ECHOES FROM ETERNITY.
Luke 16:19-31
Int: The verses that are just before this story, contain an emphasis that Jesus placed upon the importance of making provisions for the day of death. He showed that it is possible for a person to make friends that will be of use to him when death sweeps him out of this life. The following verses show the contrast between our Lord’s teachings and the response of His hearers.
“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other,
or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God
and Money.” The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering
at Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes
of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable
in God’s sight.”
In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus has drawn back the curtain that separates us from eternity and has pictured life, before and after death. As the Son of God, Jesus is able to see the unseen as well as the seen. He takes us into a place that no man had ever been able to intelligently describe.
Since Lazarus is named in the introduction to the passage it appears to be not a parable, but rather an account of the different fates of two men who had actually lived on earth. It is clear that this passage teaches punishment after death for an unsaved person.
This is possibly the deepest and most soul-stirring of all the utterances of our Lord Jesus. Down through the ages, Bible scholars have drawn out, new and ever timeless truths from its clear, tremendous depths, yet, in no way has its meaning been exhausted. This voice from the other side of the veil that separates time from eternity, has in it a certain charm and yet, a certain terror. It touches all ages, every social level of men and women and every culture. There are many wonderful blessings suggested as well as many absolutely shocking realizations. Among the blessings is the notice given to the life of a believer when he enters Heaven. Those who die in the the Lord immediately become a part of a wide family circle. Abraham is pictured with Lazarus in his bosom. This image is taken from the way that guests used to sit at a banquet. At the Last Supper, John had such a position with the Lord. It suggests the picture of a most tender friendship. On the other hand, the rich man finds himself in total desolation and loneliness. He found himself in a place where there was nothing to live for, nothing to hope for, but he was condemned to go on existing with nothing but his painful memories.
It has been said that anyone who is not moved by this story of Jesus, must be in a deep sleep.
I. JESUS’ DESCRIPTION OF THE DAYS OF TWO MEN.
Although the length of their days was exactly the same, the circumstances of their lives made them see them differently.
A. The Man who never seemed to have enough hours in the day.
“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.”
The word “luxury” could also be translated flamboyantly or extravagantly. That is the one outstanding fact that is given concerning him. We are not told that he was guilty of any sin, but it is obvious that he was self-centered. He lived a life of royal magnificence. He had an abundance of everything that could possibly make his life one of excellence. Purple was an especially expensive form of apparel. Purple dye was made from a form of sea life that was very rare. Because of this, the dye was quite expensive, and was used by people who were very wealthy.
Because of his wealth, his home was filled with important people on a regular basis, and his daily schedule was always full of what he considered important. Although this man may have become rich by immoral means (as people often did). The only crime Jesus attributes to the rich man is that he let Lazarus starve to death when he could have prevented it.
B. The Man whose days seemed as if they would never end.
Lazarus was a man who was totally unable to provide for himself. He suffered constantly, was covered with sores, and was afflicted with an incurable disease. The dogs came and licked his sores. These were scavengers, street mongrels that people looked upon as if they were rats or other unhealthy creatures. They were unclean, and their tongues would have stung his sores. They licked his sores as if they would have licked their own.
Every day was a day of torment, the pains of hunger, the devastation of disease, the burning sores, and the smelly, mangy dogs. He didn’t want much out of life, just a little relief from his constant misery. It would have been so easy for the rich man to have taken a little time for him.
II. JESUS’ REFLECTION ON THE DEATHS OF THE MEN.
“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.”
A. The Attention Lazarus Received when he died.
It does not say that Lazarus was buried. Indeed, the probability is that he was not. At that time in history, beggars who were unknown and unclaimed, were cast bodily into the burning garbage pits of the Valley of Hinnom. Although this may have been true of Lazarus’ body, it was not true of his spirit. Immediately, on the occasion of his death, the angels came and carried him to the glorious presence of God.
Can you imagine the scene! Among the great works of art done by Rembrandt and others, the primary thrust of their paintings was the picture the great characters and events of the Bible. They would labor diligently over each small detail until in their hearts they felt that they had captured the quality of the man or the scope of the event.
Picture this: As Lazarus lay at the magnificent gate of the rich man, surrounded by the dogs, clothed in his rags, God commissioned His angels to go down and keep vigil. Finally, when he breathed his last breath, and slumped over in death, as one would slip a diamond from the earthly dirt that encloses it, the angels drew his spirit into their arms and rose toward Heaven. The sky had never been so blue, or the fluffy clouds so white, as the melodies of the angelic host rang in glorious harmony. A Child of God was brought home!
B. The Deficiency the Rich Man Realized when he died.
The rich man’s body was prepared royally for burial. No doubt his friends and admirers stood by and voiced their words of tribute and heaped forth their empty honors on his senseless, deserted body. While all this was happening, he was opening his eyes and gazing on the disgusting and unpleasant surroundings of his lonely home. After the moment’s sleep of death, what a shocking awakening!
Jesus could have said much more about where the rich man went, but the truth is, He was quite gentle with it. “where he was in torment.” He was in a place where all his memories were with him, endlessly, a place where there was no degree of satisfaction, a place where he would ever be longing for something that he could never have. It was not because he was in Hades that the rich man was in pain, but because of his past life. Had he made a friend of Lazarus by helping him in his wretchedness, there would not have been the impassable gulf that prevented Lazarus from coming to help him. The impassable gulf, in fact, was of the rich man’s own creating. The doors of hell (the abode of the damned, not just the abode of the dead) are locked on the inside.” He was alone and could do nothing to change his situation or to improve his plight.
III. JESUS’ REVELATION OF THE DESTINIES OF THE MEN.
Jesus’ whole point was to show that the conditions beyond this life result from the choices that we make in life. “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.”
A. Remember what you had and how you Regarded it.
While he lived, the rich man had privileges that seemed to be unlimited. Instead of being appreciative, and being willing to share his possessions, the more he got, the more he wanted.
His priorities began with himself and his personal wants. The things that he cherished took precedence over the people whom he encountered. In his mind, no one could possibly have been as important as he thought that he was.
B. Remember what you honored and how you Reserved it.
He chose to live without putting God at the center of his life. This was in contrast to all that he knew to be important, to all that he knew in his heart to be essential. He wanted a life free from the mastery of Someone to whom he must be responsible. Since he chose to live this way, his destiny is simply the untimate end of this type of life.
C. Remember what you heard and how you Rejected it.
He had knew who Abraham was and he knew about repentance. In the light of this, it is obvious that he knew something of God’s law. In spite of this, he had chosen to reject it and to set his own laws. Now in the despair of his realization, he wants to prevent others from coming there. However, the only means that men have to prevent that type of destiny is the divine plan and provision of Almighty God.
Conclusion: Only one life, twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last!
