We will start this message by considering carefully the book of Luke chapter 16 verses 19-30:
“There was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously everyday: and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores. And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom; the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things; and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted and thou art tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come form thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent. And he said unto him, if they hear not Moses and the prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.”
When Jesus said there was a certain rich man, He meant that the man actually existed, it was not a parable. This man, according to Jesus, lived a good life. And there was also a certain beggar named Lazarus who was lame and full of sores always at the rich man’s gate desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. Lazarus was competing with the dogs for the crumbs and after that, they would lick his sore in addition. When the beggar died, he was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom. When a Christian dies and is going home, the first group of people he sees will not be demons, spirit husbands, masquerades, etc, but angels of the living God, mounting a guard of honour to lead him home. “The rich man also died and was buried.” But the Bible did not tell us what happened to the corpse of Lazarus. The rich man must have been given a very good burial, for the Bible to have recorded that he was buried, but he ended up in hell fire after the expensive burial. “He lifted up his eyes, being in torment and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, (His first prayer point), “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, (But the time of mercy was gone) and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger into water and cool my tongue for I’m tormented in this flame.” I know that even a bucket of water would not have solved his problem. “But Abraham said, Son, remember (This is the most terrible thing about hell fire. Over there, people will he reminded of what they did before they got there) that you bought chairs for the church, on which you sat any Sunday that you had time to attend service. You really did not serve the Lord. All the free ladies you had in the streets, what you did to them and what they did to you, the cigarette you smoked secretly, the abortions that you really did not like that person you were smiling at. All these things would come quickly to your memory.
"Son, remember, that thou in your life time, receiveth thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted and thou art tormented,” meaning that although God does not want any believer to die as a pauper, if you have to die penniless to make heaven, it would be worth it, since eternity is more than money and no matter how long you spend here, there is a place of peace, blessings and glory in eternity for you. No matter how much money you make here on earth, if you lose eternity, the memory of the money will torment you the more in hell fire. Further down, from verses 26-30, the rich man in hell made some requests which were not granted.
There are many lessons we can learn from this story:
1. Praying when it is too late: The rich man prayed late like the foolish virgins. At this juncture, I would like you to take this prayer point: "I will not pray when it is too late, in the name of Jesus."
2. Use your money and opportunities to serve the Lord while you are still alive: Riches are not for self-indulgence. They are not supposed to make you proud or arrogant. They are to enable you serve the Lord, help your neighbours and build a fine mansion for yourself in heaven. A lot of people are putting their money in the desert where it cannot yield any fruit. When you drop your tithe in a church where the pastor has seven wives and expect to be blessed, you will gain nothing. If you expect that God would have mercy on you because you bought a car for a pastor who is trying to commit immorality with you, you have sowed into the desert.
3. Giving to the needy: We must learn to have mercy on the poor, especially the poor amongst us Christians. You will be wasting your time if you use the wealth God has given to you help a person who does not recognize Jesus Christ as Lord. Psalm 41:1-3 says, “Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive: and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou will not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou will make all his bed in his sickness.”
In some churches, when it is time to take the offering for the needy, people look for the dirtiest notes, their most wretched clothes and things they do not value anymore to give. This is very wrong. We must have pity on the poor. When you see someone who is always wearing the same shirt to church and you have 50, you should give out some to such a person.
4. Rejecting and being indifferent top the things of God: This is dangerous. The rich man in our story must have heard the gospel a number of times before he died, but he wouldn’t listen just as many rich people today who think that the churches are meant for only those who are poor. Anyone who is not ready to accept and heed the word of God as it comes to him or her will be lost. Abraham said they had the laws and the prophets, let them hear them.
5. There is no second chance for salvation after death: Death does not announce its arrival. Eternity cannot be decided after a person has died. The Bible says that there is no repentance in the grave. Eternity is decided here on earth, and one of the worst tragedies that can befall a person is for him or her to attend a living church while alive and still go to hell fire. If you were in a church where the pastor and members belong to one secret society or the other, then there is no problem because it is clear that everybody there is hell bound. But when you come to a living church and you are not serious with God, you will end up where you are not supposed to. What excuses will you give for that? If you try to blame your pastor or any other person, you would be wasting your time, because at the judgement throne everyone including the pastor, will be accountable for his her actions.
6. Our bad examples may be followed by others and it will be too late to warn them after death: It is also a tragedy to show concern for others when it is too late. The rich man became concerned about his brothers after he got to hell fire and saw how terrible it was. So anything you are doing now, whether good or bad, know that somebody somewhere is watching and you will either mislead or help that person by your actions. You will also be rewarded according to whatever role you played. It may be the way you talk, dress, walk, etc. Some so-called Christians sisters, who wear trousers and dresses that expose every contour of their bodies wonder why spirit husbands, occult and worldly men run after them. They would run after you because of the evil magnet that is pulling them to you. If you behave like a true child of God and there is fire of God in your life, a man who is not born again cannot be running after you. It is not possible.
7. The miracles of resurrection will not convince an unrepentant sinner: We can see that in case of Lazarus. When Jesus raised him from the dead, the Jews were not convinced, instead, they struggled to even kill Lazarus, so that people would not believe in Jesus.
8. Praying to the wrong person: The rich man prayed to Abraham instead of to God. And Abraham could not help him. Some people pray to ordinary human beings called “saints.” The only person who can answer prayers is God. Therefore to pray to anyone lese, dead or alive, is useless.
9. Praying for the wrong things: When you pray for the wrong things, God will not answer you. The rich man prayed for ordinary water and his request was not granted.
The man did not go to hell because he was rich, but because he refused to repent when he was alive. It is not your possession that determines where you go when you die. Abraham was rich while he was on earth, but now he is in heaven. The difference between him and the rich man in hell lies in their hearts. Abraham served God while the rich man served the devil. The rich man refused to repent. He hardened his hearts to the message of the Lord and of the prophets. Even his riches witnessed against him when he got to the throne of judgement. He allowed his wealth to come between him and his God. So, when you harden your heart against God because of your riches, you are only storing up torment for yourself in eternity. A lot of people equate money to godliness, and this is wrong. If wealth were to be the yardstick, then prophets like John the Baptist and Elijah would not have made it.
Death ends all opportunities to serve the Lord. Now is the time to use all what God has placed in your hand to serve Him and build yourself a mansion above. Now is the time to put your treasure where it will last.
While he was on earth, the rich man would not have allowed Lazarus who was always struggling for crumbs with his dogs to touch him, but in the world beyond, his torment was so much that he could care less about who gave him water to cool his thirst. Those who are despising Christians now, will soon face the day when they will wish for another opportunity of seeing them. The pain that people will undergo in hell will not be alleviated by little water. So you must settle the matter of eternity now that you have the opportunity to do so.
Beloved, prayers become useless once a person is dead. The place to pray is on earth and the time to pray is now. Tomorrow may be eternally too late. One major reason many Christians will end up like the rich man is unbrokenness. God specializes in using broken things. If the cloud refuses to break, rain will not fall. If the ground does not break, seeds will not grow. So, if a person refuses to be broken, the power of God will not come forth from that person. If we refuse to be broken, God cannot break forth into our lives. Though of a lowly background, Elijah was a very powerful man of God because he yielded himself to God. Elisha who succeeded him was from a very rich home, but he did not look down on Elijah. He was a broken person who abandoned the wealth of his parents and followed the Lord.
I know a sister who lived at Victoria Island, Lagos. She bought a V-boot Mercedes Benz car when it was first introduced into this country. One day, as she was driving through Yaba market, the Holy Spirit said, “Daughter, park this car here now, enter this bus and preach the gospel.” The sister said, “I bind every stranger speaking to me, in the name of Jesus,” thinking that it was the devil speaking. The Holy Spirit said, “You cannot bind me, enter the bus and preach.” As she was still resisting the voice of God, her car stopped and refused to move. Some people helped her to push it to the side. Then she jumped into that bus and preached the word of God for some time before she came back to her car. Immediately she got down from the bus, people gathered around her and begged her to tell them more about the Lord Jesus Christ. When she entered her car, it started. If you refuse to obey God’s instructions because what He is saying is not agreeable to you, then forget about power.
Elisha served and humbly followed Elijah everywhere he went in spite of his background and God endued him with so much power that after his death, his bones still had the anointing to raise the dead, because he was broken. Dear reader, are you really broken? If you want to make heaven, do not listen to or get involved in gossiping. Do not listen to anybody who cannot support what he is saying with facts because he will send you to hell fire. Gossiping or listening to gossips are little foxes that will pull so many people into hell fire. A song writer says, “He sees all you do and hears all you say.” The Lord keeps record of everything we do.
Let us remember the story of that man who wanted to steal yams from other people’s farms, and asked his four children to follow him. He kept one in the front, one at the back, one by the right and one by the left, to help him watch and warn him when someone would be coming. The four children manned the places and he began to harvest other people’s yams. Suddenly, one of the children pointed to heaven and asked his father, “Daddy, who is going to watch this place?" The man could not continue because he knew that God would be watching him.
THE BEWITCHING POWER OF SIN
The bewitching power of sin has grabbed so many. Psalm 51 verse 5 says, “Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me.” This scripture explains why nobody has to teach a child how to tell lies. These evil things are picked up from the womb. We went to pray for a man and met him giving his son a serious beating. We asked to know why and he said, “Don’t mind the foolish boy, he was smoking strands of mat like cigarette." Meanwhile the man himself was a chain smoker. If you are a chain smoker, your children would copy you. It is like the case of a professor of Bible Knowledge who smokes cigarette in spite of his rich knowledge of the Bible. When a medical doctor takes or indulges in things that he knows are not good for his health, it is the power of bewitchment. A lot of people are weighed down by sin, and like Peter, they are following the Lord afar off, they do not hear His voice neither does He speaks to them.
Anybody who is committing sin is wounding the heart of God. Be wise now, so that you do not end up like that foolish fish its mother told never to go after a gift above the water. But it thought that it was clever and tried to catch a nice worm above the water, and before it knew what was happening, it had been roasted. The devil hides the hook, but shows the worm. A lot of people are running after the worm without remembering the hook. It is said that he who falls into a pit, teaches others a lesson, but these days, we see people who see the pit and yet, they match majestically into it.
The devil’s meals are prepared like scotch eggs. He puts flour outside and hides the bad egg inside and as soon as somebody takes a bite, he or she gets bewitched. If you do not deliver yourself from this bewitching power of sin, you will end up praying when it is too late. Do not be a prayer warrior in the grave. I know that there will be a very powerful prayer session in hell fire, but it will be too late. You and I have only one life to live and what we do with it here will determine what would happen to us in eternity. Will you not spend the rest of your life serving the living God? Tell the Lord to re-arrange your life, so that it could be aligned to His will.
PRAYER POINTS
1. I refuse to be destroyed by the little foxes that spoil the vine, in the name of Jesus.
2. O Lord, re-arrange my life according to your will, in the name of Jesus.
3. Heavenly Father, let your revival fire enter into my spirit now, in the name of Jesus.
4. Every agent of unbrokenness in my life, release me now, in the name of Jesus.
5. Oh Lord, revive my life by your fire, in the name Jesus.
6. Oh Lord, convert my spiritual defeat to victory, in the name of Jesus.
7. Let the wind of the Holy Spirit fall upon my dead bone, in the name of Jesus.
8. O Lord, let the mantle of your power fall upon me now, in the name of Jesus.
9. Every garment of powerlessness, be roasted by fire, in the name of Jesus.
10. (Lay your right hand on your head). I challenge my body with fire of the Holy Ghost, in the name of Jesus.
11. Lord, take me from where I am now to where you want me to be, in the name of Jesus.
Oh Lord I thank you for this message. Your word says that you are not slack concerning your promises, but patient with us all, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Lord, I am praying that all who read this message will not be found wanting on the Day of Judgment, in the name of Jesus. And those who have been going to church but the church really has not entered into their spirits, lay your hands of fire upon them, in the name of Jesus. Thank you Heavenly Father. Any sickness that has walked into life of any reader, lose your hold and disappear, in the name of Jesus. Any problem in the life of any reader, fall down and die, in the name of Jesus. Thank you Lord, in Jesus mighty name I pray. Make a covenant with Lord that you will not backslide but will keep walking in the way of the truth.
