Dead Men Talking

Introduction

Welcome everyone. I do want to add to the comments Mike made about something that some of you are not aware of, that you were not here after services. You had already gone. Kelsey McCoy obeyed the gospel. And we baptized her into Christ. She’s here tonight, sitting in the back with her two little ones. And Kelsey’s been attending here somewhat regularly of late, and we’re glad to assist her in making that great step of obedience to the Lord. And we rejoice with her in that. Good to see all of you tonight. The message I have to present might not be the most delightful to take in, but it is needed. It is a story, a picture that Jesus drew that most people wish he had never drawn.

It is the story of the rich man and Lazarus that tells us a great deal about eternal torment and those who will reside there. And this is a story that Jesus told. Whether you regard it as a parable or not, Jesus is talking about a very real place and a very real torment. It is a very vivid picture, the painful portrait of a lost man lost for all eternity. A sobering story. Now there was a certain rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, gaily living in splendor every day. That’s the New American Standard rendering. And a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing 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. And so a great contrast is drawn in the story between a man who was faring sumptuously every day and a man who not only could not get table scraps but had sores on his body that the dogs would lick. And yet the circumstances, as varied as they were, what a great reversal takes place after their lives end. Now it came about that the poor man died. And he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. And the rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades, or in hell, some translations say, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom. Now, whether he’s talking about a literal individual who lived named Lazarus, that cannot be determined.

Abraham, of course, was a real person that his audience knew quite well. And certainly Jesus is telling a story, if not about very real characters, about situations that could occur in the world. And as he sees Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom in a far different place than himself, it says he cried out and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame. One of the most horrific pictures in all the Bible. And 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. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, in order that those who wish to come over from here to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.

And he said, Then I beg you, Father, that you send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment. But Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets.

But he said to him, If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead. Please understand, this is a story that Jesus tells. And as much as we want to law Jesus as the Savior, as the Redeemer, as the Son of God, and all of the things about Jesus that we can embrace readily. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the light of the world, some concepts that we talked about this morning. He is also the same Jesus who tells this story. And you cannot embrace an aspect of the story of Jesus or his character without embracing this as well. It’s a package that all goes together. This is a part of who Jesus was and what he taught.

And the messages with which he warned. About the right response to God and the consequences of not doing so. Now I want to do something here that is sometimes not done when this story is referenced. I want us to see it in its context. This story doesn’t come out of nowhere. It actually builds on the context of Luke 16, where he has already told a story about an unrighteous steward and the example and lessons to be learned from him. And the Pharisees are his audience. And Luke says about them, and I love the editorial comments that Luke provides about the Pharisees as he goes along and tells the things that Jesus told. Luke says, now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, and that’s what the unrighteous steward story was about to some degree, were listening to all these things, and they were scoffing at him.

Now understand that before he tells this story, the Pharisees are scoffing at the messages that he’s presenting. And Luke says, because they were in love with material things. And so Jesus says to them, you are those, and this will have bearing on the third point this evening, you are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men. But God knows your hearts. For that which is highly esteemed among men, and those are the things that they cared about. Those things that are highly esteemed among men are detestable. That is detestable in the sight of God. The law and the prophets were proclaimed until John. Since then the gospel of the kingdom of God is preached. And everyone is forcing his way into it. Now that’s a sermon in and of itself, and I have a couple on just that verse.

About the kind of tenacity and desire and eagerness and zeal and enthusiasm that characterizes those that embrace the kingdom. And that’s not evident in this audience. Not this audience. The audience of Luke 16. You’re doing great. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the law to fail. Not only is Jesus talking about the power of the law and accountability to it, he’s talking about his audience and their accountability to the law that is already in their possession. And they think they are keeping, but they are not. They have missed the entire spirit of Old Testament teaching. And he gives them an example, one glaring area where they do not respect God’s laws. And it’s interesting that he chooses the one that he does.

Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery. Now, that’s again another lesson in itself on Mary’s divorce and remarriage, and what they should have understood, at least what we should understand about Jesus’ new covenant as it regards marriage and the sanctity of it. But for our purposes tonight, what I want you to get from this context is that this is a wake-up call. He is telling the Pharisees, you need to recognize where you are. And this is, yes, I’m going to hit you right between the eyes because they’re scoffing at him, and yet they stand in danger of the judgment. And when we see in Matthew 23, when he gives that scathing rebuke, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrite.

And about them going to make a proselyte over land and sea and making him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. I was looking at that verse this week. That’s why popped into my mind. But he said, You make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. That’s where you’re going. And we read that and say, wow, he lays it on thick with them in Matthew 23. But how does it end?

He would love to have gathered them under a wing under his wings as a mother kin, its chicks. But he says, you are unwilling. And so this is an effort to wake them up to the reality of where they’re headed if they continue on the course that they are on. This picture, the story of the rich man and Lazarus, in regard to the rich man’s eternal fortunes. It is gruesome. It is ghastly. It is one from which our eyes should want to turn away. The rich man experiences great torment. Agony, anguish, and misery. We can’t circumvent this teaching. Again, it is Jesus who tells this story. Nelson’s illustrated Bible dictionary says something about this text that I find interesting. Because of the symbolic nature of the language, some people question whether hell consists of actual fire.

So there can there be physical fire there? All of those questions get entertained, but they say such reasoning should bring no comfort to the lost. The reality is greater than the symbol. The Bible exhausts human language in describing heaven and hell. The former is more glorious, the latter is more terrible than even language can express. A couple of observations as we conclude the introduction of this lesson. Number one, faring sumptuously, as I believe the King James Version says in this place, or as the New American Standard reads, gaily living in splendor every day has its limits. Does it not? And yet, when you look at the way most people think in our world, this is what their minds are set on. They pursue education, they pursue vocation to the extent that they want to make a life for themselves that involves in the biggest and best way possible, the best circumstances on this earth.

Like the rich man in Luke 16. But what was that doing for him then? And what is that doing for anyone who puts all their hopes in material things? This story is riveting as it speaks to an affluent and materialistic generation. Don’t put all your hopes in this.

You will ultimately not regard these things at all as important. They meant nothing to the rich man. Then I want to make another observation about this story. And that is that this story is telling us that there is an objective source of sufficient instruction available to avoid hell. As much as we struggle to grasp the wrath of God, something we’re going to be talking about on Wednesday night, which is something that is very real and pertaining to the character of God, as much as we struggle to wrap our minds around the wrath of God or the wrath Jesus describes himself in the story, please understand that there is also the great mercy and grace of God that provides the instruction that we need so that we can avoid this place.

And the scriptures make it abundantly clear that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 9. And that’s the third point that I would make. Not only is there a standard that is easily understood, if we would set ourselves to the task of studying it and investigating it thoroughly, as the passage in 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 9 says, he is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, that’s going to be a part of a right response to God. I find it interesting in this story, and this is a great little fact to know about this story. Because remember, Jesus is telling it. And as he’s telling it from the perspective of the man who was lost, who realizes that his condition cannot be remedied, he had his chances, and they are now gone.

His attention turns to his relatives who will also be lost. But they are still alive. They still have time and opportunity. And he wants someone to go back. Send Lazarus back to tell them not to come to this place. And Abraham says they have what they need. They have the instruction of God in their laps. Certainly being Jews, they would have access to this instruction by which they would be held accountable that the rich man has ignored. And ignored in the simple care, concern, and compassion that he ought to have to one who was suffering right at his table. How could he ignore that? And that takes us to the story of Matthew 25. A story that Jesus also tells, a story that also talks about eternal punishment, and these will go away into everlasting punishment.

Those who have not served the Lord’s people and therefore have served him. Those people who refuse to do that will experience the same result, he says in Matthew 25, 31 through 46, with the devil and his angels, he says, in that place. But notice in this text, he says, even if someone arose from the dead. Okay, let’s say we send Lazarus back.

He’s raised from the dead, he’s no longer here. He goes back to teach your brothers. Even a resurrection would not produce a different result in your brothers. If they have the answers that they need and are ignoring those, even a resurrection. And think about it, Jesus himself is about to be raised from the dead, and only a minority will respond. I know this great number respond in Acts chapter 2, 3,000, and we focus on that. That’s a big number. But not in comparison to all Israel. That’s not a majority of people. And even though one rises from the dead, and there is testimony to his resurrection, most people, even among the Jews, will not respond favorably though one rises from the dead. But notice he says, what kind of response is Jesus going to be looking for in folks?

He says, interesting choice of words. If someone goes to them from the dead, no Father Abraham. If someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. Even the rich man knows repentance is a part of a right response to God. But he said to them, if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead. It’s interesting Jesus tells this story like this. The rich man knows his brothers need to repent. Notice in the story, the rich man doesn’t say, if someone goes back from the dead, they will believe that believe is the only thing necessary in order to be saved. And that it’s a passive belief at that. That’s a very common doctrine today.

But Jesus does not say that the rich man says, believe, but repent.

A right response to God involves repentance. And that was what was preached on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, the first gospel sermon after Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. Repent and be baptized. Every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins. Well, those are just some preliminary thoughts.

No, we’re not. But the original thoughts of what is about to follow from this story came from a Burt Bulletin article that I read that was entitled Four Things That Are in Hell That the Church Needs. Well, I thought that was a riveting title for an article, certainly got my attention. I read it.

Is this shocking to you? Well, yes, it was. Could there really be things in hell that could be of value to the church? Mind you need to be shocked. We need to be disturbed in our complacence.

And if this lesson tonight about this tragic text and the tragic result of a life misspent. If this text helps us to be disturbed in our complacency and brings to us the sobering truth of the end of unrighteousness, then that will be a good thing. Because just as much as I’m convinced about the death and resurrection of Christ, as I talked about this morning, I am convinced that there is an eternal place of torment awaiting the unrighteous. There is a wide gate and a broad way that leads to destruction. And many are going in thereat. And so for a few moments, I want to talk about some things we see in this story, yes, even in hell. As a result of this conversation between those who have lived and died, between Abraham and the rich man.

1. The Time for Tears Is Now

Some things that were evidenced in this story that we could use even now as we strive to live righteous lives before God, and some lessons we can learn from this rich man. Where does this story start? As it says, in hell he lifted up his eyes. It says that he cried out and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me. Hell is described as a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Tears for what could have been but is not. Tears for the anguish and terror, experiencing the absence of all good because God is not there. The time for tears is now. Not when it is too late. And the righteous need to display tears. I look at Psalm 119 in Psalm 119. Over a story like this, even in Psalm 119 and verse 136, the psalmist said, My eyes shed streams of water because they do not keep thy law.

Well, why shed streams of water? Because they are bringing injury to themselves, and not just injury ultimately, but injury in this life. It should cause us great concern and distress when others are lost around us. We sometimes want to dismiss that thought from our minds. Jesus wants us to entertain this thought. The tragedy of people who are lost. The time to cry over the impact sin is having in people’s lives is now while we’re alive. So that we will be motivated to act, to attempt to teach, to attempt to get people to appeal to this objective, understandable source of information so that they can avoid this place. But the fact of the matter is, most will reject.

I’ll tell you, when I preach this message, and when I talk about the very real subject of eternal torment, it does not bring me any pleasure whatsoever to know how many people will reside there. I don’t want a single person that I know, have known, not even that person who cuts me off on the road, as upset as I might be in that moment. And be tempted to get angry with them. I don’t want anyone to experience this faith. I think about the mayor of Houston. I might have said once upon a time that the mayor of Houston is our mayor, but since she technically is not, then I’m going to refrain from that especially now after the whole thing happened in regard to preacher’s sermons being monitored on the subject of homosexuality.

And a lot of preachers, not daunted by this at all, sent her copies of their sermons. Members of churches were sending her copies of her sermons, but it became somewhat funny as her office was flooded with not just copies of sermons, but Bibles, and it was being sent from, and finally she said, Really, I don’t need that anymore. Not going to do that anymore. And all of that finally went away after her office was barraged with all of these Bibles and sermons. Which shows how the majority of people still think in this culture. But that being aside, as that became somewhat of a comedy show with all that was going on with our mayor and made the whole city of Houston look bad in front of many people in our world.

Really, it’s a tragedy.

2. An Appeal: Access at the Throne of God

Really, it’s an awful tragedy that people have gone so far from the instruction of God’s book that such silliness becomes necessary, and it ought to provoke our tears. There’s another thing that we see in the story is that the rich man made an appeal to Abraham as he saw him across the Gulf, that Lazarus would come. He made a petition that Lazarus could come and just cool himself in this flame with the touch of his finger. That begins to describe the extreme nature of the agony of this place. But what happens is the rich man understands his real condition. And he makes an appeal to God for assistance, or Abraham as God’s representative for assistance. And while this is going to come to no avail, there’s a great gulf fix, and it is way too late.

Again, something that we see is someone in a very real need, in a sad and pitiful condition, and he makes an appeal. And that’s what we need to do. Now, while we’re alive, is take advantage of the access at the throne of God that we have because of what Jesus did for us that we studied this morning. Here, he wants to access communion with God and the things that God can supply, but it is too late. Now we have access at the throne of God and can take advantage. You know, we should never see prayer as something that we’re supposed to do. Okay, I’m supposed to pray. You know, I have examples of people praying several times a day in the Bible, and we’re to pray without ceasing.

You know, we’ve been beaten over the head with that by the preacher. And so we’re supposed to pray. Okay, God, I’ll card out five minutes, and here you go. Here’s your prayer, because I have to. We should never view petition to God in that way. We should want to pray. We should want to commune with God. We’ve been given access as God’s people to the most powerful being and loving and caring and merciful being that exists, who doesn’t want us to go to this place, who has done everything that he can to assist us to make right decisions in our lives. Prayer is a blessing. That we can cast all of our cares upon him because he cares for us. That he will respond and he can do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think.

3. He Sees Himself Clearly

James chapter 5, the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. And if it avails much, why would we not want to take advantage of it? I think sometimes we do not trust or believe in what prayer accomplishes in our lives, what God has promised us it will accomplish if we cast all of our cares upon him. Remember, I talked about the troubles that we have this morning, and so many give up as a result of those troubles. That’s when we need more than ever to invoke God’s assistance and help. He can see us through it, whatever it is. Petition him. Now, take advantage of the communion and access that we have. And coupled with that, we see in the rich man how acutely aware he is of his misdeeds.

He sees himself clearly. He didn’t see that when he was eating at his table every day. And he ignored Lazarus. He most likely thought, like most people do, I’m okay. Now he knows he’s not. For once he had seen himself clearly, and that will be the case when people are lost. They will at that time see themselves as clearly as they have ever seen themselves. And what he saw wasn’t pretty.

Say, I didn’t deserve to be here. This isn’t fair. I wonder how many people are going to pull out that card on the day of judgment. Wait a minute, this isn’t fair. I don’t deserve this. Who knows, some may do that. But again, they have Moses and the prophets. God has given us his book to guide us. He is a fair and equitable and just God. He wants to assist not only our understanding, but our discovery of the truth. Ask and it shall be given to you. Seek and you shall find knock, and the door shall be open. But here the great tragedy is for once in his life, he sees himself clearly. What we tend to do when we catch on to perhaps our misdeeds is that we go to excuses, self-justification, blaming others for our predicament, measuring ourselves by others.

4. A Concern for Ourselves

Well, there are other people worse than me. I guess the rich man could have said that. There might have been a few. There are other people worse than me. None of those work. We need to have a clear perception of ourselves. Don’t sugarcoat it. Be honest. As you assess, where am I in relation to God? How can I walk as a Christian more consistently? How can I grow and improve and be more like Christ in my thinking and conduct? Have I arrived yet? In the likeness of my Savior. We need to see ourselves clearly. As He did. And we need to have a concern for ourselves. As the rich man did. Oh my, how he was concerned about his condition. In torment and agony in this plane.

Just for one moment of relief. One moment. He doesn’t even ask for complete deliverance. Just for a moment of relief. I don’t know what this experience will be like, and I hope I never know it. And that’s why we preach, and that’s why we teach. That’s why we admonish people to listen and respond obediently. What a tragedy. If the truth was placed in our hands, the truth that saves. There are so many people that don’t have the foggiest as to what the truth is that can save them, will not expend the time and effort necessary to discover what that truth is. But here it is, from the time that I was an infant, of course I couldn’t grasp it then. But from the time that I was an infant, the truth has been in my lap.

I knew that baptism was necessary for the remission of sins when I was five. When I hadn’t even committed sin. I’ve known that. What a tragedy it would be for those of us who have had the truth taught to us all of our lives. To end up as the rich man.

People just don’t have any concern, really. They think they’re concerned about themselves. In fact, they idolize themselves. But real concern involves spiritual concern. This is my standing before God because this is ultimately where this is headed. Again, one of the disconnects I think we have, and I want to do a whole sermon on disconnect, but one of the disconnects that we have is that, well, these stories are old. They were told by Jesus as he lived in Palestine 2,000 years ago. And some of these stories about Abraham, that’s another 2,000 years. 4,000 years ago. The story of Abraham unfolds on our planet. And it almost doesn’t seem real to us, but here’s the deal. They live lives just like we do. In fact, longer. In the case of Abraham, twice to three times as long.

But despite the fact that Moses, or yeah, Moses too, but Abraham lived three times as long as we do. His life came and it went and it was over, and it’s been over for a long time.

5. Concerned About Others

It is hard for us to think about just how temporary our lives are. And to have the concern for ourselves that says, I’m going to put my soul’s state above everything else. Above every other materialistic concern above my bank account, above my house, above my cars, above all of my earthly relationships. My soul’s status before God is priority one, and it is every day. And that’s where we struggle. And not only was he concerned for himself, the rich man was concerned about us. Isn’t that interesting? What an irony in the story. Tragic. He immediately turns his thoughts when he realizes his predicament cannot be fixed or even alleviated one little bit in this conversation that he has with Abraham. He’s now concerned about others, probably for the first time in his life.

He didn’t care a thing about Lazarus, whom he could have helped very easily. But now he’s concerned about these relationships, these five brothers that are lost.

The time to be concerned about others is now. And here’s the thing.

I have grandparents just like many of you do, and great-grandparents who are no longer living. Their faith, like the rich man, is sealed. I can’t do a thing about that. I have grandparents that I believe are likely lost. I have grandparents that may well be saved. I can’t do anything about where they are. But the point of this story is you can do something about those who are still alive now, and that God is going to hold them to this objective standard, as we talked about by way of introduction, that can lead them to salvation if they would turn from unrighteousness to serve a living and true God. And we need to have compassion as we try to share this story with others. Here’s the thing.

Conclusion

In hell, your vision is 2020.

We need to develop 2020 spiritual vision now while we’re still alive and see the things that we need. Learning from someone who had lost it all. Well, the conclusion of this one is pretty straightforward. You want to avoid this place at any and all cost. And the thing about it is the cost that we pay to serve the Lord is actually rewarding. That’s the wonderful thing about it. And so we bid you to take action if you need to while there’s time and opportunity. And we sing to encourage your response. Let’s stand and sing together.