LUKE 16:19-31
ETERNALLY GOOD THINGS COME ONLY THROGH THE SCRIPTURES.
In
the name + of Jesus.
What do you consider the good things in
your life? It’s not a trick
question. We are right to recognize the
blessings God has given us so that we can be thankful for them. Some blessings are near and dear to us, such
as parents, a spouse, children, and faithful friends. God did not owe us these things but has
graciously blessed us with them. When
God takes them away, we are usually reduced to tears.
We enjoy other good things, although we
probably won’t cry if they go away. We
have homes that are heated or cooled at the press of a button. We have indoor plumbing and running
water. We have cushioned furniture and
plush carpeting. Our closets and
dressers are filled with clothing for all seasons. We decorate our homes as it pleases us. How gracious God has been! He has supplied us with many good
things.
Finally, there are good things which are
common to all—autumn colors, blue skies, music, laughter, and library books. The list of good things is practically
endless, and we get to enjoy them all.
That’s why God gives them to us.
Jesus spoke about a man who enjoyed a lot of
good things. In fact, he had more good
things than most. He dressed in fancy
clothes. He dined on sumptuous meals. He had a gated home and great wealth. I suppose most people would want the kind of
life he had. By contrast, there was a
beggar named Lazarus who “had been laid at his gate. Lazarus was covered with sores and longed to
be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table” (Luke 16:20-21). The fact that Lazarus had to be laid at the
gate of the rich man suggests that he was immobile. Maybe he was old? Or crippled?
Either way, he was deposited there with the hopes that a rich man might
share a few good things with him. But
Lazarus received no good things.
In time, both of them died. We should not get the impression that Lazarus
went to heaven because he was poor or ill or ignored. That is not what the Scriptures teach. The Scriptures state “a person is
justified by faith” (Romans 3:28).
If Lazarus was taken to Abraham’s side, he was saved the same way as
Abraham. “What does Scripture
say? ‘Abraham believed God and it was
credited to him as righteousness’” (Romans 4:3). Abraham is the father of all who believe;
therefore, Lazarus went to Abraham’s side.
As it turns out, Lazarus did have one good thing, and it was the only
thing he needed. Eternally good things
come only through the Scriptures.
Not so the rich man. He died and went to hell—not because he was
rich. After all, Abraham had been rich. The rich man perished because he did not
regard God’s promises as good things. “In
hell, where he was in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far
away and Lazarus at his side. He called
out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me!’ …But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in
your lifetime you received your good things’” (Luke 16:23-25). No matter how many good things the rich
man could have boasted about in his life, they all proved to be useless in the
end. They could not provide another
moment of life, let alone with eternal life.
No matter how lavish his lifestyle had been, none of it had everlasting
value. Eternally good things come only
through the Scriptures.
As we have already considered, eternal
life comes only by faith. But faith
needs to have an object. You can have
faith that tomorrow will be a better day, but the only thing you can base that
on is your optimism. Faith is not a
wish. It is confidence in something
reliable, verifiable, and historical. Even
faith in something reliable is not a guarantee.
You can have faith that a plane trip will go well. You base that on aeronautic engineering and a
history of safe flight travel. Such
faith is reasonable, but accidents still happen.
Saving faith, however, is certain because
it comes through the Scriptures. These
are not fairy tales set in a land of make-believe. The Scriptures record accounts which are historical,
verifiable, and reliable. We believe
that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. The
Old Testament foretold what the Messiah would do, and Jesus did it. He declared that he would set us free from sin
and overcome death by his own suffering, death, and resurrection. And then, just as he foretold, he did
it. Jesus took our sins away by taking
them into himself. He removed the curse
of death by dying the cursed death for us.
To prove that his word is true and that
his death made the full payment for sins, he rose from the dead. Once again, his resurrection is historical,
verifiable, and reliable. The risen
Savior was seen repeatedly by different witnesses at different times, even by
more than 500 people at once. These
witnesses testified to Jesus’ resurrection, preferring a painful death over a
retraction of their testimony. This is
what our faith is based upon. Since the
Scriptures are historical, verifiable, and reliable, they do not merely allow
us to wish for the resurrection to life everlasting; they guarantee it! The Savior who was crucified and rose from
the dead has promised: “Amen, Amen, I tell you: The one who believes in
me has eternal life” (John 6:47).
Faith relies on Jesus Christ who is revealed to us in the Holy
Scriptures. So, eternally good things
come only through the Scriptures.
The Scriptures are consistent with this
proclamation: Jesus Christ is the only Savior, and faith in Jesus Christ is the
only hope for eternal life. Jesus stated
that clearly: “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through
me” (John 14:6). There is no other
path, no other way, no other Savior.
This can produce some concern for anyone who comes to the Christian
faith from either a different faith or from no faith whatsoever.
When such a person hears the word of God
and believes it, he rejoices in all the blessings it gives. For the first time, he has relief from his
guilt, confidence of a life after death, and the peace of knowing that God’s
favor rests upon him at all times. What
a joy to have such good things! But he
may also recognize that he has loved ones who do not believe in Jesus. He comes to this sad conclusion: “If Jesus’
words are true, my loved ones who have died are in hell.” Who could not be grieved by that realization?
Some have soured on the Christian faith,
thinking, “I would rather be in hell with my family than in heaven without
them.” What do you say to that
person?
Take heed to what the rich man said when
he was in hell. He five brothers who
were still living. The rich man does not
say, “Just wait until my brothers get here!
We are going to have such a good time!
We are going to party and rock and roll forever.” As far as we can tell, the rich man had no
one with him. Perhaps some of the
horrors of hell include having to endure one’s sufferings completely alone. In any case, the rich man pleaded, “I beg
you, father [Abraham], send (Lazarus) to my father’s home, because I have five
brothers—to warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of
torment” (Luke 16:27-28). The rich
man did not want his brothers to end up in hell. So, if you have loved ones who have perished
outside of faith in Jesus, or if you are speaking to someone who has, then
listen to the rich man’s plea. No one in
hell wants anyone to join them there.
They yearn for their loved ones to avoid it.
The rich man did not believe the
Scriptures when he was on earth. They
were not among his good things. He still
did not believe them when he suffered the torments of hell. He pleaded, “I beg you, father [Abraham],
send (Lazarus) to my father’s home, because I have five brothers—to warn them,
so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the
Prophets. Let them listen to them’”
(Luke 16:27-29). The rich man’s
brothers were not hopeless. The Lord has
given testimony about how one’s sins are taken away and about how there is a
Savior who delivers people from eternal damnation. In fact, this testimony is recorded in the
single-most popular book in the history of the world. It is preached by pastors at churches in many
languages and in different nations. God
reveals his love and salvation in the Holy Scriptures. Eternally good things come only through the
Scriptures.
The rich man still did not believe. He argued, “If someone from the dead goes
to them, they will repent.” Abraham
replied to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not
be convinced even if someone rises from the dead’”
(Luke
16:30-31).
The rich man thought that God’s word was not sufficient. Perhaps some gimmick would make it more
believable. But that is not true. If a man will not listen to God, whose word
will he care about? Besides, when the
rich man suggested a resurrected Lazarus would make unbelievers take God’s word
to heart, that wasn’t true. A man named
Lazarus was raised from the dead. Do you
know how Jesus’ enemies responded to that?
“The chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus too, because it was on
account of him that many of the Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus”
(John 12:10-11). Even when Jesus rose
from the dead, they still would not believe.
Rather, they took the apostles, “beat them, ordered them not to speak
in the name of Jesus” (Acts 5:40).
Eternally good things come only through
the Scriptures. The Scriptures do not
need our help to make them more appealing.
Many Christian churches have already made concessions so that they will
be loved by the world more. Parts of
God’s word are explained away so that people will not feel bad about their
sins. They are not called to
repent. As a result, the Church becomes
more like the world rather than the world becoming more like the Church. Making concessions to the world has not improved
or increased the numbers of the Church. That’s
because the world never makes any concessions to God’s word. The rich man’s strategy fails because it
teaches people that the Scriptures need something else to make them good.
Our Lord provides us with many good things
in our lives. But even the most precious
of these are momentary. Eternally good
things come only through the Scriptures—the glory of the Lord, the resurrection
to life everlasting, and the Paradise of God.
We have received these good things by faith; soon we will have them by
sight. Then God’s good things will be
even better.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
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