INTRODUCTION:

1. Some people mistakenly believe that this story is a parable, i.e., they believe it is not literally true. I would like to emphasize that this is not a parable. Our Lord does not refer to it as a parable. And Luke does not call it a parable (cf. Luke 8:4-11; 15:3).
2. Here in Luke 16, our Lord uses the names of real historical people, such as Lazarus and Abraham (16:20, 22). There are many parables in the Bible, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, but none of them ever uses the names of real, historical people.
3. Some people insist that this is a parable because they do not want to accept the Biblical doctrine of hell. Billy Sunday used to say, "You may not believe in hell now, but you'll believe in it five minutes after you get there!"
4. Our Lord preached more about hell than He did about heaven. And our Lord preached more about hell than all of the other preachers in the Bible.
5. When our Lord described the rich man in hell, He used the word "torment" four times (Luke 16:20, 23, 24, 28). Our Lord was giving sinners a strong warning.
6. In Matt. 5:22, our Lord warns us of the "danger of hell fire."
7. In Matthew 10:28, our Lord said, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
8. In Matthew 13:42, our Lord said that hell is like a furnace of fire where "there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
9. In Matthew 22:13, our Lord said that sinners are cast off into outer darkness, where "there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
10. In Matthew 23:33, our Lord said to the scribes and Pharisees, "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?"
11. In Matthew 18:8 and 25:41, our Lord described hell as a place of "everlasting fire."
12. Three times in Mark 9, our Lord said the fire in hell is not quenched (9:44, 46, 48).
13. Our Lord gave many warnings about hell because He cares for you and me. In fact, He went to the cross and died for our sins so you and I would not have to go to this terrible place called hell.
14. In this story, our Lord drives home the awful danger of living a worldly, godless life, and then dying and waking up in hell (16:19-23).
15. This lesson is given in a series of interesting contrasts.

 

I. CONDITIONS IN THIS WORLD (16:19-21)

1. The certain rich man was surrounded by comforts and luxuries. He "was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day" (16:19).
2. There is no indication that this rich man obtained his wealth dishonestly. The Bible does not say he was greedy or that he lacked compassion for the poor.
3. The Bible does not describe him as a crooked miser - an Ebenezer Scrooge, who was referred to by Charles Dickens as "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner."
4. The point here is not that the rich man was a crook who deserved to go to hell. The point is that he only lived for the pleasures of this world, and that he gave no thought to eternity (cf. Luke 12:16-21).
5. Our Lord said, "the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful" (Mark 4:19).
6. "The deceitfulness of riches." There is no question that wealth hardens people, and blinds them to what really matters in life. That is why Jesus said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19:24).
7. That is why the apostle Paul said, "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (I Timothy 6:9, 10).
8. Wealth hardens people. Paul told Timothy, "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate (share)" (I Timothy 6:17, 18).
9. In James 5:1-6, James rebukes the rich and tells them to weep and howl because of the miseries which would come upon them. Soon they would meet God and their money wouldn't do them any good.
10. Revelation 6 says that during the tribulation period, the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men will hide themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and they will say to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb" (Revelation 6:15, 16).
11. Revelation 18 says that the merchants of the earth are going to weep and mourn when Babylon is destroyed, "for no man buyeth their merchandise any more" (Rev. 18:11).
12. Money-lovers weep and mourn when they lose business, but they never consider what really matters in life. Our Lord said, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36).
13. Money hardens people. There is a story about John Wesley asking a certain man for help in putting up a church building. The man said, "I have the disposition but not the means."
14. Later on, someone told Wesley that the man had received a large inheritance, and so he asked him again. This time the man said, "I have the means, but not the disposition."
15. The Bible does not condemn wealth, but there are many warnings about the danger of making an idol out of money.
16. The Bible commends hard work hard and industriousness. Proverbs 22:29 says, "Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean (insignificant) men."
17. But the Bible also teaches us that we should be content, not covetous. "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content" (I Timothy 6:6-8).
18. Furthermore, the Bible teaches that we are to be good stewards. Everything we have rightly belongs to God, and He has entrusted all of it to us. We are to be wise stewards.
19. John Wesley said that when a person's standard of living increases, his standard of giving should increase as well.
20. Wesley lived very simply when he was a student at Oxford University. And he continued to live simply for the rest of his life -- he lived simply; he ate simply; and he dressed simply, etc.
21. John Wesley preached a sermon entitled, "The Use of Money." In this sermon he advocated the following principles:
          (1) Earn as much as you can.
          (2) Save as much as you can.
          (3) Give as much as you can.
22. Over the years, many preachers have used Wesley's simple 3-point outline. One day a pastor preached a message using Wesley's 3-point outline.
23. A man approached the pastor after the service and said, "Those first two points were wonderful, but the third point spoiled everything!"
24. Apparently that man did not understand the Scriptural doctrine of stewardship! Giving away all that you can is a safeguard against selfishness and materialism.
25. So the rich man "was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day" (16:19). Meanwhile, on the other side of the gate sat the beggar Lazarus (16:20, 21). What a contrast!
26. Lazarus was laid at the gate, meaning someone had to pick him up and put him there (16:20).
27. He was "full of sores" (16:20), and "moreover the dogs came and licked his sores" (16:21).
28. While the rich man "fared sumptuously every day," Lazarus desired "to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table" (16:19, 21).

 

II. CONDITIONS IN THE NEXT WORLD (16:22-26)

1. Whether a man is rich or poor, he is still going to have to leave this world someday. God said to the rich fool in Luke 12:20, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee."
2. Apparently the rich man and Lazarus both left this world at the same time. But they didn't go to the same place. There was a big, heavy gate that separated them in this world, and there was "a great gulf (chasm) fixed" that separated them in the next world (16:26).
3. So we see an important contrast. When the beggar died, he was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom (paradise), but when the rich man died, he lifted up his eyes in hell, "being in torments" (16:22, 23).
4. The repetition of the word "torment" serves as a serious warning (16:20, 23, 24, 28). It is foolish to leave this world without Christ.
5. This torment is aggravated by contemplation.

• Contemplating the blessings of heaven (16:23b-26). Blessings which the man in hell will never enjoy.
• Contemplating lost loved ones who will soon die and go to hell (16:27-31). This is very painful.

6. Hell is a place of sad contemplation.
7. Hell is a place of eternal separation.
8. Hell is a place of eternal damnation.
9. The rich man probably did not give much thought about heaven and hell while he was here on earth. But once he awoke in hell he immediately became concerned about his five brothers (16:28).
10. But the time to be concerned about your unsaved loves ones is now. Many parents worry about saving money for their children's college tuition, but they don't seem to consider that their children may spend eternity in hell.
11. Many people make sure that their parents are living comfortably, and have good medical care, etc. but they do not seem to realize that unless their parents get saved they're going to spend eternity in hell.
12. This rich man had "five brethren" (16:28), all lost, all heading straight for hell. Now all of a sudden this rich man was worried over their lost condition - but now it was too late (16:29-31).

 

III. CONDITIONS FOR ALL ETERNITY

1. In Matthew 25:46, our Lord spoke of "life eternal," and He also spoke of "everlasting punishment."
2. In the Bible, the words "everlasting" and "eternal" are interchangeable.
3. In fact, the same Greek word, aionios (ay-o'-ne-os), is used in Matthew 25:46 for both "everlasting" and "eternal."
4. Hell is eternal, and heaven is eternal. Surveys have indicated that a much higher percentage of people believe in the existence of heaven than believe in the existence of hell.
5. But according to the Bible, hell is just as real as heaven (Luke 16:25-31).
6. Evangelist R. A. Torrey wrote this over 100 years ago: "Any view of the punishment of sin that leaves out the thought of its being an expression of God's holy hatred of sin, is not only unbiblical, but shallow and dishonoring to God.
7. Perhaps the rich man was one of those skeptics that did not believe in eternal hellfire. But once he woke up in hell, he realized his mistake, but it was too late (16:23-31).
8. There are many important lessons here. One of them is this - if sinners will not believe the Bible ("Moses and the prophets"), they will not "be persuaded, though one rose from the dead" (16:27-31).
9. Miracles cannot compel belief against the stubborn will of an unbeliever.
10. "God does not compel them to go against their will, but he just makes them willing to go."

 

CONCLUSION:

1. Many years ago, "The North American Review," the oldest literary magazine in America, asked two prominent ministers to debate the subject of eternal punishment.
2. The men asked were Henry Ward Beecher and William G. T. Shedd. The North American Review engaged these two men for articles on the subject of eternal punishment, knowing the views of both men.
3. Henry Ward Beecher held a rather liberal view on the subject of hell.
4. William G. T. Shedd held the traditional view of eternal damnation, so he was asked to write an article supporting the doctrine, and Beecher was asked to respond to it.
5. When the proof sheets of Shedd's article were sent to Beecher he telegraphed from Denver to the magazine's editors, "Cancel engagement. Shedd is too much for me. I half believe in eternal punishment now myself. Get somebody else."
6. The reply was never written by anyone. Shedd remained unanswered. This is because there is no answer, biblically, logically, or philosophically to the doctrine of eternal punishment.

From "GOD GAVE THEM UP": A STUDY IN DIVINE RETRIBUTION by S. Lewis Johnson, Jr. The Master's Seminary Journal, Spring 2010