 So as we turn to our Luke chapter 16 the message of this of this mess of this the mess that the title of this message is for rich or for poor and this has been a A scripture that has been that I've been thinking about Lately and I'm trying to get my thing to open here And it's been I've been thinking about this message how There's an importance see and an urgency to this message We're living in dark times as we all know All around us. It's dark and I'm not talking about daytime. Just look around of what's going on We live in a time that's a lot of uncertainty. We see things in the Middle East flaring up We see things just all around us in the news if you listen to the news It's depressing. I Was telling my wife the other night. It just seems like children are being shot It just people are going crazy and this Scripture tonight is a good reminder for me To make sure the inventory of my soul is where it needs to be Because there's gonna become a day soon that we'll meet our Savior face to face and This passage tonight is a good reminder For those who we may have that are unsaved Or those who will may be sitting here tonight that I'm not sure where I stand with Jesus It's a good reminder To know that there was an afterlife after our life here on earth and it's real and Jesus gives an illustration in Luke chapter 16 beginning at verse 19, but I want to set the context and Is this message intended to scare you? Yes, no, I'm teasing Boo, but the context of this time that Jesus is speaking is He's going to the house of one of the rulers in in chapter 14 of Luke and He's a ruler of the Pharisees and he's there to eat bread on the Sabbath and Chapter 15 it describes who's at this house. There's lawyers. There's Pharisees and there's writers of the law scribes and they watch him very closely These men so that they may find an accusation that they can bring towards Jesus and ultimately Sentence him to death But it's during this time that Jesus speaks in parables to those who are invited to this meal and It's interesting that in chapter 14 verse 3 That at least the Pharisees and the lawyers are present and Jesus teaches the parables of the invitees of this meal So what is a parable? Well, it's made up of two Greek words. It's para and bole Pada means come alongside or beside and Bole the second part of that word means cast aside or come alongside in truth So Jesus would speak in parables because he would have a message that he would like to portray and alongside that would be some illustration of truth a Lot of times you see Jesus really speak into the times of that might be big. He uses agriculture He uses a lot of different things to describe a truth and he puts it alongside of that that is a parable It's a familiar idea that's kept cast beside an unfamiliar idea in Such a way that would help people understand what Jesus was trying to say So we see in chapters 14 through 16 of Luke that Jesus uses six parables to address his audiences of the lawyers the Pharisees and the scribes But in six chapter 16 where I want to look at tonight Jesus comes to a point where he stops using a parable See parables were usually vague in nature in terms that there were no names mentioned It was usually a certain man or a certain person or and it would never really name a person in a parable but here in chapter 16 Jesus now Doesn't use a parable and he begins to usually use an actual case he begins to illustrate an Event that he foreknew from his eternal perspective the importance of this passage is That it's fatal and Eternal consequences of a man who lives only for himself He lives for his riches and and he rejects Jesus as his Savior It's also interesting to point out that Jesus speaks more of hell than he does of heaven He speaks more of the consequences that we would face rejecting Jesus that he actually describes the kingdom of heaven and here Jesus gives an actual case of a man of two men One rejects the Lord One has his faith in the Lord and Here is one of those instances. Let's pick up in verse 19 Luke chapter 16. Let's pick up with verse 19 Lord be with us as we present your word may it go out in power in Jesus name amen There was a certain notice it's in red. So Jesus is speaking. There was a certain rich man Who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously? Every day But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus full of sores Who was laid at his gate designed to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores Interesting to point out that the rich man it literally isn't named But in Latin a rich man was usually called divas Which meant rich? His extreme lifestyle is pointed out by Jesus Jesus uses a couple of interesting different things to illustrate this man's lifestyle First thing that Jesus points out in verse 19 is that he was clothed in purple and That he dressed in fine linen Purple is often a symbol for royalty. It's also a symbol of wealth, but it's more of a symbol of status So this was like the GQ Armani of that time He wore the most expensive purple fine linens that was available that day It's the rich man's wealth was an evident by his purple and fine linen Which indicates a luxurious and expensive clothing usually imported from Egypt It was very expensive It's it's also interesting to point out that the Bible describes in Mark chapter 15 verse 17 that a purple robe was placed on Jesus when he was being mocked When he was gone on his trial the pilot they clothed them with purple a purple robe It's interesting to point out that ultimately they didn't know they were really Put it on the robe of the king of kings But it's interesting to point out in verse 19 where it says any fared sumptuously every day What's interesting about this is that this word fared sumptuously every day is a word used for feasting Or for a word that is described for gourmet feeding This guy was eating Well every day Back in that time you'd only see of rich men and kings do this probably on a yearly basis But Jesus points out that this man did it daily What does that tell us we do something daily it be it can become worship for us If we read our Bible daily, we're worshiping our King if we live every day for ourselves We're not worshiping our King We're worshiping our flesh and when there's a tendency to and there can be a tendency to for those who Live for such a fluency every day it can become a God in their life Now am I saying that being wealthy is sin? No, I'm not saying that at all What I am saying though is anything that we place before the Lord we can have It can become our God and So this is what Jesus is illustrating here This man lived a lifestyle that was so expensive So affluent and so luxurious that there was inherent inherent danger about this lifestyle We can there can be a shift in our worship from God To anything in our life that consumes us a Man that lived in such luxurious Lifestyle on a daily basis had to put some effort into it and He did this daily. So what's the danger from this is that we can shift From a certain lifestyle Tell now worshiping a particular lifestyle and What we serve is what we worship Now we can put anything in that blank It doesn't have to be wealth. It can be Relationships it can be our car, which if you guys see my car, it's obviously not my car It can be our children It can be anything that has been placed in our path that has taken our worship away from the Lord or has turned us Directly away from the Lord and has allowed us to live a lifestyle That's for ourselves and this is what Jesus is illustrating now, please Please don't even understand me that having wealth is wrong or or sinful live in a life where wealth has become Having wealth that has become what you live for that's where it becomes dangerous When you start living for something other than Jesus, that's when things get dangerous And here we have two accounts that we will look at one who put his faith in the Lord and The other who put his faith in his wealth and riches Be careful You know, it's interesting that we live in a lifestyle today that promotes seeking self-pleasure Go to Barnes & Noble and look how many self-help books there are Look at how many Do it yourself slogan campaigns that is in our society today. The world tells us that I don't need a God I don't need God. I'm doing good on my own That's what the world tells us. I got my money. I have my riches. I have my wealth I don't need you Lord Do it yourself. You're the God in your life. You don't need God do whatever feels good. You deserve it is What the world is telling us today, you know, it's interesting to point out. I looked at a statistic right before I came in and 22% of evangelical Christians believe that there's no hell 15% believe they don't know When I looked at the Buddhist 95% believe that there's no hell if they're ever read Luke chapter 16 It would be astonished Both in Psalm 14 one and in Psalm 53 one David says the fool has said in his heart. There is no God They are corruptive and have done abominable iniquity There's no one who does good How? Eternally fatal this can be but we see in verse 20 look at the contrast, but now there was a certain beggar named Lazarus full of sores Who was laid at his gate designed to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table? Moreover dogs came and licked his sores now. We see somebody who's named So now this tells us that this is not a parable, but it's an actual account that Jesus has known from his eternal perspective We see that the name Lazarus really means and just to back up. This is not the same Lazarus That's mentioned in John chapter 11 This is a different Lazarus who was before that time and The word the name Lazarus from the Latin actually means Elezate la czar, which is God is with me or God is my help, but we see that he is a beggar that is full of sores He laid at the gate a Beggar at that time was considered one of the most deplorable and despicable people on the face of the earth if somebody's seen a beggar they were just like trash and In that time especially with the Pharisees they seen when Jesus was telling him the story He was exposing their heart Because to the Pharisee a beggar full of sores Who laid at the gate and dogs came and licked his sores was the most hideous Deplorable thing that they can think of it disgusted them and Jesus was exposing their heart to the hatred that they do They have for those who they see as below them and that's the reason why Jesus exposes this and then tells them the Potential consequences of living a lifestyle like that The word beggar in the Greek means wretched or it means afflicted destitute of wealth and the Bible describes that he's full of sores now I was gonna show a picture of the sores that this man had I Probably would have never been asked to teach again horrendous all suric Open gaping sores That filled this man's body and his only Thing he had was a desire to be fed and dogs came and licked his sores That sounds pretty disgusting Jesus described the misery of this beggar in these strong nauseating details His desire to be fed was a yearning a strong desire that I Don't know if you guys ever been really really hungry But or you've had a strong desire to do something and you're not able to get that and This is what Jesus is describing here on this on this poor man You see such a description of a man was hideous and deplorable in the side of the Pharisees and Jesus was exposing their hearts We see in verse 22 and so it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom The rich man also died and was buried Being in torments in Hades He lifted up his eyes and Saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom This is where it starts getting crazy There's an afterlife and Jesus once again is spends time He doesn't spend a whole lot of time describing Lazarus's situation He spends most of his time in this passage looking at the rich man's situation Once again, Jesus speaks more and warns more about hell than he does about the kingdom of heaven and Listen to what Jesus tell in what we see here. We see that both die Rather we're rich or whether we're poor or whether we're in the middle. We're all gonna die Hate to rain on your parade you guys Regardless of being rich with all the riches in the world and being poor who has nothing there's one thing in common They both die and the truth is One day, I'm gonna die One day you're gonna die If the rapture doesn't happen one day, we will face Jesus and experience the afterlife one day. We will live eternally Hebrews chapter 9 verse 27 says as it is pointed for man to die once but after this the judgment It's interesting to point out that Lazarus didn't even have an honor of burial in his life Yet he was carried by the angels To Abraham's bosom The rich man had the honor of a burial, but there was no angelic escort or pleasant destination Matthew 8 Matthew chapter 8 verse 11 says and I say to you that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven So it would seem obvious that when the beggar was carried by the angels It was his soul or his spirit that was carried. It wasn't his body We understand that The same true of the rich man. It wasn't that he was That his that his soul was buried it was his body that was buried But it was his soul and his spirit that was sent to this place that we're gonna look at according to verse 25 Excuse me. Let me back up first 23 says in being in torments. Oh, let me back up. Let me back up I'm skipping some stuff here Abraham's bosom What is Abraham's bosom? Well, we don't have the time to really go into what Abraham's bosom is There's some debate in the church of where or what it is Just know here that Jesus is referring to a place of comfort And we don't have time to go into the details of and the scriptures and all that to go back and forth But just know that he's distinguishing two places And in here what he's distinguishing is a place of comfort and a place of honor because remember when John The apostle John was with Jesus. He would sit in Jesus's bosom Like a place of honor and so we see Abraham doing the same thing as it's just excuse me The rich man doing the same thing as he said that he is an Abraham's bosom So once again, we don't have the time to really debate like or discuss the different views on this Just know that Jesus is illustrating two separate places and that the rich the poor man The beggar Lazarus is now in this place of comfort and then the rich man It says in verse 23 and being in torments Says here being in torments. He lifted up his eyes and saw Father Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom being in torments The words plural It's an interesting word. It has a few meanings to it one meaning it comes from a a I pass my notes up it comes from a From a rock It's plural for the Greek words basanos and the The I the word that the meaning that Jesus is giving here. It has dual meaning the original Meaning of this word is it's a silicon based stone, which is called a touchstone And what this touchstone would do it would test the metals or the purity of silver and gold When this Lydian stone was under extensive intense torture It's true color would be revealed in the middle of that stone Jesus is using this illustration the the other The other idea of it is that it's rubbed or Exposed to extreme torture almost like being tortured by interrogation and so this word also denotes a meaning of being in a torture rack and Your body being slowly pulled apart Where your ligaments and your cart ledges and all your joints are slowly dislocated And you can hear the pop and It slowly pulls you apart and you're being under extreme torment as the true identity of yourself comes out and what is this and what is that is That we There was a chance There was a chance that the thing that's going to be tormenting enough Besides what we're looking at here is the idea that we had an opportunity To accept Jesus while living on this life living on this earth We had the opportunity to give our hearts over to him and now the haunting tormenting thought of Eternity of why didn't I accept Jesus Christ when I had the chance will be plain over and over and over in our Minds as our bodies feel like they're being stretched stretched and stretched The words plural here being in torments More than one thing, you know, it's interesting to point out is that while this man's an excruciating torment We see in verse 23 that this man lifted up his eyes What does that tell us is that wherever this place Hades is called? He can see Now going back to what Hades is is A place where the dead live it's a place of where The they call it the grave. It's also called Sheol in the Greek But in Hebrews and excuse me in in Hebrew. It's called Sheol in the Greek. It's called Hades and It's a place that was considered the place of the dead It was a place of punishment for the wicked It was a term used for the unseen realm of the dead Now the location of Hades There's a lot of theories of where Hades is actually Hades is that But some people believe that Hades is in the middle of the earth. We don't know that we haven't been dead And we'd never come back. We don't know but we know this That it's a place of Undescribable torment Who cares where it's at I just want to stay away from it as far as I can But the fact is is that there is a place that is real That is a place of torments Awaiting those who literally step over Jesus in this lifetime and say I don't need it. I Don't need you Regardless of location. It's a horrible place a place of torments Isaiah 38 13 says for she all cannot thank you death cannot praise you those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your truth so now we have a clear picture of Two people when they die One is taken and carried by angels to a place of Comfort a place of rest a place of paradise the kingdom of heaven Then we have another man who is buried and he goes to the place of torment For all eternity Eternity I don't know if that resounds in your mind Eternity 50 years from now. It's not eternity a hundred years from now is not eternity Eternity is eternal And we both have The option to where we're gonna spend eternity We put our hope and trust in Jesus Christ We have not only heaven. We have eternity with our Savior We put our trust and hope in riches and in wealth and live for myself We will have eternity in torments people say oh when I go to Hell I'm gonna party with my friends. Well, the Bible doesn't sound like a big party here So when this guy dies he he lifts up his eyes He's able to see and in verse 23 He says that he saw Abraham in a for-off in Lazarus and he cried and said so he's able to express emotion And he's able to speak in this place of torments And he says father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in Water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame not only is he in torments, but now he's tormented also in this flame It's interesting to point out. How did he know who father Abraham was? Father Abraham was Years prior to this they didn't have Instagram they didn't have Facebook or snapchat You're me and father Abraham. They didn't have that How did he know who Abraham was? Because in the realm of the spiritual world in our afterlife we will have that knowledge and The thing that will haunt this man for eternity is the idea that he had a chance to repent He cried and said There's emotion He's able to speak. I think a lot of times we think of hell we think of Hades We think oh it's just gonna be this you know this idea No, we have no idea of what is going on here and Jesus is telling us that we're aware That this man is aware of where he's at Because look at what he says in he says that you send Lazarus down that he says father Abraham have mercy on me You know, it's interesting to point out that Lazarus wasn't saved by his poverty Anymore that we should think that the rich man was condemned by his wealth Lazarus obviously it must have had a true relationship with our God and The rich man did not and so we see When he says father mercy father Abraham in verse 24 have mercy on me the rich man Obviously was a descendant of Abraham and the great father faith didn't disown him But yet having Abraham as his father was not escape not able wasn't enough to escape The torment in his life to come Now the rich man was the beggar pleading with Abraham Again, the rich man was not in torment because he was rich He was in torment because he served himself and rejected God He says send Lazarus down that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for him tormented in this flame What I did something interesting today is I went and filled up a sink of water and I dipped my finger in there and I had about five or six drops that came from that What's interesting to point out is that this man had the the need of the one of the most basic Simplest things that we take for granted every day is every day we can go and get a drink of water But this man was begging Abraham that he may send Lazarus down Just to touch the tip of his finger on his tongue because he's tormented in this flame Once again, I dip my finger and I got about five drops six if I shook it and The most and I started thinking the most basic need That we have Will be a need that this man will desire for eternity a drink of water a drink of water My kids brush your teeth and leave the water on it's all this water is coming out. I'm like Man the rich man in hell would love that water Just think about it the most basic need of water Is something this man is desiring for it's interesting in the Greek when this is that Lazarus desired the crumbs from the table The same thing is that the rich man asked Lazarus or Abraham to send Lazarus It's the same idea. There was that deep yearning It's also interesting to point out that the rich man is still looking down as to Lazarus and and still telling him to Send Lazarus Send Lazarus, why didn't he ask Abraham? Because he still sees Lazarus as that poor beggar and that tells us something that tells us that when we're in hell The only person we'll still think about and only find ourselves important is ourselves And this is an illustration of what this rich man was doing to add to his torments He is also tormented in a flame. What type of torment takes place in a flame? Burning So not only is this man being felt like he's being stretched and That he is constantly Tormented as interrogative like why didn't you accept Jesus? He's also in a flame burning And he's asking for some water This man literally is burning alive and has a physical thirst that will never be quenched That's mind-boggling Listen to what Jesus warns about in Mark chapter 9 verses 43 to 48 if your hand causes you to sin Cut it off. It's better for you to enter life maimed rather than having two hands To go to hell into the fire that will never be quenched Where the where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched And if your foot causes you to sin cut it off It is better for you to enter life maimed rather than having two feet to be cast into hell and to the fire That should never be quenched where the worm never dies does not die and the fire is not quenched And if your eye causes you to sin pluck it out It's better for you to enter the kingdom with one eye than having two eyes to be cast in the lake of fire or To cast into hell fire where their worm Never does not die and the fire is not quenched We look at verse 25. He says but Abraham The rich man is starting to argue. He's telling sin Lazarus down and he's like no He says in verse 25 is but Abraham said son remember that in your lifetime you received good things and Likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and you are tormented Through his earthly life the rich men enjoyed all the good things in life Yet he did not share them or use them to prepare for his life to come You know what brother and I were having lunch the other day and he were discussing this this message and and I was telling him I'll probably never be asked to teach after this message again And we were just kind of joking around and he said something interesting He says, you know when we had our last floods and our last storms and where the fire came and just ravaged everything People were warned about the storms that were coming and people started to prepare People started filling up sandbags and they started digging and they started preparing for the big storm That was to come and it's interesting that we don't understand that there's a storm headed our way for those who Do not put their trust and Jesus Christ a storm that will have eternal consequences But for the believer who have their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we have eternity in our sight We see here that when in In Jesus is saying but Abraham said in verse 25 That in verse 26 he Abraham's explaining to the rich man that there's this great golf That's fixed in between us. Listen what he says. He says besides this Between us and you there is a great golf fixed That's an interesting word fixed that means it's there Who knows where it's at? I don't know, but we know it's a location that it's fixed It's there There was a great golf between their destinies were fixed for all time and we remember that That this happened to the rich man's soul It wasn't his body because his body was buried But his soul ceased to exist or suspend a lot of people think that this is spiritual sleep Or purgatory. Let's make it clear that this is neither That this place yes, it is an intermediate place to be And later on I'll explain why but this is a real place and in verse 27 as Abraham is telling the rich man that I can't send Lazarus over there to touch your tongue I can't do anything. There's this great divide between us and And we cannot pass that and then the rich man now begins to think outside of himself And he says then he said I beg you therefore in verse 27 Father that you would send him to my father's house. Once again, he's putting commands on sending Lazarus But he's now thinking of his loved ones in This place of torment You will think You will think You'll think about your loved ones. You will think about the things that you've done in the past. You will think for eternity How much you wish you could have come back just to accept Jesus one time? He goes for in verse 28 for I have five brothers that he may testify to them that Less that they'd also come to this place of torment. So now he has a concern for his family Obviously the rich man remembered and cared about his relatives even when he passed from earth to the life to come His memory was not wiped clean or given new consciousness he remembered and When he says in verse 28 that they come to this place of torment Now now the rich man cares about others not coming to this place He lived life utterly unconcerned of this either for himself or others And if he himself can go to his brothers he would but it seemed to understand that this was also Impossible so much that he didn't even ask that you send me he says send Lazarus The mention of the five brothers is the first indication that the rich man thought about anybody else but himself Unfortunately his concern for others came at a time where it was too late verse 29 Abraham responds and Said to him they have Moses and the prophets and let them hear them And then in verse 30 The rich man begins to argue says no father Abraham if one goes from the dead they will repent But he said to them if they do not hear Moses and the prophets neither will they be persuaded for one rise from the dead Abraham pointed out that the brothers had everything necessary for them to have a relationship with the Lord They had the law on the prophets And guess what we have today We have the word We have Jesus We have a relationship with Christ The rich man he objected immediately knowing that his family didn't take Moses and the prophets seriously He desperately hoped that if one came from the dead that it would be more convincing than the actual word of God Yet it would not be more convincing because they would not believe because God's word Neither were they be persuaded though one rise from the dead the rich man knew what his brothers must do and he did not do repent He hoped that a spectacular appearance of the dead would shake his brothers up to repent But it takes more than that it takes God's word The rich man wasn't lost because he was rich he was lost because he didn't listen to the law and to the prophets Many also will be lost for the same reason Today we have people living for themselves We have people that are lost for the same reason We have even those who profess to be Christians who attend church on a regular basis who read their Bible on a regular basis profess the same thing but inside they are lost as this man is They are professing to be Christians who are not listening to the Word of God or living according to the Word of God James 1 chapter 22 excuse me James chapter 1 23 to 24 says but be doers of the Word and not hearers only deceiving yourselves For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer. He is like the man Who observes himself goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was For eternity this rich man will experience unthinkable unexpressible torment Eternity But what I what do I think is the most tormenting thing that this rich man will experience? Is that he also had a chance to accept the Lord? He also had a chance If this rich man had one second to come back and repent he would So the challenge I want to give tonight is Are we living our lives for Jesus? Or do we have loved ones that? That are not living for Christ see as believers we can look forward to eternity with Jesus in heaven with undescribable joy And on the same hand a life that's not lived for Jesus Will be an eternity in a hell also Indescribable one in day every one of us will stand before our King every one of us one day we will And how we live our lives today will determine our outcome and where we will spend eternity Faith in Jesus will give us heaven and our King faith in ourselves will lead us to this place of torments Listen to what revelation 1411 says and the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever and they have rest They have no rest day or night who worship the beast and his image and whoever receives a mark in his name What does that mean that means that one time in their life their lifetime here on earth? They rejected Jesus they lived for themselves when you're not worshiping Jesus you're worshiping the beast one thing is clear Hades at this moment is Filled with people who've died and have lived a life similar to this man who rejected Jesus Hades is full and they find themselves in this place Until the day that they'll be ushered from this place of torment to a place of judgment the great white throne judgment that's Described in Revelation chapter 20 and from that great white throne judgment will be cast in the lake of fire for all Eternity, you know, it's interesting Once again that we literally have to walk over Jesus To find ourselves in an eternal hell, you know, it's also interesting is that Jesus shared this story 2000 years ago The mind-blowing thing about this whole thing is that 2000 years later today today May 23rd 2018 the man is still in the same place Experiencing the same thing that Jesus is describing. How long ago was that? He's still there and he's waiting There will be a time where he will be ushered into the presence of the Lord and will have to give an account to why He rejected Christ known as the great white throne judgment and I'll close with this passage Revelation chapter 20 verses 11 through 15 then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and There was found no place for them and I saw the dead small and great standing before God and books were opened Another book was open Which is the book of life and the dead were judged according to their works by the things that were written in these books the sea gave up the dead who were in it and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who are in them and they were judged each one according to his works Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire This is the second death Anyone found not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire Where we live today and how we live today will have eternal consequences or Good or bad to where we will spend eternity Are you living your life today for Jesus Christ or have you allowed self? Have you allowed other things to get into the way or now you're living for yourself? It's time to examine our hearts Time is getting near The time is what I believe we're in the last days Just look around us