The lesson this morning will
be taken from Luke chapter 16, verses 19 through
31. This is another in a series of parables
that our Lord has directed toward these Pharisees who ask Him why
He ate with and received sinners. And some of these parables he
spoke to his disciples about them and some of these parables
he spoke directly to them. Let's read these verses together.
Luke chapter 16 beginning with verse 19. There was a certain rich man
which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fed sumptuously
every day. And there was a certain beggar
named Lazarus, which was laid at the gate full of sores, and
desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's
table. This is a... We can't imagine
such a poverty in our days as this man was in. 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 he
was buried. And in hell he lift up his eyes,
being in torment, and 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. Remember that thou in thy lifetime
receivest thy good things, and likewise Lazarus the evil things. But now he's comforted, and thou
art tormented. And beside all this, between
us and you there's 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. And he said, I pray thee therefore,
Father, that thou wouldest 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 them,
Thad, Moses, and the prophets, let them hear them. Now watch
this. He said no. Here's a man in hell,
being tormented by God, and Abraham's telling him the truth. Abraham
has no sin. He's in glory. He has no sin. He's telling them the truth. And he says, Nay. Nay, Father
Abraham. But if one come unto them from
the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they
hear not Moses and the prophet, Neither will they be persuaded,
though one rose from the dead. Now most people, most people
consider themselves intelligent. If you sit down and talk to them,
they consider themselves somewhat, on a scale, intelligent, clear-minded,
and by these things, able to figure things out and make good
decisions. decisions concerning this life
and the world to come. They see no hindrance in doing
that. I can think as clearly as you
can. A lot of people, they put it
this way when I talk to them about spiritual things, they
say, well, I think. Or that's your opinion. Or responses
like that. Most people think themselves
intelligent, clear-minded, able to think things through, able
to figure things out and make good decisions concerning this
life and the world to come. And this is what the God of inspiration
calls a prudent man. A prudent man. Prudence is the
ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason. That's what the dictionary says
about prudence, the prudent man. And by most, this prudence is
counted as a virtue. And I'll say this, as far as
reasoning things out in this world, as far as building a house
or being an auto mechanic, that's true enough. That's true enough. You have to learn the facts.
Learn the facts. And when you learn them, you
have the ability to figure things out. But our Lord said of the
Pharisees, the scribes, and doctors of the law, as they derided Him,
He said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babes.
Here's what a prudent man cannot do. He cannot reason himself
into the kingdom of God. He cannot do it. Salvation and faith is by revelation,
the revelation of God. If He don't give you an understanding,
you can't get one. You're at His mercy for an understanding. And all fallen men, especially
those who think they know God, are deceived. The Scripture said
they walk in the vanity of their minds. It's clear if you just
examine their walk and listen to them talk. They walk in the
vanity of their minds. Ephesians 4.18, this is the very
next verse. Having the understanding darkened. Darkness. They're trying to use
darkness in the place of light and they're trying to reason
heavenly things. having the understanding darkened
and being alienated from the life of God. What is that? He's
not talking about how long it lasts. Eternal life is to know
God. And they're alienated from that
knowledge. Alienated from the life of God
through the ignorance that's in them because of the blindness
of the heart. We live in a day when Antichrist
religion has permeated every part of society worldwide. Paul
told the Ephesians in Ephesians 2.2, he said wherein in time
past you walked according to the course of this world. What
is the course of this world? That's how they walk, isn't it?
They're walking under this curse, a cursed walk, a walk of pride
and arrogance. And you walk also according to
the prince of the power of the air. What you do is influenced
by the religion of this world. There's no telling, no telling
how much even a person who don't go to church, there's no telling
how much that influence has worked in them, in their reasoning. They'll argue with you if you
say something to a man who don't go to church. He just don't know
it all. And in casual conversation, he
hears you talking to another man about truth and he hears
a statement, oh, that ain't right. Well, how would you know? You
never opened a Bible. Men are influenced by that. They
walk according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air. Those two things merge together.
and they influence men and they cause men to say what they say
and walk the way they walk. This is the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience and the blindness of men comes
from their ignorance of God, alienated from the life of God.
A natural man walks Around in a spiritual haze. That's
the title. That's the title of the lesson
this morning. We're going to see things through
a haze. Through a haze. And they walk
around in a spiritual haze, a thick fog, so they cannot see what's
around them or ahead of them. You know, I think about this
all the time. I was talking to Yvonne about this during the
week as I was preparing this. We got a lot of fog. We haven't
had any recently, but boy, we can get some fog here. And men
say, well, I'm going to go get fog lights. So they go get fog
lights and put them on the car. And all it does is send a brighter
light into the fog that comes right back at you. You don't
see better. You see worse. You're better
off to dim them lights down. Then you can see a little bit.
But religion is fog lights. That's what it is. We get religion
so we can see better and all it does is just come right back
in your face. Natural man walks around in a spiritual haze, a
thick fog, so that he cannot see what's around him. He lives
out his days pampering his flesh and fulfilling his fleshly desires,
whatever they are. Ephesians 2.3, he said, among
whom also we all had our conversation. That means busy oneself or to
live or to behave. We all had our conversation in
times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of our flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of
wrath, even as others. And our Lord gives this parable
as a vision through the haze of religion to warn these men
of how things really are. He's going to snatch us out of
that fog and clearly reveal to our hearts the way things are. Brother Henry brought a message
one time. The message was, it's not the
way you thought it was. And that's exactly what he's
saying here. The first thing our Lord tells
them is that eternity brings with it a permanent change. A
permanent change. The natural state of men and
women here does not have any bearing on his state in glory. What seems to be so here is not
going to be so there. He who suffered so much here
was comforted and he who fared so well here was tormented. Now this parable is a spiritual.
Teaching. It's not talking about every
physical beggar or every physical rich man. But he's picturing
the sinner, poor and needy. Chosen sinners being brought
to Christ. Being rich or poor has no bearing
on eternity except as it's described in the condition of the soul.
Our Lord said to the Laodiceans over in the book of Revelation,
He says, Because thou sayest, I am rich. and increased with
goods, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."
Revelation 3, 17. You didn't know that. That rich
man had no idea of his condition. And here is the rich man. He's
rich in his own eyes. but a beggar before God. He's
a beggar, poor and blind and wretched. That's that beggar. He's poor and blind and wretched
in his own eyes, but rich in the things of God. And eternity
declares the way things truly are. There's a just and righteous
God in glory, and there is a heaven of comfort and rest, and a hell
of unspeakable torment. Men and women don't see these
things because of the curse of nature and this fog of religion
that attends us every step of every day. It's all around us. And even in hell, his ignorance
persisted. He's trying to tell Abraham how
God saves sinners. Can you imagine? Here's a man
who thought he fared well all the days of his life. He supported
his family. He had money. He donated to society. In his own eyes, he was a good
man. And now he's in hell. That ought
to tell you something. But his sin and blindness so
followed him into this place of torment that he still didn't
know how God saved him. And he's going to tell Father
Abraham, he's going to tell the father of the faithful what faith
is. They don't need the word of God.
Isn't that what he's telling them? Abraham said they had the
prophets. They've got the law and the prophets.
They've got the word of God. Faith is built on the word of
God, isn't it? That's the foundation of faith. Oh, no, no. They don't need that. They don't need that. That's
what one fellow told Russell. He said, I don't care what the
Word of God says. Russell said, well, we're done
then. I got nothing else to say. Even in hell, his ignorance persisted,
trying to tell Abraham how God saved sinners. They don't need
the word of God preached to them. They need to see a man raised
from the dead. Well, how many men did they see
raised from the dead? Time and time and time again,
he raised men from the dead. In eternity, all outward circumstances
are changed, yet everything spiritually remains the same. He that is unjust, let him be
unjust still. He which is filthy, let him be
filthy still. And he that is righteous, let
him be righteous still. And he that is holy, let him
be holy still. And then the second thing our
Lord reveals in this parable is that death awaits us all.
Death is a reality. And don't you dare, especially
you young people, don't you dare set death way out there 50 years
from now. It could come in the next second. When death comes, man, it's just
like that. I'll never forget telling this
very congregation down at that old building, I said, one of
these days, one of these days, You're going to go into the doctor's
office and you're going to have a headache or you're going to
have a problem and you're going to go in there and sit down and
that doctor's going to run some tests and leave the room and
when he comes back, he's going to come back doing this. Monday I took my wife over to
have her examined and that doctor come in doing this. Says you have cancer and you're
going to die. Huh? Death is a reality. And it don't
come when you think it's coming, it comes when it comes. Both Lazarus and the rich man
ceased to exist in this present world at God's appointed hour. Did you know God has an appointed
hour for your day? He has an appointed hour. That
rich man, he said, I know what I'm going to do. This is working.
This is working. I bought this farm, and I applied
myself to it. And man, I'm just cranking out
crop after crop. He said, I know what I'm going
to do. I'm going to tear down these barns. I'm going to build
some bigger barns. I'm going to fill them all up.
And then I'm going to say, soul, take my ease. For God said, thou
fool, this day thy soul shall be required again. I have a sister who lived to
be 96 and a granddaughter who died
in her mother's womb. And I could fill up the book
with pages of those in between. Death comes at God's appointed
hour. God hath made of one blood all
nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth and
hath determined the times before appointed. They're already determined. and set the bounds of their habitation.
And there's a day coming and it might be today. Death is such
a reality and it's something we put off. It's something we
don't want to think about. It's not pleasant, is it? Well,
it would be if you had an inheritance in glory. Death might become
a joyful prospect. Solomon said, all go to one place. All are dust, and all turn to
dust again. A poet wrote this, put it on
his tombstone. I might have this put on mine.
I like this. He said, please view my tomb
as you pass by, for as you are, so once was I. And as I am, you
soon will be. So make your plans to follow
me. Death is a reality. Thirdly,
our Lord inserts a sweet prospect into this parable. In that hour
that all men fear and dread, believers are specially and tenderly
cared for by God. Here's this old beggar. Oh, I
see myself in him. Have nothing, nothing profitable,
nothing good, a wasted life. And here he sits. And the only
thing he has is faith. That's all he has, faith. No money, no comfort. This man,
what a trial to sit on that filthy blanket and wait for the crumbs
from the rich man's table to fall so you can have a little
something to eat. And when he died. Oh, what a sweet prospect. When He died, His angels, those
created to serve Him, those created to minister to them who shall
be heirs of salvation, His angels were sent down by His Father
and they cradled that beggar up and carried him into glory. Oh, what a sweet prospect. Lazarus died, God sent his angels
to carry him into glory. And at best, at best, the living
can only speculate what dying men and women experience as they
leave this world. But we do have some sweet prospects
given us by God. He tells us that those who die
in the Lord, are you listening? Are blessed forever from henceforth. Isn't that what it says? Revelation 14, 13. Blessed are
the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth. There's no sign
of a curse, not the slime of the serpent going to be found
on them. They're blessed. And in this
world, the believer, he wrestles with sin and self, but in death,
the last enemy of our soul is put under Christ's feet. Oh, death to the believer is
a sweet prospect. Paul said to be absent from the
bodies to be present with the Lord. Can you imagine closing
these eyes And the next thing you see is the Lord. Huh? Oh, what a prospect. Believers
are in a spiritual union with the Lord. Even now. But at death,
we will experience that union as it truly is. One with Him. Death is a sweet prospect to
the believer. Because there comes with it an
eternal satisfaction. Listen to this. As for me, said
God's saint, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall
be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.
Perfectly, permanently conformed to the image of God's dear Son.
What a prophecy. And thirdly, there is a present
reality. That's a sweet prospect. He said,
you're dead. You're dead. You don't thank
yourself that way, do you? You need to. You're dead. No, I'm alive. No, you're dead.
If you're God, you are. You died with him on the cross.
You're dead. And your life is hid with Christ
in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory. Oh, sweet prospect of a dying
believer. Paul was so excited about it,
so overcome with it, that he said, for me to live is Christ
and to die is gain. I have all the sweetness of His
presence and glory here. And when I die, there's more. There's more. Sometimes I feel
like I can't hold what He's given me here. And yet I know when
I die, there's more, infinitely more than what I know here. To
die is gain. And He said, I'm in a strait
betwixt the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ,
which is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the
flesh is more needful for you. Truly, to die is gain. One more thing. In the light of these things,
are you ready to die? Are you ready right now to die? Am I ready to die? Am I ready
to step out into eternity? Can any man truly say, I am ready
to die? What do I need to be ready to
die? I need faith. I need faith to trust in and
commit my soul to Christ's keeping. Paul said, I am persuaded By
the word of God, by the gospel that was preached to him, I am
persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed unto
him. I give you that day. And then lastly, there's seven
lessons the rich man learned in hell that was too late for
him. Lessons learned too late. And they were aggravated, an
aggravation to him and his torment. He discovered that death is not
the end. I have one brother who left this
world who believed, or at least he told me he did, that death
was the end. There's nothing after death,
no different than a dog dying bird or some beast. They think that death is the
end. I've heard this so much at funerals.
I listen to people talk at funerals. I'd much rather just sit there
quiet and listen. But I've heard it said so much
at funerals, at least he's not suffering anymore. Oh, my soul. Secondly, the rich man learned
too late. There's a real place called hell. People don't believe in hell.
They'll tell you they do, but they don't. They don't. You couldn't walk around here
with any kind of calm in you if you truly believed in hell. And they do, they just ignore
it like there's no such place. The rich man learned too late,
there is a place called hell. And then thirdly, he learned
what he ignored and rejected his whole life. That a holy God
must and will punish sin. He didn't really believe that.
If he believed that, he would have sought mercy and grace.
He didn't believe that. The rich man learned too late
that hell is a place of endless torment. There's no remedy for
your torment. There's no comfort for your torment. All he was asking was that Lazarus
dip just a drop of water and put it on his tongue. He was
denied. There's no comfort in hell. Who can imagine the torment of
a conscience fully awakened? That's what he's talking about
when he's talking about the worm that dieth not. It's a fully
awakened conscience in your suffering. You'll remember every opportunity
you ever had. You'll remember every message
of grace you ever heard. And you'll remember it forever. We didn't have all the technology
that you kids have today. When I was little, we had record
players. And they get a scratch on them. When it's playing, they
just play it over and over and over and over and over. Same thing. It couldn't get past.
That's hell. That's hell. It's going to play
it over and over and over again. He learned too late that Christ
is the only way of salvation. He learned too late that except
a man repent, he will surely And last of all, he learned this, no one can ever be saved without
hearing the gospel. No one. May God enable us to
see these things here and not in hell. Thank you.