Rich Man And Lazarus

2. Ancestry won’t save you

Many people that lives during Jesus’ day hoped that their ancestry would save them from Hell. Those Jews during that time would brag about their descent from Abraham. One time they were doing this and Jesus said, you are truly of your father the devil. Ancestry won’t save you. I have a feeling that many people try to ride into heaven on the coattails of their parents, or husbands or wives. We must each individually give an account to the Lord. I do not care who your mother or father is. I don’t care if you can trace your descent back to Father Abraham, if you are not in Jesus Christ; you have nothing to look forward to except the judgment of God. The only way in which our ancestry saves us is by becoming a co-heir with Christ. We do that through obedience to the gospel.

3. We must prepare now

I have pointed out many times in my time here the reality of the brevity of life. Life goes by quickly. I heard a story about a man who wanted to get his life straight with the Lord. He kept saying one day he would do it, he put it off and put it off, until one day he was 95 years old and on his death bed. He then looked back and realized he had lived for nothing. He realized he had put off the Lord for that long and it only seemed like a few days ago. The Bible makes it clear that we do not know when we will die, or when Jesus will return, but we must be ready and we must prepare now. There is a sense of urgency in obeying the gospel and getting right with the Lord. The rich man did not prepare while he lived and one day it was too late. We need to prepare now before it is too late. I am not joking or lying about this. I am telling you the truth in love, I plead with you get right with the Lord because I do not want anyone to feel or go through what the rich man went through in torment.

4. The Bible is sufficient

As the rich man was sitting in Hell he begged Abraham to let Lazarus warn his brothers about Hell. Abraham said, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them”. One day it will be too late. We are without excuse. We have God’s Word to tell us how to avoid Hell. We have the Words of eternal life. Search the scriptures to see how to avoid Hell, don’t listen to men. Men will deceive and not get you all the way there, but listen to God’s Word, which is sufficient.

5. Repentance is necessary

Both Jesus and John the Baptist came preaching and the message that they brought was repent or perishes. Repentance is necessary. We cannot be saved unless we turn from our sins and turn to the living God. The problem with the rich man was not his money, it was not that he was a horrible person; the problem was he never repented. If there is sin in your life, it is time that you repent because unless you ask for God’s forgiveness you will not be forgiven of your sins.

III. Truths that we gain

1. We will be concerned for our loved ones

Many times people have asked me if they will be sad about their loved ones who are not saved. I believe that many people won’t come to Jesus because their family never did, and they cannot convert to Jesus because they see in doing so they condemn their dead loved ones. The rich man was aware of those in paradise. The rich man was aware of those on Earth. Listen. I am going to be honest; if we have loved ones who are dead that were not Christians, they are crying out in the same way that the rich man was for them to repent. We will be conscious of our loved one when we die. I think the truth is however, is that Heaven is going to be so great the one’s that are truly burdened are those in Hell. We need to turn to God because one day it will be too late. We need to tell our loved ones about Jesus because we want them with us in Heaven, and we do not want them in Hell. If you truly love someone you will tell them about Jesus so they can avoid Hell.