Two Destinies Luke 16:19-31
We live in a world that values certain things, good looks, power, influence, money. And it doesn’t take a lot of looking until you find those who value these things above fulfilling relationships or close friends. As Christians our values should be other things, goodwill, service, and Christ.
Today we look at Jesus’ parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Verses 19 and 20, “There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury…at his gate was a beggar named Lazarus…longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.”
This parable is a little different from the other parables of Jesus. In this one there is not a character that represents God such as the Prodigal Son’s father. There isn’t someone representing Jesus. No situation that represents heaven or earth. There are simply two men, one representing believers, and one representing non-believers. And this parable uses someone’s name. And because it does, some don’t believe this is a parable, but a true story Jesus is recounting. Real or parable, there are realities it describes, realities Jesus wants us to know, realities Jesus wants us to have no uncertainties about.
The first reality; death is not the end of us; our soul doesn’t perish. Jesus explains how we all get old, how everyone born eventually faces death. The only exceptions to this are those Christians who are alive when Jesus comes the second time, they will be taken up to be with Jesus without going through a physical death. And there are a few from the Old Testament that God took to heaven without their actually dying. But as we work through this story we’ll not be dealing with those exceptions.
The second reality in our story is, when we die, our soul is taken to one of only two places: heaven or hell. There are those that think heaven, hell, or both, don’t exist. This story tells us these places are very real, that these are the only destinies of all mankind. I know this may be difficult for people to hear, it’s definitely difficult for me to talk about, but it would be wrong of me to talk of salvation and heaven if I never mentioned hell. Far too many people believe there is a better place for us but never consider there is a much worse place for us.
The third reality Jesus is telling us is, the unfaithful will be punished. Again, this is not easy to talk about, but it’s necessary. Romans 3:10, There is no one righteous, not even one.” We all fall short because none of us can keep the Law perfectly all the time.
Isaiah 64:6, …all our righteousness’s are as filthy rags…” Even when we try to do what is right, it often is done with the wrong motivation. We give money but then brag about our generosity. We give aid and then expect a reward or favor in return. We state our piousness but fail to live it. The ones I feel the most for are those that say, “I believe there is a God, and I try my best to live a good life.” They don’t understand scripture; they don’t understand that our best is not the best at all. The only way we can remove our punishment is through Jesus.
And this brings me to the fourth reality Jesus tells us in this story: the righteous are rewarded. Lazarus had a hard life by any measure. He was sick, he was a beggar; but through it all, he kept his faith in God. The rich man gathered treasures for himself on earth. By his lack of faith, these treasures ended when he his life did. Lazarus, by his faith, stored up treasures also, the treasures of heaven.
It is said nothing is certain except death and taxes. We can add one more. Nothing is certain except death, taxes, and God rewarding the righteous. Romans 8:11, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” It’s your faithfulness that gifts you righteousness. Romans 8:10, “…then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.”
The fifth reality Jesus gives today is, the dead are conscience. I don’t mean conscience like “That so and so didn’t even come to my funeral.” But we will be conscience of where we are, in heaven or in hell. Think of this; if we were not aware that we would be cognizant of being in hell, we wouldn’t think hell would be so bad. Hell wouldn’t be something to fear and avoid. If we weren’t aware of heaven, then why worry about what God says, why accept Jesus?
Something else to take notice of in this story, it never says the rich man was a horrible person. It doesn’t say he was immoral, dishonest, or cruel. His problem was he never repented his sins, never turned his life to God.
And this leads us to our sixth reality; when we die in this world, it is too late to affect our place in the next world. I’m sure hell is full of people begging, “Give me another chance,” Full of people confessing, “I was wrong, I’m sorry.” Hell must be full of people crying out, “I never knew!”
The seventh reality in our story; you know. Abraham, Moses, the prophets, John the Baptist, all gave us the information, yet many choose to ignore it. Jesus was born in a dusty manger. He preached, died, and rose, all so we would know. The Bible was created, printed in almost every known language on earth, preached about daily by those who accept its truth, just so you would know. All this and people disregard it, until the reality of the consequences are upon them.
To all those in the world who have not turned to Jesus I say, prepare now. Read, listen, pray. Life goes quickly and no one knows the number of days they have. Come to Christ now, wait and it might just be too late.
Father,
I pray for those who ignore or dismiss Christ. May your Spirit work in them. May they come to faith and avoid the torments of hell and forever be in your presence in heaven.
Peace be on your children,
Comfort be on all believers.
Amen.