Permanently back to Luke, chapter
16, and pray for me that I deal with
this most difficult I would rather preach on any
subject than that. I'll just hold off what I'm going
to talk about and leave it with us. And I fear, rather than use
this to scare people the way Christians do, you know, I despise
what they call that the old-fashioned way of preaching. I can't stand
it. And then you scream, red face, trying to scare people.
I almost act like I'm glad I ended up there. I just don't want you
to be killed. I'm glad. Hell, it is scary. I don't want
to go there. I don't want you to go there. So let's see what lessons we
can learn from the rich man and the class of this town. The Lord
is still speaking to the Pharisees. Let's look at verse 19. There
was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine
linen, and bared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain
beggar named Lazarus, which was laid his gate full of swords. and desiring to be fed with the
crumbs which fell from the rich man's table, or with the dogs
and who had licked his soles. Now, I don't believe this is
a parable. I believe this is something that
literally took place. You talk about a certain rich
man and a certain beggar with the name Lazarus. This is something
that truly took place. And the first thing that we notice
is that outward circumstances do not reveal man's relationship
with God. I'm going to repeat that. Outward circumstances do not
reveal man's relationship with God. It doesn't reveal whether
God is blessing him or whether they are under God's curse. This
rich man, The scripture said, fared sumptuously. That means
he made merry. This was a happy man. This was
a man who had a lot. He had plenty of money in the
bank. He had plenty of friends. He lived a good life. He had
nice clothing, nice shelter. He was a happy man. He fared
sumptuously every day. And you would like to have his
life. I would like to have his life.
I would rather be in the position of the rich man than up on the
mattress. I don't find it attractive to
be filled with sores and to be laid in a cage as the best way
to approach to fall on my leg. I don't want that to happen.
And you look at these two men's lives, and they were vastly different. One was a very happy man with
what we would call a good life. And one man had a very, very
difficult life, a sickness at heart. Now, which one of these
men had God's blessing? And which one of these men were
under the curse of God? at Dr. Rich's blessing. And the
rich man who fared so selfish and enjoyed life so much was
under the curse of God. That lets us know that you can't
look at someone outwardly and look at their circumstances and
tell what their relationship with God is, or whether God's
blessing is upon me. Mr. Richman, I'm very happy. Lazarus was full of soul, playing
daily the game of the rich man. I can't help but think the rich
man saw it one day and probably dropped the bottle. I wish I
didn't have any more of this man in my day. He wasn't cruel
enough to let him off, but he saw it. Lazarus pictures the
belief. Blessing of the poor. He was full of souls. He was
full of sin. He was full of sin. That's how
Paul felt. Poor and full of sin. And he
longed, he desired to be fed from the crumbs that fell from
the rich man's table. He was a man of longing. Blessed
are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness. the day
shall be. We have Lazarus in this poor
state, and this rich man in this happy state. Which one of these
people will I become blessed? Now, the second thing that I
will notice is death is going to come to all men. That's what
verse 22 says. In the past, that the beggar
died. It was carried by the angels
into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was
buried. And death comes along, and not
just death, but not one mistake in life, but a couple of mistakes. We wouldn't be surprised if we
heard someone else die in these conversations. But none of us
is looking to be the only dead woman who died tonight. But I
think what the Lord said to that rich man in the little cabin
at 12, and I'll prove it, this night, die slowly, just be quiet. Good people, one of us, will
die tonight, and good people live another 50 years. But death
is going to come to all of us. I dare say the rich man wasn't
expecting to die when he died. And I dare say the latter probably
was thinking, when's it going to happen? Because it's going
to be before too little death. Scripture says, it is appointed
to men once to die. The day of your death, the day
of my death, has already been appointed. It's already been
determined by God. It's already done. Now, let's
go on reading in verse 23. And in hell, he lift up his eyes,
being in torments 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 way. Abraham said, son, remember,
And thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things, and likewise
Lazarus evil things. But now he is conquered, and
thou art forgiven. Now the third thing I'd like
to say is that death is not the end. Death is not the end. You know, die like animals. We
all have immortal souls that will spin eternally in heaven
or in hell. Death is not the end. As a matter of fact, it's the
beginning. carried by angels into Abraham's
bosom, and it's called the place of God. Now, there's very little we know
about heaven. People make descriptions of it,
and we don't know much. I know Christ is there, and I
know there's no sin. And I know if I'm there, I'll
be in a place without sin. a place without pain, a place
without fears, a place of complete bliss. Now, what else I can say
about him? I don't know, but just think
in Christ's presence. Well, there he is being in his
presence, beholding his place, seeing his beauty and being perfectly
conformed to his. Now, he was in a place of I hope we will. We won't remember what it's like
to be a sinner. We'll be perfectly controlled
by Jesus Christ, and we'll have some understanding. We'll look
upon His hands and His feet, and we'll know that the only
reason we're there is because of Him. We'll know that. Now,
Lazarus was in heaven for one reason. Christ died for his sins. That's the only reason he was
in heaven. He wasn't in heaven because of anything he did, any
goodness he did. He was in heaven because Christ
died for his sins. And the rich man died, and he
found out there really was a place called heaven. The place of torments. Verse 23, in Caelo, he looked
up his eyes, being in torments. and seeing Abraham afar off,
and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father
of Abraham, have mercy on me. And he said, Lazarus, that he
should dip the tip of his finger in water and chew my tongue,
for I am tormented in this flame. Now, what this man found out
was that God really does punish sinners. All sinners must be punished. Now, in Passover, when the Lord came, they were dead in
every home. Not just the Egyptians, however.
They were dead in every home. There was the death of the firstborn
in the Egyptians, but there was also the death of the substitutionary
name in the houses with the blood over the door. God is just, and
he must punish sin. God is good, and he must punish
sin. Somebody says, how in the blood
of God sin can happen? I don't know anything about that. But it's just God's will. God is just. God is good. He must punish sin. Now, when sin was found before
Christ, what did God do? He showed no mercy. He pursued it. He bore the complete, full equivalent
of hell. And this rich man found out that
there is a place called hell. And with God, the punishment
makes the crime. Don't think God's too severe.
Someone who hates the Lord Jesus Christ ought to speak the truth. Isn't that right? That's why
we've come to hell. Now, this place of torment is
a place of memories. Son, remember. If anybody in this room goes
to hell, don't remember this time. Don't remember this message. Son, remember. And it's a place
of knowledge. You remember he said, I have five brethren. He
was thinking about his brothers. I have five brethren. Come and
warn them if they come knocking this awful place. And the next
thing that I would say about these two men is death will bring
a great change. Now, this rich man fared sumptuously
every day. He was a very happy man. He wore
purple and violet, and he had the finest to eat. He had plenty
of money in the bank, plenty of friends. His recreation diet
was what he felt well-steemed. This man had what we call a good
life. But oh, how things did change
for this man. He said, I'm tormented. I'm tormented
in this flame. Now somebody says, is hell literal
flames? I don't know, but it might be. It might be. I don't understand
this. Like I said, I don't know why
I'm talking about it. But it's real. And this man found
out. And he said, I am tormented in
this flame. And Lazarus had predictions,
didn't he? Here he had this life of poverty
and sickness, and all of a sudden he's ushered into the very presence
of Christ with a glorified, sinless body, a perfect body, living
in perfect eternal bliss. Oh my, what a change Lazarus
experienced. He was full of sorrows, full
of sin. Not anymore, not anymore. He's perfectly conformed to the
image of Christ. Now death will bring on a great
change if you look at the difference of the rich man before and after
death, if you look at the difference between Lazarus before and after
death. But you know there's some things
that will not change. As a man lives, so will he die. Turn with me for a moment, keep
your finger there, and go to Luke 16 and turn to Revelation
chapter 22, verse 11. He that is unjust in an unjustified state,
let him be unjust still. Just speak eternity that way.
And he which is filthy, Let him be filthy still, he'll spend
eternity that way. And he that is righteous, and
this describes every believer, let him be righteous still. And he that is holy, let him
be holy still. Now how you die is how you will
live eternally. Now this rich man was a religious
man. He said, Father Abraham, I have
no doubt that he was a religious man. He had some familiarity
with Abraham. But as he died, so he's going
to spend eternity, he was asking Father Abraham to have him give
him mercy. He still didn't get it. He still
didn't understand that salvation is of the Lord. He was looking
for some man to do something for him. He had the same selfish
nature that he died with. He had the same sinful nature
that he died with. He had the same sinful lust that
he had before he died. There was no way to fulfill it,
and no way to gratify him, tormented in this plane. As he lived, so
he died, and so he would spend eternity. Lazarus was in heaven
for one reason, Christ died for us. It's not like he had it bad and
now he's going to have it good to make up for the bad he had.
Not like that at all. He's in heaven for this one reason.
Christ died for his sins. He was a believer. Being poor,
all he had was Christ. Being full of sin, all he had
was the righteousness of Christ. And he found out what he believed
in his heart was true. The way he died, He woke up in
glory, finding out that what he believed was true, that Christ
is all that's needed, Christ is all that's required, and Christ
is all that's accepted. He found that is really true. He said he believed that Christ
was all while he was on earth, and when he died and woke up
in heaven, he found that is true. He said he believed the righteousness
of Christ was the only righteousness there is. He died believing that. He woke up, and he found the
kid with the Holy Spirit. And he was comforted in Abraham's wisdom. Look at verse 26. Verse
25, remember he said, when you send ladders to cool my tub,
for I'm tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, son, Remember,
thou in thy lifetime receivest not 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 goal. Yes. Listen to the finality of those
words. Between us and you, there is
a great goal. so that they would pass from
hence to you. Cannot. Neither can they pass
to us that would come from these. There is a great law of things. Now, please hear me. A believer
cannot be anywhere but here. And a believer cannot leave that
glorious place or lose his stand. Value which the past gives to
you cannot. And they that would leave hell,
and I dare say everybody there would if they could. They'd love
to leave that awful place. But they cannot. They which would
pass institute cannot. And they who leave hell cannot
because of this great gulf fixed. It's there for eternity. Now,
what is this great gulf that's fixed so one can't pass from
one place to another? I know exactly what that is.
It was called the justice of God. The justice of God. You see, those in heaven, the
very justice and righteousness of God demands that they be baptized. I would like to be baptized. May God be with us. I would like to be baptized.
He that spared him not his own son, but delivered him up for
us all, how shall he not freely give us all things? Whom shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? God justified them. Who is he
that can commit it? Bring it on. It's Christ the
God. Yea, rather than to risen again,
who's even at the right hand of God, who also made an exception
for us. God's justice can be made if
everybody in the crowd die for it. You see, they deserve to
be healed. They're perfectly righteous.
They have no sin. They have nothing but righteousness
because of what Christ did in their behalf and the justice
of God that awaits. It's not just some kind of deal
of mercy to God. It's not even a love of God or
a thank God for his love. It was before all this that it's
the justice and righteousness of God that demands that all
believers They're here because of the blood of the righteous.
And those in hell are here eternally, and hell is eternal because God's
justice can never be exalted. The best way that I can understand
this now is this illustration. Well, I can't understand it.
But somebody heard my talk. No matter what they think, $50
million. If somebody gave me $50 million,
I'd be satisfied now. Sin is an infinite evil, and
it makes hell last forever, because God's justice is never satisfied
in the death of sin. That's how infinitely evil sin
is. You can see exactly where it
is, doesn't matter where you are. And that's why hell is eternal. And this man is in the ordinance
of hell eternally because of the justice of God, God would
cease to be just if the sinner escaped hell. God must forever
banish all recklessness that leads to him. Hell is eternal
because God is eternal. When he let the people out of
hell, they ruined the universe. They ruined heaven. Hell is eternal
because God is eternal. Hell is eternal because God is
just. So there is a great goal. It's terribly big. It will never
be built. That's what it is. Fear of heaven. And I guarantee you, somebody in
this room, many people in this room, are terrified of the Lord. I
don't know. Always had it with me. When I
was a little boy, I was scared to death of the Lord. Hey, well,
I don't like that. I don't think about it. Do you
know that fear of heaven never produced forgiveness in one single
heart? The story of the first truth in the
second. Then he said to the rich man,
I pray thee, therefore, father, that thou would send him to my
father's house. For I have five brethren that
he may testify unto them, lest they come also into this place
of torment. Abraham said unto him, Who hath
Moses the prophet? Let there be a man. And he said,
Aye, father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead,
they'll repent. He said unto him, If they hear
not Moses the prophet, neither will they be persuaded, until
one rose from the dead. Now, the rich man says, send
someone from the dead who can testify of the reality of this
awful promise. He might even have the smell
of fire and brimstone still upon him. He can make you hear the
moans of the damned in hell. You send him, and they'll hear,
and they'll repent when they see the reality of this. And
that closes the promise. And you're thinking, no, no,
no, that won't work. Suit somebody for the day. And
believe. And I love what he says. He says,
when the ear not closes to the promise, there will be here that
one rose from the dead. Now, the ear of hell, the belief
that there is a hell, never brought one sinner. You know those red-faced preachers
who were screaming and yelling about hell and trying to scare
people? Well, it works. It works. It scares me. They have brought one sentence
of truth. It's not good. It was only during the message
of Moses and Apostles, The Lord says in verse 39, you search the scriptures. They did. They were students
in the scriptures. They were memorizing. They could know where
the middle verse was, where the longest verse was, where this
was, where that was. They could quote many scriptures. They would have them on their
clothing. They'd have scriptures up all
over their house, the doors. He said, you search the scriptures.
And in them, you think you have eternal life, but you missed
the point. They would testify of me. And you will not come to me that
you might have my life. I received God's honor from the
end. But I know you, you have not the love of God in you. I
am coming in my Father's name, and you receive me not. If another
man shall come in his own name, him will you receive. How can
you believe that you receive honor one of another, and seek
not that honor that is coming from God for you? Do not think
that I will accuse you to the Father. There is no one that
accuses you, even Moses, in whom you trust. For had you believed
Moses, You would have believed me, for he wrote for you. You see, everything Moses wrote
was of Christ. When he talked about that ark
and safety being in the ark, that ought to be true. When he
talked about to pass the lamb, if you could get in the house
with the blood over the door, and God said, when I see the
blood, I will. If you're in Christ, when He
sees the blood, He will pass it on. All the sacrifices, all
the priests, all the stories, everything was written of Christ. To Him, give all the prophets
witness. If you didn't believe Moses,
you wouldn't believe me. He wrote of me. But if you believe
God in writing, how should you believe my words? The fact of
the matter is you can't. Let me ask you a question. First point of order. Give all the prophets, every
single one of them, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Amos,
on down through what they call the final prophet, which I think
is a silly title for any prophet. But all the prophets, to him,
give all the prophets witness that through his name, Whosoever
believeth in him shall receive the permission of sin. And repentance
is not produced from fear of anyone. It's just not. It may produce fear of some God,
but not the true fear of God, not the true awe of God. Repentance
is produced by a sight of Christ Jesus. You see it in your heart. And from this out next place,
from this world, in your heart, you will see it in your heart. You see who he is. He's God. He's man. He's the God of man. Do you see it? Why do you doubt it? I'll give
you two reasons as to why you doubt it. There's four explanations
we can't all make. One, it's because of God's purpose.
Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, He would have taken Him before He began to crucify Himself.
It was God's purpose for Him. And he died because he was guilty. Have it coming. See, he who knew
no sin on the cross was made to know no sin. He was made to know no sin. And God showed him no mercy because
God will not let sin go unpunished. My sin became his sin. It became his sin. When he was
dying, he wasn't saying, well, I know this is not my sin, but
it's God's sin. No, no. This is my sin. The reason he didn't open his
mouth is because he was guilty. Who did he die for? Who did he die for? Yes, that
is an issue. Who did he die for? If you say
everybody, and some of those people he died for, end up in
hell, you make his death meaningless, worthless, without value. You
make His death not the cause of salvation. Who did He die
for? He died for us. He died for us. He died for us. He died for us. He died
for us. He died for us. He died for us. He died for us. He died
for us. He died for us. He died for us. He died for us. He died for us.
He died for us. He died for us. He died for us. He died for us. He died for
us. He died for us. He died for us. He died for us. He died for us. He died
for us. He died for us. He died for us. He died for us. He died for us. He died
for us. He died for us. He died for us. He died for us. He died for us. He died for us. He died for us.
He died for us. He died for us. He died for us. He died for us.
He died for us. He died for us. He died for us.
He died for You see where he's at right now, seeking the right hand of the
Father. From His foreconspecting, He
intercedes for His people. Representing His people. Do you see that? And that's why Paul said, I've
determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. That's the only thing. Well, you've been talking about
hail, you've got to be preaching tonight. The scriptures are black
as it is, although hail is real. Hail vessels were used to put
kittens on every knife. The only thing that would produce a kitten
is a cock, but the noise makes it nice. Now, if we ever born soldiers, we've got to show But we're not. This life here
is better than it ever has been. And really, never has it been
more wonderful. We have immortal souls. And we
will spend eternity either with the rich man or with the black
man. But we have one of those two
blessings. Without the circumstances, we don't know what kind of relationship
that we have. It really doesn't. You see that. We know death is
certain, and death is not the end. After that eternity begins,
death will bring a great change, but there are some things that
will not change. How we die has had its big eternity,
and with a great goal fixed, and the fear of hell never causes
repentance. It's only hearing the message
of Moses in the prophets. Moses was with me. Abraham rejoiced
to see my day. Why don't you look at Scripture?
When Abraham found what God told him was at the ram, it was behind
him. You see, salvation is always behind us. It's always something
God's already done for us. He found that lamb, and oh, how
he rejoiced to see the day of Christ. He rejoiced to see my
day, and he saw it, and he was glad. Now, what would it profit
him if he gained the whole world and lose his soul? What would a man give in exchange
for his soul? And this seems like an appropriate
way to close this message. Philippian J said, sir, what
must I do to be saved? Now, a lot of things I want to
be saved from. I want to be saved from my sin.
I want to be saved from myself. But you know, I want to be saved
from hell, too. I don't want to go to that awful place. What
must I do? to be saved, and I love the simplicity
of his answer. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice he didn't say believe
on Jesus. He said believe on the Lord, the absolute sovereign
being. the one who has all the power.
Believe on Jesus. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. So I mean, he's
the Christ. He's God's anointed prophet.
He's the very Word of God. He's God's priest. If he brings
you into the presence of the Father, you're brought in and
you're saved. He's the King of Kings, He's
the Lord of Lords, and I need Him as my King to cause me to
do His will. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and that shall be said. Now what does it mean to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ? It simply means this. I'm telling you the truth. Listen real carefully. What does
it mean to believe on Christ? It means to rest. It means to not do anything.
It means to trust who He is and what He did has all this meaning
to make you perfect before God. May what you believe do enter
into rest. Let me make it even more simple
than that. It's looking. What would they call on to do?
when they were bitten by the snakes? Look. Look. You knew that, but I don't
see it. You didn't say see, you said
look. You look, you'll see. God bless this law, it's so supreme. Lord, how we thank you for this warning
from your word. How we thank you that you taught
us that fear of hell can never truly bring an end to us. Lord, we really believe that's
the point of this story you've given us. Cause us to believe
the message of Moses and the prophets. And Lord, enable us,
by your grace, to believe your gospel. Lord, cause us to see
that this world, in all its fire, in all the things that we see
as beautiful to be grasped and reached after. Lord, cause us
to see the vanity of this world. and cause us to find our heart
can simply be a factor in our service. Bless us for the Lord's
sake, Lord as we, as we look forward to this vacation by us,
we ask that you would be pleased to speak in power to the children,
the plants you see in their hearts, and cause them to believe the
gospel. Lord as we, I look forward to this coming week with the
jobs and the employment you give us. Lord, enable us to walk in
the community. Let us do our jobs for your glory.
Lord, enable us to perform our jobs in such a way that people
will ask us a reason for the hope that's in us. Lord, we thank you for giving
us this chance. Lord, we're no different than
land. A war with nothing to make a
difference in. Full of soldiers. Full of citizens. Completely defeated on their
own. Lessons for crossing.