I want you to turn to Luke's
Gospel with me, chapter 16. The Lord was teaching this passage as a Scripture
to the Pharisees, basically. They were very covetous people.
They robbed widows' houses. They pretended to be praying
people and care for the widows, but they robbed the widows' houses. They were so covetous. They were very rich people, most
of them. The Lord Jesus was telling them here in verse 13 that they
cannot, you cannot serve God and mammon, God and wealth, God
and money. And the Pharisees, which were
covetous, heard all these things and they derided Him. And then
basically this passage here that I want to read in your presence
was to them. It helps us, it helps everybody,
but basically it was a reproof, a rebuke, a warning to these
Pharisees because of their covetousness. Let's begin here with what our
Lord says in verse 19. of Luke chapter 16. There was
a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen
and fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar
named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores, and
desired to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's
table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked
his sores. And it came to pass that the
beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's
bosom. The rich man also died, and was
buried, and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment,
and seeing Abraham aforeoff, 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 receiveth thy good things,
and likewise Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted, and
thou art tormented. And besides all of this between
us and you, there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which
would pass from hence to you cannot. Neither can they pass
to us that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore,
Father, that thou wouldst send him to my father's house. For
I have five brethren that he may testify unto them, lest they
also come unto this place of torment. Abraham said unto him,
They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. And he said,
Nay, Father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead,
They will believe. They will repent. And He said
unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will
they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. I just want
us to look at this for a few minutes and glean some things
from it. I have preached from this verse
by verse several times. But I just want to look at this
passage of Scriptures. And this is just according to
my understanding. consider this passage to be a
parable. Probably most commentaries do.
Mr. Bunyan has a rather large track on this, and he did. But
to me, it doesn't read like a parable. It doesn't say anything about
the kingdom of heaven is lacking to this, or as he said in other
places, he spake this parable to them. But as you read this,
you see here that this is speaking, this has a real man in this. Abraham, a man that was very
well known to the Jews. And the Lord says here, there
was a certain man. And He tells us about these two
men, this rich man and this poor man, this beggar. But I just
want us to glean from this just a little bit, a few things, and
what I found out about opening the Word of God and looking at
it and trying to teach and preach from it a little bit, we don't
cover very much. Brother Wayne has been dealing
very, very thoroughly with the Book of Romans. But he'll probably
look back a few years from now and say, Boy, I missed that.
I missed this. I missed that. Missed a lot.
Missed a lot. And there's been times in my
life where I thought, Boy, there's nothing else to preach on. And
I thought, how dumb, how silly. The Bible is so huge, ain't it?
And you look at it from so many different perspectives. So this
will just be scratching the surface a little bit of this passage. So I just want four or five things
to glean from this passage of Scripture, this incident our
Lord tells us. And the first thing is this.
Jesus Christ cannot be an ordinary person. He just cannot be an
ordinary man. He's got to be more than a prophet
because here He knows what is taking place in hell and He knows
what's taking place in heaven. That's the first thing we can
see from this. It's all open in His sight. He knows the thoughts of those
in hell. He knows the comforts of those
in heaven. The Bible says that everything
is naked and open in the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. So Jesus Christ with whom we
have to do is God. He is God. He's the eternal God. He knows everything in His deity. Now it's amazing to me that the
Bible says He increased in wisdom. and in statue with God and man,
but he's speaking there of his humanity. He was a real man. But boy, when you come here and
hear him tell this story about what's taking place in hell and
what's taking place in heaven, nobody else knows but him. You
say, my goodness, he is God. He's the Son of God and he is
God. That's the first thing I saw.
Secondly, as I look through this, you cannot judge by the providence
of God who God's children are and who they're not. You cannot
judge by the providence of God. Providence is like this huge
wheel, and it's always rolling through this earth. And sometimes
it rolls us underneath and almost crushes us. And then it takes
us back up on top and we breathe this fresh air. But here you
see the providence of God in these two men. And here you have
this one beggar that was absolutely crushed. Everything seemed to
be against him. He begged for his food, even
crumbs. He was dressed in rags. He was
full of sores. And then you see this other man
who was rich. And he fared sumptuously every
day and dressed in purple. And if we had to judge by the
providence of God which one God loved and which one was His child,
who would we say? Oh, how blessed this rich man
is. How he must be loved of God! But it wasn't so, was it? The
one who was tormented, the one who was crushed by the providence
of God and who laid in the streets with dogs licking his sores,
this was the saved man. And the man who fared sumptuously
every day, he was the man that was under the awful wrath of
God and God was angry with every day. You know some of God's choicest
people, His redeemed people, His loved ones, His family, have
suffered the most in this world. Hebrews chapter 11 tells us of
some of God's choicest people. And it said that they lived in
dens and caves of this earth. They dressed in sheepskin and
goatskins, and they had trials of cruel malkins and scourgings
and imprisonments. And they wandered about in goat
skins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented, and the world
was not worthy of these people. And at the same time this was
happening to those people, the wicked were spreading themselves
like a green bay tree. God's people are so often the
ones that are afflicted in this world. King Herod prospered while
Rachel wept for her children. Herodas danced with her company
and they partied while John partied while John the Baptist was getting
his head cut off. This rich man was eating steak,
taking his hot bath and dressing in his gorgeous apparel and living
in the lap of luxury. And here was a man who was full
of sores and dressed in rags and begging for crumbs. But who
did God love? Who was a child of God? So we
can't tell, can we? Don't we sometimes get despondent
when providence turns our world upside down? Sometimes we judge
of God by His providence. But brothers and sisters, that's
not the way we judge. We judge providence by God. God is our Father. And when He
afflicts us by His providence, we say it must be good. It must
be for our good because it's at the hands of our Father. And
we can't be despondent because the providence of God sometimes
seems to crush us. Who was poor and who was more
afflicted than our great example? Who suffered more than our Lord
Jesus? We cannot judge God by His providence. We judge His providence by Him.
That's the first thing I saw. Second thing I saw here, but
the third thing is this. This is very interesting. This
is worthy to be commented on, I think, because it's such a
mystery. Everybody dies. And it came to pass that the
beggar died. That was sort of expected, wasn't
it? The rich man heard about it. Yeah, he's got out of my
hair. Never have to hear him wanting
to crumb again. But then the rich man dies. Everybody
dies. There's only been two exceptions
of anybody leaving this world without having to die. And you
and me won't be among those two. It's appointed unto us to die
and we shall die. One of the interesting things,
I guess it's in Genesis 6, I think Greg was talking about those
old men before the flood, and the technology that they may
have had. They lived to be so old, 969, 950. And he told about all the children,
but there's one thing they all had in common, and they died. And they died. We're going to die, aren't we?
And here's the mystery about it. I just don't believe that.
I just don't believe it. I tell you that, and I say I
know that, and I read that, but I don't believe I'm going to
die. And I'll never believe it until I experience it. And you
won't either. You won't either. Things would
be a little bit different and we'd feel a little bit different
if we could really believe we're going to die in the next five
minutes. I don't believe I'm going to die in the next five
minutes. And these men didn't either. That's the mystery about
death, isn't it? When you experience, you'll say,
I've died. I've died. But not until then. What a mystery death is. They
died. And you shall die. And I shall
die. Fourthly is this, you'll never
see in the 16th chapter of Luke here in this passage I read to
you, it teaches nothing about the way of salvation. The Word
is not even mentioned. Redemption is not mentioned.
You won't find the way of reconciliation here. You won't find our Lord
saying anything about obtaining eternal life. You'll have to
go elsewhere in this book to find that subject. The way of
salvation is not taught in Luke chapter 16. But here's what's
taught. Our need of salvation. Our need of salvation. And I tell you one thing that
grips our hearts and makes us feel the need of salvation is
this, that God is going to punish sin. That's what this passage
teaches us, isn't it? God is going to punish sin. Not in this lifetime. This man
fared sumptuously every day. And I bet you when he come down
to die, there was no bands in his death. He wasn't awakened
to see, oh, I'm against God and He's against me. He probably
died at ease with his doctor and his family by his bedside.
God doesn't punish sin in this world, does He? Sin doesn't begin in dying to
be punished. But it's that one instant after
death is when sin begins to be punished. He died and was buried,
and in hell He lift up His eyes, being in torments. And the Bible says their feet
shall slide in due time. God has fixed a certain time
when He will punish sin and punish the sinner because of it. In
due time, He says. When that time comes, a sinner
can't stand. When that time comes, his feet
will slip. And what happens when a man's
feet slip? He falls, doesn't he? And when
his feet slips and he falls, then he feels the weight of his
sin and the weight of the awful wrath of God upon that sin. Hell is not a place of rehabilitation. Hell is not a place where men
will be filled with godly sorrow and have a godly regret for what
they've done in this lifetime. Hell has nothing to do with rehabilitation. Hell is strictly for punishment
for sin. I am tormented in this flame. The scripture says the Lord is
coming out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth
for their iniquity. And this punishment begins the
instant the soul leaves the body. It's a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of a living and angry God. And the Bible says
that God is angry. God is angry. Man, that's a scary,
that's a heart-gripping thing to think of, isn't it? God that
made this world by His power and upholds it all by His power. God that holds the breath of
every man in His hand. God who is sovereign and holy
and just. God is angry with the wicked
every day. When a wicked man gets up in
the morning and wakes and stirs himself, God is angry with him.
When he takes his shower and dresses for work, God is angry
with him. When he sits and eats his lunch,
God is angry with him. When he stops by the grocery
store, picks up some groceries for his wife and family, God
is angry with him. Everything he does, God is angry
with him every day. But He doesn't punish him in
this life, does He? It's not time. In due time, his
foot shall slide. And then when it's time, he falls
into the hands of an angry God. And the Bible says that's a fearful
thing. That's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an
angry God. To have God turn His back upon
a man, that's a fearful thing. But there's something more fearful
than for God to turn His back And that's for God to turn His
angry face towards a man. To take His sword from His sheath
and whit it, as it were. And cut a man asunder, the Bible
says. And there's even something worse
than that. And that's for God to laugh at
him and mock him while He does it. I will laugh at their calamity. I will mock when their fear comes. Isn't that horrible? And why
is this anger of God stirred up? Why is the wrath of the Almighty
displayed? The cause of sin. The cause of
sin. I was thinking last night as
I thought of this, if I could have seen this poor soul, if
I could have stood there with Him and I heard Him And he was
begging for a drop of water. Could you have withheld a drop
of water from this man? I think, and you're the same
way, if we could have saw this, our hearts would have went out.
This was a soul, and it was in desperate need of just one drop
of water. Well, I'd have sold my house,
wouldn't you? To help this man. I just said,
I can't endure. This is a fellow human being.
What can I do to give this soul relief? Yet God did not relieve
him. And not only did He not relieve
him, He punished him the more. And the only thing that I can
say, and the only reason for this, is when God does punish
sin, It's not mixed with any compassion. It's not a mixture
of mercy. Here, as people suffer, we may
have pains in our head, but our arms are free. Our stomachs may
be cancerous, but the rest of our body is healthy. Here, even
when God judges people, there's wrath mixed with mercy. But in
due time when a man's feet slip and God judges him and punishes
him, there is no mercy. It's just wrath and anger and
wave after wave without any compassion, without any relief. It's a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of a living God. Fifthly, think of this. This teaches us the end of every
saved man. Boy, if the rich man teaches
us the end of every rich man, I think Lazarus would teach us
the end of every saved man. And I imagine the Lord Jesus
really would set forth in a general way these two men to represent
the saved and the unsaved. Rich man tells us the end of
the unbelievers and the wicked, then Lazarus would tell us the
end of the believer, the child of God. Mark the perfect man
and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace. Boy, here we have this beggar
that died. And the Bible says here that
he was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom. And he said
here that now he is comforted. That's the end of every saved
man. Now he is comforted. What does
it matter, brothers and sisters, what we have to suffer in this
lifetime? Be faithful to the Lord. Believe
Him. Rest in the Lord. Wait patiently
on Him. Time is short. It won't last
long. Say with Job, though he slay
me, yet will I trust in him. And hold on your way, because
it won't be long. Suffering will end. Suffering
may endure for a night, but joy is coming in the morning. And
that's what this passage here teaches us. Now his affliction
is over. Now he won't cry anymore. Now
he won't soar anymore. Now his sores won't run anymore. Now he is comforted. Everything that's good, he's
now experiencing it. Everything that was evil, he
experienced it here. But everything that's good, he's
experiencing it now. Heaven is a place where Christ
Himself will comfort His people. Heaven is a place where God will
wipe their faces and give them perfect peace. All being saved
from our sins is a reward in itself. Isn't it a pleasant thing
to be saved from the power of sin and the guilt of sin? Remember when sin reigned over
you? You couldn't resist it. You were a slave to it. Isn't
it a blessing to be saved from sin? It's guilt. It's power. It's love. But all being saved will afford
us much more than what this life can afford us. You talk about
comfort. You talk about peace. When this
life is over, now, He is comforted. And you know, for either one
of these men or both of these men, nothing's changed. Time
won't change it. Time hasn't changed the rich
man's condition or what he's suffering. And time hasn't changed
Lazarus and what he's experienced. Conquered. Now he is conquered. Sixthly, consider this. Doesn't
this passage teach us that salvation must be by grace? Doesn't the case of this poor
beggar teach us that salvation must be holy by grace? What could this poor beggar do
to save himself but to believe that the work had been accomplished
on his behalf? He didn't go to heaven because
he suffered in this lifetime. His hope of heaven was because
somebody else had suffered in his place. The debt of sin had
to be paid, but how could he pay it? How could this man pay it? What
did he have to offer in payment for the debt of his sins? Could
he bring his rags? Could he bring his running sores?
Could he bring a few crumbs that he bagged and offer that for
the atonement of his sins? He had nothing. What could he
do? He couldn't do anything. He couldn't
even walk. Somebody laid him at this gate. And you know something, brothers
and sisters? We're just like this. We may be healthy. We may own a house and have a
good job and some money in retirement. We can't a bit more atone for
our sins than this man could. Every man that's saved must be
saved just like this poor man in poverty. How was he saved? He must have been saved by grace. Somebody must have undertook
for him and did all for him or he couldn't be saved. That poor old thief on the cross, he was against the Lord when
they hung him up there. If you be the Son of God, he
said, save yourself and us. Come down from the cross and
we'll believe you. He was a rebel, wasn't he? And then the Lord
saved him. And the Lord said, you've got
to go down now and be baptized. You've got to be baptized. You can't make it. You've got to get off here and
pay your tithes. You've got a lot of paying up to do, boy. You've
got to join a church. You've got to do something. What
could he do? You're in the same place. I'm
in the same place. I've got no more to offer than
he had, and you don't either. We must be saved by grace. We must be saved through the
merits of another. And if God has brought us to
that place, we're in a good place. Seventhly, consider this, one
or two more. In the worlds to come, heaven
or hell, we'll remember this lifetime. The lost will remember
it with great anguish, and the saved with great joy. Verse 25,
He said, Son, remember that in thy lifetime you had your good
things. You lusted after your things. You lusted. And boy, He remembered
everything that He lusted. His mind became so clear, every
thought he had, I want this, I want that, I want that over
there. Now he thinks about that. And
here he called them his good things. Now they are things that
torment his memory. Remember in your lifetime. I
think the memory in hell would be one of the most tormenting
things there is. People will remember every sin
that they have committed against God. Every sin. And though they are not sorry
for them, those sins will burn in their conscience for all eternity. Can you imagine Cain remembering
when he slew his brother? And he cannot get that out of
his memory. Over and over again, Pharaoh
is saying in hell, Who is the Lord that I should obey Him? And here is Pilate still washing
his hands in hell, trying to get the blood of the Son of God
off of his hands. He remembers it. Judas is tormented
in his memory that I have slain innocent blood. And Agrippa is
tormented with these words, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Almost! And I think men who have
said unto the Gospel and rebelled against it and resisted the Holy
Ghost will be tormented the worst. That I said unto the Gospel,
I heard the way of eternal life. And I trampled it under my feet.
Oh, what a memory. What a memory people have who
will go to hell. And he says here in verse 27
and verse 28. He knew what was going on in
the earth. Now this is an amazing year.
We would have never known this if our Lord hadn't have told
us. He said, I have five brethren there in my Father's house. He
knew His Father. He knew he still had five brethren
that lived in this world. And he said, would you send Lazarus
to my brother's house and warn them lest they come to this place
of torment? And John Bunyan had a very probably
correct view of this verse here. He said this man was probably,
since he died first, was the firstborn. And therefore he had
responsibility of the family. to lead those who were under
Him. And what a bad example He was. How He led them off into sin
and every lustful and hateful thing. And now it's not out of
love that He says, Go warn them, because there's no love in hell.
But I don't want them to come here and torment me for being
the instrument of their damnation. I don't want them screaming at
me saying, why didn't you tell us of this place? You was the
older brother. Why didn't you warn us of this
place? You said nothing. You live life
sumptuously every day. You didn't warn us. Why didn't
you warn us? Why didn't you warn us? And they
only add to my torment. I don't want them to come here. Can you imagine? Men who have
taught other men and have preached to other men and preached to
them lies? Preached to them there is a salvation
without blood? Preached to them that a man can
be saved without repentance and faith? That a man can go to heaven
without Christ? That a man can love his sins
and pleasures and love God too? Men are being taught such things.
And can you imagine men like the popes and men like Mohammed
that lead whole nations astray? That they're there in hell now
waiting for their converts and congregations to come down where
they're at and begin to curse them. You not only fell into
the ditch yourself, but you drug us with you. That would be an awful time,
wouldn't it? Oh, warn these people. Somebody go warn them. I don't
want them here. I bet you if you could talk to
some of those popes in hell, that's what they're crying. Send
somebody that knows the gospel into Catholicism and wake it
up. They're going to come here to
my torment. You know they're saying that
because this man was saying that. He knows what's going on. on
this earth. But this is my understanding
also, that the saved, the saved who are in heaven, they are aware
at least to some extent of what's going on on the earth. And they'll
remember their lifetime here, though not with sadness or torment
or guilt, but with great joy. Let me read some passages. Take
your Bibles and turn quickly. Look over in Revelation chapter
6 and verse 9. Revelation 6 and verse 9. Quickly. Look in verse 9. Revelation 6
and 9. When He had opened the fifth
seal, I saw under the altar The souls of them that were slain
for the Word of God and for the testimony which they held. They
were martyrs. They had died and their body
was burned or buried and their souls were with the Lord. And
they depicted Jesus being under the altar because they were slain.
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy
and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them
that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto
every one of them, and it was said unto them that they should
rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also
and their brethren should be killed as they were, that it
should be fulfilled." So here you have these dead saints. And
they know that judgment still hasn't come on the earth. And
they're given these white robes, and they're told to rest a little
longer. Here in chapter 5 and verse 6, look at this. This seems to be a scene in heaven.
And behold, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four
beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb that is
to have been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are
the seven spirits that God sent forth into all the earth. And
he came and took the book out of the right hand in him that
sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book,
the four beasts and four and twenty elders, fell down before
the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vows full
of odors, which are the prayers of the saints, and they sung
a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and
to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, tongue, people,
and nation, and hast made unto our God kings and priests, and
we shall reign on the earth." Now here are some people that
seem to be in heaven. At least many of them were. And
what do they say? We were on earth. We were on
earth. And You redeemed us by Your blood. I tell you, when we get to heaven
and we see the scars in His hands and we see the hole in His side,
I just can't believe that we're going to say, what's this about?
I can't remember how I got here. I can't remember why I'm here.
These people did this. They looked back upon this life.
And I can't understand this, brothers and sisters. When I
look back upon my life now, I'm ashamed of myself. My utter failure
and loss of so many things and opportunities and everything
else. But there in heaven, when we look back, all we're going
to see and appreciate is the Lamb that was slain for us. And knowing what He brought us
out of is going to make us appreciate Him and love Him and admire Him
that much more. Look in chapter 7 right quickly
in verse 9 and 10. Look at this. Revelation 7 verse 9, And after
this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could
number, of all nations, and kindred, and people, and tongues, stood
before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes
and palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying,
Salvation to our God! which saith it upon the throne,
and to the Lamb." I think that is what Lazarus is saying now.
He knows how he got there. By the blood of the Lamb. One
more place. Will we know? Will we know people
in heaven? Look over in 1 Thessalonians.
1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 19. Will we know one another
in heaven? That's somewhat of a debate among
some of the theologians, but I think the Bible is very clear
on that. I won't know my wife as my wife. She won't know me
as her husband. You won't know these relationships
that we had here. We looked at that a while back.
We'll be as the angels of God in heaven. We won't be male and
female. But we will know each other. And the reason I say this
is found in 1 Thessalonians 2, and look at verse 19. What is
our hope? What is our joy, our crown, our
rejoicing? Are not even you in the presence
of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? Paul said, I'm going
to know you, and you're going to know me, and we're going to
know one another. The Lord said in Matthew 8, 11,
I say unto you that many shall come from the east and west,
and they shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in
the kingdom of heaven. Abraham is going to be Abraham. Isaac is going to be Isaac. We
are not going to change our identities. Our vile bodies are going to
be changed in a fashion lacking to His glorious body, but it
is this vile body that is going to be changed. And I believe
we'll recognize each other. We'll know each other. And we'll
hug each other and we'll kiss each other. Because we say, you're
the redeemed of the Lord. And you'll look at me and say,
you're the redeemed of the Lord. And we'll know each other. Lastly is this. Heaven and hell
is not a place where men will be converted. Going to hell won't convert anybody.
Going to heaven won't convert anybody. Going to hell never changed a
thing for that rich man's heart, did it? It didn't change a thing. He hated the gospel here, he
hated it there. He hated God here, and he hated
it there. Abraham said, they have Moses
and the prophets. They have the Word of God. And
he said, no, that ain't enough. I ain't got a bit of confidence
in that. They need a miracle. They've got Moses and the prophets.
It won't change a man, will it? As a tree falls, so shall it
lie. Hell will not convert a man.
And heaven will not convert a man. Lazarus is just like he was here,
only he's free to worship What's your desire today? You
get right down to the nitty-gritty, where the rubber meets the road.
What is your desire? Is your desire not to be with
Christ? Is it not to worship Him without the sense of sin
and doubts and fears about everything? To worship Him in the beauty
of holiness? Ain't that what you want now?
That's what every child of God down deep within himself wants. Heaven is not going to make him
want that. Heaven is going to free him to
obtain that without any limitations on it. I hope that was a blessing to
you. Lord bless His Word. Let us pray.