All right, our message this morning
will be taken from the book of Luke, chapter 16. Luke, chapter 16. The title of the message is in
four words. Four words, just a list of four
words. And that's these words, life, death, judgment, eternity. life, death, judgment, eternity. This parable that we're going
to look at this morning, beginning at verse 19, is a real famous
one, a real well-known one, at least the story of it is. The
parable of the rich man and Lazarus is a profound parable, very profound. It is an illustration what a
parable is. It's an illustration of the truths
that the Lord has been teaching, beginning at the first of this
chapter about the parable of the unjust steward and the responsibility
of sinners saved by grace to be good stewards of the grace
of God in Christ. And he'd been speaking to his
disciples, but he'd also been speaking to the Pharisees, religious
men, religious without truth without Christ, without grace,
without heart. But he preaches these things,
teaches these things within their hearing to bring to their minds
some of the most profound truths about what I consider to be the
four most important things we have to say, life, death, judgment,
and eternity. Those are four things that nobody
in this building today is going to avoid. You already have a
life to live. You haven't yet faced death,
physical death. I know by nature we're born spiritually
dead. In trespasses and sins, the scripture
says that. Some of us have spiritual life. power of God, the Holy Spirit,
in the new birth. We've been born again. So our
lives are not just the physical life, living in the physical
realm, but we live in the spiritual realm also. And we've been born
again by the Spirit of God. But we still will have to face
physical death. The Bible says in Romans chapter
8, this body is dead because of sin. This body is daily dying. And we know it's so. We try to
fix it up, we try to keep it up as much as we can, some more
than others, but the thing about it is it's going to die. You've
often heard me talk about Methuselah, the one who's recorded in the
Old Testament before the flood is living the longest, what was
it, 969 years. The last thing said about Methuselah
was, and he died. And so that's the way of all
flesh, the way of all flesh. And then this life that we have
in Christ, we who know him, we who believe in him, that's a
joy. There's a peace which passes
understanding. There's an assurance that grows,
but it's still warfare, isn't it? It's a warfare in this life.
But we'll face physical death and then judgment. We'll talk
a little bit about judgment and then eternity. That's what's
portrayed here. in this parable of the rich man
and Lazarus. Let's just jump right into these
words. Number one, we have a life to
live. Now, eternal life is the gift
of God through Christ. But you know something? All life
is the gift of God. And the question of this term,
this word here, as put forth in this parable and as it's portrayed
in the other parable, the unjust spirit, is this. How are we going
to live our lives? Simple. How are we going to live
them? We can live the life of the flesh,
fulfilling the lust of the flesh. And listen, when I say the lust
of the flesh, I'm not just talking about all the crooks and the
immoral people out there who are in jail or need to be in
jail. I'm talking about even the most dedicated religionists
who are trying to establish a righteousness of their own, trying to get to
heaven by their work. You know that's living a life
in the lust of the flesh? Did you know that? That's what
Paul the Apostle said of himself in Philippians chapter 3. You
take the most dedicated religionist in the world who's seeking to
make himself righteous before a holy God by his efforts. That's
a lust of the flesh. That's against the law of God.
That's the kind of person we study in our Sunday school this
morning that is ignorant of God's righteousness, how holy God is.
You see, the Bible says, by deeds of law shall no flesh be justified
in his sight. You can live your life to fulfill
the desires of the flesh in the way of materialism. That's what
happens here in this rich man. He lives under what the Bible
calls the deceitfulness of riches. Look at verse 19. It says, there
was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine
linen and fared sumptuously every day. The indication here is this
is the type of man that the Pharisees would have considered and judged
to be saved. He's blessed of God, probably
a religious man given the clothing that he wore, and a rich man,
obviously, dedicated and moral. But you see, riches are not the
problem here. This man is going to end up in
hell. You know the parable. We'll see
it here in just a moment. This man ends up in hell. But
not just because he was rich here on earth. The Bible is full
of believers whom God blessed with material riches. Abraham,
Job, Philemon. We could go on and on. The problem
is not just the riches. His sin was not just that he
had money. His sin was that he didn't use
it for the glory of God. and the good of others. He failed,
as the scripture says, to lay up treasures in heaven even though
the opportunity was at his door every day in this man called
Lazarus. His problem was the deceptiveness
or the deceitfulness of riches. Back over in Matthew chapter
13 when the Lord was given the parable of the sower and the
seed, he described one called the thorny, we call the thorny
ground hearer. That's a person who hears the
gospel, gives mental agreement to it, but it says, "...he also
that receiveth seed," that is, the gospel, the truth, "...among
the thorns. Is he that heareth the word,
and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches,
choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful." He's got better
things to do. He's got bigger fish to fry,
as they say. Money is not the problem, the
scripture speaks it. I don't want you to turn to the
book of Colossians, chapter 3. Look at this with me. We read
this last week in the Bible, and Paul in 1 Timothy talked
about warning those who are rich in this world that they be not
lifted up with pride and taken up with those things and forget
the glory of God and the gospel and the life of grace. In other
words, don't be so consumed with these things, and certainly don't
judge God's blessings by riches in this life. If this parable
teaches anything, it teaches that. Here's a rich man, and
where does he end up? In hell. Was he blessed of God
by his riches? No, they were a curse to him.
We know that. You know, even the heathenistic
world knows this. They'll always say, you can't
take it with you. And you can't buy your way into heaven. You
can't buy your way into righteousness. You can't do it. Salvation is
not something you earn. It's not something you buy. It's
a free gift of God's grace earned by somebody else, the one, the
man, Christ Jesus. He's the one who earns salvation. Our riches, our true riches are
in Him, not in our bank accounts, not in our property holdings,
you see. Our true riches are in Christ." And we're going to
see the opposite here in a man named Lazarus who had nothing
in this world, but he had everything in Christ. We'll see that. But
look here at Colossians chapter 3. It speaks here of covetousness
in verse 5. It says, "...mortify therefore
your members which are upon them." That means put to death everything
that would keep you away from Christ and from worship and from
service to him. He mentions fornication, uncleanness,
inordinate affection, evil concupiscence. That's just a big word for lust.
Lust, evil lust, evil desires. That's what it is. And then he
says covetousness, which is idolatry. Now, you know what covetousness
is? Covetousness is like greed. The
want of more. We desire more. But the covetousness
which is idolatry is such a strong, intense desire for more that
it takes you away from the true and living God. It hinders you
from hearing and believing and serving Christ. Then it becomes
idolatry. Anything, let me tell you something,
anything, I don't care what it is, whether it's the dollar bill
or if it's anything, any activity or any relationship, that takes
me or you away from Christ and serving him and his people is
idolatry. Now, what's the remedy? Well,
look up in verse 1 of Colossians 3. If you then be risen with
Christ, that means you're saved. Saved by the grace of God, born
again by the Spirit. Seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection
on things above, not on things of the earth. See what he says? That's the remedy right there.
If you're born again by the Spirit, if you're resurrected with Christ,
if you're washed in his blood, clothed in his righteousness,
born again by his Spirit, then seek those things which are above,
where he sits, to write him to the Father in heaven. And don't
set your affection, your mind, and your heart on the things
of the earth. Now look back at Luke 16. As far as a right standing before
God, this rich man was no better off than Lazarus. Look at verse
20 of Luke 16. There was a certain beggar named
Lazarus which laid at his gate full of sores, desiring to be
fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. I
tell you, I've never, I've been hungry, but I've never been so
hungry that I just long for the crumbs of anybody's table. That's what this man did. That's
how hungry he was. And it says, moreover, the dogs
came and licked his sores. What a difference. A rich man
who fared sumptuously every day. But as far as a right standing
before God, as far as being forgiven, as far as being saved, this rich
man was much worse off. Then the other one, Lazarus,
the poor man, he's worse off because of the deceitfulness
of riches. He didn't seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
He cared nothing for the word of God. Look over verse 29. When
he lifts up his eyes in hell, he says, send Lazarus back to
tell my brothers. And Abraham told him, verse 29,
Abraham saith unto him, they have Moses, and the prophets
let them hear them. In other words, you've got the
scriptures, they've got the scriptures, let them hear the scriptures.
This rich man over here, he didn't care nothing for the scriptures.
He didn't care nothing for studying, reading, hearing the word of
God preached. He just didn't enter his mind.
He had other things to do. You see, this word of God, this
word of Christ, is that which leads sinners to Christ. It's
that which leads, by the power of the Spirit, sinners to repentance.
This rich man didn't care for that. But now look at Lazarus. Let's go back and look at him.
We've read about him here in verse 20 and 21. Here's a poor
beggar saved by the grace of God. His name was Lazarus. That name Lazarus is the New
Testament, the Greek form of the name Eleazar or Eleazar. And it means this. It means God
has saved or God has helped. That's what his name means. You
notice here the rich man has no name? It's not named here. Now, tradition from religion
in the Middle Ages gives him the name Debes, D-I-B-E-S. That's not his name. That's just
Latin for rich. That's all it means. And so they
just stuck it there. There's a reason he's not named
here. Why name Lazarus? Huh? I'll tell you why. Because the
Bible teaches us over and over again, and I'll just quote this
one for you, John 10.3, or read it to you, Christ calleth his
own sheep by name. And he leads them out. He knows the name of his sheep. But now, the wicked, it says
this, Psalm 109, verse 13, let his posterity be cut off, and
in the generation following, let their name be blotted out.
Their name means nothing. Here's what he's saying. Christ,
who is our only Savior and our only hope, has a name which is
above every name. And in Him, He names His people
by name. That's His love for them. That's
His redemptive work for them. Our names don't mean anything
without Christ. That's right. You know, you hear
certain names today. They might perk up your ears.
Somebody's coming to town. hear a certain name. And it means
something to us. For if I told you that Bill Gates
is sitting back there in the corner somewhere, everybody would
turn around and look. We know who he is. That doesn't
mean anything to God. Doesn't mean anything at all. I'll tell you the name that means
something to God. The name of His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And our names are in Him if we're
in Him. Lazarus. God has saved. Let me tell you something about
Lazarus here. Now, just like the rich man,
he didn't go to hell because he was rich in this world. He
went to hell because he didn't care anything about the grace
of God. He didn't care anything about Christ. Lazarus did not go to heaven
because he was poor here on earth. Poverty will not get you into
heaven. I know there are some denominations and some orders
that teach that. They take a vow of poverty. And
they think that recommends them unto God. Lazarus didn't go to
heaven because he was poor. He went to heaven because he
was saved by the grace of God in Christ. That's why he went
there. His physical poverty and sickness
typifies the spiritual condition of all of us by nature, even
the rich man spiritually. The Bible tells us, blessed are
the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Look
here, it says in verse 22, That is when it says, it came to pass
that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's
bosom. Abraham's bosom. That's Abraham's
side. And when you think of Abraham's
bosom, and this is about the only time that this is used in
the scripture, don't think of geography. I know fellas right
now who think this is a place that Old Testament saints went
to, to wait before they go into the presence of the Lord. There
is absolutely nothing in the Bible that teaches that. Abraham's
bosom. What is Abraham's bosom? I'll
tell you exactly what it is. It's the eternal security and
blessedness that every saved sinner has in Christ. That's
what Abraham's bosom is. It's the eternal bliss of heaven's
glory. Lazarus was identified with Abraham. That's what this means. Abraham's
bosom. Do you know if you're a believer,
if you're saved by the grace of God, you too are identified
with Abraham? Let me show you that. Turn to
Romans chapter 4. What about Abraham himself? How
was he saved? How was he made righteous before
God? How was he forgiven of all his
sins? Abraham himself. Look at Romans 4. We can go to
a number of scriptures here. Here in Romans chapter 4, verse
1, it says, What shall we say then that Abraham our father
as pertaining to the flesh hath found? For if Abraham were justified,
forgiven, accepted, made righteous by works, he hath whereof the
glory, but not before God. For what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God. Now, everybody who's in Abraham's
bosom, I'll tell you what, they believe God. And it says, "...and
it was counted and imputed unto him for righteousness." What
did Abraham believe? Well, Christ said in John chapter
8, he said, "...Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it,
and he was glad." Abraham looked to Christ for salvation. Abraham
looked forward to the coming of the promised Messiah. It's
almost like he had a promissory note from God. The Messiah is
coming, Abraham. He's going to come out of your
loins, according to the flesh, in his humanity. He'll be God
and man in one person, and he's going to save you from your sins.
He's going to establish the only righteousness by which you, Abraham,
and all who are identified with you, shall be saved. And so it
says in verse 4, "...now to him that worketh is the reward not
reckoned of grace, but of debt." In other words, if you're working
for it, it's not grace, it's debt. But to him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith
is counted for righteousness." Now, what was Abraham's faith?
Christ, and him crucified and risen again. And then turn to
Galatians. Look over at Galatians chapter
3. Now, that's Abraham himself. Abraham was a sinner saved by
the grace of God. Abraham did not get to heaven
because he was a Jew. He didn't get to heaven because
he had perfect faith. He didn't get to heaven because
of his works. He got to heaven because of Christ.
That's why he got... There is a fountain filled with
blood drawn from him. That's why Abraham got to heaven,
because of that fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel,
God with us, his name. Abraham was made righteous not
because of what he did, tried to do, or wanted to do. He was
made righteous because of what Christ would come and do in his
future, what we look back to. Now look at Galatians chapter
3 and look at verse 6. It says, "...even as Abraham
believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, know
ye therefore that they which are of faith..." Those who believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ, the same are the children of Abraham,
spiritual children of Abraham. And he says in the scripture,
foreseeing that God would justify the heathen, that's the Gentiles,
through faith, preached before the gospel in Abraham, saying,
In thee shall all nations be blessed, so then they which be
of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. You see there? Then look over at verse 26 of
this same chapter. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There's neither Jew
nor Greek, there's neither bond nor free, there's neither male
nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be
Christ, if you belong to him, then are you Abraham's seed and
heirs according to the promise." Now, that's how Lazarus got into
heaven. Look back at Luke 16. It wasn't
because he was poor and sick laid with the dogs. It was because he was a sinner
saved by grace. He identified with Abraham. And
every believer identifies with Abraham. That's what our Lord
said. Look back here. Look at verse
20 again. There was a certain beggar named Lazarus which was
laid at his gate. He laid at the rich man's gate. indicating that the rich man
inside was aware of Lazarus, but just chose to ignore him.
He was full of sores, it says, designed to be fed with the crumbs
which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came
and licked his sores." Now, what that's teaching is this. The
dogs on the outside of the gate had more compassion than the
rich man had on Lazarus. Now, what a lie. Here it is, it's simple. Live
life to your own self, to fulfill your own self, or live life to
the grace and glory of God in Christ. That's it. That's what
he taught in the parable of the unjust steward. Here the unjust
steward, he cheated, he lied, he stole to prepare for life
on this earth. He's a child of darkness. He's
an unjust man. What about us who know Christ?
What about us who are justified in Him? Children of life. How
much more should we live our lives? How much more should we
construct our lives around the glory of God in Christ and the
good of His people? Living by the grace of God. Well,
it says here they both died. Look at verse 22. Now, here's
death. Not only do we have a life to live, we have a death to die.
It says it came to pass that the beggar died, and he was carried
by the angels into Abraham's bosom. And it says the rich man
also died, and he was buried. The Bible says he's appointed
unto men once to die, but after that, the judgment. So here's
the question. How will we face death? Not only
how will we live life, but how will we face death? I love the
passages of Scripture that speak of the death of believers. Revelation
14, 13, let me read it to you. It says, And I heard a voice
from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord, die in Christ, from henceforth, yea, saith the Spirit,
that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow
them. I believe that's important. Their
works don't go before them. They follow them. I'll talk about
that in just a moment. Hebrews 11, verse 13, talks about
those who died in Christ and says, these all died in faith. They died believing that Christ
is their only hope. Psalm 116, verse 15, it says,
precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
The death of a believer, the death of a sinner saved by grace
is precious in God's sight. That's amazing, isn't it? The
Bible teaches death is the just. consequence of our sin, the wages
of sin is death. It's common to all men. Job said
it. He said, All flesh shall perish
together, and man shall turn again unto dust. Peter wrote
about it. He said, For all flesh is as
grass, and the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass
withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. This time of year
we can really see a good example of that in the Somebody told me, they said,
well, I love the color of these leaves. And I said, yes, but
I just wish they'd stay on the trees. They won't do. Death. Ecclesiastes 3.20, all
go into one place, all are of the dust, and all turn to dust
again. That's talking about the grave. The rich man's riches
couldn't save him from the power of death. They won't do it. Some say death is the great equalizer,
or the grave is the great equalizer. It puts all men on the same plane. Not so. Read this parable. It
wasn't a great equalizer. In fact, if you want to talk
about it, talk about a great exchange. Because death is the ultimate
and final divider. In life, there are some who live
in the flesh, for the flesh, after the flesh. There are some
who live in Christ, by the grace of God and for the glory of Christ.
His death for this poor man, Lazarus, was a passing into eternal
glory and blessing. Death for the rich man was judgment
against his sin as a great exchange. For God's elect, the death of
this body is a blessed prospect, the Scripture tells us. When
Lazarus died, he was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom.
He didn't walk in of his own power. It's all by grace. The
rich man lift up his eyes, being in torments," read this in verse
23. It says, "...in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments,
and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." For the
believer, we see, to be absent from the body is to be present
with the Lord. David wrote this, he said, "...as
for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be
satisfied when I awake with thy likeness." That's a believer's
death. 1 Corinthians 15, Paul wrote
about Christ's victory over death. He said, O death, where is thy
sting? This is for believers now. This is for those who live
by the grace of God. He said, O grave, where is thy
victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin
is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's how you
have victory over death. Now, everybody must die a physical
death. But not all must die eternal
death. Romans 8.10, I quoted part of
it earlier, Christ being you, the body is dead because of sin,
but the spirit is alive because of righteousness. What do we
need to conquer death? We need righteousness. Where
are we going to find righteousness? In Christ. Nowhere else. You're not going to find it in
the baptismal pool. You're not going to find it in joining the
Church. You're not going to find it in giving tithe. You're not
going to find it in taking the Lord's Supper. You're going to
find it in Christ and Him alone. The only hope for sinners is
to be saved from death. Christ crucified and risen again. Truly for a believer to die is
to be with Christ to die as gain. How are we going to die? I want
to die in Christ. Because I know if that the case. This death is just a passing,
just like Lazarus. I'll be carried into Abraham's
bosom. Well, the Bible also speaks of
judgment. Life, death, and judgment. Not
only do we have a life to live, but a death to die, and a death
to die, but a judgment to face. We talked about that last week,
about giving an account before God. Do you remember back here
in verse 2 of Luke 16? He called this steward, and said
unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee, that thou wastest
my goods? Give an account of thy stewardship."
We must give account. The Bible in the book of Galatians,
chapter 6, makes this statement. It says, God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh
shall of the flesh reap corruption. But he that soweth to the Spirit
shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be
weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we think
not, as we have therefore opportunity let us do good unto all men,
especially unto them that are of the household of faith." Now,
you'll read what you saw. You've heard that. And you know
what most people take and do with that? There's two errors
that self-righteous religious people use from that passage
that are not what that passage is teaching. Many take it so far as to say,
well, that means that we're saved by our works. You're going to
reap what you sow. If you work hard, you'll get
into heaven. If you don't, or if you're just
an open, notorious sinner, you'll go to hell. That's not what that
passage teaches, reaping what you sow. Now, it's true, those
who sow to the flesh in any way, religiously or immorally will
reap corruption. You'll get what you deserve.
Listen, this rich man in here, you know what he got? He got
just what he earned. He got just what he deserved.
He didn't look up and say, I don't deserve to be here. Because any
sinner who sows to the flesh, whether, again, whether it's
religiously or immorally, they're going to reap corruption. The
second error that people use on taking that reap what you
sow is that you're going to earn your rewards in heaven. That's
not what that's teaching. In fact, if you read the whole
passage, you'll see that. But let me tell you what it's
teaching. If you sow to the flesh, you'll reap corruption. The flesh
cannot produce anything but flesh, and that's corrupt. But my friend,
if you sow to the grace of God, you'll reap life everlasting.
That's what it's saying. How do you sow to the grace of
God? You don't live and work to earn your salvation. That's
not sowing to the grace of God. If you're working for your salvation,
you know what you're doing? You're sowing to the flesh. And
you're going to reap corruption. Because that's all your works
are going to get you. That's all my works could get me. But if
we sow to the grace of God, to his glory, undeserved, unmerited
reward in heaven through him, what will we get? We'll get life
everlasting through him. That's what it's saying. Sow
the gospel. It's not salvation by work. That's
death. It's not earned rewards. That's
not grace. That's death. But it's sowing
to the grace of God by the power of his grace. in and by Christ,
that's life. And he tells us sinners will
be held accountable to God for the right use of the things God
has put into our trust. That includes everything, money,
talents, time. We're responsible to use these
things for his glory and the good of others, not for our own
selfish desires and fulfillments and our own self-righteousness
and our own motives and our own ends. I'll give you an example
of that, a real common example. All right? Everybody take a breath.
Let it out. You know where that breath come
from? You know who gave you that breath? God did. God gave you
that breath. And he can stop it just like
that, can't he? I mean, he can just cause every one of us to
just fall dead. Now, you can use that breath
to curse God and to curse others, or you can use that breath to
glorify him and worship him. See what I'm saying? You do that,
you've got that choice. You sow to the flesh, or you
sow to the grace of God. But you see, we can use all the
good things God's put into our trust, either to his glory, to
make friends of others, or to make enemies. We can hoard them
for ourselves, squander them on ourselves, or we can use them
to promote the salvation of sinners by promoting the gospel, or to
help relieve the suffering of others as much as we can in this
life. Remember, this parable is directed at the Pharisees.
He said over here in verse 15, you are they which justify yourselves
before men now. Well, that's not going to work.
You justify yourselves before men, but what does that mean? God's Word tells us that no place
will be justified in his sight by works of the law. God's Word
tells us plainly there's no salvation. except by his grace through Jesus
Christ. God's word commands us plainly
to believe in him and repent of our dead works and idolatry
and follow him because we love him out of gratitude and grace. And we must give an account to
the Lord. Turn over to 2 Corinthians 5. This passage that Brother
Joe read is our scripture reading. This is why I had him read this.
And I want you to listen to me very carefully here now. There's
something real important here that I want you to understand. He says in verse 10, he says, well, look at verse
9, wherefore we labor. Now, that word labor, that's
endeavor. That means to work hard. That whether present or
absent, we may be accepted of him. Now, the acceptance here
is not we're trying to work our way into God's favor. It simply
means we're trying to do that which honors God. That's simply
it. Look at verse 10, "...for we
must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one
may receive the things done in his body according to that he
hath done, whether it be good or bad." Now, you know what people
do with that. Well, God's going to say, how
many good works you did, and he's going to reward you accordingly.
No, that's not what it's talking about at all. Now, listen to
me very carefully here. We have a judgment to face. The
issue at this judgment is not, what do our works earn for us? The issue at this judgment is
this, what do our works say about us? Do you see the difference? It's not what they earn for me,
they're not going to earn anything for me. The Bible teaches that
I have all things freely given to me in Christ, Romans 8, I
think it's verse 34. We're blessed with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 1, 3. You see, it's not what my works
earn for, it's what do they say about me. And here's what the
issue is. Are my works an evidence of my own pride and my own self-righteousness? So into the flesh. Remember Matthew
7, verse 21, when they stood and they said, Lord, Lord, haven't
we prophesied in your name? Haven't we done many wonderful
works? Haven't we cast out demons? And he said, depart from me,
ye that work iniquity, I never knew you. They were pleading
those things as their righteousness before God. What does that say
about them? They didn't know Christ. They
weren't washed in his blood. They weren't clothed in his righteousness.
They weren't submitted to him. Think about that. Remember the
Pharisee outside the temple over in Luke 18? He said, I thank
God I'm not like other men. I'm no extortioner. I'm no adulterer. I fast twice in the week. I give
tithes of everything I possess. Is that your righteousness before
God? What does that say about you? It says you don't know Christ. Now, here comes the publican
in that parable, and he beats on his breast and says, God,
be merciful to me, the sinner. What does that say about him? And here's a sinner who has no
hope but Christ, has no righteousness but Christ, has no forgiveness
but by the blood of Christ. You see what I'm saying? That's
what this judgment will reveal. It's not what your works earn
for you or what you deserve to get because you were a preacher
or you witnessed the 10,000 people. No. It's what do they say about
you, whether they be good or bad. What determines whether
our works are good or bad? I'll tell you what, if we're
in Christ or not in Christ. That's it. Because you see, without
Christ, you know what I work for? Our best efforts to keep
the law? The Bible says in Romans 7, they're
fruit unto death. But in Christ, they're called
fruit unto God. Now, fruit's a result. not something
that is the source or the cause of anything, it's the final product. The Bible says we are his workmanship
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, not because of good
works wherein God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them. See the difference? Are our works
evidence of God's grace in Christ and salvation and our love for
him and for others, or are our works evidence of our own self-righteousness
and unbelief? And remember, this accounting,
go back to Luke 16 now, this accounting is an accounting of
the heart. It's what does our stewardship say about our heart.
It's an accounting of our standing with Christ. Are we in him or
not? Do we plead his righteousness
or our own? It's an accounting of the law.
Do we have the righteousness that answers the demands of God's
law and justice? If we do, it's found in him and
not in ourselves. Well, look at verse 23 here of
Luke 16. It says, "...the rich man in
hell, he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and he seeth 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 thence to you cannot, neither can they pass
to us that would come from thence." Great gulf fixed. You see, we
have an eternity to spend. That's what it's talking about,
eternity. How long's eternity? Forever
and ever and ever. Dot, dot, dot. Never ends. I don't believe you can take
this parable and construct what some try to do, a theology of
heaven and hell, myself. I don't know. Let me tell you
something. If you believe the Bible, you believe there's a
heaven and there's a hell. I don't really know much about
either one, about the details, to be honest with you. All the
teaching we have on hell is taught by our Lord directly, not in
the epistles. So we don't know a whole lot.
I told somebody, I said, I don't know a whole lot about hell,
but I know one thing about hell, and that's this, I don't want
to be there. But the best way I can describe
it to you is this. Heaven is eternal blessedness
and fellowship with Christ. Hell is eternal separation from
Christ. That's the best way I can do
it. And I know people want to talk about streets of gold in
heaven and all this. I don't know about all that.
I know there's a lot of symbolic language in the Bible, but I
know this. To be in heaven is to be with
Christ eternally. And to be in hell is to be separated
from Christ eternally. I know that. But here's the thing. This rich man There was a great
goal fixed. There was no possibility of salvation. No possibility of fellowship
with God and his people. It could not. This is the end.
This is eternity. Now, what about eternity? Let
me tell you something about eternity. John 17, 3. Listen to this. And
this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Do you know Christ? then you're already a recipient
of eternal life. Paul wrote in Philippians 3 in
verse 8, he said, Yea, doubtless I count all things but loss for
the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for
whom I have suffered the loss of all things. And do count them
but done, that I may win Christ and be found in him. That's where
I want to be found, in Christ. not having mine own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may
know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship
of his suffering be made conformable unto his death." That's heaven. For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord. You see, if you have Christ,
you have it all. And what we have here is what the psalm says,
a foretaste of glory divine. That's heaven. Now, the last
few verses of this parable I'm going to deal with next week,
because they are certainly profound. And I want you to get the gist
of them, just not in a few words, but I've got a whole message
on the last part of this parable. What he's basically telling us
in that last part is this. Don't go around here looking
for signs and dreams and visions and experiences. Look to the
Word of God. You have it in your hand. Be
a good steward of this Word. You hear a fellow say, well,
I'm looking for a Damascus Road experience. You know, I trust
this Word more than if I had a Damascus Road experience. This
is the way to Christ. His Word. This book is a book
of Christ. Get into it. Stay in it. Study
it. Listen to it, priest. Get where
it's preached. That's what that last part of
that parable is about, and I'll deal with that next week.