends, you'll die in your
sins. There'll be no possibility. And
he says in verse 27, then he said, I pray thee therefore father.
Now listen to this. This gives us the reason that
Christ spoke this story, this parable, if you will. And the
rich man in hell, he said, then he said, I pray thee therefore
father, that thou would ascend him, that is Lazarus, to my father's
house. back to earth, to my father's
house, verse 28, for I have five brethren, I've got five brothers,
that he may testify unto them lest they also come into this
place of torment. Send Lazarus back from the dead
to tell my five brothers about this so they won't end up where
I am. That's what the rich man said. But look at the response,
verse 29. Abraham said unto him, they have
Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. They've already
got a sure word of prophecy, warning about these issues of
life and death, judgment, salvation and eternity. They have Moses,
that's the written word of God. That's what he's talking about.
The first five books of the Bible, God wrote through Moses. And
then they have the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, all of these
prophets, you could go through them. Even the Psalms and all
of that. Let them hear them. And verse
30, now look at the rich man's response. This is important.
And he said, nay, Father Abraham, nay, Father Abraham, but if one
went unto them from the dead, they'll repent, they will repent.
Oh, if they could just see somebody rise from the dead, that would
be enough for them. Now, Moses and the prophets,
that's not enough. Even though that's the word of
God. And apparently the rich man didn't believe that. But
that's, you know, the Bible. is the written word of God. Is
that not enough for you or me? And somebody said, oh, if I could
just see a miracle. You know, these miracle workers
today, they don't preach and believe the true gospel, the
word of God. Christ told the people one time,
he turned to him and he said, you follow me because of the
miracles, not because of who he is and what he would accomplish.
And that's the problem. Oh, if one would come back from
the dead, they'll believe, they'll repent. Now look at Abraham's
answer to him, verse 31. And he said unto him, if they
hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded
though one rose from the dead. In other words, the written word
of God is a more sure word, more authoritative, more proving,
a proof than if somebody arose from the dead. Now listen, One
of the greatest proofs and evidences of the gospel that we preach
and of the authority of the Word of God is the resurrection of
Christ. Now, many people don't believe
that He arose from the dead, but the Bible says that He did
and there's much proof. One old theologian said there's
more proof that Christ, there's more written proof, historical
proof that Christ arose from the dead than there is that George
Washington was the first president of the United States. And yet
nobody has any problem believing that Washington was the first
president. Paul wrote about that in 1 Corinthians
15, how many witnesses, eyewitnesses there were of the resurrection
of Christ. Now you cannot believe the word
of God and you cannot believe the gospel without believing
in the resurrection of Christ. But how do we know he arose from
the dead? It's not because we were there
to see it. It's because of the word of God, the value of the
word of God. Think about this. This is the
Bible. This is the written word of God. And we look at, look over in
Luke chapter 24. This is after the resurrection
of Christ. And he's sitting with his disciples. And he's about to go into glory.
He's going to ascend up into glory. And before he does, he
teaches them. Luke 24, 44. He said unto them,
these are the words which I spoke unto you while I was yet with
you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written
in the law of Moses, that's Moses, see, and in the prophets and
in the Psalms concerning me, concerning Christ. You know,
in my book that I wrote on rightly dividing the world, Rules of
Interpretation, the first rule of interpretation that I bring
out is what I call the rule of Jesus Christ crucified and risen
from the dead. Because my friend, this book
right here, from Genesis to Revelation is a book concerning the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's all about, there's a lot
of different things in this book. Lot of lessons, but all of it
boils down to the one main lesson of who Jesus Christ is, the person
of Christ, and what he accomplished at Calvary's cross to put away
the sins of his people and establish righteousness, wherein God would
be just to justify sinners. the righteousness of God, the
imputed righteousness of Christ. That's what this book is about.
And from that righteousness imputed comes eternal spiritual life
from Christ by the power of the Spirit, being born again. And
that's how he brings his people to faith in Christ and repentance
of dead works. That's what the rich man said.
If one rise from the dead, they'll repent. No, they won't. Look
at how many miracles Israel saw in their history, from their
beginning as a nation in Egypt, all the plagues, the parting
of the Red Sea, the protection that God gave them and provision
that God gave them through the wilderness, and all throughout
their history, yet they would not repent. Man by nature is
so sinful and depraved, me included, all of us by nature, as we are
naturally born, that we will not repent. And so Christ sent
him down and he said, I'm gonna teach you of the Old Testament
here concerning me. And it says in verse 45 of Luke
24, then opened he their understanding that they might understand the
scriptures. in verse 46, and said unto them, thus it is written,
and thus it behoove Christ to suffer. Christ was indebted to
suffer. Why? Because of the sins of his
people, God's elect, were imputed, charged, accounted to him, and
to rise from the dead the third day. Rise from the dead, how?
Why? Because he accomplished the work, and that repentance
and remission of sins should be preached in his name among
all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. That's the gospel. And what he
was doing, he was teaching these disciples, they already knew
the gospel, he was teaching them how to preach Christ, his person
and his work from the Old Testament. You see, they have Moses and
the prophets, Abraham told the rich man in hell. If they won't
hear Moses and the prophets, they won't believe even though
one rise from the dead. I hope this message has helped
you and I hope you'll join us next week for another message
from God's word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.TheLetterRofGrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.