Tabor Baptist Church

Bible Reading until 2:20

Introduction

• We can all identify with this story
• Young
  Christians have a lot of compassion
• Young people have a strong sense of justice
• Jesus is giving a story about a rich man and a poor man
• This passage has a lot to say about heaven and hell
• The media today has a tremendous effect upon us in a way that other ages have not experienced
• There are many anti-Christian messages
• If we voice a different opinion we are called bigots
• We need to be clear what the Bible teaches

Does this passage teach that rich people go to hell and poor people go to heaven?

The Rich Man

• The passage is not dealing with this
• Think of Abraham, Joseph of Arimethea, Barnabas
• The passage is saying something about richness and poverty
• The rich man was clothed in purple
• This was very expensive in those days
• Jesus was talking about a person in opulence
• He fed sumptuously every day (v19)
• He is a very callous man who does nothing to help the man lying on his steps (v20-21)
• Example of a divorce settlement
• "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven"
• Riches have a hold on you
• The rich man can be saved if he bows the knee to Jesus
• As you become employed, give and tithe right from the outset
• What does Jesus say about rich people (v14-15)?
• God sees the hearts
• What is highly esteemed among man is an abomination before God
• It shouldn't surprise us that this rich man ends up in hell

Lazarus

• What about the poor man?
• He was paralysed and couldn't get up
• Can you imagine what it would be like in this situation?
• Jesus does not focus on his suffering but his comfort
• He was taken to heaven by the best transport possible - the Angels
• He was taken up into the best company - with God, the Saints and Abraham
• The bible is not saying that the poor go to heaven
• God has chosen the poor to be rich in faith
• It should not surprise us that many poor are flocking to Jesus

What was the state of the poor man and rich man after death?

• We are told Lazarus' name but not the Rich man's name
• Lazarus was precious in God's sight and written in the book of Life
• The rich man's name perished
• We are prone to judgement of others
• Lazarus was in Abraham's very bosom
• God has mercy on him and he is comforted
• The rich man had a proper burial but not the poor man
• The angels were looking over Lazarus
• The rich man was in hell
• The idea of hell is rightly troubling
• Jesus spoke more of hell than heaven
• Jesus spoke challenging words about the need to avoid sin and hellfire
• Jesus spoke about the worm and the fires that are not quenched
• Have you thought about hell?
• The metaphor speaks to a reality
• If the metaphor is terrible than the reality is more terrible
• The rich man was in torment
• But he still felt in charge
• He wanted Lazarus to come to him and go back to earth
• There was no remorse and no repentance
• There is no changing of our mind after death
• There is no purgatory
• It reminds us that God is God of justice
• God must punish those who sin against Him

What does it say of those who are passing from this world?

• The rich man was concerned with his family but not anybody else
• Jesus speaks against the rich man's request to send back Lazarus
• Jesus says there is enough to point to Him
• We have the word of God to point to Jesus
• Even if someone rose from the dead they wouldn't believe
• What about us this evening - do we truly believe in Jesus and are we following Him?
• This message is a call to deep compassion
• The UK is very wealthy
• Think of Haiti, India, Asia, African Sub-Saharan Countries
• As a church we preach the Christian Gospel
• This motivates us to the needs of the world

Closing Remarks

Where are you going?