This parable that we are going to study today does have a little bit of a background to it. It starts off there in Luke 16:13.

• Luke 16:13
  No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
• Jesus says that we cannot serve two masters. We cannot serve God and money.
• We will hate one and love the other. If we love God, we will not love money. But if we love money and riches, it will wean our affections from God. The two just do not go together.
• This is the conclusion that Jesus makes.

But when the Pharisees heard it, how did they react?

• Luke 16:14
  And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.
• The Pharisees derided Jesus. They ridiculed Him and made fun of Him because they obviously did not agree. And it was clear that they were in a religious position but always chasing after the riches of this world. They cared more for worldly things rather than heavenly things.
• Even the temple had been turned into a market place where animals were sold for very expensive prices just so the religious people could make a living.
• But how does Jesus respond before he launches into the parable?
• Luke 16:15
  And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
• Jesus said to them that they might think otherwise and justify your position in the sigh of men, but God knows the hearts.
• Who are those that are highly esteemed? It is the rich of course! Jesus said that these sorts of people are an abomination in the sight of God.
• Now let’s clear something up real quick here. Not every rich man is an abomination. Yet Jesus said riches and God don’t go together. Why?
• This is where we will now jump into the parable.

Luke 16:19-21
19 — There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

• So immediately we see the contrast. Two groups of people. One rich, one poor.
• We have the name of the poor man. It is Lazarus.
• We have no idea who the rich man is.
• But it seems like Jesus is going to tell us why the rich man is not saved. Why we can’t serve God and our riches.

Let’s continue.

• Luke 16:22-24
  22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 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.
• Now we know that this is a parable because if all the saved people that died and went to heaven went into Abraham’s bosom, then he must have a pretty big bosom or chest.
• What actually happens when a person dies?
• Ecclesiastes 9:5-6
  5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
• They are unconscious, dead, sleeping.
• Throughout scripture, it points out that when a person dies they are simply asleep. That is another study for another time.
• Remember this study is not about death. This parable is about those that are rich and why they most likely won’t make it to heaven.

So we know that the rich man would end up in hell while the poor man, Lazarus, would be carried into Abraham’s bosom who is obviously in heaven.

• The rest of this parable focuses on the rich man. Lazarus does not say a single word.
• The rich man has a conversation with Abraham between heaven and hell.

What is the reason that the Bible gives as to why the rich man ended up in hell?

• Luke 16:25-26
  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. 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.
• This text seems to suggest that the reason he ended up in hell is because he was rich. Does it really mean that every rich person is going to go to hell because they received good things in this life? We are not allowed to enjoy our life here on this earth at all?
• But that’s not the situation that was given at the beginning of the parable. Let’s go back there. What actually happened on earth when these two were alive?
• Luke 16:19-21
  19 — There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
• The rich man saw that Lazarus the beggar was sitting on the floor at the gate of the rich man house and he never fed him. He didn’t even give him the crumbs. How do we know? The text says “desiring to be fed with the crumbs.” He wanted the crumbs but never got it.
• So he saw his fellow brother in need but he never helped him. That was the reason why the rich man ended up in hell.
• In this parable we don’t know what Lazarus did and how he ended up in heaven. He is not the focus. It doesn’t mean that every poor person and beggar is going to heaven as well.

What really was the issue with the rich man?

• James 2:5
  Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
• It is the poor that has faith. The rich rarely have much faith because they trust to their riches so much. They don’t feel the need to exercise faith. They have riches that they can rely on and so they don’t hope so much for a future immortal life. All they have and need is on earth already. And it is these riches that make them covetous.
• So this rich man didn’t have any faith.
• And how important is faith?
  • Ephesians 2:8
    For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
• We are saved by grace through faith. So in essence we are saved by faith. Faith is the arm that lays hold of grace to bring that blessing down to us.
• And this rich man didn’t exercise his faith.

How do we know that the rich man had an issue with his faith?

• James 2:17
  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
• James 2:20
  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
• James 2:26
  For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
• James is clear. Faith must go with works and the rich man’s works were evidence that he had no faith.
• We know nothing really about Lazarus’ life. We don’t know how he made it to heaven. The parable doesn’t focus on him.
• But the rich man, he was a Christian. How do we know? He knew Abraham and he called him “Father Abraham” (Luke 16:24). So he was a Jew, a Christian.
• The problem with the rich man is he had no good works. Which means he really didn’t have faith. Because true faith would produce the fruit of good works.
• He saw the poor man sitting on the floor under his table, or maybe he saw him sitting outside his house everyday, but he didn’t do anything to help him. He didn’t feed him. He didn’t even give him the crumbs that fell from his table. He had no works. This showed his covetousness. Remember the Bible called the Pharisees covetous at the beginning?
• Covetousness isn’t simply desiring something that is someone else’s but not helping when you have the means and ability to. That is what we see in the life of the rich man here in this parable.

So this rich man is having a conversation with Abraham. He is in hell while Abraham is in heaven.

• What was his first request?
• Luke 16:24
  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.
• His first request was to have his life comforted a bit. For Abraham, to dip his finger in some water from heaven so he could cool his tongue. Even if it was just a drop of water, it would have blessed him very much.
• But Abraham said it would not be possible. His fate had been sealed and no power, even in heaven, could change his circumstances.
• This shows that after we die our circumstances cannot change anymore. There is no more second chance. Once we pass from this earth’s history there is no more second probation, a second shot.
• All the chances that we have are in this present life. Missed opportunities rarely come back a second time. There is no rewinding the past. And death is that which seals all that we have done and sets it in stone.
• Many of us think that there is somehow an opportunity to change our present circumstances after we have died. That is just simply a deception of the devil.
• Allow me to give you an illustration. You know many students pray, after they have sat for their exam, that they would get good grades.
  • Do you know those prayers are kind of useless prayers, unless we are asking God to go and change our grades for us? That if we did bad that somehow, He would change our grades.
  • You see, the time to pray is before the exam. That God would give us wisdom. That God would help us not to be lazy. That God would give us understanding and help us to remember.
  • But once pen has been put to paper and turned in, the fate is sealed. And no amount of praying and fasting after that will change the outcome. The only change that praying and fasting will accomplish is the change in our hearts to be humble to accept whatever grade to receive and the desire to work harder the next time.
  • Yet somehow if we know that we’ve not done so well, and I think we all have that kind of gauge after we take exams we can figure out whether we have done well or not, that we realise we should not have lived so gloriously and been so lazy. That we should have buckled down to study instead of go out with friends or watch TV all day.
  • That was exactly the type of regret that the rich man was having. But Abraham told him that it was too late.
• So you can see that many of us actually have the thinking of the rich man. We’ve done something wrong. We know it. But we want a “get out of jail free” card to turn our circumstances into something good when we don’t deserve it.
• But God tells us from this parable, the time to change your circumstances is now, not in the future.

But the rich man isn’t done yet. After having being rejected by Abraham his first request, he has yet another one. What is it?

• Luke 16:27-28
  27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
• He is asking for Lazarus to be sent back so that he could warn his family about making sure to avoid hell. To make sure they lived their lives soberly to avoid this place of torment.

What is the reply of Abraham to his request?

• Luke 16:29
  Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
• They have Moses and the prophets, it is enough.
• Why does Abraham talk about Moses and the prophets?
• John 1:17
  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
  • Moses is connected to the law.
• What about the rest of the prophets? They wrote the rest of the Bible.
• So basically, Abraham is saying that they have the Bible. It is more than enough.

When you read Moses and the prophets, what will you find?

• John 1:45
  Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
• You will find the Messiah. You will find Jesus!
• If you go back to John 1:17, what did Jesus bring? Grace and truth. It would be enough to be saved because we are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8).

How does the rich man reply to Abraham in learning that Moses and the prophets is enough?

• Luke 16:30
  And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
• What is he saying? He is saying that the Bible is not enough for people to believe and to avoid the fires of hell.
• What do they need instead? They need miracles in order to repent. Some sort of supernatural showing that will tickle the senses.
• Do you know that many of us are like that today? The Bible is too boring, and it’s not enough. We need something that will speak to our senses.
• But this is not what changes us. It is not miracles but rather Moses and the prophets.
• Yes these things will get our attention. But it is not what converts us and changes us and strengthens our faith.

Do you know why the poor man in the parable is called Lazarus? Because there really was a character in the Bible during Jesus’ day named Lazarus and he really came back from the dead. Jesus was the one that resurrected him. You can read John 11 about it. But at the end of that chapter after Lazarus was resurrected, do you know how the people reacted? Do you think they would believe Jesus even more? You would think yes right?

• John 11:53
  Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.
• After Lazarus resurrected, the priests gathered together and decided once and for all that Jesus must die! You would have thought this would be the turning point to convince them to follow Jesus right? Quite the contrary.
• Miracles are not enough to convince people to live righteously or to change their evil habits. What we need is the writings of the prophets, the Bible.
• Luke 16:31
  And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
• This is exactly what Abraham said to the rich man. People pray for signs sometimes and they still don’t change because signs are not a changing agent. The word of God is.

The rich man asked for water to cool his tongue in hell. Even in hell he wanted a blessing from heaven. But Abraham said no.

We only get one chance in this life. When the rich man died he couldn’t get any blessing from heaven. Don’t let anyone deceive you. You are saved by grace through faith, and where did grace come from? Jesus Christ. The change in your life is the result of your faith. And the only time to build on that faith is when you are alive. Right now, right here while you are living and breathing!

So the challenge that we face today is spending that time with Jesus. Because true faith will work. The rich man was a Christian, he went to church every week. But his faith was not deeply rooted in his life. It wasn’t his priority. We know because of how he treated the poor man under his table.

Today we have Moses and the prophets and even more! Don’t wait for a miracle to establish your faith because at the end of time, miracles will deceive us. That’s what we are told in Revelation 13.

Let’s make that time. We must think about it today. Right here, right now. If we fail to plan, we plan to fail. Even spending time in God’s word is not going to come automatically. How can we re-adjust our schedules to make time for God’s word today? That is the question that we must personally ask ourselves in this coming week. And only we can answer it.