3ABN Today

The Rich Man and Lazarus

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: TDY

Program Code: TDY190015A


00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people
00:12 I want to spend my life
00:19 Removing pain
00:24 Lord, let my words
00:30 Heal a heart that hurts
00:34 I want to spend my life
00:40 Mending broken people
00:46 I want to spend my life
00:51 Mending broken people
01:09 Hello, friends, welcome to 3ABN Today.
01:12 My name is John Lomacang,
01:13 thank you so much for taking the time
01:14 to tune in for very special program.
01:17 And today we're gonna be addressing
01:18 a very challenging part of Scripture.
01:24 The rich man and Lazarus,
01:26 it is a parable
01:28 that have confused so many clergy
01:31 and membership alike.
01:34 I've heard so many different interpretations.
01:37 And we're gonna do our part today
01:39 in some cases not to muddy the water,
01:42 but to clear it up.
01:43 And to make it very clear about what the Bible teaches
01:46 as to the nature of man, what happens when he dies,
01:50 his mortal condition and a number of other things.
01:52 So stay tuned and get your Bibles
01:54 and invite your friends to join us.
01:56 And if you're a pastor, we would strongly suggest
01:58 that you start writing notes,
02:00 we're gonna go to a lot of scriptures today,
02:02 because one of the things
02:03 that we are very importantly concerned about
02:05 is that the Word of God be communicated clearly
02:09 that we don't teach scriptures in the Bible
02:11 that conflict with the weight of evidence.
02:15 The Bible says a number of things
02:17 about what happens when you die.
02:18 But when you give pictures that conflict,
02:20 then you create confusion
02:21 and God is not the author of confusion.
02:24 Today we have...
02:26 I have with me actually,
02:27 my good friend, Pastor Ryan Day.
02:28 Good to have you, Ryan. Yes, sir.
02:30 And I've said this before,
02:32 Ryan is not the new kid on the block any longer.
02:34 He's been here for...
02:35 How long have you been here now?
02:36 Well, this June will be one year,
02:38 so about ten months.
02:40 Glad to have you here. Amen.
02:42 And, but I found you to be a man of the word.
02:44 Amen.
02:45 An excited evangelist
02:46 and Ryan is a part of not only 3ABN's family,
02:49 he's a great musician, singer,
02:51 one who's dedicated his life to the Lord
02:53 and his wife is the principal of our school.
02:55 That's right.
02:56 We appreciate Stephanie, very, very much.
02:58 Yes. Amen.
02:59 And, but before we go any further, Ryan,
03:01 I think because you opened in the Bible,
03:02 we should have word of prayer.
03:03 So I'd like you to have that for us.
03:05 Yeah, sure thing.
03:06 Father in heaven,
03:07 Lord, we take this time very serious.
03:10 We recognize that this is not just another time
03:12 to just talk about Your word, even though it's so fun to do.
03:18 Lord, we need Your Spirit to lead and guide us
03:20 because we recognize that while we may think
03:24 we know everything on this subject,
03:25 there's still so much more light,
03:27 so many more connections
03:29 that You want us to make and, Lord,
03:30 we just thank You so much for truth,
03:33 and for the opportunity
03:34 to be able to preach and to teach
03:36 and to communicate this powerful message
03:39 to a lost and dying world.
03:41 So I pray, Lord, that You will give us
03:42 the spiritual eyesight, the spiritual hearing,
03:45 and of course, the spiritual mind of Christ
03:47 to be able to rightly divide Your word of truth
03:50 during this hour
03:51 and may there be someone who's watching
03:53 be blessed by this and be led to your truth,
03:56 and most importantly led to Jesus Christ.
03:59 We praise You, and we thank You as always,
04:01 and we ask this in Jesus' holy Name.
04:03 Amen. Amen.
04:05 Thank you, Ryan. Wonderful prayer.
04:06 And as I mentioned moment ago,
04:08 get your Bibles because we're gonna be talking
04:09 about the scriptures today and when we open the Bible,
04:13 we want the Word of God to speak.
04:16 Let's go right to the heart of the issue, Luke Chapter 16,
04:20 and you'll find in the gospels,
04:22 this particular story has become the foundation
04:28 for all kinds of...
04:30 Ryan, I could say misguided conclusions
04:33 about what Jesus actually said about death,
04:36 what the Bible teaches about death.
04:39 And so here's the premise,
04:42 either the rest of the Bible has to endorse this,
04:47 or this has to be the only thing we listened to
04:51 and ignore the rest of the Bible.
04:52 Right.
04:53 Because when you go into court,
04:55 the judge, or the jury, or the defense and prosecution,
04:58 they make decisions based on the preponderance
05:00 of the evidence,
05:01 and so you speak to that for a moment.
05:04 Yeah, absolutely.
05:05 So, you know, first of all,
05:08 someone gave me an illustration years ago,
05:11 and I've never forgotten it.
05:12 And that's the fact that, you know,
05:14 there are multiple dozens of Bible texts
05:17 that communicate the topic of the state of the dead,
05:20 what happens to us when we die,
05:21 the afterlife, things like that,
05:23 just to give an example.
05:24 But a lot of times,
05:27 there will be an enormous amount
05:30 of proof and harmony on a particular subject.
05:34 And then every once a while,
05:36 you might run into one or two or three texts
05:38 that seems to be,
05:39 may be pointing in a different direction.
05:41 And we know that God does not lie,
05:43 God is not the author of confusion.
05:44 So it may seem as if it is on the surface,
05:47 but we know that that text,
05:49 it does fall in harmony with the rest of Scripture.
05:52 I remembered the illustration that someone showed with me,
05:54 or showed to me, or gave to me years ago.
05:56 They used a fence post,
05:58 they said, if you're putting up fence post
06:00 and say you have ten fence post,
06:01 and you're putting them in a straight line,
06:03 but then you know, you get down the line,
06:05 you put your 10th post in the ground,
06:07 and then you look and you see
06:08 that there are one or two that are, you know, offline,
06:12 do you move the two to meet the other eight
06:15 or do you move the eight to meet the two?
06:17 Obviously, it just makes sense
06:19 that the two are out of line with the eight.
06:21 But that is just an illustration
06:22 to show the simplicity of Scripture
06:25 that we don't have to take something
06:27 out of context, or misunderstand something,
06:29 or formulate our own doctrine, or a new theology on something.
06:32 God's Word is harmonious.
06:34 And if we simply just allow the harmony of Bible
06:37 to speak to us
06:39 and rightly divide the word of truth,
06:40 as 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, then we will be safe.
06:44 So we don't...
06:45 We're not gonna take the one post
06:47 that's out of line and put all the other
06:49 in harmony with it
06:50 because we're gonna take the one post
06:53 that's out of line
06:54 and put it in harmony with the eight.
06:55 Right.
06:57 Because the preponderance of evidence is amazing.
06:58 Let's begin by going right to Luke Chapter 16,
07:00 and we're gonna walk through the story together.
07:02 It's an amazing story
07:03 or as Ryan would say an incredible story.
07:04 An incredible story.
07:06 You know, I just, I've heard that phrase
07:08 and I said, that's definitely,
07:09 if I ever want to figure out
07:11 whether or not Ryan is saying it
07:12 lift up the word incredible.
07:13 But let's look at Luke Chapter 16,
07:15 and we'll break this down together,
07:17 starts in verse 19 and we'll go back and forth
07:21 and, "There was a certain rich man
07:24 who was clothed in purple and fine linen
07:28 and fared sumptuously every day.
07:30 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores,
07:34 who was laid at his gate,
07:37 desiring to be fed with the crumbs
07:39 which fell from the rich man's table.
07:41 Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
07:44 So it was that the beggar died,
07:46 and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom.
07:49 The rich man also died and was buried.
07:52 And being in torments in Hades,
07:55 he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off
07:58 and Lazarus in his bosom."
08:01 I mean, already,
08:02 the symbolism starts to jump out.
08:03 Oh, absolutely. Okay, begin...
08:05 Take the next verse.
08:06 Sure, 24, it says, "Then he cried and said,
08:08 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me,
08:10 and send Lazarus
08:12 that he may dip the tip of his finger in water
08:14 and cool my tongue,
08:16 for I am tormented in this flame.'
08:18 But Abraham said,
08:20 'Son, remember that in your lifetime
08:22 you received good things,
08:23 and likewise Lazarus evil things,
08:27 but now he is comforted and you are tormented.
08:30 And besides all this,
08:32 between us and you there is a great gulf fixed,
08:35 so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot,
08:38 nor can those from there pass to us.'"
08:42 And then he now breaks it into...
08:44 He gives the picture now of what happens to the both.
08:47 Here's the fate of the rich man,
08:49 here's the fate of the beggar.
08:50 Now, they go back to the symbolism.
08:53 Right.
08:54 Verse 27, "Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father,
08:57 that you would send him to my father's house,
09:02 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them,
09:06 lest they also come to this place of torment.'
09:09 Abraham said to him..."
09:10 Now this is Abraham speaking,
09:13 "They have Moses and the prophets,
09:15 let them hear them."
09:16 Now would you got to get in the story now,
09:17 this is also suggesting that Abraham is still alive.
09:20 Right.
09:21 Because Abraham died a long time ago,
09:23 not only is it suggesting
09:24 that the poor man is in Abraham's bosom,
09:27 but now Abraham is talking,
09:29 who had been dead by this point for thousands of years.
09:31 Right. He's talking in this story.
09:35 "They have Moses and the prophets,
09:38 let them hear them.
09:40 And he said, 'No, father Abraham,
09:44 but if one goes to them from the dead,
09:47 they will repent.
09:49 But he said to him,
09:50 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets,
09:52 neither will they be persuaded
09:53 though one rise from the dead.'"
09:56 And the ultimate resurrection was the resurrection of...
09:58 Absolutely. Of Jesus.
10:00 Jesus, absolutely.
10:01 And they didn't believe.
10:03 So let's go and break it down.
10:04 Let's start with some of the symbolism.
10:05 Sure.
10:07 And when you've heard this kinda, you would knew.
10:08 Right.
10:09 You came out of a church
10:11 that believe differently on this topic.
10:12 Oh, absolutely. So what is your transition?
10:14 I would just like to address the fact that,
10:15 you know, in the church that I was raised in,
10:17 and not just the church that I was raised in,
10:19 I was primarily raised in the Pentecostal faith,
10:21 but in many, many, many other denominations today,
10:24 many people want to apply that this particular parable
10:29 is not, as we would call it, a parable,
10:32 a figurative story or symbolic story,
10:34 but rather a literal story.
10:35 And as you were reading,
10:37 just then as we were reading through,
10:38 we could see some of the symbolism
10:39 been communicating and pouring out.
10:41 I just want to highlight the fact
10:42 that from the opening line of this particular passage,
10:45 we know that this has to be some type of parable or story
10:49 that Christ is telling that is not entirely true
10:53 or in the sense that it did actually happen.
10:55 For instance, you noticed the first few words,
10:57 there was a certain rich man,
10:59 Jesus often began, if you go back,
11:01 just one chapter Luke 15:11, notice what He says here,
11:05 again, the parable of the lost son,
11:07 He started with a certain man.
11:09 And so we know that this language communicates
11:11 to us that we're dealing with a parable,
11:13 Christ is using a symbolic story
11:15 of some sort, a short story to teach a moral lesson
11:19 and so we know that's the case.
11:20 And in the sense, it's an allegory.
11:22 Absolutely.
11:23 You find allegories, Jeremiah talked about the allegory
11:24 where the trees are talking to each other.
11:26 Right.
11:27 And so this allegorical language
11:29 also can be parabolic language he's illustrating to...
11:31 And one of the keys is, who's he talking to
11:34 is a big key factor.
11:36 Oh, absolutely.
11:37 So let's start with, who's he talking to.
11:38 Sure.
11:40 And let's start with verse 19 and to give further foundation,
11:42 verse 19, go to the Book of Exodus Chapter 39
11:47 and we're gonna look at verse 22 to 24.
11:49 We're gonna see where this picture came from.
11:52 There was a certain rich man
11:54 who was clothed in purple and fine linen,
11:57 and fared sumptuously every day.
11:59 Sure. Read Exodus 39:22-24.
12:02 Sure. Exodus 39.
12:04 By the way, this is talking
12:05 about the garments of the priest.
12:06 Sure, yeah, absolutely.
12:08 Exodus 39:22,
12:10 "He made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue.
12:15 And there was an opening in the middle of the robe,
12:18 like the opening in a coat of mail,
12:21 with a woven binding all around the opening,
12:24 so that it would not tear.
12:26 They made on the hem of the robe
12:28 pomegranates of blue,"
12:30 here comes the next color, "purple and scarlet,
12:33 and fine woven linen."
12:35 Okay. Okay.
12:36 So right there is what we're gonna take verse 22.
12:38 Sure.
12:40 So purple and fine woven linen,
12:42 describing the garment of the high priest.
12:44 Absolutely.
12:45 So when you see here,
12:46 at the very opening of the story,
12:49 it says,
12:50 the rich men were clothed in purple and fine linen.
12:54 And when you look at the hierarchy
12:55 of the Jewish economy,
12:57 the high priest, I mean, the high priest.
12:59 Right.
13:01 He is as high as you can go, he's the high priest,
13:03 and his garments were very well tailored,
13:05 if I could use that,
13:07 but all the colors had symbolism in them.
13:09 And so right away, Jesus is connecting.
13:11 He's talking to the Pharisees, He's talking to the scribes,
13:13 He's talking to the religious leaders,
13:15 and right away it should jump out at them,
13:19 "Is he talking to us?"
13:21 Okay.
13:23 Absolutely. Is he talking to us, okay.
13:25 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores,
13:29 who was laid at His gate.
13:31 Now this part, this is an amazing part,
13:33 also beggar.
13:36 When you look at the story,
13:38 the rich man has something that the beggar wants.
13:41 Right.
13:42 And let's find out what that is.
13:43 Verse 21
13:45 Verse 21 says, "Desiring to be fed with the crumbs
13:48 which fell from the rich man's table.
13:50 Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores."
13:53 Okay, now where do you get crumbs from often?
13:57 Where does crumbs come from? From food.
13:58 Right, from food.
14:00 Or specifically,
14:01 Jesus is referred to as the blank of life.
14:02 And the bread. The bread of life.
14:04 Absolutely.
14:05 They've been given the bread.
14:07 They had the bread for...
14:09 Oh, at this point about 2,000 years.
14:12 Right.
14:13 They had the bread, they wouldn't share the bread.
14:15 So the beggars, those who want to be fed.
14:17 Right.
14:19 And the big, the sad reality of the gospel, Ryan,
14:21 is when you have the bread of life,
14:23 and you don't share it,
14:24 and there are people begging for it.
14:25 Right.
14:27 And they'll say, if you just give me some crumbs,
14:29 but let's look at the symbolism.
14:30 Go to Matthew 7:6,
14:33 let's look at the crumbs and the dogs.
14:35 We're gonna start with Matthew 7,
14:38 and we're gonna start with verse 6.
14:39 We're gonna stay in Matthew 7
14:40 because Jesus brings this out very carefully.
14:42 Look at verse 6 about the dogs, start there.
14:45 Okay, verse 6 says,
14:46 "Do not give what is holy to the dogs,
14:48 nor cast your pearls before the swine,
14:51 lest they trample them under their feet,
14:53 and turn and tear you in pieces."
14:56 Okay, and now we're gonna give a picture now
14:58 of what he meant by dogs.
15:00 Sure. Look at verse 27 and 28.
15:02 So the Bible says in Mark 7:27,
15:06 "But Jesus said to her,
15:07 'Let the children be filled first,
15:09 for it is not good to take the children's bread
15:11 and throw it to the little dogs.'"
15:12 And verse 28.
15:14 Verse 28, "And she answered and said to Him,
15:15 'Yes, Lord,
15:17 yet even the little dogs
15:19 under the table eat from the children's crumbs.'"
15:22 Here it is. Right.
15:23 Dogs and crumbs,
15:24 where they're saying,
15:26 children, the children had the bread.
15:28 Absolutely.
15:29 The Lord gave the bread to His children
15:31 but this woman is saying,
15:33 who's begging to be fed, she wants the gospel.
15:35 Right.
15:37 And I just have to add here
15:38 also Christ is in this particular parable
15:40 in Luke 16,
15:42 the audience that He is speaking to,
15:44 if you go back up in the previous verses,
15:46 in Luke Chapter 16, you'll find out
15:48 that He's speaking directly to the Pharisees.
15:50 The Pharisees are kind of his small audience here.
15:54 And it's interesting that He would use a story
15:56 in this particular story, the rich man and Lazarus,
15:58 He would use a story that would have often been told
16:01 by the Pharisees to communicate the opposite
16:03 of what Jesus is speaking, right?
16:04 That's right.
16:06 In the Pharisee's story, it would always be the rich man
16:08 that, of course, was blessed by God,
16:09 and he would end up going to Abraham's bosom.
16:12 And then, of course, the beggar who was poor,
16:14 he must have been cursed,
16:15 he would have been one that would end up
16:16 in an eternal burning hell.
16:18 But it's interesting that right here
16:20 in this particular verse, when you're mentioning the,
16:21 you know, the crumbs and, you know,
16:23 the Lazarus was wanting the crumbs
16:25 and the dogs came and licked his sores.
16:27 And you take us back to the story
16:28 of this woman who came to Jesus here in Mark Chapter 7.
16:32 It's interesting that that woman
16:33 was a Canaanite woman.
16:35 That's right.
16:36 she was not a Jew, and so the symbolism here
16:37 that we're already seeing as Christ has flip-flopped
16:40 this particular story around,
16:42 and He's trying to communicate the moral story
16:44 to the Pharisees and saying,
16:46 no, no, it's not the always
16:47 like the way you say it's gonna be.
16:49 In fact, let me tell you a story.
16:51 You see, the Jews often found themselves
16:53 as a higher or much more important
16:57 or much more worthy of the goodness of God
16:59 than that of the Gentiles
17:01 and so this Canaanite woman, in Mark 7,
17:03 she makes that point to Christ.
17:04 He says, yeah, but even the dogs get the crumbs,
17:07 the little dogs get the crumbs that fall from the table.
17:09 In other words, the symbolism here
17:11 as Christ is saying, you know what,
17:13 let me flip-flop this around for you
17:14 just because you may be rich, and you may be thinking,
17:17 you think that you're blessed of God
17:18 doesn't necessarily mean
17:20 you're gonna end up in Abraham's bosom.
17:22 And, you know,
17:23 so He's flip-flopping this around
17:24 to show that the relationship
17:26 between the Jews and the Gentiles
17:27 exactly what He would show Peter
17:30 in the vision, Acts 10,
17:32 when the sheet came down,
17:33 He would reach him and say to him,
17:34 look, you know, these are My people, too,
17:36 and My crumbs, My bread,
17:38 My bread of life is just as much
17:40 for them as it is for you.
17:41 And I'm glad you cited Acts Chapter 10
17:43 because in Acts Chapter 10, that's another story
17:45 that people take and twist it.
17:47 Make him seem like Jesus said eat anything.
17:49 But if you remember when the sheet came down
17:51 with all kinds of unclean foods,
17:53 Peter said, I've never eaten anything common or unclean.
17:56 And then later on when he went to Cornelius's house,
17:58 he said to Cornelius,
18:00 "God has shown me
18:01 that I should not call any man common or unclean."
18:04 Absolutely.
18:05 It's amazing how stories get twisted today
18:07 and all these false doctrines come out of it.
18:08 We're trying to clear up the false teachings.
18:10 Another thing is,
18:12 the Jews never saw any other nation
18:13 as worthy of the gospel.
18:15 That's why at the well,
18:16 the woman that spoke to Jesus here
18:18 in John Chapter 4.
18:19 Look at another example, John 4:9
18:23 And all through the life of Jesus,
18:25 He continued to make example, He's continued to show the Jews
18:29 how unthankful and grateful they were.
18:31 This is John 4:9,
18:34 "Then the woman of Samaria said to Him,
18:36 'How is it that You, being a Jew,
18:38 ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?
18:40 For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.'"
18:43 See, and then not only that,
18:45 the 10 lepers in Luke Chapter 16,
18:48 the 10 lepers, none of them were Jews.
18:51 But look what happened to the 10th one.
18:54 Luke 17:16,
18:57 "And fell down on his face at His feet,
19:00 giving Him thanks.
19:02 And he was a Samaritan." Right, right.
19:03 So you see, continually,
19:05 Jesus tried to break down this wall of prejudice
19:09 that the Jews had against other nations.
19:12 Absolutely, and I just want to kind of...
19:14 I don't want to certainly interrupt
19:15 what you're saying there.
19:17 But I want to kind of give lead way
19:18 into the fact that the fact
19:19 that Christ is addressing the Pharisees,
19:21 this was their mentality.
19:22 They were the leaders,
19:23 they were the religious teachers,
19:25 they would have been the, you know,
19:26 the theologians of the day.
19:27 And the fact that Christ has to turn the tables
19:29 to the religious leaders,
19:31 the ones who should know better more than anyone,
19:33 and He's having to instruct them,
19:35 and He's having to reprove them and correct them.
19:37 It's fascinating also to mention here,
19:39 the fact that He is speaking to the Pharisees,
19:43 because Christ in teaching this particular parable,
19:46 as we're gonna continue through this particular parable.
19:49 You will notice that there's lots of symbolism
19:51 and you'll notice that off the cuff.
19:53 If you don't know the rest of the story of Scripture,
19:56 then you will quickly get an understanding
19:58 that as if Christ believed in what He was saying,
20:00 in a sense, that as soon as you die,
20:03 you either end up in one of two places,
20:05 but what Christ was using was, He was using their story,
20:09 their interpretation, their understanding.
20:11 I was doing a little bit of research not too long ago,
20:13 and I found this Flavius Josephus, okay?
20:15 Okay.
20:16 Flavius Josephus was also a Pharisee,
20:20 he was a Jewish historian
20:21 and he was born sometime around, I think, 36, 37 AD.
20:26 So in and around the time
20:27 that Christ and the early church
20:29 had just begun.
20:30 And it's interesting to notice
20:32 that he writes in his book War on the Jews
20:34 pertaining to the belief in the soul, okay.
20:37 That's right.
20:38 Pertaining to the Pharisees
20:39 because he himself was a Pharisee.
20:41 This is what he writes in Wars of the Jews, page 11.
20:44 Notice what he says, he says,
20:45 "They" speaking of the Pharisees,
20:47 "say that all souls are incorruptible,
20:51 but that the souls of good men only
20:54 are removed into other bodies."
20:57 And then he goes on to say,
20:58 "But that the souls of bad man,"
21:00 notice the opposition here,
21:03 notice that the souls of bad men
21:05 are subject to eternal punishment.
21:07 But notice, he mentions the Sadducees
21:09 but the Sadducees take away the belief
21:11 of the immortal duration of the soul,
21:13 and the punishment and rewards of Hades.
21:15 So He's using this comparison
21:18 between the Pharisees and Sadducees
21:20 that the Pharisees believed in the immortality of the soul.
21:23 That's right.
21:24 And they believed exactly what Christ was communicating,
21:25 hence why Christ was using the picture,
21:28 and the wording, and the symbolism
21:30 that He was using here to communicate a moral point.
21:32 In fact, we're gonna get to this
21:34 probably in just a few moments,
21:35 but Christ never told this parable
21:37 for the purpose to communicate the truth
21:38 about hellfire and the state of the dead.
21:41 No, He tried to...
21:42 He was undoing what they already believe.
21:43 Exactly, and so but the fact that He was using this...
21:48 It's powerful to note that He was basically...
21:53 This message was flying in the face of the Pharisees
21:55 who believed in the immortality of the soul.
21:57 But their idea, of course, as I said earlier,
21:59 was that if you were rich, if you were well often,
22:02 if you were a Jew,
22:03 it's almost like you have an automatic right
22:05 into the kingdom of God.
22:06 And Christ was turning that around
22:07 about him saying, no, no, no, let me clarify this for you.
22:10 And it's powerful how He uses the imagery
22:13 and the symbolism to communicate the opposite
22:16 of what these religious leaders actually believed.
22:17 That's right.
22:19 And matter of fact, they even referred,
22:20 anytime they didn't agree with Jesus,
22:22 they called Him of another race.
22:24 Right.
22:25 You know, they said in John 8:48
22:26 when the Jews answered and said to Christ,
22:28 "Do we not rightly say
22:30 that You are a Samaritan and You have a demon?"
22:31 Oh, yeah.
22:33 You know, whenever they didn't agree with Jesus,
22:34 they linked Him into another race.
22:36 Yeah, you're not a Jew.
22:37 You're not, you can't be a Jew because of Your behavior.
22:39 And so, we continually see
22:40 that picture drawn in the Bible.
22:41 But there's a point that you made a moment ago,
22:43 and I want to talk about this just a brief second.
22:46 The reason why this is so important
22:47 for Jesus to undo as there was a teaching,
22:49 today, it's called Neoplatonism.
22:51 Yes.
22:52 If you look up that Neoplatonistic ideology,
22:54 it came from Plato,
22:56 who taught that the soul was immortal by nature.
22:58 And that's why Jesus stayed away for four days
23:03 before He raised literal Lazarus.
23:05 Right, right.
23:06 He stayed away for four days
23:08 because the Jews in this Neoplatonistic belief.
23:10 Look it up Neoplatonism.
23:13 P- L-A-T-O-N-I-S-M Neo.
23:16 They believe that three days the soul made an attempt
23:19 to get back into the body, which you just pointed out.
23:22 And if it was successful, the person came back to life,
23:24 but if they didn't succeed,
23:26 then the person was deemed to death.
23:27 Right, right.
23:29 Jesus stayed away for four days to confirm, to say to them,
23:31 okay, let me let you realize
23:34 that souls don't bring bodies back to life.
23:36 I am the resurrection of life.
23:39 So you see clearly,
23:40 Jesus was having to come to His own people,
23:42 His own children with the bread,
23:45 who wouldn't even share the crumbs
23:47 and had to untwist so much
23:49 of what they twisted through years.
23:50 Absolutely, absolutely.
23:52 Let's go to the next symbolism here.
23:53 What verse are we now?
23:55 Verse 22, I think. Yes.
23:57 Verse 22, let's go that one now.
23:58 Sure.
23:59 So verse 22 says, "So it was that the beggar died,
24:01 and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom.
24:04 The rich man also died and was buried.
24:07 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes
24:10 and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom."
24:13 Now I have to add here just for a moment,
24:15 because many people want to apply
24:17 or read into this something that's not here.
24:20 Thank you.
24:21 And that is the fact that, notice that,
24:23 Christ often in His ministry and in His words,
24:25 if something were to happen, immediately following an event,
24:27 He would use the word immediately.
24:29 And you'll notice that the word immediately
24:31 is not found here.
24:32 In other words, we cannot apply the fact
24:33 that Christ was communicating
24:35 that these particular individuals
24:36 went immediately upon the point of death
24:39 to again, heaven or hell
24:40 as the symbolism is communicating here.
24:43 But rather, He is just simply stating the fact,
24:46 just the fate of the two,
24:48 and it's not specified in the text,
24:50 whether or not it happened immediately or not.
24:51 In fact, you can't read that in here at all.
24:54 Thank you.
24:56 So that's another thing,
24:57 this immediate departure to your destination.
25:00 Right.
25:01 And we know we'll see about this in John Chapter 5
25:02 in just a moment here.
25:04 But I want to point out something,
25:05 the other symbolism jumps up in these two verses.
25:07 Right, absolutely. Watch this.
25:10 Is Abraham's bosom the cemetery?
25:13 Absolutely not.
25:15 I mean, it brings a smile to our hearts...
25:16 It does, sure.
25:17 That they're being buried in Abraham's bosom.
25:20 Why Abraham,
25:21 why does he continually bring Abraham
25:24 into the picture?
25:25 Now we're gonna address that right now.
25:27 Absolutely.
25:29 And then we're gonna see how many times
25:30 Abraham is talked about further on.
25:31 But let's go to Matthew 3:9,
25:35 once again, the Jews thought it
25:37 since we have Abraham as our father
25:39 and you see in the Old Testament,
25:40 the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
25:42 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
25:44 Right.
25:45 And they held that as a, you know, an armband, a pride,
25:47 almost like a medal in the Olympics.
25:49 Sure.
25:50 But Jesus had to break down this idea
25:52 that you are not any different than any other nation.
25:55 Only that I chose you like the post office
25:57 to deliver the package
25:59 but you have the same blood, the same heart,
26:00 when you die you have the same fate.
26:02 Look at Matthew 3:9,
26:05 and this is one of that lead us to the attitude they have.
26:09 Sure, the Bible says,
26:10 "And do not think to say to yourselves,
26:12 'We have Abraham as our father.'
26:15 For I say to you
26:16 that God is able to raise up children
26:19 to Abraham from these stones."
26:21 Okay, right away, they're boasting,
26:22 don't say that whatever you do,
26:24 don't say Abraham is your father,
26:26 please don't go there.
26:27 Sure, sure.
26:29 And so this ideology, once again,
26:30 the preferential ideology is,
26:32 Abraham is our Father
26:34 and then also they talked about Jesus.
26:37 Look at John 8:57. Yes.
26:39 They said to Jesus, 'cause Jesus came
26:41 continually trying to reveal Himself to them,
26:43 and they couldn't get it that He's the Messiah,
26:45 they kept going back to their progenitors.
26:48 Right, absolutely.
26:50 Oh, I have to just say,
26:51 just let's look at verse 56 along with this,
26:53 so Christ makes the point here,
26:55 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day,
26:58 and he saw it and was glad."
27:00 And of course, the response in 57
27:02 and the Jews said to Him,
27:03 "You are not yet 50 years old, and have You seen Abraham?"
27:06 And then, of course, verse 58,
27:08 "Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you,
27:10 before Abraham was, I AM.'"
27:12 Right, He's showing, hey, you keep saying Abraham,
27:14 but the reality of it is, I have preceded him,
27:18 and I'm here after him.
27:19 Right.
27:20 I'm pre and post Abraham, only God can do that.
27:22 Absolutely.
27:24 So once again, he's breaking down
27:25 this preferential ideology
27:27 and Galatians 3:29,
27:31 because once again,
27:32 the Jews thought that since Abraham is,
27:35 since they're of the seed of Abraham,
27:36 then surely we have the right,
27:38 but look at what Paul says in Galatians 3:29.
27:41 Actually, I think verse 28 and 29.
27:43 Sure, absolutely.
27:44 Verse 28, 29, says,
27:45 "There is neither Jew nor Greek,
27:47 there is neither slave nor free,
27:49 there is neither male nor female,
27:51 for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
27:54 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed,
27:57 and heirs according to the promise."
27:59 Nothing could burn a Jews collar more than that.
28:02 Paul is saying, "If you're in Jesus,
28:05 you are heir of Abraham."
28:06 Absolutely.
28:07 You are gonna benefit from that seed,
28:09 and nothing could burn the Jews more.
28:11 That's why they resisted Him so much,
28:13 like in Antioch Chapter 30,
28:15 Antioch in the Book of Acts 13:40-46.
28:18 You read a story
28:20 when Paul and Barnabas was in Antioch preaching,
28:21 the Jews were excited
28:23 until the Gentiles came the next Sabbath
28:24 to hear the sermon.
28:26 And then they began to contradict
28:27 and blaspheme them
28:29 and turn the entire town against Paul and Barnabas.
28:31 So once again, the symbolism here
28:32 is preferential treatment that Jews believe they had
28:35 and the Lord is breaking it down
28:37 in this parable.
28:38 Absolutely, in fact, the irony of this
28:39 is if you go back to John Chapter 8,
28:41 just referencing it,
28:42 you read that particular chapter,
28:44 Christ is actually condemning,
28:46 and He's rebuking the Pharisees
28:48 because again, they're calling themselves
28:50 seeds and heirs of Abraham, but Christ says, look,
28:53 you know what, you can't really call yourself that
28:54 because you don't believe in Me,
28:56 you don't believe in My Word.
28:57 I give you My Word, you don't trust in it.
28:59 I tell you, who I am, you don't believe who I am,
29:01 and I think of, you know,
29:03 we're gonna get to this in just a little bit
29:05 and apply some emphasis to this.
29:06 But the fact that, you know,
29:08 those first five books of the Bible,
29:09 this is what they live by.
29:10 They live by that Torah, that Pentateuch,
29:12 the first five, Genesis, Exodus,
29:14 Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy
29:15 which again, Moses wrote,
29:17 and they were all about the writings of Moses,
29:19 they were all about the prophetic and the promises
29:22 that Moses had to give of the Messiah,
29:24 but when the Messiah showed up,
29:25 Jesus says, look, he spoke of me.
29:28 In those writings, Moses spoke of me,
29:30 but yet you do not believe.
29:32 Read John 5:39,
29:33 that's a very point you're making
29:34 because the Jews, and Jesus is standing,
29:37 now how obvious can it be.
29:40 Jesus is standing right there in the flesh
29:42 and the religious leaders are reading,
29:45 reading the prophets,
29:47 reading the Book of Moses to,
29:49 you know, as you just mentioned the first five books.
29:51 They're locked into the law and the Torah.
29:53 And look what Jesus said.
29:55 Jesus says in John 5:39, it says,
29:58 "You search the Scriptures,
30:00 for in them you think you have eternal life,
30:02 and these are they which testify of Me."
30:04 And notice, He didn't say,
30:06 for in them you have eternal life,
30:07 he says, in them you think you have eternal...
30:10 You think, He says, you think.
30:11 So we often read this chapter to get people to rear it.
30:14 We often recite this verse
30:15 to get people to study their Bibles.
30:17 Here's the point, when you study your Bible,
30:19 don't think that eternal life is in your Bible,
30:20 it's still in Jesus.
30:22 It's still in Christ. Absolutely.
30:23 That's what I was gonna say to them.
30:25 So let's go to the next part of the story.
30:26 Sure.
30:27 It's an amazing story, Jesus is having
30:29 and the hardest thing,
30:30 the hardest thing that He did,
30:31 and by the way, you know, the Daniel 9,
30:34 there was that 70-week prophecy.
30:35 Sure.
30:37 Jesus came in the first,
30:38 the last three and a half years to try to get to the first
30:40 go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
30:42 He even told His disciples,
30:44 first go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel
30:45 'cause they're still lost.
30:47 But they have three and a half years left
30:48 of that last one week, before I cut them off.
30:51 Absolutely.
30:52 So He is trying to break through to them.
30:54 And even the last evidence is when Stephen was stoned,
30:57 and then Paul said,
30:58 now the gospel's gonna to the Gentiles.
30:59 Absolutely.
31:01 But you find now, very next verse
31:02 where we are is,
31:03 and he's gonna talk about the conditions,
31:05 the conditions that are often
31:07 the fate of those who ignore the Lord.
31:08 And the conditions of those who embrace the Lord.
31:11 Verse 24 and 25
31:12 Verse 24 says, he...
31:14 I just want to pause this for a moment.
31:16 Just look at also the wording, the previous verse, verse 23.
31:18 And being in torments in Hades, we mentioned this earlier,
31:22 Hades obviously comes from Greek mythology.
31:24 So you can see this Greek Hellenistic mentality
31:27 that Christ is using to further communicate this.
31:30 He's not saying He believes in this,
31:31 He's not confirming that this is His mentality
31:33 or His theology,
31:34 but yet He's using this to communicate the story.
31:37 And then we have some context clues for that.
31:39 Notice verse... But he's using their language.
31:40 Absolutely.
31:42 So he's trying to say, does it sound like
31:43 if somebody comes from Australia and say,
31:46 The New York Knicks, your President,
31:49 the White House, Congress,
31:51 we're saying why are they talking that way?
31:52 They're trying to come, you Americans
31:54 and then all of a sudden, yeah, they're talking about us.
31:56 The Lord is using their language
31:57 to get a message to them.
31:59 Go ahead. Absolutely.
32:00 Verse 24 and onward, it says, "Then he cried and said,
32:04 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me
32:06 and send Lazarus
32:08 that he may dip the tip of his finger in water
32:12 and cool my tongue,
32:13 for I am tormented in this flame."
32:17 And I don't smirk in fact... You can't get past that.
32:18 Yeah, I don't smirk in the fact that he's in these flames,
32:22 just the symbolism,
32:23 the fact that someone could believe that
32:24 this is a literal story.
32:26 If this is a literal story,
32:27 then we have to apply every single line upon line,
32:29 precept on precept as a literal application
32:32 and I'm just thinking,
32:34 he really goes on to say and cool my tongue,
32:36 for I'm tormented in this flames.
32:37 Have you?
32:38 And I use this in my evangelistic series.
32:40 I tell people, imagine you're standing
32:42 in flaming fires,
32:44 will you first of all, it just amazes me
32:46 that this guy has the intelligence
32:49 and a coherent mind to be able to communicate these things.
32:50 Right.
32:52 Because, you know, that this is symbolic
32:53 because you go put yourself in flames
32:55 and try to hold
32:56 an intelligent conversation with someone,
32:58 it's just not gonna happen.
32:59 It's just, it's definitely not gonna happen.
33:01 But the fact that, you know, the irony of this,
33:03 that he would say,
33:04 "All I need is a drop to cool my tongue
33:06 and to help me from these torments."
33:08 We know that obviously, there's something parable.
33:11 And if you burn your hand in the sink,
33:12 which is turning on the hot water too quickly.
33:14 You're not gonna stand there...
33:15 But you please just dip a little,
33:17 you'd be screaming.
33:18 It's just not a coherent moment.
33:19 Absolutely. Verse 25.
33:21 Verse 25 continues.
33:22 Look at the connection once again, back to the Jews.
33:24 Back to Abraham "But Abraham said,
33:26 'Son, remember that in your lifetime
33:29 you received your good things,
33:30 and likewise Lazarus evil things,
33:33 but now he is comforted and you are tormented."
33:37 Showing how the story flips.
33:39 You thought you had the right but He's the one.
33:41 And that's why Jesus said when the Pharisees saw,
33:43 I'm sitting with the publicans,
33:44 the harlots, the tax collectors.
33:46 Jesus said,
33:47 they'll make the kingdom before you,
33:49 because they will continually seen as unworthy.
33:51 But they accepted Jesus,
33:53 they were in the company of Jesus.
33:54 And then Jesus said to them,
33:56 if you were sick, I could help you.
33:58 But since you don't need a physician,
34:00 I can't do anything for you.
34:01 Absolutely.
34:03 They wouldn't admit their sinful condition.
34:04 It's fair to state that Christ was a rebel.
34:06 He was not a rebel to the kingdom of God
34:09 and God's agenda.
34:10 He was a rebel to this manmade false system
34:13 that had been established and continued forward,
34:17 influenced by the Hellenistic in Greek
34:19 and Roman mythologies and philosophies of the day.
34:23 So Christ is now coming in
34:25 as a rebel against their agenda,
34:27 and He's saying, look, let me clear this like,
34:28 let me clear the air, let me set the record straight.
34:31 This is not how you think it is.
34:34 It's actually this way.
34:35 And so that's what we're seeing here.
34:36 This is just one example of that.
34:38 And I'm gonna continue verse 26.
34:39 Before we read verse 26,
34:41 you'll begin to see right away
34:43 when in death, in the judgment,
34:46 there will be no connection between the two sides.
34:48 Right, absolutely.
34:49 There will be no connection,
34:51 nobody is gonna be leaving there
34:52 and coming over here and nobody leaving...
34:53 There'll be no connection in the judgment.
34:56 When the 1,000 years is done
34:58 and just before the lake of fire,
35:00 which is described in this story,
35:01 there'll be no communication on both sides.
35:03 And it says that in verse 26,
35:05 "And besides all this,
35:06 between us and you there is a great gulf fixed,
35:10 so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot,
35:14 nor can those from here pass to us."
35:17 In other words, we can't even connect.
35:19 And then the righteous, the Bible says in Hebrews,
35:21 it's appointed unto men once to die,
35:24 and after that the judgment, so there is no...
35:26 And you'll see clearly,
35:27 we're gonna wrap this in Scripture
35:29 right after these next few verses.
35:31 Then he said, another symbolistic language,
35:33 once again, going back to Abraham.
35:36 Then he said, I beg you, therefore Father
35:38 that you would send him to my father's house,
35:41 for I have how many brothers?
35:43 Five brothers.
35:45 List those books again, Genesis, Exodus...
35:47 Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
35:50 The five books
35:51 that the Jews put their heaviest weight on.
35:52 That's right.
35:54 The Torah, the Pentateuch, the five books.
35:56 They put all their,
35:57 that's what John 5:39 was all about,
35:59 you're searching these books looking for eternal life.
36:02 So now they're saying, we have five brothers.
36:04 And notice what it says, that they may testify to them.
36:07 That's why the Lord says,
36:09 these are they which testify of me.
36:11 Those books testified of Jesus,
36:12 but you're ignoring him, He's right here.
36:14 He said, well, send somebody that they may testify,
36:18 that they may give a clearer message.
36:19 And then He says,
36:21 lest they also come to this place of torment.
36:23 Right.
36:25 And once again, this conversation with a man
36:26 that's dead, Abraham.
36:28 Abraham said to him, they have Moses and the what?
36:31 Prophets.
36:33 Look at Luke 24:27.
36:35 Now once again, he's clearly, this is the clear delineation,
36:40 a clear description of who He's talking about.
36:41 Yes.
36:43 They have Moses and the prophets, who?
36:45 The Amalekites, the Hittites, the Jebusites, the Amorites,
36:48 the Perizzites, the Hivites,
36:50 none of them had Moses and the prophets.
36:52 The Israelites had Moses and the prophets, Luke 24:27?
36:56 Luke 24:27 says,
36:58 "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets,
37:00 He expounded to them in all the Scriptures
37:03 the things concerning Himself."
37:04 That's right. It's powerful.
37:06 And this is the story in the Road to Emmaus.
37:07 That's right.
37:08 He's communicating to a disciple,
37:10 beginning at Moses and the prophets.
37:11 And then you'll find later on,
37:13 this Moses and the prophets seems to be their foundation
37:16 on which they based their eternal hope.
37:18 That's right.
37:19 He says, you can have all the books in the world.
37:21 Let me just put a pin right here.
37:23 Don't find...
37:25 Don't think your foundation is in learning.
37:28 Learning is important.
37:29 Teach them to observe all things I command you.
37:31 But our foundation of salvation is in Jesus.
37:33 Sure.
37:35 That's what the Lord is trying to communicate.
37:36 You're stuck in this ecclesiastical mindset
37:39 that you could teach yourself in.
37:41 That's why they called the disciples ignorant
37:43 and unlearned.
37:44 But what was the key, they were with Jesus.
37:46 Absolutely, and I just want to add to that the fact that,
37:49 you know, we know that, as you said earlier,
37:51 very clearly, and I agree 100%,
37:53 that the Word of God in and of itself
37:55 does not have that power other than Christ Himself.
37:58 He's the one that has the power.
37:59 But Christ did say, speaking of Himself,
38:01 He said, "I am the way the truth and the life."
38:04 And, of course,
38:05 when He was praying in John 17:17
38:10 when He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane
38:11 before being arrested and taken on to put to trial.
38:14 He says, Thy word.
38:16 He says, sanctify them by Thy truth,
38:18 Thy Word is truth.
38:20 So the Word of God holds the power in as much
38:22 that it points us to the Savior.
38:25 And that's exactly what was happening here,
38:27 this particular man, though he was rich,
38:30 and though he was abundant in all of the delicacies
38:32 and the wonderful things in the world,
38:34 he had rejected the truth,
38:36 he had rejected the Word of God.
38:38 But Lazarus, though he was poor,
38:40 and he was a beggar, he did not,
38:41 he had a pure heart, and God found him worthy.
38:44 The Pharisees in the same way, they were rich.
38:47 Of course, we read, of course, earlier,
38:49 the fine linens and the things that they wore,
38:51 but they rejected the truth when it was brought to them.
38:53 And I just want to pull out here,
38:55 you had just read verses 27
38:57 and through 29,
39:00 where he says there at the end of verse 29,
39:02 they have Moses and the prophets,
39:04 let them hear them,
39:05 you know, to me right there the response
39:07 and I'm gonna speak again,
39:09 my good friend Dennis Priebe, he would say,
39:11 the only two words in the human language
39:12 we should learn is, "Yes, Lord."
39:14 Exactly.
39:16 His response should have been, Ah, I got it, okay, yes, Lord,
39:19 you know, and that's it.
39:20 But what was his response?
39:22 Notice verse 30 here. That's right. Read the two.
39:24 And he said, no, I just want to pause there,
39:27 even though he continues to say, Father, Abraham,
39:29 and he continues the sentence his response to, again,
39:32 what appears to be this divine figure symbolically,
39:36 no, that's not good enough for me.
39:39 And I just want to, you know, testify to the point
39:42 that this particular parable,
39:45 and many other truths in the Bible,
39:47 God's Word is so clear. God's Word is so plain.
39:49 God is not the author of confusion,
39:51 He does not want to confuse us, His word is harmonious.
39:54 He's not gonna say one thing over here,
39:55 and then turn around
39:57 and say another thing over here,
39:58 but yet many people in that fence
39:59 post that I described earlier,
40:01 they would rather go and manipulate,
40:03 and twist, and skew,
40:04 and pervert the two that seems to be off
40:07 and fit their own and create their own theology,
40:10 rather than going with the eight
40:11 that's in harmony with each other.
40:14 And they create their own theology,
40:16 and I cannot count and my heartbreaks,
40:17 cannot count the times I have,
40:19 I've witnessed to people
40:21 and they would have some type of skewed
40:24 or twisted misunderstanding of Scripture.
40:25 And I would go to them and say,
40:27 you know hey, look, the Bible says this,
40:28 you know, notice how clear and harmonious the scriptures
40:30 and the response is, "No, I don't believe that"
40:33 or no, they reject the truth.
40:35 And so very similarly, in the experience
40:37 of what this rich man is going through here,
40:39 he rejected the word that he wanted a dead man.
40:42 That's why in verse 30...
40:44 But before you go to the verse, notice what he asked instead,
40:47 he's asking for a miracle instead.
40:51 And so many people today
40:52 would rather a miracle than the Word of God.
40:56 That's right.
40:57 That's why the Bible says,
40:58 Many false christs and false prophets will rise
41:00 and will deceive many,
41:01 they'll show great signs and wonders."
41:03 Matthew 24.
41:04 "They'll show signs and wonders to deceive."
41:06 Right.
41:07 So don't look for miracles over God's Word.
41:09 If God's Word says it, thank you.
41:11 If God's word says it,
41:12 don't say, hey, well, do a miracle,
41:15 then I believe it.
41:16 And that's the problem with Christianity today.
41:17 They prefer miracles, give me two pills,
41:20 and call me in the morning.
41:21 Take two and call me in the morning
41:22 rather than let God's word speak.
41:24 And by the way, Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 2:13,
41:29 "The Word of God effectively works
41:31 in those who believe."
41:32 So if the Word of God is in you,
41:34 and you believe it, if you let the Word of God in,
41:36 it'll work in you.
41:37 Amen. But you gotta believe it.
41:39 Don't put miracles above the Word of God.
41:40 And verse 31, let's transition...
41:42 Yeah, let's continue on to verse 30 here,
41:44 he says, "And he said to him, 'No, Father Abraham,
41:47 but if one goes to them from the dead,"
41:50 and I want you to notice the wording here, okay,
41:52 "if one goes to them from the dead,
41:56 they will repent."
41:57 But then notice verse 31,
41:59 but he said to him speaking of...
42:01 This is Abraham's response.
42:03 But he said to him,
42:04 "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets,"
42:06 in other words, if they will not accept
42:08 the plain truth of God's Word as it is.
42:09 That's right.
42:10 Neither will they be persuaded though one,
42:13 notice the word here, rise from the dead,
42:16 there's a different...
42:17 Christ is actually communicating in this parable,
42:20 the differentiation between the belief
42:22 that the Pharisees had and the belief that He had.
42:24 In other words, the Pharisees believed
42:26 in the immortality of the soul.
42:27 And the fact that
42:28 the dead people could come from the dead
42:30 as a dead person,
42:32 as a spirit, as a ghost
42:34 and speak and communicate to the people,
42:35 but notice the opposition that Christ communicates here
42:39 that the truth is, He said,
42:41 neither what they believe will be persuaded though one,
42:44 here's the word, rise from the dead.
42:45 Christ believed in the resurrection of the dead
42:49 rather than someone coming as or from the dead.
42:51 Exactly, those go to them from the dead, see.
42:54 Right.
42:55 You're dead, you're not going anywhere,
42:57 so on this particular note,
42:58 you clearly see they believe in one thing,
42:59 that's why reiterate right here.
43:01 That's why Jesus stayed away for four days
43:04 because they were waiting for someone
43:05 to come from the dead.
43:07 And then that's also the belief
43:08 that's why they guarded the tomb.
43:10 When Jesus died,
43:12 they didn't want Him to come from the dead.
43:13 But He didn't come from the dead,
43:15 He is the resurrection and the life,
43:17 there's a difference all together.
43:19 People when...
43:20 So let's hit, we have about 10 minutes left.
43:22 Sure, sure.
43:23 Let's go ahead and hit this right on the head.
43:24 Let's start with some sound Bible verses.
43:27 Let's first start with John 5:28 and 29.
43:30 What does the Bible say about what happens when you die?
43:32 And this is important.
43:34 Once again, we're gonna wrap this parable.
43:35 This was a parable that Jesus was communicating
43:39 to the leaders of the Jewish nation,
43:41 the scribes the Pharisees, the Sadducees,
43:44 because of the distorted belief they had,
43:45 He was saying, brethren,
43:47 don't think yourself better than other people.
43:49 Because those that you ignore
43:50 will make the kingdom before you
43:52 and all the advantages you had, all the word I gave you,
43:55 all the years that I've taught you,
43:56 all the clothing you wear
43:58 will not give you preferential treatment
44:00 over those that you ignore.
44:01 That's right.
44:02 Take care of the needs,
44:04 the Samaritans that they ignored
44:05 were licking the sores of the beggar.
44:07 He said, those people that you think are outcast,
44:09 they're taking care of the community's needs.
44:11 Absolutely.
44:12 They are feeding the hungry, and clothing the naked,
44:14 and taking stuff to the poor.
44:15 You're not doing anything
44:16 and you think you're gonna make the kingdom.
44:18 That's why Matthew 25 says,
44:19 when you do it to the least of these,
44:21 you've done for Me, that's the measure
44:23 and not necessarily what you have.
44:24 Absolutely.
44:25 John 5:28 and 29,
44:28 Jesus says, "Do not marvel at this,
44:30 for the hour is coming
44:31 in which all who are in the graves
44:33 will hear His voice."
44:35 And come forth that rise factor
44:37 that Christ is talking about in the parable,
44:39 though, notice this,
44:41 "Those who have done good to the resurrection of life,
44:43 and those who have done evil
44:45 to the resurrection of condemnation."
44:47 That's right. And the other thing that...
44:49 So you see the two resurrections,
44:51 the resurrection of life,
44:52 the resurrection of condemnation.
44:54 So those are the resurrections that are coming in the future.
44:57 This is not something that happens when you die.
44:58 Absolutely. Look at another thing.
45:00 And by the way, the symbolism and the story was about fire.
45:03 Let's see what the Bible says about fire.
45:04 What happens to the wicked when they die,
45:06 and when will there be fire?
45:07 Sure.
45:09 When will those who are gonna be destroyed in the fire?
45:11 When is it gonna happen?
45:12 Look at Matthew 13:40-42.
45:15 Yes, I was hoping you were gonna go there.
45:17 This is the parable of the wheat and the tares.
45:19 That's right.
45:20 And what verse did you say again?
45:22 Verse 40-42.
45:23 So 40-42, this is speaking
45:25 of the explanation of the tares.
45:26 That's right.
45:27 And Christ says beginning in verse 40,
45:29 "Therefore, as the tares are gathered,
45:30 and burned in the fire,
45:31 so it will be at the," notice, "end of this."
45:34 And the New King James Version says,
45:36 end of this age,
45:37 only the King James Version uses the same thing
45:39 at the end of this world.
45:40 That's right.
45:42 And so when is the end of this world,
45:43 that would be the question.
45:45 But he goes on to say in verse 41.
45:46 "The Son of Man will send out His angels,
45:47 and they will gather out all of His kingdom
45:50 and all that offended,
45:51 and those who practice lawlessness,
45:53 and will cast them into the furnace of fire.
45:56 There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
45:58 And there was wailing
45:59 and gnashing of teeth of the man
46:01 who was in torment in the parable.
46:02 And so when would this happen?
46:04 Christ doesn't say it once.
46:05 He says it again, also, in verse 49,
46:08 notice what Jesus says again in verse 49,
46:10 "So it will be at the end of the world."
46:13 So when will the wicked be the judged?
46:16 When will the righteous be brought forth
46:18 from the graves?
46:19 It's at the end of this world at the second coming of Jesus.
46:21 That's right.
46:22 And they're not gonna be in there saying, I'm thirsty,
46:25 could you give me some water?
46:27 It's really hot over here.
46:28 That's not gonna be the case,
46:29 because they will not exist continually.
46:31 And also, there's something else
46:33 that people insert in this.
46:34 Years ago, I got a pamphlet,
46:35 I still have this book from a pastor,
46:37 I won't say the denomination.
46:38 But he said, well, he start to presuppose
46:40 and this is called eisegesis, adding what's not there.
46:43 Exegesis is expounding on what is there.
46:46 Eisegesis is adding what's not there.
46:48 He said, "Well, this story was about the souls
46:52 of each of those."
46:54 Not once did you find the word soul in the story at all.
46:56 That's right, absolutely.
46:57 Because how can a soul be tormented
46:59 when it has no dimensions.
47:01 Absolutely.
47:02 This is bodily torment of the man as we speak,
47:03 this is bodily discomfort
47:05 that's talked about in the story.
47:06 So let's see what happens? What actually happens?
47:08 Malachi Chapter 4. Yes.
47:10 This is the most rapid fire story
47:11 you've ever had in the short program.
47:13 Absolutely.
47:14 Malachi 4:1 and 3,
47:16 look what the Bible says about the fate of the wicked.
47:18 "For behold, the day is coming"
47:19 Malachi 4:1, "burning like an oven,
47:22 and all the proud, yes,
47:25 all who do wickedly will be stubble.
47:28 And the day which is coming," not at the end of the death,
47:31 "shall burn them up, says the Lord
47:34 that will leave them neither root nor branch,"
47:35 in verse 3.
47:37 What about the wicked? Yes.
47:38 "You shall trample the wicked,
47:40 for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet
47:43 on the day that I do this,
47:44 says the Lord of hosts."
47:45 And, Ryan, I want you to go to Psalm 37.
47:48 Go to Psalm 37
47:50 Psalm 37. Verse 18-20.
47:51 Because here's another thing showing you
47:53 that the wicked are not gonna be hanging around.
47:55 They're not gonna be hanging around
47:56 throughout eternity.
47:57 There's not gonna be some eternally burning hell,
47:59 because the Bible made it very clear.
48:01 They're gonna be ashes under the soles of our feet.
48:03 They're gonna be burned up
48:04 but look what David the Psalmist says,
48:06 Psalm 37:18-20. Sure.
48:08 So 18-20 says, "The Lord knows the days of the upright:
48:12 and their inheritance shall be forever."
48:14 The upright forever. Right, right.
48:16 Okay, verse 19,
48:18 "They shall not be ashamed in the evil time,
48:21 and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied."
48:24 And then notice verse 20,
48:26 the wicked says, "But the wicked shall,"
48:28 notice the word perish...
48:30 That's right.
48:31 "And the enemies of the Lord,
48:33 like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish.
48:35 into smoke they shall vanish away."
48:37 That's right.
48:38 So this end result of the wicked is into smoke.
48:41 Right. Malachi says ashes.
48:44 Look at verse 10, read Psalm 37:10.
48:47 "For yet a little while
48:48 and the wicked shall be no more,
48:50 indeed, you will look carefully for his place,
48:53 but it shall be no more."
48:56 In fact, I'm thinking of another text also
48:58 exactly what they just said
48:59 that the wicked shall be no more.
49:01 I'm thinking of Obadiah 1:15-16, it says,
49:04 "For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen
49:07 and they shall be as though they had not been."
49:11 That's right. And so...
49:13 To perish, what does that mean?
49:14 I was also thinking of John 3:16.
49:16 The most beautiful passage.
49:18 Let's read it together.
49:20 "For God so loved the world
49:21 that He gave His only begotten Son,
49:23 that whoever believeth in Him should not perish
49:27 but have everlasting life."
49:29 So the wicked don't have everlasting life.
49:31 So the wicked,
49:33 if you don't have everlasting life,
49:34 you can't be burning everlasting.
49:36 Absolutely
49:37 There's no everlasting burning
49:39 to those who don't have everlasting life.
49:40 The righteous receive everlasting life.
49:42 What do the wicked?
49:44 They perish. Sure.
49:45 Into smoke shall they vanish away,
49:48 they shall perish,
49:49 they shall be as though they will be no more.
49:51 Psalm 37:10 and so another one,
49:54 Revelation 21:8.
49:56 I'll hit this very quickly.
49:57 "But the cowardly, unbelievable, abominable,
50:01 murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters,
50:04 and all liars shall have their part in the lake
50:07 which burns with fire and brimstone,
50:09 which is the second death."
50:11 Right, absolutely.
50:12 That's that eternal death.
50:13 And in very simple passage, Romans 6:23, for the...
50:18 Wages of sin is death.
50:19 But...
50:21 But the gift of God
50:22 is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
50:24 Okay, there are the two comparisons,
50:26 the wages of sin is death.
50:27 Right.
50:29 The gift of God is eternal life.
50:30 Amen.
50:31 The wicked don't receive eternal life,
50:33 they receive death.
50:34 And what's death... The second death.
50:37 The second death is being banished,
50:40 being destroyed in the lake of fire.
50:41 And you look for them and they'll be no more.
50:44 That's why Jesus said in the parable...
50:46 Matter of fact, in the Beatitudes,
50:47 the meek shall inherit the earth.
50:49 Right, absolutely.
50:50 You know, we have a couple of minutes here.
50:52 I know we're getting close to the end of this time.
50:53 But I just got to say this,
50:54 in pertaining to this particular topic.
50:57 This is one of those topics
50:58 that many people really struggle with,
51:01 because of what has been programmed into their mind
51:03 over the years.
51:05 They feel like there's a sense of vengeance,
51:06 there's a sense of justice,
51:08 in knowing that again, God, not the devil,
51:10 but God is now in charge of hell,
51:13 as the Bible does say, God, not the devil is in charge,
51:15 but God is in charge, but that God would,
51:17 you know, pour out all of His wrath
51:19 for all eternity upon these people.
51:22 And I find that to be inconsistent
51:25 with the fact that 1 John 4:8 says, God is love.
51:29 Thank you. And He is so loving.
51:31 I'll tell you this, this is the truth.
51:32 You know, we've already established
51:34 that the wicked will not burn forever
51:36 in the verses that we just read.
51:38 But really quickly, you know, 1 Peter, excuse me,
51:40 2 Peter 2:9 tells us this,
51:43 "The Lord knows how to deliver the godly
51:45 out of temptations."
51:46 "And to," notice, "reserve the unjust unto the,"
51:50 notice this,
51:52 "the day of judgment to be punished."
51:54 That's right.
51:56 There's a single day at the end of time.
51:58 That's right.
51:59 And I just want to bring out the fact that God is love.
52:01 He will bring in into sin,
52:03 but He takes it and He does it in a single day,
52:06 not for all eternity.
52:07 And lastly and not leastly,
52:10 Satan himself will be devoured,
52:12 Ezekiel 28:18 and 19.
52:14 "The Lord will devour him by bringing a fire forth
52:17 from the midst of him, and he shall be,"
52:20 the Bible says in Ezekiel 28:19,
52:23 "And shall be no more forever."
52:25 Amen.
52:26 If the devil is not gonna exist anymore,
52:28 why would those who were wicked exist
52:30 in eternal flames?
52:32 Friends, we try to make it clear.
52:33 We're gonna take a short break
52:35 and we'll be back after this news break
52:37 for a few closing thoughts,
52:40 so don't go away.


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Revised 2019-04-30