DONE 240317 Luke 16: Believing God

Mark Organ

Through the Bible in 3 Years - Year 3 • Sermon • Submitted 2 months ago • Presented 2 months ago

Luke 16:19–31

Faith

Hell

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INTRODUCTION 4:00 Minute(s) INTRODUCTION SLIDE

Intro: Good morning everyone. Today’s message is titled “Believing God” and our goal today is learn the importance of believing what God says. Which brings up a good question. Why does Scripture matter? INTRO SLIDE TRANSITION TO SCRIPTURE Why does so much effort go into understanding the Bible? What is the importance of hearing and obeying God’s Word?

Direction: Open your Bibles if you would to just about the very beginning of the Bible to a specific time which includes God’s very first spoken words to mankind. Genesis 2. INTRO SLIDE READ v15

Read: Genesis 2:15 Then Yahweh God took the man and set him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.

Context: At this point everything in the universe is very good, perfect in fact. But, as we will learn, perfection will have to be maintained by hearing what God says and rightly responding to His Word.

Continue: Verse 16 INTRO SLIDE READ v16-17 v16-17 And Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may surely eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat from it; INTRO SLIDE for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” LONG PAUSE

INTRO SLIDE REPEAT QUESTION: Why must we hear and rightly respond to God’s Word? INTRO SLIDE Because it is the difference between life and death. Our life and death, your life and death and mine too.

Summary: God has given us His word to both hear and heed. We are to receive and believe Scripture. Believing Scripture is not just believing in God it is believing God. Responding rightly to Him leads to life and rejecting His Word leads to death. Adam, did not do this, God’s first words to him went unheeded and now every one of us will enter the grave as he did. SLIDE

Transition: We must believe God, we do this by believing what He tells us. My goal today is to teach of us of the importance of believing what God says and we were reminded of just how critical that was by looking at the account in Genesis. We are going to see that concept developed even more profoundly in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus in a few moments. We are going to see that not only does heeding God’s Word lead to eternal life in paradise but rejecting His word as Adam did leads to eternal death.

MAINPOINT 1:00 Minute(s) MAINPOINT SLIDE

Main Point: So here is the main point, and I take it from 2 Timothy 3:15, SLIDE God’s Word makes us wise unto salvation.

Repeat: SLIDE God’s Word makes us wise unto salvation.

Reason: You see Adam’s sin wasn’t isolated to just him, when he died the whole human race died too… His rejection of God impacted us. The only solution is doing what was not done in the beginning. We must believe God’s Word because it tells us the way to be saved, it tells us the way to eternal life, it tells us how to escape the eternal death sentence. We must believe God.

ROADMAP 3:00 Minute(s) ROADMAP SLIDE

Introduction: So here is our road map for today, we have looked at the instruction given by God to Adam and we know from experience what his rejection of God resulted in for us. An eternal death sentence of every man, woman and child ever to exist. So it is essential that we believe God.

Main Point: We learned in the main point that the solution, God’s solution is the same as it was in Genesis 2. We are to believe God’s Word because it makes us wise unto salvation.

Context: In a few moments we will dive into the book of Luke. Luke has a critical message in chapter 16 that he is going to emphasize over and over, that we must believe what God says, and interestingly, it doesn’t have an expiration date, so it really it is just as applicable to us as it was to Luke’s original audience.

Sermon: In chapter 16 we are going to learn what believing in God actually results in. We are going to hear from the Son of God as He explains this truth in a unique parable - the Parable of the Rich man and Lazarus

Takeaways: As we go we will consider a number of observations, applications and warnings to help us to think rightly and respond rightly to God’s Word - ultimately we want the gravity of what God says to penetrate our hearts and evoking a better response than Adam had. We must believe God’s Word.

Conclusion: for our conclusion we will head to 2 Timothy to hear about the scope of Scripture’s usefulness for us. Not only does Scripture make us wise unto salvation but it is applicable to every facet of our life. It is not just a life insurance policy, it is our manual for how to live life well in the will of God

PRAYER 2:00 Minute(s) BLANK SLIDE

Well, that covers the preliminaries - let’s ask God to help us believe Him

Adoration: Holy Father, You are good and gracious and worthy of our adoration and worship. You have our attention Father, You have our focus right now

Confession: We confess that we are Adam’s descendents. Like father like son, we too have rejected Your Word - we too are sinners and yet

Thanksgiving: We offer up our gratitude for Your goodness. You did not abandon us. You have told us Your Word - we are so grateful for this great gift

Supplication: Please help us never to take Your Word for granted. Please help us to hear You. Holy Spirit, this is Your Work and we offer ourselves to You. Please penetrate our hardened hearts so that You might have all of us. We ask this in the name of our Beloved Savior, Jesus, amen.

CONTEXT 4:00 Minute(s) CONTEXT SLIDE

Invitation: Turn with me to Luke 16. For the context we are just going to take a look at the verses immediately preceding our text. Look with me at Luke 16:10.

Contrasts: In verses 10 and following, Jesus makes a distinction between two types of people, those who believe God’s word and those who reject God’s word. He is differentiating between the reality of how believers live, verses those who reject God's Word. He is contrasting between the lives of those who live for God and those that, like Adam, despise God and live for themselves. SLIDE

Read: Luke 16:13–17 | 13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” 14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him. 15 And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts, for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God. SLIDE

Set Up for the Punch: These Pharisees serve a false god; they worship wealth. Wealth is an idol that never satisfies and always leads to death. What does verse 15 say: God knows their hearts and what they value, what they chase, what they worship is abhorrent, loathsome to the Lord. The worship of wealth leads to death but God’s Word leads to life. Look at verse 16 SLIDE

Read: 16 “The Law and the Prophets were until John; since that time the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 17 “But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail. SLIDE

Translate, Penetrate and Apply: Scripture doesn’t fade, it is absolutely eternal and to receive the eternal life it proclaims a violent transaction must take place. To access the kingdom of God all false gods must be rejected and God’s good news must be believed. This message is an eternal message, one without an expiration date and we are to hear it today. We are to believe what God says.

SERMON 30:00 Minute(s) SERMON SLIDE

Transition: To make sure the message penetrates, the Lord is going to illustrate the necessity of believing God through the use of a parable. A parable known as the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man worships wealth as the Pharisees do and as many in our day do as well. Lazarus is poor but he possesses a faith that will be vindicated. He believed God and it resulted in eternal life for him but for the rich man his false god only gave him eternal death. I have broken verses 19-31 into 4 points. Our first is titled

I. RIGHTEOUS? (v19-21) 6:00 Minute(s) SERMON SLIDE

Read: Luke 16:19 “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.

Translate: This rich man seemingly has everything going for him, the text leads us to understand that he is a very blessed individual. He is rich externally, he wears extravagant clothing, such as that reserved for royalty. He is also rich internally, he happily eats whatever he desires. He is rich inside and out and this isn’t a rare occurence but this is a habitual state for this rich man. But there’s a problem. Jesus just said we cannot serve God and wealth and this man is clearly serving wealth.

Transition: Now, he is contrasted with a ragged beggar named Lazarus verse 20

20 “But a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21 and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.

Translate: Lazarus is thrown at the rich man’s gate. How is he described? He’s sick, he is starving, a man so destitute that he would be grateful for the rich man’s garbage - but the rich man will not even give him that much. Lazarus’ only friends are diseased wild dogs. The rich man has no use for Lazarus at all and ignores him.

Question: So who is righteous man? Is it the rich man or Lazarus? We are supposed to understand this in light of God’s Word and not just based on our preconceived notions of what constitutes righteousness. Is wealth a sign of God’s favor? Jesus said, in verse 15, that, “that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.”

Takeaways: Let’s gather some takeaways, first an observation SLIDE

Observations: Rich doesn’t equal righteous and unfortunate doesn’t equal evil.

Emphasize: No, if we are judging a person’s holiness or closeness to God based upon how much money a man has in his bank account, we are judging according to appearance and undoubtedly we will judge wrongly. Jesus said in SLIDE John 7:24““Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.””

Transition: Just because a person is wealthy is no indication of their spiritual health or relationship with God. So let’s gather a warning from this SLIDE

Warning: Wealth can actually hinder our responsiveness to God

Emphasize: If our hearts are captured by idols, if we are serving another master we will be unresponsive to God. SLIDE

Read: 1 Timothy 6:9“But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.”

Restate: Do we want wealth, we are setting ourselves up for ruin and destruction. Are you broke, praise God that He has been gracious to you? Are you rich? Watch out, you are surrounded by snares, harmful and foolish desires which may be just what is going to be weaponized by satan to drown you, and those whom you love, in ruin and destruction.

Transition: So what is to be done? SLIDE

Application: Reject all fleshly defilements

Emphasize: We looked at this last week we do two things, we set our mind on the things above and we set aside the old man. A parallel passage found in Ephesians says the same thing that we learned last week out of Colossians SLIDE

Read: Ephesians 5:6“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

Restate: So don’t be deceived as in the garden of Eden, fleshly defilements will receive the full measure of God’s wrath. PAUSE Turn from all forms of idolatry.

Transition: That’s a lot to think about but let’s look at these things play out. Eventually that which is inevitable took place in verse 22 as both Lazarus and the rich man die.

II. INEVITABLE (v22) 5:00 Minute(s) SERMON SLIDE

Read: Luke 16:22 “Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man also died and was buried.

Restate: The wages of sin is death and in Adam all men have sinned - both of these men died. Wealth didn’t save the rich man and the poor man died but look at the differences.

Lazarus Analysis: There is no indication that the poor man was even buried, just left to the wind and weather and the wild dogs to deal with but his soul was transferred by God’s ministering spirits to Abraham’s side, a place of rest.

Rich Man Analysis: The rich man too died and he was buried and if his lifestyle was indicative of how he chose to be buried it was likely as ostentatious and grandiose as a king. I am sure many people attended his funeral - but nonetheless, the inevitable took him - he died.

Transition: Here is a fact that will not surprise any of us

Observations: Each and every human eventually dies.

Emphasize: We know and ignore this truth and do what we can to forestall it but nonetheless

Read: SLIDE Hebrews 9:27“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”

Further the idea: And after we die then comes judgment - so when are you going to die? Are you going to live out the week? Are you going to choke on a peppermint candy and die during your grand baby’s first Christmas? When are you going to die? When are you going to die… say it with me, “I don’t know.” PAUSE But we do have today right? Yep, we do. We have today - Here is our warning SLIDE

Warning: Tomorrow is not promised to us SLIDE

Read: James 4:14 “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”

Restate: We have today, a very brief moment, to take the kingdom of God by force, to believe what He says about life and death because very soon we will fade and die.

Transition: Before we move on to verses 23-26 let’s consider poor Lazarus. How outrageous was the rich man’s indifference toward him? His sin was indeed very great. Maybe you have been sinned against? Maybe you have been abused, callously treated? Do not worry simply SLIDE

Application: Rest in Yahweh’s timing, He will vindicate SLIDE

Psalm 37:28“For Yahweh loves justice And will not forsake His holy ones; They are kept forever, But the seed of the wicked will be cut off.”

Restate: Friend, death will end your sorrow before too long. It will also halt in their tracks every evil doer. God will not forsake His holy ones, He will keep them so rest in this. He will vindicate our trust in Him.

Transition: Ultimately, after death SLIDE we will arrive at our unending destination. For the believer after death we will find ourselves in a place of permanent perfection - not unlike where Adam found himself, paradise unending… But For those who loved their idols greater than their God, they will find themselves in unending torment - our third point is verses 23-26

III. UNENDING (v23-26) 9:00 Minute(s) SERMON SLIDE

Luke 16:23 “And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 “And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ 25 “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things. But now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 ‘And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you are not able, and none may cross over from there to us.’

Hades Analysis: The rich man finds himself in Hades, the place of unending torment. In Hades, he is conscience, totally aware and in utter agony and absolutely exposed to the flames of destruction. Hades is the place where the worm doesn’t die and the blackest darkness. It is a place of weeping and teeth grinding pain. Hades is a place designed to destroy that lying serpent and his demons and that rich man finds himself there.

Rich man analysis: Now, don’t take your eyes off the rich man. His state is descriptive for everyone who blasphemes the testimony of God through His word, everyone who rejects the prompting of God’s Holy Spirit as the Scriptures are opened. He is there because he believed his false god rather than God’s Word. He rejected it and he has been rejected.

Lazarus analysis: But look at Lazarus! Where is he? United with Abraham, the father of faith, the friend of God, the one who believed God - His troubles are over. He is being comforted. Every tear has been replaced with a shout of joy. Never again knowing pain, death, sorrow. Rejoicing in the divine light of Christ, never hungry never needy ever again. Never to ever leave the presence of Christ! Never sinning or being sinned against again. Never having to repent, to confess, to feel shame ever again.

Transition: What is the difference between these two men? One believed God and one did not! SLIDE So here is an observation:

Observations: Heritage cannot ever save our souls

We have Heard: Have we ever heard someone say when we offer them the Gospel, “Oh my daddy was a preacher,” or, “My folks were missionaries.” Or, “I’m Jewish!” These are all appeals to heritage saying, I am righteous because of the faith of another. No! No, SLIDE

Read: Jesus said in Matthew 3:9“and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”

Restate: Heritage cannot ever save our souls. Heritage is why we are considered dead, Adam’s sin created a sin nature which was passed down to us. We need new life from God and that is given through faith in what God says which is always manifested in action.

Transition: Don’t say “Oh, I believe God” without actually doing what He commands and one of the things that He commands is seen in our next takeaway. SLIDE

Warning: There will be no mercy for the merciless SLIDE

Read: James 2:13“For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

Penetrate: Are we merciless? Without the ability to care or express compassion or pity toward another? So self wrapped so bent over in worship to our own idols that we don’t care about anyone else? The rich man was merciless, he wouldn’t even give his garbage to the feed this half alive diseased and naked beggar thrown outside his gate. PAUSE Do we care about the poor, the perishing, the ugly, the diseased? No? Then count on it, there will be no mercy for the merciless.

Transition: Maybe the shoe is on the other foot? Maybe you find yourself worked over by men like the rich man… Suffering, alone and disregarded and needy. Here is something for you to do… Remember

Application: Remember, suffering is momentary SLIDE

Read: 2 Corinthians 4:17“For our momentary, light affliction is working out for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,”

Translate: For a short time God has seen fit to give you the gift of depending upon Him, to draw you to Him. He has not given you what is men highly esteem and which He detests. He has not forsaken you to earthly wealth. Like His Son, He is perfecting you through trials. He is going to richly reward your faith in Him through those trials. An eternal weight of glory that makes these momentary light afflictions absolutely infinitesimal in comparison.

Transition: That reward will not end, it is unending. SLIDE In the same way the punishment of those who do not believe what God says will not end. It is of utmost importance that we do not miss the next point. In this sermon about believing God the next point is critical. Let’s continue on to verses 27-31 for our fourth and final point titled Unheeded. The word of God was unheeded by the rich man and nothing but faith in the Word of God is needed to avoid the fate of the rich man.

IV. UNHEEDED (v27-31) 10:00 Minute(s) SERMON SLIDE

Read: Luke 16:27 “And he said, ‘Then I am asking you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 “But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ 31 “But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Restate: The rich man’s character doesn’t change when he arrives in hell. He is still a user of people, he wants Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers that they might hear from someone raised from the dead - surely he will be able to persuade them!

Clarify about command: No, Abraham clears that up immediately - no, they have God’s Word. They have Torah, they have the Nev-aim. They have Law, they have the prophets.. they must hear them. The translation of the phrase “let them hear” is actually an imperative - perhaps a more forceful translation that grabs the sense of the sentiment is “they must hear them.” But the rich man’s response is to argue with Abraham - ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’

Sufficiency: Nothing could be further from the truth! No, the rich man that disregarded God’s word still disregards the sufficiency of Scripture. The rich man says God’s Word is not enough. Oh, what a lie of satan to swallow! Abraham makes it clear that unless we believe God’s word we will never be persuaded. So the question remains - do we believe God? Do we trust His word? SLIDE

Observation: The Evidence we have is sufficient to believe SLIDE

The Disciple’s faith: The disciples were persuaded, they had read the law and the prophets and Jesus was a match…

Read: John 1:45 “Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Restate: It is clear that God’s Word provides sufficient evidence of Christ. Sufficient evidence of God’s character and the weight of guilt that we are under. Sufficient evidence to convict and damn us if we will not take the salvation that is offered. For those that reject Christ here is a warning. SLIDE

Warning: Guilt accumulates forever

Perspective on inability to stop sinning: Have we ever considered that people don’t suddenly stop sinning when they arrive in Hades? No, their legacy that they have left behind continues to accrue guilt for them. The abuse that they have taught their children when passed down to the grandchildren and great grandchildren increase their guilt. Their sins are in part traceable to them and so the guilt accumulates forever. What else remains, the arrogance remains - we see that in the rich man’s character demanding that Abraham send Lazarus, denying the sufficiency of Scripture. The sin of pride forever goes unchecked and so it continues to receive the righteous wrath of God indefinitely. The worst sin continues however, it is the sin of unbelief.

Read: Jesus said in Mark 3:29“but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” There are no second chances but even if there were the Holy Spirit’s gift to all living humanity is to convict regarding sin and righteousness and judgment. If we are not persuaded now while alive and able to respond to the Spirit then we need to recognize that at death the Holy Spirit will be removed and there will never be a chance to believe God after that.

Transition: So what is the solution? Just what do we need to do? We need to SLIDE

Application: Respond to Scripture - because it is all about Christ

Scripture’s sufficiency: You know when Jesus rose from the dead and He walked with His disciples do you know what He pointed them to? He pointed them to Scripture - it is sufficient, it is about Christ we must respond to God’s Word because it makes us wise unto salvation!

Read: Luke 24:27 tells us that Jesus began with “...Moses and with all the prophets, He interpreted to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”

Restate: Do we believe God? We will read His word and His word will make us wise unto salvation

SUMMARY

1:00 Minute(s) SUMMARY SLIDE 0

Summarize what has been taught: That is what we have been looking at today. SUMMARY SLIDE 1

Intro: We learned that we must do what Adam did not do - we must believe God and we do that by believing what He has said. SUMMARY SLIDE 2

MP: Our main takeaway was that in heeding God’s word it will make us wise unto salvation SUMMARY SLIDE 3

Context: We learned from the context that God’s word has no expiration date - it lasts forever SUMMARY SLIDE 4

Sermon: During the message we learned about the torment of the rich man and that blessed state of Lazarus. Lazarus joined Abraham in bliss and the rich man was left with himself in his sin, alone in torment never to escape. Guilt continuously accruing indefinitely. SUMMARY SLIDE 5

Takeaways: A number of takeaway’s were brought to our attention to enable us to allow God’s word to penetrate us.

Observations: First we observed that being rich does not mean that we are righteous and neither are we wicked if we are poor. We learned that we are to judge with righteous judgment. We were reminded that each of us have an expiration date, all of us are going to die at some point and after that comes judgment. We observed that a family legacy does not enter into the balance at judgment. Having a godly heritage is never sufficient for salvation. We must be saved through faith in God’s Word. In our final observation we that what is sufficient is God’s Word

Warnings: Then we received 4 warnings. First that wealth can hinder our responsiveness to God. Desiring wealth can plunge men into ruin and destruction. It is a false god - we are to beware. Secondly, we were warned that tomorrow is not promised to us - we have today, actually right now but soon we will vanish away. Thirdly, we were warned that there will be no mercy for the merciless. We are to be merciful as God is merciful towards us. Our final warning was that guilt accumulates indefinitely. Just because a man goes to hell does not mean he becomes holy. The unbelief that he had on earth will never be removed because the Holy Spirit’s ministry of conviction unto repentance will be retired. We really only have today.

Applications: We also took several application points away. Things that we are to do. We are to reject all fleshly defilements, we are to rest in Yahweh’s timing because He will vindicate us. We are to remember that suffering is a momentary and light event in comparison to the great weight of eternal glory. And finally we were told that we must respond to Scripture.

Transition to Conclusion: In conclusion turn with me to 2 Timothy 3… PAUSE Have we responded to Christ? Have we believed His word? He invites each of us, Matthew 11:28““Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Are we laden with guilt? Come to Christ. He offers His perfection to those who believe Him. He offers protection from the wrath of God. Today is the day of repentance, agree with God about the weight of your sin and your need of a Savior and find His solution of salvation ready and waiting for you as well as the glory reserved for those who respond in faith.

CONCLUSION

1:00 Minute(s) CONCLUSION SLIDE

Setup: I had us turn to 2nd Timothy 3 because it is a snapshot of what we covered in our message today and it summarizes it beautifully. It says

Read: 2 Timothy 3:13–17 | 13 But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But you, continue in the things you learned and became convinced of, knowing from whom you learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Restate: Evil men will continue in evil deceived by their false god and yet, this is not the situation for the believer. The believer continues in the things that they have learned, the things that they know are true and are convinced of. They hold to the Scriptures because they declare Christ, the Author of salvation. Heeding these makes us wise to salvation. Scripture is inspired by God and profitable in every aspect of life and it has been given to us not just for future eternal life but for eternal life now.

PRAYER

1:00 Minute(s) CONCLUSION SLIDE

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I. RIGHTEOUS? (v19-21) 5:00 Minute(s) SERMON SLIDE

Read: Luke 16:19 “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.

Transition: Now, he is contrasted with a ragged beggar named Lazarus verse 20

Minimum Required Elements

Analysis of the rich man, carefree joyous - every indication he is blessed of the Lord, inside and out he is rich. What he ingests is rich and what he wears is rich - he is fully enthralled with what we just heard was a false god.

Analysis of the poor man - uninvited, literally cast down at his gate, rich disdained to help, only company is dogs

Duration of good/bad things

Judge with righteous judgment

Paraphrase/Retranslation

Notes

Dives (DEE-ways) is an adjective taken from the Latin translation of the Bible and regarded as a proper name, nowadays we might call the rich man, Richard

Questions

Cross References

Observations:

Rich doesn’t equal righteous

Warning

1 Timothy 6:9“But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.”

Wealth is a hindrance to salvation Mark 10:25““It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”” 1 Timothy 6:9“But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.”

Application

Abandon all fleshly defilements

Ephesians 5:6“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

II. IRREVERSIBLE (v22) 5:00 Minute(s) SERMON SLIDE

Luke 16:22 “Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man also died and was buried.

Minimum Required Elements

an analysis of what takes place at the moment of death and the judgment that follows

Angels guide the souls of God’s elect to Paradise Luke 23:43“And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”” Hebrews 1:14“Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?”

They are alert and conscience and alive - the saved recline at table with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom - ie alive with those who believe

Paraphrase/Retranslation

Notes

Questions

Cross References

Psalm 37:28“For Yahweh loves justice And will not forsake His holy ones; They are kept forever, But the seed of the wicked will be cut off.”

James 4:14“Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”

Matthew 8:11““And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven;”

Observations:

Death comes to every person Hebrews 9:27“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”

Warning

Tomorrow is not promised to us

Application

III. UNENDING (v23-26) 10:00 Minute(s) SERMON SLIDE

Minimum Required Elements

Comfort of Lazarus, now he is united with the father of faith

Agony of the rich man, pleading for mercy, just begging for a drop of water - “take a whole pail full for the good it will do”

He is consciously in agony, in flame in torment, aware totally of where he is and what is coming

description of Heaven / Hades

This is final, there is no appeal, no purgatory, no second chances/ no ultimate annihilation

Paraphrase/Retranslation

Notes

When Abraham responds he references him as child Matthew 8:11““And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven;” Matthew 8:12“but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.””

Questions

Cross References

Heaven:

Experiencing the Christ John 17:3““And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

Comfort: Revelation 22:2“in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

Rejoicing in justice Psalm 58:10“The righteous will be glad when he beholds the vengeance; He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.”

Gift of God - good transitional verse Romans 6:23“For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Hell:

Christ Himself does the burning Matthew 3:12““His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.””

Worm doesn’t die and the fire is not quenched Isaiah 66:24““Then they will go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an object of contempt to all mankind.””

Intense and angry agony of the rebellious, the weeping of the self deceived Matthew 25:30““And throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The destruction doesn’t end, how do we know, there is no end to eternal life 2 Thessalonians 1:9“These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, AWAY FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD AND FROM THE GLORY OF HIS MIGHT,”

Observations:

The finality of the future judgment NAC - this passage guts the theory of universalism

no opportunity to believe after the preliminary period of punishment - no universal salvation

The judgment is an eternal one Matthew 25:41““Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;”

It is not heritage that saves Matthew 8:11–12““And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.””

Heritage never saved anyone

Warning

A merciless man will not receive mercy James 2:13“For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

God is not desiring any to perish 2 Peter 3:9“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some consider slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

It is foolish to think that we could satisfy the wrath of God over aeons of destruction when it took the eternal, infinite, omnipotent, transcendent God taking on human flesh dying to free believer’s from sin. The very height of ignorance to think God would let the unbeliever skate when He was pleased to crush His only begotten and beloved Son. 2 Corinthians 5:21“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Application

1 Peter 4:16 “but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be put to shame, but is to glorify God in this name.”

IV. UNHEEDED (v27-31) 10:00 Minute(s) SERMON SLIDE

Luke 16:27 “And he said, ‘Then I am asking you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 “But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ 31 “But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Minimum Required Elements

v30 Rich man argues with Abraham, ignorant of what creates saving faith - teaching opportunity to guide folks to understand that God via the Holy Spirit gives the gift of repentance so that we might receive it and repent and believe

Abraham is not permissive or dismissive - the “let them hear” is not permissive but an imperative they must hear!

Moses

Disobedient to the command given by the Lord Deuteronomy 6:4–5““Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one! “You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

***Don’t let economic peace be the barometer of our rightness with God ***Deuteronomy 29:19““And it will be when he hears the words of this curse, that he will bless himself in his heart, saying, ‘I have peace though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart in order to sweep away the watered land with the dry.’”

Prophets

Ezekiel 18:21–23““But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has done and keeps all My statutes and does justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die. “All his transgressions which he has done will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has done, he will live. “Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares Lord Yahweh, “is it not that he should turn from his ways and live?”

Jeremiah 31:31–34““Behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I cut with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, but I was a husband to them,” declares Yahweh. “But this is the covenant which I will cut with the house of Israel after those days,” declares Yahweh: “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “And they will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares Yahweh, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.””

Micah 6:8“He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does Yahweh require of you But to do justice, to love lovingkindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”

They will never believe - no matter what

Revelation 14:6–7“Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who inhabit the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.””

Some Argue there is no further use of the Law

Not so - we see the Law and Prophets as that which persuades men to repent

Paraphrase/Retranslation

Notes

Questions

Cross References

Mark 3:29“but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—”

Observations:

Heretics don’t become holy when they get to the grave

He knew of Lazarus and he was only important to him when he needed something - never during his life

Warning

Application

We must respond to Scripture - “let them hear them”

Luke 24:27 “Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He interpreted to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”

John 1:45“Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.””

OBSERVATION

1:00 Minute(s) OBSERVATION SLIDE

WARNING

1:00 Minute(s) WARNING SLIDE

Absolutely no second chances

Matthew 10:28““And do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

APPLICATION

1:00 Minute(s) APPLICATION SLIDE

SUMMARY

1:00 Minute(s) SUMMARY SLIDE

CONCLUSION

1:00 Minute(s) CONCLUSION SLIDE

Genesis 2:16–17“And Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may surely eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat from it; for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.””

Acts 28:23–27“And when they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly bearing witness about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening. And some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others were not believing. And when they disagreed with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one word, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying, ‘GO TO THIS PEOPLE AND SAY, “YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, AND WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES; LEST THEY MIGHT SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I HEAL THEM.”’” Acts 28:28–29““Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God was sent to the Gentiles—they will also hear.” [When he had spoken these words, the Jews departed, having a great dispute among themselves.]”

John 11:38–44“So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time he smells, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. “And I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the crowd standing around I said this, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.””

John 11:45–53“Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done. Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Sanhedrin together, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is doing many signs. “If we let Him go on like this, all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” Now he did not say this from himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.”

John 12:10–11“But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also; because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus.”

Matthew 3:10““And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Luke 3:9““But indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.””