We looked at this this morning
and we really didn't comment too much on it, just made some
general observations about it. Luke 16, we read that to you
this morning, beginning there in verse 19 through the remainder
of that chapter. The rich man and Lazarus. And
what we saw on this this morning, I think it's true, that this
is not so much about a poor man and a rich man. I would imagine
that considering all the poor people, the multitudes of poor
people throughout this world in all ages, there seems to be
little doubt that there's probably more poor people suffering in
the torments of hell than there is rich people for the very fact
of the sheer numbers of the poor people that have lived and died
without faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But this story, the way
I see it, is about a man, and I think probably in general these
two men represent to us all humanity upon this world, either saved
or lost. The lost can find themselves
in this rich man. He's a pattern to lost people,
and Lazarus in general is a pattern to saved people. And what we
saw in this is not so much just a rich man, but people who are
content to live in this life, in this world of sin. And they're
satisfied with what this world can give them. And they don't
want to leave this world. They're fully content and would
be to live here forever. That's what we see here in this
rich man. And here in Lazarus this beggar, we see a man that
has been called out. He's called by the grace of God.
And in him we see every believer in general that God has called
him. And by his grace and his providence,
he begins to wean them from this world. And I made the statement
this morning, brothers and sisters, if the Lord has begun to wean
you from this world, I tell you, that's a mighty work. This world
is so set in our hearts and our hearts are so full of this world,
it not only takes a mighty work of grace, but it takes a work
of providence. And you notice that when the
Lord calls you by His grace and as He works in your heart, by
His grace, He also works in your life, in your daily life, by
His providence. And what He does is wean us from
this world, from the love of it, the pleasures of it, and
being so content here and satisfied with what it can give us. And Lazarus here was a man that
had tasted that the Lord was gracious. He had tasted the good
word of God. Every believer had. He'd been
born of the truth, and he loved the truth, and he'd been delivered
from the wrath to come, and he'd grown within himself, just like
every believer does, waiting for the adoption. He looked for
the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, just like every believer
does. So don't be discouraged and don't
be doubtful. Whatever trouble that you're
in, whatever tribulation that you're facing in this life, if
it has a tendency, and here's what we need to watch for, if
our sorrows and our afflictions in this lifetime has a tendency
to wean us from this world and for desire to live here forever,
then that's good. And that's the work of our Lord
when He does that. Heaven will be populated with
Lazarus. That's what heaven contains.
A whole bunch of Lazarus. They were poor people in this
life. No matter if they were rich in
material things, they were poor in their spirits. And they spent
their days begging God for one thing and another. They spent
their years begging Him for grace and mercy and strength and to
uphold Him through this world. And now they are in heaven. And
heaven is full of people just like Lazarus that were beggars,
that had nothing to offer God here. And everything they got,
they recognized and were thankful that it came from the hand of
a gracious and covenant God. Covenant God. Now some people
will say, Bruce, we don't need to be burdened
down with things like this. This just weights me down to
hear of it. And we have so many problems anyway. We have family
problems. We have financial problems. We have marriage problems. We have issues in our communities. We have issues in our nation
and issues in the world. And tell us something that will
make us feel good. And tell us something that will
help us to deal with these issues that we're facing. Brothers and
sisters, I don't know of a better way to face life and the issues
of this life than prepare. Just prepare to die. And prepare
for a world to come. That's the best way to face life.
by preparing and planning for a world to come, a world to come. The best way to face this life
and its issues is to face it in the light of the world that's
to come. Our answer to those who love
this world and its course, and our answer to those who suppose
that gain is gobliness, and those whose hopes and aspirations is
in their health and wealth, and those who are so focused on their
families that they've made an idol out of them, our answer
to these people is this, we're all going to die. I don't care what our hopes in
this life is, what our ambitions are, what our plans are, there's
coming a day when we're going to leave it all. We're going
to die. It's appointed unto us once to
die. We cannot escape that appointment.
We can't prolong that appointment. And we sure can't change that
appointment. God Himself has said it. Here
in verse 22, it came to pass, it came to pass that the beggar
died. Now that was no surprise. He
was full of sores. He was weak. He had been sick,
no doubt, for many years. And when he died, it came as
no surprise. Everybody said, well, I thought
he died long ago. Nobody was surprised at his death.
He probably wouldn't have been surprised back, and it probably
came as welcome news to him and a lot of other people that saw
him sitting back for years. But the last part of verse 22
says this, the rich man also died. And the Holy Spirit throws
that little word in there, also. Like it was a surprise when he
died. Nobody expected this man to die. He fared sumptuously. He was
in good health every day. Had all that his heart could
desire. And when his neighbors got up
that morning and somebody said, the rich man down the street
has died. They were all surprised. They
were shocked. He was in such good health. He
prospered. And he's died? They were surprised
at it. He also died. But you know something? I bet nobody was any more surprised
than he was. Because you know he never thought
he was going to die. Ain't this an amazing thing about
death? We don't believe it until we've experienced it. We know and we read that God
has appointed it, that it's sure. We read the obituaries all the
time. We have friends that's dying
younger than we are. And yet death is such a thing
that we cannot believe it until we've experienced it. When did
the rich man believe he was going to die? Right after he took his
last breath. My soul, he said, I've died.
My spirit has been severed from my body. I've just died! And
he never believed it until that happened. You and I are coming here this
evening, and we're already planning for next week. I'm looking forward
to Wednesday night. Some of you are looking forward
to next weekend. We're preparing for it. We're planning for it.
It's our purpose. We've got appointments that we're
planning to keep, but brothers and sisters, listen to this. Let's not be so presumptuous
to think we may keep those appointments. I may not live to Wednesday night.
We may not live to see a wedding this weekend, but there is one
appointment we shall keep, and that's the appointment of death.
It came to pass. It always does, doesn't it? We
can't believe it until it's come to pass, but it always comes
to pass. They died. This is why we come
here and face these issues. This is why we're not so concerned,
even though we are concerned, with the issues of this life
and what we're going through, what our country's facing. We're
concerned with the economy, politics, all of these things, we're concerned
with them. But in the light of this, they're nothing, are they?
Because we're leaving all of it. We're leaving all of it.
We're facing disappointment of death. These two men lived in
this lifetime. But they both died. And there's something else here
in verse 22 and verse 23. Death did not end the existence
for either of these two men. Just reminding you of this. They
both died. And they took this beggar out
and they buried him. I imagine they buried him. The
Scripture doesn't say. And they took the rich man out
and had this huge funeral for him, put him in the ground. And
as far as you and I can tell, as far as our knowledge is concerned,
as far as what we know in ourselves, that was the end of it. They
put him in the ground and that's it, they're gone. They have no
thought, no being, that's it for them. And everybody was welcome
to their own opinion. Everybody could say, well, they're
in this condition, or they're in that condition, or they're
in this place and that place, and everybody had a right to
their own opinion. But the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, what He does is open the veil. He pushes back the
veil of death, and He lets us look beyond dying and death. And he lets us see actually what
takes place with these two men who left this world. And here's what he says about
the beggar. He had an existence. He never ceased to exist. He
laid his body down. He laid that cage down. He laid
that frame down in the grave. But he was conscious of an existence
even though his body had died. The beggar died and these holy
elect angels wrapped him up in their arms and put that old body
of sores and weakness in the ground and carried him up to
Abraham's bosom. Carried him up to the Father's
house, to heaven. And the Lord Jesus said about
this man that he was comforted. He was comforted. He was conscious
of that. He was at rest. He was reclining. What his soul looked like, I
have no idea. The Lord doesn't say. Where heaven
is, that wasn't the issue. But the issue is, the Lord Jesus
said, this man didn't cease to exist. He has a being, even though
his body has died. And the rich men were told here
that he died. They buried his body. He left
his riches. He left his soft raiment. He
left his life of ease and his soul. I don't know if it was
driven off into this place if it was carried there, if it was
forced into this place. But the Lord Jesus says his soul,
his spirit wound up in this place called hell, a place of torment. And this man was conscious of
his existence after his body had died. Both of these men underwent
a drastic change when they died, but neither of them ceased to
exist. Things changed drastically for
both of them. But one thing they had in common,
both of them was conscience that they were still alive, that they
still existed after death. The badger was conscious that
he was in comfort, such comfort that was incomprehensible, rest
that he had never experienced in this lifetime. He was free
from this burdensome and troublesome and sorry life that he had experienced. He was conscious that he was
conquered. And this rich man was conscious that he was in
a place of torment. He was conscious of that. It
brought a big change, didn't it? It brought a big change. A drastic change death brought. But think of this just for a
minute. Just as death brought this drastic change, the decree
of God and the judgment of God will forbid any further change. Death brought this drastic change,
but God says there will be no change. As a tree falls, so shall
it lay. As these two men are now, one
of them comforted and the other tormented. Do you know eternity
will forbid any change in that? If you could ask the Lord Jesus
this evening, how is it with that poor beggar there in heaven? He said he's not begging anymore.
He's not poor anymore. He's comforted. But that's what
you said back yonder when you walked on this earth and gave
us this. I want to know how is it this evening in 2008? It's just like it was back then. Things haven't changed with this
man. Lord, how will it be at the resurrection and beyond?
It won't change. He's going to be comforted. Well,
how is it with this rich man? He was tormented back there.
Things haven't changed. You mean 2,000 years later? 3,000
years later? His tongue is still on fire?
His conscience is still tormented? It's just like it was. Just like
it was. It'll never change. God's judgment
will not permit it. God's decree will not permit
it. Just as death brought a drastic
change, the decree and the Eternity will forbid any change. Here's
Lazarus, and look at him. Look at him. Consider this man.
Here's Lazarus that begged for crumbs. What does he beg for
there? Nothing. He don't even have to
ask. He's given more there than he
can even think. Here he was full of sores. But
there he's filled with the fullness of God Himself. Here he received
his evil things, but there he received his good things. His
good things. Did I say his good things? I
probably should say God's good things. Here he was tormented, but there
he was comforted. Here he cried, but there he laughs. Here he lay in weakness, but
there he leaped with eternal joy. Here he was despised and
rejected, there he is loved and received. Here he wore rags,
but there he is dressed in fine linen, pure and white. Here he
had the presence of dogs, but there he keeps presence with
God and Christ and angels and the spirits of just men made
holy. Eternity will forbid any change. He will always be comforted. I reckon this is why the Apostle
Paul said to live is Christ and to die is gain. To die is gain. But this is not said of all men. Only those who die in the Lord. You can't apply this to everybody
that dies. Only those who die in hope. Only those who die in Christ.
by faith. If there is any doubt whether
God puts a distinction between the righteous and the wicked,
they have only to consider these two men. One is comforted, and
there is the righteous. And one is tormented, and there
is the wicked. And God put a distinction between
them. He does that. He does that. The
Lord does not attempt to prove to us that there is a heaven
and a hell. He merely states the fact of
it. This word here is not given to
us to argue. This ain't given for men to debate
about and try to figure it out with their natural reason. This
is fact. We may debate opinions, but you
can't debate with facts. You just believe it. And here's
the facts as the Master gives them to us. There's a heaven
to gain, and there's a hell to shun. There's a Christ to be
won, and there's a devil to be delivered from. There's darkness
and there's light, there's truth and there's lie. And there's
life and there's death. And these things are true. These
things are fact. The Bible doesn't seek approval.
It just declares them. It just declares them. And here's
the rich man. Look at him. What was he in this lifetime?
Well, he was a man that was greatly exalted. Most rich people are,
aren't they? Exalted by other men. Have many
friends. But how is it with him there?
He's cast down. Here he slept. Here he had rest. But there he has none. There
not. Here he was a rich man, there
he's a beggar man. Here he laughed and there he
cries. Here he had all his heart's desire,
there he's denied everything. Here he received his temporal
blessings, there he received eternal wrath. Here he had the
company of the rich and famous, there he has the company of devils
and the souls of the damned to keep him company. And you know
something about this man? His state will never change. It will never change. Look at these two things. I was
reading Dear Bunyan, and he talked about this passage. He talked
about one of the greatest torments of hell was people coming there after you.
that you had influenced in this lifetime. You had hindered them
in some way from their souls being saved. You stood in the
door like the Pharisees, and you wouldn't go in yourself,
and them that would go in, you hindered them. And Bunyan talked
about the popes how they would suffer in hell, because they
took away the key of knowledge. And they forbid the people to
even have Bibles. For centuries they forbid people
to have Bibles. And when they printed Bibles,
they murdered those who had interpreted the Word of God for us and printed
them up. And he said, can you imagine
what those popes suffer in hell? while entire congregations and
even nations follow them there, and how they'll scream and how
they'll persecute them, that you kept us in darkness, you
hindered us, and you're partly responsible for the damnation
of our souls. Can you imagine those Pharisees,
the Lord Jesus told them? He said you can pass land and
sea to make a proselyte. to win a convert. And you lied
to him. You preached a lie and he's believed
your lie. And now he's damned and he'll
be damned with you. Can you imagine how they felt
when their converts followed them to hell? And Bunyan says
that's the way this rich man is here. When he told Abraham,
he said, I've got five brethren. Would you send Lazarus to my
brethren unless they come to this place of torment? And Bunyan
made this statement. He said it wasn't out of love
for his brethren that he didn't want them there, for there's
no love in hell. But he said it was out of a dread
that he had influenced his brethren to remain in sin that had tempted
them to do it. And now when they dropped in
there with him one by one, they would spend eternity blaming
him for their damnation. I'll tell you one of the things,
brothers and sisters, that bothers me about preaching more than
anything else. And I think about this often.
I made this a matter of prayer and self-examination. Am I preaching
the truth? Because somebody may believe
what I'm telling. And if I've deceived anybody,
God have mercy upon my soul. If I've got anybody's blood upon
my hands, God have mercy upon my soul. Because I'm not only
a blind man will perish myself, but I'll lead those who are following
me off into hell. That's a dreadful thought, ain't
it? That's a dreadful thought. And notice this about this man.
Not only was he dreading to see those that he had influenced,
he would only torment him further, them screaming at him. But notice
this, that this man wasn't converted by hell. Hell didn't convert
this man. He was the same man after he
lived there and existed there as he was before he went there.
He was a covetous man here, and all he was concerned about here
was himself, and what does he make mention of when he gets
there? It's my tongue. Send Lazarus that he may dip
his water and cool my tongue. It's my brethren. It's what he
wanted, my torment. Have mercy on me. Hell is not to convert people. It's to punish people. And I
guess if anything, men and women that go there will just get worse
and worse and worse, because all they do there is sin. And
so their suffering and agony, if anything, must increase. Hell will not bring a man to
repent of his sins. It will only torment him for
them. while their sins will only increase. But notice the last
thing here in verse 29 through the remainder of that chapter.
And this is very interesting. His attitude towards the Word
of God never changed. Did you notice that? He had no
confidence in it here in this lifetime. He didn't believe it
in this lifetime. He put no value upon it in this
lifetime. And even during hell, look at
this, he puts no confidence in God's Word. He said, Send Lazarus
to my five brothers that he may warn them. And Abraham said they've
got Moses and the prophets. They've got all those shadows
and all those types to preach the way of salvation and redemption
to them. They've got Isaiah to preach
to them about that he was made sin who knew no sin. that God
placed upon him are iniquities, and He bore them and satisfied
justice. If they don't believe Isaiah,
they're not going to believe Lazarus if he went back. Oh yes,
he said. Oh yes. If he rose from the dead
and went back, then believe him. We had another Lazarus, did we
not? That raised from the dead, and you know what they thought
to do with him? They tried to kill him. Did they
believe that Christ raised Him from the dead? No. They sought
to kill Him. And the Lord Jesus Himself raised
from the dead. And they paid soldiers to say
that it was a lie, that they stole His body out of the tomb.
No. He said this, if they believe
not Moses and the prophets, they'll wind up at the same place you
are. I tell you, brothers and sisters, even back there, And
even in heaven, when one speaks from heaven, look at the value
they put upon the Word of God. You believe it, and you have
life. You believe the testimony that
God gave of His Son, and you have life eternal. You are a
saved man. Of His own will begot He us with
the Word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits. The
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness,
but unto us who are saved, It's the power of God to salvage you. His Word. His Word. And those
in heaven, they got there because they believed His Word. They
were begotten of His Word. And those who go to hell still
don't believe it and put no confidence in it. Well, I'll mark this and
I'll probably preach it to you again one year from now. If I'm here! If I'm here! If God will. If God will.