The Danger of Not Listening - Luke 16:19-31

James H. Cosentino II

Parables: Jesus the Storyteller • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

Luke 16:19–31

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Introduction

Read Luke 16:19-31

Luke 16:19–31 (ESV)

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”

We experienced a great Easter last Sunday. A great time of worship as well as focusing on the hope that we have because Christ was willing to go to the cross on our behalf to die for our sin and remember that He is not dead, He is alive!

The question we have to ask ourselves now is what do we do with Jesus? If He truly is raised from the dead, how Are we going to allow Him to change us?

Are we going to proclaim the good news of His resurrection with others who need to hear it? Or was it just another holiday to get dressed up, enjoy some time with family, be encouraged and move on?

The Good news of Jesus is that He came to live the life we should have lived and died the death we deserved so we could have our sins wiped away and then came back to life to secure our life with Him for eternity.

During Jesus’ time on earth, He spent much of his time and His ministry teaching us about the kingdom of God and what it means to live in trust and obedience to Him.

Now, if Jesus is still in the grave, then His teachings have no real authority over our lives. But if Jesus truly has been raised from the dead, then we would do well to take seriously the things He taught. His resurrection is proof to us that He was more than just a teacher, He is God in the flesh, which gives more weight to His teaching.

These are not just the words of a good teacher, these are the words of God Himself.

Last summer we began to look at some of Jesus’ parables. Over the next several weeks through the Summer we will be looking at more of His parables and His teachings on salvation and the Kingdom of God.

The Reality of Two Unique Places in Eternity

By the time we get to this passage here in Luke 16, Jesus has been teaching in parables to those who would listen. Part of those who were listening to Him were the Pharisees.

Luke 16:14 (ESV)

The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.

They had been listening to his teachings and ridiculing Him because His teachings were incompatible with how they were currently living. They were outwardly living according to the Law, or rather to their man centered interpretation of the Law, but inwardly, their hearts loved their money and prestige more than they loved God.

It is with this backdrop that Jesus began to teach about the reality of eternity by telling a story of these two men and the two drastically different places they end up in eternity.

A. Heaven

Jesus describes these two men, one a rich man who lived for himself and his wealth, and a poor sick beggar named Lazarus, whose name means “God will help.”

The naming of Lazarus might signify God’s care over the poor and marginalized. It might also tell us of his trust and dependence upon God.

Either way, we know that Lazarus, despite his physical condition, was a man who trusted in God because when he died, he was carried to Abraham’s side (another name for paradise or heaven.) Abraham is the representative head for God’s people who live by faith in God.

B. Hell

In contrast, the rich man also died and was buried. However, he was not carried to Abraham’s side. Rather, he was taken to Hades, a place of torment and punishment. Jesus’ parables always communicated spiritual truths and realities. The reality Jesus wants us to understand is that while we will all die, we do not all end up in the same place.

Regardless of what our culture and society and even many mainline churches want us to believe, Jesus wants us to understand that there are two different places where we could potentially end up in eternity.

So what He is teaching us has the weight and seriousness of life and death, of eternal life in the presence of God, and of eternal death, a life of suffering and torment separated from the goodness and mercy of God while enduring His wrath for sin for all eternity.

If we Jesus really has risen from the dead and all that He taught us is true, then In light of these realities, we must ask ourselves some questions:

What Are You Living For?

First, I want us to see that Jesus is not necessarily making the statement that all rich people go to hell and that all poor people go to heaven.

While there is a distinction of wealth between these two men, there is more of an attitude of what they are living for, not what their earthly circumstances were.

A. Living for the Moment (your own pleasure and glory)

Here we see the rich man who has lived for himself, for his comforts, for his own glory.

The idea that he was clothed in purple and fine linen and he feasted sumptuously shows us that he regarded his wealth as something to spend upon himself and for his own desires.

Purple and fine linen was especially expensive and reserved for the wealthy and prosperous.

This rich man was a self-indulgent man who lived for the comforts of the moment rather than living for the honor and glory of God and for the purpose of eternity in mind.

And especially as we look at his relation to Lazarus, who laid at his gate and was simply satisfied to eat the scraps and leftovers from the man’s table.

Jesus tells us what the greatest commandment is in Matthew 22:36-40

Matthew 22:36–40 (ESV)

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

This man, as religious and well respected as he probably was within the community failed to live according to these two simple commandments, to love God and to love his neighbor.

He never gave any thought to God and he refused to love and serve the neighbor who laid at his gate.

B. Living for Eternity (the glory and honor of God)

Lazarus on the other hand, we do not know much about. But we can assume some things.

First, the fact that Jesus gives him a name, which is something He has not done in any of his other parables, gives us a clue to his character. His name means “God will help.”

Lazarus, in spite of his circumstances, kept his eyes fixed upon God to supply all of his needs.

There’s also a possible assumption we can make. Later in the parable, as the rich man is suffering in torment, he asks for Lazarus to go back to the land of the living to warn his brothers so they might not come to this place. It might be that the rich man knew of Lazarus’ witness and testimony to our need for the grace of God.

Whatever the situation, Lazarus kept his hope in God and looked towards eternity and not his temporal circumstances.

What are you living for?

Again, this is not so much about rich versus poor.

There are poor people who still try to live for this life alone. And I have know people who were very blessed and wealthy who lived for eternity.

One man I knew in Lubbock was very wealthy, but he did not spend much of his money on himself or his family. He drove his cars into the ground. Did not have the designer clothes or even the biggest and best house. But he had the gift of hospitality. He would roll out the red carpet to serve the church, to serve the college students in town, and even to serve others in the community. The way he spent his wealth demonstrated his love for God and his love for his neighbors.

The question we have to ask ourselves is what are we spending our lives on? Are we spending the blessings God has given to us on ourselves?

We live in a very self-indulgent culture. A culture that lives for entertainment and amusement. We want life to be as easy and comfortable for us as possible.

The rise of the moral and sexual revolution has preached the message that my own pleasure and comfort should be my highest goal. The fight for the right of abortion is part of the hellish self-worship view saying that my rights and my comforts are more important than the life of the unborn.

Our self-indulgence will also turn our eyes away from the poor and homeless, the widow and the orphan, the marginalized and the foreigner living among us.

Jesus is warning us against living for ourselves and for the moment and to start living with eternity in mind. It may cost us now, but the cost later is much greater if we refuse to love God and to love our neighbor for the sake of our own pleasures and comforts.

The second question we must ask is...

What Do You Trust?

A. We could trust wealth

The rich man, throughout his life trusted in his wealth. It was his wealth he depended on to give him his comforts and pleasures as well as gave him his power to command those of an inferior station, like Lazarus to serve him.

He became used to people giving him what he wanted when he wanted. So it might have come as a shock to him to have Abraham refuse him as he is suffering in hades.

Luke 16:24–25 (ESV)

And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.

His wealth could not buy him even the slightest amount of comfort in eternity.

If you are living for building up your wealth and possessions, know that they will only last for these few years we have upon this earth. They will be worthless to you when you enter eternity.

We need to place our trust in something that will last longer than the things we accumulate on this earth.

B. We could trust heritage

Next, the rich man trusted in his heritage, in his ethnicity.

Notice to whom he is praying. He is not praying to God. He is praying to Father Abraham as if his relationship to Abraham as one of his physical descendants could bring him the comfort and salvation he longed for.

However, Jesus makes it clear that being a descendant of Abraham had no value.

Matthew 3:9 (ESV)

And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.

We are no different in our thinking. Some might think that because we are citizens of America, a country that many still view as a “Christian nation,” then we are automatically saved and going to spend eternity in heaven.

Maybe some have even placed their trust in their family’s faith. My parents and grandparents and great grandparents were all believers so I am too.

It does not matter how many Christians you have in your family. This faith and salvation cannot be passed down to you genetically. Your family cannot save you, no matter how good and noble they might be.

C. We could trust experience

What I mean when I say experience is the idea of experiencing some sign or wonder of God and thinking that experience could save us.

We think that if only God would give us a sign or some special kind of spiritual experience then we can be assured of His existence and our salvation.

This is what the rich man is asking for his brothers. He is asking that Lazarus might return to the living to testify to his brothers about the reality of heaven and hell.

Abraham tells him they have Moses and the Prophets. In other words, they have God’s Word, the Bible, to reveal to them how they can be saved.

But the rich man argues that Scripture is not sufficient. They need a special sign.

However, Abraham’s response is that if they don’t believe what God’s Word has to say, then no sign will be good enough to convince them of what is true.

If you are looking for some kind of sign from God to prove who He is to you, then there will be no sign, no kind of experience that will be enough to convince you of the reality of God’s power and grace to you. We have God’s Word in its entirety in a way that other people in other nations can only long to have. We must be wise enough to listen to what God has said to us in His Word. If we will not listen to Him there, then there’s no sign or experience that can draw us to Him.

D. We should only trust Christ as Revealed in His Word

Ultimately, what we see here is that we are called to trust in Christ exactly as He has been revealed to us in His Word. We have Moses, the Prophets, the Gospels, and the New Testament Letters to show us how to inherit eternal life.

2 Timothy 3:14–15 (ESV)

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

These Scriptures reveal to us the truth of who God is, how we have sinned and rebelled against Him and that death is the deserved wage for sin. That death is both physical death, but it also includes the eternal death that the rich man is experiencing separated forever from the merciful presence of God.

However, through Scripture we learn of the plan God initiated in Christ to bring salvation to His people. Jesus, the Son of God, became man, lived the perfect life, died the death we deserved by enduring the wrath of God against sin, was buried, and was raised on the third day and is now exalted and sitting at the right hand of the Father, so that anyone who comes to Him by faith will no longer perish, but have eternal life.

We have these Scriptures given to us to point us to Christ. It is to our harm if we choose to ignore and disregard what God has revealed through these Scriptures.

The third question we must ask is...

What Are You Waiting For?

Today is the Day of Salvation!

2 Corinthians 6:2 (ESV)

For he says,

“In a favorable time I listened to you,

and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

The truth of the matter is, unless Jesus comes first, we all will face a physical death. It doesn’t matter how wealthy or powerful or important you think you are. The rich man died just like Lazarus the sick beggar died.

The rich man had his whole life in which to submit Himself to the grace and mercy of God and to give His life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. However, once he died, it was too late.

We are all here today because of the mercy and grace of God. He is speaking to us today about the salvation that has been purchased for us by Christ! Do not put off for tomorrow what you can do today because we do not know if we will have tomorrow to make that choice.

There is a true danger for not listening to the message Jesus has given to us today.

Today is the Day to Share the Gospel!

But this message isn’t just for those who have yet to turn to Christ in faith and repentance.

Much of Jesus’ talk about the reality of hell was also for His own disciples to share with them the urgency for the proclamation of the Gospel.

If you and I are to live our lives in light of eternity, we must be about the Great Commission that Christ has set before us. The preaching of the Gospel is not just for myself and other preachers like me to do on a Sunday morning.

You and I are all called to go out and take the Gospel to people who are in desperate need to hear good news of Jesus. They need to hear of their dire situation because of their sin and they need to hear of the great love of God shown to us in Christ Jesus. The reality of Hell should motivate us to be all the more urgent to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth!

Just as it will one day be too late to receive the Gospel, so too it will one day be too late to keep sharing the Gospel.

Author Mark Cahill wrote a book called “One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven.” There he writes about how we will get to worship, fellowship, serve, but we will not get to evangelize. Lazarus was unable to go back to share the gospel with the rich man’s family. There’s coming a day when we will also be unable to keep sharing the good news with those we would want to share with. Do not wait until it’s too late to share!