(Borrowed from George Faull, Reno, NV, 11-03-2006)
Text: Luke 16:19-31
Proposition: What can we learn from this story?
Introduction
This is a true story. It is not a parable. Lazarus is named. Jesus says there was a certain rich man. He does not name the rich man. Jesus protected the identity of this man. Jesus didn’t drag out the wicked before the public. This man’s brothers may have been alive. Jesus didn’t give the identity of the man who was in torment.
The idea of Hades and Abraham’s bosom didn’t originate with this story. They were already teachings of the Jews. Josephus (37-100 AD, a Jewish military commander, historian and apologist) has a discourse on Hades that agrees with Jesus teaching here. They were already familiar with the concept of Hades and Abraham’s bosom. When Jesus told the thief on the cross, “Today you shall be with me in Paradise,” the thief knew what Jesus was talking about.
The rich man was not in Hell. He was in Hades. I like the King James Version, but here it does not translate this word correctly. The King James translates the Greek words ᾅδης (hades), γέεννα (gehenna), and ταρταρόω (tartarus) as Hell in the New Testament. Hades is the regions of the departed spirits. It contains both the wicked and the good. Everyone goes to Hades, but the righteous go to Abraham’s bosom which is contained in Hades. Nebraska is in the United States, but not everybody in the United States is in Nebraska. Jesus went to Hades, (Acts 2:31) but He told the thief on the cross today you shall be with me in Paradise. Paradise, Abraham’s bosom, is in Hades.
I. There is life after death
II. What I do here determines where I go when I die
III. There are no second chances
I. There is life after death
A. Man is immortal. He lives forever. He is not annihilated at death.
1. There is no such thing as soul sleeping. Your body sleeps, but not your soul. Our word cemetery comes from a Greek word, koimeterion, which means a sleeping place. Everybody in the cemetery is asleep.
2. Matthew 10:28, the body can be killed, but the soul can’t. Our body is just a shell for the soul. One preacher said at a funeral, “This is just the shell, the nut has gone up above.” (A nut is somebody who is crazy.)
3. Ecclesiastes 12:7, your spirit returns to God who gave it. Then God decides where you will go.
B. I am conscious after I am dead.
1. Luke 16:25, Abraham said, “Remember that during your life…” The rich man could remember what he had done. He could remember his brothers. He didn’t want them to join him in the place of torment. Remembering all the opportunities that I had while I was alive will be a part of Hell. What I traded Paradise for. Did I trade it for drugs, alcohol, immorality, or lying? Did I trade it for something that is not necessarily bad like money, sports, houses, or cars?
2. The tormented dead know what the righteous are enjoying. The rich man knew where Lazarus was.
3. Luke 13:28 and 29, They will see the great feast in the kingdom of God. They wanted no part of it while they were alive. The will not be in the kingdom of God after they are dead. They will see the people they thought were crazy for giving up pleasure in this life for the kingdom of God. If you think about how much money you give in tithe and give to those in need during a year. It is a lot of money. Some people think that is crazy, but when we are in heaven we won’t miss a dime of it.
II. What I do here determines where I go when I die
A. Some may have the question, “What is the purpose of Hades? Why not just send everybody who is going to Hell to Hell and everybody to Heaven who is going to Heaven?” Hades is a holding place. When a person is arrested for murder he usually goes to a county jail. He waits there until his trial. At his trial it is proven to the world that he is guilty. Then he goes to prison, the permanent place to serve his sentence. Hades is temporary. It is not permanent. The people who are in Hades, in the place of torment, will go to judgment. It will be shown to them and to everyone they are guilty. Then Hades is thrown into the lake of fire, Revelation 20:14. Hades is a temporary holding place for the dead.
B. Being a good steward with my money determines where I go when I die.
1. This rich man was wicked. He saw Lazarus everyday lying at his gate, but he did nothing to help him. This story follows the story of the Unrighteous Steward. The Unrighteous Steward made friends by the use of the money he was in control of. Luke 16:1-9. What is Jesus saying here? Is he saying take your money and buy some friends? The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus is an explanation of this verse. The Rich Man should have used his money and made friends with Lazarus. He could have taken care of Lazarus needs easily, but he was too selfish. He wanted fancy clothes and he wanted to eat New Y0rk strip, Lobster, and shrimp everyday. (He didn’t eat lobster and shrimp he was a Jew.)
2. If he had used his money properly he would have been able to be with Lazarus. Lazarus would have received him into the eternal dwellings.
3. Wealth is the standard of success here on the earth, but it is not the standard of success when we die.
a. If someone says, “He is a very successful man.” What do they mean? They mean he has a successful business that has made a lot of money. There is more to being a success than making money.
b. How much money did the rich man take with him? Nothing. A man was up in the attic one day. His wife asked him, “What are you doing?” He said, “Nothing.” She said, “You are too. What are you doing?” He said, “I am hiding this bag of gold so that when I die, I can take it with me on my way by.” She said, “You can’t take it with you.” He said, “It’s worth a try.” He died. His wife went up to the attic to look and see if his gold was still there. It was. She said, “Maybe he should have put it in the basement.”
c. Joshua 1:8, this is the standard of success. Having your name written in the book of life is the standard of success
d. Remember what I do with my money here determines where I go when I die.
C. If I don’t listen to Moses and the prophets I will join the rich man when I die.
1. Luke 16:27-31
2. The Law and the Prophets wrote about Jesus. Jesus was the one who could save the rich man. There are hundreds of prophecies in the Law and the Prophets about Jesus. Jesus fulfilled them all. He is the only one who fulfilled them all. He was to be a descendant of Abraham and a son of David. Born in Bethlehem. That eliminates a lot of people. Bethlehem was just a little town. It didn’t even have a thousand people there. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy and hundreds more. The genealogical records of the Jews were destroyed in 70 AD. If Jesus was not the Messiah then there never will be one.
3. The rich man wanted Lazarus to visit his brothers. He thought surely if somebody from the dead went to his brothers they would listen. We have another man named Lazarus that returned from the dead. He wasn’t a ghost. His body and soul returned. Some Jews believed in Jesus because of this miracle, but many others wanted to kill Lazarus and Jesus. The resurrection of Lazarus didn’t convince them that Jesus was the Son of God. Abraham was right, if they don’t listen to Moses and the Prophets neither will they listen if someone rises from the dead.
4. God will not send any spirits to teach you the truth. There will be no Jacob Marley coming to visit you. In A Christmas Story Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by his dead business partner Jacob Marley. Scrooge was a rich selfish cold hearted man. Jacob came to warn Scrooge that if he didn’t change his ways he would end up like himself wandering and chained up for eternity. Then three Spirits came to visit Scrooge. The ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. After the visit of the three ghosts Scrooge was scared. He didn’t want to end up like Jacob Marley. He changed his ways and was a generous caring man for the rest of his life.
5. John 12:48, we will be judged by the words in the Bible. If we listen we will join Lazarus in Paradise, if we don’t listen we will join the Rich Man in torment.
D. Who my ancestors are does not determine where I go when I die.
1. The Rich Man said, “Father Abraham…” Luke 16:24. Abraham called him son. Even though this man was an Israelite he went to Hades. The Talmud says, “Abraham sits next to next to the gates of hell, and doth not permit any wicked Israelite to go down into it.” (McGarvey, J. W., The Fourfold Gospel, pg. 74)
2. God is no respecter of persons. Death is the equalizer of man. You can’t take anything with you. How powerful you were on the earth doesn’t matter. The President dies just like the common citizen. How educated or uneducated you are does not matter. The doctor is the same as the one with a 6th grade education. The only thing that matters is that you know Jesus and he has washed you sins away and you will be rewarded with all the riches of heaven.
3. Abraham can’t save me. Mary can’t save me. Abraham couldn’t do anything for this man. No saints can save me. Only Jesus can save me.
E. There is no predestination. What I do on earth determines where I go when I die.
1. The Rich Man knew his brothers still had a chance to repent. So did Abraham.
2. If predestination was true there was no need for him to worry about his brothers. They were destined for one place or the other and there was nothing they could do about it.
3. We can repent, Luke 13:1-5
F. I need to help my relatives and friends prepare now for life after death.
1. The rich man wanted Lazarus to go warn his brothers about this place of torment. He was concerned for their future. He wasn’t concerned if he received the most inheritance. He wasn’t concerned whether or not his brother got the best tractor and he got the one that breaks all the time. He wanted his brother to know the truth about eternal life.
III. There are no second chances after death
A. Many doctrines teach there is a second chance. The Mormons teach someone can be baptized for me after I am dead and get me out of Hades. This is why they keep track of genealogies. They baptize people hundreds of times for people who are dead. The Catholics have the doctrine of Purgatory. They believe you can say prayers for your dead relative and get them out of purgatory. Purgatory is a place of purifying where the fires of purgatory purify you from your sin. When you are purified you can get out and go to heaven. To shorten the time in purgatory a relative on earth can say prayers for you and get you out. During the time of Luther you could pay money instead of say prayers. This is one problem Luther had with the Catholic Church. William Tetsel, a contemporary of Luther said, “The moment you hear your money drop in the box, your mother will jump out of purgatory.” (Kuiper, B.K., The Church in History, pg. 160)
1. This doctrine says this fire can cleanse the sin that Jesus blood couldn’t.
2. Even people who are good go to this place.
3. This doctrine raised lots of money for the Catholic Church.
4. You don’t read about this in the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus.
B. There is no reincarnation.
1. This man knew he wasn’t going to have another chance. He wasn’t going to go back in another form. He didn’t beg Abraham to go back as a bug and then progress to a mouse, then to a cat, then to a dog, and so on until he became a human again and lived right.
C. We must prepare during this life for the judgment
1. Hebrews 9:27
2. There are no second chances. I wish there were. I don’t want to see anyone go Hell, but if you don’t get prepared now it will be too late.
3. Noah started preparing for the flood 120 years before the flood. He and his family were ready when the judgment of God came. Everyone else perished.
Conclusion
We learn from this story there is life after death. Man is immortal and man is conscious after he is dead.
What I do here determines where I go when I die. I must use the money God has entrusted me with properly. Use it to make friends so that they can receive us into eternal dwellings. If I don’t listen to Moses and the prophets I will be in torment forever. Who my ancestors are does not determine where I will be for eternity.
There are no second chances after death. We must give our life to Jesus. Believe in Him. Repent of our sins. Confess that he is the Son of God and have our sins washed away in his blood at baptism.
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