Turn in your Bible again to Luke
chapter 16. Luke chapter 16. In the twenty-some years that I've
been trying to preach the gospel of God's grace, I've never preached
a message from this portion of Scripture. And I was surprised
as I sat down in my study Thursday morning after having read this
Wednesday night in preparation for the service Wednesday night
where Balaam said, Let me die at the death of the righteous
and let my last end be like his. And I tried to find a scripture
that would help us in that study Wednesday evening. And as I started
studying and looking this portion of scripture over again, Thursday
morning I went to my files of sermons that I've filed over
the years and I went to the index under the book of Luke and started
looking through my sermons, and I had never preached from this
portion of scripture before. I did find three or four scriptures,
three or four sermons rather, that I listened to by my pastor,
Brother Henry Mahan, and he has preached several messages from
this portion of scripture. Certainly we see in this story
that the Lord gives here about the rich man who died and went
to a place of torment, we see great warning. There's a great
warning there to unbelievers. There's a warning there, a very
real and truthful warning that is sounded by the Lord Jesus
Christ. But also in this story, we see
great comfort. Great comfort. That beggar died
and was immediately transported to glory and he had great comfort. So there is great comfort there
to those who believe Christ and rest in the Lord Jesus, but to
those who refuse the gospel, what a warning this is to those. It is the only passage of Scripture
from Luke 16, 19 to 31, it's the only passage of Scripture
I know of that gives us insight into the thoughts and feelings
and emotions of those who die in their sins, who die in their
sins. Our Lord said in John 8, 24,
and we'll read that at the end of the sermon, our Lord said,
Believe not that I am, you'll die in your sins. You'll die in your sins. Now, I don't believe, as some
in religious circles have promoted this idea, and I don't believe
what they say. I don't believe that death is
a place of non-existence. In other words, a lot of people
in religion believe that when you die, you go into a place
of just nothing. non-existence, whether you are
a righteous believer or a wicked dead man. You go into a place
of non-existence. That's what some say. That's
not true. That's not what the Scriptures
teach. And they use one little portion of Scripture from Ecclesiastes
9.5 where it makes this one phrase, the dead know nothing. But if
you go back and read that and put it into context, Ecclesiastes
9 is talking about those who die in their sin will not be
able to pursue a life of wickedness. They'll know nothing of that
pursuit of evil. Men that drink iniquity like
the water. That day will be over. Their
ambitions and their wicked thoughts, that day of their rebellion in
this life, And that's what it's talking about there. You can
go back and read that sometime and study that out. The Lord
is speaking here. I think this is key to understanding
this parable. The Lord is speaking to these
lost religious Pharisees, warning them not to trust their deeds
for salvation. In this same chapter, verse 15,
the Pharisees, when they derided Him, and mocked him, he came
back with this in verse 15, Luke 16. You are they which justify
yourselves before men, but God knows your heart. That which
is highly esteemed among men, especially religious men, God
says, it's wicked. It's an abomination in my sight. In this parable, the Lord draws
a contrast between the wicked dead and the righteous dead. the unbeliever who dies and the
believer who dies. Oh, what a contrast. The gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ makes now and eternally. Both men died, the Pharisee,
and it says four times, this rich man, symbolic of those who
are trusting their own righteousness, He died, and four times it says,
being in torment. And the believer, this poor man,
this mercy beggar, typical of the believer resting in Christ
and His righteousness alone, the Lord said that man went to
glory and had comfort. Now what can we learn from this? What can we learn from this story?
Certainly, certainly the Lord gives us this portion of Scripture
that we might learn this lesson well. What can we learn? Well, five things. Here's the
first one. A sinner's health or wealth is
no test of his spiritual state in the sight of God. Just because
a man is healthy and wealthy doesn't mean he has the favor
and blessings of God. This rich man had much, it says
there, verse 19. He was clothed in purple. That's
the king's garment. That's the king's clothes. And
fine linen. And every day he had abundance. But it was no indication of his
spiritual state before God, was it? This man was a stingy man. He wouldn't even give that beggar
that laid at his gate any crumbs from his table. One man was very
rich, yet one man was very poor. One had much, Lazarus had nothing. Yet the beggar had much in the
way of grace. He, like Abraham, walked in faith,
justified the justified, lived by faith. The rich man had no
grace. The beggar had faith, like father
Abraham believed God. It was counted to him for righteousness. Wealth and health are no marks
of God's favor, God's blessing. Nor, the flip side, adversity
and poverty and sickness are no marks of God's displeasure
either. This man, this beggar named Lazarus,
he had much trouble, he had much health problems, his body was
full of sores, and yet he was blessed with God. He had God's
favor. The mercy of God. God measures
our spiritual state and standing as our relationship is to the
Lord Jesus Christ. How do you stand in relationship
to Him? Are you found in Him? Or are
you going about to establish your own righteousness? I want
you to find a scripture here over in Jeremiah. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jeremiah 9. So let us not trust our poverty,
let us not trust our wealth, let us not trust our sickness,
let us not trust our health, let us trust the Lord Jesus Christ
alone. Jeremiah 9, verse 23. Jeremiah 9, verse 23, Thus saith
the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Neither
let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory
in his riches, but let him glory in this, that he understands
and knows me, that I am the Lord, which exercise lovingkindness
and judgment and righteousness in the earth. For in these things
I delight, saith the Lord." God delights with those who are in
the Lord Jesus. This is eternal life. they might
know thee the only true God, Jesus Christ. Life and salvation
is in Christ, received by faith, believing and trusting and resting
in Christ alone. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. He that believeth not, what? The wrath of God abides on him. So that's the first lesson. What's
your relationship to Christ? Are you one with Him? God's blessings
are all in His Son, the Lord Jesus. No wonder Paul said he
counted everything else but loss, that he might win Christ and
be found in Him. Salvation is in Christ. The second
lesson is this, down in verse 22 of Luke 16, and it came to
pass that the beggar died, but it says here also, the rich man
died. His riches couldn't help him
when God said, your days are over. His riches had nothing
to do with God calling him to himself. The end of the body,
the end of the body of this flesh is death. Dust you are, dust
you shall return. That is, the end of this flesh
is dust. Back to the dust. All flesh is
as grass that withers away. that the pointing of the men
wants to die, and after that, judgment. When sin is finished
with this body, it's going to die. Now you just mark it now. The rich man died. His riches
couldn't keep death away from his house. The beggar also died. He was a sinner in himself, and
he died. And you and I, my friend, this
body, you're going to carry this body one day and put it in the
ground. And I'm going to go be with the
Lord, which is far, far better. All flesh is as grass that withers
and falls away. Now, I have a hobby. I like to
visit old cemeteries. And as I walk through old cemeteries,
I like to read tombstones. You ever do that? I do that. Someone wrote this on his tombstone. Listen to this. This was someone
walking through the graveyard, and he saw this inscription on
someone's tombstone, and here's what it said. Please view my
tomb as you pass by, for as you are, so once was I. And as I
am, soon you shall be, so make your plans to follow me. You are going to follow me right
into the ground. This body is going to die. Someone
said, as death finds you, God will judge you. As God judges
you, eternity will keep you. There is a great gulf fixed,
it says in verse 26. A great gulf fixed. As you die,
it says over there in the Revelation, he that is filthy, let him be
filthy still. He that is just, let him be just
still. But as you die, you will be raised
in yourself, in your sin, or in Christ. There will be a resurrection
of the just and the unjust. That's right. And the standard
of that judgment is not how good you've been. The standard of
that judgment is Christ. All judgments relative to the
Son. Do you believe Him? Do you rest in Him? Here's the
third lesson, verse 22. The beggar died and was carried
by the angels into Abraham's bosom. Now here's what happens to a
believer at death. Upon death, immediately upon
death, my soul and spirit, redeemed by the blood of Christ, washed
and made clean in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, is in
the immediate presence of God Almighty resting in Christ Jesus. Now that's a glorious thought,
isn't it? Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Precious
in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. Precious in the sight of the
Lord. I remember when I got the news, Steve, when your father
passed away, Paul Doug Thacker, and the first thing I thought
to myself, precious in the sight of the Lord at the death of His
saints. He went to glory that quick. It says here that this beggar,
Lazarus, was transported, carried by the angels to glory. Glorious day! Like the dying
thief, taken to glory. Turn just over a few pages to
Luke 23. The dying thief, the repentant dying thief who looked
to the Lord Jesus and said, Lord, remember me when you come into
your kingdom. You remember what the Lord said
to that man who believed the gospel? In Luke chapter 23, in
Luke 23 verse 43, Luke 23, 43, our Lord said, Verily, truly,
I say unto you today, Today you'll be with me in paradise,
in glory." That's what happens to a believer when he dies. The
body is laid in the ground, but see that body is not me. This
body is the tabernacle and the tent that I live in. I have a
body, I am a soul, spirit redeemed by the blood of Christ. No wonder
the apostle said, For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. And he had a desire to be with
Christ, which is far better! It's far better. You see, we're made up. Man is
made up of body, soul, and spirit. Body, soul, and spirit. Christ
has redeemed us completely. I'm going to have a new body,
like unto His body. He has washed my soul and made
it clean and white in the blood of Christ, and He's given me
spiritual life. I want you to turn and read this.
2 Corinthians 5. So when the believer dies, he
doesn't cease to exist. He's immediately in the presence
of the Lord, resting in the Lord Jesus Christ, waiting for that
body that will never die, that new body. just like Christ. 2 Corinthians 5, look at verse
1. For we know that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, talking about this
body of clay, we have a building of God, a house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens. We have a dwelling place waiting
for our body. We're not spirits floating around
on some cloud. We're real people. in Christ
with this provision made by his hands eternal in the heavens.
For in this, that is, this body, we groan earnestly desiring to
be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. For if,
verse 3, if so be that being clothed we shall not be found
naked, For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened,
not that we be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality
might be swallowed up of Christ's life. Now he that hath wrought
us for this selfsame thing is God, salvations of the Lord,
who also hath given to us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident,
knowing that while we are at home in the body, We are absent
from the Lord, that is, absent from our heavenly home, for we
walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, and I say,
willing rather, to be absent from this body. To be separated
from this body is to be present, to be present with the Lord. So that's the state of a believer. When a body dies, our soul and
spirit, made new in Christ, will be with Him immediately. We have eternal life awaiting
that glorious resurrection day to receive our glorified body. Now turn back to Corinthians. Find 1 Corinthians this time.
1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. Waiting for our
glorious resurrected body. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 47, For the first man is
of the earth earthy, the second man is the Lord from heaven.
That's the God-man mediator. As is the earthy, such are they
also that are earthy. And as is the heavenly, such
are they also that are heavenly. As we have borne the image of
the earthy, this earthly tabernacle We shall bear the image of the
heavenly also, being predestinated to be conformed to the image
of Christ. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God, neither does corruption inherit incorruption.
We must be changed. But would I show you a mystery,
we shall not all sleep, but we all, we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trump, those who are living when the
Lord comes again, they'll be changed. And the dead shall be
raised incorruptible, and will be changed. This corruptible
must put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin. Now,
He's taken away our sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
He's honored the law, thanks be unto God, who gives us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to turn to
one more Scripture on that. Find 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians
chapter 4. Those who have died are with
the Lord, and when He comes back, you know who's coming back with
Him? those saints in him. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse
13, that I would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning
them which are asleep, that you sorrow not even as others which
have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in him
were at rest in him will God bring with him. They are coming
back with him. For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the
coming of the Lord shall not prevent or precede them which
are asleep and resting in Christ. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with
the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall be raised first.
Then which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall
we ever be with the Lord. comfort one another with these
words. What a glorious day when the
believer dies in the Lord. It's not a day of punishment,
it's a day of promotion. To be with Him and waiting, resting
in Christ and waiting for that new body where I'll love Him
and worship Him perfectly, singing to Him, worthy is the Lamb that
was slain to redeem us from all sin, to receive honor and glory
and riches both now and forever. So that's the story of a believer
when he dies. He immediately goes to be with
the Lord. What about those who die in their
sin? Now here's the flip side. We
must consider What about those who don't believe the gospel,
who don't love the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, this is the only
place I know of in Scripture that gives us a glimpse into
what happens to an unbeliever when he dies. It's not a place
of nonexistence. That's not the story and the
message that's taught here. It's a place of torment. A place of torment. What about
unbelievers who die in their sin as this rich man did? Those
who die without Christ have no hope of salvation. It's an eternal
separation from any love, mercy, grace, and hope of salvation.
It's rather an eternal condemnation and separation from God. He will
say to them on the left hand, Depart from me, I never knew
you. Depart from me and you will be
passed into that second death, that lake of fire. No end. Endless misery and torment. The believer has an endless hope. The believer has an endless hope.
The unbeliever has a hopeless end. Now, let's turn back to 2 Thessalonians
this time. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. And
let's see if we can make good on that. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians
chapter 1, rather. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. And
to you, verse 7, who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus
shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels and with
his saints. in flaming fire, taking vengeance
on them that know not God, that obey not the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power."
Now turn to Revelation 20. There's going to be a resurrection
of the just and the unjust. And those who are raised in their
sin will be cast out. This is called the second death.
In Revelation 20, verse 11, Revelation 20, 11, I saw a great white throne,
and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven
fled away, and there was no place found for them. And I saw the
dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were
opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of
life. And the dead were judged out of those things written in
those books. Now this is talking about the wicked dead. The unbelieving
dead were judged out of those things which are written in the
books according to their works. Were their works sufficient to
merit salvation? Absolutely not. And the sea gave
up the dead which were in it, and death, and the word there,
and the grave delivered up the dead which were in them, and
they, These people that were found, that died without Christ
and were raised without Christ, unjust still, they were judged,
every man according to their works. And death and the grave,
those that were found without Christ, that were cast into the
lake of fire, which is the second death, whosoever was not found
written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Now,
that's the reality of dying without Christ. Now, I'm not trying to
scare you. I wouldn't want to scare you
into profession. I wouldn't want to alarm you. But I want to warn you. You die without
Christ, and you'll suffer an endless, endless torment. and eternal condemnation. Now,
that's the message of this book. As there is salvation in Christ?
Oh, there is. There is no salvation apart from
Him. I warn you. I warn you as one
who cares for your soul. Well, the last lesson is this.
The Lord teaches us the importance of hearing the gospel and believing
it. This rich man says, Back in our
story in Luke 16, he said, I pray therefore, Father, that thou
would send Lazarus back to my father's house. I've got five
brothers. I'm concerned for him now, but
it's truth realized too late, isn't it? He had no interest in spiritual
things then. He had no interest while he was
living for the welfare of his five brothers. Well, I have five brothers that
he may testify unto them and tell them, lest they come also
to this place of torment." And Abraham said, they have the Word
of God. And we have the Word of God. We have the Word of God.
We have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. And he said,
Nay, father Abraham, but if one went from the dead, if God would
just raise up old Lazarus and send him back, my brothers would
believe. Would they? Not apart from them
hearing the gospel and believing the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that's what he's teaching
here. Sinners will not be truly justified in Christ, clothed
in His righteousness, nor convicted of their sin and the need of
their salvation by someone just being raised from the dead. The Lord Jesus raised, we read
in Scripture, He raised Lazarus from the dead. And the Pharisees,
instead of believing God, they got angry and upset at the Lord
Jesus and tried to kill Lazarus. The Lord Jesus also raised Jairus'
daughter from the dead. That didn't have a profound effect
upon the Pharisees to believe the Gospel. How about the widow's
son that was carried out here? He was dead in the coffin and
the Lord Jesus walked out to that funeral possession that
day and laid his hand on the coffin and the young man came
back from the dead. That didn't have any effect upon
those Pharisees. What they needed was to hear
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ preached, and God needed
to grant them faith and life to believe the gospel. The Lord here shows the importance
of preaching the gospel. They have Moses, it says in verse
29. They have Moses and the prophets,
but what did Moses and the prophets write about? Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. if you
will, to Acts chapter 10. The book of Acts chapter 10.
Acts chapter 10. And this is Peter preaching to
Cornelius, the Gentile, and it says in Acts 10.42, He commanded
us to preach unto the people and to testify that it was He
which was ordained of God to be judged of the living and the
dead, to Him give all the prophets witness that through his name,
whosoever believeth in him shall receive forgiveness of sins."
Whosoever believes in Christ. You see, they needed to hear
the gospel and believe, given faith of God, given faith by
the grace and power of God to believe the gospel. The quickening,
convincing, converting power of the Holy Spirit to make his
word rich and real. You see, we must not only hear
the gospel, we must hear it. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God. But it must be quickened by the
Spirit of God to your heart. I can preach and preach and preach,
and I'm going to if God gives me grace to do so. But He must
quicken His Word to your heart and make you alive. There's no
faith, there's no repentance apart from the gospel. Apart
from Christ being raised from the dead, there is no faith to
be given, no repentance to be given. He's exalted to give repentance. He's raised again from the dead
to justify us by His grace. We see the importance of believing
the gospel of the Lord Jesus. Now, I want to close by reading
this one scripture. You find John chapter 8. John
chapter 8. John chapter 8. Look at verse 20. John 8 verse
20. These words spake Jesus in the
treasury as he taught in a temple and no man laid hands on him
for his hour was not yet come. Then said Jesus again unto them. Now he's talking again to this
same group of religious Pharisees. I go my way. It's the way of
God, the way of the cross, the way of salvation in Him. And
you shall seek Me, but you're not going to find Me. He said,
you shall die in your sins. And where I go, you cannot come. You die in your sins. Then said the Jews, will He kill
Himself? Because He said, where I go,
you cannot come. And He said to them, You are
from beneath. You of your father the devil.
He called him in the same chapter later on. You are of this world. I'm not of this world. I said
therefore unto you that you shall die in your sins. For if you
believe not that I am, I am the door I am the way, I am divine,
I am the life, I am the truth, I am the way, I am everything
in salvation. If you believe not that I am,
you'll die in your sins. And if you die in your sins,
as he says there, you cannot come to where I am. Our Lord said to His people,
I go away to prepare a place for you If I go away, I'll come
again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may
be also.