"Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. But a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things. But now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you are not able, and none may cross over from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I am asking you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’"
Good Morning my beloved,
We welcome you to worship today in the name of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for joining us today, whether it's your first time or you are a faithful member of our family in Christ, your presence is acknowledged and truly appreciated. If you're not certain about whether or not you want to embrace Jesus Christ, I pray there will be something in our message today that will point you toward Christ.
Hell will be filled with those who are going to be utterly devastated to find themselves there because they never saw it coming. People who appeared to be devout, faithful Christians because of religious activity or outward piety, but ultimately lacked a genuine saving relationship with Christ. Deceived people, who think they are Christians, who bought into the damning lies of well-meaning false teachers, only to hear, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness," because they were ultimately false disciples. I believe that thought should stop every single one of us in our tracks because believing "that could never be me" is the most dangerous assumption any of us could ever make.
We are living in a generation that is literally drowning in easy-believism and cheap grace. Jesus emphatically stated entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven is marked by self-denial, repentance, turning away from sin, followed by genuine transformation and few will find it.
However, many churches today have turned the narrow path with the small gate of the Kingdom of God into a place with an wide-open door policy with no conditions. A kingdom characterized by popularity, personal comfort, permissiveness and tolerance of all views as long as you say that you "believe" some version of Jesus.
While the invitation to salvation is open to all, the terms in which one accepts it are non-negotiable. In Matthew 8, as part of an exchange of Jesus' teaching on the "Cost of Discipleship, when a scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go." And Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." And another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead."
In first-century Jewish culture, the phrase "bury my father" was commonly used to describe to the eldest son’s responsibility to care for his father until his natural death and settle the inheritance, which could be an indefinite delay. Jesus quickly responded, emphasizing the urgent priority of discipleship over familial obligations, indicating that following Him requires immediate and total commitment and the allow those who are spiritually dead to bury the physically dead. The message is clear; following Christ supersedes the highest cultural, religious responsibilities and even familial obligations.
And when the rich young ruler questioned Him in Luke 18, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?,” indication that he had kept all God's Commandments since he was a young boy. Jesus answered him saying, "One thing you still lack: sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven. And come, follow Me.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. And Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!"
The wide gate religion is often associated with enter God's kingdom through a superficial commitment to Christ, outward rituals or moral compromise. Whereas the narrow path is responding to God's grace with a life that reflects His righteousness and truth over self-indulgence and personal desires, characterized by humility, purity and a willing obedience to God’s command to self-denial.
If the preaching is popular, it's likely lacking the biblical Truth to appease "itching ears." Preaching that is based solely on sound doctrine will surely offend some because it contradicts the false ideologies that presents a diluted gospel lined with the compromising truths to align with cultural conformity. The true Gospel is uncomfortable. It disrupts our assumptions, cultural norms and challenges those of us who have assumed that we are okay, on the right side of eternity, to painstakingly face a mirror— that reflects hard truths about ourselves that most people don’t want to think about, let alone talk about and deal with. Yet, Jesus never avoided the Truth or compromised it, He confronted it head on, exposing sin and hypocrisy, not because it was easy but because was at stake was so important, the eternal destiny of men's souls. The bottomline is a gospel that costs nothing, demands nothing, and produces nothing, except for false converts who have been deceived about the painful truths about sin, repentance and Hell.
Entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven demands new birth, and a supernatural transformation that produces new a identity since our former identities associated with our sinful "flesh and blood" cannot inherit the kingdom. So, He also gives us a new heart, one that hates sin, especially our own and runs toward holiness. Yet many who call themselves Christians keep up Christian routines while living in ongoing lawlessness, excusing and even celebrating unrepentant sin under the cover of grace. However, Scripture teaches that such individuals are self-deceived and were never truly saved. To claim to be the recipient of God's grace and forgiveness while tightly clinging to unrepentant sin is to horribly misunderstand the Gospel. It is unthinkable to imagine those who sit in church pews, week after week, all across America, listening attentively to the Word of God, people who served in ministries, participated in worship services, gave offerings, quoted Scripture, and even defended the faith both in person and online, that are being misled by Satan's damning lies. We've all read Jesus' words about true discipleship being self-denial, taking up our crosses, and following Him in loyal obedience and servanthood, at any cost, potentially even death. To accept suffering, persecution, loss, or hardship without grumbling or complaining, He even emphasized that whoever loses their life for His sake will save it. And in stark contrast, that whoever wishes to save his own life will lose it. He told us to count the cost of discipleship before superficially committing to follow Him. But have we been listening? I mean, really listening.
I would argue that despite Jesus’ many explicit strong warnings throughout the New Testament, teaching intended to prevent believers from prioritizing temporal comfort and worldly desires over eternal life—those cautions are all too often ignored. I believe because many half-hearted Christians view them as hypothetical and do not take biblical warnings seriously enough, even as preachers sound the alarm, warning those who have the outward trappings of Christianity yet lack the inward reality of true saving faith and transformative power of genuine regeneration. Jesus made following Him so challenging, that when He said "There are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father," many disciples turned away and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go?" (John 6:64-68)
I believe that God has, in some way, written His law in every human heart, causing our conscience to feels the sting of conviction that stirs fear—particularly the fear of death. That's why we do everything within our power to avoid it. We play psychological games with ourselves, masking it through the use of drugs or alcohol, chemical injections or plastic surgery, going from relationship to another. We buy gym memberships, engaging in intense physical exercise, punishing ourselves with strict diets that we'd much rather bypass, so that we might delay or avoid the unthinkable: death. But the reality is, that apart from the rapture, no human-being can escape the certainty of his or her own mortality; it's inevitable. Paul, thoughtfully reminds us in 1 Timothy 4, to discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness; "for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers."
Sin has its consequences. Personal consequences, national consequences and global consequences. Ultimately, sin has eternal consequences. In Galatians 6, the apostle Paul declares a very profound, self-evident truth. "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap." This fallen world is so utterly consumed by sin that it cannot escape the inevitable harvest of moral corruption, societal destruction, death. Sin eventually leads to catastrophic demise. All we need to do is look at history, to the examples of the Roman Empire and the Ming Dynasty. Every sin ever committed by anyone breaks God’s Law, whether in spirit or its letter. This makes every single person ever born guilty of violating God's Law. Every sin, every deed, including those in secret will be exposed, ever committed by every person will be judged by God, Who shows no partiality. That’s the harvest. Proverbs 1:18-19, says "But they lie in wait for their own blood;
They ambush their own lives. So are the paths of everyone who is greedy for gain; It takes away the life of its possessors." Those who scheme to harm others are actually setting a trap for themselves. Consequently, the "ways" of the greedy are also characterized by self-destruction, proof that such futile schemes are fatal to the schemer. Do you actually think that the Scripture teaches these lessons in vain?
Let's pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, we are as always so thankful for Your Word, so grateful for the profound Truths which You have made so perfectly clear to us through Your Spirit, the resident teacher. Lord, we pray that we would comprehend and apply that which You are saying to us in Your Word today, and we give you praise in anticipation of that occurring. May it be for our greater good and for Your glory. In Christ's precious name we ask and pray.
Amen.
Today's Message: A Sobering Warning About Hell
In spite of the prevailing popular opinion, that Jesus only spoke about love, He spoke more about Hell than any other person in the Bible, not as a metaphor, but as a literal place of conscious torment, in outer darkness, with an unquenchable fire. He used it as a central component of His ministry to warn people of the eternal consequences of turning away from God, rejecting the Gospel and perverting its message face a more severe condemnation than even the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. In the text before us today, Jesus illustrates that once in Hell, there is no return, no relief, and no opportunity to warn others, as a "great gulf" is fixed between the saved and the condemned. I believe this passages serve as a sobering reminder of the seriousness of sin and the urgency and necessity of repentance and turning away from sin.
As Christians, it is our supreme privilege and great responsibility to represent Christ in this world, through both our words and our transformed lives, which requires a life of integrity, character and moral excellence. From the moment you become a Christian, claiming to represent Christ, you immediately forfeit the right to act in the same manner as the unredeemed world. Our witness must ensure that our conduct and character align with the message we proclaim while demonstrating love, compassion and Truth, so that others might see Christ in us. The early knew that the testimony they gave through their individual lives, was absolutely crucial in reaching their society. So, before we begin, I humbly ask you to examine yourselves and ask , "What does my conduct demonstrate to an unbelieving world about the Holy Spirit's power to completely transform a sinners life?"
In 2 Timothy 3:1-5, Paul warned us "But know this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, without gentleness, without love for good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, but having denied its power. Keep away from such men as these."
In this day and age of false teachers and pseudo Christianity, I believe It is more critical now than ever, that we as Christians live godly lives to avoid hindering others from believing. If you are a true Christian, a true follower of Christ, and if Christ indwells in you, then you’re going to see your sin the way God sees it. That's why the apostle John boldly and lovingly states that a true Christian does not live in sin and cannot go on willfully sinning, because they have been born of God. In stark contrast, those who willingly continue to practice sin do not known Him, nor have they been truly born-again, because no one who is born of God makes a practice of sinning. As true Christians, we have the assurance that we will not be left in bondage to sin, and if persistent sin exists, it serves as a severe warning that we very highly likely do not abide in Christ. When a persons attends church for years, and listens to sermons week after week without ever hearing about sin, repentance, judgment, and only hears about grace and love, it represents a profound pastoral failure. 1 Corinthians 6:18, "Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral man sins against his own body."
Any pastor that will affirm sexual immorality, celebrate sexual immorality, excuse sexual immorality or ignores sexual immorality is not of God but of the god of this age—Satan. Sexual immorality is incompatible with the life of a Christian as we are called to sexual purity because the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and those who practice it will not inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:20, "For you were bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." Anybody that claims to be redeemed by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ is commanded to honor God with their daily lives in a way that reflects God's holiness and to bring glory to Him. If you don’t stay faithful to Christ, you do not have God. That's why it is so important to guard the church against the false teachers, they are the workers of Satan and do not honor the Truth which is from God. 2 John 10-11, "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting, for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds." By providing false teachers a platform by which to spread their heresy, corrupting the faith of believers, you have become complicit in their evil works. That's a pretty strong warning from John, the Apostle of love.
I believe that one of the things that a pastor has to do, is deal with the negative things almost as much as the positive things, in order to warn the flock. It may surprise you, but one of the most devastating things a pastor has to deal with is the attacks on the Gospel from within the church. Many Christians believe that the biggest attacks on the Gospel come from a hostile culture with progressive ideologies, the atheist on the street or from government overreach. So, whenever we feel the world pressing against us, and we brace ourselves for the battle and boldly declare, Jesus said He would build His Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail. The enemy is not storming the walls of the church from outside the church, he's comfortably standing in the pulpits and sitting pews. Jesus' words serve as a foundational promise that the Church He builds will endure and advance despite opposition from evil forces to proclaim the Resurrection. God uses warnings as divine guardrails to preserve His people, not threaten them with the possibilities of losing salvation. Security rests on God’s faithfulness and the finished work of Christ, if it were up to us, we'd lost our salvation a long time ago. Even if seemingly well intended, deceitful words, evil thoughts and wicked actions proceed from a corrupt heart. Only an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ can renew the desires of the heart and transform a sinful life.
Matthew 15:13-15, But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
Jesus is responding to His disciples’ who were concerned that the Pharisees might be offended by His strong teaching. Notice that He isn't apologetic, instead He boldly identifies the Pharisees as “blind guides” and warning that their lack of spiritual insight will lead both themselves and their followers into eternal destruction. False teachers want people to believe that they represent God, even naming the name of Christ to mask the reality that they are the emissaries of Satan, missionaries from Hell, sent infiltrate the church to deceive undiscerning people by falsifying God’s truth from inside the church, in an attempt to lead them to eternal damnation!
Now with all of that in mind, please open your Bibles with me to the 16th chapter in the Gospel of Luke. Luke chapter 16, verses 19 through 31. This is a very powerful passage, I believe one of the most terrifying of all parables Jesus ever told. One that will certainly not be a popular message with those "religious people" who believe they're going to Heaven because a loving God wouldn't send them to Hell. That's really what Jesus' story is all about a man who was shocked, absolutely devastated, to find himself in Hell. There are people who survive even the most devastating tragedies of this life by hoping for a better future. Where there is no hope, all that remains is an inescapable misery. As Christians, our hope is more than just wishful thinking, it is confidently anchored in the finished work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I would like to encourage you to follow along with me in your Bible ,with an open heart and an open mind, as I read these verses to you. I pray that you will listen for the voice of our Lord. As you may have noticed, this is a larger portion of Scripture so I'm not sure how far we'll get today, but if the Lord wills, we will eventually get through it all. Even if it takes us a couple of weeks.
"Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. But a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things. But now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you are not able, and none may cross over from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I am asking you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’"
Let's go to the Word of God and begin by looking at verse 19, "Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day." This is not a story about wealth, it is a story about spiritual blindness and a man who got himself cast into Hell. The problem with spiritual blindness, it happens subtlety, so it goes unnoticed, that is until eternity exposes it. I'd like you to notice the text says nothing about this rich man being irreligious, immoral, or openly wicked. He's not even condemned for being for acquiring excessive wealth. Just that "he habitually dressed in purple—the color of royalty— and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day." We can assume he was religious, he may have even been one of the Pharisees because of his self-indulgence, they were lovers of money. I believe it's pretty safe to say, like most religious people, he expected to go to heaven when he died, but something obviously went very wrong and he ended up in Hell. So often in today's church, we equate material wealth or financial success with God’s favor—bigger churches with huge platforms, and larger congregations mean more wealth, more power and more influence. Surely God rewards faithful believers, right? At least that's what the prosperity gospel teaches, that financial blessing and physical health and well-being are always the will of God. It only needs to be claimed by decreeing and declaring it to be so through positive confession. This ideology gained prominence through Charismatic "seed-faith preaching" televangelist pioneers like Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson, John Hagee and Kenneth Copeland within the Word of Faith movement and the most popular and influential charismatic prosperity gospel megachurch leader, Joel Osteen. Others include T.D. Jakes and Paula White-Cain, the "spiritual advisor" to the Whitehouse, who recently stated at her Unleashed Conference, "I’m not gonna lay hands on people till you’re obedient," pressuring the audience to donate $100,000.00 by claiming that their failure to give would result in children dying. Linking spiritual blessing to financial contribution is hallmark of the prosperity gospel.
This rich man’s life certainly looked like a testimony to the fact that he had God’s stamp of approval—purple clothing and fine linen was very costly. Unfortunately, what this man actually had was a heart of indifference and bankrupt soul, he had missed the heart of God entirely. It is worth noting that prosperity can coexist along side spiritual emptiness. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught that "Blessed are the poor in spirit," indicating that true blessing come from humility and acknowledging one's spiritual need, not from material wealth. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus consistently emphasizes that in God’s kingdom the spiritually poor, those who hunger and thirst for God's righteousness are exalted because they realize they dependent on Him and His grace, while the self-righteous and wealthy are brought low because of their reliance on money and self. Jesus is primarily addressing the money-loving Pharisees to confront their indifference toward those in need using the rich man in the story to demonstrate that you cannot serve two masters; God and money. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed. For some of you, there may not even be the rest of today. Death is frequently sudden, occurring when we least expect it. Don’t harden your heart toward God if you hear Him speaking to you.
Verses 20 and 21, "But a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores." This is obviously a story about extreme contrasts which dominate: life, death, and life after death. Lazarus, whose name means "God is my help," was a poor beggar lying just outside the gate of an unnamed rich man, often referred to as "Dives," a Latin term meaning "rich man." This man was dressed in fine linen and feasting sumptuously every day, ignored Lazarus, who was covered in sores and longing to eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. This is not just a story about two men, one wealthy and one poor, it is a story about the spiritual blindness that effects every human heart apart from Christ and the call to self-examination.
Verses 20 and 21, "But a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores." This is obviously a story about extreme contrasts which dominate: life, death, and life after death. Lazarus, whose name means "God is my help," was a poor beggar lying just outside the gate of an unnamed rich man, often referred to as "Dives," a Latin term meaning "rich man." This man was dressed in fine linen and feasting sumptuously every day, ignored Lazarus, who was covered in sores and longing to eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. This is not just a story about two men, one wealthy and one poor, it is a story about the spiritual blindness that effects every human heart apart from Christ and the call to self-examination.
God sees those the world often ignores. In 1 John 3:17, John warns "But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?" Closing one's heart to one's visible need is incompatible with genuine faith. James 2:14-17 argues that faith offering well-wishes like "be warmed and filled" without providing for one's physical necessities is "dead" like a body without a spirit. True saving faith is not merely a verbal profession but is made manifest through acts of true compassion. However, If a person meets these needs yet withholds compassion toward their brother, it serves as evidence that their heart has not been genuinely transformed by grace. Scripture explicitly states in 1 Timothy 4, that in the last days, demonic doctrine energized by demon spirits will be propagated by heretical false teachers who will pretend to represent God while spreading damning lies. As Christians, we are called to live a life of restraint, spiritual integrity, and self-disciple to do what is right, according to God's Word, reflecting Christ’s character, even when no one is watching. We have a responsibility to know the truth, and an obligation to live the truth and obey the truth, not to live hypocritical lives that set bad examples before the watching world, flaunting our sin as if it were some sort of virtue.
Quite frankly, some people would do well not to claim Christ at all rather than to bring shame and embarrassment upon His Holy name by openly living in unrepentant sin, damaging to the Christian witness which the Bible describes as "dead faith." While every Christians struggles with sin, there is a distinct difference between those who honestly fight against sin and those who persist in willful unrepentant sin, uninterested in true repentance, or in becoming a new creation. Which according to Scripture is evidence that they do not truly belong to Christ but are self-deceived. We are living in a nation that is becoming more and more pagan and less and less Christian, under the influence of anti-christ leadership, while wearing a mask of religiosity. I have to wonder, which is the real Christian agenda—spiritual transformation and becoming more Christ-like, and fulfilling the Great Commission or Christian Nationalism, as more and more well-known pastors and theologians endorse political ideologies from the pulpit, on both sides of the aisle, that clearly distort the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I strongly urge you to examine yourself by "gold standard," according to the Word of God, not others. Grace is not a license to sin, but a genuine opportunity to live for Christ, by the divine power that frees us from sins dominion and enables us to live righteously. Ultimately, it is the consistency between what a person professes and how they live their daily life that either validates or refutes their claim to be a child of God. If a person claims to belong to Christ but lives exactly like everyone else, is there any evidence of their profession? A true teacher of the Word of God wants to lead God's people out of sin, not affirm them in it.
Verse 22, "Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man also died and was buried." Jesus' story refuses to let us stay comfortable. There's so much said here in just a few words. The idea is not to take the Bible and bring it into modern times, but to leave the Bible where it is and take the reader in whatever era he's in and put him back into Bible times, in the environment that existed when it was written, in order to understand what those present at the time Jesus told the story understood to prevent corrupting the Bible. So, first of all, Jesus had already warned them not to fear men who can only kill the body and after that can do nothing more, but to fear God who kills both body and sends the soul to eternal Hell. The Pharisees and all who followed them were in danger of being thrown into hell. We discussed earlier that back in Matthew 15, Then the disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?" And He responded "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit." Then He went on to explain false teacher. and their followers their followers will face the destruction due to their lack of spiritual understanding. It not the outward appearance of righteousness, it's the condition of the heart. The Pharisees had been drawing the attention of Jesus here, they were scoffing at Him because His teaching about stewardship and money. They were lovers of money, who loved to be view as very religious people, as blessed by God, right? Jesus' hearers would have certainly noticed the extreme contrasts between the poor man and the rich man.
Remember in verse 14, when Jesus warned them saying, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts, for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God." So, obviously the assumption is the rich man, who was so extravagantly blessed by God, would end up in heaven, right? Wrong! The Pharisees believed in Hell, they believed in divine judgment. The problem is they were absolutely convinced that they were never going to experience either of those things. Hell is going to be filled with religious people. That's why the greatest tragedy is for someone to sit in a church for years, and their pastor never warns them of the consequences of sin. God does not delight in the death of the wicked, He wants people to turn from their sin and live
That's the only reason why God is being so patient toward some of you right now. He wants you to stop sinning, change your behavior and live rather than to face judgment. The call to repentance is universal, it extends beyond "religious people" but to all sinners, because God is not willing that any should perish. However, if you choose to reject His offer of forgiveness, He will honor your decision. And the result, will be an eternity in Hell. From the time of your birth, you were born into sin, children of wrath by nature, which automatically entails being headed to Hell. Because "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Jesus is merely offering you an alternative, the opportunity for redemption.
To put it another way, you are already spiritually dead, lying at the bottom of an incapable sea of sin, He's offering you to pull your spiritually dead corpse from the water and breathe new life into you, which requires Divine Intervention.
The GOOD NEWS is, you don't have to be "religious" to accept Salvation, you just need to be willing.
Back to the point, the Pharisees were just like the rich man in Jesus' story—self-righteous, self-indulgent, lovers of money, despisers of the outcasts and rejecters of the truth of the Scripture. This man wore the purple robe of royalty, his tunic underneath was very likely made from Egyptian cotton, which is still one of the finest today. He was filthy rich. Luke describes him as "euphraínō " joyously living because he felt the sense of inner personal victory due to his lavish lifestyle. In today's vernacular, we'd say this man was full of himself. So the poor man, who had little, known to no one but God, laying at the gate of the rich, covered with sores, suffering immensely, while in contrast, the rich man, known to everyone, going in and out, passing by the poor man daily and did absolutely nothing, was satisfied. Are you beginning to get the picture here? I know that some of you will dismiss this message, but before you do, I pray that you will consider what Jesus actually is teaching.
When the poor man, who had the worst life imaginable died, he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man who lived a life of extreme luxury died, he was buried, but his soul went to Hades where he was in torment. The self-indulgent rich man, though religious, was wicked for showing no love, no compassion for the suffering; that's the point of this story. By the way, Abraham’s bosom is a biblical term that refers to the place of comfort and blessed rest, symbolizing peace, security, and fellowship. It is where the righteous dead went to await redemption. Some scholars and theologians equate it to Paradise, particularly where Jesus promised the penitent thief, "today you will be with me in paradise."
Verse 23-24, "And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ " This event highlights the "great reversal." The poor man who sought help from a rich man who gave none, simply hoping to eat what fell from the rich man’s table, who now seeks mercy from the poor man who isn't capable of giving him any. This is not just a story—it is divine revelation, Jesus is pulling back the curtain on the irreversible consequences of ignoring spiritual warnings. Abraham is the father of faith and the faithful. The Jewish religious leaders expected to be where Abraham was. Like the Pharisees, this rich man in the story demonstrated no love, no compassion toward those who were suffering was tragically mistaken. He missed the opportunity, he chose self-indulgence. Lazarus' suffering was temporary, this man torment is eternal, with no relief, no hope. The message is unmistakable, wherever you end up, eternity is forever, it's irreversible. This extremely rich man
had everything in life, yet nothing in eternity, except for torment and torture. The poor man that had nothing, suffering in life, and was comforted. Death is not simply unconsciousness. Revelation 14:11 – "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night" This man sees, he feels, he remembers, and he speaks. Let that sink in. Jesus is dismantling every comforting illusion about the afterlife, with this very sobering truth: eternity isn't decided when we die—it is determined by how we live now. Modern culture may convince itself into thinking death is distant or insignificant, relying on science and technology to prolong life, to avoid the inevitable reality, that all living things will eventually die, most often unexpectedly. But make no mistake: the choices you make today will echo long after the grave, they will echo in eternity. Most people prepare for education, careers, retirement, and even their funeral—but what perplexes me most is only a few address being prepared for eternity, tragically leaving many unprepared. They will be among those who gained the world and lost their soul.
In spite of what Universalism teaches, that all of humanity will ultimately be saved and reconciled to God, ultimately go to heaven, regardless of how they lived their earthy life; Scripture teaches a very different reality, once you're in Hell, you will never go to Heaven. In Genesis, creation began with darkness being separated from light, the Hebrew word badal implies a necessary and permanent separation prior to Judgment, a theme that consistently runs throughout Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation. In His divine plan of Redemption God prefigured the ultimate separation of the righteous from the unrighteous, as seen in various Old Testament events and New Testament parables such as the wheat and tares and the sheep and goats. However, ultimate separation will occur at the end of the age, where the righteous and unrighteous are separated permanently. (Matthew 13:49)
Verse 25, "But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things. But now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony." This verse is the turning point in Jesus story, which is not meant to entertain, but intended to confront, it's truth is so shocking, it dismantles the self-indulgent religious leaders entire theology. A rich man lives in luxury. A poor man named Lazarus suffers daily at his gate. Both die. And everything is reversed. "But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember.." That one single word will forever haunt the memory of many throughout eternity, turning intensified recollections of the past into a primary source of agony. Throughout Scripture, God repeatedly calls His people to remember: In Deuteronomy 8:18, He says "But you shall remember Yahweh your God..." And, in Luke 17:32-33, "Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it." Then, in Luke 22:19, reclining at the table with His apostles, as He was instituting the Lord's Supper, Jesus had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me." Beloved, Hell will not only be eternal separation—it will be clarity that arrived too late. I believe it is imperative that the church must recover the discipline of remembering. Communion is not merely a religious ritual—it is determined resistance against spiritual amnesia in a world of constant distraction.
Verse 26, "And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you are not able, and none may cross over from there to us.’" Right at the center of this passage, Jesus a single statement that carries enormous theological weight, "there is a great chasm fixed."
Notice the Greek verb "stérizó" used 13 times in the New Testament, it is crucial. It refers to something firmly and permanently established, stedfastly set in a certain direction. It's followed by the adverb that is also used as a conjunction, "hopós," to accomplish the objective at hand. In other words, the great chasm fixed cannot be crossed, "so that" no one can go the other way. This is the stark reality that many would rather ignore, permanent divine separation between two eternal states: Heaven and Hell, the literal fixed point which ends the possibility for change, established by God Himself. The Good News is, salvation is still possible today; however, tomorrow is not guaranteed. If you are reading this message, it's not too late to repent, turn away from sin and toward Christ.
Verses 27 and 28, "And he said, ‘Then I am asking you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’" The rich man doesn't dispute the fairness of his eternal fate, instead he acknowledges his torment is irreversible. He then shifts his focus from relief, to concern for his five brothers. Despite his self-centered, self-indulgent lifestyle, he apparently has a redeeming quality after all, compassion for his family. He must have realized that if he was in Hell, his brothers, who were likely just like him, would be on their way, because they weren’t aware, they didn't have enough information about Hell. But, unfortunately, it's too late. Everyone around us is heading somewhere, the opportunity to save others, by snatching them out of the fire has passed once you're in Hell.
Verse 29, "But Abraham said, '‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’" In other words, the have the Scriptures, so ignorance is not an excuse. There’s something very unsettling about this man pleading for someone to warn his brothers so they won’t end up where he is. I believe the point Jesus is making is we cannot afford to have passive faith in a world in urgent need of salvation. I also believe this challenges the deeply rooted assumptions many of us carry—that if only we had more more time, more signs, more miracles, more evidence, then the people we care about would believe. we must do what we can to influence them before it's too late. Because after death, their choice is irreversible. Abraham's statement is profound and echoes what Paul later wrote in 2 Timothy 3, "All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work."
I never want anyone's decision to based on the fact that I didn't provide them with enough information on Heaven and Hell. However, at the end of the day, what they do with that information is between them and God. One thing that really stands out here, is the sufficiency of Scripture and the resistance of the human heart, and the urgent need to share the Gospel with those we dearly love.
Verse 30, "But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’" What could they have learn from someone they couldn't have learned from Scripture? Despite the numerous books and movies written about someone's fraudulent claims who alleges having gone to hell and back, there will never be a legitimate eyewitness account to verify any of these for profit stories. Put your trust in Jesus Who states once you're there, there's no coming back. The only way anyone will ever escape hell and enter heaven is by believing the Scripture. There’s no purgatory, no place for of purification, no second chance for salvation when you die. Scripture teaches that genuine believers go immediately to heaven when they die and everyone else go to Hades, a temporary place of torment before final judgment. If you are without Christ when the Judgment comes, you need to be afraid, because you will face the wrath you deserve for your sins. It is God Who is the ultimate source of life, it is God Who is the authority over death, and it is God Who is the final Judge through Jesus Christ judgment will be executed. Conversely, those who are in Christ have no need to fear, because our condemnation has already fallen on Jesus at the cross and we are justified before God. But, we will give an account for our earthly conduct and stewardship, how we used the resources God has given us since becoming a Christian at the Judgment Seat of Christ, also known as the Bema Seat, the platform for testing works and distributing rewards, rather than punishing sin or determining eternal destiny.
That brings us to verse 31, "But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’" What an indictment. Jesus ends this profound story with a shocking capstone statement: If people refuse to hear and respond to God’s Word, even a miracle as great as resurrection will not convince them. The problem is not God's Word, it's the condition of the human heart, which determines how Truth is received and whether it will produce spiritual fruit. That's a truth that I believe will cut deep in many churches today who are attempting to reinterpret Scripture to accommodate desperately spiritually sick congregations who refuse to abandon their sin and be transformed. It’s important to realize that Hell is real, Jesus spoke about it's reality often, in fact, more than anyone else in Scripture because He doesn't want you or anyone to go there. But you can't avoid it just by not wanting to go there. The reality is, we're all sinners, headed for Hell because we cannot enter Heaven as we are. We can't change on our own, outward change isn't enough. That's why we need Jesus to transform us from the inside out.
Salvation requires actively striving through the "narrow gate," that essentially means breaking familiar patterns, in other words our playground and our playmates have to change in order to serve God. That requires active participation on your part, removing yourself from certain situations and influences that lead to "activities" that God calls sin, abstaining from former lusts and desires by fixing your eyes and heart on Christ, trusting Him to replace old sinful desires with new spiritually focused one's. The safest way to end up in Hell is to do nothing. Just remain as you are, self-deceived that either Hell isn't real or that you aren't going there. No one can claim salvation without change. So allow me to warn you, that merely relying on grace without true repentance and turning from sin is a very dangerous path to take, because it too leads to Hell. True salvation always leads to genuine repentance and obedience from a thankful and grateful heart.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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