For many people, the prospect of entering a new year is one of excitement and hope. The slate of the old year is wiped clean, and there is a fresh optimism for what is to come. We tend to have concern as a person loses hope and plunges into despair. The concept of no hope would by most people’s definitions be hell. The person who talked most about Hell was Jesus Christ. He is also the one who provided to solution to Hell, so that people would be hopeful.
Some think that the idea of hell is cruel, unkind, unfair. What kind of a God, they ask, would send people into everlasting punishment? But God is never in the position of defending Himself regarding the truths He reveals in Scripture. His nature, works, and revelation define what is true, just, and righteous. The purpose of the divine revelation of hell’s horror is to warn sinners of its reality and the terrifying fate that awaits them there so as to motivate them to repent of their sins and embrace salvation in Christ. The biblical revelation regarding hell should motivate believers to defend the clear teaching of our Lord and the rest of Scripture. It should also infuse them with a sense of urgency in evangelizing the lost.
In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus presents the reality of Heaven and Hell through the story of a rich and poor man. The rich man is the main character in the story. The poor man never speaks; his role is primarily to serve as the contrast to the rich man. The rich man’s words give the only testimony from hell found anywhere in the Bible. The parable may be viewed from two perspectives: 1) The Contrasts between the two men, (Luke 16:19–26) and 2) The Lessons the Lord intended the parable to teach.
1) The Contrasts (Luke 16:19–26)
The stark differences between these two men can be grouped into three segments: a) Life, b) Death, and c) Life after death.
a) LIFE . (Luke 16:19-21)
Luke 16:19-21 [19]"There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. [20]And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, [21]who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. (ESV)
The story’s opening words, of Luke 16:19 Now there was a rich man, are consistent with the language with which Jesus often began His parables (cf. 10:30; 14:16; 15:11; 19:12). This is the fifth in a series of parables in chapters 15 and 16. It is a highly unusual parable because: it has no introduction, no explicit application, and a person is specifically named. Calling it a parable does not imply that it is not true to reality. (Bob Utley . Luke the Historian: The Gospel of Luke. Study Guide Commentary Series. New Testament, Vol. 3A. Bible Lessons International, Marshall, Texas 2004)
Although there are a lot of Godly people who see this as an actual story, the circumstances depicted in the story are unique to the parable. There is nothing in the Bible that suggests that those in hell can see into heaven and converse with those who are there. Nor is the angels’ carrying the poor man’s body to heaven the normal experience of believers at death. It is best, therefore, to view this as a parable, a story created by the Lord to convey vital spiritual truth.
Jesus made the most obvious contrast in the earthly lives of the two men their economic status. The rich man He portrayed as extremely wealthy, one who every day/habitually was clothed/dressed in purple and fine linen. That he was clothed/dressed in purple means that his outer garment had been dyed with a Tyrian purple dye, which was extracted from sea snails. Because it was very labor intensive to produce, the purple dye was extremely expensive, and only the rich could afford fabrics or garments dyed with it. That he wore an inner garment of fine linen made from expensive Egyptian cotton further demonstrates his wealth. Like the rich man in another of Christ’s parables whose motto in life was, “Take your ease, eat, drink and be merry” (Luke 12:19), this man feasted
sumptuously/possessed joyously living in splendor every day. Some people have nothing, while others can afford expensive underwear. This man celebrated life daily with great feasts (DARRELL L. BOCK. (LUKE VOLUME 2: 9:51–24:53 BAKER EXEGETICAL COMMENTARY ON THE NEW TESTAMENT. Baker Academic. 1996)
His lifestyle was a lavish one of self-indulgence and ostentatious display. His living day by day in dazzling splendor marks him as a show-off, a strutting peacock. He wanted everybody to know that he was rich. He was in love … with himself. (WILLIAM HENDRIKSEN. Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke. NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY. BAKER BOOK HOUSE. GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN. 1978).
• His wealth itself was not the issue but where his love and heart desire resided.
In stark contrast to his extravagant lifestyle was the desperate situation of the poor man in verse 20. Ptôchos (poor) describes a person in the state of most extreme poverty (e.g., Mark 12:42–44). In Galatians 4:9 it is translated “worthless.” Jesus created this man as having nothing; he was destitute. In addition to his poverty, he was covered with ulcerous sores; oozing, open lesions (cf. Rev. 16:2, 11). He had been laid (lit., “thrown,” or “cast”) at the rich man’s gate (probably the entrance to the courtyard of his house). The man evidently was paralyzed, and had been abandoned by those who could no longer care for him in hopes that the rich man would.
Unfortunately the rich man, consumed with his opulent, self-gratifying lifestyle, took no notice of him. Like the priest and the Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30–32), the rich man in Jesus’ story ignored someone who urgently needed help. Despite being outwardly religious, he disregarded the second most important commandment of the law, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18; cf. Matt. 22:34–40). But though he passed the poor man every time he went through his gate, he did nothing to relieve his suffering. His indifference is designed to mirror the disdain with which the Pharisees treated the outcasts of their society. How could the rich man, considering himself a son of Abraham and a blessed member of God’s people, be so heartless? He certainly was not an atheist. He believed in God. He apparently was not a Sadducee (who denied the hereafter) because Jesus told this story to help Pharisees see themselves more clearly (cf. v. 14). His theology was probably orthodox. He would have affirmed the Torah and understood that after death came judgment. So why his total lack of compassion? He did not take seriously Holy Scripture, which he and the rest of his culture professed to believe. (R. Kent Hughes. Luke: Volume 2: (PREACHING THE WORD. CROSSWAY BOOKS. WHEATON, ILLINOIS. 1998)
• Hell is most likely not on the radar of most people today. They either believe that God loves everyone and just sends the most vile (always a standard below their self-impression). Else, they see Hell itself as a religious fairy tale used to just scare the unthinking. Yet, the truth of a fact must go beyond our preconceptions to examine both our presuppositions and the evidence itself. Dismissing something without such a consideration, in this case, is eternally fatal.
The name Jesus gave the poor man, Lazarus, is significant. It is the same as the brother of Mary and Martha, but used of a fictional person in this case. Lazarus is the Greek translation of the common Hebrew name Eleazar, which means, “whom God has helped.” It is an appropriate name, because it symbolizes the only way he was able to enter heaven—God gave him the help essential to receive eternal life. To the rich man and Jewish society he was nameless and insignificant, but Jesus gave him a name that described what God did for him. By giving him a name, Jesus also made it clear that the rich man’s brothers would have recognized him as the same man who lay at their gate had he been sent back to warn them (v. 27). In contrast the rich man, who would have been widely known, is given no name.
Adding to his misery, the poor man was starving, desired/longing intensely according to verse 21, to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Translated elsewhere as the crumbs, they were pieces of stale bread used by the dinner guests to clean their hands, and then tossed under the table for dogs to eat (cf. Matt. 15:26–27). Those same dogs came and licked the poor man’s sores. Dogs in biblical times were not domesticated pets, but semi-wild scavengers (cf. Ex. 22:31; 1 Kings 14:11; 16:4; 21:23–24), and are consistently presented in Scripture in a negative light (e.g., 1 Sam. 17:43; 24:14; Ps. 22:16; Prov. 26:11; Phil. 3:2; 2 Peter 2:22; Rev. 22:15).
b) DEATH (Luke 16:22)
Luke 16:22 [22]The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, (ESV)
The extreme contrast between the two men in life continued in death. While they were alive, the rich man had treated the poor, suffering, man who lay at his gate as if he were already dead. But then everything changed. The poor man died, diseased, destitute, and starving. There was no burial, funeral, or earthly honor in death, but honor came from heaven as his body was carried away by angels to Abraham’s side/bosom. It is likely that Jesus doesn’t mention Lazarus’ burial because, being a beggar, his body would have been dumped unceremoniously in an unmarked grave. (R. C. Sproul. A WALK WITH GOD: AN EXPOSITION OF LUKE. Christian Focus Publications. Geanies House, Fearn, Ross-shire. Great Britain. 2005)
The rich man also died, but unlike the poor man, he was buried and no doubt such a man would have been honored with an elaborate funeral. All his resources, money, friends, privilege, and prestige could not buy him another day of life; his riches could not prevent the inevitability of death. And no angels arrived to carry him to heaven.
• As we go through life working so hard at our jobs to acquire wealth, spend so much effort on relationships and so much time in leisure pursuits, the reality of death hangs over it all. It is an appointment that all must keep. Nothing will prevent it. We spend so much time and effort on these other things, how important is it to consider the reality of eternity and its implications?
The phrase Abraham’s side/bosom appears only here in the Bible. It is not, as some believe, a technical term for the abode of the Old Testament saints until after Christ’s death made atonement for their sins. It merely indicates that when the poor man died, he went immediately to the side of Abraham in the abode of the righteous. That angels would minister to a person the Pharisees viewed as an outcast would have shocked them. The belief that disease and poverty signified God’s curse on a person was deeply ingrained in their thinking. But not only was he taken to heaven, he was also given the place of honor and intimate fellowship at the side of Abraham, the friend of God (2 Chron. 20:7; James 2:23), the father of the Jewish race and of the faithful (Gen. 15:5), the greatest figure in Jewish history. This man who was humiliated on earth, a man whom no self-respecting Pharisee would have had anything to do with, was honored in heaven because the Lord helped him and had the angels deliver him.
• Most people misjudge what it takes to get to heaven or avoid hell. They presume if someone does their best, they merit heaven. The common presumption is also that bad deeds merit hell. It is the presumption that because the rich man was uncharitable, he deserved hell. As we will soon see, it is not works that merit either heaven or hell, but something entirely different.
c) LIFE AFTER DEATH (Luke 16:23–26)
Luke 16:23-26 [23]and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. [24]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.' [25]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. [26]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.' (ESV)
The dissimilarity between the rich man and Lazarus in life continued through the transition of death and became magnified to the extreme in eternity. In the Lord’s story He depicts Lazarus dramatically being carried to heaven by holy angels when he died. This suits the story, but while angels minister to the saints (e.g., Matt. 18:10; Heb. 1:14), there is no biblical precedent for them carrying a believer bodily to heaven at death.
The rich man’s body was honorably buried, with full treatment given to his corpse. His eternal soul, however, went to Hades. Hades was equivalent to the OT Sheol which referred to the realm of the dead. In the New Testament, Hades refers to the abode of the damned prior to their judgment and sentencing to the final phase of hell—the lake of fire (cf. 10:15; Rev. 1:18; 20:13–14). It was distinct from Gehenna, which was the term Jesus used to describe “eternal punishment.” Gehenna was from two Hebrew words, “ge - valley” and “henna” - a contraction of “sons of Hinnom” (cf. 2 Kgs. 23:10; 2 Chr. 28:3; 33:6; Jer. 7:31). This was the valley south of Jerusalem where the Phoenician fire god (Molech) was worshiped by child sacrifice. The Jews turned it into a garbage dump. (Bob Utley . Luke the Historian: The Gospel of Luke. Study Guide Commentary Series. New Testament, Vol. 3A. Bible Lessons International, Marshall, Texas 2004)
The phrase he lifted up his eyes indicates that he was fully aware of his surroundings and in conscious torment. The parable does not see the wicked as being annihilated but continuing in a terrible conscious and irreversible condition after death. Although many aspects of the parable do not have a corresponding reality, the reality being taught by the parable would be meaningless unless this were true (Stein, Robert H., Luke. The New American commentary. Broadman & Holman Publishers. Nashville, Tennessee. 1992)
His soul was not asleep, nor did he go out of existence. Just as Lazarus illustrated that at death the redeemed go immediately into the conscious enjoyment of the bliss of heaven, so the rich man shows that the unredeemed go immediately into conscious torment in hell. For the sake of the point in the story he was allowed to see Abraham far off/away and Lazarus at his side/in his bosom, though as noted that cannot happen in reality. It does note however that there is no “second chance” for salvation after death, for “it is appointed once for one to die, then the judgement (Heb. 9:27.) (Roy. E. Gingrich. The Gospel of Luke. Riverside Printing. Memphis, TN. 2001)
Upon seeing them verse 24 records that he called/cried out, addressing Abraham as Father Abraham, basing his ensuing plea on his Jewish heritage and descent from Abraham, the father of the Jewish people.
• One of the main points of this story is to eliminate the many false assurances that people have of reaching heaven. It will not be on their heritage, who they knew, what they did or did not do.
His plea for mercy—something he had likely never asked for in life—was an acknowledgment of his guilt and that his punishment was deserved. He did not protest his innocence, or question the severity of his punishment, but merely sought some temporary relief.
• When you ask people today why they think they will go to heaven, the basis of their assurance is the real issue. The reason for the law of God is to show how we all fall short of God’s glorious standard and cannot be holy as God is holy.
His plea for Abraham to send Lazarus indicates that his view of the beggar had not changed. He still saw Lazarus as someone so lowly and insignificant that if someone were selected to leave heaven and come to hell it should be him. His unchanged, unrepentant attitude illustrates the reality that hell is not remedial, but punitive. That the rich man appealed to Abraham, showing no interest in God the Father or the Lord Jesus Christ, further supports that truth. Those who rejected God in life will not suddenly desire to love and serve Him when they find themselves in hell. One reason hell is forever is that sinful attitudes continue forever, thus the punishment cannot end.
Seeking mercy at the hands of the one to whom he had shown no mercy, the rich man begged Abraham to send lowly Lazarus so that he might dip the end/tip of his finger in water and cool his tongue, because he was in anguish/agony in the flame Note the word flame. That hell is a place of fire or of the flame is the language of Scripture throughout. (Isa. 33:14; 66:24; Matt. 3:12; 5:22; 13:40, 42, 50; 18:8, 9; 25:41; Mark 9:43–48; Luke 3:17; Jude 7; Rev. 14:10; 19:20; 20:10, 14, 15; 21:8). This fire is unquenchable. It devours forever and ever.
Please turn to Matthew 13 (p.819)
Yet, hell is also the abode where darkness dwells. For some it is the place of “outer darkness” (Matt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30). It is the region where the evil spirits are kept “in everlasting chains under darkness” (Jude 6; cf. Jude 13). But if hell is a place of fire, how can it also be a place of darkness? Are not these two concepts mutually exclusive? Well, not always necessarily. For example, by means of a certain form of radiation people have been seriously burned even though when it happened they were in a dark room (WILLIAM HENDRIKSEN. Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke. NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY. BAKER BOOK HOUSE. GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN. 1978).
Describing the reality of Hell as pictured at the end of the age, Matthew recounts:
Matthew 13:40-43 [40]Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. [41]The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, [42]and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. [43]Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. (ESV)
The rich man’s accusing conscience gave him no hope that he would ever be released from hell. Instead, he sought temporary relief; a drop of water from the finger of the one to whom he would not give a crumb. He was desperate for just the briefest moment of relief in the unending horror of hell.
• Due to the sensitivity of the remaining family and friends, a pastor cannot really say what he wants at a funeral. When the deceased is not a believer, we want to bring up the reality of hell and consider the never-ending torment of the one who has just died to encourage repentance. This is a story to encourage that repentance before death, for at that point, it is too late.
Abraham’s reply in verse 25 dashed the rich man’s hopes. He called him child, acknowledging that in a racial sense he was his descendant. But his Abrahamic heritage did not keep him out of hell, nor would it mitigate hell’s torments for him. Abraham called on him to remember that during his lifetime he had received his good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things. But death completely reversed their situations, and now Lazarus was being comforted in heaven, and he was in agony in hell. He had chosen a life of proud self-righteousness, including materialistic pleasures and comforts apart from the true righteousness of God, and was enduring the eternal consequences of his choice.
• There is an interesting principle in economics called opportunity cost. It is the thing we must forsake for the present choice we make. If people gamble that this life is all there is and through in all their chips, so of speak, they have everything riding on this. The real question is what are you basing your eternal destiny on? Is it intuition, modern popular opinion or what? The evidence of an eternal, holy, transcendent God and His expectations are all around if we take the time to look.
For the rich man in Hell, there was no way to send him help. Besides all this, Abraham reminded him in verse 26, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would/wish to pass/come over from here to you mayll not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us. Our Lord was revealing that death permanently fixes everyone’s destiny; no one will escape hell, nor will anyone in heaven visit hell.
Illustration: JUST outside of San Francisco is a rock. This is where the Alcatraz prison is located. Alcatraz is in the San Francisco Bay. It is not an operating prison now, but when it held prisoners, it was considered a place of exile. In and of itself, it’s a pretty tough place to get out of. But Alcatraz is also surrounded by the shark-infested waters of the San Francisco Bay. This body of water kept the prisoners from enjoying the life of San Francisco, which is not that far away.
Luke 16 depicted hell as a place in a lake of fire not so far from heaven that people sentenced to eternal damnation won’t be able to know about the enjoyment of the folks in heaven. The lake of fire will not allow the people in this eternal prison to go anywhere.
This spiritual Alcatraz will house different folks at different levels of security, just like the Alcatraz near San Francisco. Some are under maximum security, some are under medium security, and some are under minimal security based on how bad they were. Hell will be the same way. All people are not equal. The very worst of sinners go to maximum security hell. The mediocre sinners go the medium security hell. The rest—well, they will go to minimum security hell, but they are all on the same rock.
Why can’t they go anywhere? Because the rock is in a lake. When the rich man opened his eyes in hell, the Bible says he saw Lazarus afar off. You see, from Alcatraz you can see San Francisco. From Alcatraz you can see the tall buildings and the high rises. You can see pulsating life in the big city. All a prisoner can do is to look at where they could have been and where they will never be. The worst part of hell from our story is being able to see heaven and not go there because it is surrounded by a lake of fire and brimstone. It’s a lake smoldering with fire. No one can swim across it. It is like having sharks in the water. You cannot escape this place. Even if you are a nice person and you are in minimum security, you are still on the rock. It is a place of the second death where the stench of death never leaves and the worm never dies. It is like living in a graveyard.449. (TONY EVANS. TONY EVANS’ BOOK OF ILLUSTRATIONS: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from more than 30 years of preaching and public speaking. MOODY PUBLISHERS. CHICAGO. 2009)
2) THE LESSONS (Luke 16:27–31)
Luke 16:27-31 [27]And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house-- [28]for I have five brothers--so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.' [29]But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.' [30]And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' [31]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.'" (ESV)
Several lessons may be drawn from the concluding dialogue of this compelling and frightening story. First, this parable answers the question of why sinners end up in hell. The rich man seemed certain to make it to heaven, yet instead found himself in hell. Lazarus represented the outcasts who came to Jesus and received salvation. The rich man is the Pharisees and all who follow their brand of works religion. It is not his substance that doomed the rich man to hell. It is true that riches can make it difficult to enter the kingdom. But wealth is not an absolute barrier to salvation, because God has the power to save whomever He chooses (Matt. 19:26). Abraham himself was very rich (Gen. 13:2), as were Isaac (Gen. 26:13), Jacob (Gen. 32:5), Boaz (Ruth 2:1), Job (Job 1:3; 31:25; 42:10–12), David (1 Chron. 29:28), Solomon (2 Chron. 1:11–12; 9:22), and Joseph of Arimathea (Matt. 27:57).
The rich man was not sent to hell because he was a secular, irreligious Jew. Like the Pharisees, he was outwardly religious by the standards of the day, so much so that he thought his riches were a reward from God; he and his brothers were familiar with Moses and the Prophets, and he even understood that they needed to repent so that they as verse 28 indicates, that they would not also come to this place of torment where he found himself. His acknowledgment that they needed to repent also presupposes a belief in sin, the law, and God as the law giver.
While sin damns all the unredeemed to hell, there is nothing to suggest that he was guilty of any especially heinous sins. Like the Jews, he was religious and well respected and that argues for the fact that he was not in hell because he was guilty of such sins.
Some might think that he wound up in hell because he was selfish, utterly lacking compassion, love, and concern for the poor beggar who lay at his gate. It is true that his sin sent him to hell, and that selfishness is at the heart of all sin. But to say that selfishness condemned the rich man to hell is only partially true. Even if he had been generous, kind, and merciful toward Lazarus, those acts of charity and compassion would not have atoned for his sin. Salvation throughout redemptive history has always been solely by God’s grace through faith.
In the end, there is only one reason that the rich man (and by extension all the unredeemed) ended up in hell: failing to believe in and act on the truth of Scripture. Heaven is for those who believe in what God has revealed in His Word and act on it through repentance and faith. Abraham affirmed Scripture’s sufficiency when he said in verse 29 in response to the rich man’s request to send Lazarus to his brothers, They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.
Revealing his lack of belief in Scripture’s sufficiency, the rich man pleaded for a supernatural sign in verse 30: No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent! This was both a complaint and a request. The implication is that he and his brothers had insufficient data; that they lacked a sufficiently convincing sign. The Pharisees did exactly that: they repeatedly demanded a sign from the Lord (Matt. 12:38; 16:1; Luke 11:16; John 2:18), which He refused to give them (Matt. 12:39; 16:4). Emphatically confirming the absolute sufficiency of Scripture to bring sinners to salvation. The key concept in this verse is to repent. The Hebrew term for repentance meant a change of action. The Greek term meant a change of mind. Repentance is a willingness to change. It does not mean a total cessation of sin, but a desire for its end. As fallen humanity we live for ourselves, but as believers we live for God! Repentance and faith are God’s requirements of the New Covenant for salvation (cf. Mark 1:15; Acts 3:16, 19; 20:21). Jesus said “unless you repent, you will all perish” (cf. Luke 13:3, 5) (Bob Utley . Luke the Historian: The Gospel of Luke. Study Guide Commentary Series. New Testament, Vol. 3A. Bible Lessons International, Marshall, Texas 2004)
Please turn to John 11 (p.897)
Abraham concluded in verse 31 If they do not hear/listen to Moses and the Prophets (i.e., the Old Testament), neither will they be convinced/persuaded if someone should rises from the dead. Since unbelief is at heart a moral, not an intellectual issue, no amount of evidence alone can turn unbelief to faith. The Word of God has the power to do so (Heb. 4:12; 1 Peter 1:23).
John 11:40-50 [40]Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" [41]So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. [42]I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." [43]When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." [45]Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, [46]but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. [47]So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, "What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. [48]If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." [49]But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all. [50]Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish." (ESV)
• Whenever the works and message of Jesus seem to interfere with your plans, position or pleasure, you are rejecting the only source of life. Jesus did not come to take away life but to give life. The alternative, is to be deceived by the fleeting pleasures of this age. They will numb your senses but they are poor substitute for eternal life.
• To resign ourselves that no good works will pay for the sins that we all have done, we need to acknowledge these sins before God and flee to His saviour Jesus Christ. Behold now is the favorable time, behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2)
(Format Note: Outline & some base commentary from MacArthur, John F (2013-03-26). Luke 11-17 MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Macarthur New Testament Commentary Series) (Kindle Location 5893-6193). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.
