Luke 16:19-31

Luke 16:19-31

Two Destinations

I. What we do with God’s Word today, makes all the difference forever; so we must heed God’s Word to have hope that satisfies eternally (19-26)

a. Jesus introduces us to two very different men, with two very different lives. First, we meet “a rich man”, characterized by always being dressed in the finest, most extravagant, and most expensive clothes, and living in extravagant splendor, eating sumptuously every day. We also meet “Lazarus”, a poor man, left at the rich man’s gate, who was covered with sores, starving, longed for the rich man’s table scraps, and whose only companions were the dirty scavenging dogs who licked his sores. In the world of the Pharisees and Scribes, the rich man was surely blessed by God, and poor Lazarus was surely a sinner whom God punished. But, when Lazarus died, angels met him and carried him to heaven. When the rich man died and was buried, likely with an extravagant funeral, he was ushered to hell, a very real and terrible place, never intended for humanity, which Jesus describes more than anyone else. The rich man, who lived so extravagantly in life, suffering in the agony of eternal separation from God, cries out to Abraham to send Lazarus to provide relief from his suffering. But Lazarus, who suffered in life, is resting in comfort in heaven, and there is a chasm between heaven and hell which cannot be crossed. The rich man is now faced with the eternal reality that he settled for his reward in life. The one who had it all, lost everything, and the one who had nothing gained everything. (Vv. 19-26)

b. While it’s difficult for the rich to enter heaven, there’s nothing sinful about being wealthy or righteous about being poor. The rich man ended up in hell because he had a hard and calloused heart that didn’t heed God’s Word. He’s identified by the thing which characterized him most and which he worshiped, his wealth. He enjoyed the finest of everything, while Lazarus, in plain sight, was clothed in rags and sores, and had nothing. He knew who Lazarus was, but was only willing to reach out to him when he needed relief in hell. The rich man hoped in material things in life, but those things passed away in death, and his hope along with them. One of God’s common graces is a fundamental hope in us to help sustain us in a fallen world as we come to know true eternal hope in Christ. The reality of hell, is that the things which torment us in life and attack our hope are eternally present, but God’s common grace of hope is removed. The rich man settled for temporary hope in life in wealth, while Lazarus chose the eternal hope revealed in God’s Word, because he had nothing else. The difference between the two men was their response to God’s Word in life. God takes no pleasure in anyone being lost to Him, and desires all to turn to Him for salvation, but we must heed His Word. (Ps. 51:4-6, 16-17; Isa. 66:24; Ezek. 33:11; Matt. 5:22, 29-30; 7:13-14; 8:12; 10:15, 28; 11:22, 24; 13:40-42, 50; 18:7-9; 19:24, 30; 20:16; 22:13, 36-40; 24:51; 25:31-46, 51; Mark 9:42-49; Luke 6:24-25; 12:20, 39-40, 46-47, 58; 13:28-30; 17:26-29; John 3:16-21, 36; 5:28-29; 8:30-36; 14:1-6; 15:6; Rom. 5:1-5; 2 Cor. 5:10; Phil. 3:20-21; 2 Thess. 1:8-9; 1 Tim. 2:3-4; Heb. 9:27; Jas. 5:5; 2 Pet. 3:9; Rev. 14:10-11; 20:10; 21-22)

II. What we do with God’s Word today, makes all the difference forever; so we must heed God’s Word to have hope that satisfies today (27-31)

a. The rich man pleads with Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers of their possible fate, but Abraham says they have all they need for salvation in God’s Word, just like the rich man did. The rich man believes they need more warning, but Abraham replies, that if they won’t believe God’s Word and heed it, they wouldn’t even believe if someone came back from the dead! The Word is all we need, and the Word is all God sent. He sent His Word in flesh, to fulfill His law, pay the price to ransom us from sin, and reveal the way to reconciliation with Him. If the Bible isn’t sufficient to move one to repentant faith in Christ for salvation, then no other spectacle on top of it will move them. All objections to turning to God are ultimately moral. Often God is seen most clearly in the beggar at the gate. The rich mand missed God because he hid behind his false hope of wealth to avoid the uncomfortable reality of his need that God laid before him. We all have a safe space carved out in our lives where we’ve horded our idols of comfort, but none provide eternal hope and life. God puts a Lazarus in our lives to compel us to give up our own security and false hope, and seek Him through His Word. Every Lazarus put at our gate is a gift of God’s grace, showing the rich man in us, that we’re no less in complete need ourselves. We must heed God’s Word and turn to Him. Only heeding God’s Word will conduct us to the proper destination. (Vv. 27-31; Matt. 25:40; Luke 9:22-25; 24:25-32; 44-47; John 11:45-50; 12:9-11; Rom. 10:5-17; 1 Cor. 1:18-25; 2 Cor. 6:2; Heb. 4:12-13; 1 John 3:17)