 Hi, this is Pastor David Rosales of Calvary Chapel of the Chino Valley, California. In the Gospel of Luke, we have recorded a story given by Jesus concerning what happens after someone dies. It's the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The purpose behind this story is actually a warning concerning materialism and greed. The audience Jesus gives the story to is identified in chapter 15, where Luke tells us that Jesus is speaking to tax collectors, sinners, Pharisees and their scribes as well as his disciples and by inference his apostles. Luke tells us before Jesus gave the story that the Pharisees were lovers of money. He said this because Jesus had said you cannot serve God in mammon, which cause the Pharisees to sneer at him and to mock him. In other words, it cut them to their hearts. In light of this, Jesus spoke directly to them in parabolic form to address the folly of loving money and the wisdom of trusting God. And he did so by speaking of a certain unnamed rich man and contrasting him with a very destitute poor man named Lazarus. The point of the story was to show them and by virtue of application, all who would hear this story, how foolish trusting enriches actually is. Paul told us believers were not to trust in uncertain riches and concerning money. Solomon asked, will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings. They fly away like an eagle toward heaven. The Pharisees were guilty of loving money, so Jesus warns them and all who were listening to him about the future awaiting them. What good would their money do them when it no longer has any value? You know the story, the rich man dies as does the poor man Lazarus. They are both carried to their graves, but the grave isn't their final destination. Lazarus is carried to paradise, Abraham's bosom, but the rich man ends up in Hades. Jesus contrasted the fact that Lazarus was comforted with the rich man's crying out that he was in torment. At this point I will share about what happens when someone dies. There are many who think that when someone dies nothing actually happens. They believe that the body simply deteriorates and that is all. Others think when someone dies, if they're not believers they simply cease to exist. Others believe that they are reincarnated and others think that the soul simply sleeps until the resurrection and final judgment. Some think and teach that believers end up in a place they call purgatory. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, purgatory is a place or condition of temporal punishment for those who departing this life in God's grace are not entirely free from venial faults or have not fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church it is stated that purgatory is part of the Catholic doctrine of faith where a final purification occurs in order to achieve the holiness necessary to enter heaven. None of this is what the New Testament reveals about what happens after death. In this parable we see that Lazarus, a genuine believer, ends up in a place of comfort but the rich man who trusted in his riches and not God ends up in a place of torment. In the story we see that the lost man remembered his religious roots, became aware of his need for mercy, made it clear that he was in torment and that word speaks of agony, pain, grief. He even speaks of torture. Interestingly he was aware that Lazarus was being comforted but he himself tormented. He even said to Abraham, I'm tormented in this flame. By using the word flame he's saying I am in severe and continuous pain. Many do not believe in eternal punishment today. Some are teaching their churches and writing books that say that almost everybody will eventually end up in heaven. I did not believe this when I first got saved because if I did I wouldn't have witnessed to my parents. The fact is it is appointed for man to die once and then the judgment. It's interesting how in the story the rich man accepts his situation but asked Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers. The reality of his eternity impacted him. His request was for his family to not suffer in the way that he himself was suffering. I wonder how many people would today say the same thing. The sad fact is the rich man had no excuse because he was aware of Moses and the prophets. He just never responded. They had enough to be aware of who Messiah was but rejected him even as the Pharisees who were listening to Jesus speak. At that moment we're doing Jesus made it clear there are two possibilities for the future. One comfort the other torment. We need to remember this. It should inspire us to live for the Lord to date to tell others how they can escape the future judgment. If you love your unsaved family and friends pray for them that they might come to Jesus before it is too late and share the gospel with them. This upcoming Sunday I will be teaching on this passage. I've called my message What Happens After Death. This is Pastor David Rosales of Calvary Chapel of the Chino Valley, California.