In the last great religious awakening
which occurred in Britain just over a hundred years ago, there
was not figure who drew more attention than Brownlow North,
1810 through 1875. Though his family was distinguished
for parliamentary and church leaders, North, educated at Eaton
and Oxford, lived as a carefree sportsman, soldier, and country
gentleman until an unforgettable night in 1854. The cause of the
change which then took place is nowhere better revealed than
in the chapters of this book which were originally preached
in the open air 2000s during the revival in Northern Ireland
in 1859. The Rich Man and Lazarus, a practical
exposition of Luke 16, 19-31 by Brownlow North. Introductions Towards the end of June, 1859,
two men paced the deck of a vessel down from Greenock to Northern
Ireland. It was a fine summer evening,
and in the fading light, the purple grandeur of the surrounding
mountains and the dark water of the Clyde were an impressive
sight. But the attention of the two
passengers was, doubtless, observed with other things, for this was
to be no ordinary visit they were paying to Ulster. It is in the shorter of the two
men that we are interested, a man of strong features, broad-shouldered,
deep-chested, and striking in bearing. Forty-nine years of
age and wearing the dark clothes of a country gentleman, there
was nothing to indicate to his fellow passengers the purpose
of his crossing, and even Brownlow North himself did not know the
momentous consequences that were to issue from it. In all the annals of biography,
there is hardly a more interesting story than the life of Brownlow
North. His grandfather, the Bishop of
Winchester, was the son of Lord North, an 18th century prime
minister and parliamentary leader. Thus, from his birth in 1810,
Brownlow North was surrounded by aristocratic connections and
church dignitaries. In his six years at Eton, he
was known as Gentleman Jack, and distinguished himself as
an athlete rather than a scholar. Once his school days were over,
he soon settled down to a life of leisure, and while always
professing the religion of his family, his pastimes clearly
indicated where his pleasures lay. Riding, shooting, billiards,
and dancing. These were the things upon which
he set his heart. Sometimes it is true he had some
serious thoughts as, for instance, when a friend with whom he was
riding on horseback was killed at his side by a stagecoach,
or when a word of advice from the Duchess of Gordon sobered
him. But these things made no lasting
impression on his light-heartedness. Let us hear him tell his own
story. For forty years of my life, my
object was to pass time pleasantly. So long as the day was spent
agreeably, I was satisfied. During those years, whatever
harm I may have done, I did not believe I ever did any real good
to a human being. From 1845 until 1854, with the
exception of about three years, The greater part of my time was
spent in Scotland, where I rented moors and fisheries. My greatest
idea of pleasure was to shoot grouse and catch salmon. I believe at the different shooting
quarters I rented, I treated the poor with an average liberality,
contributing to the different collections what I fancied would
be expected with an odd five shillings when an old woman lost
her cow. But what I considered my great
act of kindness to the people, and that for which I expected
them to be most thankful, was to give them, at the end of the
shooting season, a dance and supper. Now let not the philanthropist
imagine that I intend to compare his philanthropy with mine. I
put his on the very highest scale, mine on the very lowest, only
maintaining that, to the recipients of our kindnesses, it will be
all the same a hundred years hence. To this party of mine,
all the tenants in the neighborhood, with their wives and their daughters,
were invited, as also the gamekeepers, the ghillies, the shopkeepers
of the village, my own servants, and all and sundry, and every
acquaintance that any of these liked to bring. They were very
merry. Late in the evening, perhaps,
some were very noisy, and early in the morning, I have seen some
very tipsy. It would be daylight, perhaps,
when a number of both sexes, giving me three cheers and thanking
me for my kindness, would cry, God bless you, and start on their
ways home. They thanked me for my kindness,
but was it kindness? They cried, God bless me! But could either they or I expect
God's blessing on such a meeting? It is true it was intended kindly. And as a return for kindness
to those who had taken care of my shootings and preserved my
game, and I knew no better way of saying, I am much obliged
to you. Yet again I ask, was it kindness? In the end of 1854 it pleased
God to bring home with power to my heart that it would profit
me nothing if I gained the whole world and lost my own soul. It was, he goes on to tell us,
one evening at the beginning of November when this realization
first broke in upon him. He was sitting playing cards
in the house he had rented for the shooting season on Dallas
Moors in Moorayshire, when suddenly he was seized with a sensation
of illness and an impression that he was about to die. I said to my son, I am a dead
man. Take me upstairs. As soon as
this was done, I threw myself down on the bed. My first thought
then was, now, what will my 44 years of following the devices
of my own heart profit me? In a few minutes I shall be in
hell, and what good will all these things do me, for which
I have sold my soul? From that moment, though his
illness soon passed, Brownlow North was a changed man. His
outlook was changed. Now the being of God, the immortality
of the soul, and salvation through Christ alone became great realities
to him. His habits changed. Now he learned
what it was to pray and to love the word of God. His purpose
in life changed. He lived no more to please himself,
but to serve his Creator and Redeemer. In short, Brownlow
North experienced what everyone experiences who becomes a Christian. He had, in the words of scripture,
been born again and passed from death unto life. Indeed, not
only did Brownlow North become a Christian, but like the Apostle
Paul of old, he became a preacher of the gospel, which he had so
long neglected. It was five years later, in the
summer of 1859, that we found Brownlow North crossing to Ireland. The passing of a hundred years
can dim the memory of even the most arresting events, and there
are probably few today who remember the significance of the year
1859. It was a year which the Christian
Church has cause to remember to the end of time. A great spiritual
awakening had broken upon this land. Men and women who had had
no concern about their souls in all their lives suddenly became
aware that they were sinners needing salvation. Churchgoers
who had sat thoughtlessly for years listening to sermons suddenly
awoke to the realities of an eternal world. Ministers began
to preach with a new authority. Factory workers carried Bibles
to their benches, public houses closed, and began a new trade
of selling religious books. In short, the Spirit of God was
working upon the hearts of men, and nowhere was this more evident
than in Northern Ireland. While there were many who were
staggered by such events as these, they were not strange to Brownlow
North. He knew what it was suddenly
to be arrested by a divine hand, and he knew personally the reality
of the concern which multitudes were then experiencing. It was
thus natural that ministers in Ireland, thronged with heroes,
should turn to Brownlow North for help, and it was in response
to their earnest invitations that he preached incessantly
throughout the length and breadth of Ulster during July and August
1859. The amazing scenes of those months
are more than can be described in a few lines. A full account
of them will be found in such books as William Gibson's Year
of Grace. Suffice it to say that churches
were far too small for the hearers. There was an intense hunger to
hear the word of God. Open air services became a common
thing, and we find Brownlow North addressing congregations of some
4,000 to 5,000 in the marketplace. at Londonderry, 7,000 at Port
Rush, 11,000 at Ballymena, and 12,000 at Newton-Limavady. It is important to realize that
the contents of this book were originally prepared in these
circumstances and preached during the revival of 1859. These chapters
were not composed in the isolation of a study, remote from the affairs
of life and the everyday needs of men and women. Rather, they
were composed to help just such people as ourselves. Could we summon those teeming
thousands of a hundred years ago back from their graves? With what astonishment would
they review the present indifference of men to the gospel of Christ? Our land needs that gospel every
bit as desperately as it did in the days of Brownlow North. On all sides there are facts
to remind us that life is short, and this present world will not
always be our home, that there is none righteous, no, not one,
yet how few have any thought for the eternal world that lies
before us. We are all by nature like the
author of this book was before that momentous night on Dallas
Moors or like the rich man was long ago. If this book finds
you in that condition, thank God for bringing it into your
hands and pray that its message may lead you as it has led countless
others. to a new life and a new world
a life of fellowship with Christ and a world which will abide
when this world is no more The Banner of Truth Trust Publishers
August 1960 Chapter 1 It's earthly suffering, not salvation. Luke 16, 19-31 There was a certain rich man
which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously
every day. And there was a certain beggar
named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and
desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's
table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked
his sores. And it came to pass that the
beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's
bosom. The rich man also died, and was
buried. And in hell he lift up his eyes,
being in torments, and seeing Abraham afar off, and Lazarus
in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father
Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip
the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am
tormented in this flame. 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. 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. Then he said, I pray thee therefore,
Father, that thou wouldst send him to my father's house, for
I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they
also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him,
They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said,
Nay, father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead,
they will repent. And he said unto him, If they
hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded
the one rose from the dead. such is the history given us
by our Lord himself of these two men the rich man and Lazarus
I say history for I am inclined to think it is a history and
not a parable Jesus introduces it with the words there was there
was a certain rich man and there was a certain beggar Be it history
or parable, however, the lessons taught us are the same. And may
God, the Holy Spirit, for Jesus Christ's great name's sake, enable
me to point them out, and you, O reader, to receive and profit
by them. There was a certain rich man,
and there was a certain beggar. The rich man died and was lost. The beggar died and went to heaven. Or to use as our Lord did, a
Jewish expression for the same thing, was carried by the angels
into Abraham's bosom. Now the question that concerns
us is evidently this. Why was the rich man lost and
why was the poor man saved? There was nothing in the position
of either that would of necessity open or shut to them the gates
of heaven. No man was ever lost simply because
he was rich, neither was any man ever saved simply because
in this world he had been poor and miserable. Both, the rich
man and the beggar, had passed through life in the position
in which it had pleased God to place them, and that position
could not be in itself a position of sin. On the contrary, to both
were entrusted talents which they were bound to employ for
God's service, and to both He had given opportunities to honor
and to glorify Him. It was not the difference in
their earthly position, but the difference in the way in which
each improved that position that made the difference between them
when their position was fixed forever. And how great, how terrible
was that difference. Nothing less than the difference
between heaven and hell. a difference differing from all
earthly differences, inasmuch as it is a difference not for
time, but for eternity. Doubtless in their earthly positions,
great was the difference between the rich man and Lazarus. The
cuffs of both were full to the brim, the one with almost every
good thing, the other with almost every earthly evil. Still the
very fact that the difference was earthly robbed it of its
substance. The things that are seen are
temporal. Life soon passes, and when passed,
neither its joys nor its sorrows have any further power. But the
things which are not seen are eternal. Once enter on the world
that is before you, and be it for joy or sorrow, your position
is fixed forever. The great question for us is
not, what is our position? But are we endeavoring to glorify
God in the position in which He has placed us? No matter what
it is, it is the one he has chosen for us. It may be above or below
the average, but above or below, it has its own privileges and
responsibilities. And the day is coming when we
must give an account of the way in which we have employed what
has been entrusted to us. Think of this. I will not argue
the point as to which of the two, the rich man or the poor,
God shows when he allots him his station in this world. The
great amount of electing love. Both have their own advantages. which, if improved under the
teaching of the Holy Spirit, will lead each alike to Christ
and Heaven. Both have their own peculiar
trials and temptations, which, if not watched against, prayed
against, striven against, will destroy the souls of each alike. It is possible for the mightiest,
the wealthiest, the noblest to glorify God on the earth, to
die and go to heaven. It is possible for the most miserable
and afflicted beggar to dishonor God on the earth, to die and
not go to heaven. I wish this truth was better
understood both amongst rich and poor. Being constantly engaged
in public speaking, I have neither time nor strength to visit as
much as many do amongst any class in private. But even in my small
experience of dealing with individuals, I have met instances of the rich
pleading their station as an excuse for their irreligion and
the poor their position as a set-off against their sins. The one declaring
that, situated as they were, it was impossible for them to
come out from the world and live Christian lives, and consequently,
of course, that it was impossible for them to be saved. And the
other, believing that because they had been poor and needy
in this world, they could not be poor and needy in the next,
and consequently, of course, that it was impossible for them
to be lost. I propose God helping me to speak
more fully about the rich presently, therefore will say no more about
them just now. But I cannot refrain from mentioning
two instances that have come under my own personal observation
amongst the poor, where the fullest assurance of salvation was based
on the grossest and most soul-destroying ignorance. I was walking one
day in the neighborhood of Sterling when a beggar accosted me and
asked an alms. He was an elderly man and looked
very wretched and miserable. I entered into conversation with
him and by degrees began to speak on him about his soul. So far as I could judge, no heathen
could be in greater darkness. He seemed to understand nothing
of the way of salvation. The name of Jesus Christ he had
heard of, but he hardly knew in what connection. Certainly
the farthest idea from his mind was that he was God, manifest
in the flesh, dying for such as he was. I felt somehow at
the time a more than usual interest in this man and being very desirous
to awaken in him an anxiety about his future after some preliminary
conversation said To look at you, my friend, I should not
think you have had much enjoyment in your past life, nor should
I think your time here will be much longer. You know something
of what is meant by sorrow and suffering. Would you not wish
to have done with it when you have done with this world? The man's face lighted up with
hope and brightness as he replied, Yes sir, and the thought that
I shall then have done with it is my only happiness on earth. My one pleasure is to know that
I must soon die and that with my life my sorrows and my sufferings
will be ended. But when you die, I said, your
sorrows and your sufferings will not be ended if you do not learn
now before you die to know and to believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ. If you die without an interest
in Christ, no matter what you may have been here, you will
not be saved. You will not go to heaven. And
if when you die you do not go to heaven, all the sorrow and
suffering you have ever known will be as nothing compared to
your misery forever and ever. The man looked at me with perfect
incredulity, but the bright smile was still upon his countenance. No, sir, he said, you must be
wrong there. I do not say that I know Jesus
Christ, who you talk so much about, but I know that there
are two parties, the rich and the poor in this world, and that
God gives to the rich a good portion here. while to such as
me he gives sorrow and suffering. You said just now that you thought
I had not had much happiness in this world, and you said right. I have heard of such a thing,
but that is all I know about happiness. But when I die, my
troubles will be all over, and my turn will come. I never will
believe that the Almighty would let a person go through the wretchedness
and misery that I have suffered here. If he did not intend to
make it up to him in the world to come, I have no comfort, no
hope on earth but this, that the end of my life will be the
end of my troubles. Poor man. I could do nothing
for him. I talked to him for some time
and prayed in my heart for him, but it seemed all in vain. Nothing
I could say seemed to make the least impression. I can only
hope that his eyes have been since opened, but he left me
apparently in the full assurance of faith that though he knew
nothing of Jesus Christ, he was going to heaven because he had
been a great sufferer and had a hard lot in this world. The other was even a more painful
case. I was asked to go and visit four
old women who lived together in a small apartment provided
by the parish and who were too infirm to attend any place of
worship. Ongoing, I found that three were
bedridden, while the fourth, herself little better, received
a trifle from the parish for cooking their food and waiting
on the bedridden three. It was a sad scene of misery
and destitution. Of the three confined to bed,
one, they told me, the doctor said, was dying. And though her
voice was full and powerful, and her strength, when she aroused
herself, far from exhausted, yet the doctor spoke truly. For she died about ten days after
I first saw her. On hearing that she had not long
to live, I went over to her bed and entered into conversation
with her, and I must confess that she exceedingly refreshed
and delighted me. She knew that she was dying and
talked of it with the greatest joy. So far from terror, she
looked forward to it with impatience, speaking of it as the gate to
heaven where there would be no more pain nor sorrow. I cannot say whether or not she
mentioned the name of Christ. My impression is she did, for
I afterwards found she knew several set phrases and scripture sentences
which she was in the habit of quoting. But be that as it may,
her whole tone and manner was so full of peace and assurance,
and that, in the known prospect of immediate death, that I fancied
nothing but Christ could have given it, and she completely
deceived me. I went away from her, assured
of her salvation. And when I thanked God for what
he had done for her, it was with a deep feeling that I wished
I could change places with her. As I left the room, the old nurse
followed me to the door, and thanking me for calling, hoped
I would soon come back again. I said I would, and then added
what a privilege it was to witness such a deathbed as that of the
old woman's inside. Imagine my astonishment when
she told me that that woman was one of the most hardened and
unbelieving sinners she had ever known or heard of. It was quite
true she was dying, and that she said, and very likely believed,
she was going to heaven. But that, while she maintained
this, she made the little room in which they all lived a hell. whole nights would she keep them
awake with oaths and cursing. When she was in pain, or if anything
displeased her, her passion and the language in which she gave
vent to it were alike frightful. Indeed, she thought it well for
the rest of them that she was bedridden, for if she had the
power, she believed that long since in one of her rages She
would have got up and killed them all. I was perfectly amazed
and went back the next day. Addressing this dying woman after
I had spoken a few words to the others, I asked her, Are you
as happy and as prepared to die as you were yesterday? Oh yes,
she said, I am always ready. I wish I was gone. Then you feel quite sure that
Christ loves you, I said, and you know that you love Him. You
know that His blood has washed away your sins and that He is
your Savior. Oh, she said, some good ladies
have been here talking to me about that. But that is not why
I want to die. I want to die because I have
had all my suffering in this world. And so when I die, I shall
go to heaven. What do you mean? I asked, horrified. I mean, she said, getting angry
and speaking excitedly, as she saw that I did not agree with
her. I mean that people are never
poor and miserable in both worlds. I have been a poor, wretched
creature, suffering ill health and poverty all my days. I have
never known anything but misery, and now I am dying, as I have
lived. Do you think God will let me
be miserable in the next world? Woman, I said, your condition
is terrible. You say true when you say you
are dying, and you say true when you say you are poor and miserable. But your greatest misery is that
you think you are going to heaven when you are going to hell. The Bible says, Acts 4.12, that
there is no other name but the name of Jesus. given amongst
men whereby we must be saved, and you are not trusting in that
name, but in your own past sorrows and sufferings. God will forgive
no man's sins for the sake of what he has suffered here, and
as sure as his word is true. Your sufferings in the world
you are going into will be greater than any you have ever known,
unless you at once give up all dependence on them, and place
your hopes on the merits and atonement of Jesus. Of course
I condensed the conversation, but after prayer with her and
for her, I endeavored earnestly and affectionately to point her
to Christ, It was with manifest impatience the poor creature
even listened to me. Nonsense, she said. I again tell
you I have had all my suffering here. It is the rich, those who
have had a life of pleasure and enjoyment here, and not the poor
who will suffer in the world to come. It is most true, I said,
that those who have spent their riches in mere earthly pleasure
and enjoyment will most certainly leave it all behind them when
they die and will never know a single moment of pleasure or
enjoyment again. But the poor, as well as the
rich, will go to the same place when they die, if they die without
Christ. Neither poverty nor riches nor
prosperity nor adversity can in themselves either destroy
or save a soul. If the rich man dies in Christ,
he will go to heaven. If the poor man dies out of Christ,
he will go to hell. No, he won't, she cried, interrupting
me. No, he won't. I'm no scholar,
but I know he won't. It's the likes of me that goes
to heaven. It's the likes of you that goes
to hell. I've had all my suffering here,
and when I die, I shall have no more to suffer. After that,
I shall always be happy. It was useless to reason with
her. It seemed only to provoke evil
temper, and that sometimes to such an extent that I feared
she would break out even before me. into bad language. I went two or three times to
see her, but our interviews were all alike. She was quite happy,
she said, if people would only let her alone. She had had all
her troubles in this world. On calling, one day I found she
had died in the night. Her last words were a mixture,
expressions of rage because something had not been done as she liked,
and expressions of delight because she was getting away from them
all. I trust such instances are rare
in this Christian country, for I am not sure of it. And even
if this particular form of deception is uncommon, it is only one of
a legion with which Satan deceives souls. Other foundations, says
the apostle, can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ. 1 Corinthians 3.11. Yet are there
not many not on this foundation who die what is called happily? Die happily without Christ? Die happily having no better
foundation for their deathbed happiness than had this poor
wretched woman? Of course, I do not profess that
these conversations are given verbatim, but what I have written
gives their sum and substance. Chapter Two How the Beggar Became
Rich There was a certain beggar, and it came to pass that the
beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The beggar died. Blessed moment
for the beggar. conducted by ministering spirits
into the presence of the King of Kings. God himself wiped away
all tears from his eyes, and amidst the songs of angels and
archangels, and the innumerable company before the throne, he
who on earth had neither food nor raiment, nor house wherein
to lay his head, was welcomed an heir of God, a joint heir
with Christ, and forever installed in an inheritance in the kingdom
of heaven. Oh, the joy of that moment to
Lazarus! His last enemy had been destroyed,
and death had been to him the gate into everlasting life. His light affliction, which was
but for a moment, had worked for him a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory. But why was all this? Why was
it that when Lazarus died he went to heaven? Was his earthly
sorrow and suffering the meritorious and procuring cause? Oh no, no! Many have suffered as much and
more than ever Lazarus suffered who have not gone to heaven when
they died. Affliction in itself, as we have
said before, never could and never did take anyone to heaven. Affliction is a talent. It is
true it is a rod, a rod in the hands of a loving father, which
he often uses for his children's good. But it is also a talent,
a talent entrusted to us by God, which he expects us to improve
to his glory and to our everlasting good. If we so improve it, there
are few of his gifts for which we shall ultimately more praise
him. For great is the gift with which
God entrusts a man, when he entrusts him with affliction. Those that are exercised thereby,
and in whom it produces the peaceable fruits of righteousness, will
forever bless him that sent it, saying, It is good for me that
I was afflicted. But woe to the man who does not
see and acknowledge the hand of God. In affliction, if it
does not soften, it hardens. And great, yea, deadly is the
hardness it produces. Many are there to whom God has
sent, line upon line, precept upon precept, sorrow, sickness,
trial, want, bereavement, evils upon evils, each following each
in quick succession, or perhaps coming all together, and remaining
with little variation for months and years upon whom these things
have produced no spiritual impression. Under it all, their hearts have
remained unhumbled, and their God the God of this world. Awful is the truth that men may
be brought and many have been brought after years of chastening
to their last days on earth without ever having been awakened to
the least concern about their souls. people whose hearts, like
pharaohs, in spite of all God's judgments, have retained to the
last their natural ignorance and their natural enmity, and
who have gone out of the world to give an account of the talents
that had been entrusted to them, to find that their unsanctified
affliction in time had only increased their condemnation for eternity. But this was not the case with
Lazarus. It is true that his afflictions
did not take him to heaven. But they taught him that in the
things of this world it was useless for him to seek happiness. His worldly portion was affliction,
and not contented with that, he sought and found another portion. That portion did what no earthly
portion ever yet did for any man. It satisfied him. Satisfied him in the midst of
all his trials while he lived. Satisfied him in death. satisfied
him when his eternal state was decided is satisfying him now
and will satisfy him and that increasingly forever and ever
Lazarus being unsatisfied and feeling that things temporal
could never satisfy him fled for refuge to things spiritual
He went to the scriptures and the God of the scriptures and
found in the scriptures under God's teaching a satisfying portion. He found Jesus Christ. From that moment, the beggar
in his rags with Christ for his portion was happier at the rich
man's gate every day than the rich man with purple and fine
linen and sumptuous fare for his portion every day. A rich
man could never say more than that he had a portion in things
present. But Lazarus, from the moment
he found Christ, could apply to himself what Paul said to
the Corinthians, All things are yours, the world, or life, or
death, or things present, or things to come. All are yours,
and ye are Christ's, and Christ God's first Corinthians 3 21
through 23 And at last it came to pass that
the beggar died, and he who had been his portion in life was
his portion in death. It was because he had sought
and found Christ, and for that reason only that when the beggar
died he was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. Some may ask by what authority
I say all this. I answer on the very highest
and most unquestionable, even on the authority of the Word
of God. If you deny the authority of
that word, then we have no common basis on which we can meet together. But if you admit that God's word
is truth, then you must admit that no man goeth unto the Father
but by Christ. Then you must admit that there
is no other name save the name of Jesus given amongst men whereby
we can be saved. Now Lazarus went to the Father,
therefore he must have gone by Christ. Lazarus was saved, therefore
he must have been saved by Christ. Anything may take a man to Christ. A rich man may feel as Solomon
felt. But this world can be no satisfying
portion, and the thought may take him to Christ. A poor man
may feel as Lazarus felt, but this world can be no satisfying
portion, and the thought may take him to Christ. prosperity,
adversity, health, sickness, joy, sorrow, the fall of a leaf,
or the flight of a bird, anything, everything, no matter what, may
be made effectual to this end in the hands of God, the Spirit. There is nothing that may not
take a man to Christ, but there is nothing but Christ can take
a man to heaven. It must have been a great privilege
to have conversed with this poor beggar as he lay at the rich
man's gate. It is true he did not live in
times of such clear gospel light as we do, yet I think it likely
his love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, charity, were manifest to all who knew him. and would
have put to shame much of what is now called Christianity. I am quite sure that he firmly
believed in himself as the chief of sinners and that the blood
of atonement was his only hope. Abraham rejoiced to see Christ's
day and he saw it and was glad. Moses wrote of him and David
called him Lord and under the guidance of the same spirit that
taught Abraham, Moses and David Lazarus knew Christ, believed
in Him, and was saved by Him. Reader, has the Holy Spirit taught
you to know Christ? There is a knowledge that puffeth
up, but this is not the knowledge of those that are taught of God. If you know Christ by the teaching
of the Holy Spirit, you love Him. And if you love Him, you
try to serve Him and promote His glory. This is the knowledge
that profiteth. If you have it, thank God with
your whole heart, for it is He alone to whom is due all the
glory. It is He alone who has made you
to deserve. If you have it not and die without
it, no matter what may have been your earthly circumstances, your
eternal portion will not be with Abraham and Lazarus. But not
only did the beggar die, but we read the rich man also died. What? Did it happen then to the rich
man even as it happened to the poor? Could neither wealth, rank,
influence, nor position procure for this man that he should not
have died? No. These things could procure him
many luxuries and save him while on earth from many disagreeables,
but they could not purchase life. There is no man, saith God, that
hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit, neither hath
he power in the day of death. There is no discharge in that
war. He who tells us it came to pass
that Lazarus died, tells us the rich man also died. Satan, if he possibly can hinder
it, will never let a man remember that he must die. Consequently,
it is one of the marks of Satan's people that they forget death. And forgetting death, they forget
God, and judgment, and speak, and act, as if their life on
earth was everlasting. Nevertheless, dear reader, unless
the Lord Jesus comes first, you, whoever you are, will one day
certainly die. That day may look far off now,
and so it did once to the rich man. in the days of his youth,
in the pride of health and strength, when clothed in purple and fine
linen, and surrounded by sumptuous affair and pleasant company,
courted, seated, praised, flattered, and perhaps loved. Oh, if anyone in such times ever
spoke to him about death, how distant, how dreamy and unsubstantial
death appeared, how unnecessary the subject, how out of place
and unwelcome. But for all that, death came. For death, as he might, even
in his youngest and merry days, it was always creeping closer
to him. Every night as he lay down, he
had a day less to live. Death was a day nearer to him
than it was in the morning, and at last slowly and imperceptibly,
but still, at last, the day which had once seemed so far off arrived,
and death did come. One morning the sun arose on
the last day of the purple and fine linen and sumptuous affair,
and as it happened to the beggar, so it also happened to the rich
man. The rich man also died. And as it happened to the beggar,
and as it happened to the rich man, so I say again, it will
also happen to you. It may be today, or it may not
be for years, but sooner or later, as men said of them, so will
they one day be saying of you, he is dead. He is dead. How often have you said it of
others? You have said it of young as
well as of old, of the apparently healthy as well as of the infirm
and sick, of those not only that you thought likely to die, but
of those you thought most unlikely, of those you thought as little
likely to die as you do yourself this minute. These all died when
you did not expect it, and so, when you do not expect it, perhaps
will you. At all events, you will die. It is appointed unto all men
once to die. As you have so often said of
others, so will others one day be saying of you. He is dead. May God the Holy Spirit bless
this thought to you, for it is a solemn one. And what makes this thought of
death, or rather, what should make this thought of death so
solemn? I have just quoted from Hebrews
9.27. It is appointed unto all men once to die. Do you remember
the word of God which follows? It is the word that follows which
makes death so solemn. It is appointed unto all men
once to die, but after this, the judgment. Two certainties. First, death, and after death,
the final irrevocable judgment. That they might escape this judgment. Good would it be for some men
if they could die like the beast. But that cannot be. Once born,
man must go on to death and judgment. This corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Once born, the existence of man
becomes as everlasting as the existence of God. And let him
employ as he may the time given him on earth. On earth it is
appointed to him to live a certain period. Then it is appointed
to him to die. And after this, the judgment. Something more than mad are they
who do not know and consider the value of time. I would ask
anyone who believes the Bible to observe how multitudes use
time, and then to say whether such multitudes are not madder
than madmen. What is the length of every man's
life, really? Everlasting. What is the length
of his life on Earth? At the longest, some 70 or 80
years. The first 70 or 80 years then
of an existence that is everlasting is all that is allotted to man
in which to prepare for his eternal future. Should not this fact
for which the truth of God is pledged arrest indifference and
make the most thoughtless think? Should it not bring us all into
close dealing with ourselves as to how and for what we are
spending time? Jesus Christ, the wisdom of God
says, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Jesus Christ, the
truth says, every man is a fool who layeth up treasure for himself
and is not rich towards God. And may not even the simplest
understand that, that man must be under some strong delusion
who, professing to believe that he is immortal, lives only or
even primarily for the things of earth, What were his purple
and fine linen and sumptuous fare to the rich man when his
doctor told him he must die? And what will it be to you in
that same hour if you have gained the whole world and lost your
own soul? Oh, who can hope to tell others or
even understand himself the value of time? Always accepting the
unspeakable gift of Christ and His Spirit, God has given to
man nothing more valuable. Time is man's day of salvation. As long as a man has time, though
he is the greatest sinner on earth, he may repent, believe
the gospel, and be saved. As long as a man has time, he
who is saved may daily lay a treasure in heaven, growing in grace and
in the knowledge of his Lord and Savior. There was a servant
of Christ who received from his Lord a pound, and while he had
time, he made it two pounds. That servant has since entered
into the joy of his Lord, and is now ruler over two cities. There was a servant of Christ's
who received from his Lord a pound, and while he had time, he made
it five pounds. That servant has since entered
into the joy of his Lord, and is now ruler over five cities. There was a servant of Christ's
who received from his Lord a pound, and while he had time, he made
it ten pounds. That servant has since entered
into the joy of his Lord, and is now ruler over ten cities. There will be those who sit on
the right hand and on the left hand side of the Lord Jesus in
His kingdom. Whoever they are, they will be
hell-deserving sinners saved like you and me by grace. But for all that we may be sure
that when they had it, no two sinners on earth ever made better
use of their time. Looking at it as man's opportunity,
think of what is the value of time. Think of what you may do
with it. Think of what you are doing with
it. O ye unsaved, eternity is before
you. Spend not your time for time. O ye redeemed, eternity is before
you. Spend not your time for time. Redeem time for Him who has redeemed
you. Every moment you redeem brings
glory to God and His treasure laid up for yourself in heaven. Every moment you lose is so much
wasted of your lowest goods and so much lost to yourself of an
eternal weight of glory. Chapter 3 How the Rich Man Became
Poor The beggar died. The rich man also died. The rich
man also died and was buried. It is not said that the beggar
had any funeral. Man paid him no honor. But he
had the honor that cometh from God only. The beggar died and
was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. It is expressly
recorded, however, that the rich man was buried. Doubtless the
pomp and pageantry of his funeral was all that he would have himself
desired had he been on earth, and all that could gratify the
pride of his five surviving brothers. But while the appointed mourners
followed the dead body to the ancestral burying place, and
fixed the flattering monument in its prepared place where oh
where was the rich man himself Jesus tells us he was in hell
in torments the rich man also died and was buried and in hell
he lift up his eyes being in torments Lazarus died the rich
man died So far there was one event to each alike. But, after
death came the judgment, and how different to each was the
event in the judgment that followed. Lazarus died, and by the judgment
of God went immediately to heaven. The rich man died, and by the
judgment of God went immediately to hell. As this history is narrated
by our Lord Himself, we know that it is pure and unmixed truth. How unanswerably, then, does
it confute and overthrow the unscriptural doctrine of purgatory. Let no man deceive you. The teaching
of neither church nor church man is to be believed if that
teaching is contrary to scripture. And that teaching is contrary
to scripture which says that by personal or any other suffering
there can be repentance or atonement or salvation beyond the grave. On this subject, the word of
God is clear. That tells us that here on earth,
both God and man may repent them of the evil. A wicked man may
repent him of the evil he has done against God and his own
soul, turn from it, and obtain mercy. And God may repent him
of the evil he has purposed to do against a wicked man, turn
from it, and show him mercy. But there is no mercy, no change
of mind, no repentance in the grave. Let it once be truly said
of a man, he is dead. And the teaching of the Bible
is that neither in God's heart nor his own can there ever again
be any place found for repentance. As it was with the rich man and
Lazarus, so will it be with us all. Immediately after death,
our portions will be fixed. Fixed in heaven or in hell, unchangeably
and forever. Do not forget what I said in
the last chapter about the value of time. And now, seeing that
we have arrived at this truth, the rich man was lost, there
arises the all-important question, what was his sin? That it was
soul-destroying is quite clear, for it barred heaven against
him, and sank him in everlasting ruin. But what was it? We have before shown that as
the poverty of Lazarus was not his righteousness, so the riches
of the rich man were not his sin. It is no sin to be rich. Abraham, called in Scripture
the friend of God, 2 Chronicles 20 verse 7, was rich. and David,
Solomon, Joseph, and many others were clothed in purple and fine
linen and fared sumptuously every day. Yet these were all saved
when they died, and so have been multitudes of others like them. It was not the position in which
God had placed him that kept the rich man out of heaven, that
gave him advantages above most, both for glorifying God and laying
up for himself spiritual treasure. And doubtless, the unemployed
advantages of that position increased his guilt and condemnation. But his position was not his
sin. What then was the sin of the
rich man? To answer the question, what
was the sin of the rich man, has been the chief reason for
which I have written this little book. Oh that God would enable
me to expose it and bring it home by the power of the Holy
Ghost to every heart and conscience. I believe it To be the sin which
has been the great and foundational cause of the destruction of every
man who has perished since the promise was given, the seed of
the woman shall bruise the serpent's head. I believe it to be the
sin which, from the date of that promise to this present day,
has kept the world lying in wickedness. The sin that is sending not rich
men only, but high and low, rich and poor, the moral and respectable,
no less than the openly profligate and godless, every class and
section of the human race, excepting only those who have been born
again of the Spirit, to join, when they leave this world, the
rich man in his place of torment. Let no one think it was a sin
that a poor man cannot commit, as the rich man could have sought,
and found what Lazarus sought, and have been saved. So Lazarus
could have sinned, as the rich man sinned, and have perished
forever. What was it? Before we can answer
the question, we must ask another. What was, by nature, the real
condition of the rich man? In what was his lot alike, and
in what was it unlike, the generality of his fellow creatures? First,
in what was his lot unlike? It was unlike in almost every
earthly circumstance. Few are born to purple and fine
linen and sumptuous fare every day. Few comparatively are placed
as he was in such a position of ease and affluence as to enable
them to commend at will all the good things of this world. When
man ate of the forbidden tree and sinned, God said to him,
Cursed be the ground for thy sake. In the sweat of thy face
shalt thou eat thy bread. But this curse, so keenly felt
by almost all, seemed to have fallen harmlessly on the rich
man. He never experienced, and perhaps
never even knew, that there was a curse upon the earth. A curse
not only upon the earth, but upon himself, personally, in
common with his fellow men. His own idea was that he had
nothing in common with his fellow men. He was the impersonation,
the exact type of him who stumbled Asaph, the psalmist, and whose
description he gives us in the 73rd Psalm. First says the psalmist,
my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped. And then he tells us why. For
I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of
the wicked. They are not in trouble as other
men, neither are they plagued like other men. They prosper
in the world, increase in riches, have more than heart could wish. This was the picture of the rich
man, his position such that the world, seeing nothing left for
him to desire, called him blessed. And even God's people, unless
kept by grace, found their corruptions stirred, and envy rising in them
when they looked upon his prosperity. In so far as all this went, his
lot was unlike the generality of his fellow creatures. But
was the lot of the rich man so cast that he had escaped all
evil? Had he no need to be supplied,
and no want that he shared in common with the rest of the sons
of men? Alas, yes. though it is probable while on
earth he never knew it, and certainly never felt it. He was born with
a want, the greatest of all wants, yet a want without which, whether
rich or poor, no child of Adam ever yet was born. The rich man
was born into the world, heir to purple and fine linen and
sumptuous fare. But he was born into the world
without God. Reader, my last words are solemn
truths, but nevertheless they are truth. Whatever his other
circumstances may be, this is the universal want of every human
being. However much we may differ from
our fellow men in other respects, in this we are all alike. We
are born into the world without God, and unless between our birth
and our grave we are born again of God the Spirit, we live and
die without God. In such a case, though we have
gained the whole world, good would it have been for us if
we had never been born at all Saint Paul in writing to the
converse he had made at Ephesus describes to them in chapter
2 verse 12 what they were before they were converted and when
he described them he described the whole world by nature At
that time, that is before God quickened you, see first verse
of chapter, at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants
of promise. having no hope, and without God
in the world. Now, this little verse which
expresses in substance all that language can express of human
want and woe may be condensed and summed up in the two words
with which it ends, without God. He who has not God has not Christ. and he who has not Christ is
an alien and a stranger to all true good. If he has any hope
for the future, it is unscriptural and so deceiving, for as sure
as he dies without God, he will perish as did the rich man. I have said that all that can
be said of earthly want and woe is summed up in the two words
without God and I have also said that all men are without God
by nature now both statements are true in their very plainest
and fullest senses, and he who has not sought and found God
since he was born, no matter what may be the prosperity of
his worldly circumstances, is a far more miserable and pitiable
object than ever was Lazarus at the rich man's gate. When
God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, He commanded the man,
saying, Of every tree in the garden thou mayest freely eat,
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not
eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die. Adam the man did eat, and in
that day, according to God's word, yea, in that hour, in that
moment, while the flavor of the forbidden fruit was yet fresh
upon his palate, he died. His body did not die that minute. Adam lived many hundred years
after his sin, but in the instant that he broke God's commandment,
he lost, not temporal, but eternal life, and Adam's soul died. God is the life of the soul. No soul is alive that has not
God. And in the same moment that he
sinned, God left Adam. That eternal life, which came
into the world with him, returned into the bosom of the Father.
And with a body still able to perform all the uses and functions
of natural life, Adam became spiritually dead. In the moment
that he sinned, Adam was without God in the world. This is the
death that Adam died in paradise. This is the death that, in consequence
of their descent from him, every child of Adam has died, all born
into the world without God. This is the death that the Lord
Jesus Christ, when he came to redeem us from death, died for
us. And which wrung from him the
agonizing cry, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Let her may argue to the contrary,
to be without God is death, And not only is it death, but there
is no other death. To him who has God, the death
of the body is not really death. It is spoken of in scripture
as a falling asleep. But he who has not God is dead. He may have a name to live. He
may not only join in all the active pursuits and pleasures
of the world, but he may be wise in it and prosper in it. He may even perform all the offered
duties of religion to the satisfaction of his fellow men and the delusion
of his own soul. Yet, if he has not God, he is
dead. He that hath the Son, saith the
Scripture, hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. And amongst other reasons, this
is true because the Father and the Son are one, so that he that
hath not the Son hath not the Father, and consequently hath
not life, because he is without God in the world. When Lazarus
and the rich man were born, both were born without Christ and
without God. When Lazarus and the rich man
died, Lazarus had God and the rich man had not. Lazarus, when
on earth, was discontented without God, and did what the rich man
might have done had he also been discontented, he sought and found
the Lord Jesus Christ. But the rich man felt no need. He had that which satisfied him. purple and fine linen and sumptuous
affair, and he felt no desire for the only thing he had not. The rich man had everything but
God. The beggar had nothing but God,
and each was contented with his portion. Lazarus had God and
was contented. The rich man was contented without
God. And now, dear reader, do you
understand what was the sin of the rich man, the sin for which
he has been already 1800 years in torment, and which even eternal
punishment can never expiate? The sin of the rich man was contentment
without God. Born without God, that was his
curse. Contentment without God, that
was his sin. Was I wrong when I said it was
a sin that rich and poor may alike commit? Oh, let rich and
poor alike take care, for God is no respecter of persons. Godliness
with contentment is great gain, but contentment without God is
damning. O ye that are contented without
God in the world, God's greatest curse on this side of the grave
is on you. If you are without God, who is
it that reigns in you? Satan, the next strongest power
to God, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience, Ephesians 2.2. Indeed, Indeed, the statement is not
too strong, that if you are without God and contented, no demoniac
in the days of our Lord was ever more completely in the possession
of the devil. you dealt this, you boast yourself
of your free agency and say that you could turn to God easily
if you chose that perhaps you will someday but that at present
you like sin better You who believe you can give up sin and turn
to God when you please are under a strong delusion to believe
a lie. You may be able to do any earthly
thing at your own will. You can give your time and thoughts,
your money and your best energies to any of the things of the world
that interest you, but you cannot turn from sin and seek and find
God when you please. It is true that if you seek Him,
He will be found of you, for He has said, Seek, and you shall
find. But the devil will not even let
you seek Him, unless, although unknown to yourself, God is already
with you, helping you. Cry to him to help you. You cannot help yourself without
him. You have only to make the experiment
to prove the truth of what I say. You can do anything else you
like because in other difficulties you have only to wrestle against
flesh and blood. Satan is indifferent to other
things and makes no opposition. But get anxious about your soul
and try to be a Christian. Try to honor God and keep His
commandments. Try to live as in your better
moments you wish you did and as you will wish you had when
you come to die. Try even to put yourself on your
knees in the name of Christ and pray to Him. or to think for
ten minutes without distraction of what it is to be without God
and you will at once prove to yourself that you are wrestling
not only against flesh and blood but against principalities and
powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world and not
only wrestling but utterly powerless in their power Perhaps you have
already tried. Many have. Many have felt at
times that it was worse than folly to live only for this world
that they would like to be, and have set about trying to be,
Christians. But the trial has been a failure,
and their goodness like the early cloud and the morning dew. Why? because a strong man kept them,
a stronger than they. They would have liked to have
been and tried to be Christians, but Satan did not like it and
tried to hinder it. What happened? As they were not
so strong as he was, it ended in their doing not what they
wished, but what he wished. Their wills were overcome, and
His will was done. The proof being, they are not
now Christians. Once more then I say that while
by resolution and natural powers almost any earthly thing may
be accomplished, resolution and natural powers are powerless
in spiritual things. They let him boast of his free
agency as he may. The man who is without God cannot
in the things of God do as he would, but is led captive by
Satan. at his will. No man by nature
can be a Christian because by nature man is without God. Leader, let me ask you in all
love, do you really believe that in God's sight you are a Christian,
or in other words, that you have got God? The question is not,
are you moral and respectable, a good father, mother, husband,
wife, child, friend, neighbor? It is not, are you true and just
in your dealings, or do you attend strictly to all the church duties
of your religious denomination? Many do this and are all and
more than I have named, and yet are not Christians, not saved,
because they have not got God. So one question is, Have you
got God? If you have, you have received
Him since you were born. For be you who or what you may. When you came into the world,
God was not in you. Those who have got God have experienced
a second birth. They have been born again of
the Spirit. The Holy Ghost has come upon
them, and Christ has been formed in them. and by the Spirit that
dwelleth in them, they have been made the temples of God. The object of Christ's work on
earth was not only to make a way by which man could approach God,
but by which, as a God of mercy, God could get access to man. It was man's sin that put the
barrier between himself and God, and to remove that barrier, Christ
died. Christ shed his blood to satisfy
the claims of God's justice against man, and so, putting away sin
by the sacrifice of himself, made a way by which God could
return to man. God left Adam because he sinned,
and thus, as to be without God is death, Adam died. God comes back to the child of
Adam when he believes in Jesus, and thus, as to have God is life,
the child of Adam lives. Now these truths are absolutely
necessary to salvation, without knowing them and receiving them,
no man can be saved. Yet multitudes know nothing of
them, and why? Because multitudes are contented
without God. It is the office of God, the
Spirit, to take of the things that are Jesus Christ's, and
show them unto men. and the natural man has not the
Spirit of God, for this reason these truths are foolishness
to him, so that he cannot know them or receive them.