#142 Lu. 16:19-31 THE DEATH OF THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS Introduction: In our previous text Jesus spoke about divorce and re- marriage. However, before that He spoke about an unjust steward who coveted after earthly wealth. Perhaps you may recall that Jesus said, "Ye cannot serve God and mammon," meaning wealth. Luke mentioned that the Pharisees, who were critical of Jesus, were also a very covetous people. They, too, tried to serve both God and mammon. They thought they were doing so, but in reality they were not serving God at all. In our text today, Jesus returns to the subject of wealth and speaks of the death of a certain rich man and a beggar named Lazarus. In life this rich man, from the earthly point of view, had the best of everything and Lazarus had practically nothing. But after death it was Lazarus who fared well and the rich man had nothing. Many people make it their whole purpose in life to gain wealth and they gain it to their eternal hurt. What people ought to see is that there are far more worthwhile goals in life than gaining material wealth. I. An introduction to two men In verses 19-21 Jesus introduces us to both the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man was first. V. 19, "There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day." Jesus speaks not merely of any rich man, but of certain rich man. You will notice that Jesus does not tell us the man's name. Perhaps the reason was that He did not wish to bring emotional pain to the man's family members who were left behind on earth. Perhaps it might have also been because He did not want His listeners to think He was talking about some other man by the same name. But for whatever reason, Jesus did not reveal the rich man's name. I sometimes hear him called by the name, "Dives," meaning "riches," but that is strictly supposition. Jesus does not tell the man's name. Jesus does say that this man was clothed in purple and fine linen. It would have been the robe or outer garment that was colored purple. Only the rich could afford purple robes. It was common for kings and queens and members of the royal family to wear purple, but outside of royalty, only the rich could afford such luxury. Fine linen was made of flax which grew in Egypt. It would have been his under garments which were made of fine linen. It, too, was an item of luxury which only royalty and the very rich could afford. In our day, this would be somewhat like wearing $1000 suits, $200 shirts, and $500 hand painted silk ties. Jesus also said that he fared sumptuously every day. That is, he lived in the lap of luxury every day. It was not a once in a lifetime experience of luxury. He lived that way on a daily basis. I am sure that he was the envy of almost everyone who knew him. Jesus next introduces us to the beggar. V. 20, "And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus..." Whereas Jesus did not give the name of the rich man, He did give the name of the beggar. His name is "Lazarus." He is not to be confused with the Lazarus who was the sister of Martha and Mary and whom Jesus raised from the dead. Martha and Mary were not all that poor so they would have seen to it that their brother would not have to beg. (V. 20), "...which was laid at his gate, full of sores." This Lazarus was not only so poor that he had to beg for his food, but he was also in such poor health that he was not able to walk to the rich man's gate. He had to be carried by others who laid him there that he might beg. It is to be understood that they would later carry him back to wherever he stayed at night. In addition to being poverty stricken and being unable to walk, the beggar was also stricken with numerous sores. Jesus said that his body was "full of sores." The sores may have been caused by malnutrition and uncleanliness. Being unable to walk, I am sure that he could not bath regularly. But take note that the gate at which he begged was the gate of the rich man who fared so sumptuously. Since Lazarus lay at his gate daily, the rich man would have to know about him. He would see him daily as he went in and out. He would be well aware of his need of food and his need of physical care. V. 21, "And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table..." The purpose of being at the rich man's gate was that he might beg a little bit from the rich man's table. The rich man fared sumptuously every day. He banqueted every day. He had plenty to share with Lazarus. Yet if Lazarus ever got more than just the crumbs from his table, Jesus says nothing about it. Apparently the rich man did not care about this man's welfare. He allowed his servants to give Lazarus the, but that was all. (V. 21), "...moreover the dogs came and licked his sores." The dogs were more attentive to the rich man's needs than the rich man was. They did come and wash his sores. I feel sure that what they were really after was part of the crumbs which came from the rich man's table, but they did lick his sores and thus wash them while they were there. II. The deaths of the two men In verse 22 Jesus tells about the death of both these men. He speaks first about the death of the beggar. V. 22, "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom..." Jesus put it very simply. He said that the beggar died. He makes no mention of a funeral. This does not mean that he was not buried, but it does mean that he was buried without fanfare. Somebody just took him out and buried him. But while Jesus said nothing about his funeral, Jesus does tell us about the spirit man which left that diseased body behind. Jesus said that he was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The earthly funeral for the body was carried out without fanfare, but in the unseen spirit world there was a grand event taking place. The beautiful, majestic, holy angels of God came down and carried his spirit to the Paradise of God. This was no funeral, of course. Rather it was a magnificent welcome of God's child into heaven. Abraham, the father of the Hebrew people, was there in heaven. Lazarus was immediately welcomed by Abraham who embraced him to his bosom. We can be certain that he and Abraham were not the only ones there. Abraham must have welcomed may other children of God before him. There was Isaac and Jacob and King David and Isaiah and Jeremiah and many others. They all welcomed Lazarus there. Most important, God, Himself, would welcome him into heaven. In this same verse Jesus also tells us about the death of the rich man. (22), "...the rich man also died, and was buried." We can be sure there was a great funeral for the rich man. Many mourners, no doubt, were present and a grand display of the man's great wealth was made. Great words of praise were surely spoken about him. It was surely a magnificent funeral. But the funeral was all that could be seen and heard by man. As with Lazarus, there was something very important taking place in the spirit world that the eyes of men could not see and that the ears of men could not hear. Beginning with verse 23 Jesus tells us what took place in that spirit world. V. 23, "And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments..." Now don't ask me to explain how his physical body could be left behind in the grave and yet in hell he has eyes and, as we will see later, he has a tongue and apparently he has a complete body of some sort there in hell. The important thing that we all ought to take notice of is that he was in torments. He was in extreme agony. Those of us who are saved ought to take notice of this and thank God that we have been saved or else we, too, would suffer the same fate when we die. Those who are not saved ought also to take notice of this, because right now they are headed to that place of torment and, unless they turn to Jesus Christ and get saved, they will soon be there with that rich man. There were many things that account for the torment of the rich man in hell. The hot fames of the fire is the first thing that comes to mind and we will read more about that in the next verse. But the very fact that he could see Lazarus in heaven on Abraham's bosom was an aggravation to him. He was accustomed to having all the advantages, but now he was in hell and, of all people, that beggar was in heaven laying on Abraham's bosom. Now before we leave this verse, take notice of one other thing and we will get back to it later. (V. 23), "...and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." Take notice that the place where Abraham and Lazarus were was "afar off" from where he was in hell. III. The two requests which the rich man made But look now to verse 24 and hear the first of two special requests that he makes to Abraham. V. 24, "And he cried and said, 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." This suggests that perhaps before Lazarus got so crippled up that he could not walk, that this rich man had used him as a servant and was accustomed to ordering him around. He still wanted to order him around, or at least, he wanted Abraham to do it for him. He said that he was tormented in the flames of hell. Now I read and hear people present all manner of arguments why they do not believe in the fires of hell, but I will tell you one man who does. That rich man believes in them and he ought to know. He is there. He said he is tormented in the flames and he wanted Abraham to send Lazarus to cool his tongue. He did not figure that Abraham would send Lazarus with a bucked of water to pour over him and cool him off or even a cup full of water for him to drink, but he would consider it a blessing if Lazarus would just dip the tip of his finger in water and touch it to his tongue. I'm not convinced that would help much, but he thought it would. V. 25, "But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented." Back on earth, it was Lazarus who had it tough, but now it was the rich man who had it bad. I really don't know just how bad he had it, but I do know one thing, regardless of how bad Lazarus had it back on earth, it was not nearly as bad as the rich man has it now. V. 26, "And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence." In effect, Abraham said, "No can do. I cannot send Lazarus to cool your tongue. I couldn't even if I wanted to. God has fixed a great gulf or a great space between where we are and where you are. We are a long way off and nobody from here can cross over that gulf to help you. Neither can you who are down there come up here where we are." Let me tell you that this ought to be an eye-opener to those who are lost. Once a person is in the fires of hell there is no escape. There is no way out. Nobody who can get in to help and nobody can get out. There is no relief from the pain and there never will be any relief. The torments of hell will last forever. In verse 27 and 28 we hear the second of the two requests that the rich man made. V. 27-28, "Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment." Since the rich man could do nothing to help himself, he at least wanted to do something to help his brothers who were still alive. He had five brothers back home and he was alarmed that his brothers would probably end up in hell just like himself. I think he knew they were not saved. He knew by their attitude and by their lifestyle that they had never repented of their sin. He knew that unless they should repent, they would soon be right there with him in the fires of hell. So he requested that Abraham send Lazarus back to earth to preach to his brothers and warn them about the fires of hell. V. 29, "Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." Now they did not have Moses and the prophets alive to preach to them and warn them. That is not what Abraham is talking about. He was talking about the writings of Moses and the prophets. They have the Old Testament Scriptures and the Scriptures gives warning of the dangers of hell and the Scriptures gives the good news of how to be saved. Let me cite you to some of those Old Testament Scriptures. In Isaiah 53:6 we read, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." This means that we have all sinned and that God sent Jesus Christ to the cross to suffer for our sins that we might be saved. In Isaiah 45:22 we read, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else." Every lost sinner in the world is told to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Those five brothers of the rich man had the writings of Moses and the prophets. Abraham said, "Let them hear them." They have sufficient warning to know that they need to be saved and they have sufficient information to know how to be saved. V. 30, "And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent." The rich man knew---or thought he knew---that his brothers would pay no attention to the writings of the Scriptures. They might hear them with their ears, but they would not take them seriously. They would not believe the Scriptures. They would go right on down the road to hell in spite of what the Scriptures say. It is the same way with a lot of people today. What he wanted Abraham to do was to send someone like Lazarus back from the grave that he thought his brothers would listen to. He figured that if someone would come back from the dead to preach to them that they might pay attention. He thought it would impress them. He was as wrong as he could be. V. 31, "And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." I want you to hear something very vital right here. If people will not listen to the Holy Scriptures they will not listen to anybody. If they will not believe God, they would not believe a man who comes back from the grave. Men, women, boys and girls must either listen to God and believe what God says in His word or else they will spend eternity in the fires of hell. IV. An appearance of Lazarus and the rich man in this service The word of God is preached here today to warn men of the dangers of hell and to tell them how to be saved. Those of us who are saved ought to thank God again and again for our salvation. Those who are not saved should wake up to the grave danger that they are in and get saved. They ought to wake up to that danger today and they ought to get saved today. If Lazarus should appear here in this service today and tell us how wonderful heaven is, that would not be any more persuasive than the word of God which is preached to you. If the rich man were to appear and tell us how hot hell is and how horrible hell is that would not be any more persuasive than the word of God which is preached. Yet the persuasion is not in me, but in the word of God. It would not matter whether the word of God is preached by me or Lazarus or the rich man or by Billy Graham or the Apostle Paul or by the most inexperienced preacher. It is the word of God which counts. If men will not be persuaded by the word of God, they will not be persuaded at all. Conclusion: Do you believe the word of God? Do you believe God when He tells you that you are a sinner? Do you believe the word of God that you are in danger of hell? Do you believe the word of God that you need to be saved? Do you believe the word of God when God tells you how to get saved? Do you believe the word of God that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of God and that He is the Savior of men? Are you ready to place your faith in Jesus Christ and be saved? Acts 16:31; Rom. 10:13.