Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 16:19

There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

19. There was a certain rich man ] He is left nameless, perhaps to imply that his name was not “written in heaven” (Luk 10:20). Legend gives him the name Nimeusis. Dives is simply the Latin for ‘a rich man.’ Our Lord in the parable continues the subject of his discourse against the Pharisees, by shewing that wealth and respectability are very differently estimated on earth and in the world beyond. The parable illustrates each step of the previous discourse: Dives regards all he has as his very own; uses it selfishly, which even Moses and the Prophets might have taught him not to do; and however lofty in his own eyes is an abomination before God.

in purple and fine linen ] The two words express extreme luxury. Robes dyed in the blood of the murex purpurarius were very costly and were only worn by the greatest men

“Over his lucent arms

A military vest of purple flowed

Livelier than Melibaean or the grain

Of Sarra (Tyre) worn by kings and heroes old

In time of truce.”

Byssus is the fine linen of Egypt (Gen 41:42; Est 8:15; Pro 31:22; Eze 27:7; Rev 18:12), a robe of which was worth twice its own weight in gold.

and fared sumptuously every day ] Literally, “ making merry (Luk 12:19) every day, splendidly.” Luther, lebte herrlich und in Freuden. It indicates a life of banquets. The description generally might well apply to Herod Antipas, vii. 25; Mar 6:14; Mar 6:21.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

There was a certain rich man – Many have supposed that our Lord here refers to a real history, and gives an account of some man who had lived in this manner; but of this there is no evidence. The probability is that this narrative is to be considered as a parable, referring not to any particular case which had actually happened, but teaching that such cases might happen. The design of the narrative is to be collected from the previous conversation. He had taught the danger of the love of money Luk 16:1-2; the deceitful and treacherous nature of riches Luk 16:9-11; that what was in high esteem on earth was hateful to God Luk 16:15; that people who did not use their property aright could not be received into heaven Luk 16:11-12; that they ought to listen to Moses and the prophets Luk 16:16-17; and that it was the duty of people to show kindness to the poor. The design of the parable was to impress all these truths more vividly on the mind, and to show the Pharisees that, with all their boasted righteousness and their external correctness of character, they might be lost. Accordingly he speaks of no great fault in the rich man – no external, degrading vice – no open breach of the law; and leaves us to infer that the mere possession of wealth may be dangerous to the soul, and that a man surrounded with every temporal blessing may perish forever. It is remarkable that he gave no name to this rich man, though the poor man is mentioned by name. If this was a parable, it shows us how unwilling he was to fix suspicion on anyone. If it was not a parable, it shows also that he would not drag out wicked people before the public, but would conceal as much as possible all that had any connection with them. The good he would speak well of by name; the evil he would not injure by exposing them to public view.

Clothed in purple – A purple robe or garment. This color was expensive as well as splendid, and was chiefly worn by princes, nobles, and those who were very wealthy. Compare Mat 27:28. See the notes at Isa 1:18.

Fine linen – This linen was chiefly produced of the flax that grew on the banks of the Nile, in Egypt, Pro 7:16; Eze 27:7. It was especially soft and white, and was, therefore, much sought as an article of luxury, and was so expensive that it could be worn only by princes, by priests, or by those who were very rich, Gen 41:42; 1Ch 15:27; Exo 28:5.

Fared sumptuously – Feasted or lived in a splendid manner.

Every day – Not merely occasionally, but constantly. This was a mark of great wealth, and, in the view of the world, evidence of great happiness. It is worthy of remark that Jesus did not charge on him any crime. He did not say that he had acquired this property by dishonesty, or even that he was unkind or uncharitable; but simply that he was a rich man, and that his riches did not secure him from death and perdition.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Luk 16:19-31

There was a certain rich man

Dives and Lazarus

I.

THE ALLOTMENTS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE ON EARTH ARE NOT ALWAYS EVENLY BASED UPON A REGISTER OF HUMAN DESERT.

1. The rich man is not offered as a luminous exhibition of personal worth (see Luk 16:19-21).

2. On the other hand, Lazarus was a beggar, and frightfully diseased. His condition was pitiable. But it does not follow that he had been immoral, nor that he was under judgment for crime. Neither of these men represented in the parable took his moral state, or received his everlasting reward, from his earthly lot.

II. THE QUESTION AS TO A MANS ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD TURNS ON PERMANENT CHARACTER.

1. The name which this poverty-stricken invalid bears is all that is given us at this stage in the story to indicate that he was a religious man. It is simply the ancient Eleazar put into the New Testament Lazarus–the Hebrew translated to Greek–and means God is my help. It is plain that our Lord Jesus designed this as a sufficient description of him. As Alford shrewdly remarks, he purposed to fill in the character of the poor man. He doubtless gave the appellation, as Bunyan bestowed the name of his hero in Pilgrims Progress: he called his name Christian because he was a Christian. And this beggar here is called God is my help, because he was a good man, living according to his light by the help of God.

2. But the other mans character is under a full exhibition. He was luxuriously self-seeking. He lavished his wealth upon himself, and fed his appetites unrestrainedly. He was inhumane. The very brutes in Perea were less brutal than Dives. The rich man was not only in his conduct heartless, but in his custom irreligious; for the Jewish law demanded consideration of the poor with a hundred reiterated precepts; these he habitually disobeyed. And in the end of the tale we have the intimation that, above everything else, Dives never paid any attention to what Moses and the prophets were thundering in his ears from the Scriptures about making preparation for another world which was lying out beyond this. We reach the conclusion that in this parable the rich man represents a worldly sinner.

III. Again: WE LEARN HERE THAT DEATH IS THE INEVITABLE EVENT WHICH USHERS IN THE CERTAIN IMMORTALITY OF EACH HUMAN SOUL.

1. Both of these men died.

2. Both of these men found themselves living after they had died.

IV. WHAT COMES AFTER DEATH IS TO US OF FAR MORE IMPORTANCE THAN WHAT COMES BEFORE.

1. For, first, it gathers up now into itself whatever went before, and includes all its consequences.

2. And then what chines after death introduces fresh and heavy experiences of its own. The contrast is offered of highest felicity with most extreme suffering. That other life will be quite as sensitive as this, and possibly more so. Power of suffering may be augmented. There will be recognition of friends and relatives and neighbours in that new existence. These souls all appear to know each other in those moments of terrible candour. And they understand each other, too, at last; there is great plainness of speech among them.

V. THE GOSPEL INVITATION REACHES ITS LIMIT IN THIS STATE OF OUR EXISTENCE.

1. There will be no increase in the ordinary means of grace.

2. No novel form of address will be possible (Luk 16:30-31). (C. S.Robinson, D. D.)

The rich and the poor, here and hereafter

The case is that of one who had great wealth, and enjoyed it, and lived handsomely, but took no thought to the poor brother outside. He had his evil things in the same hour in which the brother in the grand house had his good things; and this went on, day after day, white the two men neared another life: but when that life began, there came a change. Now, it seems clear, from the way in which the case is put, that this change, which was in fact a revolution, and brought with it a precise reversal of the states of those two men, came in a line of predetermined events. It implies the working of a law, which may have been fulfilled in countless instances already, and is destined to act and rule so long as the lots of men are unequal in this life. If this be so, it ought to make those of us uneasy, who perceive, in comparing themselves with their neighbours, that they are having their good things now. It seems a just inference from this parable, which was undoubtedly intended as a lesson and a warning for us all, that Almighty God, the Righteous and Just, although He may for the present permit the poor to suffer, has made a law in the due execution whereof there may be expected a complete upset of conditions by and by, on our passage into another life. Many years ago, in the early winter, I found myself one evening at a rich mans table, with others bidden to the feast. We had our good things. Nothing was wanting to the completeness of our entertainment in which appeared, in their order, all delicious viands, with condiments and delicacies, and whatsoever is pleasant to the eyes and good for food. There shone the precious metals, and rare porcelains and crystal, while, amidst roses and other choice flowers appeared, in rich warm hues as of the ruby and the topaz, the fruit of the vines of distant lands. As one surveyed the cheerful company under the soft brilliancy of many lights, it was a pleasant scene; in their lifetime they were receiving their good things; and not as dissolute revellers, but after the way of the highly respectable, to whom all this came as to men and women to the manner born, and living, as became their station, the life of the rich and the free. In less than an hour after leaving that scene, I found myself descending, by dim and muddy steps, the basement of a miserable house in the same city, and entering a room some feet below the level of the sidewalk. What light there was in that forlorn apartment came from a dull tallow candle; the feeble ray fell on bare walls and a bare floor, and showed no furniture but an old bedstead, without clothes or bedding, or so much as a truss of straw. On the floor sat two children, thinly clad, crouching close to an old rust-eaten stove, in which a faint redness glimmered through the choked-up ashes, the very mockery of a fire. The little ones had no food; their mother, they said, was abroad to see if she could get them a bit of something to eat, while a neighbour had given her the candle by the aid of which I made out the pitiful scene. There was the other side of the parable; the old, old story: and likewise Lazarus evil things. Under the winters evening, the two rooms told their separate stories to the Lord; the good things there, the evil things here; just as it has been from the beginning. Alas I the heart dies down at such contrasts. Who could look on two such pictures within the same hour, and admit that things are as they ought to be in this world? And if, at such a moment, he remembers the words of the parable, it cannot but occur to him, as was just now said, that there must be a hidden law of adjustment, whose working will be revealed in due season. He must say to himself: It cannot be that these things are to last for ever; and moreover, it cannot be that he who is indifferent to them while they last can finally go unpunished. Indifference on these points is crime; and crime must bring retribution. We have, then, in the words of our Lord in the parable a very serious intimation; and, in common daily experience, an argument of great persuasive force urging us to heed it. It is one of the gravest of questions how we are to deal with the terrible problems thus raised; problems which could not be more urgent or more practical; which relate to both worlds at once; to the estates of men in this life, and to the estates of those same men in the life hereafter. We want light on a dark question; infidelity and anti-Christian social science fail us here; the latter amuses us with a jack-a-lantern, leading nowhere but into greater embarrassments; the former blows out what light remains, and by destroying society reduces all men everywhere to present terror and ultimate barbarism. Fortunately for the human race there are ideas as different from infidel or socialistic notions as light from darkness; ideas put forth by our blessed Lord, and kept afloat by the powerful agency of that religion which He founded and sustained. In these ideas, fully realized and widely applied, resides the only hope of relief. Let us recall them to our thoughts and see in what subtle and perhaps unsuspected way they help us all–the poor who are in misery here, and the rich who are in peril hereafter. First, then, Christianity never has attempted to eliminate the rich as a class. It is Gods will that there shall always be the rich and the poor. But although the rich are permitted to be among us and to have a place in His Church, yet another thing is true. They are told that their riches are a real and a deadly peril; as if a man had in his house what might at any moment take fire or explode and destroy his life. And, more than this: the vast difference between them and the poor is one of those which seem to be unfair and unjust, in a human point of view. I mean that if you take man and man there is no reason a priori why the rich man should not be in the poor mans place and the poor man in the rich mans, and often no reason can be found in the characters of the men themselves. Why is not that poor brother where I am and I in his place? It seems scarcely just to him now; it cannot go on for ever. If all the rich felt thus the sorrows of the poor would be at end, even for this life; and the rich would feel thus if they were penetrated with the spirit of the gospel. Even so much as there is (and blessed be God! there is much of this nobility of Christian love), has done and is doing a vast deal of good, and alleviating the misery and sorrow of the poor. (Morgan Dix, D. D.)

Dives and Lazarus

I. THE RICH MAN IN HIS AFFLUENCE AND ENJOYMENTS.

II. LAZARUS IN HIS POVERTY.

1. A beggar.

2. Homeless.

3. Afflicted in person.

III. THE DEATH OF LAZARUS.

1. At his death he becomes the subject of angelic minis tration.

2. He is conveyed in triumph to glory.

IV. THE DEMISE OF THE RICH MAN.

1. His riches could not save him from death.

2. They could only secure him an imposing funeral.

Lessons:

1. That piety on earth is often allied with poverty and suffering.

2. That earthly prosperity and magnificence are no proofs of the Divine favour.

3. That whatever be our condition in this world, we are travelling towards another.

4. That death is inevitable to all stations and ranks. (J. Burns, D. D.)

Dives and Lazarus after death

I. WE SEE LAZARUS IN THE ABODE OF THE BLESSED. His state is one of–

1. Repose, after the toils of life.

2. Dignity, after the humiliating scenes of his earthly adversity.

3. Abundance, after want.

4. Bliss, after grief and sorrow.

II. WE ARE REFERRED TO DIVES AS CONSIGNED TO THE REGIONS OF THE LOST. In torments.

1. Torments arising from the awful change he had experienced when death removed him from his wealth and luxuries on earth. 2. Torments from unallayed desires. He seeks now even for one drop of water, but in vain.

3. Torments from the bitter and despairing anguish of his doomed spirit.

4. Torments of keen self-reproach.

5. Torments from the direct infliction of the righteous wrath of

God.

6. Torments from having the world of joy and glory within the range of his distracted vision.

III. WE ARE REMINDED OF HIS UNAVAILING PRAYERS.

1. For the alleviation of his own agonies.

2. For additional means to save his brethren.

Lessons:

1. How awful it is to die in a carnal, unregenerate state.

2. How connected are the concerns of time with the realities of eternity. Whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap.

3. How all-important is real personal piety.

4. The sufficiency of the means appointed for mans salvation. (J. Burns, D. D.)

Lessons from the parable

1. Let us learn here that one thing is needful–the care of the soul. What can riches do without this?

2. Let us learn, that, if the word of God revealed in the Scriptures, if the gospel of Jesus Christ, if the promises and the warnings written there, do not convince us, do not turn us to God–then nothing would.

3. Observe from this parable, that hell will be the portion not only of the grossly wicked, the swearer, the adulterer, the drunkard, the dishonest, the liar; for we read not, that the rich man was any of these: yet he perished.

4. What comfort may this parable give to the Christian in suffering! (E. Blencowe, M. A.)

The rich man and Lazarus

I. THE CONTRASTS.

1. In their external circumstances.

(1) One rich; the other poor.

(2) One elegantly clothed; the other as a beggar.

(3) One sumptuously fed; the other desiring the rich mans crumbs.

(4) One in health; the other physically wretched.

(5) One socially influential; the other in beggarly isolation.

2. In their spiritual condition.

(1) One exulting in his wealth; the other contented in his poverty.

(2) One satisfied with his earthly possessions; the other seeking treasure in heaven.

(3) One selfish and ungodly; the other a self-sacrificing believer.

3. In their eternal destiny.

(1) One cast into hell; the other carried into heaven.

(2) One tormented; the other comforted.

(3) One associated with demons; the other in companionship with Abraham.

(4) One in unalterable anguish; the other in permanent blessedness.

II. THE LESSONS.

1. As to Providence.

(1) Worldly prosperity no proof of acceptance with God.

(2) Poverty and distress no proof of Divine abandonment.

(3) Worldly isolation compatible with Divine companionship.

2. As to spiritual life.

(1) Ease, luxury, and social elevation do not lead to spiritual-mindedness.

(2) Beggary, physical helplessness, and deprivation of all worldly comforts, not able to wean the believer from God.

(3) The Holy Scriptures Gods best guide to spiritual truth.

3. As to the future state.

(1) That man has an immortal nature.

(2) That death does not affect the constituents of this nature in respect either to

(a) Its consciousness;

(b) memory;

(c) conscience.

(3) That death does not affect the moral condition of this nature.

(4) Heaven and hell, respectively appointed for the good and bad.

(5) Heaven and hell, eternally separated by an impassable gulf. (D. C. Hughes, M. A.)

A wealthy but sad family

I. A WEALTHY FAMILY. Wore purple and fine linen every day. Probably the great magnates of the neighbourhood.

II. A LARGE FAMILY. Six brothers.

III. A FAMILY WHICH DEATH HAD VISITED. The rich man died and was buried. Death will neither be bribed by wealth, nor wait for preparation.

IV. A FAMILY, ONE OF WHICH WAS IN HELL. Secular wealth is sometimes soul-degrading.

V. A FAMILY WHOSE SURVIVING BROTHERS WERE ALL ON THE ROAD TO RUIN.

VI. A FAMILY WHOSE DECEASED BROTHER RECOILED AT THE IDEA OF REUNION.

VII. A FAMILY WHO POSSESSED ALL THE MEANS THEY NEEDED OR WOULD EVER HAVE FOR SPIRITUAL SALVATION. (Anon.)

Opportunity for charity

There was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate. This is a fact of importance in the history of Dives. Lazarus enters on the stage not merely to present a striking contrast to the rich mans state, but as one with whom the latter had relations. Lazarus represents opportunity for the exercise of humanity. That is the chief if not the sole purpose for which he appears in the first scene. (A. B. Bruce.)

Wealth making friends for the future

What a vastly greater benefit Dives might have gained through Lazarus, had he only turned his acquaintance with him to account in good time. Had he made of him a friend with his worldly possessions he might have been his companion in paradise. But now, so far from attaining that felicity, he cannot even obtain the little favour he craves. (A. B. Bruce.)

Contrasts

This parable is full of sharp contrasts.

1. There is the contrast in the life of these two men. The one rich, the other a beggar. The rich man had great possessions, yet one thing he lacked, and that was the one thing needful. Lazarus, the beggar, was after all the truly rich man, as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

2. Next, there is a contrast in the death of these two men.

3. And there is a contrast in the after time for these two men. The rich man was buried, doubtless, with great pomp. Some of us have seen such funerals. What extravagance and display take the place of reverent resignation and quiet grief! Of the beggars burial place we know nothing.

4. But the sharpest contrast of all is in the world beyond, from which for a moment Jesus draws back the veil. (H. J. Wilmot Buxton, M. A.)

Dives and Lazarus

I. THE UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE GIFTS OF PROVIDENCE AMONGST MANKIND.

II. THE DECISIVE ADJUSTMENT OF THINGS THAT TAKES PLACE AT DEATH.

III. THE EVERLASTING SEPARATION THAT TAKES PLACE AT DEATH BETWEEN THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED.

IV. THE VIEW THAT IS TAKEN OF THIS LIFE WHEN ONCE THEY GET OUT INTO THE FUTURE.

V. THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE REVELATION THAT GOD HAS GIVEN TO CONFIRM ALL THESE THINGS. (J. E. Beaumont.)

Dives and Lazarus

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF DIVES IN HIS TWO DIFFERENT STATES OF EXISTENCE.

1. In this world Dives was possessed–

(1) Of an abundance of earthly good.

(2) He knew how to enjoy this abundance, according to the usual meaning of this phraseology.

(3) He was probably, so far as pertains to human nature in these circumstances, possessed of entire ease of mind.

2. At death his situation was in all respects reversed.

(1) He was disembodied.

(2) In absolute want of all things.

(3) Despised.

(4) Miserable.

II. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF LAZARUS IN THE PRESENT WORLD, AND IN THE FUTURE.

1. In this world, Lazarus was–

(1) In a state of the most abject poverty.

(2) Miserable.

2. In the future world he was–

(1) Rich in the abundance of all things.

(2) Honourable.

(3) Happy. (T. Dwight, D. D.)

The rich man and Lazarus

I. THE RESEMBLANCE BETWEEN THESE TWO MEN.

1. The parable speaks of a rich man and a poor man; and the resemblance between them may be traced, first, in the mortality of their bodies. They were both men, sinful men, and consequently dying men. No sooner is it said that the beggar died, than it is added, the rich man also died. And thus must end the history of us all.

2. These men resembled each other also in the immortality of their souls. The soul of the poorest amongst us is as immortal as the soul of the richest.

3. To these two points of resemblance between these men, we may add a third, not indeed absolutely expressed here, but, like the fact we have just alluded to, evidently to be inferred–accountableness to God. It was not chance which placed them where they are. They went thither from a bar of judgment.

II. Let us proceed to notice, secondly, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE TWO MEN, WITH THE GROUNDS OR REASONS OF IT. They differed in two points.

1. In their earthly portion. How great a contrast! Where shall we find its origin? It warns us against judging of mens character by mens condition. That diversity of condition, which we may wonder at but cannot alter, which has prevailed more or less in every age and nation notwithstanding every attempt to put an end to it, that diversity must be traced to the sovereign will of God. And He suffers, or rather He establishes it, because it is conducive to our welfare and His own glory.

(1) It serves to show us, among other things, the poverty of the world and the all-sufficiency of God.

(2) Besides, this diversity of condition, this mixture of poverty and riches on the earth, answers a further end–it proclaims to thoughtless man another world. There must be a world in which the just Governor of the universe will assert His justice, will vindicate His character, and render to the sons of men according their works,

2. The two men it speaks of differed in their eternal condition. (C. Bradley, M. A.)

The contrast in eternity

The first truth here suggested is that by the allotments of His providence in the present world, God does not distinguish between the righteous and the wicked. It has been the grief of many good men, that the dispensations of providence in this world afford so little evidence of the impartiality and rectitude of the Divine government. Whether it be to show the comparative meanness and significance of all earthly good, or that the Father of mercies is kind even to the evil and unthankful, or to illustrate their own impenitence and obduracy, or to give them the opportunity of filling up the measure of their iniquity! or to accomplish all these purposes–the fact is unquestioned–that thus far in the history of the world, by far the greater portion of those who, like the rich man in the parable, have fared sumptuously every day, have been of the wicked rather than of the righteous. The real disposition of the Divine mind toward holiness and sin must be exhibited in the distribution of good and evil in accordance with their respective characters. The present world, therefore, is but the season of trial, with a view to a future retribution. We must look beyond, if we would see the line of demarcation between the friends and foes of God drawn with visible and permanent distinctness. This difference will be clearly and distinctly made, at the end of the world. The time of trial on the earth was never designed to be long. Human life with all its invaluable opportunities, is but a vapour that appeareth for a little while and then vanisheth away. Every man then enters upon allotments, which, so far from being influenced by his earthly standing, are exclusively determined by his moral character. There will be a difference of character, of place, of society, of employment, of prospects. They will be unlike in every conceivable particular. (G. Spring, D. D.)

Worldly gratification and its terrible mockery

My friends, do you remember that old Scythian custom, when the head of a house died? How he was dressed in his finest dress, and set in his chariot, and carried about to his friends houses; and each of them placed him at his tables head, and all feasted in his presence? Suppose it were offered to you, in plain words, as it is offered to you in dire facts, that you should gain this Scythian honour, gradually, while you yet thought yourself alive. Suppose the offer were this: You shall die slowly; your blood shall daily grow cold, your flesh petrify, your heart beat at last only as a rusted group of iron valves. Your life shall fade from you, and sink through the earth into the ice of Caina; but, day by day, your body shall be dressed more gaily, and set in higher chariots, and have more orders on the breast–crowns on its head, if you will. Men shall bow before it, stare and shout round it, crowd after it up and down the streets; build palaces for it, feast with it at their tables heads all the night long; your soul shall stay enough within it to know what they do, and feel the weight of the golden dress on its shoulders, and the furrow of the crown-edge on the skull–no more. Would you take the offer, verbally made by the death-angel? Would the meanest among us take it, think you? Yet practically and verily we grasp at it, every one of us, in a measure; many of us grasp at it in its fulness of horror. Every man accepts it, who desires to advance in life without know ing what life is; who means only that he is to get more horses, and more footmen, and more fortune, and more public honour, and–not more personal soul. He only is advancing in life, whose heart is getting softer, whose blood warmer, whose brain quicker, whose spirit is entering into living peace. And the men who have this life in them are the true lords or kings of the earth–they, and they only. (John Ruskin.)

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus

I proceed to observe the vast difference between mens conditions in this world and the other. The rich man prospered here, and was afterwards tormented. And it is very agreeable to the wisdom of God to make such a difference between mens conditions in this world and the other, and that for these two reasons:

1. For the trying of mens virtue.

2. In order to the recompensing of it. From this consideration of the difference between the condition of men in this world and the other, we may infer–

(1) That no man should measure his felicity or unhappiness by his lot in this world.

(2) We should not set too great a value upon the blessings of this life.

(3) We should not be excessively troubled if we meet with hardship and affliction here in this world, because those whom God designs for the greatest happiness hereafter may receive evil things here.

(4) We should do all things with a regard to our future and eternal state. (Archbishop Tillotson.)

The true valuation of man

In this life, under the managery of ordinary Providence, the worst men may abound with the good things of this life, and better men are sometimes shortened and want even the necessary conveniences of life. Of this I shall speak but a word, because it is a matter of easy observation. This David, Job, and Jeremiah stumbled at. That right, property, and title are founded in nature, not in grace. God gave the world and the things thereof unto the sons of men. If I would prove this to be mine, I must prove my title, not by miracle, but as the law and usage of the country where I dwell do state and determine; therefore I will say no more in this particular.

I. That if we would take a right estimate of man, we must consider him in respect to a double state–here and hereafter–and that for these two reasons:

1. Because there is less of man here and more hereafter.

2. Because man is more valuable than this world represents him to be.

I. The first of these I will make appear in three particulars, that there is less of man here and much more hereafter.

1. In respect of his time and continuance in being.

2. In this state there is less of right judgment of things and persons. Things here go under false appearances, and persons here are under the power of lying imaginations.

3. Less of weal or woe is in this state than in the other, for men in this state do not fully reap the fruit of their own ways; they do not come to the proof of the bargain they have made. In the respects before mentioned and others that possibly might be superadded, it appears that there is less of man in this world. But I may also adjoin, by way of exception, some particulars to the contrary, for I must acknowledge that in some respects our being in this world is very considerable.

I will instance in three particulars–

1. In respect of mans possibility.

2. In respect of mans opportunity.

3. In respect of mans well-grounded faith and expectation.

I now come to the second reason. Why, if we would make a just estimate of man, we must consider him in respect to his double state of existence, in time and in eternity. For man is a much more valuable creature than his affairs in this world represent him to be, and this I will make appear in three particulars. Because–

1. Man is here in his state of infancy; yea, he is as it were imprisoned and encumbered with a gross, dull, and crazy body.

2. In this state man is neither as he should be, nor, if he himself well consider, as he would be. The state of man in this world doth represent him subject to the same vanity that all other creatures lie under (Job 17:14). This state represents a man as very low and mean because he is subjected to low and mean employments–fit only to converse with other creatures. This present state represents a man in a condition of beggary, dependence, and necessity (Job 1:21). This state represents a man as worn out with solicitude and care for himself, as being tormented with fear, and more to seek than any other creature. This state represents man to be in danger from him that is next him, and of his own kind; for so is the world through sin become degenerate, that one man, as it were, is become a wolf to another. Lastly, the state of man in this life represents his condition other ways than indeed it is; that is, it represents a man the object of the devils envy, usurpation, and tyranny. He is called the Prince of the power of the air, the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience (Eph

2:2). For the close of this particular I shall add a word or two of application.
And–

1. If so be there is less of man here and more hereafter, if when we would take a right estimate of man we must consider him in respect of his double estate, hereafter as well as here, then those persons are guilty of the greatest madness and folly that consider themselves only in order to this life; whereas these men have souls to save or to lose, and there is another state that will commence and begin after the expiration of this.

2. My next inference from what hath been said is–that we should not be tempted in this life to do anything to the prejudice of our future state, the state of eternity; but to let things be considered according to the true worth and value, lest they find cause to repent, when it is too late, of the pleasures they took in their unlawful actions.

II. The second proposition is–that the state of man in the life to come holds a proportion to his affairs in this life.

1. Let it be understood that I have no intention at all to speak one word to countenance the creatures merit with God, for that I conceive to be incompatible to the condition of the highest angel in glory properly to merit anything at the hand of God.

2. Again, when I say the state of man in the world to come holds a proportion to his affairs in this world, you must not understand it means worldly circumstances of wealth, honour, pleasure, strength, or worldly privileges. Therefore in the affirmative, two things there are belonging to men in this state which are the measures of our happiness in the future state–

(1) The internal disposition and mental temper.

(2) The illicit acts which follow the temper and are connatural to it. These are our acquisitions, through the grace and assistance of God, which always is to be understood as principal to all good, though it be not always expressed, for all good is of God.

And for this I will give you an account that it must be so.

1. From the nature of the thing, for goodness and happiness are the same thing materially; in nature they are the same, as malignity and misery are the same in nature too.

2. From the judgment of God, and those declarations which He hath made of Himself in the Scriptures, which everywhere declare that He will render to every one according to right (Rom 2:6-8). Then let men look well to their mental dispositions, and to their moral actions. This is of a mighty use in religion to understand the true notion of moral actions. From the words of the text I shall observe briefly two things more–First. That worldly prosperity is no certain forerunner of future happiness; for this is a thing heterogenial, and is from distinct and quite other causes.

The providence of God governs the world, and the laws of the kingdom of Christ are quite different things.

1. Let no man make himself a slave to that which is no part of his happiness.

2. Let him take his chief care about that which is in certain conjunction with happiness, and that is the noble generous temper of his soul, and the illicit acts of his mind. Secondly. We see from hence that men change terms, circumstances, and conditions, one with another in the world to come.

For an account of this–

1. Things many times are wrong here, but they will not be wrong always.

2. The present work is to exercise virtue. This is a probation state, a state of trial, and if so, there must be freedom and liberty of action.

3. The final resolution and last stating of things is reserved to another time when no corrupt judge shall sit, but He shall come that shall judge the world in righteousness.

The use I will make of this is–

1. Therefore, do not envy any ones condition; it is not safe, though glory attend upon it for a while (Psa 37:1).

2. Satisfy thyself in thine own condition if it be good and virtuous, for then it is safe.

3. Have a right notion and judgment of the business of time, which is to prepare for the future state.

I will conclude this discourse with these four inferences:

1. Then it is folly and madness for men–as frequently they do–to estimate or consider themselves wholly or chiefly by their affairs in this world, and by the good things thereof, such as are power, riches, pleasures.

2. Then it is the great concernment of our souls not at all to admit of any temptation or suggestion to do anything in this life to the prejudice of our state in eternity.

3. Then it is fairly knowable in this state, and by something thereof as a foregoing participation or sign, what our state and condition for sort and kind will be in the world to come.

4. Then faith and patience to go through the world withal, for the day draws on apace for the stating and rectifying of things, the proportioning of recompense and reward to action, and the completing and consummating what is weak and imperfect for the present. He is unreasonably ira patient and hasty who will not stay and expect the season of the year and what that brings, but mutters and complains of injury and hard measures because he cannot have harvest in seed-time. (B. Whichcote.)

The sin of neglecting to be charitable

Here are three great aggravations of the rich mans uncharitableness–

I. That here was an object presented to him.

II. Such an object as would move any ones pity, a man reduced to extreme misery and necessity.

III. A little relief would have contented him.

1. That unmercifulness and uncharitableness to the poor is a very great sin. It contains in its very nature two black crimes.

(1) Inhumanity; it is an argument of a cruel and savage disposition not to pity those that are in want and misery.

(2) Besides the inhumanity of this sin, it is likewise a great impiety toward God. Unmercifulness to the poor hath this fourfold impiety in it–it is a contempt of God; an usurpation upon His right; a slighting of His providence; and a plain demonstration that we do not love God, and that all our pretences to religion are hypocritical and insincere.

2. That it is such a sin, as alone, and without any other guilt, is sufficient to ruin a man for ever. The parable lays the rich mans condemnation upon this, it was the guilt of this sin that tormented him when he was in hell. The Scripture is full of severe threatenings against this sin (Pro 21:13). Our eternal happiness does not so much depend upon the exercise of any one single grace or virtue, as this of charity and mercy. Faith and repentance are more general and fundamental graces, and, as it were, the parents of all the rest: but of all single virtues, the Scripture lays the greatest weight upon this of charity; and if we do truly believe the precepts of the gospel, and the promises and threatenings of it, we cannot but have a principal regard to it.

I know how averse men generally are to this duty, which make them so full of excuses and objections against it.

1. They have children to provide for. This is not the case of all, and they whose case it is may do well to consider that ii will not be amiss to leave a blessing as well as an inheritance to their children.

2. They tell us they intend to do something when they die. It shows a great backwardness to the work when we defer it as long as we can. It is one of the worst compliments we can put upon God to give a thing to Him when we can keep it no longer.

3. Others say, they may come to want themselves, and it is prudence to provide against that. To this I answer–

(1) I believe that no man ever came the sooner to want for his charity. David hath an express observation to the contrary (Psa 37:25).

(2) Thou mayest come to want though thou give nothing; in which case thou mayest justly look upon neglect of this duty as one of the causes of thy poverty.

(3) After all our care to provide for ourselves, we must trust the providence of God; and a man can in no case so safely commit himself to God as in well-doing.

But, if the truth were known, I doubt covetousness lies at the bottom of this objection: however, it is fit it should be answered.

(1) I say, that no man that is not prejudiced, either by his education or interest, can think that a creature can merit anything at the hand of God, to whom all that we can possibly do is antecedently due; much less that we can merit so great a reward as that of eternal happiness.

(2) Though we deny the merit of good works, yet we firmly believe the necessity of them to eternal life. (Archbishop Tillotson.)

Thoughts

1. Riches constitute a serious, though not insuperable, obstacle to ones salvation; and poverty, in itself undesirable, is, in a spiritual aspect, less dangerous than riches.

2. Before Him who seeth not as man seeth, the millionaire has no advantage over the mendicant.

3. The soul is the same self-conscious existence immediately after death that it was before; and death ushers some, at once, into a state of conscious enjoyment, and some into a state of conscious misery.

4. They that would not, while probationers, cry to God for mercy, will, in eternity, look in vain for mercy to either God or man.

5. Those whom God designs to save He finds it necessary to chasten, so that lifes evil things may wean them from the world and fit them the better to enjoy an eternity of good things. But there are men of the world who have their portion in this life. They prefer enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season, rather than to suffer affliction with the people of God, and hence they in their lifetime receive their good things, but are tormented in the world to come.

6. While here, sinners are urged to cross the moral chasm which separates them from saints, for Christ has bridged it; but after death it becomes to them an unbridged, impassable gulf.

7. How deluded are they who suppose that converse with the dead is possible, or that the unseen world can, in that way, be partly unveiled. An inspired book was Gods wise and chosen mode of acquainting us with spiritual truths, and he who has this book, yet disregards its teachings, will, in eternity, reap the bitter consequences. (T. Williston.)

Dives and Lazarus

I. THE FUTURE STATE IS ONE OF RETRIBUTION.

II. THE FUTURE STATE IS ONE INTO WHICH MEMORY ENTERS AS A FACTOR OF HAPPINESS OR MISERY.

III. IN THE FUTURE STATE INTEREST IS FELT IN THOSE WHO ARE STILL IN THE BODY.

IV. GOD BESTOWS UPON US HERE AND NOW ALL THE PRIVILEGES WHICH ARE NEEDFUL TO PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE STATE. Conclusion:

1. The seriousness and solemnity of this earthly probation.

2. The folly of those who use this life simply for their own gratification.

3. The nearness of eternity.

4. The justice of Gods requirement of assent to His truth and compliance with His demands.

5. The importance of an immediate acceptance of the gospel, and immediate preparation for judgment. (J. R. Thomson, M. A.)

Luxury disregarding severing

Mdlle. Taglione, the celebrated dancer, spent her last London season at Her Majestys Theatre in 1847. She said she would not return to London, being dissatisfied with the admiration which she received. The season was exceptionally brilliant, though it was said that bread was dear, and the misery of the people great. One would never suspect it, said the famous dancer, to see so many splendid equipages, and so many diamonds on the white shoulders of the ladies.

Wanton extravagance

The age cannot be very good, remarked Hannah More, when the strawberries at Lady Stormonths breakfast last Saturday morning cost one hundred and fifty pounds.

Too respectable for hell

A wealthy merchant of Philadelphia, who would not listen to the gospel message in health, sent for me at his deathbed. I told him, I have nothing new to tell you. You are a sinner, and here is a Saviour. Do you feel your guilt, and will you take a Saviour? No. There must be some better place than hell for a man of my respectability. (S. H.Tyng, D. D.)

Riches and perdition

Ay, and so it is with the wicked man nowadays. He gets rich, but what is the use of being wealthy if you must be damned? Fool that he is, if he buys a gold coffin, how would that help him? Suppose he is laid out with a bag of gold in each hand, and a pile of it between his legs, how will that help him? Others seek to get learning, but what is the good of learning if you sink to perdition with it? Take up the learned mans skull, and what is the difference between that and the skull of the merest pauper that scarcely knew his letters? Brown unpalpable powder, they both crumble down into the same elements. To die in a respectable position, what is the use of it? What are a few more plumes on the hearse, or a longer line of mourning coaches? Will these ease the miseries of Tophet? Ah! friends, you have to die. Why not make ready for the inevitable? Oh! if men were wise, they would see that all earths joys are just like the bubbles which our children blow with soap; they glitter and they shine, and then they are gone, and there is not even a wreck left behind. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The just retribution of selfishness

How marvellously just was the retribution of selfishness! with what wonderful precision was the punishment adapted to the sin! During the life of Lazarus, he had laid at the rich mans gate, whence he could behold the pomp, and hear the revelry, that reigned in the gorgeous mansion; and he had asked only for the crumbs that fell from the table, and even these were denied him. But after death the rich man and the beggar are literally made to change places. Dives is placed where he can be a spectator of the happiness of Lazarus; and he desires, but desires in vain, a single drop from those gushing fountains which he saw on the other side of the gulf. You cannot but observe how accurately Dives has become what Lazarus was, and Lazarus what Dives. Lazarus was the beggar, now Dives is. Lazarus saw, though he did not share the abundance of Dives; Dives now sees, but only sees, the abundance of Lazarus. Lazarus asked for crumbs, and Dives asks for a drop. Crumbs were refused, and now even the drop is withheld. Thus the selfish man is made to feel his selfishness through being placed in the precise position of the supplicant, whom his selfishness had caused him to neglect. It may be thus in regard to every other sin, that the wicked will be so circumstanced in futurity, that their sins will be forced on their recollection, and thus conscience be kept for ever on the alert–for ever on the fret. And all–for indeed these are things too dreadful to be dwelt on long–all we can say is, that if the selfish man is to beg in vain from the victims of his selfishness, if the envious is to be forced to gaze on the splendour of those whom he envied, if the seducer is to be made to feel himself for ever the seduced–yea, if punishment is to be so exactly the picture of crime, that a man shall seem to be eternally receiving in his own person the very wrongs that he did to others, so that every stroke beneath which he writhes will appear as the reflected blow of his own violence rebounding on himself, then, indeed, must we be living under a government which will vindicate its righteousness; and he who, in Scriptural language, sows the wind, must be a spectacle of justice when compelled to reap the whirlwind. (H. Melvill, B. D.)

Self-denial necessary to salvation

This rich man was no opera sinner, but he was simply living to and for self; he enjoyed life, as men say, to the full; he got out of it all the satisfaction he could; self was the centre round which his thoughts, his time, his money revolved; he indulged his taste for fine dress and good food without restraint. In the face, then, of this awful warning, ask yourself the question, Can it be said that my life is marked by self-denial? do I, for Christs sake, and for that only, do that which is against my natural inclinations, and leave undone that which I should otherwise be inclined to do? or, on the other hand, is it my constant aim and desire to get as much enjoyment for myself as I can in life, if not to the loss and injury of others, yet without any particular thought or care about them? And it will not do to reckon as acts of self-denial instances in which our wills and inclinations have been thwarted, either by others, or by the direct action of Gods providence. We must all of us endure a great many crosses and disappointments whether we will or no; no doubt the rich man had occasionally his cares and vexations. These do not leave the stamp of the cross upon our lives, except when they are made to minister to our spiritual good through a willing and loving acquiescence in the will of our Heavenly Father. They may become only the occasion of fresh sin in the shape of fretfulness and discontent. Self-denial is something very different from these. It is the habit of mind which leads us in everything to ask, not how may I best please myself, but, how may I best serve God and aid the souls and bodies of others? Take, for instance, the question of time. We are naturally selfish about our time; we like to spend it in the manner which most gratifies self. Self-denial will set us about asking, Can I, by giving this or that hour which I should otherwise devote to amusement, bring any aid or pleasure to others? Or again, take the question of money. We naturally like to spend our money on ourselves, or on some object which brings gratification to self. Self-denial will suggest to us to give up something which we should otherwise have liked in order to devote the money to God. And do not let us shrink back as though self-denial were some hard, bitter thing: it brings with it greater pleasure than self-indulgence. And we may begin, if we have never practised it before, by small acts; God accepts even the cup of cold water given for Christs sake. (S. W.Skeffington, M. A.)

Conscious existence after death

I. THERE IS SUCH A THING AS CONTINUANCE OF EXISTENCE–AND OF CONSCIOUS EXISTENCE–AFTER DEATH.

II. THIS CONDITION OF CONSCIOUS EXISTENCE MAY BE ONE OF INTENSE MISERY.

III. CONSIDER WHAT IT WAS IN THE RICH MANS EARTHLY LIFE WHICH LED TO SUCH CALAMITOUS RESULTS. (Gordon Calthrop, M. A.)

The mind made a hell

A great and rich man in one of our towns in the West was once taken sick and lost his mind. When he recovered from his sickness he was still a deranged man. He seemed never to know his own wife or children. He forgot all his old friends. For seven long years he was in this unhappy state. One day, while sitting in the room where his daughters were, he sprang from his chair and cried out in great joy, Thank God I am out at last! I cannot describe the scene of that hour. He embraced and kissed his daughters. He wept with joy on the bosom of his wife, and acted as if he had not seen them for many years. At last he said to them, For seven long years I have been in a burning hell. It was a horrible cavern of lakes and rocks and mountains of fire. I saw millions there, but could find no friend. I was ever burning, yet never consumed; ever dying, yet never dead. No light of the sun shined there, and no smile of God was seen. I remembered there every sinful thing I had done, and was tormented in my soul. I thought of the sufferings and death of that blessed Saviour, and how I had treated Him. There was no rest to my soul day nor night. I had no hope there. Yet I wandered in madness to find some way of escape. At last, as I stood on the top of a high rock blazing with heat, I saw in the distance a little opening like the light of the sky. I jumped headlong down, and with all my powers made my way towards it. At last I climbed up to it, and worked and struggled through; and, blessed be God, here I am again, with my beloved wife and children. Now, my friends, suppose there is no such place as hell. Suppose some one should be so foolish as to hope that there is no such place. Yet remember, that if God can make a mans own mind such a hell as this while he is yet in this world, He can find a still more fearful hell for him in the world to come. (Bishop Meade.)

Where is hell?

Where is hell? was the question once asked by a scoffer. Brief but telling was the reply, Anywhere outside of heaven. (Biblical Museum.)

No relief possible in hell

It is an overpowering reflection! but we have sometimes emboldened ourselves to inquire what would bring relief and support to the lost in hell? What could soften the keenness of that flame? And two considerations have raised themselves in our mind as those which, could they be indulged, might yield the assuagement that we had ventured to suppose.

1. The first consideration we should demand is, that the sufferer of the doom might feel that it was inevitable. The idea of fate sets us free from the sense of blame.

2. The second consideration which might subdue the fierceness of infernal agonies, would be that they are undeserved. It would be joy to the prisoners, could they only reflect, We are the victims of arbitrary justice! Spirit has not, however, passed into such regions with either of these consolations, nor found them there! Spirit never, in fearful soliloquy, spake: Necessity wrought this chain, and malignity locked it! Spirit never exclaimed: Despite of myself, I was dragged hither, and here in violation of all truth and equity I am chained! It is the converse of these thoughts that deepens the outer darkness, that accumulates the horrors of the pit. It need not have been. What a self-upbraiding! Justice had none other recourse. What a self-condemnation! Why would ye die? is the rebuke for ever in their ear! We indeed justly, is the confession for ever on the tongue! (R. W. Hamilton.)

Final impenitence

It is something–it is a step towards higher reaches of faith, to be well assured of the existence and reality of this invisible realm, in which the spirits of the departed energize (for surely such is the plain teaching of the parable) after they are severed from the body, and go through all the processes of consciousness, thought, and feeling. It is something to believe, or rather something to realize the truth, that there is indeed a world, more thickly peopled with the spirits of the departed than this earth is with the bodies of the living; and that among the inhabitants of this world there are movements of mind, actings of the will, the memory, the understanding, the affections: on the one hand, a spiritual intercommunion with Christ and the members of Christ, fetching deepest peace into the soul; on the other, all the agitations of fear, remorse, compunction, and despair. The realm is to us a shrouded realm, but surely not the less real because we cannot apprehend it with our senses. Let us now consider briefly what the text implies of the circumstances, sentiments, and character of the rich worldling, who is represented as undergoing torments.

I. As to his circumstances. It is sufficiently indicated that he was a Jew by descent. He calls Abraham father, and Abraham, though separated from him by a great gulf, though unable to render him assistance, or comply with his request, does not refuse to recognize hire. Abraham said unto him, Son, remember. What! a son of Abraham, and yet an outcast! Circumcised the eighth day, and yet a reprobate! A child of Gods covenant, and yet a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction!

II. From the position and circumstances of this rich worldling, we next proceed to consider his sentiments. He is represented as imploring Abraham to save his five brethren from the doom in which he had irretrievably involved himself, by sending them an unearthly warning of the reality of a future state of existence, and of its horrors for the ungodly. It does not seem that every spark of natural affection, exile from God and from happiness though he be, is extinguished in this mans breast.

III.
Let me mention a third point, still more favourable to his salvation, than the two preceding, but still quite insufficient to secure it: this is, that so far as appears from the narrative, he had not been guilty of any crime, of any gross or palpable offence whatever.
He had not hurled blasphemous defiance against the Most High.
My brethren, these remarks may serve to confute the fatal error of those in whose estimation the only real sins in existence are sins of commission.
How many are there who congratulate themselves on the many wrong things which they have never done.
What, then, was the sin, a wilful and impenitent continuance in which ensured the eternal loss of this worldlings soul? The sin, in its root (for every sin has a root, a state of mind out of which it springs and to which it is referable), was unbelief.
But I must hasten on to point out the particular development of unbelief with which this narrative presents us.
If a man have no realizing apprehension of a future state, still more if he entertain doubts respecting some revealed particulars of that state, the natural consequence, the practical operation of such views, will be a living for this world.
All beyond the grave is, in such a mans apprehensions, hazy, indistinct, uncertain.
His aim was to enjoy himself, to lead a life of ease and self-indulgence.
He secluded himself, as much as he could, from annoying sights and distressing sounds.
Whenever, accidentally, misery or want met his eye, he turned away as from an object distressing to contemplate. And hence, probably, more than from any settled hardness of heart, sprang his culminating offence, his entire lack of service to Gods poor. Behold then, brethren, in these words, the origin and development of that sin which, cherished to the end of his days, issued in the ruin of his soul–practical unbelief; a living unto self and for this world; an entire forgetfulness of the wants of others. Nothing flagrant, nothing vicious, nothing openly immoral, but quite enough to conduct him to that awful realm, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. My brethren, our subject admits of, or rather it challenges, a close application to our own circumstances, and that in regard both of the times on which we are fallen, and of the place in which our lot is cast.

1. A subtle disbelief of the spiritual world in general, and of a future state of existence (at least on the side of eternal punishment), is fast insinuating itself into the minds of the respectable, the educated, and thoughtful classes. Again, there is a growing, and even avowed, disbelief among the most earnest and thoughtful men of the day on the subject of eternal punishment. And here I would remark that disbelief of the future world, in any of its aspects, is very closely connected with disbelief of the unseen world which is at present around us. I shall suppose, then, the case of a man who, while orthodox in all the main articles of his religious belief, and nominally a member of the Church, has allowed his faith in things unseen and eternal to be secretly sapped. In that he resembles Dives.

2. The second point to which I shall call your attention, in applying to our own consciences the warning of the text, is the atmosphere of religious privilege, which my academical hearers specially, but those residing in the city also in good measure, habitually inhale. Yet who does not know that, where no corresponding zeal and spirituality exist in the heart, this frequency of religious ordinance and privilege acts rather as a soporific than as a stimulant, makes eternal things more hazy and less substantial than they were, when worship more rarely recurred?

3. Now, our Lord, in the parable before us, represents this development of resources as having a dangerous tendency, as contributing something material to strengthen the impenitence of the natural heart. (Dean Goulburn.)

Natural affection distinguished from the faith and love of the gospel

We desire to show what light she parable throws on the obligation and the motives of Christian benevolence: First, by setting before us, in the rich man, a character in which that grace is deficient; and, secondly, by setting before us, in Lazarus, a fitting object for its exercise.

I. We find in the rich man a character devoid of Christian benevolence, or the Christian principle of benevolence; and this defect rendered all his goodness of any other sort unavailing. For that he was good in some points and in a certain sense we gather from the conclusion of the parable. And why does he select his brothers alone, from the victims of his example? It must be–it can only be–from the relentings of fraternal tenderness. The earnestness of his prayer, that they might not also come to the place of torment, marks the still remaining sensitiveness of his natural sensibilities, and the strength of his natural affection. In the first place–how little is that sensibility and natural affection to be depended upon, which even the condemned in the place of torment may feel! What! will you build your hope of heaven on a virtue which you may share in common with the accursed inmates and inhabitants of hell? Will you plume and pride yourselves on your kindly feelings, or your goodness of heart, as a security that all is well, and that ultimately, somehow or other, you cannot but be happy, when you see much of that kindliness of feeling, and what you call goodness of heart, in the regions of everlasting woe? Learn, then, ye who are living in friendship with the world, yet still in conscious enmity against God–loving perhaps your brother, according to the flesh, with much tenderness of human affection, yet untaught to love your God with all your heart, and to love your neighbour for His sake–learn to estimate the real worth, or rather worthlessness, of your much.vaunted goodness of heart. It is not a goodness that will carry you to heaven. But, in the second place, we must put the case more strongly still. We must observe that this natural sensibility and affection, when the views are thus enlarged by taking in eternity as well as time, may become itself the very source of misery and torment. It is evidently so represented in the case of this rich man. His solicitude about his brothers very much increased his own sufferings, and aggravated the agony of his own hopeless condetonation. This is a very striking and appalling view to take of the misery awarded to the impenitent and unbelieving. It shows how the very best, the most amiable and generous, feelings of the unrenewed and unregenerated soul, may become themselves the means and occasions of its sorer punishment. Experience even here on earth shows, that affection makes us partakers of the sufferings as well as the joys of our fellow-creatures and friends. His love to his brothers on earth superseded his love to his Father in heaven. And fitly therefore now, that very love is made to minister the punishment due to him for his breach of the first and great commandment. He loved his brethren independently of God. He made them partakers of his pleasures; and partakers also of his sin. Have you no fear, I ask–that in the very attachment you are now forming–in the very affection you are now indulging–in the friendship and love which every day is rendering more intense, as you lavish on its object all proofs and tokens of tenderest regard–you may be but treasuring up the very instruments of wrath against theday of wrath? Cultivate the charities of social and domestic life; but be sure that you cultivate them as in the sight of God, and in the full and steady prospect of eternity.

II. We turn now to the other party in this scene, the other figure in this picture. We consider the beggar, and his claim to sympathy and relief. It is a claim which the benevolence of mere natural feeling overlooked, but which the benevolence of Christian principle insists upon having regarded. It is in this light, accordingly, that the Christian considers his fellow-men; as being either actually partakers, or capable of yet becoming partakers, of the grace and the glory of God. This is the ground of the esteem in which he holds them–this the measure of the value he assigns to them. How different is this esteem of men, on account of the worth and value of their souls, from the careless and casual sympathy of mere natural compassion, and how vastly more effectual as a motive of benevolence? The man of natural kindness and sensibility, touched with the sight of woe, and moved to pity and to tears, may utter the voice of tenderness, and stretch forth the hand of charity. But the object of his compassion has no great importance or value in his eyes. All the interest he takes in him is simply on account of his present suffering. But now, if you were to view that individual in the light in which Christianity represents him; as one of those whom the Father willeth to save, and for whose souls He gave His own Son to die; how would the intensity of your concern in Him be deepened, and how would your sense of obligation to Him be enhanced! Again, how different is this Christian view of the preciousness of every human being, from the view which mere infidel philanthropy takes! On the infidel hypothesis–what at the best, in the eye of enlightened benevolence, is the race of man? A succession of insects–creatures of a day, fluttering their few hours of shade and sunshine, and then sinking into endless night. Is it worth while to fret and toil much for such a generation? It is the gospel alone that shows the real value of man–of individual man–as having a spirit that will never die; and enforces the regard due to him from his fellow-men on the ground of his being the object of the regard of their common God. See, then, that you love him as God loves him. God is kind to the evil and to the unthankful, because He would have them to be saved. Be you kind to them also; and with the same view. Abound towards them in all good works.

Melt their hearts, though hard and sullen as lead, by heaping your benefits as coals of fire upon their heads. (Dr. Candlish.)

The rich mans prayer

I. A good act at a wrong time.

II. A good prayer for a wrong purpose.

III. A good effort with no effect. (The Preachers Analyst.)

Son, remember

The retributive power of memory

Those who believe in the immortality of the soul must also believe in the immortality of its faculties–reason, memory, conscience.

I. WHAT, THEN, IS MEMORY? LET US FIRST DEFINE THE FACULTY. Every one is aware of the fact that the knowledge which we have once acquired, the things we have seen and done, the experiences that we have had, though not always present to the mind, are nevertheless so retained, that the same things may be, and often are, recalled to our mental notice. Every one is fully conscious of such a fact in his own history. We designate this fact by the term memory. Memory is, therefore, the minds power of preserving and knowing its own past history. It is the same in both worlds. We are, moreover, so constructed, that we cannot discredit the knowledge given by memory. I am as certain of what I distinctly remember, as I can be of anything. The absolute loss of memory would destroy the whole framework of mans mental existence, by limiting his intellectual life to the impressions of the passing moments.

II. LET ME SAY THAT MEMORY OPERATES IN OBEDIENCE TO ESTABLISHED AND PERMANENT LAWS. By them we conduct the process of memory. We do it without labour, yea, by necessity, having no power not to do it. Thus we think of ourselves as intelligent, conscious, voluntary, in both worlds, in both exercising memory according to fixed laws, some of which at least rule our present life.

III. I WISH TO CALL YOUR ATTENTION TO THE EXTENT OF ITS RETENTIVE AND REPRODUCTIVE POWER. In the amazing greatness of this power, as we observe it in time, we shall perhaps find the condition of at least conjecturing what it will be in eternity. It was the opinion of Lord Bacon that nothing in ones antecedent history is ever irrecoverably forgotten.

Coleridge held the same view. We know, as a matter of positive experience, that the prominent and leading facts of life past are safely retained in the bosom of memory. The many instances of remarkable memory that we gather from history are an instructive commentary upon the greatness of this power. Themistocles, we am told, could call by their names the twenty thousand citizens of Athens. It is said of Cyrus, that he could repeat the name of every soldier in his army. There are also many striking and peculiar cases of resuscitated knowledge, in which apparently extinct memories are suddenly restored. Numerous instances of quickened memory, under the influence of physical causes, show what the mind may do under special and extraordinary exaltations of its activity. Persons on the brink of death by drowning are said to have unusually vivid visions of the past. If such be memory here, in this nascent state of our being–this mere infancy of our intellectual life–what may it not be, and what may it not do, when, with our other faculties, freed from a body of flesh and blood, it shall soar in progressive expansion and enlargement through the ages of a coming eternity?

IV. WHAT IS TO BE THE IMPRESSION OF MEMORY UPON OUR HAPPINESS OR MISERY IN THE FUTURE WORLD? That so great a power will make an impression upon the soul, pleasant or painful, according to the character of the facts embraced in the exercise, is an inference derivable not only from the greatness of the power, but equally from the ample materials of our present experience. (S. T. Spear, D. D.)

The memory of the lost

I. THERE IS SATISFACTORY EVIDENCE THAT THE MEMORY OF EARTHLY SCENES WILL BE RETAINED IN ETERNITY. This is implied in the very nature of retribution. The soul is to be punished for the deeds done in the body; and unless it remember those deeds, how can it know for what it is punished? The nature of retribution, and the end of Gods government in it, require that the soul should remember. Moreover, the philosophy of the mind itself teaches the same thing. Go to the place of your birth, and look at the objects that were familiar to you in early days, and the scenes and events of childhood, which have been gone from you for years, will come thronging up from the storehouse of memory, and you will almost think yourself a child again. The past is not for ever gone, and at the appropriate signal it can all be summoned before us. And is there any evidence that death will break this chain of memory?

II. NOT ONLY WILL THE MEMORY EXIST IN THE FUTURE WORLD, BUT IT WILL PROBABLY POSSESS FAR GREATER ACTIVITY AND ENERGY THAN IN THE PRESENT LIFE, AND THUS BE ENABLED TO RECALL THE PAST WITH A DISTINCTNESS AND VIVIDNESS NOW WHOLLY UNKNOWN. That our knowing faculty will be vastly increased is expressly asserted in the Word of God. Why not, then, the remembering faculty, which is so intimately associated with it?

III. WHAT SUBJECTS WILL PROBABLY BE MOST PROMINENT IN THE REFLECTIONS OF THE LOST SOUL.

1. They will remember the gifts of Providence, for which they requited their Maker with ingratitude and rebellion.

2. They will doubtless remember the spiritual privileges which they failed to improve.

3. Sinners will remember in eternity the evil influence which they exerted while on earth, and all the fatal consequences of it. (D. B. Coe.)

Son, remember

Like Fear, like Hope, like Love, like Conscience, Memory has a place, a large place, in the heart, in the life, and therefore in the gospel. Whose to-day is not the product of a number of yesterdays? Whose present is not the very fruit and harvest of his past? We should expect that this thing–call it faculty, gift, talent, infliction, or what you will–would have a place, and it has a large place, in Revelation; for Revelation is nothing else than God speaking to man as he is, and calling him to something of which he has in him already the capability and the germ. God Himself ascribes to Himself memory; speaks of remembering, and remembering not; speaks of remembering mans sorrows and His own mercy; speaks of that other faculty, the reverse of memory, the power of forgetting, which is a more Divine faculty still, when it is exercised, as in the mind and heart of God, in so putting away a mans sins that He remembers them no more. And God bids man exercise memory; bids him remember his own sins, and be ashamed, bids him remember Gods commandments, and set himself to obey; bids him remember his last end, and make preparation: bids him remember death, judgment, and eternity, and the great gulf fixed.

1. Remember, we will say first, Gods dealings with thee. O, it is not philosophy, it is mere commonplace vulgar infidelity, which makes any of us doubt whether God has been about our path and about our journey in the time past of our life. If we have not seen Him, it is the worse for us.

2. Remember the opportunities, seized or neglected, with which God in the past has furnished and endowed you. Who can think of his school-days, and not reproach himself bitterly with neglects, now irreparable, of instructions and influences which might have altered the very complexion of his life? Who can remember his friends, and not mourn over evil done and good left undone? And when we pass from these outward gifts to such as are altogether spiritual; when we think of the Word of God, and His House, and His Ministry, and His Sacraments; then, there is a solemnity, an awfulness, even as it is heard in this life, in the charge, Son, remember.

3. Remember the blessings God has showered upon thee. (Dean Vaughan.)

Memory in another world

I. In another state, MEMORY WILL BE SO WIDENED AS TO TAKE IN THE WHOLE LIFE. We behove that the contents of the intellectual nature, the capacities of that nature also, are all increased by the fact of having done with earth and having left the body behind. But whether saved or lost–he that dies is greater than when yet living; and all his powers are intensified and strengthened by that awful experience of death, and by what it brings with it. Memory partakes in the common quickening. There are not wanting analogies and experiences in our present life to let us see that, in fact, when we talk about for getting we ought to mean nothing more than the temporary cessation of conscious remembrance. Everything which you do leaves its effect with you for ever, just as long-forgotten meals are in your blood and bones to-day. Every act that a man performs is there. It has printed itself upon his soul, it has become a part of himself; and though, like a newly painted picture, after a little while the colours go in, why is that? Only because they have entered into the very fibre of the canvas, and have left the surface because they are incorporated with the substance, and they want but a touch of varnish to flash out again! As the developing solution brings out the image on the photographic plate, so the mind has the strange power, by fixing the attention, as we say (a short word which means a long, mysterious thing) upon that past that is half remembered and half forgotten, of bringing it into clear consciousness and perfect recollection. The fragmentary remembrances which we have now, lift themselves above the ocean of forgetfulness like islands in some Archipelago, the summits of sister hills, though separated by the estranging sea that covers their converging sides and the valleys where their roots unite. The solid land is there, though hidden. Drain off the sea, and there will be no more isolated peaks, but continuous land. In this life we have but the island memories heaving themselves into sight, but in the next the Lord shall cause the sea to go back by the breath of His mouth, and the channels of the great deep of a human hearts experiences and actions shall be laid bare. There shall be no more sea; but the solid land of a whole life will appear when God says, Son, remember! So much, then, for my first consideration–namely, that memory in a future state will comprehend the whole of life.

II. Another thing is, that MEMORY IN A FUTURE STATE WILL PROBABLY BE SO RAPID AS TO EMBRACE ALL THE PAST LIFE AT ONCE. We do not know, we have no conception of it, the extent to which our thinking, and feeling, and remembrance, are made tardy by the slow vehicle of this bodily organization in which the soul rides. As on the little retina of an eye there can be painted on a scale inconceivably minute, every tree and mountaintop in the whole wide panorama, so, in an instant, one may ran through almost a whole lifetime of mental acts. Ah, brethren, we know nothing yet about the rapidity with which we may gather before us a whole series of events; so that although we have to pass from one to another, the succession may be so swift, as to produce in our own minds the effect of all being co-existent and simultaneous. As the child, flashing about him a bit of burning stick, may seem to make a circle of flame, because the flame-point moves so quickly, so memory, though it does go from point to point, and dwells for some inconceivably minute instant on each part of the remembrance, may yet be gifted with such lightning speed, with such rapidity and awful quickness of glance, as that to the man himself the effect shall be that his whole life is spread out there before him in one instant, and that he, Godlike, sees the end and the beginning side by side. Yes; from the mountain of eternity we shall look down, and behold the whole plain spread before us. Once more: it seems as if, in another world, memory would not only contain the whole life, and the whole life simultaneously; but would perpetually attend or haunt us.

III. A CONSTANT REMEMBRANCE. It does not lie in our power even in this world, to decide very much whether we shall remember or forget. There are memories that will start up before us, whether we are willing or not. Like the leprosy in the Israelites house, the foul spot works its way out through all the plaster and the paint; and the house is foul because it is there. I remember an old castle where they tell us of foul murder committed in a vaulted chamber with a narrow window, by torchlight one night; and there, they say; there are the streaks and stains of blood on the black oak floor; and they have planed, and scrubbed, and planed again, and thought they were gone–but there they always are, and continually up comes the dull, reddish-black stain, as if oozing itself out through the boards to witness to the bloody crime again! The superstitious fable is a type of the way in which a foul thing, a sinful and bitter memory–gets engrained into a mans heart. He tries to banish it, and gets rid of it for a while. He goes back again, and the spots are there, and will be there for ever; and the only way to get rid of them is to destroy the soul in which they are. Memory is not all within the power of the will on earth; and probably, memory in another world is still more involuntary and still more constant. A memory, brethren, that will have its own way; what a field for sorrow and lamentation that is, when God says at last, Now go–go apart; take thy life with thee; read it over; see what thou hast done with it! One old Roman tyrant had a punishment in which he bound the dead body of the murdered to the living body of the murderer, and left them there scaffolded. And when that voice comes, Son, remember I to the living soul of the godless, unbelieving, impenitent man, there is bound to him the murdered past, the dead past, his own life; and, in Miltons awful and profound words,

Which way I fly is hell–myself am hell!

There is only one other modification of this awful faculty that I would remind you of; and that is–

IV. That in a future life MEMORY WILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH A PERFECTLY ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE OF THE CONSEQUENCES, AND A PERFECTLY SENSITIVE CONSCIENCE AS TO THE CRIMINALITY OF THE PAST. You will have cause and consequence put down before you, meeting each other at last. There will be no room then to say, I wonder how such and such a thing will work out, I wonder how such a thing can have come upon me; but every one will have his whole life to look back upon, and will see the childish sin that was the parent of the full-grown vice, and the everlasting sorrow that came out of that little and apparently transitory root. The conscience, which here becomes hardened by contact with sin, and enfeebled because unheeded, will then be restored to its early sensitiveness and power, as if the labourers horny palm were to be endowed again with the softness of the infants little hand. It is not difficult to see how that is an instrument of torture. It is more difficult to see how such a memory can be a source of gladness, and yet it can. Calvary is on this side, and that is enough! Certainly it is one of the most blessed things about the faith that is in Christ Jesus, that it makes a man remember his own sinfulness with penitence, not with pain–that it makes the memory of past transgressions full of solemn joy, because the memory of past transgressions but brings to mind the depth and rushing fulness of that river of love which has swept them all away as far as the east is from the west. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

The present life as related to the future

Let us notice some particulars in which we see the operation of this principle. What are the good things, which Dives receives here, for which he must be tormented hereafter? and what are the evil things, which Lazarus receives in this world, for which he will be comforted in the world to come?

1. In the first place, the worldly man derives a more intense physical enjoyment from this worlds goods than does the child of God. He possesses more of them, and gives himself up to them without self-restraint. Not many rich and not many noble are called. In the past history of mankind the great possessions and the great incomes, as a general rule, have not been in the hands of humble and penitent men. In the great centres of trade and commerce–in Venice, Amsterdam, Paris, London–it is the world, and not the people of God, who have had the purse, and have borne what is put therein. So far as this merely physical existence is concerned, the wicked man has the advantage.

2. In the second place, the worldly man derives more enjoyment from sin, and suffers less from it, in this life, than does the child of God. The really renewed man cannot enjoy sin. His sin is a sorrow, a constant sorrow, to him. He feels its pressure and burden all his days, and cries, O wretched man, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? And not only does the natural man enjoy sin, but, in this life, he is much less troubled than is the spiritual man with reflections and self-reproaches on account of sin.

This is another of the good things which Dives receives, for which he must be tormented; and this is another of the evil things which Lazarus receives, for which he must be comforted.

1. In view of this subject, as thus discussed, we remark, in the first place, that no man can have his good things–in other words, his chief pleasure–in both worlds. There is no alchemy that can amalgamate substances that refuse to mix. No man has ever yet succeeded, no man ever will succeed, in securing both the pleasures of sin and the pleasures of holiness–in living the life of Dives, and then going to the bosom of Abraham.

2. And this leads to the second remark, that every man must make his choice whether he will have his good things now, or hereafter. Every man is making his choice. The heart is now set either upon God, or upon the world.

3. Hence we remark, in the third place, that it is the duty and the wisdom of every man to let this world go, and seek his good things hereafter. Our Lord commands every man to sit down like the steward in the parable, and make an estimate. He enjoins it upon every man to reckon up the advantages upon each side, and see for himself which is superior. (W. G. T. Shedd, D. D.)

Memory as an element in future retribution

Memory is that power of the soul by which it retains the knowledge acquired by the perceptions and consciousness of the past. Its operations are altogether inscrutable by us, and we can give no other account concerning them than this: that God has so made us that our minds have this particular power. Memory is in every man the infallible autobiographer of the soul, and on its pages, however much they may be now concealed from view, are recorded every thought and feeling, every word and action, everything experienced and everything perceived, during the course of life. As in our meteorological stations, by a delicate instrument, with which some of you may be acquainted, the strength and direction of the wind are by the wind itself registered without intermission from hour to hour, so on the tablets of memory the whole history of the soul is by the soul itself recorded with the most minute and unerring exactness. Not indeed that all that is at every moment consciously present to the mind. There is such a thing as forgetfulness, but over against that we must place the fact that things forgotten at one time are remembered at another, so that we may fairly conclude that nothing is ever completely lost by the soul. Memory furnishes the material on which conscience shall pronounce, and conscience gives to memory the sting which turns it into remorse. This is evident, even in the present life. Our own experience testifies thereto; and though a poet has sung in strains of beauty of the Pleasures of Memory, there are few of us who could not tell a thrilling tale of its agonies as well. But in the case of the world to come, over and above these things which make memory even here a scourge to the sinner, there are three considerations which are calculated to intensify its power of torment.

1. Memory shall there recall the events of time as seen in the perspective of eternity. In the crowd and hurry of the present, things bulk before us disproportionately. We need to be at a distance from them before we can estimate them rightly. That is one reason why the past is seen always more correctly when it is past, than it was when it was present; and why it is, that in taking a review of anything, we observe more clearly where we have failed, or in what we have been to blame, than we did at the time when we were engaged in it. You may despise now the blessings which you enjoy, but when they have gone from you to return nevermore, you shall see them in their proper brightness, and upbraid yourselves for your madness in letting them go unimproved.

2. But another thing calculated to intensify the power of memory as an instrument in the retribution of the future life, is the fact that there it shall be quickened in its exercise, and we shall not be able to forget anything. Things of which we are now oblivious shall there be brought back with lurid distinctness to our remembrance, and actions long buried beneath the sands of time shall, like the ruins of Pompeii, be dug up again into the light, and stand before us as they were at first. Among ancient manuscripts which modern research has brought to light, there are some, called by learned men palimpsests, in which it has been discovered that what was originally a gospel or an epistle, or other book of Holy Scripture, had been written over by a medieval scribe with the effusions of a profane poet; but now, by the application of some chemical substance, the original sacred record has been produced, and is used as an authority in settling the reading of disputed passages. So the pages of memory are palimpsests.

3. Another thing which will intensify the power of memory as an element in future retribution is the fact that, in the case of the lost, conscience shall be rectified and give just utterances regarding the events reviewed. As he now is, the sinner can look back with mirth on come hour of frantic dissipation, or some deed of shame; but then conscience will compel him to contemplate such things with the agony of remorse. As he now is, he can congratulate himself on having done a clever thing when he has overreached his neighbour; but then he will lose sight of the cleverness of the act in the guilt by which it was characterized. As he now is, he can gloss over his excesses by speaking of himself, in the specious and entirely deceptive phraseology of the world, as fast, or a little wild, or sowing his wild oats, or the like; but then conscience will insist on calling things by their right names, and each act of wickedness will stand out before him as rebellion against God. Thus, with conscience rectified and memory quickened, it is not difficult to account for the agony of the lost, while at the same time the retributive consequences of sin in the future life are seen to be not the effects of some arbitrary and capricious sentence, but the natural and necessary results of violating the law which was written at first upon our moral constitution.

APPLICATION:

1. Look at these things in their bearing on the privileges which at present we so lightly esteem. Every blessing disregarded now will there be recalled by memory, and transformed by conscience into an upbraiding reprover and a horrible tormentor.

2. Again, let us apply the principles which have been before our minds this morning to the opportunities of doing good to others which we have allowed to go by us unimproved. Behold here, how the conscience of this man gives sting to his memory as he recalls the resources which were at his command, and sees how much he might have done with them for the promotion of the welfare and happiness of his fellow-men. Never before had he seen his responsibility for them as he sees it now, and now that he does see it in its true light he is not able to act according to its directions, so that the perception of it only magnifies and intensifies his agony. But is there no voice of warning in all this to us? (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

Reflections of sinners in hell

I. WE HAVE REASON TO BELIEVE THAT THE DAMNED WILL HAVE REFLECTIONS.

1. Their natural powers and faculties will not only be continued, but vastly strengthened and enlarged.

2. They will not meet with the same obstructions to mental exercises that they meet with here in their present state of probation. Here their cares, their troubles, their employments and various amusements, dissipate their thoughts and obstruct reflection. But there such objects will be entirely removed from their reach and pursuit.

3. God will continually exhibit before their view such things as will excite the most painful reflections and anticipations. He will set their sins in order before them, in their nature, magnitude, and peculiar aggravations, so that they cannot obliterate them from their minds. He will exhibit all his great, amiable, and terrible attributes of power, holiness, justice, and sovereignty before them, and give them a constant and realizing sense of His awful presence and displeasure. He will give them no rest and no hope. Let us now–

II. TAKE A SERIOUS VIEW OF THEIR BITTER REFLECTIONS IN THE REGIONS OF DESPAIR.

1. They will realize what they are. Rational and immortal beings, which can never cease to exist nor to suffer.

2. They will realize where they are. In hell.

3. The damned will reflect whence they came to that place of torment. They will reflect upon the land of light and the precious advantages they there enjoyed, before they were confined to the regions of darkness.

4. They will reflect upon all that was done for them, to prevent them from falling into the pit of perdition.

5. They will realize that they destroyed themselves, which will be a source of bitter and perpetual reflections.

6. They will reflect upon what they had done, not only to destroy themselves, but others.

7. They will reflect upon what good they might have done, while they lived in the world.

8. It will pain them to think how they once despised and reproached godliness, and all who lived holy and godly byes.

9. Their clear view of the happiness of heaven will be a source of tormenting reflections.

10. Finally, they will reflect not only upon what they have been, and might have been, but upon what they are, and always will be. They will reflect that being filthy, they shall be filthy still; that being unholy, they shall be unholy still; and that being miserable, they shall be miserable still.

Application:

1. If the state of the damned has been properly described, then it is of great importance that ministers should preach plainly upon the subject, and if possible, make their hearers realize the danger of going to hell.

2. If the miseries of the damned be such as have been described, then it deeply concerns sinners to take heed how they hear the gospel.

3. If the miseries of the damned be such as have been described, then we see why the Scripture represents this world as so dangerous to sinners.

4. If the miseries of the damned arise from bitter reflections, then all sinners, in their present state, are fit for destruction. They have just such views, and feelings, and reflections in kind, as the damned have.

5. If the miseries of the damned, and the character of sinners, be such as have been described, then there is reason to fear that some sinners are very near to the pit of perdition. They are in the broad road which has led many such persons as they are to the place where there is no light, and no hope. The symptoms of eternal death are upon them, though they know it not. (N. Emmons, D. D.)

The influence of memory increasing the misery of the lost

What, speaking of a lost soul, will he remember in another world?

I. THE POSSESSIONS HE HAD IN THIS: 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. Yes, all shall be recollected: the gains in business that this lost soul in perdition secured when he was an inhabitant of our world; his patrimonial possessions, his accumulations of wealth, his splendid mansions, his gay equipage, his sumptuous living, his retinue of servants, everything that constituted his gaiety and his grandeur, and all his pomp and circumstance. But what advantage will it be to have a voice perpetually saying to him throughout eternity, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things? Oh, the sting of that past tense–thou hadst!

II. LOST SOULS WILL REMEMBER THEIR WORLDLY PLEASURES. The poet has said, and every mans experience sustains the propriety and truth of the expression, Of joys departed never to return, oh how painful the remembrance. Think of the votary of this worlds pleasure, think of the man of fashion, think of the woman given up to little else than earthly delights, suddenly arrested in their career, and carried into eternity, away from all their pleasures, to a land where no sounds of mirth, no voice of song, no note of music, ever break upon the ear.

III. THE LOST SOUL WILL REMEMBER IN ETERNITY HIS SINS. The great multitude forget theirs now as soon as they are committed; and any man that sets him. Bell down to the task of counting the number of his transgressions, will find he is engaged in as hopeless a work as numbering the stars that burst on his view on a clear winters night. The lurid flashes of perdition will throw light on this subject, and for ever settle the question, that sin is an infinite evil; and then all excuses will be silenced.

IV. THE LOST SOUL WILL RECOLLECT IN ETERNITY ITS MEANS OF GRACE, ITS OPPORTUNITIES OF SALVATION, ITS ADVANTAGES FOR OBTAINING ETERNAL LIFE.

V. THE LOST SOUL IN ETERNITY, WILL REMEMBER ITS IMPRESSIONS, CONVICTIONS, PURPOSES, AND RESOLUTIONS, ON EARTH. Sometimes it is painful to you now to think of this, and you are ready to say, Oh, that I had never heard that sermon; oh, that I had never had those impressions; oh, that those convictions had never taken hold of my heart! I cannot enjoy my sins as I once did; I am half spoiled for the world, though I am not a member of the Church. Yes, and you know, that often the scene of festivity, in which others experience no interruption, is marred for you. Then think, young man, think what will be the case in eternity, when a voice shall say, Son, remember thy impressions; remember thy convictions. (J. A. James.)

The eternity of memory

Death destroys neither the souls capacities nor energies. Memory is eternal; it therefore behoves us to ask with what we are storing it.

1. Consciousness lies at the foundation of all responsible life, and soon merges into the fuller day of self-consciousness. Self-consciousness is the knowledge which self attains when it says I, and recognizes that I is distinct from anything else in the universe; and involves three things–the knowledge of myself, of something not myself, and of the relations arising between what is myself and what is not myself.

2. In order to make these relations explicit, we need a faculty to tell us that we existed yesterday, and what other faculty is this but memory? But unless we make memory to subsist in two parts, as a capacity to retain and an energy to recall, we shall not explain its workings, or be able to see in what way it is deathless.

3. The principles by which active memory works among the treasures of passive memory to recall things new and old, are called the primary and the secondary laws of association. Ideas and actions have relation to time, and connect with each other like links in a chain. Sometimes we perceive the connection between the ideas which memory recalls, at other times we do not; and yet there is some connection, just as when a row of balls is struck at one end, the force is transmitted through them, and the ball at the other end takes up the motion and the journey of the impinging ball.

4. But if memory is thus complete and deathless–as without doubt it is–some one may ask, How is it possible for any to go from an imperfectlife, with its imperishable record, and derive any pleasure from its contemplation? I answer: In the life of heaven love will predominate, and by the laws of association it will bring forth from the storehouse only such reminiscences as are pure and holy. Conclusion: In view of all this, how wise and necessary for our future happiness to fill the present life and its passing moments with kind words, upright thoughts, and useful actions. And, on the other hand, will not the memory of an evil life, if unchecked by grace and unrestrained by holy love, constitute a source of keenest misery? Will not a deathless memory work upon the quickened conscience, and gnaw like a worm that never dieth, or burn like a fire that is never quenched? (L. O. Thompson.)

Materials for a future judgment in the constitution of the human mind

The argument from memory for a future judgment is powerful, because, on every excursion of the mind into the past, there is now a judgment of conscience, and an expectation of a righteous award. Now if there be within the circle of our natural knowledges or capacities the prediction of any event, we look inevitably for some grounds of the prediction, or some signs that it is a probability, and that the event promised will take place. If it be rumoured among the people of a vast city that a new and magnificent Hall of Justice is to be built, and if there be seen a multitude of workmen collecting materials at the stated place of the proposed building, those materials are a strong proof of the truth of the common rumour. And just so, when the conscience of all mankind tells of a judgment to come, and we see how the materials for that judgment are accumulating, and the demand and necessity for it increasing, and how the busy memory is occupied with collecting and arranging those materials, the proof becomes very strong; the common rumour of the world and of the individual conscience is so corroborated, that one who looks fairly at the light of nature, even apart from that of Revelation, cannot doubt. And every instance of the power of memory, every elucidation of the laws under which the mind acts in its operations of remembrance, and every instance of the manner in which conscience accompanies this work, affords additional conviction. The first instance we shall give of the involuntary power of memory, is that noted one presented by Coleridge, which shall be related mainly in the words and with the conclusions of that eminent man. The fact that the case may be so familiar to some of our readers as to be almost a truism does not lesson its importance. A young woman, he says, of four or five-and-twenty, who could neither read nor write, was seized with a nervous fever, during which the priests and monks in the neighbourhood supposed that she became possessed of the devil. She continued incessantly talking Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, in very pompous tones, and with most distinct enunciation. The case had attracted the particular attention of a young physician, and by his statement many eminent physiologists and psychologists visited the town, and cross-examined the case on the spot. Sheets full of her ravings were taken down from her own mouth, and were found to consist of sentences coherent and intelligible each for itself, but with little or no connection with each other. Of the Hebrew, a small portion only could be traced to the Bible; the remainder seemed to be in the Rabbinical dialect. A trick or conspiracy was out of the question. Not only had the young woman ever been a harmless, simple creature, but she was evidently labouring under a nervous fever. In the town of which she had been a resident for many years, as a servant in different families, no solution presented itself. The physician, however, determined to trace her past life, step by step; for the patient herself was incapable of returning a rational answer. He searched out the place of her nativity, and from a surviving uncle learned that the patient had been charitably taken by an old Protestant pastor at nine years of age, and had remained with him some years, till his death. Of this pastor the uncle knew nothing, but that he was a very good man. With great difficulty he at length discovered a niece of the pastors, who had lived with him as his housekeeper, and had inherited his effects, and who remembered the girl. Anxious inquiries were made concerning the pastors habits, and the solution of the phenomenon was soon obtained. For it appeared that is had been his custom for years to walk up and down a passage of his house, into which the kitchen door opened, and to read to himself with a loud voice out of his favourite books. A considerable number of these were still in the nieces possession. She added, that he was a very learned man, and a great Hebraist. Among the books were found a collection of Rabbinical writings, together with several of the Greek and Latin Fathers; and the physician succeeded in identifying so many passages with those taken down at the young womans bedside, that no doubt could remain in any rational mind concerning the true origin of the impression made on her nervous system. This authenticated case, Coleridge concludes, furnishes both proof and instance that relics of sensation may exist for an indefinite time in a latent state, in the very same order in which they were originally impressed; and as we cannot rationally suppose the feverish state of the brain to act in any other way than as a stimulus, this fact, and it would not be difficult to adduce several of the same kind, contributes to make it even probable that all thoughts are in themselves imperishable; and that, if the intelligent faculty should be rendered more comprehensive, it would require only a different and apportioned organization, the body celestial instead of the body terrestrial, to bring before every human soul the collective experience of its whole past existence. And this, perchance, is the dread book of judgment, in whose mysterious hieroglyphics every idle word is recorded. Yea, in the very nature of a living spirit, it may be more possible that heaven and earth should pass away, than that a single act, a single thought, should be loosened or lost from that living chain of causes, to all whose links, conscious or unconscious, the free will, our only absolute self, is coextensive and copresent. This last remark respecting the copresence of the will in all our intelligent life, conscious or unconscious, is of the utmost solemnity and importance. Dr. Abercrombie relates another example, which he puts under the phenomena of dreams, but which is in reality a development of memory. It occurred with one of his own intimate friends, a gentleman connected with one of the principal banks in Glasgow. He was at his place at the tellers desk, when a person entered, demanding payment of the sum of six pounds. There were several waiting, who were entitled to be attended to before him; but he was extremely impatient, and rather noisy; and being likewise a remarkable stammerer, he became so annoying that another gentleman requested the teller to pay him his money and get rid of him. He did so, accordingly, but with an expression of impatience at being obliged to attend to him before his turn, and thought no more of the transaction. At the end of the year the books of the bank could not be made to balance, the deficiency being exactly six pounds. He spent days and nights in endeavouring to discover the error, but without success; when at last one night retiring to bed much fatigued, he dreamed of being at his place in the bank, where the transaction with the stammerer passed before him in all its particulars. He found on examination that the sum paid had not been inserted in the book of accounts, and that it exactly amounted to the error in the balance. His memory, which had failed him during the day, had wrought during sleep with perfect exactness. This was simply an instance of the revival of old associations, which had passed for a season from the mind and been forgotten. Thus it is that all mistakes in our accounts for eternity, arising from forgetfulness here, will be rectified when the mind acts with its full power in the spiritual world. The stars come out by night that were hidden by the day, and ten thousand thousand worlds of transactions and of consequences will be revealed in the firmament of mans consciousness, when the delusions of time and sense shall have given way to the realities of eternity. From the experience of Niebuhr, the celebrated Danish traveller, Dr. Abercrombie relates an instance of the vividness with which, as the light of the day of this world is retiring, the past realities, that are to encircle our being in the judgment, throng upon the mind; whether they be scenes of innocent delight, or of guilt and terror. When old, blind, and so infirm that he was able only to be carried from his bed to his chair, he used to describe to his friends the scenes which he had visited in his early days, with wonderful minuteness and vivacity. When they expressed their astonishment, he told them that as he lay in bed, all visible objects shut out, the pictures of what he had seen in the East continually floated before his minds eye, so that it was no wonder he could speak of them as if he had seen them yesterday. With like vividness the deep intense sky of Asia, with its brilliant and twinkling hosts of stars, which he had so often gazed at by night, was reflected, in the hours of stillness and darkness, on his inmost soul. Now these were simply the beautiful images of nature, that, having once made their impressions on a sensitive soul, could never be forgotten. But if pictures daguerreotyped, as it were, upon the soul from abroad, can thus be reproduced after the lapse of a lifetime, as vivid as when the soul first received into its depths, as in a mirror, the reflection of the glory of Gods universe, how much more certainly, with how much greater exactitude, must everything which the mind itself has originated, every spontaneous movement of thought and feeling, every development of character, be treasured in the memory, to be reproduced when conscience calls for it! If Niebuhrs memory had been filled with scenes of sin, or with the recollection of sensual and sinful pleasures, instead of those exquisite images of Oriental scenery, how intensely painful would his old age have been in the reproduction of such accumulated forms of evil, with conscience passing judgment on them all! Sometimes the acquisitions, the knowledges, of the earliest period of life, long utterly disused and forgotten, come suddenly and spontaneously again into power and exercise, as indestructible possessions of the soul. Sometimes it seems as if an invisible power were busy removing or replacing at will, as in a camera obscura, the pictures in the memory. Sometimes those that lie lowest, at the bottom of the pile, are placed uppermost, excluding all others, and sometimes the last drawn are the last seen. But how easy for the Divine Being, acting simply by the laws of the mind, to bid the soul stand still, and to draw forth before it, plate after plate, the impressions of every moment, hour, day, week, of existence, and let the conscience meditate upon it! And what an employment for a guilty and unpardoned soul! Even a single scene of guilt may fully arrest and occupy the mind for almost any period. There are cases of persons, whose sane and healthy action of mind has been disordered, having their consciousness arrested upon one single event or idea, and remaining involved in that event, or revolving that idea, for the period of near fifty years. This we call insanity. But suppose an immortal mind to stand thus petrified as it were in the eternal world for a similar interval of time, brooding in guilty consciousness over some one scene, idea, or act of guilt. Would not this be one of the direst images by which the mind can body forth its conceptions of the misery of hell? When the missionary, Mr. Moffat, had once been preaching to the natives in Africa, his attention was arrested by a young man in the midst of a group that had gathered around him, to whom he was preaching over from memory the sermon he had heard, imitating Mr. M.s gestures, as well as repeating his language, with great solemnity. He repeated the sermon almost verbatim, and when Mr. Moffat remarked to him that he was doing what he himself could not have done, he did not appear conscious of any superior ability, but touched his forehead with his finger, and remarked, When I hear anything great, it remains there. By great, he evidently meant in the sense of solemnity as connected with the souls destiny in the eternal world. And indeed there is nothing great but with reference to eternity, nothing worth preserving or remembering but in its relation to that. But all things that have the stamp of that greatness remain there, as the poor untutored negro observed, there in the mind, and can never pass from the memory. The instances of memory we have presented are most of them involuntary, spontaneous; they are instances of power, of activity, which could not be checked or prevented. Had it been ever so much against the will of the master of the faculty, that would have made no difference. The busy operator, with the utmost indifference to the souls wishes, would have brought out and displayed the minds innumerable stores. It is no matter whether they be full of sin and shame, or such as the mind would delight to avouch and greet again as its creations or possessions. The memory does not ask whether the mind be pleased with them, but starts them into being. Nay, the more displeasing they are, the more certain they are to be recalled; for this is one manifest way in which the law of association acts, and anything which the mind greatly fears, is for that very reason held tight to it. If you put by an article of your experience, and say that it is proscribed, debarred from remembrance; if you say, I never wish to see that again, let it be buried and never have a resurrection–it may be a single word, deed, look, event, or incident–the very label which you put upon it, never to be revealed, the very burial service which you perform over it, the very act of your will, consigning it to eternal banishment and forgetfulness, secure its eternal existence and power over you. Your unwillingness to look at it compels you to look. Your dread and unwillingness give it, in fact, an additional, morbid, torturing action within you, and attraction over you. Hatred is, in some respects, a stronger bond than friendship. What we hate and dread we remember with a dreadful energy, and so long as the hatred and dread exist, the object of it cannot be forgotten. We have reason to believe that even to a guilty soul nothing will be more dreadful, more hateful, than the realities of past sins. The state of a mans system in health may not attract his notice. It seems the very plenitude of health to be in such enjoyment of it, that no particular sensations excite notice. But let there be a festering wound in any organ in the system, and it shall excite more notice than the healthful state of the whole system besides. If there could be such a thing as a coal of living fire wound up as a ganglion in a mans nervous system, it would compel and concentrate all his attention. But every sin, unforgiven, is such a coal of fire. The secretions of evil, of guilt, in our experience, are secretions of irritating, painful action, secretions of remorse, compelling the remembrance. The more painful they are, the more we would forget them; but of course the more we would forget them, the more certainly we remember them. We can quicken memory, but we cannot dispossess it of any of its stores, we cannot make ourselves forget. The very attempt at forgetfulness does but startle the memory. The involuntariness of memory is the security for its full and impartial action at the judgment. The involuntariness of memory grows out of the nature of the law of association. By this law of our being, one thing, by having been connected with another, suggests and recalls it. In this way all events and all thoughts may be so linked together that if one be preserved the whole are inevitably in existence. Now there being a connection between every thought and thing in Gods universe, and some other thought or thing, and between every experience in our nature and some other experience, it is impossible, under this law, but that all should come to light, impossible that anything whatever should be lost. If two persons, or things, or ideas, are seen but once in proximity or relation, the association may be weak; one may not now necessarily suggest the other. But if seen often, the association becomes so strong as to be inevitable and irresistible. Thus, if a man be a notorious drunkard, every time you see that man you will think of his habit of drunkenness; or if a man be a profane swearer, every time you see that man, or ever hear of him, you will think of his habit of profane swearing. The thought of a man conspicuous in a page of history which is well known, brings up the details of that history. What person ever thinks of William Tell, without seeing the child, the arrow, and the apple? If there be an alarm-bell, which we are accustomed to hear rung only on occasions of danger, the sound of the bell will always suggest the image of the danger; so, the moment we hear the fire-bell, the mind inevitably pictures the evil of which it is the warning. In the country, when the bell tolls slowly and at measured intervals, you instantly think of death and a funeral. On the other hand, the noise of sleigh-bells brings to the mind all ideas of life and activity; a bracing atmosphere, a fine road covered with snow, the laughter of merry parties, the health and activity of winter. Again, you can scarcely hear the sound of the violin, but it suggests the dance; of the drum, but it brings before you all the excitement and fury of war. A case of surgical instruments tells you of ghastly wounds. The smell of camphor in a room makes you inquire if any one be ill; so does the sight of a physician entering the house. These arc common instances of the operation of the law of association, in regard to things seen or known in connection or relation. It is a law, which, even viewed merely in an external operation, as a cord, binding our knowledges in bundles, may be as powerful for evil as for good. We may lay hold upon it for the accomplishment of a happy and useful training of the mind and heart, or an education in all folly and misery. The law of association is at the foundation of most of our prejudices and superstitions. Children, whose minds are filled with nursery tales of ghosts and goblins, are afraid to be left alone in the dark; darkness has become associated in their mind with frightful images. Now it is possible to conceive of its being associated wish nothing but images of security and repose. The degree of activity and wideness of sweep in this law, in different minds, may make a genius out of one person, a dull plodder out of another. It has much to do with the development and power of the imagination. The might and majesty of its action, amidst sublime materials, may be seen in the poetry of Milton, whose imagination combined, in such intensity and comprehensiveness, the associative and aggregative faculty. The constitution of the mind of John Foster was remarkable in this respect. His associations were intensely vivid, so that words affected him with all the power of realities. In one of his Essays he speaks of a young person (and he is supposed to refer to himself, at a period when he was enchanted with the stories of Gregory Lopez and other recluses), with whom at any time the word hermit was enough to transport him, like the witchs broom-stick, to the solitary hut, surrounded by shady, solemn groves, mossy rocks, crystal streams, and gardens of radishes. The words woods and forests are said to have produced in his mind the most powerful emotion. In one of his letters he says, I have just been admiring the marvellous construction of the mind, in the circumstance of its enabling me, as I sit by my candle here, in a chamber at Chichester, to view almost as distinctly as if before my eyes, your house, the barn, the adjacent fields, neighbouring houses, and a multitude of other objects. I can go through each part of the house, and see the exact form of the looms, tables, maps, cakes of bread, and so on: down to my mothers thimble. Yet I still find myself almost three hundred miles off. At present I take no notice of the things now about me; but perhaps at some future time, at a still greater distance, I may thus review in imagination the room in which I now write, and the objects it contains; and I find that few places where I have continued some time can be thus recollected without some degree of regret; particularly the regret that I did not obtain and accomplish all the good that was possible at that place, and that time. Will it be so, when hereafter I recollect this time, and this place? This is exceedingly striking, and we are here brought from mere external things, whether of knowledge or imagination, to inward experiences, the voice of conscience, the goings on of our inward and permanent being. Here it is, and in the circle of the sweep of connection between the moral responsibilities of that permanent being and the world around us, that the law of association acts for eternity; and if it be true, as Wordsworth declares, that the faculty of imagination was given us to incite and support the eternal part of our being, equally true it is that the associative law and faculty bears reference to the same. It is with reference to the responsibilities and realities of eternity, and to the materials which we ourselves have gone on voluntarily providing for eternity, that it possesses such indestructible and unlimited dominion. Without this law, the memory would be a thing of chance, a perfect chaos. By this law, all things are connected, so connected, that, begin at whatever part of the chain you may, be sure of whatever link you please, all the rest will follow, or may be regained. There can be nothing lost, nothing forgotten. But this law is not that of mere connection, by evident and known links of circumstances; it is also that of suggestion. One idea, or train of ideas, that may have been introduced by direct connection with some present person or thing, shall suggest to the mind another, by mere resemblance or contrast, or by an abrupt transition, of which, at the time, we can give no account. The causes by which the law of association is thus rendered active and powerful are multitudinous almost beyond computation. And they respect almost equally the power and activity of memory, and the processes of present thought. If I see a face resembling that of a dear absent or departed relative or friend, I say, it reminds me of that beloved individual; it may also suggest to me a thousand busy thoughts in the present or for the future. Now the occasions on which this suggestive power is exercised are as multiplied as the experiences of our being. The various innumerable and interminable relations between external things, cause and effect, resemblance and contrast, nearness of time and place, position, preceding or succeeding, high or low, first or last, order or disorder; and in moral and intellectual processes and experiences, the same and other relations, influenced and varied by everything that can have power in building up our being, in developing our character; as the home and discipline of childhood, the instructions and examples of the family circle, the tenor of our pursuits and studies, the books read, the kind of minds conversed with, the habits of sentiment, opinion, feeling, action, formed and indulged; all these are occasions and influences, on and under which the law of association works. The part which this law of association, therefore, is to play in mens future judgment, and in the determination of their state for eternity, is evident. Without it, except by an external manifestation of things, as in a book, there could be no judgment, and but a weak self-condemnation. If, for example, when a man sees a fellow-being with whom, in time past, he has had transactions, the sight of that person did not recall those transactions, if each particular were a thing to be remembered by itself, and had no associating links of thought and feeling, no power of relation to bring up other things, a man might meet a person whom he has greatly injured, and yet not meet again the memory of that injury. A man might meet another, against whom he has borne false witness, so as to fill the slandered mans life with misfortune and misery, and yet might feel little or no compunction at the meeting, because of the want of this law of association, whereby things that have been together, or related together, suggest each other. Accordingly, because of the weakness of this law of association in some persons, there is a great defect in memory; and of course the vividness of ones recollections must be greatly dependent on the energy and power with which this law acts. A mans compunction or remorse for sin will depend greatly on his remembrance of the circumstances and feelings with which the sin was committed. And if by any means it could be possible to evade this law of association, if you could break up the inevitable chain that connects every part of a mans being with all his feelings and memories, and with him every creature and thing he has ever had to do with, if you could loosen some link, and part the series, then a mans condemnation and misery on account of sin might be not so inevitable, that is, his self-condemnation, and his misery from compunction and remorse. So much of the essence of this article of remorse depends on the remembrance of things in their order and connection, on the remembrance of associated feelings, on the remembrance of little circumstances that surrounded any act, and made up what might be called the scenery of it, that if a man could succeed in getting rid of these, if he could break the links of association, if he were not bound inevitably and for ever to them, or if he could make a chaos or confusion out of them, he would be comparatively secure. But there is no possibility of this. In being judged, a man is to be thrown back, not on the bare recollection of his sins, but on all the circumstances and feelings in and with which they were committed. Not merely the sin will be remembered, but all the then reproaches of conscience, all the light under which it was committed, all the self-deception exercised will be made plain, all the aggravations of the sin will come to view, and all the dreadful feelings that followed it will be renewed and deepened. Every sin of injury against others, against the feelings of others, against the interests of others in any way, will be connected with all the materials of compunction and remorse that preceded, accompanied, or grew out of it. And sometimes little circumstances, or what seemed little at the time, shall have extraordinary power, be invested with a world of feeling and of meaning. A single look, a single word, a circumstance that passed like a flash of lightning, shall have meaning and feeling enough connected with it to be dwelt upon for ever and ever. We might consider this in the case of the murderer; a dying word, a dying look of his victim, shall have more horror to him in the recollection, than the bare remembrance of his crime could ever have. And there may be cases in which the exercise of a cruel, severe, or hard-hearted disposition, the turning away from the cry of a fellow-being in distress, the infliction of a pang on the feelings by a cruel or contemptuous word, shall be followed by the face of the man so grieved, by the picture of the wounded spirit, with the arrow festering in it, in the soul of the sinner, to dwell there for ever. For it must be that every injury shall have a time for its revenge; every violence done to the feelings, or the welfare of others, shall be perfectly remembered, and in this very way memory shall have its revenge. So that a dying murdered man, if he wished for eternal vengeance on his murderer, wished to make it secure beyond escape and for ever, and had the command over the mind of the assassin to write there whatever he pleased through eternity, need only say that one word, remember. And every poor, oppressed bondman, and every individual helplessly borne down by a man greedy of gain, and every creature, indeed, unjustly treated in any way, need only say, remember. For this law of association makes such remembrance eternally perfect. And this law, though it be less active and apparently less perfect now in some persons than in others, and sometimes exceedingly deficient, yet is perfect and universal in the very structure of our being; and when the peculiar causes that now hinder its perfect operation in some minds shall be removed, will bring everything together. We often look with surprise in this world at some mens carelessness in regard to sin, at the hardness of their conscience, at the utter absence of conviction. It is principally because this law of association is not now in active operation in regard to the past. And hence a man sometimes thinks he has escaped from his past sins, or that the remembrance of them, if it comes, will not be so severe and terrible, the consciousness of them not so fresh, so lively, so powerful. But it will. And, moreover, there are things on which, at the time, he dwelt but for a moment, flashes of thought and feeling, gone as soon as experienced, and movements of the soul covered and put out of view by other successive movements, on which he is to dwell, and which he is to experience again, at leisure. Flashes of thought, feeling, judgment, that passed at the time like lightning, although with a voice as of Gods thunder; he is to see them again and deliberately; he is to hear the peal again, and dwell upon it; he is to listen to the voice of conscience again, and dwell upon it. And he is to do this with larger associations still, a more comprehensive circle of associated considerations, than he then deemed himself encompassed by. His connections with the universe, his place under Gods government, his attitude in regard to Gods law, his place under the atonement, his relation to Jesus Christ, all his relations as a spiritual being, are to be dwelt upon. How the law of God, and the character of God, and the weight of his own infinite obligations to God were connected with his own sins, with every one of them, he did not care to consider, when he committed them. What light they threw upon them, how much more aggravated they made them than they were when considered merely with reference to society or to ones self, he had not time, in the whirl of sin, to think of. What they were in the light of the cross of Christ, in reference to the suffering of Christ, in reference to the scheme of redemption, their associations with this scheme, and the condemnation they draw for ever from it, he had neither time nor inclination to examine. He would not have had inclination, if he had had time; and this was a part of the operation of the law of association, from which, above all else, if he had seen it, he would have desired to be released. But he will have plenty of time for its consideration. And the law of association in his mind will carry him, in all these directions, into an infinitude of conviction and remorse. In the direction toward God, as well as toward men, toward Christ as well as toward God, toward the law and the gospel, the associated relations, consequences, and condemnation of his sins will be boundless and eternal. This is the structure of our being. What subject, exclaimed Mr. Burke, on one occasion, does not branch out into infinity? This is especially the case with the moral relation of our being. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. How single circumstances connect worlds of dreadful meaning, we sometimes see developed in a striking manner. A mans sins in this world are often like old forgotten, buried, coins. They have grown rusty and illegible. They are laid away in the mind like the lumber in the shop of an antiquary. But they all have an image and superscription. They have dates and hieroglyphics, full of meaning. And there is a process by which they may be restored. The rust can be rubbed from the surface, and by fire, if no way else, the letters can again be read. So it is with mens forgotten sins. They are to have a resurrection. Some of them shall rise even with the body, shall pass from this earthly body into that spiritual body, which is to spring from it. For as the body that is laid in the grave is to be in some sense the germ of that body which is to be raised, so the character of the body which is to be raised shall be determined by the character of the body which is interred. He that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption. Sin is the seed, sin and death shall be the harvest. Neither can the sins, which are not written in a mans constitution, be forgotten, any more than those which, in their consequences in his spiritual body, are to rise with him in the resurrection. All shall come to light. The image and superscription shall be visible. The consideration of this law of our nature suggests some solemn admonitions, not only with reference to the inevitable memory and production of all our past experience at the judgment, but with reference to the character we are forming now. What are our habits of association? Do they bind us to God and salvation? Are we linked by them to the cross and the Saviour? We have the power to connect ourselves everlastingly with the elements of heaven or hell. A man may surround his soul with the scenery of either world, may live with fiends or angels beforehand. With what thoughts does he keep company? What are the habitual trains of association in his ideas and feelings? They bind him to themselves, whatever be their nature, every day, month, year, more closely, more unalterably, more indissolubly. If they are evil–and they are evil–if God be excluded from them, then they grow stronger and stronger, till a man is taken in his own iniquity, and holden with the cords of his sin. And at length it were as easy to change the very laws of nature as to change the current of association, which has become indissoluble habit. Of what infinite importance is it that the train of a mans habitual associations be elevated and holy! Let him remember that his daily habits of association are his education for eternity. They may grow up and steal upon him as imperceptibly in progress as the green blade steals from the ground and passes into the ripe full corn in the ear, ready for the harvesting. But their daily tenor is developing and fixing his character for eternity. Therefore, with what tender care and mercy does God surround us with truths, providences, and influences, to win us to Himself, to gain for His love and grace the ruling place in our affections. (G. B. Cheever, D. D.)

The power of memory

The completeness of passive memory to receive and retain everything that comes in contact with the mind, even though it enter consciousness as faint as a ray of light from a star so remote that it twinkles one second and fades the next, is one of the interesting–shall I say startling?–discoveries of mental science. And the proof of this, though indirect, amounts to a demonstration.

1. A first fact is the wonderful power of recollection which some men are known to possess. Sir Walter Scott repeated a song of eighty-eight verses which he had never heard but once, and that, too, three years before. Woodfall, the stenographer, could report entire debates a week after they had been delivered in the House of Commons, and this without any help from writing. But instances like these need not be multiplied. In old age the scenes of childhood and youth reappear with startling clearness, and ofttimes the sins of youth are recalled by a terrified conscience.

2. A second fact is seen in the flood of memories which sudden danger brings to consciousness–the chief events of life, and, among these, things entirely forgotten. This is the experience of persons rescued from drowning or violent death. Admiral Beaufort states that during the moments of submergence every incident of his life seemed to glance across his recollection, not in mere outline, but the whole picture filled up with every minute and collateral feature. (L. O. Thompson.)

The boon of forgetfulness

Great sinners have even prayed for madness as a blessing, because they knew that memory would perish with the mind, of which it is a part. But nature was ever saying to them, Son, remember.
The intoxicating cup owes not a little of its fascination to its power of drowning hateful memories. Lord Byron says–

I plunged amid mankind.

Forgetfulness I sought in all, save where tis to be found,

And that I have to learn.

Oh, give me the art of oblivion, cried Themistocles. A man once offered to teach a philosopher the art of memory for five talents. I will give you ten talents, was the reply, if you will teach me the art of forgetting. Very touching is the old-world fable that between earth and the happy plains of Elysium–the classical heaven–the river Lethe flows, and that whoever tastes its waters forgets all his past. The heathens knew that there could be no happiness hereafter unless somehow memory let go its hold of past sins. Gentle sleep owes its healing power to this, that it helps us to forget. Oh, to bury our dead past as men bury their dead out of their sight; for one sin vividly remembered has sometimes power to make the whole life bitter. Forgetfulness, it has been said, is the daughter of time, but our parable shows that she is not always the daughter of eternity, as forgetting is impossible to the unpardoned. (J. Wells.)

You cant rub it out!

Dont write there, said a little newspaper boy to a dandified youth, whom in the waiting-room of a railway station he saw about to scratch something with his diamond ring on a mirror that was hanging on the wall. Dont write there! Why not? Because you cant rub it out! So would I have you, my unconverted hearer, to be careful what you write, in your words and actions, on the tablets of your memory. You cant rub it out! and as you think of that surely you will agree with me that the time past of your lives may suffice to have wrought the will of the Gentiles. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

Power of memory

It is the teaching of modern science that no force is lost in the universe. It may be changed into other forces, but its equivalent is perpetuated. Heat becomes motion, and motion stopped becomes heat. Hence any change in the universe must affect every part of the universe. The jar of the present moment shakes the world, and, Proctor says, all worlds. By your voice you set in motion currents of air which meet on the other side of the globe. No man can speak blasphemy or foulness even in privacy without having the whole universe for an audience. We are moved upon by physical influences, born ages ago, in the remotest domain of space. In like manner the forces which originate in this world affect all worlds. Nothing is lost in the hard domain of matter. Is it likely that anything is lost in the sensitive realm of mind? Let us not think that the mental history of our life is to be lost. Great libraries have been lost and scholars have wept, but the book of the human soul has not yet been destroyed, and all its obscure passages will yet be illumined. All that is needed is a sensation strong enough to bring the past to life. The judgment bar of Christ will make us remember. What a terrible retribution would be the giving of a lost soul to the contemplation of himself! With what anguish would he look on his own vanquished years! Sad memory weaves no veil to hide the past. Hour after hour, year after year, the past life is unfolded, and in the midst of that past he beholds the form of Jesus and seems to hear His words of sorrow and of doom:–All thy life long have I stretched forth My hands to thee, and thou wouldest not.

A great gulf

The bridgeless gulf

I. In trying solemnly to speak upon this matter, I shall commence with this–THERE IS NO PASSAGE FROM HEAVEN TO HELL–They which would pass from hence to you, cannot. Glorified saints cannot visit the prison-house of lost sinners. They did both grow together until the time of the harvest; it is not necessary, now that harvest has come, that they should lie together any longer. It were inconsistent with the perfect joy and the beatific state of the righteous, with its perfect calm and purity, that sin should be admitted into their midst, or that they should be permitted to find companionships in the abodes of evil. Those who are nearest and dearest must be divided from you, if you perish in your sins.

II. As we cannot go from heaven to hell, so the text assures us, NEITHER CAN THEY COME TO US THAT WOULD COME FROM THENCE. The sinner cannot come to heaven for a multitude of reasons. Among the rest, these:

1. First, his own character forbids it.

2. Moreover, not only does the mans character shut him out, but also the sinners doom. What was it? These shall go away into everlasting punishment. If it is everlasting, how can they enter heaven?

3. Moreover, sinner, thou canst not go out of the prison-house because Gods character and Gods word are against thee. Shall God ever cease to be just?

III. But now, once again to change the subject for a few minutes, I have to notice in the third place, that while no persons can pass that bridgeless chasm, so NO THINGS CAN. Nothing can come from hell to heaven. Rejoice ye saints in light, triumph in your God for this–no temptation of Satan can ever vex you when once you are landed on the golden strand; you are beyond bowshot of the arch-enemy; he may howl and bite his iron hands, but his howlings cannot terrify and his bitings cannot disturb.

IV. Again, we change the strain for a fourth point, and this a terrible one. As nothing can come from hell to heaven, so nothing heavenly can ever come to hell. There are rivers of life at Gods right hand–those streams can never leap in blessed cataracts to the lost. Not a drop of heavenly water can ever cross that chasm.

1. See then, sinner, heaven is rest, perfect rest–but there is no rest in hell; unceasing tempest.

2. Heaven, too, is a place of joy; there happy fingers sweep celestial chords; there joyous spirits sing hosannahs day without night; but there is no joy in hell.

3. Heaven is the place of sweet communion with God.

4. There is no communion with God in hell. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The impassable gulf

There is in a forest in Germany a place they call the deer-leap, two crags about eighteen yards apart, between them a fearful chasm. This is called the deer-leap, because once a hunter was on the track of a deer; it came to one of these crags; there was no escape for it from the pursuit of the hunter, and in utter despair it gathered itself up, and in the death agony attempted to jump across. Of course it fell, and was dashed on the rocks far beneath. Here is a path to heaven. It is plain, it is safe, Jesus marks it out for every man to walk in. But here is a man who says, I wont walk in that path; I will take my own way. He comes on until he confronts the chasm that divides his soul from heaven. Now his last hour has come, and he resolves that he will leap that chasm, from the heights of earth to the heights of heaven. Stand back, now, and give him full swing, for no soul ever did that successfully. Let him try. Jump! Jump! He misses the mark, and he goes down, depth below depth, destroyed without remedy. Men! angels! devils! what shall we call that place of awful catastrophe? Let it be known for ever as the sinners death-leap. (De W. Talmage, D. D.)

The state of the soul after death

I. DYING DOES NOT SUSPEND CONSCIOUSNESS. The Bible knows nothing of dormant souls. Death takes down the scaffolding, but not the edifice.

II. DYING DOES NOT EFFACE REMEMBRANCE OF THE LIVING. Thought speeds back to earth and earthly friends. Those on earth may forget the spirit world, but those in that world forget not earth.

III. DYING DOES NOT CHANGE CHARACTER. A physical change cannot affect moral quality.

IV. DYING BRINGS CONDITION AND CHARACTER INTO ACCORD. These two men, whose outward condition was so unlike, were equally different in character. When death came, each went to his own place, one to be comforted, because the germinant seeds of peace and love were in his own heart; the other to be tormented, because the devouring flames of unbelief and selfishness were in his own bosom.

V. DYING RENDERS THE CONDITION RESULTING FROM CHARACTER PERMANENT. Man may hope theft although he die impenitent, he will in the future life find some path to heaven. But the Bible points to none. The rich man had new light, but it did not make him penitent. It did not humble him for his sin. It did not banish his unbelief. It did not expel his selfishness. It did not fill his heart with love. It helped him to see, what perhaps he had before disbelieved, that life on earth is the only time to prepare for life beyond the grave. The only way to heaven is by coming into harmony with God. (P. B. Davis.)

The great gulf

The gulf is not one of space or locality, but must be sought in the souls of individuals. It is not of place, but of being. It existed before the rich man and Lazarus died. Death did not create it. As in life, so in death, there can be no passing over it. Between the spiritually-minded man and the carnally-minded man a gulf is fixed. One cannot be as the other: nothing is so impossible. Between the pure wife and mother and the harlot that walks the streets a great gulf is fixed. The gulf cannot be passed–one cannot go to the other. You say, Cannot the pure woman fall? She cannot fall, and remain what she is. To fall would not be to cross the chasm; to fall would be filling it up; no gulf would any longer exist; she would have become even as the other. But look at it in this way–each remaining what she is, could either transfer to the other her personal qualities? Could the one on the blissful side convey one drop of purity or joy of womanhood to the other poor wretch in her flame of torment? Would not she have to refuse for herself, and for all her sisters, a drop of water for the cooling of her blistered tongue? No, there can be no crossing; only a filling up. And, if I were disposed to use this parable on either side of the controversy in reference to the future, I should say, in the case of the rich man, that process had already begun. But I do not think it legitimate to use it on either one side or the other. The gulf does not symbolize fixedness of destiny; but the dividing lines of good and evil character, and consequent misery and bliss. No man can live in sin and selfishness, and reap ultimate advantage. A process is going on in him as he thus lives, which separates him in ever greater distance from the possibilities of spiritual peace and bliss. (W. Hubbard.)

If one went unto them from the dead

Lazarus and his message

1. There is something common to this life and that to come. Heaven will give us the full gratifying banquet; but here we have, as it were, the crumbs of the heavenly table, not tossed to us disdainfully, but furnished to us compassionately that we may not perish whilst we are waiting for the hour when all our holy appetites shall be satisfied to the full.

2. Now concerning our estimation of the relative worth of this life and the life beyond. What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?–says Christ. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father–says Christ. Evidently, then, our Lord, whilst He had the warmest sympathies, the truest natural affections, and the keenest eye for whatever gleamed forth of interest in human affairs–loving the earth, though not earthly–evidently our Lord makes thepreponderant motive of life here, the expectation of complete and satisfying life hereafter.

3. Now concerning the law on which the decision turns as to where we shall be placed in a world to come. In Christs last public parable, the test of the judgment is Love. The Gentile nations are brought before Him; the sheep–those who are ready for the green pastures of the ancient but ever fresh kingdom–why are they ready? Because they did whatsoever good their hand found to do. If anybody wanted help and needed pity, they brought help and did not spare their pity; but the goats were those who might have given help, but gave none; who might have given pity, but had none to give. They had no tears ready; and they rather avoided a prison if they had friends in it; for who wants to have to do with friends whose fortunes have fallen? Now how very simple all these tests are, but very searching; but they are all comprised and infolded in this one word love. Hadst thou any real love? What other test could there be than this?

4. Concerning then the changes and stages of the world to come. Did our Lord say anything about a man getting a bad place in the next world, and afterwards being better off? No. Did He say anything to make persons comfortable in the supposition that there was such a Divine mercy; that if they lived as they would, carelessly here, nevertheless the smart might not be so very keen hereafter? Was it likely that our wise Lord would encourage us in the too common spirit of postponement? Was it likely that our Lord, who was intent upon the best, would allow people foolishly to congratulate themselves that they might aim at something very far below the best, and that at least they would be sure to escape the worst? The only security is this–faith in the heart, that life of the Lord Jesus Christ, which purifies this world and every other: the one life by which a man may be in heaven whilst on earth; the one life by which the very lowest who sit even upon the dunghill, dependent upon the crumbs, and often weeping over their own sorrows, may have communion with Gods holy, exalted angels who soar in His presence, or rest at His feet, and who neither shed tears nor suffer pain. (T. T. Lynch.)

The sufficiency of the Divine revelation

I. THERE IS A REVELATION GIVEN TO MAN, TO GUIDE HIM TO HAPPINESS.

II. THE REVELATION WHICH IS GIVEN TO MAN IS SUFFICIENT FOR HIS SALVATION.

III. IF THE GIVEN REVELATION IS NEGLECTED, AN EXTRAORDINARY INTERPOSITION IS NOT TO BE EXPECTED.

IV. THE NEGLECT AND CONTEMPT OF THE REVEALED WORD WILL PROVE THE INEVITABLE RUIN OF THE UNGODLY. (The Preachers Treasury.)

The moral effect of a visit from the dead

The folly of demanding that one should visit us from the dead, for the double purpose of proving the future state and preparing us for it, will appear if you will look thoughtfully–

1. At the sort of witness and testimony demanded. As to the witness, it is for one from the dead, and his proposed duty is to testify to the living.

Not an angel; but a dead man. And he is to come back to earth not to work prodigies, but to bear witness. If such a spirit were seized with either a voluntary or involuntary impulse to return to his earthly theatre of action and begin life afresh, in what way would such a wanderer make himself known to your senses? Can you tell? Now the first thing necessary to your satisfaction would be to recognize him as a human soul, fresh from the fields of immortality. If there should be more than one, you must know all of them to be veritable witnesses in order to believe them, and how will you settle this in each case? In this world a witness, oral or by parole, is always recognized through his body. But the body which this spirit wore on earth lies unstirred in the sepulchre. The general character of human spirits, and the possession of specific secrets for their identification, are very insecure signs, on which we can place but slight dependence. And does it mend the matter at all, even if his body should be raised for this visit? Here you see that the men who reject the evidence of miracle in all other cases insist upon the working of the most stupendous miracle possible, before they will believe one word in this case. Supposing, then, that God had granted the request of Dives by sending Lazarus back to the five brethren, and they had recognized him, how would his visit have acted upon their minds morally if they were men of thought, reason, and common sense? Let us see. Right there the thrilling spectacle of spectral testimony begins. Their very first thought would relate to the reality of the witness himself; whether he were an entity or a phantasm. They would demand of him the proof that he had really lived and died, and visited the shaded provinces of departed souls, that he had become known to their brother there, and returned to this globe in a provable identity. They would then demand proof that, as a witness, his own mind was not influenced by optical illusion, spectral disease; that it was solid, sound, and well balanced, and so that his narrative was not the fruit of an excited fancy. Nay, they would need to convince themselves that their own brains did not reel before him in delusion. When all this should be settled, then the real difficulties of the apparition witness would but just begin, if he were not scouted and ridiculed until he were ready to abandon his own convictions and discredit his own story. The very attempt to express the first sentence would confound him, because it would discover to him a set of ethereal conceptions taken up into his own incorporeal existence, with which earth had no analogies, and therefore has no words nor methods by which they can be intelligibly stated or understood.

2. Testimony so given, and by such a deponent, would be totally inadequate to its alleged purpose, both in its nature and effects. How can the eye of the body fixed upon a corporal being convince the understanding about the invisible things of the eternal world? These are things of faith, not of sight, like so many colours of the rainbow. If the risen Christ is no proof to the senses, much less can one like ourselves from the dead be a convincing witness to warn us. It is much more likely that we should want to kill him than to be persuaded by him; just as the Jews callously wanted to kill Lazarus of Bethany when Jesus had raised him from the dead. I can easily understand how the presence of a man raised from the dead might terrify a guilty sinner; how the apparition might put him under an appalling spell, so that his heart fluttered; a prisoner under the charms of magic; but I cannot see how the bondage of evil habits could be broken, or the deceptive charms of sin dissolved by such a startling apparition. Even the pure presence of an angel stooping to an earthly mission has been so terrific to holy men, that they have feared death in consequence. But how, if a ghastly spectre should glare upon guilty and hardened men from the solitudes of eternity, and address them in sepulchral tones; surely their blood would curdle, their nerves shrink, their hearts faint, and their life become ice. How can all this be related to genuine repentance? (T. Armitage, D. D.)

The claims of revealed truth

I. THERE EXISTS A REVELATION FROM GOD, DESIGNED FOR THE GUIDANCE AND SALVATION OF MAN.

II. THIS REVELATION IS FULLY QUALIFIED TO ACCOMPLISH THE PURPOSES FOR WHICH IT WAS GIVEN.

III. ON THE REJECTION OF REVELATION, IT IS NOT TO BE EXPECTED THAT ANY SUPERNATURAL VISITATIONS WOULD PRODUCE A SAVING IMPRESSION ON THE HEART.

1. The cause Which produces the rejection of the message of God in His written Word, will operate also against the message which might be taught by supernatural agency.

2. It is equally easy to explain away a supernatural visitation, as it is to explain away the evidence of revelation.

3. The inefficiency of supernatural visitations has been shown by experience.

4. It is the positive arrangement of God, that His word, as given in the inspired record, and proclaimed in the established ordinances of grace, shall be the only means of persuasion and conversion; and the promise of the Spirits influence does not extend to any other instrumentality.

IV. THE REJECTION OF DIVINE REVELATION, IS THE CAUSE OF FUTURE CONDEMNATION AND MISERY. (J. Parsons.)

The Divine authority and sufficiency of the Christian religion

I. THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE STANDING REVELATION OF GODS WILL IN THE SCRIPTURES, TO BRING MEN TO REPENTENCE.

1. The Scriptures give us sufficient instructions what we should believe, or are a sufficient rule of faith.

2. The Scriptures give us complete directions in matters of practice, or are a sufficient rule of life.

3. The Scriptures are attended with sufficient evidence of their truth and divinity.

4. The religion of Jesus proposes sufficient excitements to influence our faith and practice.

II. THE VANITY AND UNREASONABLENESS OF THE OBJECTION AGAINST THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, AND OF DEMANDING ANOTHER. (President Davies.)

The unreasonableness of unbelief

I. CONSIDER THE EVIDENCE OF DIVINE TRUTH PRESENTED BY ONE RISEN FROM THE DEAD.

1. The impressions made by one who was seen to rise from the grave, and gave to the spectators his testimony concerning a future state, would undoubtedly be great and solemn.

2. The evidence which would attend everything said by such a person would be irresistible.

II. EXAMINE THE EVIDENCE OF DIVINE TRUTH FURNISHED BY THE SCRIPTURES, AND THE ADVANTAGE WHICH THEY POSSESS FOR CONVINCING AND PERSUADING THE MIND. In this examination–

1. The thing that meets us is, that the Scriptures were written by God, and were therefore written in the best manner that was possible to accomplish their end. The things which are communicated in the Scriptures concerning our future existence are in their nature the most solemn and impressive which can be conceived. They are such as God thought it wisest and best to communicate, and are therefore certainly the wisest and best possible. In their own nature also, and as they appear in themselves to our eyes, they possess an immeasurable solemnity and importance.

3. Beside the things which a person risen from the dead could unfold, the Scriptures afford many others pre-eminently important and affecting.

4. All these things come directly from God Himself, and are invested with His authority.

5. The Scriptures were attested by miracles very numerous, and certainly not less solemn and impressive than the resurrection of a man from the dead.

III. SHOW THAT THE DOCTRINE IS TRUE. On this subject I observe–

1. That we ourselves do not ordinarily dispute the truth of the scriptural declarations, nor the sufficiency of the evidence by which they are supported; and yet are in very few instances persuaded to repent.

2. Those who were witnesses of these very miracles generally did not repent.

3. Among all the persons with whom, while they were anxiously solicitous about their salvation, I have had opportunity to converse, I do not remember even one who ever mentioned his own indisposition to repent, as in any degree derived from the want of evidence to support the truth of the Scriptures.

Concluding remarks:

1. It is manifest from these considerations that the reason why mankind do not embrace the gospel is not the want of evidence.

2. From these observations, it is clear that no evidence will persuade a sinful heart. (T. Dwight, D. D.)

The sufficiency of the Divine revelation

I. IT IS UNREASONABLE TO EXPECT THAT GOD SHOULD DO MORE FOR THE CONVICTION OF MEN, THAN TO AFFORD THEM A STANDING REVELATION OF HIS MIND AND WILL; SUCH AS THAT OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES IS. This is strongly implied in Abrahams first answer, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them; as if he had said–having such means of conviction so near at hand, why should they desire and expect any other? It is in this case of the Scriptures, as in that of Gods providence; God does not commonly prove His providence to men by extraordinary instances of His power, and by changing the course of nature, to convince every man in the world that He governs it; but by standing testimonies of His wisdom, and power, and goodness; by these God does sufficiently satisfy considerate men of His government and care of the world. The case is the same as to Divine revelation. We tempt God by demanding extraordinary signs, when we may receive so abundant satisfaction in an ordinary way.

II. IT IS, UPON THE WHOLE MATTER, VERY IMPROBABLE THAT THOSE WHO REJECT THIS PUBLIC REVELATION OF GOD, SHOULD BE EFFECTUALLY CONVINCED, THOUGH ONE SHOULD SPEAK TO THEM FROM THE DEAD.

1. Because, if such miracles were frequent and familiar, it is very probable they would have but very little effect; and unless we suppose them common and ordinary, we have no reason to expect them at all.

2. Men have as great or greater reason to believe the threatenings of Gods Word as the discourse of one that should speak to them from the dead.

3. The very same reason which makes men to reject the counsels of God in His Word, would, in all probability, hinder them from being convinced by a particular miracle.

4. Experience does abundantly testify how ineffectual extraordinary ways are to convince these who are obstinately addicted and wedded to their lusts.

5. An effectual persuasion (that is, such a belief as produceth repentance and a good life) is the gift of God, and depends upon the operation and concurrence of Gods grace, which there is no reason to expect either in an extraordinary way or in an extraordinary degree, after men have obstinately rejected the ordinary means which God hath appointed to that end.

Concluding remarks:

1. Since the Scriptures are the public and standing revelation of Gods will to men, and the ordinary means of salvation, we may hence conclude that people ought to have them in such a language as they can understand.

2. Let us hear and obey that public revelation of Gods will, which, in so much mercy to mankind, He hath been pleased to afford to us.

3. Those who are not brought to repentance, and effectually persuaded by this clear and public revelation, which God hath made of His will to men in the Holy Scriptures, have reason to look upon their ease as desperate. (Archbishop Tillotson.)

The sufficiency of Scripture

I. AT FIRST SIGHT WE MIGHT THINK IT ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE FOR US NOT TO OBEY ONE RISING UP FROM THE GRAVE, AND STANDING BEFORE US WITH ALL THE SIGNS AND MYSTERIES OF A SPIRIT COME FROM THE UNSEEN WORLD. In most of us there is a shrinking fear of the supernatural as well as of wonderment, and we can well understand the terror the night-spectre was adapted to produce in the mind of Eliphaz, the friend of Job. The message may or may not be remembered, but, in either case, evil does its work. The memory of the vision becomes fainter and fainter, and the ring of the message dies away in the distance, until at last it is heard no more, thought of and felt no more. Besides, what is simply heard by the ear is apt to be twisted into some meaning of our own construction, and, like tradition generally, be overloaded with strange fables and unnatural descriptions. Hence we learn from the declaration of Abraham–

II. The great value and importance of the sacred scriptures. They are ever before us, ever so plain and simple that a wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein. To us we have not only the testimony of Moses and the prophets, but of our Lord Himself. With the whole of Gods moral revelation before us, bearing with it the evidence of the most ancient life, combined with the evidence of a life wherein ancient and modern meet in harmony and truth, what need we more? It may be said to us, If we believe not Christ, neither will we believe if one rose from the dead.

II. WHY IS THIS? WHY DID ABRAHAM FORESEE THE INUTILITY OF GIVING ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BEYOND WHAT IS ALREADY GIVEN? Why, if the Bible fails, will a spirit from the dead fail also? The answer is to be found in the intensity and deep-rootedness of mans selfishness. Herein is the problem of mans rejection of the truth of God solved–herein is the mystery of our unbelief and hardness of heart explained. It was selfishness that made a wreck of Dives. He lived for himself, and in that life overlooked the claims of God and man; he lived for the good things of the world, and closed out from his conceptions and practical living the good things of God. (W. D. Horwood.)

Do we need a new revelation?

I. THE DIVINE MESSAGE OF THE BIBLE IS SUFFICIENT FOR ITS PURPOSE.

1. The purpose of revelation is moral and active.

2. Jesus Christ believed and taught the sufficiency of revelation for this purpose.

II. NO SUPERNATURAL MARVEL WILL ACCOMPLISH THIS PURPOSE MORE EFFICIENTLY.

1. The great difficulty to be overcome is not intellectual, but moral.

2. The active and moral purpose of revelation cannot be effected by any external supernatural event.

(1) Do not place great reliance or, the homiletical effect of lurid pictures of hell. They may deaden conscience while they rouse fear. Dante is not sufficient without Moses and Christ.

(2) Do not expect too much from the curative effects of future punishment.

(3) Do not regret the loss of miracles. Spiritualism has not proved itself to be a gospel of salvation for character.

(4) No longer wilfully refuse to obey the truth, which is able to make us wise unto salvation. (W. F. Adeney, M. A.)

Impotent desires in hell

Is there love in hell? Do the spirits of the lost remember still those whom they have left behind? And can they feel indeed an interest about their spiritual welfare? Or, are they words which do not bear upon the great point of the parable, and of which, therefore, we are not to look for any parallel in the things of life? Or, was it a mere selfishness still, that he might escape his brothers reproaches, when they should come to upbraid him for his bad example, that Dives said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my fathers house: for I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. I incline to think that if we are to apply the words to ourselves at all, they convey to us this fact–that in that wretched world, there may spring up desires, good desires, but that it will be too late. For ever and for ever those desires may live, but never to be gratified. And who shall say what an amount of torment might lie in an eternity of impotent and unsatisfied longings? I can conceive of nothing more horrible than to have continually aspirations after something good, yet all the while the consciousness that that good, and after which we aspire, is a thing utterly and eternally impossible. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

The request of Dives for his five brethren

I. NOW IT IS ADMITTED BY THIS LOST MAN THAT REPENTANCE IS NECESSARY.

1. I remark, in the first place, that a messenger from the dead–that is, from another world–could not give to you or to me, or to any one else, information more distinct, more explicit, more comprehensive, on any subject that it concerns man to know in order to his repentance and salvation, than the sacred writings have already furnished.

2. Again, such a messenger could not authenticate his mission and his message by evidence more clear, more satisfactory, more convincing, than that by which the Divine authenticity of these writings are sustained.

3. Besides, that disposition of heart, which prevents your repentance under the discoveries and the motives and the influences of revealed truth, would render you impenitent still, though one rose from the dead.

4. Besides these, there is another consideration: all agents and instruments, ordinary or extraordinary, can only succeed as they are attended by the Divine blessing and influence.

5. If, however, these reasonings fail to produce conviction in any mind now before me, then I have another species of evidence in reserve–most unbending; and it is evidence derived from fact. The request has been granted; the thing has been tried; and it has utterly failed.

II. NOW WHAT ARE THE PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS AT WHICH WE SHOULD ARRIVE FROM THIS SUBJECT?

1. And the first is–the sufficiency of revealed truth; so that if persons are not awakened and brought to repentance and conversion by its light and evidence and influence, all extraordinary methods and agencies would be in yam.

2. Secondly, on the admission of the sufficiency of the Divine revelation, then it follows that it is as unreasonable, as it is impious and ungrateful, to desire and to wish for more.

3. Thirdly, as extraordinary messengers and agents would be useless, I infer that we are not to expect them.

4. Again: I draw another conclusion–humbling, admonitory, and it is this. On the admission that we have sufficient means of instruction and of repentance and of salvation furnished, then how inexcusable the folly and how aggravated the guilt of those who still remain impenitent!

5. And then finally, having yourselves experienced the power and efficacy of Divine truth, and having yourselves experienced repentance unto life, and yourselves richly participating in the blessings of grace and salvation, then be concerned (as it is meet and right and your bounden duty) for your fellowsinners, that they may be brought to repentance; for your fellow-creatures, that they may be partakers with you of like precious faith and love and life and happiness and salvation. (R. Newton, D. D.)

A preacher from the dead

I. First, it is thought that if one did come from the dead to preach, there would be A CONFIRMATION OF THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL, and a testimony borne at which jeering infidelity would stand aghast in silence. Stop, we will see about that.

1. If, my friends, the testimony of one man who had been raised from the dead were of any value for the confirming of the gospel, would not God have used it before now? Now, God knoweth best; we will not compare our surmises to Divine decision. If God decided that resurrection men should be silent, it was best it should be; their testimony would have been of little worth or help to us, or else it would have been borne.

2. But again, I think it will strike our minds at once, that if this very day a man should rise from his tomb, and come here to affirm the truth of the gospel, the infidel world would be no more near believing than it is now. Infidelity would still cry for something more. It is like the horse-leech; it crieth, Give, give!

3. And besides, my friends, if men will not believe the witness of God, it is impossible that they should believe the witness of man.

II. It is imagined, however, that if one of the spirits of the just made perfect would come to earth, even if he did not produce a most satisfactory testimony to the minds of sceptics, HE WOULD YET BE ABLE TO GIVE ABUNDANT INFORMATION CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. Surely he would have brought down with him some handfuls of the clusters of Eshcol; he would bare been able to tell us some celestial secrets, which would have cheered our hearts, and nerved us to run the heavenly race, and put a cheerful courage on. Nothing more could we know that would be of any use. Tattlers, idle curiosity people, and such like, would be mightily delighted with such a man. Ah! what a precious preacher he would be to them, if they could get him all the way from heaven, and get him to tell all its secrets out! But there the matter would end. It would be merely the gratification of curiosity; there would be no conferring of blessing; for if to know more of the future state would be a blessing for us, God would not withhold it; there can be no more told us. If what you know would not persuade you, Neither would you be persuaded though one rose from the dead.

III. Yet some say, SURELY, IF THERE WERE NO GAIN IN MATTER, YET THERE WOULD BE A GAIN IN MANNER. Oh, if such a spirit had descended from the spheres, how would he preach? What eloquence celestial would flow from his lips! I do believe that Lazarus from Abrahams bosom would not be so good a preacher as a man who has not died, but whose lips have been touched with a live coal from off the altar. Instead of his being better, I cannot see that he would be quite so good. Could a spirit from the other world speak to you more solemnly than Moses and the prophets have spoken? Or could they speak more solemnly than you have heard the word spoken to you at divers times already? Ah I but you say, you want some one to preach to you more feelingly. Then, sir, you cannot have him in the preacher you desire. A spirit from heaven could not be a feeling preacher. It would be impossible for Lazarus, who had been in Abrahams bosom, to preach to you with emotion. Such a preacher could not be a powerful preacher, even though he came again from the dead. (C. H.Spurgeon.)

The sufficiency of the Bible

It will be a solemn thought to-night, when, in your own room, you open that holy volume, and think, This Bible, that is being now preached, this Bible which I am reading, is the highest, best, last, only means by which God undertakes and promises absolutely to convert, teach, comfort, edify, save me. What then? If the hearing and reading Gods Word have not turned my heart, then the resurrection would not do it I nothing would do it! And with this conclusion, I am confident that all experience will agree. Great events, surprises, sorrows, bereavements, will, by Gods grace, bring a man to his Bible, and then his Bible will bring him to God; and then it would seem as if those events converted him; but the truth is, that Gods Word did the work–the rest only brought him there. But let us understand clearly what this Book is. What is the Bible? It is the likeness which the Holy Spirit has taken of the mind of Christ. And what is Christ? The likeness of the mind of the Father. Then what is the Bible? The exact and perfect transcript of the Spirit, as the Spirit is the perfect transcript of Christ, and as Christ is the perfect transcript of the mind of God. That is the Bible. No wonder then that whatever is to be done, it is this which must do it. But now we are directed to the manner in which the Bible is to be savingly used. If they hear not–that is, if they do not realize it even as if they heard a voice–if they donot hear and obey–Moses and the prophets, then they would not be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

Scripture-evidence sufficient to make men religious

I. GOD HAS GIVEN US SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE TO PROVE THE TRUTH OF RELIGION, AND SUFFICIENT ARGUMENTS TO ENFORCE THE PRACTICE OF IT. God has given us all that evidence to prove the truth of Christian religion, and all those arguments to enforce the practice of it, which it was agreeable either to the wisdom of God to give, or the reason of men to expect.

1. As to the intrinsic evidence from the excellency of the nature of the thing itself, the duties which Christian religion requires are such as are plainly most agreeable to our natural notions of God, and most conducive to the happiness and well being of men; and this is a proof which might alone be sufficient to convince a wise man that his religion was from God.

2. Besides the intrinsic evidence for the truth of religion from the excellency of the nature of the thing itself, it is moreover proved to be taught and confirmed of God by the most credible and satisfactory testimony that was ever given to any matter of fact in the world.

II. The second general proposition I designed to speak to is that such men as will not be persuaded to be sincerely religious by that evidence and those arguments which God has afforded us, WOULD NOT BE PERSUADED

BY ANY OTHER EVIDENCE OR MOTIVE OF RELIGION WHICH THEIR OWN UNREASONABLE FANCY COULD SUGGEST TO THEM TO DESIRE.

III. In order to the making men truly religious, it is not necessary that God should on His part work more miracles to give them greater convictions, but only THAT THEY ON THEIR OWN PART SHOULD BECOME REASONABLE PERSONS, LAY ASIDE THEIR UNJUST PREJUDICES, AND FORSAKE THEIR UNREASONABLE LUSTS, WHICH HINDER THEM FROM CONSIDERING THE TRUE FORCE OF THE ARGUMENTS OF RELIGION. They have no concern for the interests of truth and virtue. The love of this present world has blinded their eyes, and it is for that reason only that they receive not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto them (1Co 2:14). (S. Clarke, D. D.)

I. First, then, let us consider WHETHER THE EVIDENCE UPON WHICH REVELATION STANDS BE IN ITSELF GREATER OR MORE CONVINCING THAN THE EVIDENCE OF ONE COMING FROM THE DEAD CAN BE.

II. THAT THE OBJECTIONS WHICH UNBELIEVERS URGE AGAINST THE AUTHORITY OF REVELATION WILL LIE STRONGER AGAINST THE AUTHORITY OF ONE COMING FROM THE DEAD. For, first, as to the nature of this sort of evidence, if it be any evidence at all, it is a revelation, and therefore, whatever has been said against the authority of revelation, will be applicable to this kind of it. And, consequently, those who, upon the foot of natural religion, stand out against the doctrine of the gospel, would much more stand out against the authority of one coming from the dead. And whether it would weigh more with the atheist, let any one consider. For no revelation can weigh with him; for the Being of God, which he disbelieves, is supported with greater arguments and greater works than any revelation can be. And therefore, standing out against the evidence of all nature, speaking in the wonderful works of the creation, he can never reasonably submit to a less evidence. Let, then, one from the dead appear to him, and he will, and certainly may, as easily account for one dead mans recovering life and motion, as he does for the life and motion of so many men, whom he sees every day. But, further, let us suppose a man free from all these prejudices, and then see what we can make of this evidence. If a dead man should come to you, you must suppose either that he speaks from himself, and that his errand to you is the effect of his own private affection for you, or that he comes by commission and authority from God. As to the first case, you have but the word of a man for all you hear, and how will you prove that a dead man is incapable of practising a cheat upon you? Or, allowing the appearance to be real, and the design honest, do you think every dead man knows the counsels of God, and His will with respect to His creatures here on earth? If you do not think this, and I cannot see possibly how you should think it, what use will you make of this kind of revelation? Should he tell you that the Christian faith is the true faith, the way to heaven and happiness, and that God will reward all true believers, you would have much less reason to believe him than now you have to believe Christ and His apostles. But, on the other side, should you suppose this man to come by the particular order and appointment of God, and consequently that what he says is the word and command of God, you must then be prepared to answer such objections as you are now ready to make against the mission and authority of Christ and His apostles. First, then, we ask, How this commission appears? If you say because he comes from the dead, we cannot rest here, because it is not self-evident that all who come from the dead are inspired. And yet farther than this you cannot go, for it is not supposed that your man from the dead works miracles. The mission of Christ we prove by prophecies and their completion; by the signs and wonders He wrought by the hand of God; by His resurrection, which includes both kinds, being in itself a great miracle and likewise the completion of a prophecy.

III. By considering the temper of infidelity. For where unbelief proceeds, as generally it does, from a vitiated and corrupted mind, which hates to be reformed, which rejects the evidence because it will not admit the doctrine, not the doctrine because it cannot admit the evidence; in this case all proofs will be alike, and it will be lost labour to ply such a man with reason or new evidence, since it is not want of reason or evidence that makes him an unbeliever. (T. Sherlock, D. D.)

A standing revelation the best means of conviction

I. TO STATE AND LIMIT THE DUE EXTENT OF IT.

II. TO CONFIRM THE TRUTH, SO STATED, BY VARIOUS ARGUMENTS AND REFLECTIONS. After which I shall–

III. DEDUCE SOME INFERENCES FROM IT. As to the extent of this assertion, we may observe–

I. 1. That it is evidently to be under stood of such persons only as are placed in the same circumstances with the five brethren in the parable; such, consequently, as have been born, where the true religion is professed, and bred up in the belief of it; have had all the early prejudices of education on the side of truth, and all manner of opportunities and advantages towards acquainting themselves with the grounds of it; and yet, notwithstanding all these advantages, have shut their eyes against it, and withstood its force.

2. Neither is the assertion to be rigorously extended to all those who have been educated under the influence of a Divine revelation, and yet lived in opposition to the rules of it; for there is great reason to believe that there are many persons who, through the heat of their lusts and passions, through the contagion of ill example, or too deep an immersion in the affairs of life, swerve exceedingly from the rules of their holy faith, and yet would, upon such an extraordinary warning as is mentioned in the text, be brought to comply with them.

3. That even of these profligate creatures themselves it is not said that so astonishing a scene would make no manner of impression, would have no present influence upon them; but only that it would not produce a lasting effect, nor work an entire conversion.

II. Second general head TO CONFIRM BY VARIOUS ARGUMENTS AND REFLECTIONS. And–

1. We will suppose that such a message from the dead as that for which the rich man here intercedes is really in itself an argument of greater strength and force to persuade a sinner out of the error of his ways than any standing revelation, however so well attested and confirmed. I will show, nevertheless, that it would not be complied with. Because–

(1) It is not for want of strength that the standing ordinary ways of proof are rejected, but for want of sincerity, and a disinterested mind in those to whom they are proposed; and the same want of sincerity, the same adhesion to vice and aversion from goodness, will be equally a reason for their rejecting any proof whatsoever.

(2) A motive, however stronger in itself than another, may yet make a weaker impression when employed, after that the motive of less though sufficient strength hath been already resisted. For the mind doth, by every degree of affected unbelief, contract more and more of a general indisposition towards believing; so that such a proof, as would have been closed with certainty at the first, shall be set aside easily afterwards, when a man hath been used to dispute himself out of plain truths, and to go against the light of his own understanding.

(3) The peculiar strength of the motive may of itself, perhaps, contribute to frustrate the efficacy of it, rendering it liable to be suspected by him to whom it is addressed. He is conscious how little he hath deserved so extraordinary a privilege.

(4) How far these suspicions of his will be improved and heightened by the raillery and laughter he will be sure to meet with on this head from his old friends and companions.

(5) Time and a succession of other objects will bring it about. Every day the impression loses somewhat of its force, and grows weaker, till at length it comes to lie under the same disadvantage with the standing proofs of the gospel. Hitherto I have supposed that the evidence of one risen from the dead hath really the advantage, in point of force and efficacy, of any standing revelation, how well soever attested and confirmed; and, proceeding on that supposition, I have endeavoured to show that such evidence, however in itself forcible, would certainly not be complied with.

But the truth is, and, upon a fair balance of the advantages on either side it will appear that the common standing rules of the gospel are a more probable and powerful means of conviction than any such message or miracle:–

1. For this plain reason, because they include in them that very kind of evidence which is supposed to be so powerful, and do, withal, afford us several other additional proofs of great force and clearness. Among many arguments by which the truth of our religion is made out to us, this is but one, that the promulgers of it–Jesus Christ and His apostles–did that very thing which is required to be done, raised men and women from the dead, not once only but often, in an indisputable manner, and before many witnesses.

2. Another great advantage which the standing proofs of the gospel have over such an extraordinary appearance, that this hath all its force at once upon the first impression, and is over afterwards in a declining stale, so that the longer it continues upon the mind, and the oftener it is thought of, the more it loses; whereas those, on the contrary, gain strength and ground upon us by degrees, and the more they are considered and weighed the more they are approved.

3. That, lot the evidence of such a particular miracle be never so bright and clear, yet it is still but particular, and must, therefore, want that kind of force, that degree of influence, which accrues to a standing general proof, from its having been tried and approved, and consented to by men of all ranks and capacities, of all tempers and interests, of all ages and nations. (Bishop Atterbury.)

I. 1. One coming from the dead, angel or man, cannot bring a doctrine more necessary, there being in the Scriptures sufficient direction about the way to true happiness, for which we have not only express testimony, but apparent reason and sensible experience.

2. Better arguments cannot be urged, nor more persuasively. The gospel is the wisdom of God (1Co 1:24); and surely God knoweth all the wards of the lock, and what kind of keys will fit the heart of man. What do we need more to move us? Shall God pipe to you in a sweeter strain than that of gospel grace or gospel promises? Is the giving Himself and His Christ a price too cheap to purchase your hearts? or must He thunder to you in a more dreadful accent than the horrors of everlasting darkness? Oh! but one that cometh from the dead is supposed to testify his own sight and knowledge, and so to speak more feelingly. And have not Gods messengers some experience? Cannot they say, We declare to you the things which we have seen and heard and felt?

3. It is not because he could propound these truths with more certainty, for these things are already propounded to our understandings, and we have sensible confirmation.

(1) They are propounded to our understandings with a fair and full credibility. The holy Scriptures have in themselves a self-evidencing light, by which they make it out to the consciences of men that they are of God.

(2) We have sensible confirmations. We are wrought upon by sense. Now is not ordinarily the word as sensibly confirmed to us as it would be by a vision or apparition from the dead?

(a) There is the holiness of professors (1Co 14:25).

(b) There is the constancy of the martyrs that have ratified this truth with the loss of their dearest concernments.(Rev 12:11).

(c) Then there is the inward feeling of Gods children; they find a power in the word, convincing, changing, comforting, fortifying their hearts. They have answerable impressions on their hearts (Heb 8:10).

(d) Those that have no experience of this have a secret fear of the power of the word (Joh 3:20).

(e) There are also outward effects of the power of the word; its propagation throughout all the world within thirty years or thereabout.

(f) Then consider the many sensible effects of the word, as the accomplishment of prophecies, promises, threatenings, and answer of prayers. Gods providence is a comment upon Scripture.

II. Against it. THERE ARE MORE RATIONAL PREJUDICES THAT LIE AGAINST ANY OTHER WAY THAN THIS WAY THAT GOD HATH TAKEN. As to instance in the matter in hand.

1. It is no mean scruple about the lawfulness of hearkening to one that should come from the dead, since they are out of the sphere of our commerce, and it is a disparagement to the great doctor of the Church. Against consulting with the dead, see Deu 18:10-12, with 14, 15.

2. It is not so sure a way. How could we trust or believe any one that should bring a message from the dead, since impostors are so rife? Satan can turn himself into an angel of light.

3. It is not so effectual a course as some think. The Jews would not believe Lazarus, when, after he had been four days dead, he was raised up again.

4. It is not so familiar a way, and therefore not so fit to instil faith, and reduce men to Gods purpose by degrees, as the written Word, to which we may have recourse without affrightment, and that at all times.

1. That man is apt to indent with God about believing and repenting upon terms of his own making (Mat 26:42). God will not always give sensible confirmation.

2. There lie more prejudices by far against any way of our devising than against the course which God hath instituted for the furthering of our repentance. Man is an ill caterer for himself. All Gods institutions are full of reason, and if we had eyes to see it we could not be better provided for.

3. God in giving the Scriptures hath done more for us than we could imagine, yea, better than we could wish to ourselves. He hath certainly done enough to leave us without excuse. Try what you can do with Moses and the prophets. It is a great mercy to have a rule by which all doctrines are to be tried, to have a standard and measure of faith, and that put into writing to preserve it against the weakness of memory and the treachery of evil designs, and that translated into all languages.

4. That we are apt to betray present advantages by wishes of another dispensation, as that we may have oracles and miracles. It is but a shift to think of other means than God hath provided. Man is ever at odds with the present dispensation. It is a sign the heart is out of order, or else any doctrine that is of God would set it a-work.

5. Those that like not the message will ever quarrel at the messenger; and when the heart is wanting, something is wanting.

6. How credulous we are to fables, and how incredulous as to undoubted truths; spirits and apparitions, these things are regarded by us, but the testimony of the Spirit of God speaking in the Scriptures is little regarded.

III. HOW TO IMPROVE THE SCRIPTURES TO REPENTANCE.

1. Believe them as you would an oracle or one from the dead. Consider the authority and veracity of God. The authority of God: God commandeth men to repent; charge the heart in the name of God, as it will answer to him another day.

2. Urge thy heart with it; recollect yourselves: What shall we then say to these things? (Rom 8:31). (T. Manton, D. D.)

That a standing revelation of God is evidence sufficient for Divine things

1. What we are to understand by a Divine revelation.

2. For the several kinds of Divine revelations. That they were various the apostle to the Hebrews tells us (chap. 1:1).

And, therefore, in the third place, to show you what advantages this standing revelation of the Scripture hath above private revelations made to particular persons, and frequently repeated and renewed in several ages–

1. It is a more certain way of conveyance of things, and more secure and free from imposture.

2. It is a more general and universal way of conveyance, which is evident from the common experience of the world, who have pitched upon this way of writing things in books, as that which doth most easily convey the knowledge and notice of things to the generality of men.

3. It is a more uniform way of conveyance–that is, things that are once written and propagated that way lay equally open to all, and come in a manner with equal credit to all, it being not morally possible that a common book that passeth through all hands, and which is of vast importance and concernment, should be liable to any material corruption without a general conspiracy and agreement, which cannot be but that it must be generally known.

4. It is a more lasting way of conveyance.

5. It is a more human way of conveyance, which requires less of miracle and supernatural interposition for the preservation of it. I come now to the fourth thing I proposed to be considered–namely, that there is sufficient evidence of the Divinity of the Scriptures.

Now for the Scriptures of the New Testament, I desire but these two things to be granted to me at first–

1. That all were written by those persons whose names they bear.

2. That those who wrote those books were men of integrity, and did not wilfully falsify in anything. I should come now to the fifth and last thing–namely, that it is unreasonable to expect that God should do more for our conviction than to afford us a standing revelation of His mind and will, such as the books of the holy Scriptures are. (Archbishop Tillotson.)

Ghosts do not deter men from sin

By a ghost we mean the spirit of man stripped of its earthly appendages–without the material and visible conditions which distinguish his appearance among men. Now, it is not necessary for a man to go out of the world to realize this condition. The world is full of such ghosts. They are coming forth out of the depth of their ruin, their woe, and talking to us. But who heeds them?

1. See the ruined rich men–men of society, stripped of everything that marked them among men. They are but ghosts stalking among us. They talk to us of the folly, the vanity of riches, of the bitterness that comes with ill-gotten gains. They speak of the torment at the end of every such course. Who listens to these gibbering ghosts? Is there one man in a thousand who is turned from his course by what they say?

2. Then there are the ghosts of those who have been destroyed by intemperance. Oh, what hideous wrecks, ghosts–what testimony they bear! They are dead, yet they speak; but who listens? The young man sees, listens, and with a laugh turns to his glass.

3. So is it with the horrible evil of licentiousness. We see all around us the haggard ghosts of men who were once respectable, possessed of all that gives grace and symmetry and manhood to men, now but a mass of putrid rottenness. These hideous ghosts, too, tell their warning in vain in the ear of men. If one will not hear these, who come forth from the dens of hell, neither will they be persuaded. He reasons from a wrong principle, from a false knowledge of human nature, who asserts that men would be convinced by the testimony of the dead.

4. Look at the criminal classes. It has been asserted that men have been made worse, instead of better, by observing the punishment of criminals. Christ continually acted upon this knowledge of human nature. When asked for a sign, something occult, He refused, saying no sign but that of Jonah should be given. The story of Jonah teaches simple obedience. In conclusion. The Word is sufficient–

1. In its duties. A perfect rule of life.

2. In its motives.

3. In its promises. (G. F. Kettell, D. D.)

A spectre would not produce conviction in sinners

You can hardly imagine it possible that the most hardened of mankind would be proof against warning uttered by a spectral form, coming mysteriously in the stillness of midnight–the form of a friend or a kinsman well remembered, though long ago deceased–which should stand at your bedside, and declare, in unearthly tones, the certain doom of the unrighteous; and when you contrast with the message thus fearfully delivered, the ordinary summons of the gospel, whether as read or preached, you feel it, perhaps, little more than an absurdity to contend that practically there is as much of power in the latter as in the former. Yet we are persuaded–we are certain, that the parable put into the mouth of Abraham may be vindicated by the most cogent yet simple reasoning. Just consider that the effect of a messenger threatening us with punishment unless we repent, depends chiefly on our assurance that it is actually a messenger from God. Now tell me which is the strongest–the evidence which we have that the Bible is Gods Word, or that which we could be supposed to have that the grave has given up its tenant, and that the spectre has spoken to us truth? You will hardly say that there is room here for dispute; you will hardly say that man could have a better reason for believing what might be said to him by a departed friend or relation, than he has for believing what is written in the Bible. The evidence that the spectre was commissioned by God, could not surely be greater than that Christ and the apostles were commissioned by God; therefore the man who is not persuaded by Christ and the apostles, might be expected to remain unpersuaded by the spectre. He has no greater amount of evidence to resist; why, then, is he more likely to yield? But you may say, the messenger from the grave may not, indeed, have greater credentials than Christ and His apostles, but those credentials are more forced on the attention; they are more addressed to the senses, and therefore, are more likely to excite repentance. Now this seems very plausible. A man may quite neglect the Bible; he may not study its evidences; and thus, whatever their strength, they must be practically ineffectual. But he cannot be inattentive to the spectre. The shadowy thing stands by him, causing his blood to run cold, and his knees to tremble, and it speaks to him in thrilling accents, to which he cannot, if he would, turn a deaf ear. We admit this, but we cannot admit that the words of the spectre are more likely to make a permanent impression than of a living preacher speaking in the name of God and that of Christ. The spectre speaks to me to-day; addresses itself to my senses, and thus takes, as you think the most effectual mode of producing an impression. But what evidence shall I have to-morrow of the supernatural visitation? There will be nothing but the memory of the occurrence–there will be no witness but my own recollection to which to appeal, and then how easy to suspect that the whole was a delusion! How natural to call in question, whether it has been more than a dream, more than the coinage of a disordered and overwrought mind! I have historical accumulated proof that Christ came forth from the dead, and sent me a message which bids me forsake sin, but I should have no such proofs in regard to the supposed spectre; and, therefore, the almost certainty is that however scared and agitated I might be at the moment when the apparition stood before me, I should soon get rid of the impression I soon persuade myself that I had been acted on by my own distempered fancy; and, perhaps, laugh at my own credulity. If I can despise Christ, who returned from the dead, though there is given me irrefragable evidence of His return, why should I be expected to give heed to Lazarus, who might indeed come back to me but leave no lasting proof that he had deserted the grave? No! no! A buried kinsman might come and preach to you, but you would not give heed, if you could be deaf to the voice of Moses and the prophets. You have as good grounds to believe me, while I am now speaking the words of Christ, as you would have if I re-appeared after death, and came, in my grave-clothes, to re-occupy this pulpit. Let it be so. Let there be re-enacted the scene in the cave of the Witch of Endor: Call me up Samuel, said Saul, to this poor woman, and an old man cometh up, and he is covered with a mantle– Call up whom you will; let any minister whom you have been long accustomed to hear, and whose voice has long been silent in death, suddenly re-appear, and assume, for a moment, the office of a teacher, what a fearful silence, what a throbbing of the heart, what terror of the spirit! He speaks in well-known accents; he makes you shudder, and you can scarcely so control your agitation as to listen to his words. But what could he say which you had not already heard? What could he do more than make the attempt to tell you what is delineated in the Bible? You remember the description in the Book of Job of the appearance of the spectre–a description, pronounced by one of the greatest writers in our language, unequalled in fearful sublimities. It is this: Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up; it stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes; there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,–What did it say? With what marvellous and mighty tidings did this spectre come charged? This is all it said: Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker? Do we need a ghost to tell us that? do we not know that already? Oh! the spectre might come; but it could tell you nothing to make heaven more attractive, or hell more terrible, than is delineated in the Bible–nothing to make it more certain than it already is, that unless you repent, you shall surely perish. Oh, no; there could be no more powerful truth uttered; no more convincing evidence afforded than now that you are listening to me, who have never entered the invisible world. It would give a solemnity–an awful unearthliness to the ministry if it were conducted by a visitant from the separate state; but the pleasures and the business of life would produce gradually the same effect as now, obliterating the impressions made by the solemn discourse. (H. Melvill, B. D.)

A common delusion exposed

It is not necessary that these men should expect some one to rise from the dead in order to be like Dives. That is only an accident of the parable. The true likeness lies here–in thinking that God will deal with us in some new way; in a mans thinking that he may neglect his present means of serving God, and of growing to love Him, and yet that in some way or other, over and above these ordinary means, he shall be interfered for, and that work done in him which is not to be done as things now are. One of the most common forms of this delusion, which lies lurking in the heart of many a man, is to expect that death will do it. Perhaps the man has seen death-beds; and he knows very well that upon a death-bed a man will begin to cry out, and that there will be a sort of show of change sometimes coming from the mans excited feelings at such a time, which is very often nothing more than his trying to deceive himself by putting on an appearance of religion when he can have no more of this world. For the experience of many death-beds has convinced me, as I believe it has convinced many others who attend them, that, so far from the death-bed being the place where you will seethe greatest sincerity, there are very few places where you oftener see men hypocrites, very few times and very few places, where men are more desperately striving to deceive themselves, because they feel that now it is almost hopeless to turn. And so the tempter comes to them with this deceit. They dare not look the whole matter in the face; they dare not see that it is everything which needs to be changed within them; and so they go on in a vain show deceiving themselves even to the end. And yet I believe that this is lurking in the heart of very many of us at this moment–I cannot, so long as common life and its temptations are round about me, I cannot shake off this worldliness; but it will be altogether a different thing when I come to the great reality of a death-bed. Another very common form is, that men believe that old age will do it for them. They say, My passions are so strong now that I am young; but when I am older, when I have passed through all this burning heat of life, and when I get to that time when everything fades upon the senses, I shall find it comparatively easy to turn then, and then I will turn. And others believe that some sudden sickness will do it, or that some sudden supply of serious thoughts will do it, or that some outward thing or other will convert them, turn them to God, and make it easy for them to begin to live heartily a religious life. Oh! I ask you as reasonable men, do not these deceits abound amongst us Have we not people who think, and who do not mind saying to themselves, that it is their children, or their work, or their particular temper, or the people round about them, or the necessity of conforming to this or that evil custom–that it is something accidental which makes them sin, and that when this accident is removed, then they shall begin to serve God in truth and verity? And oh! have we not on every side of us delayers of repentance, and delayers in receiving the communion, and delayers in leading a life of devotion–all hoping still to be better, all thinking that some time or other there will be some alteration in their lives which will make it easy for them to repent, and that then they too shall become saints and be saved? And, even, once more, in those who in the main are leading a life altogether of a different character from this, in those who are striving to serve God, yet are not they too greatly hindered by this self-same temptation? I ask you, have you not too often secretly given way to the difficulties which prevent you from forming habits of earnest prayer, which prevent you from leading a life of greater devotedness and zeal, of greater self-denial and earnestness? Are you not perfectly well aware that you have often given secretly way to the continuance in you of some temptation, which you know to be contrary to Gods will, and which you are in a measure striving against, which you do not altogether rule over, which you have not yet cast out, or some evil habit, or some worldly desire or gratification? And yet, how exactly does our Lords reproof apply to every one of these cases! That reproof is, as I have shown you, that they have proof enough; that they have the means, the means which the wisdom of God sees to be fittest, and deems to be sufficient; that what they want is not more help from God, but the using the help they have got; that if they had more help from God, it would only expose them to a greater condemnation, for that those who do not yield to that help which is sufficient, would not yield to any measure of help, and so that the only result of their having more help would be that they would incur greater condemnation by sinning against greater light, and being lost in spite of greater assistance. (Bishop S. Wilberforce.)

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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 19. There was a certain rich man] In the Scholia of some MSS. the name of this person is said to be Ninive. This account of the rich man and Lazarus is either a parable or a real history. If it be a parable, it is what may be: if it be a history, it is that which has been. Either a man may live as is here described, and go to perdition when he dies; or, some have lived in this way, and are now suffering the torments of an eternal fire. The account is equally instructive in whichsoever of these lights it is viewed. Let us carefully observe all the circumstances offered hereto our notice, and we shall see-I. The CRIME of this man; and II. His PUNISHMENT.

1. There was a certain rich man in Jerusalem. Provided this be a real history, there is no doubt our Lord could have mentioned his name; but, as this might have given great offence, he chose to suppress it. His being rich is, in Christ’s account, the first part of his sin. To this circumstance our Lord adds nothing: he does not say that he was born to a large estate; or that he acquired one by improper methods; or that he was haughty or insolent in the possession of it. Yet here is the first degree of his reprobation-he got all he could, and kept all to himself.

2. He was clothed with purple and fine linen. Purple was a very precious and costly stuff; but our Lord does not say that in the use of it he exceeded the bounds of his income, nor of his rank in life; nor is it said that he used his superb dress to be an agent to his crimes, by corrupting the hearts of others. Yet our Lord lays this down as a second cause of his perdition.

3. He fared sumptuously every day. Now let it be observed that the law of Moses, under which this man lived, forbade nothing on this point, but excess in eating and drinking; indeed, it seems as if a person was authorized to taste the sweets of an abundance, which that law promised as a reward of fidelity. Besides, this rich man is not accused of having eaten food which was prohibited by the law, or of having neglected the abstinences and fasts prescribed by it. It is true, he is said to have feasted sumptuously every day; but our Lord does not intimate that this was carried to excess, or that it ministered to debauch. He is not accused of licentious discourse, of gaming, of frequenting any thing like our modern plays, balls, masquerades, or other impure and unholy assemblies; of speaking an irreverent word against Divine revelation, or the ordinances of God. ln a word, his probity is not attacked, nor is he accused of any of those crimes which pervert the soul or injure civil society. As Christ has described this man, does he appear culpable? What are his crimes? Why,

(1) He was rich.

(2) He was finely clothed. And

(3) He feasted well.

No other evil is spoken of him. In comparison of thousands, he was not only blameless, but he was a virtuous man.

4. But it is intimated by many that “he was an uncharitable, hard-hearted, unfeeling wretch.” Yet of this there is not a word spoken by Christ. Let us consider all the circumstances, and we shall see that our blessed Lord has not represented this man as a monster of inhumanity, but merely as an indolent man, who sought and had his portion in this life, and was not at all concerned about another.

Therefore we do not find that when Abraham addressed him on the cause of his reprobation, Lu 16:25, that he reproached him with hard-heartedness, saying, “Lazarus was hungry, and thou gavest him no meat; he was thirsty, and thou gavest him no drink, c.” but he said simply, Son, remember that thou didst receive thy good things in thy lifetime, Lu 16:25. “Thou hast sought thy consolation upon the earth, thou hast borne no cross, mortified no desire of the flesh, received not the salvation God had provided for thee; thou didst not belong to the people of God upon earth, and thou canst not dwell with them in glory.”

There are few who consider that it is a crime for those called Christians to live without Christ, when their lives are not stained with transgression. If Christianity only required men to live without gross outward sin, paganism could furnish us with many bright examples of this sort. But the religion of Christ requires a conformity, not only in a man’s conduct, to the principles of the Gospel; but also a conformity in his heart to the spirit and mind of Christ.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

It is a question of no great concern for us to be resolved about, whether this be a history, or narrative of matter of fact, or a parable. Those that contend on either side have probable arguments for their opinion, and it may be they best judge who determine it to be neither the one nor the other, but a profitable discourse, that hath in it something of both. Our chief concern is to consider what our Lord by it designed to instruct us in. And certainly those do not judge amiss who think that this discourse hath a great reference to what went before, Luk 16:9,10, where our Saviour had been exhorting his hearers to make themselves

friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, as also to the Pharisees deriding him for his doctrine, Luk 16:14; our Lord by this discourse letting them know the danger of covetousness and uncharitableness, and also letting them know that what is highly esteemed among men may be abomination in the sight of God. He telleth them there was a certain rich man, who lived in great plenty and splendour; his clothing was purple and fine linen, that is, exceeding costly and splendid; his fare, or diet, was delicate and sumptuous, and that every day, from whence may easily be concluded, that if he had had a heart thereunto, he might have spared something for the poor. Nor were the objects of his charity far off.

There was a certain beggar named Lazarus, poor enough, for he was full of sores, and would have been glad of the offal of the rich mans table; but the dogs were more charitable than their master; we read of nothing which the rich man gave him, but

the dogs came and licked his sores. What was the end of this? The beggar died, and he was by the angels carried into the bosom of Abraham, that is, into heaven; some will have the phrase signify, one of the chiefest mansions in heaven. Abraham was the father of believers, and an hospitable person while he lived upon the earth. Lazarus is expressed to have been conveyed to him. There are many things discoursed by men of wit and learning about this Abrahams bosom, but the best centre here, that by it is meant heaven: and from hence two great points are proved:

1. That the soul is capable of an existence separated from the body, and therefore is not, as some atheists dream, a mere affection of that, and an accident, but a distinct spiritual subsistence.

2. That the souls of the good, when they depart from their bodies, immediately pass into an eternal state of blessedness.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

19. purple and fine linen,c.(Compare Est 8:15 Rev 18:12);wanting nothing which taste and appetite craved and money couldprocure.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

There was a certain rich man,…. In Beza’s most ancient copy, and in another manuscript of his it is read by way of preface, “he said also another parable”: which shows, that this is not a history of matter of fact, or an historical account of two such persons, as the “rich” man and the beggar, who had lately lived at Jerusalem; though the Papists pretend, to this day, to point out the very spot of ground in Jerusalem, where this rich man’s house stood: nor is it to be understood parabolically of any particular rich man, or prince; as Saul the first king of Israel; or Herod, who now was reigning, and was clothed in purple, and lived in a sumptuous manner: nor of rich men in general, though it greatly describes the characters of such, at least of many of them; who only take care of their bodies, and neglect their souls; adorn and pamper them, live in pleasure, and grow wanton, and have no regard to the poor saints; and when they die go to hell; for their riches will not profit them in a day of wrath, nor deliver from it, or be regarded by the Judge, any more than hills and mountains will hide them from his face: but by the rich man are meant, the Jews in general; for that this man is represented, and to be considered as a Jew, is evident from Abraham being his father, and his calling him so, and Abraham again calling him his son, Lu 16:24 of which relation the Jews much boasted and gloried in; and from his brethren having Moses and the prophets, Lu 16:29 which were peculiar to the Jewish people; and from that invincible and incurable infidelity in them, that they would not believe, though one rose from the dead, Lu 16:31 as the Jews would not believe in Christ though he himself rose from the dead, which was the sign he gave them of his being the Messiah: and the general design of the parable, is to expose the wickedness and unbelief of the Jews, and to show their danger and misery, for their contempt and rejection of the Messiah; and particularly the Pharisees are designed, who being covetous, had derided Christ for what he had before said; and, who though high in the esteem of men, were an abomination to God, Lu 16:14. These more especially boasted of Abraham being their father; and of their being the disciples of Moses, and trusted in him, and in his law; and thought they should have eternal life through having and reading the books of Moses and the prophets: these may be called “a man”, because this was the name by which the Jews style themselves, in distinction from the Gentiles, whom they compare to beasts; [See comments on Mt 15:26] and this they ground on a passage in Eze 34:31 “and ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men”: upon which their note is e,

“ye are called, , “men”, but the nations of the earth are not called men.”

And they may be called a “certain” man, a famous man, a man of note, as the Jews, and especially the Pharisees, thought themselves to be; and therefore coveted the chief places in the synagogues, and at feasts, and loved salutations and greetings in market places, and to be called of men Rabbi, and master: as also a “rich man”; for the Jews in general were a wealthy people, lived in a very fruitful country, and were greatly indulged with the riches of providential goodness; and particularly the Pharisees, many of whom were of the great sanhedrim, and rulers of synagogues, and elders of the people; and who by various methods, amassed to themselves great riches, and even devoured widows’ houses; see Lu 6:24 and they were also rich in outward means and ordinances, having the oracles of God, his word, worship, and service; and as to their spiritual and eternal estate, in their own esteem; though they were not truly rich in grace, not in faith, nor in spiritual knowledge, nor even in good works, of which they so much boasted; but in appearance, and in their own conceit, they were rich in the knowledge of the law, and in righteousness, which they imagined was perfect, and so stood in need of nothing; no, not of repentance, and especially of Christ, or of any thing from him:

which was clothed in purple and fine linen; or “byssus”, which is said to f grow on a tree, in height equal to a poplar, and in leaves like a willow, and was brought out of India into Egypt, and much used there, as it also was among the Jews: hence we often read g of or “garments of byssus”, or fine linen: the Jews in general dressed well; their common apparel were fine linen and silk; see Eze 16:10 and so the Arabic version here renders it, “silk and purple”; and the Persic version, “silks and bombycines”: and the priests particularly, were arrayed in such a habit; the robe of the ephod, and also its curious girdle, were of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen, and at the hem of it were pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, Ex 28:6. And as for the Pharisees, they loved to go in long robes, and to make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, which were fringes of blue, joined unto them; and which may figuratively express the fine outside show of holiness and righteousness, they made;

and fared sumptuously every day. The Jews in common lived well, being in a land that flowed with milk and honey; see Eze 16:13 and especially the priests, who offered up lambs every day, besides other offerings, of which they had their part; as also the Pharisees, who were often at feasts, where they loved the chief places: and this may signify the easy and jocund life they lived; knowing no sorrow upon spiritual accounts, having no sense of sin, nor sight of the spirituality of the law, nor view of danger; but at perfect ease, and not emptied from vessel to vessel.

e T. Bab. Bava Metzia, fol. 114. 2. & Kimchi in loc. f Philostrat. Vit. Appollon. l. 2. c. 9. g Targum in Gen. xli. 42. in 2 Chron. v. 12. & in Ezek. xliv. 17.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

He was clothed (). Imperfect middle of , a late intensive form of . He clothed himself in or with. It was his habit.

Purple (). This purple dye was obtained from the purple fish, a species of mussel or (1Macc. 4:23). It was very costly and was used for the upper garment by the wealthy and princes (royal purple). They had three shades of purple (deep violet, deep scarlet or crimson, deep blue). See also Mark 15:17; Mark 15:20; Rev 18:12.

Fine linen ().

Byssus or Egyptian flax (India and Achaia also). It is a yellowed flax from which fine linen was made for undergarments. It was used for wrapping mummies. “Some of the Egyptian linen was so fine that it was called woven air” (Vincent). Here only in the N.T. for the adjective occurs in Rev 18:12; Rev 19:8; Rev 19:14.

Faring sumptuously ( ).

Making merry brilliantly . The verb we have already had in Luke 12:19; Luke 15:23; Luke 15:25; Luke 15:32. is an old adverb from , brilliant, shining, splendid, magnificent. It occurs here only in the N.T. This parable apparently was meant for the Pharisees (verse 14) who were lovers of money. It shows the wrong use of money and opportunity.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Was clothed. Imperfect, and frequentative; denoting his habitual attire.

Purple (porfuran). Originally the purple fish from which the color was obtained, and thence applied to the color itself. Several kinds of these were found in the Mediterranean. The color was contained in a vein about the neck. Under the term purple the ancients included three distinct colors :

Luk 16:1A deep violet, with a black or dusky tinge; the color meant by Homer in describing an ocean wave : “As when the great sea grows purple with dumb swell” (” Iliad, : 14, 16).

Luk 16:2Deep scarlet or crimson – the Tyrian purple.

Luk 16:3The deep blue of the Mediterranean. The dye was permanent.

Alexander is said by Plutarch to have found in the royal palace at Susa garments which preserved their freshness of color though they had been laid up for nearly two hundred years; and Mr. St. John (” Manner and Customs of Ancient Greece “) relates that a small pot of the dye was discovered at Pompeii which had preserved the tone and richness attributed to the Tyrian purple. This fixedness of color is alluded to in Isa 1:18 – though your sins were as scarlet, the term being rendered in the Septuagint foinikoun, which, with its kindred words, denoted darker shades of red. A full and interesting description of the purple may be found in J. A. St. John’s “Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece,” 3, 224 sq.

Fine linen [] . Byssus. A yellowish flax, and the linen made from it. Herodotus says it was used for enveloping mummies (ii. 86), a statement confirmed by microscopic examinations. He also speaks of it as a bandage for a wound (vii. 181). It is the word used by the Septuagint for linen (Exo 25:4; Exo 28:5; Exo 35:6, etc.). Some of the Egyptian linen was so fine that it was called woven air. Sir Gardner Wilkinson says that some in his possession was, to the touch, comparable to silk, and not inferior in texture to the finest cambric. It was often as transparent as lawn, a fact illustrated by the painted sculptures, where the entire form is often made distinctly visible through the outer garment. Later Greek writers used the word for cotton and silk. See Wilkinson’s “Ancient Egyptians,” first series, 3, 114 sq., and Rawlinson’s “History of Ancient Egypt,” 1, 487, 512. A yellow byssus was used by the Greeks, the material for which grew around Elis, and which was enormously costly. See Aeschylus, “Persae,” 127.

Fared sumptuously [ ] . Lit., making merry in splendor. Compare ch. 14 23, 24, 29, 32. Wyc., he ate, each day, shiningly.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS V. 19-31

1) “There was a certain rich man,” (anthropos de tis en plousios) “There was then a certain rich, wealthy, or plutocratic man,” often called “Dives,” a Latin word that means “Rich.” His name is perhaps withheld by Jesus to avoid undue emotional pain to his family.

2) “Which was clothed in purple and fine linen,” (kai enedidus keto prophuran kai busson) “And he formerly dressed in purple and fine linen,” habitually, (lampras) “Splendidly,” he dressed; The outer dress was of costly Tyrian purple, worn by the rich and the royal. His inner garment was of fine (soft) linen from Egypt. His clothes reflected comfort, wealth, and ease. The dress expresses extreme luxury and was worn only by those of much wealth, Ezr 8:15; Pro 31:22; Eze 27:7; Rev 18:12.

3) “And fared sumptuously every day:” (euphrainomenos kath’ hemeran) “Being merry every day,” or “living it up” in mirth and splendor, daily, every day, 1Jn 2:16. No charge of serious moral or ethical wrong is named against him at all. He simply coveted the pleasures of the world, neglecting his soul, till it was too late, till there were no friends to greet him, to welcome him home at death, Luk 16:9.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

Though Luke introduces some things between them, there can be no doubt that this example was intended by Christ to confirm the discourse which we have last examined. He points out what condition awaits those (307) who neglect the care of the poor, and indulge in all manner of gluttony; who give themselves up to drunkenness and other pleasures, and allow their neighbors to pine with hunger; nay, who cruelly kill with famine those whom they ought to have relieved, when the means of doing so were in their power. Some look upon it as a simple parable; but, as the name Lazarus occurs in it, I rather consider it to be the narrative of an actual fact. But that is of little consequence, provided that the reader comprehends the doctrine which it contains.

19. There was a certain rich man He is, first of all, described as clothed in purple and fine linen, and enjoying every day splendor and luxury. This denotes a life spent amidst delicacies, and superfluity, and pomp. Not that all elegance and ornaments of dress are in themselves displeasing to God, or that all the care bestowed on preparing victuals ought to be condemned; but because it seldom happens that such things are kept in moderation. He who has a liking for fine dress will constantly increase his luxury by fresh additions; and it is scarcely possible that he who indulges in sumptuous and well garnished tables shall avoid falling into intemperance. But the chief accusation brought against this man is his cruelty in suffering Lazarus, poor and full of sores, to lie out of doors at his gate.

These two clauses Christ has exhibited in contrast. The rich man, devoted to the pleasures of the table and to display, swallowed up, like an unsatiable gulf, his enormous wealth, but remained unmoved by the poverty and distresses of Lazarus, and knowingly and willingly suffered him to pine away with hunger, cold, and the offensive smell of his sores. In this manner Ezekiel (Eze 16:49) accuses Sodom of not stretching out her hand to the poor amidst fullness of bread and wine. The fine linen, which is a peculiarly delicate fabric, is well-known to have been used by the inhabitants of eastern countries for elegance and splendor; a fashion which the Popish priests have imitated in what they call their surplices.

(307) “ Quelle sera hors de ce monde la condition de ceux;” — “what will be out of this world the condition of those.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

HELLIS THERE ANY HOPE FOR ITS INHABITANTS?

Luk 16:19-31.

ALL men are more or less interested in the hereafter. When Tennyson, in his In Memoriam, makes Martha and Mary to ask of the risen Lazarus, Where wert thou, brother, these four days? they are attempting to penetrate that which is beyond the veil, and to get information about the other world.

This attempt is not always in vain! Multitudes of the near-dead have made remarkable reports of what they saw on the border land, and there is sufficient agreement between the testimony of Christian believers to make clear both the certainty and felicity of the farther shore. But there is not enough to satisfy the natural and universal curiosity of man regarding the matter.

To those who are followers of Jesus, however, it is a comforting fact that what we have about the other world is largely from His lips. Believing, as we do, that He came out of Eternity into Time, and out of Heaven into the Earth, we readily accept His every word as utterly dependable; and even when He speaks of Hadesthe under-worldwe conclude that His infinite wisdom made no mistake in that matter.

This story of Dives and Lazarus is one of the notable instances in which He drew aside the veil and let men look beyond, and up into Heaven; and while the rift remained, they looked down and had just a glimpse of hell.

Christ was accustomed to give truth in the concrete, and so, in order to make men know what Hades meant, he revealed it in the personal experience of a remarkably successful man whose very name impersonates riches, and the story will be properly interpreted if we think first of all of The Undoing of Dives, then of The Doom of Dives, and consider finally, The Possible Redemption of Dives.

THE UNDOING OF DIVES.

Truly, as one has remarked, Dives is not here described as a roue; he is not a drunkard; he is not a gambler; profanity is not laid up to him; lechery is not his life; in fact, Dives, in Minneapolis today, is one of our most respected citizens, one of those solid business men of whom newspapers and popular orators and commercial agents like to speak. Personally, I have no doubt that Dives was a member of Israel, and held official station in that Old Testament type of the New Testament church. This is plainly suggested by verses fourteen and fifteen:

And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

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 (Luk 16:14-15).

It is a church official, therefore, that is depicted under this name, and on that account, we should be the more interested to see what, in the Divine judgment, undoes a man. And now we read the record:

There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich mans table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abrahams bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried:

And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

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 (Luk 16:19-24).

Therein are three plain suggestions: First, his riches resulted in his utter irreligion. There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day (Luk 16:19). True religion does not express itself in purple and fine linen; spirituality is not involved in sumptuous feasts, often repeated; prosperity and pomp are not the chief characteristics of Gods true servants; in fact, it is everywhere known and understood that they are rather opponents of the same.

Jesus tried to make this clear in the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, for

He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

Two men went up into the temple to pray: the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes, unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted (Luk 18:9-14).

That part of this parable to which I call your attention at the present relates itself to the statement: I give tithes of all that I possess, a clear indication of riches coupled with spiritual pride. A man may be the most punctilious church-member, always on hand, at least at the morning service; a man may deliberately choose the chief seat in the synagogue so as to make his interest clear to all the people who attend; a man may keep an open purse for every appeal the pastor makes; a man may pride himself upon the fact that he is not guilty of extortion and that he has not indulged in injustice, that he has never degraded himself by adultery, and that he even fasts twice a week, lest his physical life triumph over the mental and spiritual, and still there may be nothing Christian about the whole performance. It is a profound pity that Winston Churchill had to detract from his excellent work in painting the pompous, punctilious, liberal, yet inhumane Eldon Parr, by dragging in an unbiblical theology and making a plea for free love, for Eldon Parr illustrates the undoing of every Dives! His very religion was irreligious, as was that of Dives.

The pride of Dives made humility impossible. The rich man, like the eminently educated man, is always in danger of regarding himself more highly than he ought. God speaking by the Psalmist, says, He that hath a high look and a proud heart will I not suffer (Psa 101:5). Solomon framed one of his proverbs after this manner, A high look and a proud heart is sin.

There is many a man whose spiritual estate might be described in the exact language of Johns Epistle to the Laodiceans:

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing: and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear (Rev 3:17-18).

This is all in illustration of that Old Testament truth, Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. There is many a man whose tax-list is large, but whose spiritual estate is poverty; there is many a man who is clothed in fine linen and purple, but with him it is not a symbol of righteousness. The purple may suggest rather the blood of others in which he has dyed his garments. There is many a man faring sumptuously every day, whose soul is actually dying of a slow but certain starvation. This is a great truth that Jesus was attempting to impress as He contrasted the prosperity of Dives estate with the poverty of Dives spirit.

But a third remark occurring here illustrates the undoing of Dives as almost nothing else.

His compassion did not equal that of the dogs. Very delicately has Jesus stated this, and yet, very clearly. Poor Lazarus was desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich mans table. We are not even told whether he got them, but the significant phrase follows: The dogs came and licked his sores. Madam DeStael said, The more I see of men, the more I think of dogs. She should have said, The more I see of some men. The more I see of such men as know no compassion, as feel no pity, as exercise no affection, the more I feel as she did. One reason why I have always loved a dog is that the dog seems to be possessed of these graces; he is pitiful, he is compassionate, he is affectionate, and these are graces not to be despised; and no matter how degraded the man and how low he is, the dog always feels his superiority and always recognizes him as a being of a higher order; in fact, he is the dogs god, and the lowest man, in the dogs judgment, lives on a high level.

On the contrary, Dives despised the level on which Lazarus lived. The whole parable goes to convince one that as he walked his way, if he looked at him at all, it was with disdain. The social sentiment exercised by Dives created a gulf between him and Lazarus. Dr. Dawson, in a sermon on Dives and Lazarus, says: The sin of Dives was that he had never passed that gate to speak a human word of kindness to the beggar, and had never once perceived the Divine and essential fact of human brotherhood, which overtops all artificial distinctions of wealth or place or condition. And then he illustrates: In one of the striking apologues of Tolstoi there is this story: A beggar sits in the bitter Russian cold stretching out his swollen and disfigured hand for alms. Tolstoi feels in his pocket for a coin, is troubled and ashamed to find he has none, and says at last to the silent, waiting beggar, Brother, I have nothing, but I take your hand, and I love you. For an instant the swollen hand of the mendicant is grasped in his; then the beggar looks up with moist eyes, and says, Thank you, brother, that also is a gift. It was; it was the greatest of all gifts, for the divinest alms is love. But that was an act of which Dives could not so much as have dreamed. To call Lazarus brother was a thing beyond him. To feel toward him as Tolstoi felt toward that immortal mendicant beside the Kremlin was a thing impossible to the proud Pharisee, the son of Abraham who could pass the beggar at the gate for years and suppose that he had discharged every moral liability toward him when he sent him a dish of orts and fragments from his sumptuous table.

Victor Hugo in Les Miserables speaks of the different names the Bible gives to God, saying: Solomon names Thee Compassion, and that is the most beautiful of all Thy names. That compassion is a great characteristic of the Divine nature no man will dispute; and that mortal who has no compassion for his unfortunate fellows, is stirred by no pity at their estate; is incited to no sacrifice to save them from suffering; is indeed indifferent to the whole question of whether they are in health or in sickness, whether they are in joy or in sorrow, whether they are in life or dying, reveals that he has no touch of the Divine nature about him; his character is poles apart from the character of God and from the Divine standpoint, yea, even from the standpoint that is truly humane, his whole nature is awry and he is undone. That is Dives.

The further study of this parable brings us to

THE DOOM OF DIVES.

Death was his doom. As long as he lived he was prosperous; death brought him to utter bankruptcy.

Death despoiled him of every treasure. That which he had accumulated, he could not take with him. Of treasures he had sent none ahead. In Heaven he had nothing laid up. That is the pathos of death to many a rich man. Job, who was a rich man, was still a sensible man, and he knew that prosperity was no passport to the other world; that his possessions here gave no promise for riches there; he expresses that truth: Naked came I out of my mothers womb and naked shall I return thither.

A few years ago Minneapolis boasted an unusual millionaire, a millionaire who poured out his money like water. His house was to exceed anything in proportions that the city had ever seen; his gardens were to be Edens for the gods; his fountains were to realize those of myths and legends. How much does he own now? Death has done its work; six feet of ground in one direction and three in the other is all that he claims; and that may yet be contested and dug up or despoiled. Every full-grown man of the potters field has just as much ground and just as rich ground. If you tell me, He has no such monument as will be erected over this man, I answer, What is a monument worth to a dead man? If you say, He has a name known from sea to sea, I say, What is a name worth to a man unless it is a good name? Monuments may tell the story of only a fallen pride; names may be only accompanied with sumptuous living. Dives is immortalized, but his estate was in no manner helped by that fact. No wonder Jesus said,

Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal;

But lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal (Mat 6:19-20).

No wonder!

It is a terrible thing to know that any minute every treasure that you have gleaned in a whole long life may be snatched forever from your hand by the touch of the bony finger of the last enemy Death!

Again, Death revealed to him his irremedial error. This life has its disappointments; this life has its tragedies; this life would teach us, if we were disposed to learn from it, and tell us to put confidence in nothing except in truth. The life of the man who trusts in true riches is destined to riches; and the man who trusts in false values is appointed to poverty.

Oh, how many people there are who have put their money in mining, oil, and other schemes, and then afterwards have regretted it; but regret never brings gold. Multitudes have invested in rubber plantations, and found the only thing about these that would stretch were the stories of a profiting promotion. Men sometimes invest in inflated real estate and find out about the inflation by their own failure. I have heard a man, whose fortune was a great one, sobbing and saying in his sob, It is all gone; every penny of it is gone, and yet, that man recovered his peace of mind; that man became content, like Paul, to live in poverty; that man went down to his grave knowing full well that though he was a pauper here, he had riches yonder laid up.

But what is to be the sentiment of the man who finds out at last that he has invested his whole life in the wrong direction, and that the life is gone and cannot be recovered? There is a pitiful day coming for you, young people, who are refusing to take an education in your youth. It is a day when ignorance will settle down like a cloud and refuse to lift or be lifted. There is a sad day coming for you men who refuse to turn from tippling; there is a day coming when drunkenness will be your estate and the curse of intemperance will refuse to go at your bidding, or even at your will. There is a dark day coming for some girls who think that a single sin can be covered if they yield to the temptations of the hour and that they can finally recover themselves; freedom will never be their portion. But the darkest of all days is the portion of them upon whom death has done his work, and who in that hour and article recognize that all life has been wrong, and that now, since it is all gone, none of it can ever be righted. Oh, the horror of it! In a single sentence of the text, Son, remember! there is hell.

Death precipitates Dives into the condition of torment. It was largely the result of memory; it was largely in consequence of the might have beens. Memory is the thing that walks with us now, and will stalk with us for eternity. They tell a story that a man who was set to watch a revolving railroad bridge across a river was warned by a telegram that the Express was coming, to keep the bridge closed; but a captain of a passing boat told him to open it, promising to get through in good time. The moment the bridge swung around parallel with the river, that moment the train whistle was heard and one moment later, the great, rushing train had hurled itself into the river below, and while the engine was struggling, steaming, and dying, men and women and children by the scores, penned up in cars like so many rats, were struggling more desperately still, and upon the last one of them the smothering cover of death settled. When he saw his mistake, reason reeled from its throne, and for years afterward, he walked a mad house, wringing his hands and crying, If I only had! If I only had! His memory remained, and in his memory he had his doom, and that is hell.

I do not believe that hell is a lake of fire. I do not believe that hell is a living, gnawing worm. I do not believe that hell is a rushing, foaming sea. These are all Biblical figures of a greater and more terrible fact, and that fact is summed up in one word in this textthe torment of memory. Oh, it is sad enough to miss the way for Time; who can tell the sadness when missed for Eternity!

THE REDEMPTION OF DIVES.

There is one question that no man can escape. Is there hope for the lost? Was Dante right when he inscribed over the door of hell: All ye who enter here leave Hope behind. Good men, and great men differ in the answer here.

Dr. Dawson has two sermons on the subject and Dr. Dawson is an Andover theologianhe believes in a second chance. He insists that Dives would yet be restored. He argues it from two grounds.

First, Dives was still possessed of human sentiment. He loved his own brothers and he begged Abraham to send Lazarus to warn them lest they come to that place of torment. To me that argument is not conclusive. On the other hand, it hints to me a more awful truth, that in it we have revealed that selfishness, and selfishness only, was the estate of Dives even in the other world. It is a matter of history that there never was a Jew but identified his life with the lives of his kith and kin; his interests and theirs were one; and outside of that one interest, it is impossible almost to enlist him. The Gentile to him was a dog, to be trafficed in if profit could be turned out of him; to be treated with contempt on all other occasions; and the fact that this man Dives remembered his five brothers and never had a concern for another, hints that character continues unchanged beyond the grave. We all have heard of the traditional prayer, God bless me and my wife, and my son, John, and his wife; us four and no more, and we have never imagined that such a prayer could be heard, that God could conceivably answer it in grace! We ask you whether this prayer is not akin to it? Oh, the multitude of men who are interested in their own family circle, who are interested in the social set in which they belong, in the men of their business world; but what care they for the great throng outside? It was told to our national statesman that the people did not consent to his opinion. His answer was, The people be damned! Poor Dives had no more interest in the sick and poor, and dying of the earth outside his own family than he had while he was on it. He did not care for the hell-bound about him. His sympathies were not enlarged; his nature was not changed; his essential makeup was unmolested, even by the torment of his estate.

Again, Mr. Dawson hopes for him because of certain statements of Scripture. He takes the statement of Peter that Christ, after His death on Calvary, went and preached unto the spirits that are in prison, namely, those who disobeyed in the days of Noah. But he disregards the context. I believe it means that He preached to them before they were in prison and by the lips of Noah.

Then he refers to the passage in the same Epistle, For this cause was the Gospel preached also to them that are dead. They were living when it was preached to them; they are dead now;. This is the more evident meaning.

And yet I confess to you frankly there is no man living who would not rather be a Universalist. My whole heart yearns for it, but the Scriptures do not teach it. The plain interpretation of this text is that a gulf is fixed and impassable. I do not doubt at all that God could bridge it if He wanted to; but I distinctly differ from that statement which says that hell is one of the realms over which God rules. Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels; it is the place in which Satans supremacy is undisputed; it is the portion of the universe turned over to him and his following that they might make the most of it, or the worst. It is that place from which God tried to save them; but all His attempts have been in vain. That, it seems to me, is the plain teaching of the Scripture.

If, when I go into the other world, I find out that the revelation was not full enough for me to understand, or that God had portions of grace which He never dared to voice in His Gospel lest men abuse them, and that He has bridged this gulf and will bring the last man out, I will lend my voice with that of men and angels in shouting His praises; I will give to the last hell-stained, but finally saved soul, my hand and heart in happy reunion. But I say to you that the man who persists in rejecting Jesus Christ, who resists the Spirit, who fights against God the Father, who finishes his course in unbelief, goes out without any promise from God of a future restoration and a final redemption. Who can afford to take such a risk?

Henry Van Dyke is a great man and a good preacher of the Gospel. In his Sermons to Young Men, he says this: You are conscious that you belong to another world. And yet it may be that there are some of you who forget it, and live as if there were no God, no soul, no future life. Your ambitions are fixed upon the wealth that corrodes, the fame that fades; your desires are towards the pleasures that pall upon the senses; you are bartering immortal treasure for the things which perish in the using. The time is coming when you must lie down like the dumb beast and crumble into dust. Nay, not like the beast, for to you shall come in that hour the still, small voice, saying, This night shall thy soul be required of thee. Thy soulwhy not think of it now? The one thing needful for you is to know and love and serve Him who is the Father of your spirit. Come then to Christ, who alone can save you from the sin which defiles and destroys you. Come then to Christ, that you may have fellowship on earth with the Son of Man, and dwell with the Son of God forever, and behold His glory.

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

Butlers Comments

SECTION 3

Be Sharing (Luk. 16:19-31)

19 There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, 21who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich mans table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abrahams bosom. The rich man also died and was buried;23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. 24And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame. 25But Abraham said, Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us. 27And he said, Then I beg you, father, to send him to my fathers house, 28for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29But Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30And he said, No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent,31He said to him, If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.

Luk. 16:19-21 Selfishness: Jesus told about a rich man who used his riches selfishly to illustrate what happens to such people after they die. Some have called this a parablebut Jesus does not call it a parable. Jesus even gives the name of the beggar. We believe it was an event that literally happened and is true to the facts in every detail. There was such a rich man; there was such a beggar; there is such a place as Hades. Even if it was a parable Jesus would not make up a fantasy which had no basis in fact about such a serious matter as life after death. He would not concoct a fable which was untrue just to scare someone. Besides, what He teaches here about life after death for the impenitent is substantiated by the rest of the New Testament.

Note the contrasts between the two men:

The rich man

The beggar

1.

dressed in a purple robe (Gr. porphuran) and fine linen (Gr. busson); sign of luxury.

1.

covered with open, festering sores (Gr. eilkomenos) licked by the dogs; destitution

2.

rich (Gr. plousios)

2.

poor (Gr. ptochos)

3.

feasted sumptuously every day (Gr. euphrainomenos lampros, lit. made merry flamboyantly) show of ostentation; he flaunted his riches.

3.

wished to be fed with crumbs from rich man’s table (Gr. epithumon chortasthenai apo ton piptonton apo tes trapezes, lit. desiring to be satisfied from the table . . .) shows humility.

The beggar, Lazarus, lay every day at the gate of the rich man. The implication is that the rich man had to be aware of the beggars destitution. Apparently the beggar expressed his desire to be fed crumbs from the rich mans table but nothing was offered him. This side of the grave the scoffing Pharisees and most of the world today would have contempt for the poor beggarif not contempt then inactive pity (if there is such a thing). The avaricious Pharisees and most of the world today would envy the rich man. That is how it is in this worldbut what about after this life is over?

Luk. 16:22-25 Suffering: Here are two men at opposite ends of the economic and social spectrumthe very rich and the utterly destitute. Both of them died, of course, for every man does! Neither riches nor poverty can circumvent death. One had a funeral (the rich man was buried) and the body of the other was probably cast into Gehenna (Jerusalems city-dump). The beggar was carried by the angels to Abrahams bosom. Abraham died himself when he was 175 years old (Gen. 25:7) and he was gathered to his people. Since none of his ancestors were buried in the cave of Machpelah (where he was buried) the phrase gathered to his people does not simply refer to Abrahams death and burial. Apparently the phrase refers to Abrahams existence after death with those who before him had died in faith (Heb. 11:1-16). This is why the location of the departed spirit of this beggar son of Abraham was actually called Abrahams bosom. The rich man went to Hades and was in torment. Death comes to all but it does not end existence. The dead apparently go to some intermediate state where they are conscious, knowing and being known, as they wait the final judgment and eternal existence. This intermediate state is an actual place. Samuel was recognized by both the witch and Saul (1Sa. 28:13-19) and Samuel was conscious. There are beings in another existence all around us if we could see them. God adjusted the eyes of Elishas servant to see the fiery chariots and horses (2Ki. 6:16-17). The apostles saw Moses and Elijah and recognized them as they were transfigured with Jesus (Mat. 17:3; Mar. 9:4; Luk. 9:30-31).

There have been declarations that the Old Testament does not teach life after death. That is sheer nonsense. Job believed (Job. 19:25-26); Daniel believed (Dan. 12:2 ff.); David believed (2Sa. 12:23); Abraham believed (Heb. 11:19); many O.T. saints believed (Heb. 11:35); Martha believed (Joh. 11:24); many of the Pharisees believed (Act. 23:6-8). For an extensive study of the O.T. teaching on the Future Life, see Isaiah, Vol. II by Paul T. Butler, College Press, pgs. 287299.

Hades (Gr. Haides) in Greek mythology was the god of the underworld, the son of Cronos and Rhea and the brother of Zeus; the word came to be used to denote the kingdom ruled over by Hades, or the abode of the dead. The Greek conception of Hades was that of a locality receiving into itself all the dead, but divided into two regions, one a place of torment, the other of blessedness. Almost without exception the Septuagint uses hades to translate the Hebrew word Sheol which is the O.T. name for the abode of the dead. Although the word itself in Greek had its origins in Greek mythology, the concept Jesus and the rest of the N.T. teach about the abode of the dead is from the O.T. revelation of God. Admittedly the O.T. is vague and dim about life after death, still, once one gathers all that is said and inferred about Sheol from the O.T. it appears clear there was belief in a continuity of consciousness after physical death; there was rest and blessedness for the believer and torment for the infidel (cf. Isa. 14:12 ff. for example). The O.T. as well as the N.T. places emphasis on the final judgment and redemption and leaves many things connected with the intermediate state in darkness.

The clearest picture we have in all the Bible on the intermediate state of the dead is in Luk. 16:19-31. The N.T. seems to teach that life immediately after death will be a state of:

a.

Consciousness: 2Co. 5:8; Php. 1:23; Luk. 23:43; Luk. 16:24 ff.; 2Co. 12:2-4; Rev. 14:13.

b.

Disembodiment: However, the spirit will be reunited with a new and appropriate body at the final resurrection; 1Co. 15:35 ff.; Rev. 6:9.

c.

Incompleteness; No part of the church is complete without the whole fellowship of the saints; Eph. 3:18; Heb. 11:40.

d.

Restfulness: Rev. 7:13 ff.; Rev. 14:13; Luk. 16:25; Joh. 11:11; 1Th. 4:13.

e.

Presence with Christ: 2Co. 5:8; Php. 1:23.

f.

Torment for Unbelievers: Luk. 16:24; Rev. 14:9-11; Rev. 19:20.

What these passages appear to teach is that at the time of physical death, there is no break in memory, mentality or change in personality. What a man chooses to be in this world he apparently chooses to be in the next world. Of course, just like the rich man, many will cry out in anguish at the torment. But that has to do with a desire for relief from unpleasant circumstances, and has nothing to do with a willingness to repent and surrender to Gods sovereign will.

The Bible seems to teach that there are four states of existence for man:

1.

The Innocent State: Infants and young children are apparently in a state of moral innocence until they come to the point of mental and moral maturity where they clearly know the will of God and choose to disobey it; (cf. Mat. 18:1-6; Mat. 19:13-15). Only those who have the mental and moral maturity to repent are commanded to do so in the N.T. Should these innocents die before they have made an intelligent, free, moral choice to disobey Gods will, they apparently go to be with Jesus (in the intermediate state; see 2Sa. 12:23, etc.). There is no categorical determination in the Scriptures as to the age a person will be when he reaches moral accountability. The Hebrews arbitrarily declared young men to have reached that age at 1213 when they were given their Bar-Mitzva (Son of the commandment).

2.

The Choice, or Probationary (Proving) State: All persons who remain alive in this world long enough to make an intelligent, free, moral choice to disobey Gods will do so! All men sin (Rom. 3:23). But God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance so He has declared His plan of redemption in a New and Final Testament. All who hear that and believe it by obedience to the terms become citizens of the Kingdom of Christ. Those who do not repent and obey are sons of darkness and servants of the devil. Every sinner is dead in sinseparated from God. Every sinner who believes the Gospel and obeys has been resurrected to a new life in Christ and is reconciled to God.

3.

The Intermediate State: All persons die physically. All human beings must eventually be separated from this earthly body. When that occurs, the real personthe spirit of the person apparently goes to a disembodied, intermediate state of conscious existence. In the intermediate state there are two existencesParadise (Luk. 23:43) for the saved and Torments (Luk. 16:23) for the unsaved. There is a great gulf or chasm separating the two realms over which mankind cannot pass (Luk. 16:26). There, all mankind awaits the Final State which will be realized at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ (1Th. 4:13-18, etc.).

4.

The Final State: At the Second Advent of Jesus Christ the Great White Throne Judgment and Him who sits upon it will judge all mankind (Rev. 20:11 ff.). Eternal existence will be determined on the basis of what is written in the bookssome will go to eternal blessedness and some will go to eternal separation from God in Hell (cf. Rev. 21:1 to Rev. 22:21). Those who by faith and obedience to the Gospel have taken part in the first resurrection (Rom. 6:1-11; Joh. 5:24-29; Rev. 20:1-6) will be forever in the fellowship of God and will not suffer the second death.

Critics of the Bible have always felt rather smug about attacking this account of Jesus at the point in the story where the rich man is said to be in anguish in this flame. Their contention is that the Bible states an impossibility since flame consumes and it is a logical impossibility for something to be eternally consumed. We must remember, however, the Bible is written in human language, describing unseen, spiritual and supernatural things in natural terms. God must communicate to man in terms of mans experience, so He likens eternal torment unto eternal flames. It is altogether possible, of course, for God to create a literal, eternal lake of fire and brimstone (Rev. 14:9-11; Rev. 19:20; Rev. 20:14-15; Rev. 21:8) and create a body for the impenitent spirit that will never be consumed but burned in flame forever. But the emphasis seems to be in this passage on the mental anguish and conscious moral suffering of the rich man in Hades. The Greek word basanos (torment) is sometimes translated toil and means primarily, to rub on the touchstone, to put to the test, to examine by torture. The word odunomai is translated anguish (RSV) and tormented (KJV) in Luk. 16:24; it is translated pain or anguish of the heart (Rom. 9:2; 1Ti. 6:10). Mary uses the word of her mental anguish when she could not find the lad Jesus (Luk. 2:48) and Pauls departure from the Ephesian elders brought deep sorrow to his heart (Act. 20:38). Every human being knows that mental and spiritual anguish is more severely tormenting than any physical torture. Men without faith in God have been able to endure excruciating physical tortures and survivebut without faith in God and His Word, mental anxiety or spiritual guilt is devastating. Unforgiven sin, unreconciled guilt and unpacified animosity forever and ever would certainly qualify to be described as a lake of fire and brimstone of torment. An unrelenting, unappeased conscience burns and consumes like fire. Eternal torment consists of total and final confinement in cowardliness, untrust-worthiness, pollution, murder, fornication, sorcery, idolatry, lying (Rev. 21:8; Rev. 22:15) forever and ever.

The beggar, in Abrahams bosom, is comforted (Gr. parakaleitai, strengthened). The eternal state of the comforted is described in Rev. 21:1-4; Rev. 21:22-27; Rev. 22:1-5.

THE FOUR STATES OF MAN

See pages 309 and 310 for scripture references and explanations,

Luk. 16:26-31 Sentenced: The report on the rich man and Lazarus parts the veil on life after death and dispels many human heresies about it. First, there is no such thing as second probation (called by some, purgatory). The solemn reality taught by Jesus is that all who die in unbelief pass on to a lost eternity. There are no second chances. The great chasm (Gr. chasma, lit. yawning) is impassable and immoveable. The state of the wicked and righteous is fixed (Gr, sterizo, established) after physical death. There are no scriptures anywhere in the Bible which teach a second chance, The passage in 1Pe. 3:18-20 refers to the preaching of the Spirit of Christ who was in the prophet Noah (cf. 1Pe. 1:10-11) when Noah preached to the antediluvian sinners (1Pe. 3:20). The spirits of those disobedient were in prison when Peter was writing his epistle, not during the preaching of the Spirit of Christ, (see Letters From Peter, by Clinton Gill, College Press, pgs. 9091). Second, there is no such thing as soul sleep. The same soul that was alive and conscious on earth was alive and conscious after death. The essential characteristic of spirit is life. There can be no such thing as a non-living or unconcious spirit. Consciousness is that which is the essence of spirit. Death is not extinctiononly separation. Physical death is the separation of spirit from mortal body; spiritual death is separation of the eternal spirit from its Creator. Some verses used by those who teach soul-sleep are: (Joh. 11:11-14; Mat. 9:24;: Act. 7:60; 1Co. 15:51; 1Th. 4:13-14; Ecc. 9:5-6; Ecc. 9:10; Psa. 13:3; Psa. 6:5; Psa. 115:17; Psa. 146:3-4; Dan. 12:2). But these simply describe the person only as he appears from the human viewpoint which is limited to seeing the visible, physical manifestations of life. Jesus plainly indicates that there is consciousness beyond death. Abraham and the rich man recognized one another. There was thinking and feeling (emotions, at least). Jesus knew what reality was beyond death (cf. Joh. 14:1 ff.). He would not deceive His hearers about so imperative a concept.

Third, there is no such thing as spiritism. The spirits of dead men do not return (unless God permits a special case, like Samuel). Death causes a complete break with this world as far as communication is concerned (cf. Job. 10:21; Job. 7:9-10; 2Sa. 12:23; 2Co. 5:8). The attempt to communicate with the dead is forbidden by the Bible (Deu. 18:9-12; Exo. 22:18; Lev. 20:6; Isa. 8:19-20; 2Ki. 1:3, etc.). What is thought to be spiritism today may be either human hoax or the lying signs of the devil (cf. 2Th. 2:9-12; Rev. 13:13-15). The famous magician Houdini wrote a book entitled, A Magician Among The Spiritsa well documented and thorough exposure of spiritism. In his book he said, Mine has not been an investigation of a few days or weeks or months, but one that has extended over 30 years, and in that 30 years I have not found one (spiritist) that did not reek of fraud, one that could not be reproduced by earthly powers, . . . up to the present time everything that I have investigated has been fraud.

There are some extremely important lessons to be learned from this story. The right use of privilege and possessions in this life is significant for all eternity. The conditions beyond this life result from a godly, merciful use of money to help those in need (cf. Mat. 25:31-46). Life which is not affected by morality now will not be affected by the miraculous now or after this life! Neither a miraculous apparition or someone returning from the dead, nor a tragic story of the torture and suffering of the damned would effect the repentance of the rich mans brothers! Miracles are to establish the faithfulness of Gods revealed Wordthey do not in themselves bring people to repentance. Hardship, persecution, tragedy seldom produce repentance (cf. Amo. 4:6-13; Rev. 9:20-21; Rev. 16:10-11). It is the proclamation of the absolute faithfulness and mercifulness of God as demonstrated in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ that is the power unto salvation. Miracles simply confirm that what God has said about atonement, forgiveness, salvation and heaven is to be trusted. Plenty of miracles were performed by Gods messengers in Bible times. Man does not need any more miracles. Gods word is sufficiently validated to engender trust in Him. Men who will not believe now would not be convinced (Gr. peisthesontai) if another miracle were wrought before their very eyes. Men did not believe or trust Jesus even when He brought a different Lazarus back from the dead (Joh. 11:45-57). Miracles which could not be denied did not produce discipleship in and of themselves (cf. Act. 4:15-22). The task of the disciple of Jesus is to communicate the word of God clearly, plainly, understandably and lovingly to the unbelieving world and then to let every hearer make his own decision. Every human being deserves the opportunity to hear the Word presented in an understandable and winsome way at least once. Disciples of Jesus are not responsible for the choiceonly for the communication. This starkly realistic look at eternity should motivate every Christian for evangelism immediately!

STUDY STIMULATORS:

1.

Why, if material possessions are only temporary, does Gods word say so much about how men use or misuse these possessions?

2.

Do you consider all you own yours? After all you earned it! Or is it all Gods? Why?

3.

What is the best investment for your money?

4.

Do you think some Christians or Christian endeavors are meeting the demand of Christ to be as wise as children of the world in their use of money? Why?

5.

Have you ever thought there must be some people about half way between being lost and saved? What do you think about Jesus categories?

6.

Why cant a man serve two masters? How did the Pharisees prove that?

7.

Do you agree with the religious denomination that today says John the Baptist founded the church?

8.

What connection does Jesus teaching on entering the kingdom by violence have to do with the proper use of money?

9.

How is the subject of divorce connected to misuse of money?

10.

Is divorce a sin? Can it be forgiven? What should the Christian attitude be toward remarriage of those who have been divorced?

11.

Is the account of the rich man and Lazarus a parable? If it is how can we accept it as an accurate description of life after death?

12.

Where is Hades? What is it like?

13.

Are the unsaved really going to burn forever in flames?

14.

What are the four states of human existence?

15.

Three religious heresies are disproved by the account of the rich man and Lazaruswhat are they?

16.

Why wouldnt sending a man back from the dead have convinced the brothers of the rich man?

HELL

(Mat. 10:28)

By Paul T. ButlerOBC Chapel, September 1975
INTRODUCTION

MY NAME IS NOT HARRY TRUMAN AND IM NOT RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT, But I propose to give you a sermon on Hell this morning.

I.

HELL MAKES THE NEWS OCCASIONALLY.

A.

In May, 1967, Time magazine ran an article on it. Some theologians interviewed had doubts about whether there is an afterlife, and others absolutely disavowed the existence of an eternal hell.

B.

A 30 year old preacher in one of our western communities suddenly became a popular sensation and a national figure because he publicly and proudly denied the existence of helland was so quoted in Timehe said, Hell is a damnable doctrineresponsible for a large measure of this worlds hatred. According to this doctrine, God, who commands us to love our enemies, plays the hypocrite by damning his enemies. This in turn stimulates the hatred of God by people who abhor hypocrisyand it gives sanction to our hatred of certain selected enemies.

C.

Of the doctrine of the Second Coming and all mankind, except a few, being extinguished or tormented for ever, Nels F. S. Ferre says (Sun and the Umbrella, pg. 33), It seems doubtful that Jesus ever taught such a doctrine.

II.

BUT THERE IS A RETICENCE, EVEN OF BIBLE BELIEVING PREACHERS, TO PREACH ON HELL.

A.

Billy Graham says, in one of his tracts,

1.

Hell . . . is the most unpopular subject a minister can choose . . .

2.

In glancing through the books in my library I found that there have been few sermons written on this subject in the past 50 years.

3.

I have had a number of ministers tell me that they have never preached a sermon on hell and yet, as I read the New Testament, I am amazed at the number of direct references to this subject, especially by Christ.

B.

In a tract from the Back To God Hour the results of a survey taken and indicated that 99% of the people in this country believe in God, but only 58% believe in hell (Tract #112).

III.

FEAR OF HELL IS A BIBLICAL MOTIVATION FOR REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION.

A.

Halleys Handbook, pg. 459, Jesus talked much about the future life. He appealed to the hope of heaven and the fear of hell. . . . It is a pity that the present day pulpit so generally deprecates the very motives that Jesus himself appealed to. Maybe that is one of the reasons the pulpit has lost so much of its power. One of the most powerful stimulants to good and deterrents from evil in this life is a profound conviction as to the reality of the future life, and that our estate there will depend on our behavior here. . . .

C. S. Lewis, Letters to Malcom: I have met no people who fully disbelieved in hell and also had a living and life-giving belief in heaven.

B.

C. S. Lewis, in The Problem of Pain, pg. 118: There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, specially, of Our Lords own words.

C.

Dwight L. Moody once said, The word of God teaches us plainly that there is future retribution; if it does not teach that it does not teach anything. . . . Now some people say, Oh, you are just trying to scare us, you say such things just to alarm us. I would consider myself an unfaithful servant if I did not so warn you. The blood of your soul would be required at my hands if I did not so warn you. . . . No one spoke of the judgment as Christ did; none knew it as well as he.

D.

Paul the apostle said, Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men . . . (2Co. 5:11).

Peter wrote, . . . pass the time of your sojourning here in fear . . . (1Pe. 1:17).

E.

Donald F. Tweedie, Jr., Eternity, April 1965, said: . . . I personally am not negative about fear as an inducement to a crisis which will culminate in a Christian conversion. Probably at least some element of fear is a necessary part of such a crisis experience. Certainly, if the dangers of lostness and hell are real, fear is a most appropriate emotion.

TO LET A LOST AND DOOMED WORLD OF MANKIND GO MERRILY, LAUGHING AND JOKING AND ENTERTAINING ITSELF WITH POSITIVE FEELINGS AND UNFOUNDED OPTIMISM TOWARD AN ETERNAL HELL IS LIKE LETTING A CHILD RUN MERRILY OUT INTO A BUSY STREET LAUGHING, THINKING HAPPY THOUGHTS ALL THE TIME AND NOT WARNING IT OF IMPENDING CATASTROPHE!

I am not contending that fear and hell and judgment is the most expedient way to motivate conversion. Trusting in the faithfulness, mercy, love and goodness of God is the most significant basis for a lasting and maturing conversion. But as easy as it is for any of us and all of us to fall into hypocrisy, presumptiveness upon the grace of God, or returning to a life of self-indulgence, WE NEED TO REMIND OURSELVES FREQUENTLY OF THE DANGER OF ETERNAL HELL!

IV.

ILLUSTRATION:

A number of years ago four men were fishing from a boat in the Niagara River some distance above the world-renowned falls. As the fish were not very hungry the fishers got into a controversy regarding future punishment. Three of the number contended that there was no such place as hell, whilst the fourth accepted the testimony of Scripture on the subject. The discussion became so heated they failed to observe that their boat was getting perilously near the sweep of the current. Perceiving their danger, they seized the oars, and rowed with all their might to a safe spot on the river. If there is no such place as hell, said the believer in Gods Word, why were you so afraid to go over the falls? One of them replied, The No Hell doctrine is good enough to go fishing with, but it is very poor to go over the falls with.

DISCUSSION

I.

HELL IS A REAL PLACE.

A.

There are four words translated Hell in the KJV.

1.

Sheol: The Hebrew word which represents the locality or condition of the dead (keber means tomb; shahkath means corruption). Sheol is not as precise about endless, retributive character of the life beyond as New Testament. Still, wherever used, it does usually represent the place of future retribution (Deu. 32:22; 2Sa. 22:6; Job. 17:15; Job. 21:13; Job. 26:6; Psa. 9:17; Psa. 18:5; Psa. 89:48; Psa. 116:3; Psa. 139:8; Pro. 23:14; Pro. 15:11; Isa. 14:15; Eze. 31:16-17; Amo. 9:2; Jon. 2:2).

2.

Tartarus: 2Pe. 2:4the place where God cast the angels who sinned and who are delivered into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.

3.

Hades: Most frequently used as antithetical to heaven, Mat. 11:23; Mat. 16:18; Luk. 10:15; Luk. 16:23; Rev. 1:18; Rev. 6:8; Rev. 20:13. Sometimes simply the place of departed dead.

4.

Gehenna: or Valley of Hinnom; Mat. 5:22; Mat. 5:29-30; Mat. 10:28; Mat. 18:9; Mat. 23:15; Mat. 23:33; Mar. 9:43; Mar. 9:45; Mar. 9:47; Luk. 12:5; Jas. 3:6. Most used word and most associated with judgment.

The words in themselves do not prove hells existence. They merely describe in human language that which man has not yet fully experienced. The existence of hell is proven from three lines of evidence.

B.

Natural Revelation (we shall equate judgment with hell).

1.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them . . . clearly perceived in the things that have been made . . . receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error (Rom. 1:18 ff.).

2.

The very fact that built into our universe and its moral structure there are penalties, judgments and executions of those judgments has indicated to the pagan world some place of future retribution.

3.

Many would like to believe there is no such place and some even use the word hell to swear there is no such place, but God has not left Himself without witness to the whole world . . . so they shall be without excuse!

4.

Ive known some rounders in my day and every one of them except one believed there was a place of retributionhell.

C.

Mans Conscience

1.

When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them . . . (Rom. 2:14 ff.).

2.

Alfred M. Rehwinkel has written a masterful book on The Voice of Conscience.

Conscience is absolute in its verdict. There is no bargaining or compromising. We may attempt to excuse ourselves, but conscience will prevail. The judgment of conscience is final. Conscience does not change its verdict unless the standard or law is changed or done away. This is the very essence of the Christians passing from death to lifeJesus has taken away the law that stood against us. This is the only escape from conscience. Without the removal of the law, judgment and retribution are inevitable. Conscience is no respecter of persons. It pronounces its unimpeachable judgments regardless of the opposing authority by which it may be confronted.

3.

Conscience is man himself speaking as a moral being to himself. God has placed this voice in man at his creation and man cannot rid himself of it, even if he would.

Men have cried out to die and have committed suicide attempting to escape from the horror of a tormenting conscience. In the torments of an aroused conscience, man experiences a foretaste of everlasting torture in hell.

D.

On the Authority of Jesus Christ

1.

Never were there words as solemn and as searching as those in which Jesus warned of hell and the judgment to come. In 12 out of 35 of his parables he depicts men as judged, condemned, and punished for their sins. In one, (Lazarus and the rich man) he draws back the veil on the conditions men in the hereafter . . . a chasm that is forever unbridgeable (Luk. 16:19-31).

2.

More than the love of God is revealed at the cross. There we see, unsheathed, the implacable hostility of Gods wrath against sinpast, present and future. It is a precursor of the last judgment.

3.

The documents that make up our New Testament have been submitted to nearly 2,000 years of intense, scientific, archaeological, textual, investigation. They have been verified, authenticated, accredited as historically trustworthy. They have never, by any authentic evidence, been contradicted. They are a record of one Jesus of Nazareth who walked on the sea, healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead and was himself raised from the dead.

HE SAID THERE WAS A PLACE OF FINAL AND ETERNAL RETRIBUTION IN THE LIFE BEYOND THIS ONE. . . . I BELIEVE HIM! UNTIL SOMEONE COMES ALONG WITH BETTER CREDENTIALS THAN HIS, I WILL CONTINUE TO BELIEVE HIM!

Madalyn Murray OHair, speaking on the campus of Drake University, said, There is absolutely no conclusive evidence that Jesus ever really existed. . . . These stories about him must be considered nothing more than folk tales. . . . But there is never going to be any way of verifying them one way or another. . . . I reject the idea of a life hereafter on the same grounds. Do you know anybody who has come back with a firsthand report on heaven? If you do, let me know. Until then youll pardon me if I dont buy it. I agree with Mark Twain, who wrote about the hereafter, that there is no sex in it; you cant eat anything in it; there is absolutely nothing physical in it. You wouldnt have your brain, you wouldnt have any sensation, you wouldnt be able to enjoy anythingunless you were queer for hymn singing and harp playing. So who needs it? SPEAKING FOR MYSELF, ID RATHER GO TO HELL.

II.

HELL IS THE ETERNAL HOME OF THE IMPENITENT

A.

It is described as:

1.

the outer darkness (Mat. 8:12)

2.

weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mat. 8:12)

3.

the pit of the abyss (Rev. 9:2; Rev. 9:11)

4.

eternal punishment (Mat. 25:46)

5.

torment or anguish (Luk. 16:24; Rev. 14:10-11)

6.

eternal sin (Mar. 3:29)

7.

second death (Rev. 21:8)

8.

eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might (2Th. 1:9)

B.

Hell is the penitentiary of the moral universe in which all impenitent are sentenced for eternity to share with the devil and rebellious angels.

1.

Obviously its essential characteristic is lostness, separation from God and the fellowship of the godlike.

2.

It is eternal remorse, despair, hopelessness and guilt.

3.

C. C. Crawford, Survey Course in Christian Doctrine, Vol. II, Hell has been prepared for the devil and his angels. Wicked men will eventually go to hell, not because God will cast them into it, but because their own consciences will drive them, instinctively, to their proper place (as in the case of Judas, Act. 2:23). As water seeks its own level, they who in this present life fit themselves only for the society of the rebellious, wicked, unbelieving, will instinctively seek that type of society in the next world. For, without a doubt, the devil and all his kind would be miserable in heaven.

C.

A place where sin and wickedness is rampant

1.

Judging from the manner in which God deals with unrepentant sinners (Rom. 1:1-32), that is, allowing their sin to go unrestrained, it follows that mans destiny is the free expression of pride, selfishness and greed, hate, hurtfulness.

2.

God says: You have lived for yourself, now you may have just that. . . . Man who was created a social being, is in the end cut off completely from God and goodness.

3.

When you were born into this world, you came to a place that had been prepared for you. Generations of blood and breeding and tradition . . . and, of course, the particular preparation of parents, etc. You were expected; you were prepared for; and so you arrived, not at just a place, but a prepared place. IN OTHER WORDS, YOU ARRIVED AT HOME. HELL IS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO WANT IT!

IT SHOULD NOT BE A STRANGE THOUGHT THAT, EVEN AS THERE WAS PREPARATION FOR MANS ARRIVAL INTO THIS WORLD, THERE IS ALSO PREPARATION FOR HIS ARRIVAL IN THE NEXT WORLD!

D.

A place of utter ruin and lostness and destruction of reality

1.

C. S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain (p. 125126), To enter heaven is to become more human than you ever succeeded in being in earth; to enter hell, is to be banished from humanity, What is cast (or casts itself) into hell is not a man: it is remains. To be a complete man means to have the passions obedient to the will and the will offered to God: to have been a man would presumably mean to consist of a will utterly centered in itself and passions utterly uncontrolled by the will.

2.

By virtue of Gods moral law, the sinner reaps as he has sown, and sooner or later is repaid by contempt, selfishness, hate, hurtfulness. Then the selfishness of one sinner is punished by the selfishness of another, the ambition of one by the ambition of another, the cruelty of one by the cruelty of another. The misery of the wicked hereafter will doubtless be due in part to the spirit of their companions. They dislike the good, whose presence and example is a continual reproof and reminder the height from which they have fallen, and they shut themselves out of their company. The Judgment will bring about a complete cessation of intercourse between the good and the bad (Strong, Systematic Theology, p. 1035).

3.

Uncle Screwtape, writing to Wormwood says:

To us a human is primarily food; our aim is the absorption of its will into ours, the increase of our own areas of selfhood at its expense. . . . We want cattle who can finally become food; He (God) wants servants who can finally become sons. We want to suck in, He wants to give out. We are empty and would be filled; He is full and flows over. Our war aim is a world in which Our Father Below has drawn all other beings into himself. . . .

HELL IS A PLACE OF TOTAL SELFISHNESS . . . WHERE EVERYONE DEVOURS, EXPLOITS, ABUSES, PERVERTS, DESTROYS, REBELLS.
Prisoners of hell enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded and are therefore self-enslaved.
The blessed, forever submitting to obedience, become through all eternity more and more free.
What went on in Sodom and Gomorrah; what people did to people in the decadence of Rome; the hateful, hurtful tortures of the German Third Reich; the agonies and torments of the millions in Russian and Chinese concentration camps; the ruin, destruction, hopelessness, despair of thousands of American skid-rows, bars, brothels, and drug addicts. . . . MULTIPLY A MILLION TIMES A MILLION AND YOU STILL DO NOT KNOW THE HORROR OF HELL.
IT IS A PLACE WHERE ALL THE HORRIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF UNBELIEF AND REBELLION ARE ALLOWED TO RUN RAMPANT FOREVER AND EVER!

III.

HOW TO GO TO HELL

A.

Just want to!

1.

God created all of us with the power of will and choice. He will not revoke that power. He will give us what we choose.

2.

C. S. Lewis, Problem of Pain, p. 127, I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside. . . . they (occupants of hell) do not will even the first preliminary stages of that self-abandonment through which alone the soul can reach any good.

3.

Just want this worldwant what the devil wantsnot the globe, but worldliness or mind-of-the-world (rebellion, license, greed, exploitation).

4.

To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to Gods law, indeed it cannot; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Rom. 8:6).

5.

. . . friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God (Jas. 4:4-5).

6.

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. . . . No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other. . . . You cannot serve God and mammon (Mat. 6:21; Mat. 6:24).

7.

DO NOT THINK YOU CAN PRETEND TO BE SOMETHING OR DESIRE SOMETHING OTHER THAN WHAT YOU REALLY WANT IN YOUR HEART AND MIND. JESUS MOST SCATHING JUDGMENTS FELL UPON THE GREAT PRETENDERS THE PHARISEES, OF HIS DAY. WE MAY FOOL ONE ANOTHER, BUT WE CANT FOOL GOD ABOUT WHAT WE REALLY WANT.

It comes down to this: If you really do not want to do the will of God, God will grant you your choice and all eternity to make that choice and suffer the consequences.

B.

Because, you become what you want

1.

The Lord has the power to make us become what we want but He will not make us become something we do not want!

2.

The people of the Old Testament wanted a king like the nations, worshiped gods like those of the nations, and became like the wicked people of the nations! (Hos. 9:10).

3.

The Pharisees went over land and sea to make proselytes and by their hypocrisy made them two-fold more sons of hell than themselves (Mat. 23:15).

4.

Those who worship and serve the beast in the book of Revelation are stamped with the beasts image and character just as certainly as Gods people are stamped with His Holy Spirit (sealed).

5.

What do those who do not want to do the will of God become? . . . filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless . . . (Rom. 1:29-31). THEY NOT ONLY DO THEM BUT APPROVE THOSE WHO PRACTICE THEM.

6.

. . . immoral, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers will not inherit the kingdom of God (1Co. 6:9-10).

7.

. . . immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing and the like . . . (Gal. 5:19-20).

8.

. . . reject authority, revile whatever they do not understand, grumblers, malcontents, following their own passions, loudmouthed boasters, flattering people to gain advantage, act like instinctive, irrational animals (Jude).

C.

One may actually do nothing, and go to hell.

1.

To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin (Jas. 4:17).

2.

The tree that produced nothing was hewn down and cast into the fire (Luk. 13:6-9).

3.

The parables of the talents (Mat. 25:14-30) and the pounds (Luk. 19:11-27) indicates those who did nothing incurred the wrath of the master.

ANXIETY, LETHARGY, SLOTHFULNESS ARE ALL SIGNALS OF UNBELIEF, WHAT YOU WANT, YOU BECOME; WHAT YOU BECOME YOU DO OR REFUSE TO DO!
The safest road to Hell is the gradual onethe gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, with signposts (Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis).

CONCLUSION

I.

HELL OR HEAVEN?

A.

These are the alternatives in the Word of God for the whole human race.

1.

By its warnings, threats, invitations and commands, it urges men to recognize the decisiveness of this life.

2.

It permits no silly, superficial view of life or of death, or of destiny.

3.

Instead, it insists on the inevitable fact that a man shall have what he has chosen. . . . Let the evil doer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy (Rev. 22:11).

B.

It further declares that now is the acceptable time and now is the day of salvation (2Co. 6:2).

1.

It is unthinkable that a follower of Christ should take an indifferent attitude toward the issues of life.

2.

If the apostle Paul sought to persuade men, prompted by the terror of the Lord, it is difficult to see how we can become unconcerned for the salvation of the lost.

C.

Todays generation needs to be told what the New Testament teaches about hell and the awful reality of eternal retribution.

1.

It is not a congenial tasknot popular, but it is necessary.

2.

It must not be done sadistically, but seriously.

II.

THE PLAIN FACT IS THAT WE ARE ALL CLOSER TO ETERNITY THAN WE MAY REALIZE!

A.

The judgment day is nearer than any of us think. In a very real sense it is here right now.

B.

The night is far spent; the day is at hand, right here, right now.

C.

The Day is here, pressing upon us all with the immediacy of the constant call of Christ for our personal surrender to Him.

D.

The call is to engage now in a battle in Christs Name in all the areas of the devils ursurpation of the throne of our hearts and lives.

E.

As C. S. Lewis says, In all discussions of hell we should keep steadily before our eyes the possible damnation, not of our enemies nor our friends . . . but of ourselves. This sermon is not about your wife or son, nor about Nero, Hitler or Judas Iscariot; it is about you and me.

III.

GOD IN HIS UNSEARCHABLE GRACE HAS PUNISHED OUR SINS IN HIS SON ON THE CROSS AND OFFERED US THE CHOICE OF LIFE IN HIS NAME.

A.

The offer is to all men everywhere.

B.

Christ Himself is the source and the manifestation of that Life.

C.

The Scriptures are the invitation and the covenant terms of that Life.

Appleburys Comments

The Rich Man and Lazarus
Scripture

Luk. 16:19-31 Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, faring sumptuously every day: 20 and a certain beggar named Lazarus was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich mans table; yea, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels into Abrahams bosom: and the rich man also died, and was buried. 23 And in Hades he lifted 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 in anguish in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things: but now here he is comforted, and thou art in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that they that would pass from hence to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from thence to us. 27 And he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my fathers house; 28 for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29 But Abraham saith, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one go to them from the dead, they will repent. 31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, if one rise from the dead.

Comments

Now there was a certain rich man.Some raise the question whether or not this is a parable in the true sense. Luke does not say that it is a parable, but it has the general characteristics of a parable and may be treated as one. This does not weaken the truth taught by it nor permit us to indulge in fanciful interpretation. The flames in which the rich man found himself and the torment which he was experiencing cannot be explained away by saying that this is just a parable. In this illustration, Jesus contrasted the lives of the two men in this life and in death and after death.

and a certain beggar.Jesus had just been warning the Pharisees about their practice of exalting the love of money above their love for God. The rich man in the parable had been doing just that. But a poor man can be guilty of doing the same thing, although it is clear that Lazarus was not.

laid at his gate.The language does not suggest that he was gently laid at the rich mans gate; rather, it appears that he was dropped off in a rough manner and left to take care of himself. His condition was unbearable; his body was full of sores and his suffering was made worse by the fact that unclean dogs of the street came and licked his sores. There is no indication that his desire to eat what fell from the rich mans table was granted.

the beggar died.Nothing is said about his funeral, but angels carried him to Abrahams bosom. This was the place of highest honor in the kingdom of heaven.

Angels are ministering spirits sent forth to do service for the sake of those who shall inherit salvation (Heb. 1:14). To be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord (2Co. 5:8). In the resurrection, the disease-ridden body of the beggar will be fashioned anew to conform to the glorious body of the Lord (Php. 3:20).

the rich man also died, and was buried.The contrast is striking; and after death it is even greater. Jesus said, In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Hades is the abode of the dead, the intermediate state between life and heaven or hell. Hades is not hell, although the wicked who are in Hades are in torment. But the righteous are in Paradise (Luk. 23:43), a term equivalent to Abrahams bosom.

Peter says that Jesus was not left in Hades (Act. 2:22-36), a fact that shows that the righteous dead are in Hades but certainly not in torment.

Son remember.There are some pertinent facts about the state of the wicked in these words of Jesus: (1) the rich man was conscious; (2) he was able to recognize Abraham and Lazarus; (3) he was in torment and anguish; (4) he was able to remember his own life and that of his five brothers.

a great gulf fixed.The chasm was fixed so that those who would cross from one side to the other could not. After death, there is no opportunity to prepare for heaven. It is true that sin separates sinner and saint in this life, but there is a way to cross it, the way of the cross of Christ. It calls for faith in Christ, repentance of sins, and baptism for the remission of sins (Act. 2:38). Those who cross from a state of sin to a state of forgiveness and remain faithful unto death will receive the crown of life (Rev. 2:10). Those who fail to continue steadfastly will be with the wicked in Hades (Act. 2:42; 2Th. 1:7-10; Heb. 3:7 to Heb. 4:11; 2Pe. 2:20-22).

I have five brethren.The time to have helped them was while he was living. He wanted Lazarus to go from the dead to warn them not to come where he was in that place of torment. But Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. The Word of God gives all the necessary direction, motivation, and help that a sinner could possibly use to help him to escape the bondage of sin in this life. The word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. If a sinner will not hear the Word, he will not be persuaded though one arise from the dead to urge him to do so. Jesus was soon to prove the point by His own resurrection.

Hardship, persecution, tragedythese seldom produce repentance (Rev. 9:20-21; Rev. 16:10-11). Let those who imagine that persecution such as existed in the days of the martyrs would lead to repentance ponder these Scriptures. It is the preaching of the Word that leads to repentance as men learn of the goodness of God and find their way out of the sorrow of sin, (Rom. 2:4; 2Co. 7:10).

For the teaching of the Scriptures on the second coming of Christ and the resurrection and the judgment see Heb. 9:27; Joh. 5:28-29; 1Co. 15:50-58; Mat. 25:31-46; Rev. 20:11-15. Death and Hades will be abolished; heaven and hell follow. See Rev. 21:1-8; Rev. 21:26-27; Rev. 22:1-5; Rev. 22:14-15.

Summary

The two parables of this chapter complete a series of five which begins with the three parables of grace given in chapter fifteen. The series has a common topic since the parables of grace have to do with saving the lost sinner while the parables of this chapter are about the necessity of preparing for life after death.
The parable of The Unrighteous Steward teaches the lesson of wisdom in preparing for the future. The unrighteous steward was commended by his master, not because of his dishonesty, but because he had the wisdom to prepare for the future. Jesus indicated that it is necessary to make friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness that when it fails these friends, the heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, may receive you into the eternal home.
Jesus said, You cannot worship God and mammon. Wisdom indicts the necessity of worshipping God in this life in order to have that eternal home in heaven.
The Pharisees who were lovers of money were listening and began to scoff at Jesus views of wealth. He said, The thing that is exalted by men is an abomination in the sight of God. The Pharisees were proud of their claim to be keeping the Law of Moses. Jesus reminded them that no part of it was to fall and indicated that their views on the subject of divorce contradicted what God had said on the matter.
The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus enforces the same lesson by showing what happens after death. The state of the two was not determined by riches or poverty, but by the use to which the rich man put his wealth and the manner in which Lazarus conducted himself in poverty and sickness. In Hades, the abode of the dead, the rich man lifted up his eyes and saw Lazarus in Abrahams bosomthe place of highest honor for a Jew. But the rich man was in torment, and begged that Lazarus might be sent to relieve his suffering. Abraham reminded him that in his lifetime he had enjoyed good things, but Lazarus had evil things. Besides, the chasm that separated them made it impossible to grant his request.
Then the rich man remembered his brothers and begged that someone be sent to warn them not to come to the place where he was. But Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them, for if they do not neither will they hear one from the dead.
The time to prepare for life after death is now!

Questions

1.

What is there to suggest the connection between the subject of this chapter and that of the preceding one?

2.

What is the subject of this series of parables?

3.

Why did Jesus use the story of the dishonest steward to illustrate the necessity of preparing for life after death?

4.

For what did his master commend him?

5.

What do the Scriptures teach about every one giving account of his life?

6.

What did the steward do when he learned that he was to lose his position?

7.

Why did he have the debtors change the records?

8.

In what way are the sons of the world wiser than the sons of light?

9.

What does mammon mean? Why called unrighteous?

10.

Can men of wealth also be men of faith?

11.

How can one use wealth so as to have Gods approval?

12.

What did Jesus say about faithfulness in much or in little?

13.

Why did He say that no man can serve two masters?

14.

How did Jesus statements about money apply to the Pharisees?

15.

What were men doing that was an abomination in the sight of God?

16.

Why did Jesus mention the Law and the prophets in this connection?

17.

What does the law and prophets were until John mean?

18.

In what way was the kingdom suffering violence?

19.

What does this mean? How can one enter the kingdom?

20.

How did Jesus show that the Law could not be set aside?

21.

What did this have to do with the Pharisees views on divorce?

22.

What does the New Covenant say about the duration of marriage?

23.

What can the church do to uphold the dignity and sanctity of the home?

24.

What may be said about treating the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus as a parable?

25.

What similarity between the rich man and the Pharisees?

26.

How did Jesus describe the condition of the beggar?

27.

What happened to him when he died?

28.

What service do angels render those who inherit salvation?

29.

What change in the beggars body will there be in the resurrection?

30.

What does Hades mean?

31.

What was the state of the rich man in Hades?

32.

What does this story teach about recognition after death?

33.

What does it teach about consciousness after death?

34.

What is said about the impossibility of changing ones state after death?

35.

How and where may a change of state be made?

36.

What was the rich mans concern for his brothers?

37.

Why was his request refused? Of what significance is this to the Christian?

38.

What leads to repentance?

39.

When will Hades be abolished?

40.

What is to follow after that happens?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(19) There was a certain rich man . . .Here, also, there is a certain appearance of abruptness. But the sneer of Luk. 16:14 explains the sequence of thought. On the one side, among those who listened to our Lord, were the Pharisees, living in the love of money and of the enjoyments which money purchased; on the other, were the disciples, who had left all to follow their Master, poor with the poverty of beggars. The former had mocked at the counsel that they should make friends with the mammon of unrighteousness, who should receive them into everlasting habitations. They are now taught, and the disciples are taught also, what comes of the other friendship that men for the most part secure with money. It is clear that the section of Pharisees for whom the parable was specially designed, were such as those described as being in kings houses and in soft raiment, and living delicately (see Notes on Mat. 11:8; Luk. 7:25)the scribes, i.e., who had attached themselves to the court of Herod Antipas, the Herodians, or those who, while differing from them politically, were ready to coalesce with them (Mat. 22:16; Mar. 3:6), and reproduced their mode of life. In the rich man himself we find, generic as the description is, some features which must at least have reminded those who heard the parable, of the luxurious self-indulgence of the Tetrarch himself. There is the purple garment, rich with the dyes of Tyre, which was hardly worn, except by kings and princes and generals (see Notes on Mat. 27:28; Mar. 15:17); the byssus, or fine linen of Egypt, coupled with purple in Rev. 18:12; Rev. 18:16, itself not unfrequently of the same colour. The faring sumptuously reminds us of the stately pomp of Herods feasts. (See Notes on Mat. 14:6; Mar. 6:14; Mar. 6:21, and the quotation from Persius cited in the latter.) If we assume that there is this sketch, as it were, of the Tetrarchs character, it is obvious that the teaching of the parable receives a fresh significance. This, then, was what the scribes, even those that were not avowedly of the Herodian school, who should have been teachers of righteousness, were striving after. This was their highest ideal of happiness, and for this they were content to sacrifice their true calling here and their hopes of eternal life hereafter. It was meet that they should learn what was the outcome of such a life when it passed behind the veil. We may add, too, that this view enables us to trace a sequence of thought where all at first seems unconnected. The reference to the teaching of the scribes as to divorce (Luk. 16:18), naturally suggested the most prominent and most recent instance in which their lax casuistry had shown itself most criminally compliant with the vices of an adulterous and incestuous prince.

Fared sumptuously.More literally, was sumptuously merry. The word is the same as that in Luk. 15:32, and we can hardly doubt that there is a designed contrast between the holy mirth and joy in the one case, and the ignoble revelry of the other. There was good cheer in each, but of how different a complexion!

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Jesus’s second reply to his deriders The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Luk 16:19-31.

Is this a parable or history? The answer depends very much upon the definition we give of a parable. The parable may be strictly a fictitious narrative, in which symbols are used to represent some other object, as the lost sheep to represent a sinner, or the mustard seed the Gospel. In this sense it is no parable; for the rich man represents not some other self or thing, but his own self; namely, a worldly rich man. He is taken as an example of his class. Nor is it a history in the sense of a narration of a particular real individual fact. It is not so much a detail of a particular case as a picture of what takes place in thousands of cases. It may indeed be founded upon or suggested by some particular case; it may be so framed that some particular man, as Herod Antipas, may be suggested to the hearer’s imagination. Just so the parable of the pounds is by all admitted to be based upon the history of Archelaus. And this answers the objection of Trench and others to this view, namely, that it is derogatory to our Lord to suppose that he would frame offensive pictures applicable to particular men. If Archelaus could be the basis of the parable of the pounds, Antipas could be the basis of the parable of the rich man. The parable of the rich man bears some resemblance to that of the rich feel, (Luk 12:13-21😉 but that drops the veil at death, whereas this traces his destiny into the world of spirits. That is a rural parable, and was perhaps delivered in the country; whereas this is a parable of town life, and was delivered probably in a city; a city in Eastern Judea, it may be Jericho, a favourite city of the Herod family.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

19. A certain rich man His name is not given; for Dives, which many suppose to be his proper name, is but the Latin word for

rich man. Clothed in purple The purple was anciently the royal colour, the gorgeous hue of the imperial robes; and hence the very term, the purple, is still used to signify the royal dignity. Though already used in our Saviour’s time by the opulent, it was considered a mark of pomp and effeminacy. This most brilliant dye was discovered, it was said, at Sidon, being the juice from a shellfish brought to notice by its having stained the mouth of a dog who had devoured one.

Fine linen The fine byssus or linen was first commonly used by the Jews in the time of Solomon. It was either white, or a brilliant yellow; so that this rich and effeminate man disclosed a golden undergarment beneath the external purple.

Sumptuously Brilliantly, magnificently; referring rather to external pomp than to luxurious diet.

Every day This rich display was not reserved for special days, for festivals, or galas; it was his ordinary style. It has been argued by many divines that no special wickedness is here ascribed to the rich man; nothing but ordinary worldliness; so that we thereby learn that it requires no extraordinary human guilt to attain a terrible destiny in the world to come. On the other hand, Strauss carries the same idea so far as to maintain that Jesus makes simply the being a rich man his only sin, and poverty the only merit of Lazarus by which he attains Paradise. Thence Strauss charges our Saviour with maintaining the ascetic doctrine of the Ebionites, that wealth is in itself a damnable sin, and poverty an excellence deserving salvation. But Trench well replies that Abraham, in whose bosom Lazarus reposed, was a rich man; and we may add that so were Isaac and Jacob; and both Moses and the prophets, whom this rich man was condemned for not believing, taught that riches were a blessing from God. And it may be doubted that Ebionitism or asceticism ever maintained that mere poverty was a merit or constituted a claim to Paradise. Religious poverty poverty from devout motives and accompanied by rigid morality in all other respects, is the poverty which all asceticism demands in order to holy merit. It is perfectly preposterous to maintain that Jesus represents Lazarus as a voluntary religious mendicant. The sins of this rich man were those of the Sadducee: infidelity, selfishness, and a sordid, hard-hearted worldliness. And when we conceive such a character, all kinds of wickedness may be considered as truly in him. Such a man will for his own self-interest sacrifice every other interest. To benefit himself, he will invest in any iniquity, whether it be the rum traffic, the slave-trade, the gambling “hell,” or piracy. So that you may fully consider this rich man as the blank figure, the outline skeleton, upon which you may inscribe any or every iniquity you think proper.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, faring sumptuously every day,’

The story opens with the picture of a man who according to Pharisaic teaching was a man blessed by God. He was wealthy, he dressed in the most sumptuous of clothing, he ate at a well-filled table. He saw himself as ‘almost royalty’. He would have been admired and respected, and have been seen as a good example by all, for nothing bad was known about him. And all thought how fortunate he was. He was shielded from the problems of life that faced most people, a picture of total (but selfish and self-satisfied) contentment. His clothing, if not his life, was modelled on the woman in Pro 31:22. But whereas for her it was a sign of her industry, for him it was a sign of his total self-sufficiency and selfishness.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Rich Man and Lazarus (16:19-31).

This story deals with two aspects of what has gone before, the danger of possessing riches and not using them rightly, and the danger of ignoring God’s true Instruction. Jesus will point out that if only the rich man had heeded the Instruction given by Moses and the prophets he would not have ended up in Hades, and it is equally open to his brothers (and by implication the Pharisees) to hear it too. If they do not then the fault lies with them. It illustrates the fact the one who is highly exalted among men may well be an abomination in the sight of God (Luk 16:15).

The story is closely connected with what has gone before. Had the rich man recognised that his wealth was entrusted to him by God for the purpose of using it in God’s service, and had he sought friends in eternal dwellings by having a heart right towards God, so that he used his wealth properly, he would not have ended up where he did (Luk 16:9). But his attitude was like that of the Pharisees (Luk 16:14-15). He considered that his wealth demonstrated how good he was, and did not realise what it had turned him into. It was a warning to the Pharisees, who had jeered at His teaching about wealth, of what their attitude to wealth could result in. In contrast Lazarus did have friends in eternal dwellings, because by being named he is revealed as one whose name was written in Heaven (Luk 10:20). It was further a warning to the Pharisees that they should listen to Moses and the prophets (Luk 16:16; Luk 16:29; Luk 16:31), and not to traditions that were not genuinely the word of God (Mar 7:13).

Some claim that this is not a parable but a true story, partly on the grounds that the idea of it being a parable is not mentioned, and partly because Jesus does not usually include names in parables. However there are certainly other parables where they are clearly parables and yet are not so described, and it may be argued that the name is given to the beggar in order specifically to indicate his relationship with God. For it is by naming him that Jesus is able to convey the fact that he is a godly man. This is revealed by the fact that his name means ‘God has helped’. Jesus did not want to give the impression that all poor men automatically went to ‘Heaven’, but it was only those with a relationship with God. (Lazarus, or Eleazar, was a highly popular name at this period and there is absolutely no reason why we should connect this Lazarus with the one described in John 11). In fact fictional stories of people going into the afterworld and returning to give details of the afterworld were popular in the ancient world, and the characters were regularly named. So thus it was here. (However, it should be recognised that Jesus actually makes clear here that returning from the afterlife is something that is not allowed to happen).

Furthermore we must recognise that most of the details in the story must be metaphorical whether it is a parable or not. They cannot be taken as a genuinely physical description of what lies beyond the grave if for no other reason than that this is before the resurrection so that those in question have no bodies. The vivid detail is in order to convey ideas, not in order to give us the geography of the afterworld, and of the state of those who had passed on, except in the most general terms.

Analysis.

a There was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, faring sumptuously every day (Luk 16:19 a).

b And a certain beggar named Lazarus was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores (Luk 16:20-21).

c And it came about that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels into Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man also died, and was buried, and in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and sees Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom (Luk 16:22-23).

d 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 in anguish in this flame” (Luk 16:24).

e But Abraham said, “Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in the same way evil things, but now here he is comforted, and you are in anguish, and besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us” (Luk 16:25-26).

d And he said, “I pray you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come into this place of torment” (Luk 16:27-28).

c But Abraham says, “They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them” (Luk 16:29).

b And he said, “No, father Abraham, but if one go to them from the dead, they will repent” (Luk 16:30).

a And he said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, if one rise from the dead” (Luk 16:31).

Note that in ‘a’ there is a rich man with great wealth (who manifestly does not hear God’s Law through Moses), and in the parallel if his brothers who are also rich do not hear Moses then no other method will be sufficient to move them. In ‘b’ there is a certain Lazarus living in misery, and in the parallel the rich man desires that this Lazarus whom he had left to live in misery go to his wealthy brothers to warn them of the danger that they are in. In ‘c’ Abraham comes on the scene in the afterlife, and in the parallel it is Abraham who points to Moses and the prophets and gives the important message of the story. In ‘d’ the rich man pleads for help for himself, and in the parallel he pleads for help for his brothers. And centrally in ‘e’ is the fact that no message can go to those who are in Hades awaiting final judgment, for none can go there to take it.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Rich Man and Lazarus, the Beggar. Luk 16:19-31

A contrast in fortunes:

v. 19. There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day;

v. 20. and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores,

v. 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.

Although, for the lesson of this story, it is immaterial whether it is a parable or the account of an actual happening, as Luther remarks, yet the manner of presentation points to the correctness of the latter assumption. The connection between this narrative and the previous conversation is evident. The servants of mammon, by their misuse of the gifts of God, by their misapplication of the funds entrusted to them, earn for themselves the tortures of damnation. The vivid contrast which runs through the entire description should be noted: A certain rich man that made it a habit to appear always in dresses of the most expensive kind, purple and silky linen, that lived splendidly and yielded himself fully to the delights of feasting every day; on the other hand, a poor man, whose name, Lazarus (trust in God), has been preserved, living in the squalor of the utmost poverty, lying at the entrance gate of the rich man’s estate, with his ragged clothes insufficient for covering the ulcers which had broken out on his body due to unhealthy conditions of living and improper food, satisfied with, and eager for, the scraps which were thrown out from the table of the rich man. The dogs were more merciful than the men that saw him in his misery, for they at least came and licked his ulcers. The one lived only for himself and for the delights and luxuries of the body. He may have seen the beggar whom someone had deposited at his door, as he went in and out, or as he rode by in his fine carriage, but he paid no attention to him nor to his condition. Unpleasant facts interfere with the enjoyment of life. “If we look at this rich man according to the fruits of faith, we find a heart and a tree of unbelief. For the Gospel rebukes him that he daily fared sumptuously and dressed splendidly, all of which reason does not regard an unusually great sin. But this rich man is not reproved because he had fine food and splendid clothes, for many saints, kings, and queens formerly wore fine dresses, as Solomon, Esther, David, Daniel, and others; but because he set his heart upon it, he sought, he clung to it, he chose it, he had all his joy, desire, and pleasure in it, and made it his idol.”

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Luk 16:19. There was a certain rich man, The reasoning made use of by our Lord in the preceding verses was clear and unanswerable; but the Pharisees, stupified with the intoxication of sensual pleasures, were deaf to every argument, how cogent soever, if it was levelled against their lusts. As an illustration therefore and confirmation of his assertion, and that he might rouse them out of their lethargy, he made the thunder of the divine judgments to sound in their ears, by this very strong and affecting parable of the rich man and the beggar; very similar whereto isa parable which the Jews have in their Gemara. The original, which we render fared sumptuously every day, is very expressive, “He delighted himself, and cheered his heart with sumptuoussplendour and luxury every day.” It is remarked by Archbishop Tillotson on this parable, that our Saviour calls the poor man by his proper name, but only speaks of the rich man under a general appellation:”I cannot but take notice,” says he, “of the decorum which our Saviour uses. He would not name any rich man, because that was invidious: he endeavours to make all men sensible of their duty, but he would provoke none by any peevish reflection: for nothing is more improper than to provoke those whom we intend to persuade. While a man’s reason is calm and undisturbed, it is capable of truth fairly propounded; but if once we stir up men’s passions, it is like muddying of the water;they can discern nothing clearly afterwards.”

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Luk 16:19 . After Jesus in Luk 16:15-18 has rebuked the Pharisees, He now justifies in opposition to them the doctrines, Luk 16:9-13 , on account of which they had derided Him, showing them in the following fictitious doctrinal narrative (which is not, as with Hengstenberg, to be transferred to the repast of Bethany) to what riches lead if they are not applied in the manner prescribed in Luk 16:9 , to the . [206] Comp. Theophylact. De Wette (comp. Holtzmann) wrongly denies all connection with what goes before, and finds set forth only the thought: Blessed are the poor; woe to the rich (Luk 6:20 ; Luk 6:24 ), so that there is wanting any moral view of the future retribution, and hence the suspicion arises that in the first portion, Luk 16:19-26 , “the well-known prejudice” of Luke, or of his informant, against riches and in favour of poverty, is arbitrarily introduced. Comp. Schwegler, I. p. 59; also Kstlin, p. 271, and Hilgenfeld, according to whom the parable no longer appears in its primitive form, and must have received from Luke an appendix hostile to the Jews. The moral standard of the retribution is at Luk 16:27 ff., so emphatically made prominent [207] that it is unreasonable to separate it from the first part of the narrative, and (Strauss, I. p. 632; comp. Schwegler, Baur, Zeller) to speak of the Essene -like contempt of riches (Josephus, Bell. ii. 8. 3).

] transitional, but to put the matter now, so as to act upon your will , etc. See above.

.] a simple connective link, where the periodic style would have turned the phrase by means of a relative, as is done subsequently in Luk 16:20 .

. . . ] His upper garment was of purple wool, his underclothing of Egyptian byssus (white cotton), which among the Hebrews was frequently used for delicate and luxurious materials.

Jesus does not give any name for the rich man, which is not to he taken, as by many of the Fathers, as a suggestion of reproach (Euthymius Zigabenus refers to Psa 15:4 ), and in general, the absence of the name is to be regarded as unintentional; for the poor man, however, even a significant name readily presented itself to the sympathy of Jesus. Tradition calls the rich man , which, according to a Scholiast, appeared also in certain MSS.; as, moreover, the Sahidic version has the addition: cujus erat nomen Nineue .

[206] The opinion, that by the rich man is meant Herod Antipas (Schleiermacher, Paulus), is a pure invention.

[207] See also H. Bauer in Zeller’s Theol. Jahrb. 1845, 3, p. 525, who, however, understands by the rich man the Jewish popular rulers, and by Lazarus the poor Jewish Christians (Ebionites), to the assistance of whom, in their bodily needs, the Gentile Christians (the ) had come (Act 11:29 f., Luk 24:17 , and elsewhere). Such forced interpretations readily occur if the parable is to be explained according to assumed tendencies of the author. Zeller in the Theol. Jahrb. 1843, p. 83 f., explains riches and poverty in the parable before us in a spiritual sense of Judaism and heathenism; according to Schwegler, however, the similitude is, at least from ver. 27 onward, carried on in the anti-Judaic sense. Baur is of the same opinion, and lays stress upon the manner in which the conclusion exhibits the relation of the Jews (who did not believe in the risen Christ) to Christianity; comp. also Hilgenfeld, Evang. p. 201 f. Weizscker also finds in it the influence of Ebionitic ideas. Comp. on ver. 1, Luk 15:11 . But in his opinion (see p. 215) the parable concerning Lazarus received a wider development , according to which it now typifies the unbelieving Judaism, which does not allow itself to be converted by Moses and the prophets, and does not believe, moreover, in the risen Christ; the rich Judaism as opposed to the poor Jewish Christianity (comp. p. 502). Thus, moreover, the whole parable, as given by Luke, is turned into a on the ground of the abstractions of church history.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

(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. (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 lifted 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. (25) But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy life-time, 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. (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. (29) Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. (30) And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. (31) And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one arose from the dead.

We have here a most interesting relation, given by our Lord under the similitude of a parable, in a wonderful contrast between a rich man clothed in Tyrian purple, and a poor man as miserably wretched in respect to this world’s good, as the possibility of the human state could admit. Yet, notwithstanding these outward circumstances, the poor man is shewn to have been a child of God, and an heir of the kingdom, while the rich man was found to have been a child of the devil, and an heir of hell. The circumstances of both are drawn by Christ in the most striking and finished manner; and the improvements the Lord intended from the representation to the Church, are too plain to need a comment.

Everything in the picture of the poor man but one feature corresponds to Christ himself; and were it not for that one striking particularity, we might be led to conclude that the Lord Jesus is the Lazarus of the parable. But that one wholly precludes such an application; for though the Lord Jesus was poor indeed, yet not a beggar: for had he been so, be could not have answered the law, which suffered no beggar in Israel. But in every other sense, the humbled and debased state of Christ was in correspondence to Lazarus. He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities. His death, his ascension to glory, and the rejection of his name and Messiahship, brought on the awful judgments which followed. But on these points we need not enlarge in this parable.

The awful close to the rich man’s luxury, and the cries uttered by him in hell, are strongly marked. And the total impossibility of any recovery from thence, is not only read here, but through all the word of God. There can be no change without grace in the heart; and where there is no grace, there is no salvation. See an equally awful account, Psa 49:6-14 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

Ver. 19. There was a certain rich man ] Not once named, as Lazarus was, though never so little esteemed of men. God knew him by name, as he did Moses; when the rich man’s name is written in the earth, rots above ground, is left for a reproach.

Which was clothed in purple, &c. ] Gr. , was commonly so clothed. It was his every day’s wear, as the word implieth. ( Verbum est quasi frequentativum. Pasor.)

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

19 31. ] Our Lord, in this closing parable, grasps the whole covetous and self-seeking character of the Pharisees, shews them a case in which it is carried to the utmost, by one who ‘ made no friends ’ with the unrighteous Mammon; places in contrast with it a case of extreme destitution and poverty, the very thing which the most abhorred; and then passes over into the region beyond the grave, shewing them the contrast there also and ending with a mysterious prophetic hint at the final rejection of the Kingdom of God and Himself by those for whom the law and prophets were insufficient to bring them to repentance. And while it does not appear that the of the Pharisees shewed itself in this particular way, our Lord here grasps the depravity by its root, which is, a godless and loveless self-seeking saying in the heart, ‘There is no God’ and acting accordingly.

The explanation of particular points see below.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

19. ] connects this directly with what goes before; being an answer, not immediately to any thing said by the Pharisees, but to their scoffs at Him; q. d. ‘ hear now a parable .’

. . ] Tertullian thought (l. c.) that Herod was meant, and by Lazarus John; and this view has been taken by Paulus and Schleiermacher also: but surely with no probability. Our Lord might hint with stern rebuke at the present notorious crime of Herod, but can hardly be thought to have spoken thus of him. That the circumstances will in some measure apply to these two , is owing, as above in ch. 15, to the parable taking the general case , of which theirs was a particular instance. Zeller (refuted by Bleek in loc.) thinks that the rich man sets forth the Jews and the poor man the Gentiles. In my view, the very name of the poor man (see below) is a sufficient answer to this.

Observe, that this rich man is not accused of any flagrant crimes: he lives, as the world would say, as became his means and station; he does not oppress nor spoil other men: he is simply a , in the highest form.

. . ., the Tyrian costly purple and the fine linen (for under clothing) from Egypt.

. . ] Probably the E. V. is right fared sumptuously: ‘ epulabatur splendide ,’ Vulg. Others render it ‘ enjoyed himself sumptuously .’

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Luk 16:19-31 . Parable of the rich man and Lazarus . This story is hardly a parable in the sense of illustrating by an incident from natural life a truth in the spiritual sphere. Both story and moral belong to the same sphere. What is the moral? If Jesus spoke, or the evangelist reported, this story as the complement of the parable of the unfaithful steward, then for Speaker or reporter the moral is: see what comes of neglecting to make friends of the poor by a beneficent use of wealth. Looking to the end of this second “parable,” Luk 16:31 , and connecting that with Luk 16:17 , we get as the lesson: the law and the prophets a sufficient guide to a godly life. Taking the first part of the story as the main thing (Luk 16:19-26 ), and connecting it with the reflection in Luk 16:15 about that which is lofty among men, the resulting aim will be to exemplify by an impressive imaginary example the reversal of positions in this and the next world: the happy here the damned there, and vice vers . In that case the parable simply pictorially sets forth the fact of reversal, not its ground. If with some (Weizscker, Holtzmann, Feine, J. Weiss) we cut the story into two, an original part spoken by Jesus and an addition by a later hand, it will have two morals, the one just indicated, and another connecting eternal perdition with the neglect of the law and prophets by a worldly unbelieving Judaism, and eternal salvation with the pious observance of the law by the poor members of the Jewish-Christian Church. On this view vide J. Weiss in Meyer.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Luk 16:19 . , etc.: either there was a certain rich man, or a certain man was rich, or there was a certain man rich , this the first fact about him. introduces the second, instead of , after the Hebrew manner. : his clothing of the costliest: “purple without, Egyptian byssus underneath” (Farrar in C. G. T.). (from ), splendidly, characterising his style of living; life a daily feast; here only in N.T.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Luke

DIVES AND LAZARUS

Luk 16:19 – Luk 16:31 .

This, the sternest of Christ’s parables, must be closely connected with verses 13 and 14. Keeping them in view, its true purpose is plain. It is meant to rebuke, not the possession of wealth, but its heartless, selfish use. Christ never treats outward conditions as having the power of determining either character or destiny. What a man does with his conditions settles what he is and what becomes of him. Nor does the parable teach that the use of wealth is the only determining factor, but, as every parable must do, it has to isolate the lesson it teaches in order to burn it into the hearers.

There are three parts in the story-the conduct of the rich man, his fate, and the sufficiency of existing warnings to keep us from his sin and his end.

I. Properly speaking, we have here, not a parable-that is, a representation of physical facts which have to be translated into moral or religious truths-but an imaginary narrative, embodying a normal fact in a single case.

The rich man does not stand for something else, but is one of the class of which Jesus wishes to set forth the sin and fate. It is very striking that neither he nor the beggar is represented as acting, but each is simply described. The juxtaposition of the two figures carries the whole lesson.

It has sometimes been felt as a difficulty that the one is not said to have done anything bad, nor the other to have been devout or good; and some hasty readers have thought that Jesus was here teaching the communistic doctrine that wealth is sin, and that poverty is virtue. No such crude trash came from His lips. But He does teach that heartless wallowing in luxury, with naked, starving beggars at the gate, is sin which brings bitter retribution. The fact that the rich man does nothing is His condemnation. He was not damned because he had a purple robe and fine linen undergarments, nor because he had lived in abundance, and every meal had been a festival, but because, while so living, he utterly ignored Lazarus, and used his wealth only for his own gratification. Nothing more needs to be said about his character; the facts sufficiently show it.

Still less needs to be said about that of Lazarus. In this part of the narrative he comes into view simply as the means of bringing out the rich man’s heartlessness and self-indulgence. For the purposes of the narrative his disposition was immaterial; for it is not our duty to help only deserving or good people. Manhood and misery are enough to establish the right to sympathy and succour. There may be a hint of character in the name ‘Lazarus,’ which probably means ‘God is help.’ Since this is the only name in the parables, it is natural to give it significance, and it most likely suggests that the beggar clung to God as his stay. It may glance, too, at the riddle of life, which often seems to mock trust by continued trouble. Little outward sign had Lazarus of divine help, yet he did not cast away his confidence. No doubt, he sometimes got some crumbs from Dives’ table, but not from Dives. That the dogs licked his sores does not seem meant as either alleviation or aggravation, but simply as vividly describing his passive helplessness and utterly neglected condition. Neither he nor any one drove them off.

But the main point about him is that he was at Dives’ gate, and therefore thrust before Dives’ notice, and that he got no help. The rich man was not bound to go and hunt for poor people, but here was one pushed under his nose, as it were. Translate that into general expressions, and it means that we all have opportunities of beneficence laid in our paths, and that our guilt is heavy if we neglect these. ‘The poor ye have always with you.’ The guilt of selfish use of worldly possessions is equally great whatever is the amount of possessions. Doing nothing when Lazarus lies at our gate is doing great wickedness. These truths have a sharp edge for us as well as for the ‘Pharisees who were covetous’; and they are wofully forgotten by professing Christians.

II. In the second part of the narrative, our Lord follows the two, who had been so near each other and yet so separated, into the land beyond the grave.

It is to be especially noticed that, in doing so, He adopts the familiar Rabbinical teaching as to Hades. He does not thereby stamp these conceptions of the state of the dead with His assent; for the purpose of the narrative is not to reveal the secrets of that land, but to impress the truth of retribution for the sin in question. It would not be to a group of Pharisaic listeners that He would have unveiled that world.

He takes their own notions of it-angel bearers, Abraham’s bosom, the two divisions in Hades, the separation, and yet communication, between them. These are Rabbis’ fancies, not Christ’s revelations. The truths which He wished to force home lie in the highly imaginative conversation between the rich man and Abraham, which also has its likeness in many a Rabbinical legend.

The difference between the ends of the two men has been often noticed, and lessons, perhaps not altogether warranted, drawn from it. But it seems right to suppose that the omission of any notice of the beggar’s burial is meant to bring out that the neglect and pitilessness, which had let him die, left his corpse unburied. Perhaps the dogs that had licked his sores tore his flesh. A fine sight that would be from the rich man’s door! The latter had to die too, for all his purple, and to be swathed in less gorgeous robes. His funeral is mentioned, not only because pomp and ostentation went as far as they could with him, but to suggest that he had to leave them all behind. ‘His glory shall not descend after him.’

The terrible picture of the rich man’s torments solemnly warns us of the necessary end of a selfish life such as his. The soul that lives to itself does not find satisfaction even here; but, when all externals are left behind, it cannot but be in torture. That is not drapery. Character makes destiny, and to live to self is death. Observe, too, that the relative positions of Dives and Lazarus are reversed-the beggar being now the possessor of abundance and delights, while the rich man is the sufferer and the needy.

Further note that the latter now desires to have from the former the very help which in life he had not given him, and that the retribution for refusing succour here is its denial hereafter. There had been no sharing of ‘good things’ in the past life, but the rich man had asserted his exclusive rights to them. They had been ‘thy good things’ in a very sinful sense, and Lazarus had bean left to carry his evil things alone. There shall be no communication of good now. Earth was the place for mutual help and impartation. That world affords no scope for it; for there men reap what they have sown, and each character has to bear its own burden.

Finally, the ineffaceableness of distinctions of character, and therefore of destiny, is set forth by the solemn image of the great gulf which cannot be crossed. It is indeed to be remembered that our Lord is speaking of ‘the intermediate state,’ before resurrection and final judgment, and that, as already remarked, the intention of the narrative is not to reveal the mysteries of the final state. But still the impression left by the whole is that life here determines life hereafter, and that character, once set and hardened here, cannot be cast into the melting-pot and remoulded there.

III. The last part of the narrative teaches that the fatal sin of heartless selfishness is inexcusable.

The rich man’s thought for his brethren was quite as much an excuse for himself. He thought that, if he had only known, things would have been different. He shifts blame from himself on to the insufficiency of the warnings given him. And the two answers put into Abraham’s mouth teach the sufficiency of ‘Moses and the prophets,’ little as these say about the future, and the impossibility of compelling men to listen to a divine message to which they do not wish to listen.

The fault lies, not in the deficiency of the warnings, but in the aversion of the will. No matter whether it is Moses or a spirit from Hades who speaks, if men do not wish to hear, they will not hear. They will not be persuaded-for persuasion has as much, or more, to do with the heart and inclination than with the head. We have as much witness from heaven as we need. The worst man knows more of duty than the best man does. Dives is in torments because he lived for self; and he lived for self, not because he did not know that it was wrong, but because he did not choose to do what he knew to be right.

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk 16:19-31

19″Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. 20And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. 22Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. 23In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. 24And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ 25But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. 26And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’ 27And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house28for I have five brothersin order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ 31But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.”

Luk 16:19-31 “there was a rich man” This is the fifth in a series of parables in Luke 15, 16. It is a highly unusual parable because

1. it has no introduction

2. it has no explicit application

3. a person is specifically named.

However, the context demands that it be interpreted in light of Luk 16:8-13. It is a parable. One cannot force the details to give believers theological answers in the area of the intermediate, disembodied state of the dead or a description of hell (because the text has hades, not Gehenna).

Luke often introduces parables by tis (“a certain _____,” cf. Luk 15:11; Luk 16:1; Luk 16:19). See note at Luk 16:1.

“rich man” The Latin tradition called him Dives which is the Latin term for “rich.” There are several other names given to this rich man found in different geographical areas and periods (cf. A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament by Bruce Metzger, pp. 165-166).

“he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen;” Purple was a very expensive dye derived from shellfish. This was an extravagantly rich man with beautiful outer garments and soft undergarments. He dressed in this type of clothing often (imperfect middle indicative).

Luk 16:20 “Lazarus” This was the Hebrew name “Eleazar” (BDB 46), which meant “God is my help.” This is a purposeful word play on the name. Nobody helps this poor man but God! This is part of the literary plot not an actual person.

“was laid” This is a pluperfect passive indicative, which denotes regular begging. Poor and sick people always begged in rich neighborhoods or public places (cf. Act 3:2).

“covered with sores” This is a perfect passive participle of helkos (cf. LXX Exo 9:9-11; Lev 13:18). Luke would have noticed this detail in Jesus’ parable.

Luk 16:21 “longing to be fed” This is the same word used of the Prodigal Son with the pigs in Luk 15:16. There is similarity between these two parables (cf. Contextual Insights, B. 3.).

“with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table” All people in this culture ate with their hands. The very wealthy used white bread to wipe their hands and then threw it on the floor (cf. Mat 15:27).

The word “crumbs” is in italics, which denotes it is not in the Greek text but is implied by the context. The word does appear in the parallel from Mat 15:27 and is included in MSS cf8 i2, A, D, W. However, it is missing in MSS P75, *, B, L. The UBS4 gives it exclusion a “B” rating (almost certain).

“even the dogs were coming and licking his sores” This showed that Lazarus was too weak to fend off these scavenging animals. Dogs were not house pets in this time and culture, but street mongrels.

Luk 16:22 Notice the contrasts in this verse:

1. one apparently unburied (by implication), one properly buried

2. one carried by the angels, one’s transportation unmentioned

3. one with Abraham in paradise, one in torment apart from Abraham

Notice the commonalities.

1. both die

2. both are conscious

It is not stated why the poor one is accepted and the wealthy rejected, but in the larger context it is related to how they used their wealth (or lack of it). Their spiritual lives were not revealed by the physical circumstances (cf. Deuteronomy 28 vs. Job and Psalms 73). The rich man’s lack of concern for the poor illustrated his selfish, earthly priorities.

One can learn the priorities of modern, western people by their checkbooks and calendars!

NASB, NKJV”Abraham’s bosom”

NRSV”to be with Abraham”

TEV”to sit beside Abraham at the feast in heaven”

NJB”into Abraham’s embrace”

This is a parable, not a teaching passage on heaven or how one gets there! This parable has nothing to say about heaven or hell. It uses the OT concept of sheol (BDB 982) or hades (the holding place of the dead which the rabbis said was divided into a righteous section called “paradise” and a wicked section called tartarus).

Abraham’s bosom was an idiom for eating next to Abraham at a feast. This would be a reference to a welcoming meal for Jews into the righteous side of hades (paradise, cf. Luk 23:43).

Luk 16:23 “In Hades” Hades was equivalent to the OT Sheol which referred to the realm of the dead. It was distinct from Gehenna, which was the term Jesus used to describe “eternal punishment.” Gehenna was from two Hebrew words, “ge valley” and “henna” a contraction of “sons of Hinnom” (cf. 2Ki 23:10; 2Ch 28:3; 2Ch 33:6; Jer 7:31). This was the valley south of Jerusalem where the Phoenician fire god (Molech, BDB 574) was worshiped by child sacrifice. The Jews turned it into a garbage dump. It was distinct from Hades. This term is only used one time outside the words of Jesus (cf. Jas 3:6).

See SPECIAL TOPIC: Where Are the Dead? at Luk 3:17.

“He lifted up his eyes” The OT described reality in the language of description, using the five senses. This type of phenomenological language was based on God being “up” and the dead being in the ground (where they were buried). This is not anti-scientific, but pre-scientific. I Enoch 22-23 and IV Ezra 7:75-78 are Jewish inter-testamental documentation of the belief in a division of Sheol before Judgment Day.

“being in torment” Many have used this passage to assert that there is suffering for the wicked now (cf. Luk 16:25; Luk 16:28), even before Judgment Day (cf. Mat 25:31-46; Rev 20:4-15). There are some OT passages of fire being related to Sheol, but remember that this is a parable. The details are not always meant to convey doctrinal truth. It is best to seek a central truth unless Jesus interprets the parable at a typological level (cf. Parable of the Soils or Wicked Tenants). There is no other NT text which teaches this truth.

Luk 16:24 “Father Abraham, have mercy on me” In a sense this was an attempt to use his Jewishness for favors. Rabbinical theology often asserted the merits of being Abraham’s descendants. He was said to guard the realm of punishment lest any Jew be led there.

“send Lazarus” The rich man still thought of Lazarus as a slave to do his bidding.

Luk 16:25 Again an unexpected role reversal! The rich man’s wealth was supposed to be a sign of God’s love (cf. Deuteronomy 28).

Luk 16:26 This verse expresses the pain and surprise that many will feel when they discover who is with God and who is not! It also denotes the permanency of the division at death (“fixed,” perfect passive [implication by God] indicative). There are no second chances. Jesus is surely addressing this to Pharisees who trusted so confidently in their supposed religious standing with God.

NASV, NRSV”a great chasm”

NKJV, NJB”a great gulf”

TEV”a deep pit”

This term chasma is used in the Septuagint for a deep pit or hole (cf. 2Sa 18:17, where Absalom was buried).

Luk 16:27-29 “they have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them” Notice that these brothers were not damned because of their wealth, but because of their rejection of biblical revelation and its claims on their daily lives (i.e., “Let them hear them,” aorist active imperative). Humans are spiritually responsible for the light they have from natural revelation (cf. Psalms 19; Romans 1-2) and special revelation (cf. Psa 19:7-13; Psalms 119; Mat 5:17-18; Luk 12:48; 2Ti 3:15-17).

Luk 16:28

NASB, NRSV,

TEV, NJB”warn”

NKJV”testify”

This is the compound term dia plus marturomai, which denotes an earnest warning or solemn testimony (cf. LXX Exo 19:10; Deu 4:26; Zec 3:7). This very term is used only here in the Gospels, but often by Luke to describe Christian witness in Acts (cf. Act 2:40; Act 8:25; Act 10:42; Act 18:5; Act 20:21; Act 20:23-24; Act 23:11; Act 28:23).

“this place of torment” In context this place refers to hades, not Gehenna. It is current, not future. This is the only place in the NT that speaks of the torment of the unbelieving dead before Judgment Day. Since the details of parables are often just part of the story, one cannot use parables as the only source for a biblical doctrine.

The term “torture” is a metaphor from metallurgy. Harold K. Moulton, Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised, has an interesting note as to the source of this metaphor:

“Noun, lapis Lydius, a species of stone from Lydia, which being applied to metals was thought to indicate any alloy which might be mixed with them, and therefore used in the trial of metals; hence, examination of a person, especially by torture; in N.T. torture, torment, severe pain, Mat 4:24; Luk 16:23; Luk 16:28.

Verb, to apply the lapis Lydius or touchstone; met. to examine, scrutinise, try, either by words or torture; in N.T. to afflict, torment; pass. to be afflicted, tormented, pained, by diseases, Mat 8:6; Mat 8:29, et al.; to be tossed, agitated, as by the waves, Mat 14:24″ (pp. 66-67).

Luk 16:29 “if” This is a third class conditional sentence, which denotes potential action.

Luk 16:30 “repent” The Hebrew term for repentance meant a change of action. The Greek term meant a change of mind. Repentance is a willingness to change. It does not mean a total cessation of sin, but a desire for its end. As fallen humanity we live for ourselves, but as believers we live for God! Repentance and faith are God’s requirements of the New Covenant for salvation (cf. Mar 1:15; Act 3:16; Act 3:19; Act 20:21). Jesus said “unless you repent, you will all perish” (cf. Luk 13:3; Luk 13:5). Repentance is God’s will for fallen humanity (cf. Eze 18:23; Eze 18:30; Eze 18:32; 2Pe 3:9). See SPECIAL TOPIC: REPENTANCE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT at Luk 3:3.

The mystery of the sovereignty of God and human free will can be clearly demonstrated by repentance as a requirement for salvation. However, it is also a gift of God (cf. Act 5:31; Act 11:18; 2Ti 2:25). There is always a tension in the biblical presentation of God’s initiating grace and mankind’s needed response. The new covenant, like the old covenant, has an “if then” structure. There are several terms used in the NT which relate to the concept of repentance. The classical text is 2Co 7:8-11. The terms are:

1. “sorrow,” [lupe] Luk 16:9-11, which was morally neutral

2. “regret,” [metamelomai] Luk 16:8; Luk 16:10, which meant “sorrow over past acts.” It was used of Judas (cf. Mat 27:3) and Esau, (cf. Heb 12:16-18)

3. “repentance,” [metanoe] Luk 16:9-11, which meant a change of mind, a new character, a new direction of life.

It is not sorrow that characterized repentance, but a willingness to change to conform to God’s will.

Luk 6:31 There are two conditional sentences in this verse.

1. The first one is First class, denoting that Moses and the Prophets are speaking.

2. The second is third class, denoting that these brothers should have listened to God’s revelation. This is exactly the point of the parable of the unjust steward. These brothers did not understand the need for decisive action immediately! They are really the focus of the parable.

Lazarus’ being raised from the dead did not convince the hard-hearted religious leaders in Jerusalem. It only forced them to plan Jesus’ death (cf. Joh 11:46; Joh 12:9-11). A miracle is not automatically the answer to mankind’s spiritual need (cf. Mat 7:21-23; Mat 24:24; Mar 13:22; 2Th 2:9-12; Rev 13:13-14).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

There was, &c. = But there was. This commences the second part of the Lord’s address to the Pharisees, against their tradition making void God’s word as to the dead, which may be seen in Psa 6:5; Psa 30:9; Psa 31:17; Psa 88:11; Psa 115:17; Psa 146:4. Ecc 9:6, Ecc 9:10; Ecc 12:7. Isa 38:17-19, &c. It is not called a “parable”, because it cites a notable example of the Pharisees’ tradition, which had been brought from Babylon. See many other examples in Lightfoot, vol. xii, pp. 159-68. Their teaching has no Structure. See C2 above.

was clothed = was habitually clothed. Imperf. tense. See on Luk 8:27.

sumptuously = in splendour. Greek. Adverb of lampros, is translated “gorgeous” in Luk 23:11. Only here.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

19-31.] Our Lord, in this closing parable, grasps the whole covetous and self-seeking character of the Pharisees, shews them a case in which it is carried to the utmost, by one who made no friends with the unrighteous Mammon;-places in contrast with it a case of extreme destitution and poverty,-the very thing which the most abhorred;-and then passes over into the region beyond the grave, shewing them the contrast there also-and ending with a mysterious prophetic hint at the final rejection of the Kingdom of God and Himself by those for whom the law and prophets were insufficient to bring them to repentance. And while it does not appear that the of the Pharisees shewed itself in this particular way, our Lord here grasps the depravity by its root, which is, a godless and loveless self-seeking-saying in the heart, There is no God-and acting accordingly.

The explanation of particular points see below.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Luk 16:19. , a man) This parable (for it is a parable, though a true narrative may lie underneath it) not only condemns the abuse of external goods by covetousness and pride, but also condemns a proud contempt of the law and the prophets: comp. Luk 16:14 et seqq. The rich man is the exact representative of the Pharisees: Lazarus is an example of the poor in spirit: The state of both respectively in this life and in that which is to come is shown.- , purple and fine linen) forming a beautifully blending of colours.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Beyond The Veil — Luk 16:19-31

There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich mans table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abrahams bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried: and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 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. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 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. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my fathers house: for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead- Luk 16:19-31.

Before considering this solemn story concerning which there has been so much controversy, particularly in recent years because of the revolt against the doctrine of eternal punishment, let me suggest two considerations which it is well to keep in mind. First, He who related this incident was the tenderest, gentlest, most gracious Man who ever trod this earth. Certainly He never would have attempted to portray human suffering beyond the grave unless He knew and wished to impress upon His hearers the awfulness of living and dying without God. If there were any possibility that men might live in their sins and yet find peace and blessing in another world, He would have made it known. The impression left upon everyone of His hearers who listened thoughtfully to what He had to say must have been the same as that which is stressed in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 10:31): It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. The second consideration I would present is this: We have no reason whatever to look upon this story as an imaginary incident which had no foundation in fact. The question has been often raised as to whether it is a parable or not. If by parable we are thinking of a fictitious tale to illustrate some moral or spiritual lesson, I believe we are right in saying that it is not a parable. On the other hand, if we think of any incident used to illustrate truth as parabolic, then it is perfectly right to speak of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.

In what is probably the earliest book of the Bible, that of Job, the question is raised (Job 14:10), Man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? Apart from divine revelation there can be no satisfactory answer to this inquiry. The human mind cannot pierce the veil and tell us whether or not there be personal consciousness in other worlds than this; but in the incident here recorded He who had come from the Fathers house into this world of sin in order to redeem mankind, draws aside, as it were, the heavy-curtain that hides the unseen realms from view and shows us plainly what takes place after death for both the righteous and the unrighteous.

Once more, as on other occasions recorded in this Gospel, Jesus uses the expression, There was a certain rich man. Was there, or was there not? He definitely declared that there was. He did not introduce the story by saying, Hear a parable, as on some other occasions; neither did He say, The kingdom is as if there were a certain rich man and a poor beggar, or some similar language. But in the clearest, most definite way He declared, There was a certain rich man. If any of His hearers had inquired the name of the man and of the town in which he lived, dare we doubt our Lords ability to have answered both questions definitely? He knew this man; He knew how he had lived; He knew what took place after he died. We do not know his name and never shall know it until he stands before the great white throne. Ordinarily we call him Dives, but Dives is not a name; it is simply the Latin equivalent of the Greek for rich man. Yet this unnamed man stands out on the pages of Holy Scripture as a distinct personality, the representative of many others who live for self and ignore the two great commandments which inculcate love to God and love to man. He was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. He enjoyed the best that earth could give and had no interest in the things of eternity.

Next we are told that there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs; which fell from the rich mans table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. This poor beggar is mentioned by name because the Good Shepherd calleth His own sheep by name. In spite of his wretched circumstances, Lazarus (which means God is my help) was a man of faith, a true son of Abraham. Had conditions been right in Israel no son of Abraham would have been found in such a plight, but Lazarus was suffering because he was part of a nation that had drifted far from God and had forfeited all right to claim His temporal mercies, mercies which were promised to the nation if obedient to the divine law. Apparently the rich man felt no concern whatever for this poor beggar who was daily brought to his gate by friends or relatives with the hope that Lazarus might receive sufficient alms to nourish him and prolong his life. He seems to have been passed by with contemptuous indifference. The dogs showed more concern for him than his own kind who thought only of gratifying their selfish desires.

But at last a great change came. The beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abrahams bosom. Possibly Dives and his associates did not even hear of the death of this man. We have no record of a funeral service. The poor, wretched, starved body was thrown, perhaps into the continual fires burning in the valley of Hinnom, or left to be devoured by hyenas or jackals; or if there were someone who was sufficiently interested to give it a burial it must have been of the simplest possible character. And yet as we look beyond the veil, enabled to do so by our Lords words, we see a convoy of angels waiting to conduct the spirit of this erstwhile poverty-stricken wretch into the bosom of Abraham, the father of the faithful. It is distinctly a New Testament revelation that when believers die now they depart to be with Christ which is far better; but before the cross the highest hope of the godly Hebrew was to be welcomed by Abraham, with whom the covenant had been made, into an abode of bliss. We should not make the mistake of thinking of Abrahams bosom as the name of a locality in Hades. The locality was paradise. Abrahams bosom was the bosom of Abraham. In other words, Abraham, a living person, even though his body was long since dead, welcomed to that abode of happiness this child of faith when he moved out of his afflicted body.

We are not told how soon after the death of Lazarus the rich man also died, but it could not have been very long. We read that he was buried. That, in itself, is significant. Undoubtedly he had a great funeral service with many hired mourners and every possible honor paid to the lifeless clay that had once housed his selfish spirit, but while the funeral service was being held on earth, he himself, the real man, was in hell enduring the torments of the damned.

I know that many today will object to this. Some will cry out, Stop a moment. The word translated hell there does not refer to the final abode of the lost which is really Gehenna, and we grant that. They insist that Hades does not convey any thought of judgment to come. But let us read the passage again and use the Greek word and see how it sounds. The rich man also died, and was buried: and in Hades he lift up his eyes, being in torments. Observe that torments was not done away with by changing the word from English to Greek. Others insist that Hades, after all, does not mean the world of the lost; it simply means the grave, and should be so translated. While we do not for a moment accept this view, let us read it that way and see if it helps us to escape the apparent teaching of the story: The rich man also died, and was buried: And in the grave he lift up his eyes, being in torments. Notice that the torment is still there even though we have changed the word so drastically. Was the man buried alive that he suffered torments in the grave? No; we are told he died, and after he died, in another world than this, he suffered torments.

Next we learn two remarkable things: First, that spirits out of the body are perfectly conscious and able to converse one with another. Second, that there is recognition in the unseen world. There is recognition of the redeemed in paradise by the lost who are in hell, even though between the two there is a great gulf fixed.

As we pursue the story we see that the separation which takes place in the hour of death remains for all eternity. Dives looked up in his torment and saw Lazarus in Abrahams bosom. That lost man looked into paradise and there he beheld what he had missed. He saw what would have been his if only he had given God His rightful place in his life: he saw the one who had lived as a neglected beggar at his gate, now enjoying a bliss which he himself would never know. In his distress he began to pray. Think of that-a praying man in hell! But the trouble is he began to pray on the wrong side of the tomb. While on earth he felt no need of prayer; he lived his own self-centered life in utter indifference to the claims of God and man. But in eternity he began to pray when prayer was useless. He did not ask for much at first, simply a drop of cold water on the tip of the beggars finger, but even that was denied him. He used the language of the physical although it was spiritual thirst-a thirst which he never would have known if he had availed himself of the offer to drink of the living water while he was on earth. Now it was too late. Abraham, to whom the prayer was addressed, replied, 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. Son, remember! What a terrible thing memory will be for the unsaved: to remember throughout all eternity every sin committed and unrepented of, and therefore unforgiven; to remember every opportunity to get right with God which had been carelessly passed by; to remember every gospel message one has ever heard and yet refused to believe. Memory will be indeed as the worm that dieth not, tormenting the soul forever.

Abrahams words show that one might have on earth everything the heart could desire and have nothing for eternity. On the other hand, one might seem to have nothing on earth to minister to his need and comfort, and yet have everything for the world to come.

Then the words that follow tell us of the impossibility of any change throughout the ages to come. 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. A great gulf fixed! The separation of the saved and the lost is final when one has passed through the gate of death into worlds unseen. Here is the death-blow to universalism. Naturally we would like to believe that there is some way by which those who have died without repenting of their iniquities, might be cleansed from their sins, even after ages of suffering, and enjoy the beatific vision, but the gulf is impassable. The saved can never lose their blessing and fall into perdition; the lost can never attain to blessing and enjoy salvation.

Hopeless of any alleviation of his own misery, the rich man suddenly became missionary-minded. Pitifully he pleaded for his five brothers still on earth and begged that Lazarus might be sent to them from the dead to warn them, so that they might not come to that same place of torment. We have heard unsaved people flippantly exclaim at times, Well, if I am lost I shall have plenty of company in hell. We have no suggestion here of anything like that. This man does not desire company; he does not want his most intimate relatives to be there. It gives us some conception of the awful loneliness of hell. Even if one should be conscious of the nearness of those whom he had known on earth it would only add to his wretchedness.

Think of the family to which this man belonged: there were six brothers, one was in hell and five were on the way! Yet for all of them Christ had come to die. They need not have been lost if they had been ready to receive the message of grace.

This second prayer, like the former, had to go unanswered. Abraham replied, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. That is to say, they have Gods Word; they have their Bibles; let them read the Word; let them heed what they find therein, and they will never know the meaning of a lost eternity. But if they refuse the Word then not even a man coming back from the dead could persuade them to repentance. Dives reasons otherwise. He exclaimed, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. The answer comes back sternly in the negative, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. The man who refuses to heed the clear, definite instruction of the Holy Scriptures would never believe though one came to him asserting that he had been on the other side of the tomb and had returned to warn him to flee from the wrath to come.

Surely no thoughtful person can read this story seriously without realizing that our Lord Jesus meant us to understand that if we die in our sins, if we go out of this world loving the things which pod hates and hating the things which God loves, we must be separated from Him forever.

But now another consideration ere we close this message. If this story be only a parable, as some tell us, what is it meant to teach? The answer given by materialists of different groups who deny the consciousness of man after death and refuse the doctrine of eternal retribution for sin, is ordinarily something like this: The rich man, we are told, pictures the Jewish people who in centuries gone by enjoyed all the blessings of God and kept them selfishly to themselves; the poor man, despite his Jewish name, represents the Gentiles who were strangers to the covenants of promise but lay, as it were, outside the door of the favored Jew. A new dispensation is represented by their death. Now it is the Gentile who is in the place of privilege, even in Abrahams bosom, having become an heir to the promises to which before he had no claim. The Jew is the outcast now, and has been suffering all down through the centuries because of the sins of his fathers. At first this seems plausible enough, but now let us go a step further. This .outcast Jew and this highly privileged Gentile-are they separated by a gulf that cannot be passed? Is it true that the Jew cannot come from his present place of suffering into the privileges of Christianity? Is it also true that the favored Gentile cannot refuse the grace of God in Christ and go over, if he will, to the place in which the Jew himself is found? Surely not. No such gulf has ever been fixed on earth. Any Jew may accept Christ and enter into all the blessedness of gospel light and privilege; and any Gentile who refuses the grace of God passes over to the place in which the unsaved Jew is found under the judgment of God.

The only legitimate deduction therefore is that our Lord related this incident to bring clearly before us the importance of being right with God in this world in order that we might enjoy His favor in the world to come.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Chapter 15

Seven Lessons Learned Too Late

The Lord Jesus is continuing to address religious Pharisees, those who justify themselves before men. He said to them in Luk 16:15, 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.

These are the people to whom the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son was spoken in chapter 15. In that parable they are described as the elder brother who despised the goodness and grace of God, by which poor sinners are saved. They scorned the Lord Jesus saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them (Luk 15:2). It is specifically to all who attempt to justify themselves before men, to all who despise the grace of God in Christ that the story in Luk 16:19-31 is addressed.

A Great Change

The first thing we see in this parable is the fact that eternity brings about a great change. Things were not the same for the rich man after he died; and things were not the same for Lazarus (Luk 16:19-24). The Lord Jesus tells us, There was a certain rich man, a certain, notable, distinguished man, who thought himself rich before God and was highly esteemed as such, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day, a man who never had a trouble in his soul. And there was a certain, poor, helpless beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, full of trouble, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich mans table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abrahams bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried, and was forgotten. And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 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.

What great changes are made when breath is taken from our bodies! Here are two men. One was very rich, and the other very poor. The one fared sumptuously every day. The other was a beggar full of sores, who had nothing that he could call his own. Yet, it was Lazarus, the poor beggar, who possessed all things, who was born of God, and had true riches in Christ. The rich man though clothed in purple and fine linen (long robes, showing himself to be a distinctly righteous man) had nothing. Lazarus, the poor man, lived by faith and walked in the steps of Abraham. The rich man was a thoughtless, self-righteous, selfish worldling, dead in trespasses and sins. While on earth, the rich man was at the top of the world and Lazarus on the bottom. Now, Lazarus is above in glory and the rich man below in hell.

We should never imagine that men are blessed because they are wealthy, in good health, and appear to be happy. That which appears to be the blessing of God is often his curse. And we must never imagine that those who are poor, plagued with disease, and troubled are unbelieving and cursed. Earthly woe is often an indication of Divine favour.

Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD (Jer 9:23-24).

Wealth and worldly honour are not marks of Gods favour. Poverty and adversity are not marks of Gods displeasure. Those whom God justifies and glorifies are seldom the rich and honourable of this world.

One End

Learn this, too: death is the common end of all men. The trials of the beggar and the sumptuous living of the rich man, both ceased at the appointed hour. At Gods appointed time, both men died. Both went to the grave. As Solomon tells us, All go to one place (Ecc 3:20). You and I are dying creatures. Few like to think about it, but it is a fact. Soon we must die (Heb 9:27). Death is the one thing that is common to all. Yet, most people eat, and drink, and talk, and plan as if they were going to live in this world forever. How foolish! Someone once said, He that would live well should often think of his last day, and make it his company-keeper. Here is an epitaph left on a tombstone long ago

Please view my tomb as you pass by,

As you are now, so once was I;

And as I am now soon you shall be ,

So make your plans to follow me.

The beggar died, and his pains, sorrows, and needs died. The rich man also died, and his sumptuous living, all his delight, all his wealth died! Prepare to meet thy God!

Blessed Prospect

This parable is also intended to assure us that for Gods elect the death of this body is a blessed prospect. In that hour all men dread, believers are specially and tenderly cared for by God. The Lord Jesus tells us that when Lazarus died, he was carried by angels to Abrahams bosom.

I find something very precious and comforting in this expression. We know very little, if anything, about the true, inward experiences of dying people. But this much is certain: Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord! To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord! As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

Those who sleep in Jesus are in good keeping. They are not disembodied spirits, floating around in the atmosphere. While their bodies sleep in the earth awaiting the resurrection they are at rest among friends in Abrahams bosom, at the feet of Christ, the Lamb upon his throne. They have no want of any kind. Best of all, Paul tells us they are with Christ (Php 1:23). Truly, for the believer, to die is gain. No wonder Paul wrote as he did about things temporal and things eternal in 2Co 4:16 to 2Co 5:9.

The End

Here we are allowed to see the ultimate end of all, the righteous and the unrighteous, the believing and the unbelieving. Soon, very soon, you and I will join one of these two men. We will join Lazarus in heavenly glory, or we will join the rich man in hell. This is the end of all men. May God give us wisdom and grace to lay to our hearts the things he lays before us in this portion of his Word.[5]

[5] It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth (Ecc 7:2-4).

Lazarus died and was carried up to heaven. Chosen, redeemed, and born of God, he entered into glory. But the rich man also died! What became of him?

In hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments! Here, the Lord God allows us to look beyond the grave. He allows us to look into hell itself. He shows us the pains, feelings, and desires of an eternally lost, damned soul in hell, one who is forever shut up in hell under the torment of Gods infinite, holy, justice and wrath.

Trust Christ

Are you ready to die? Are you prepared to meet your God? Oh, how I pray that God will grant you grace and cause you to flee his wrath and find refuge in Christ, that he will save you from the wrath to come, lest at last you find your place with the damned in hell![6]

[6] Most people think nothing of saying to another, Go to hell. If they had any idea what they were saying, I think that even the most profane man on the face of the earth would tremble at the thought of wishing such a horrible thing upon another.

If you would escape the fires of hell, you must give up and forsake your imaginary, pretended goodness. That which we think is goodness in ourselves is only the self-delusion of self-righteousness. That which we perceive as goodness in others is the biased perception of people who think someone must be good, because we have benefited in some way from their kindness, love, and generosity to us. The Word of God declares, There is none righteous There is none that doeth good, no, not one (Rom 3:10-12). In fact, even David, the man after Gods own heart, said to the Lord his God, My goodness extendeth not unto Thee (Psa 16:2).

Your goodness will never take you to heaven. Your goodness is nothing but horrible sin under a pretty mask, hatred for God under a cloak of decency, and putrefying rottenness under the cover of religious perfume.

If you and I would be saved, if we would stand accepted before God and be accepted by him in his presence forever, we must have a goodness, a righteousness that is worthy of Gods approval. A religious decision will do you no good. Religious morality will profit you nothing. Saying, I believe in Jesus, will not save you. Saying the sinners prayer will only add to your condemnation.

If you would be saved, you must know the Lord God himself. This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. You and I cannot be saved unless we know Christ, unless we are made to be the very righteousness of God in Christ. You know that is true. Your conscience verifies these things. You may not like them. You may suppress them until you perish in hell. But you cannot deny them. This is what God demands from you and me: perfect satisfaction (atonement) (Heb 9:22) and perfect righteousness (Mat 5:20).

We cannot give him either. These things are to be had only by the obedience and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the sinners Substitute. They are ours only if we trust the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sooner or later, you will learn these things are true. I wonder if you will learn it before it is too late. Most do not. Here in Luke 16 is a man who learned everything too late. He did not learn them until he was in hell.

Lessons Learned In Hell

The passage before us has a very sobering distinction that separates it from all others. This is the only place in the entire Bible (the only place in the world) in which we learn anything at all about the thoughts and emotions of the damned in hell. Here are seven things that the rich man learned. But he learned them too late. He learned them in hell. I pray that you who read these lines will not learn them too late.

1. As soon as he died, this rich man discovered that death does not end all. If a man die, shall he live again? Indeed, we shall. We all have an immortal soul that will live on forever, after our bodies are in the grave (Mar 8:36-37). Will you spend eternity in the bliss and glory of heaven or in the torments of the damned in hell? What a meeting place hell will be for lost neighbours, for a lost daughter and her lost mother, a lost son and his lost father, a lost church member and his lost pastor

2. This poor soul also learned that there is a real place called hell. Hell is as real as Danville, Kentucky. The same Inspired Book that tells us about heaven and the eternal bliss of the redeemed tells us about hell and the eternal misery of the damned. The Lord Jesus tells us plainly that after death the rich man was in hell … tormented with fire. What a fearful picture he gives us. This lost soul in hell longed and begged for a drop of water to cool his tongue. He was tormented in flames. There was a great gulf fixed between him and Abraham, which could not be crossed.

J. C. Ryle wrote, There are few more dreadful passages perhaps in the whole Bible than this. And he from whose lips it came, be it remembered, was one who delighted in mercy!

I do not know where it is, and I cannot imagine what it is, but hell is a real place. The rich man found out too late that hell is not a myth. Hell is a place of unquenchable fire, undying worms, inescapable torment, everlasting darkness, unending hopelessness, and eternal, conscious separation from God and all that is good! Nathan Terrell said:

To say Hell is a horrible place is an understatement. Most people think of Hell as the farthest point from God. It is the caves where Satans minions scamper about, poking feeble folk with tiny pikes and taunting them for all eternity. As bad as this seems, it does not even compare to what Hell really is. Hell is the very presence of God and his wrath without Christ as a Mediator. Hell is the place where men face God without a Saviour, without anybody to pay their debt of sin. If you thought Satans minions were scary, imagine being face to face with all Gods wrath with no Jesus in sight.

3. Lifting up his eyes in hell, this rich man found out what he tried his best to ignore all his life, that a holy God must and will punish sin.

It is written, The soul that sinneth, it shall die! God is so inflexibly just and holy that when he found sin upon his own dear Son he poured out his infinite wrath upon him. And he who punished his Son for sin will certainly punish you for sin, if your sin is not removed by his Son.

4. The rich man found out that hell is a place of endless torment. He cried, I am tormented in this flame! Hell is a place of lust and desire unfulfilled, a place of mental, moral, and physical agony. When I try to imagine what the torments of the damned in hell must be, I am shocked by what I know, and quake because I realize that what I know is nothing in comparison with what those torments actually are! Unspeakable torments! Endless torments! All I can do is cry out to poor, lost sinners, Flee! Flee! Flee away to Christ, lest you fall into hell and the torments of the damned!

The Names

What dreadful names are used to describe that place in the Book of God! It is called a place where the worm dieth not (Mark 9). It is called a burning oven (Mal 4:1). It is called a fiery-furnace (Matthew 13). It is called the bottomless pit, the unquenchable fire, fire and brimstone, hell fire, the lake of fire, devouring fire, everlasting fire, eternal fire, a stream of fire (Revelation 21), and the second death.

The Torments

The torments of the damned are unthinkable. In hell you will have full sight and knowledge of your condition. All your senses will be fully awakened. You will have a full sight and knowledge of your wasted life, from first to last. Son, remember! (Luk 16:25).

The guilt of all your sin will lay heavily upon your soul. There will be no pleasure in sin for a season in hell, but only torment. Who can imagine the agony of a tormented conscience, fully awake? It will be a worm that dies not and a fire that is not quenched forever!

When God lays judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet, when the hail of fire and brimstone sweeps away your refuge of lies, when the waters of Gods horrible wrath overflow your hiding place, and your covenant with death is disannulled, your covenant with death shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it (Isa 28:17-18). Then shall be brought to your never ceasing remembrance the fact that you are in hell, that you are damned because you despised Christ and his gospel, because you refused to hear his word of grace, because you rejected that one Foundation laid in Zion. What a vexation your awakened memory will be to your lost soul forever in hell (Isa 28:14-20; Pro 1:23-33).

5. Though he was forever confined to hells dark prison of torment, the damned rich man saw Lazarus in the bliss of heavens glory. Yes, the damned in hell see their friends, families, neighbours, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, children, and those they despised on earth in the kingdom of heaven, and themselves cast out forever (Luk 13:28).

In hell your only company will be the damned, the damned angels, the damned sons of men, the damned like yourself, a vast company of men and demons who hate you as fully as you hate them, screeching and roaring so insidiously that they drive you mad, mad forever, and your madness will be madness without hope of relief!

6. In hell God Almighty will lay upon you all the fulness of his unmitigated wrath, without mercy. He will punish you with everlasting destruction from his presence and glory (2Th 1:9). In this condition you must be forever (Rev 20:6).

Perhaps the greatest torment of all is what is described in the last line of Luk 16:23. In hell the rich man saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. He saw Abraham and all the blessedness of covenant grace fulfilled in him. He saw Abraham and those blessings afar off. And he saw Lazarus in his bosom, possessing and enjoying all the blessings of covenant grace!

7. In hell this poor, lost soul learned, but learned too late, that Christ is the only way of salvation.

The rich mans riches, religion and works were of no value to him in hell. Missing Christ, he lost all! Christ alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He alone is Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption. There is no salvation except by faith in him.

In hell the rich man learned, but learned too late, except a man repent he will surely perish.

In hell this man realized that without repentance there is no salvation (Luk 16:30). In hell he saw nothing temporal is of any real value. In hell he learned that nothing really matters except Christ and faith in him, that all else is vanity.

One more thing that this rich man learned in hell, but learned too late, is this: no one can ever be saved without hearing and believing the gospel (Luk 16:28-31).

Gospel preaching is the catalyst God uses to give life to chosen, redeemed sinners by the mighty operations of his Holy Spirit (Rom 1:16; Rom 10:17; 1Pe 1:23-25). A catalyst is an agent of action. If a chemist desires to unite two substances to create another, in many cases, a catalyst is necessary. The catalyst does not cause the union and never enters into the union of those substances. But without the presence of that specific catalyst, the union would never take place and could not continue. That is exactly what the preaching of the gospel is in Gods savings operations.

Without question, were it his pleasure to do so, God Almighty could have chosen to save sinners without the use of any means or agency of any kind. Had he chosen to do so, he could have sent angels to pull us into heaven by our noses, once atonement was made for us. But that is not his pleasure.

The Lord God has chosen to regenerate and call chosen, redeemed sinners through the agency of gospel preaching. The fact that God has so ordained it makes the preaching of the gospel the catalyst necessary for the communication of his saving grace.

I know that many cry out against this and say, That limits Gods sovereignty. That makes salvation depend upon man. Do not be so foolish as to be found fighting against God.

We must never force the scriptures to mean what we want them to mean. We must never bend the Word of God to our doctrinal notions and theological system. Rather, we bow to Gods Word. We cannot extol and honour God if we refuse to submit our reason to his Revelation.

Carefully read the scriptures once more. It is impossible to read the following passages in their context without concluding that regeneration and faith in Christ, gifts of God the Holy Spirit and operations of his irresistible grace are communicated to chosen sinners through the instrumentality of gospel preaching (Rom 1:15-17; Rom 10:13-17; 1Co 1:21; Eph 1:13; 1Ti 4:12-16; Heb 4:12; Jas 1:18; 1Pe 1:23-25). In each of those passages the Lord God plainly declares that it is his purpose and pleasure to save his elect through the preaching of the gospel.

Perhaps you think, What if one of Gods elect is in a remote barbarian tribe in the jungles of New Guinea where no gospel preacher has ever been? I can see how that would create a problem, except for one thing, there are no problems with God! He knows exactly how to get his prophet to the people to whom he has purposed to show his mercy. Just ask Jonah!

We preach the gospel with a sense of urgency, knowing that sinners cannot believe on Christ until Christ is preached to them. Yet, we preach with confidence of success, knowing that our labour is not in vain in the Lord (1Co 15:58). Gods Word will not return to him void. It will accomplish his will and prosper in the thing it is sent to do (Isa 55:11). Every chosen, redeemed sinner must be regenerated and called by the Holy Spirit. And that work will be accomplished through the preaching of the gospel.

Be wise, believe the gospel, trust Christ lest you also perish forever under the wrath of God.

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

There

vs. Luk 16:19-31. are not said to be a parable. Rich men and beggars are common; there is no reason why Jesus may not have had in mind a particular case. In no parable is an individual named.

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

rich: Luk 12:16-21, Luk 18:24, Luk 18:25, Jam 5:1-5

clothed: Luk 16:1, Luk 15:13, Job 21:11-15, Psa 73:3-7, Eze 16:49, Amo 6:4-6, Rev 17:4, Rev 18:7, Rev 18:16

purple: Jdg 8:26, Est 8:15, Eze 16:13, Eze 27:7, Mar 15:17, Mar 15:20

Reciprocal: Deu 32:29 – they would 1Sa 25:2 – man 2Sa 12:1 – There were Job 12:5 – of him Job 15:29 – neither shall Job 21:10 – their cow Job 31:25 – rejoiced Psa 4:6 – many Psa 73:12 – these Psa 78:30 – But Psa 92:7 – it is that Pro 1:32 – and the Pro 14:24 – foolishness Pro 19:10 – Delight Pro 19:20 – be Pro 21:20 – but Pro 22:2 – rich Pro 23:20 – not Pro 28:6 – General Pro 31:24 – General Ecc 2:1 – I will Ecc 5:13 – riches Isa 3:23 – fine linen Isa 5:12 – the harp Lam 4:5 – brought Joe 1:5 – for Mat 19:23 – That Mat 25:19 – reckoneth Mar 8:36 – what Luk 1:53 – and Luk 6:24 – for Luk 8:18 – from Luk 12:19 – take Luk 17:27 – General Rom 11:9 – their table Rom 13:13 – rioting Phi 3:19 – whose God Col 3:2 – not 1Ti 5:6 – she Jam 1:11 – so Jam 5:5 – have lived

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

LIVING AND DYING

There was a certain rich man. And there was a certain beggar.

Luk 16:19-20

This is a solemn parable. It gives us a peep into the unseen world. It tells of a poor man who went to heaven, and of a rich man who went to hell. We must not suppose that he went to hell because he was rich, or that Lazarus went to heaven because he was poor. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God; but riches are a great snare to keep our hearts to earth and from God (Hos 12:8; Deu 8:13-14; Pro 30:8-9; Mar 10:22-23). Do not envy people because they have wealth (1Ti 6:9-11).

Just consider this rich man living and dying:

I. On earth (Luk 16:19). He was beautifully dressed, and fared sumptuously. What harm was there in this? He did nothing by fraud, nor did he live to excess (Mat 19:20; Luk 18:11). What, then, was his fault? He only thought of himself (Zec 7:6; 2Ti 3:2). Only of his body, not of his soul (Job 27:8; Mat 16:26). As he did not think of his own soul, neither did he of others (Pro 24:11-12; Rom 15:1-3; Php 2:4; Php 2:21). He cared less for the poor than for the animals of his pleasure (Luk 16:20-21; Jam 2:15-16). What was his end? He died and was buried (Job 21:23; Ecc 2:16; compare Psa 49:16-20). Such was his life.

II. In hell (Luk 16:23).He is perfectly conscious. He knows who and where he isLazarusand the circumstances of his fathers house (Luk 16:28). He is changed in condition, not in heart; no longer in luxury, but torment (chap. Luk 12:20). He calls to Abraham, not to God (Psa 10:4; Joh 8:39; Joh 8:44). As he is unchanged to God, so to his fellow-men. He still looks down on Lazarussend Lazarus (Luk 16:24). He sees the blessed afar off, and is separated from them (Psa 138:6; Jer 23:23). How different it might have been (Eph 2:13)! He does not desire heaven, but only that he may suffer less (Luk 16:24; Luk 19:42). He would insinuate that he was not sufficiently warned; but Abraham reminds him of the sufficiency of Scripture (Luk 16:27-31; Joh 5:39).

III. What lessons should we take away with us?

(a) Not to live for self (1Co 6:19-20; Gal 2:19-20).

(b) That heaven and hell are real things (Psa 9:17; Mat 25:46).

(c) That the Bible is our only sure guide now with regard to both (Deu 30:15-19; Luk 16:31). You know the old couplet,

Live well, and die never;

Die well and live ever.

Bishop Rowley Hill.

Illustrations

(1) It is not necessary to be rich ere we can commit Dives sin, for all are rich in the eyes of God and all are in danger of Dives fall. A faith which shows itself in love, a diligent determination to consecrate our whole life to our most merciful and loving God, this alone will make us accepted in the Beloved at last. Men praise us, flatter us in this life, nay, they may honour us as we pass to the grave, but all this will but increase our misery if we have missed the mark, and behind the veil are in that outer misery which every selfish man is surely and hopelessly preparing for himself.

(2)Alas! I have walked through life too heedless where I trod,

Nay, helping to trample my fellow-worm and fill the burial sod,

Forgetting that even the sparrow falls not unmarked of God.

The wounds I might have healed, the human sorrow and smart!

And yet it never was in my soul to play so ill a part,

But evil is done for want of thought as well as for want of heart.

(SECOND OUTLINE)

DIVES AND LAZARUS

There is much to learn from this parable.

I. The gravity of sins of omission.People often think lightly of these; but omission of doing good when it comes in our way, is very differently estimated in the Scriptures. Such sins involve a loss of grace and a loss of glory, and may involve sufferings, as in the case of the rich man in another world.

II. Gods care of the poor suffererhe was carried by the angels into Abrahams bosom. Here we have a glimpse of the spiritual world. Those pure and blessed beings, the inhabitants of heaven, seem to have a care for the poor and suffering, against whom man may shut up his bowels of compassion.

III. The responsibility of having wealth or the responsibility money brings with it, whether much or little. A man, it has been said, may bury his talent in the earth or in the consols, but he will have to give an account to the uttermost farthing.

Ven. Chancellor Hutchings.

Illustration

This man was rich, a description brief, but sufficient, like a keynote to a musical compositionhe was a man, as we should say, of large means. That in itself might be no sin. I am not forgetting St. Jeromes rather severe remark, that a rich man is either unjust himself, or the heir of injustice. There have not been wanting those who have attributed his terrible end to the fact that he had large property; but that is, to our mind, to miss the point. St. Augustine has shown the untenability of such an assumption by reminding the author of it, that Lazarus was carried by the angels into Abrahams bosom, and that Abraham was a man of very considerable landed property. We have in this, as in so many cases, to separate the abuse from the use; but having said this, we will go on and notice the dangers which accompany wealth. Another early writer points out the perils in the getting, in the possession, and in the using of riches; and these are respectively, undue eagerness, outstripping the bounds of honesty; vanity, in the possession; and carnal sins, in the expenditure.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

9

I do not deny this story being a parable on the ground that it says a certain rich man. The word certain is used elsewhere where we know a parable is being spoken (chapter 20:9). A parable requires a comparison while there is none in this case, not even any words that necessarily have to be taken figuratively. Furthermore, there are so many facts of a circumstantial nature that it shows Jesus had some particular case in mind. It was a literal fact that rich men lived in such luxuries as are described of this one.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

[There was a certain rich man.] Whoever believes this not to be a parable, but a true story, let him believe also those little friars, whose trade it is to shew the monuments at Jerusalem to pilgrims, and point exactly to the place where the house of the ‘rich glutton’ stood. Most accurate keepers of antiquity indeed! who, after so many hundreds of years, such overthrows of Jerusalem, such devastations and changes, can rake out of the rubbish the place of so private a house, and such a one too as never had any being, but merely in parable. And that it was a parable, not only the consent of all expositors may assure us, but the thing itself speaks it.

The main scope and design of it seems this, to hint the destruction of the unbelieving Jews, who, though they had Moses and the Prophets, did not believe them, nay, would not believe, though one (even Jesus) arose from the dead. For that conclusion of the parable abundantly evidenceth what it aimed at: “If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.”

Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels

THE parable we have now read, in one respect stands alone in the Bible. It is the only passage of Scripture which describes the feelings of the unconverted after death. For this reason, as well as for many others, the parable deserves especial attention.

We learn, firstly, from this parable, that a man’s worldly condition is no test of his state in the sight of God. The Lord Jesus describes to us two men, of whom one was very rich, and the other very poor. The one “fared sumptuously every day.” The other was a mere “beggar,” who had nothing that he could call his own. And yet of these two the poor man had grace, and the rich had none. The poor man lived by faith, and walked in the steps of Abraham. The rich man was a thoughtless, selfish worldling, dead in trespasses and sins.

Let us never give way to the common idea that men are to be valued according to their income, and that the man who has most money is the one who ought to be the most highly esteemed. There is no authority for this notion in the Bible. The general teaching of Scripture is flatly opposed to it. “Not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble are called.” (1Co 1:26.) “Let not the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he knoweth and understandeth me.” (Jer 9:24.) Wealth is no mark of God’s favor. Poverty is no mark of God’s displeasure. Those whom God justifies and glorifies are seldom the rich of this world. If we would measure men as God measures them, we must value them according to their grace.

We learn, secondly, from this parable, that death is the common end to which all classes of mankind must come. The trials of the “beggar,” and the sumptuous faring of the “rich man,” alike ceased at last. There came a time when both of them died. “All go to one place.” (Ecc 3:20.)

Death is a great fact that all acknowledge, but very few seem to realize. Most men eat, and drink, and talk, and plan, as if they were going to live upon earth for ever. The true Christian must be on his guard against this spirit. “He that would live well,” said a great divine, “should often think of his last day, and make it his company-keeper.” Against murmuring, and discontent, and envy, in the state of poverty,-against pride, and self-sufficiency, and arrogance, in the possession of wealth,-there are few better antidotes than the remembrance of death. “The beggar died,” and his bodily wants were at an end. “The rich man died,” and his feasting was stopped for evermore.

We learn, thirdly, from this parable, that the souls of believers are specially cared for by God in the hour of death. The Lord Jesus tells us that when the beggar died he “was carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom.”

There is something very comforting in this expression. We know little or nothing of the state and feelings of the dead. When our own last hour comes, and we lie down to die, we shall be like those who journey into an unknown country. But it may satisfy us to know that all who fall asleep in Jesus are in good keeping. They are not houseless, homeless wanderers between the hour of death and the day of resurrection. They are at rest in the midst of friends, with all who have had like faith with Abraham. They have no lack of anything. And, best of all, Paul tells us they are “with Christ.” (Php 1:23.)

We learn, fourthly, from this parable, the reality and eternity of hell. The Lord Jesus tells us plainly, that after death the rich man was “in hell,-tormented with flame.” He gives us a fearful picture of his longing for a drop of “water to cool his tongue,” and of “the gulf” between him and Abraham, which could not be passed. There are few more awful passages perhaps in the whole Bible than this. And He from whose lips it came, be it remembered, was one who delighted in mercy!

The certainty and endlessness of the future punishment of the wicked, are truths which we must hold fast and never let go. From the day when Satan said to Eve, “Ye shall not surely die,” there never have been wanting men who have denied them. Let us not be deceived. There is a hell for the impenitent, as well as a heaven for believers. There is a wrath to come for all who “obey not the Gospel of Christ.” (2Th 1:8.) From that wrath let us flee betimes to the great hiding-place, Jesus Christ the Lord. If men find themselves “in torment” at last, it will not be because there was no way to escape.

We learn, fifthly, from this parable, that unconverted men find out the value of a soul, after death, when it is too late. We read that the rich man desired Lazarus might be sent to his five brethren who were yet alive, “lest they also should come to the place of torment.” While he lived he had never done anything for their spiritual good. They had probably been his companions in worldliness, and, like him, had neglected their souls entirely. When he is dead he finds out too late the folly of which they had all been guilty, and desires that, if possible, they might be called to repentance.

The change that will come over the minds of unconverted men after death is one of the most fearful points in their future condition. They will see, and know, and understand a hundred things to which they were obstinately blind while they were alive. They will discover that, like Esau, they have bartered away eternal happiness for a mere mess of pottage. There is no infidelity, or skepticism, or unbelief after death. It is a wise saying of an old divine, that “hell is nothing more than truth known too late.”

We learn, lastly, from this parable, that the greatest miracles would have no effect on men’s hearts, if they will not believe God’s Word. The rich man thought that “if one went to his brethren from the dead they would repent.” He argued that the sight of one who came from another world must surely make them feel, though the old familiar words of Moses and the prophets had been heard in vain. The reply of Abraham is solemn and instructive,-“If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.”

The principle laid down in these words is of deep importance. The Scriptures contain all that we need to know in order to be saved, and a messenger from the world beyond the grave could add nothing to them. It is not more evidence that is wanted in order to make men repent, but more heart and will to make use of what they already know.

The dead could tell us nothing more than the Bible contains, if they rose from their graves to instruct us. After the first novelty of their testimony was worn away, we would care no more for their words than the words of any other. This wretched waiting for something which we have not, and neglect of what we have, is the ruin of thousands of souls. Faith, simple faith in the Scriptures which we already possess, is the first thing needful to salvation. The man who has the Bible, and can read it, and yet waits for more evidence before he becomes a decided Christian, is deceiving himself. Except he awakens from his delusion he will die in his sins.

==================

Notes-

v19.-[There was a certain rich man.] The parable of the rich man and Lazarus has occasioned some diversity of opinion among commentators, and called forth some strange allegorical interpretations.

From the very earliest days it has been matter of dispute whether it ought to be regarded as a parable or a real history. The truth seems to me to lie between the two extremes. I see no reason why it should not he regarded as a real history. And yet it may be a history employed to point a lesson, after the manner of all our Lord’s parables. The whole subject will be found fully discussed in Suicer’s Thesaurus, under the word Lazarus.

I cannot see in it the allegorical meanings which some have discovered. I cannot hold, with Tertullian and Schleiermacher, that the rich man meant Herod Antipas, and Lazarus John the Baptist.-I cannot see, with Vitringa, that the rich man represents the Jewish nation,-Lazarus our Lord Jesus Christ,-his sores the sins of man which He bore,-the death of the rich man the downfall of the Jewish polity,-the request for sending Lazarus the Jew’s vain desire of a Messiah,-the five brethren the Babylonish Jews,-the licking of the dogs the conversion of the Gentiles.-I cannot see, with Theophylact, that the rich man is a type of the proud and self-righteous Jewish nation, and Lazarus a type of the Gentile world.-All such interpretations appear to me unsatisfactory.

I believe the parable was specially intended by our Lord for the benefit of the Pharisees, to whom He was speaking when He delivered it. I believe the connecting link is to be found in the 9th verse, where Jesus said, “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness,” and in the 14th verse, where it is said, “The Pharisees, who were covetous, heard all these things, and derided Him.” And I believe that our Lord’s principal object was to rebuke the selfishness, worldliness, want of charity, and general forgetfulness of their responsibilities, of which the Pharisees were guilty, and to expose the fearful end to which their unbelief and neglect of their own Scriptures were rapidly bringing them.

[Clothed in purple.] Purple was a peculiarly rich and expensive dye, and clothes dyed with it were worn by none but the rich and noble. Lydia, in the 16th chapter of Acts, is mentioned as a “seller of purple.”

[Fared sumptuously.] The Greek word rendered “fared,” is only translated so in this place in the New Testament. In other places the verb is rendered “to be merry,”-“make merry,”-“rejoice,”-or “be glad.”

Let it be noted, that we are not told that the rich man was an open breaker of any one of the ten commandments. It is not said that he was an idolater, blasphemer, murderer, adulterer, or thief. But he was one who lived only for himself. This was the ruin of his soul.

v20.-[A certain beggar named Lazarus.] The Greek word rendered “beggar” does not necessarily mean what our English word implies, a mendicant. In thirty one out of thirty two other places where it is used in the New Testament, beside this parable, it is translated “poor.”

We know nothing of this Lazarus, excepting that he was not the brother of Martha and Mary. Several of the fathers call attention to the fact that the beggar’s name is given, but not the name of the rich man. It is thought to imply that the rich man’s name was not in the hook of life, while that of Lazarus was. Let us add to this, that to mention the name of the rich man in such a history as that before us, would have been most invidious, and most offensive to his relatives and friends.

v21.-[Desiring to be fed.] This does not imply that he was not fed, though he desired it. It rather signifies, as in the case of the prodigal son with the husks, (Luk 15:16,) that he was “only too glad to have” the crumbs. That which fell from the rich man’s table, as refuse, was food for Lazarus.

[The dogs came and licked…sores.] Some have thought that this is mentioned as an aggravation of Lazarus’ misery, and that the dogs added to his sufferings. I cannot see this. To me it seems rather to imply that the dogs cared more for Lazarus than man did. It was an act of kindness.

v22.-[Into Abraham’s bosom.] This expression is most probably a proverbial one. It signifies the place of rest and safety to which all believing Jews were carried after death. Abraham was the father of the faithful, and the head of the whole Jewish family, and to be with him after death implied happiness. The expression, “to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God,” is somewhat like it. (Mat 8:11.)

v23.-[In hell…in torments.] In interpreting the expressions of this verse, and several of those which follow, we must carefully remember that we are reading a parabolical narrative. Our Lord’s language is adapted to our understandings. How a lost soul can be susceptible of bodily suffering before the resurrection of the body, we cannot explain. The whole subject of the sensations of a disembodied spirit is far too deep for us to dogmatize about it. Let it suffice us to believe that lost souls can suffer intensely before the resurrection, and that they are conscious of their own lost condition, and of the happier condition of those who are saved.

v24.-[Father Abraham, have mercy.] It is highly probable that this description of the rich man crying to Abraham to help him, was intended to rebuke the superstitious reverence of the Jews, and specially of the Pharisees, for Abraham. “Think not,” says our Lord, in another place, “to say, We have Abraham to our father.” (Mat 3:9.) [Note, it was John the Baptist who said this.] He would have them learn from this parable that Abraham himself could do nothing for those who died in sin, and that connection with Abraham would save no one from hell.

[Lazarus…water…cool my tongue.] The fathers, and all commentators have justly dwelt here on the awful contrast between the state of the rich man before death and after death, and the complete change between his condition and that of Lazarus in another world.

[I am tormented in this flame.] Let that expression be noted. Few sayings in the Bible prove more strongly the reality of future punishment.

v25.-[But Abraham said, Son.] In this, and the following verse, the dignity and solemnity of Abraham’s language should specially be noted. On the one hand there is nothing about it of severity, harshness, or unkindness. On the other, there is nothing of affected pity or compassion.

[Remember.] This word should be noted. The recollection of former things will be one of the worst parts of hell.

[Thy good things.] This expression deserves notice. It is not merely “good things,” in contradistinction to “evil things,” which Lazarus received. It is “thy good things,”-“Things which thou didst consider good, and care for as thy only good, to the utter neglect of thy soul, and its everlasting interests. Thou didst choose thy portion, and wast content with a mere earthly possession. Thou must now reap according as thou hast sown.”

v26.-[A great gulf fixed, &c.] The language of this verse teaches plainly, if words have any meaning, that there is no hope of deliverance from hell for those who die in sin. Once in hell, men are in hell for ever. The doctrines of purgatory, or of a limited duration of punishment, are both incapable of reconciliation with this text.

v27.-[Send him to my father’s house.] It has been argued by some that the rich man’s anxiety about his five brethren was a sign of improvement in him, and that his punishment had already purified his heart, and made him love his brethren, and that the notion of purgatory is consequently not without truth. Both these ideas appear to me destitute of foundation. That the rich man’s state was hopeless is clear from the preceding verse. That he felt anything like true love, or spiritual affection for his five brethren is mere gratuitous assumption. It might easily be argued that his desire to have Lazarus sent to them arose from a selfish dread of their following him to the place of torment. Their company would doubtless add greatly to his misery. But it must not be forgotten that we are reading a parable, and that particular expressions in parables must not be stretched too far.

v28.-[Testify.] The Greek word so rendered is a very strong and intensive one. It is the same that is used in Act 2:40; Act 18:5; Act 20:21; 1Ti 5:21.

v29.-[Moses and the prophets.] This expression doubtless means the writings of Moses and the prophets, and the instruction contained in them. It is a strong evidence of the sufficiency of Scripture for man’s salvation. If the Old Testament alone was better than a dead man’s testimony, how much better must the whole Bible be!

v30.-[They will repent.] This is the reasoning of ignorant natural man. He knows neither the difficulty of repentance, nor the foolishness of expecting results from miraculous visions which have not been produced by the word.

v31.-[Though one rose from the dead.] Let the striking fact be noted that after this a man named “Lazarus” did rise from the dead, yet the Jews remained unbelieving! Above all let it be remembered that Christ Himself rose from the dead, and yet the Jewish nation would not believe!

Baxter remarks on this verse,-“God will bless His own means. Affrighting men will not renew their natures, and kindle in them a love to God and holiness. How little should we know whether one from the dead was a devil or a credible messenger? and whether he said true or false? Should he dwell with us as long as ministers, men would again despise and persecute him. Should he come but once, it would not equal the daily solicitations of God’s ministers.”

“Would not the rich man’s guilty brethren accuse him of scandalizing and slandering the soul of their noble deceased brother, for telling them he was in hell,-and persecute him, if he was within their power?”

Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels

Luk 16:19. A certain rich man. His name is not given, but he is often called Dives, which is the Latin word for rich man. Tradition gives him a name (Nineue), but there is no proof that an actual person was referred to.

In purple. The costly material for upper garments, brought from Tyre.

Fine linen. For under garments, from Egypt; some such was said to be worth twice its weight in gold.

Faring sumptuously every day. He was not a glutton, nor recklessly extravagant, but he lived well, as a rich man could afford to do. There is no reason for supposing that he was a Sadducee; doubtless the rich among the Pharisees also lived according to their means and position. Nor is the man represented as specially a sinner. He was a son of this world living to himself, without trying to make friends out of the mammon of unrighteousness. The parable teaches that such a one is punished after death

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Our Saviour in his parabolical history of Dives and Lazarus, instructs us concerning the right use of riches, which is to capacitate us to do good to others; declaring that in the life to come, the pious poor man shall be eternally happy, while the unmerciful rich man shall be intolerably miserable.

Here observe, 1. The different state and condition of good and bad men in the other world, from what they are in this; here the wicked prosper, grow rich and great, and the good and virtuous are in calamity, suffer poverty and, distress, which has staggered many men, yea, the best of men, in the belief of a divine providence.

Observe, 2. That our Saviour did not consure the rich man for being rich, but for being sensual; not for wearing costly apparel, and keeping a plentiful table, (which if managed according to men’s qualities and estates, is a commendable virtue,) but his sensuality and luxury, and forgetting to feed the hungry with the superfluities of his table; these are the things for which he is censured.

From whence we may learn, that pride and luxury, intemperance and sensuality, are such abuses of worldly riches, as worldly men are very prone and incident to. Rich men too often make their back and their belly their god; sacrificing and devoting all they have to the service of those idols.

Observe, 3. That a poor and mean condition is the lot of many good men, nay, perhaps of the most in this world. That a man may be poor and miserable in this world, and yet be very dear to God: the grace of sanctification is sometimes bestowed most eminently, where the gifts of providence have been dispensed most sparingly; consequently from the present state of men in this world, we can make no judgment of their future condition in the world to come.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Luk 16:19. There was a certain rich man, &c. Our Lord, in the last paragraph, having exposed those parts of the character of the Pharisees which were most odious in the sight of God, and the roots from whence their other wickedness sprang, namely, their hypocrisy and worldly spirit, proceeds now sharply to rebuke their voluptuousness and love of pleasure, and set before them the consequences thereof in a most awakening parable, in which he unveils before their sight the rewards and punishments of the eternal world. It is the most alarming of all Christs parables, and the characters in it are drawn in such lively colours that many have been of opinion, in all ages of the church, that it is not a parable, but a real history. But the circumstances of the story are evidently parabolical, and some ancient MSS., particularly that of Beza, at Cambridge, have, at the beginning, And he spake unto them another parable. It matters not much, however, to us, in the application of it, whether it be a parable or a real history, since the important truths contained in it are equally clear and equally certain, in whichever light it be considered. Which was clothed in purple and fine linen And on that account, doubtless, was highly esteemed, and that not only by those who sold these articles, but by most that knew him, as encouraging trade, and acting according to his quality. And fared sumptuously every day Taking care, not only to gratify his vanity by the finery and delicacy of his dress, but his palate also with the most exquisite meats which nature, assisted by art, could furnish: and consequently was esteemed yet more, for his generosity and hospitality in keeping so good a table. The original expression, , is very expressive, signifying that he feasted splendidly, or, delighted and cheered himself with luxury and splendour every day. His tables were loaded with the richest dainties, the most delicate wines delighted his taste, and all things ministering to sensuality were plentifully provided. Who so blessed as he? for every day this same delight returned; every day presented a new scene of bliss.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Vers. 19-31. The Parable of the Wicked Rich Man.

It is composed of two principal scenes, which correspond so exactly with one another, that in their correspondence we must seek the very idea of the parable; these are, the scene on the earth (Luk 16:19-22), and that in Hades (Luk 16:23-31).

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

XCII.

SECOND GREAT GROUP OF PARABLES.

(Probably in Pera.)

Subdivision F.

PARABLE OF THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS.

cLUKE XVI. 19-31.

[The parable we are about to study is a direct advance upon the thoughts in the previous section. We may say generally that if the parable of the unjust steward teaches how riches are to be used, this parable sets forth the terrible consequences of a failure to so use them. Each point of the previous discourse is covered in detail, as will be shown by the references in the discussion of the parable.] c19 Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, faring sumptuously every day [For convenience’ sake, this rich man has been commonly called Dives, which is simply Latin for rich man, and is therefore not truly a name, for it is not fitting to name him whom the Lord left nameless. Along the coast of Tyre there was found a rare shell-fish (Murex purpurarius) from which a costly purple dye was obtained, each little animal yielding about one drop of it. Woolen garments dyed with it were worn by kings and nobles, and idol images were sometimes arrayed in them. This purple robe formed the outer, and the linen the inner garment. The byssus, or fine linen of Egypt, was produced from flax, which grew on the banks of the Nile. It was dazzlingly white, and worth twice its weight in gold ( Gen 41:42, Exo 26:31-33, Exo 28:5, 1Ch 15:27, Eze 27:7). The mention of these garments and a continual banqueting indicates a life of extreme luxury.] 20 and a certain beggar [literally, one who crouches. It is used thirty-four times in the New Testament, and is everywhere translated “poor” save here and at Gal 4:9. In the last stages of life Lazarus had become an object of charity, but there is nothing to indicate that he had been an habitual beggar] named Lazarus [This is the only [511] name which occurs in our Lord’s parables. It is derived from Eleazar, which means, God a help. The name is symbolic of destitution, and many words indicative of beggary are derived from it] was laid at his gate [in the East the gates of the rich are still the resorts of the poor.] full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table; yea, even the dogs come and licked his sores. [The contrast here is sharp. Lazarus is naked and clothed with sores instead of rich apparel, and desires crumbs instead of a banquet. That he limited his desire to crumbs suggests a freedom from both worldly lust and envy. Whether he got the crumbs is not stated. His sufferings may have been as unmitigated on earth as those of the rich man were in Hades ( Luk 16:24), and it is certain that even if he received the crumbs they did not count as a gift, being mere refuse, utterly worthless in the sight of the rich man. The very point of the parable is that the rich man gave him nothing. The dogs also suggest a contrast. The rich man is surrounded by loyal brethren and attentive servants, while Lazarus is the companion of dogs, the scavengers of the streets, who treat him with rude compassion as one of their number, soothing his sores with their saliva.] 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels into Abraham’s bosom [it is the office of angels to minister to the heirs of salvation– Mat 24:31, Mar 13:27, Heb 1:14]: and the rich man also died, and was buried. [In death as well as in life the two men stand in contrast. The rich man passes from view with the pomp and pagentry of a burial ( 2Ch 16:13, 2Ch 16:14), an earthly honor suited to a worldly life. But Lazarus passes hence with the angels, a spiritual triumph suited to one accepted of God.] 23 And in Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth [ Rev 14:10] Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. [Hades (Greek), or Sheol (Hebrew), was the name given to the abode of the dead between death and the resurrection. In it the souls of the wicked are in torment, and those of the righteous [512] enjoy a paradise ( Luk 23:43). The joys of Paradise were conceived of as those of a feast, and the expression “Abraham’s bosom” is taken from the custom of reclining on couches at feasts. As a guest leaned upon his left arm, his neighbor on his left might easily lean upon his bosom. Such a position of respect to the master of the house was one of special honor, and indicated great intimacy ( Joh 1:18, Joh 13:23). What higher honor or joy could the Jew conceive of than such a condition of intimacy and fellowship with Abraham, the great founder of their race?– Mat 8:11.] 24 And he cried [in earnest entreaty] and said, Father Abraham [the claim of kindred is not denied, but it is unavailing– Luk 3:8], 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 in anguish in this flame. [The smallness of the favor asked indicates the greatness of the distress, as it does in Luk 16:21, where crumbs are desired. There is a reciprocity also between the desired crumbs and the prayed-for drop, which contains a covert reference to Luk 16:4, Luk 16:5. Had the rich man given more he might now have asked for more. The friendship of Lazarus might have been easily won, and now the rich man needed that friendship, but he had neglected the principle set forth in Luk 16:9, and had abused his stewardship by wasting his substance upon himself. Again, the former condition of each party is sharply reversed. Lazarus feasts at a better banquet, and the rich man begs because of a more dire and insatiable craving. Thus the life despised of men was honored by God, and ( Luk 16:15) the man who was exalted among men is found to have been abominable unto God.] 25 But Abraham said, Son [a tender word– Jos 7:19], remember [ Pro 5:11-14] that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things: but now here [where a different order pertains from that of the earth] he is comforted and thou art in anguish. [The woes received by Lazarus are not spoken of as his. He neither earned nor deserved them ( Rev 7:13-17). His was the stewardship of suffering [513] ( 1Co 4:9, 2Co 4:7), and in its small details he had shown great faithfulness. The rich man had the stewardship of wealth, with its accompanying obligation of generosity. This obligation he had esteemed as too contemptibly small to deserve his notice; but in neglecting it, he had inadvertently been unfaithful in much. See Luk 16:10. This has been the sin of omission on the part of the rich man, and his sin of commission answered as a complement to it, for he had been guilty of that money-loving self-indulgence which was condemned by Jesus and justified by the Pharisees ( Luk 16:14, Luk 16:15). No other crime is charged against the rich man, yet he is found in torment. But the rich man during his lifetime had been so deceived by his wealth that he had failed to detect his sin. Moreover, as he indicates in Luk 16:28, a like deception was now being practiced upon his brethren. Thus the parable justifies the term “unrighteous” which Jesus had given to mammon at Luk 16:9, Luk 16:11.] 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that they that would pass from hence to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from thence to us. [We have here a clear statement of the separation which parts the good from the evil in the future state. But it has been urged that the coloring and phraseology of this parable is derived from rabbinical teaching, that our Lord made use of a current but erroneous Jewish notion to teach a valuable lesson, and that therefore it is not safe to draw any inferences from the narrative relative to the future state. But it should be observed that the parables of Jesus never introduce fictitious conditions, nor do they anywhere violate the order and course of nature. It is hardly possible that he could have made this an exception to his rule, especially since it is in a field where all the wisdom of the world is insufficient to make the slightest correction. Moreover, it is certainly impossible that he could exaggerate the differences between the states of the lost and saved in the hereafter. Nor can the teaching of the parable be set aside on the ground that it represents merely the intermediate and not the final condition of things. If the [514] intermediate condition of things is fixed and established, the final condition must, a fortiori, be more so. Moreover, the teaching here differs from that of the old rabbis, for, according to Lightfoot, a wall and not a gulf separated between the just and the unjust, and they were not “afar off” from each other, the distance being but a handbreadth. The passage therefore confirms the doctrine that the righteous are neither homeless nor unconscious during the period between death and the resurrection ( Phi 1:23), and refutes the doctrine of Universalism, for the gulf is, 1, fixed, and, 2, can not be passed or bridged. The gulf of pride and caste between the rich man and Lazarus while on earth was easy to cross.] 27 And he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house [The double attempt of the rich man to use Lazarus as his servant shows how hard it was for him to adjust himself to his new condition]; 28 for I have five brethren [there is no typical significance in the number]; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. [Deceived by his wealth, the rich man looked upon his earthly possessions as real and substantial, and, like rich sinners of to-day, had simply disregarded the affairs of the future life. Aroused by the sudden experience of the awful realities of the future state, he desires to make it as real to his brethren as it had now become to him. In endeavoring to carry out his desire he proceeds on the theory that the testimony of the dead in reference to the realities of the future state are more trustworthy and influential than the revelations of God himself, given through his inspired spokesmen. This dishonoring of God and his law was to be expected from one who had made mammon his real master, even though professing (as the context suggests) to serve God. The singleness of his service is shown in that he, though practically discharged by one master–mammon, can not even now speak respectfully of God. Some commentators make much of the so-called repentance of the rich man, manifested in this concern for his brethren; but the Lord did not count kindness shown to kindred as evidence of goodness, [515] much less of repentance (Luke vi. 32-35, Joh 1:45, Joh 5:39-46, Luk 24:27. The Scriptures are a sufficient guide to godliness– 2Ti 3:16, 2Ti 3:17, and a failure to live rightly when possession them is due to lack of will, and not to lack of knowledge.] 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one go to them from the dead, they will repent. [With the spirit of a true Pharisee, he sought a sign for his brothers. See Joh 12:10). This is also a reference to Jesus’ own resurrection. It is true that he did not appear in person to those who disbelieved in him, but they had clear knowledge of his resurrection ( Mat 28:11-15), and it was considered as proved to all men– Act 17:31.] [516]

[FFG 511-516]

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS

Luk 16:19-31. And there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, faring sumptuously every day.

a. This was a rich Jew, living like a king at his own expense, daily wearing a royal scarlet robe, manufactured by the Syrians for the especial use of kings; meanwhile, for his underwear, he used the fine linen made by the Egyptians. Hence he not only dressed like a king, but, as we here see, he ate like one, having a royal festival in his palatial mansion every day. Of course, he was very popular, inviting the royalty, nobility, and aristocracy to eat with him day by day, who complimented his generous hospitality by feasting at his table.

b. And there was a certain beggar by name Lazarus laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed from the crumbs having fallen from the rich mans table; but the dogs, coming, continued to lick his sores. The friendly animals thus showing him kindness, soothing his suffering, and keeping him company. There is no word in the original here signifying crumbs. We simply have the article and the participle, including the fragments left by the guests who ate at his table. These fragments were good enough for a king. The conclusion is, that Dives was a very generous, large-hearted man, giving liberally and freely to beggars, Lazarus having the fortune to be one of his beneficiaries. Doubtless this royal aristocrat was much esteemed by the beggars, who held him in grateful remembrance for the sake of his many benefactions. Great houses in the Old World are built in a quadrangular shape, with a large open court in the interior, where the sun shines down and the rains fall. The gate enters this interior court, from which, through porticoes, the different apartments of the mansion are entered. I have seen these gates, with a comfortable house built over them, designated porters lodge; i. e., the residence of the gate-keeper and other servants. It is more than likely Lazarus was in a place of this kind.

c. And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by angels into the bosom of Abraham. As God reiterated the mediatorial covenant with Abraham which He had made with Christ before the foundation of the world, providing salvation for the entire fallen race (Gal 3:16), and that covenant must be confirmed, ratified, and verified by the blood of Jesus on the cross before any one could enter heaven, Jesus, being the First-fruits of them that slept, must lead the way into glory before any of His brethren could enter the glorified presence, consequently the O. T. saints were gathered into the intermediate paradise, here denominated Abrahams bosom, and there abode till the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant by the expiatory work of Christ; therefore we see that Lazarus, though a poor beggar and eminent saint, is carried by the angels into Abrahams bosom. Nothing is said about his body, as he was unable to purchase a place in a sepulcher. Doubtless his beggar-comrades carried away his ulcerated corpse, and deposited it in some cave, or covered it in a deep ditch.

d. The rich man also died, and was buried. The phraseology in the original warrants the conclusion that Dives was complimented with a magnificent funeral service and a royal burial. Doubtless a beautiful sepulcher was prepared at great cost, and most brilliant funeral obsequies performed by the higher clergy in their gorgeous robes, and all accompanied with great pomp and pageantry; and an eloquent sermon delivered, eulogizing him for his magnanimity, philanthropy, and loyalty to the Church, of which he was a leading official. And in Hades, lifting up his eyes, being in torments, he sees Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Some have concluded from this that heaven and hell are visible, either from other, which, I now, is a great mistake. We have two Greek words translated hell in E. V., Hades, from a, not, and eido, to see, meaning simply the unseen world, including both heaven and hell; and Gehenna, the land of Hinnom, originally applied to that deep mountain gorge southwest o Jerusalem, where the Israelites from the days of Solomon were accustomed to offer their children in sacrifice to Moloch, an Ammonitish idol, represented by a brazen statue, with the body of a man and head of an ox, all hollow, and heated intensely by an internal fire, so that the infant laid in his arms was consumed, thus endeavoring to propitiate the anger of this evil demon by human sacrifices. When King Josiah purified Jerusalem and Israel of idolatry, he had this valley polluted by throwing the dead animals and offal of the city into it, where they were burnt with fire, thus perpetuating the devouring flame incessantly in the Valley of Hinnom. Consequently this Greek word Gehenna, is used in the New Testament to denote the perpetual fires which devour the wicked in the world of woe. Here we find that both Dives and Lazarus went into the intermediate world; i.e., Hades. The Old Testament recognizes the good as well as the bad going down to Sheol; i. e., Hades. When the witch of Endor called on the spirits to come from the unseen world, God sent up Samuel, His holy prophet, who told King Saul of his fate on the morrow, when he and his three sons would fall on Mount Gilboa, and he said to him, You will be with me. Saul was a hopeless backslider, and died by suicide. We have no evidence that any of his sons were ever saved. Hence we see that all the disembodied went into Hades, the righteous, like Lazarus, into the intermediate paradise i. e., Abrahams bosom; and the wicked, like Dives, into Tartarus, the place of perpetual fire. (2Pe 2:4.) Hence you see both Lazarus and Dives went into Hades i. e., the unseen world Lazarus into paradise, and Dives into the devouring flames.

e. And he, calling, 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; because I am tormented in this flame. You see clearly that Dives was a member of the Jewish Church, having stood at the front, beloved and honored for his liberality and loyalty, a favorite with the preachers as well as the magnates of the ecclesiasticism. He died in the full assurance that all was well, and was awfully surprised when he found himself in hell. How the wealthy, influential Church members especially should take warning from this notable case, and how should the pitiful Nohellites hear the alarm from Dives, already in the hell which they ridicule! Some of them endeavor to dodge the issue, because they say this is a parable, and not literal. That is their own fabrication. Jesus nowhere calls it a parable. It is a historic transcript, given by our Savior, from the Jewish Church in bygone ages, by way of alarm to those bigoted priests and Pharisees in his audience who were in the very same dilemma. You see from this that the man who denies the revelation of hell-fire and torment flatly contradicts Jesus, and is an infidel of the very worst type. We must take all of the Bible or none. And Abraham said, Child, remember that in thy life thou didst receive thy good things, and Lazarus likewise evil things; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. Dives had lived for this world, depending on Churchisms to save him. Lazarus lived for heaven, wearing the worlds loose garment, ready to drop it off at a moments warning. We are all in the succession of Dives or Lazarus. You can not serve God and mammon. Dives tried it, like millions of others, and signally failed. If you would live in heaven, you must live for heaven in this world. The reason why so few reach the kingdom is because they try to take the world with them.

f And in addition to all these things, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, in order that those wishing to cross over from hence to you may not be able, nor may they cross thence unto us. We know not the amount of transient light from the Noachian dispensation which lingered among the Greeks and Romans two thousand years ago, when their poets and philosophers beautifully corroborated this Scripture in their expositions of the disembodied state, teaching that all souls go in-to Hades the righteous into Elysium, a place of unmingled joy and ineffable bliss, while the wicked are cast into the unquenchable fires of Tartarus; meanwhile an impassable gulf, which they call Cocyus, rolling a deep murky bog at the bottom, whose billows articulate mournful wails as they roll on. This, you see, literally corroborates the above statement of Abraham to Dives. When Jesus expired on the cross His human soul descended into Hades (1Pe 3:19), and proclaimed His victory in the pandemonium, triumphing over all the demons of the pit. Then crossing that deep chasm, impassable to all but Him, He enters the intermediate paradise, and meets the saved thief before midnight, according to promise (Luk 22:43): This day thou shalt be with Me in paradise. Meanwhile all the Old Testament saints run to meet Him, crowd round Him, and O what a jubilee runs through the ensuing Sabbath! The first day of the week, supervening from midnight, He abolishes that intermediate paradise, leading captivity captive (Eph 4:8-10); and now, ascending back to earth the way He had descended, accompanied by all the mighty host of O. T. saints, He enters the sepulcher and receives His body, which of course was visible, the sainted host being invisible, because disembodied. The saints linger with Him during the forty days, accompanying Him in His glorious ascension up from Mount Olivet, He leading the way, darting through trackless ether at lightning speed, passing rolling worlds, blazing suns, wheeling spheres, and flaming comets. Davids prophetic eye (Psalms 24) catches the triumphal procession, and hears the exultant shout: Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and let the King of glory come in. Who is this King of glory? is shouted back from the celestial portals. The Lord, mighty to save; He is the King of glory. Then the pearly portals are lifted high and swing wide. The Prince of glory heads the sanctified host. They sweep in, saluted by millions of angels, archangels, cherubim, and seraphim. Circling up, they halt before the Great White Throne, and Jesus says to His Father, Behold, I and the children Thou hast given Me. Now, such a testimony as the angels never heard follows. Father Abraham mounts a celestial pinnacle, and tells the wonders. of redeeming love. Isaac, Jacob, Job, and all the prophets, follow in quick succession, holding the unfallen angels spellbound by their thrilling rehearsals of the triumphs of redeeming grace, till all heaven roars and reverberates with congratulatory salutations and hallelujahs. Whereas the intermediate paradise (Abrahams bosom) was abolished, as above specified, Jesus leading the way into heaven and all the O. T. saints following. From that date heaven has been open to all the children of the kingdom (Eph 4:8-10); Tartarus, the fiery prison of demons and disembodied sinners, still continues in the earths interior, and will there remain till the general resurrection, the cremation and sanctification of the earth, when, from the final judgment (Rev 20:15), they will be cast in, to the lake of fire, located in outer darkness; i.e., darkness outside of the illuminated universe. Now, when we consider the astronomical revelation of one hundred and seventeen millions of glowing suns, and contemplate the distance to which they transmit light, and remember that the location of the ultimate doom of the wicked is so infinitely distant that the combined illumination of these one hundred and seventeen millions of suns can never reach it with a solitary ray, then you may have some vague apprehension of the immeasurable distance to which God is going to banish the incorrigible and unsavable in the ultimate finale, thus banishing them so far away that no finite being can ever return to trouble His peaceful and holy universe. Thus the grand ultimatum of the redemptive scheme is to save all the savable, and ultimately remove the incorrigible and unsavable away to that infinitely distant void, where unquenchable fires flame in black, dismal horror, producing no light. O how momentous the responsibility of all probationary, created intelligences, and what an infinite combination of potent inspirations accumulate all round us, flooding us with incentives to a holy experience in life, fraught with eternal moment!

g. And He said, Therefore I pray thee, O father, that thou mayest send him to the house of my father: for I have five brothers; in order that he may witness to them, that they may not come to this place of torment. But Abraham says, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, No, Father Abraham; but if any one may go to them from the dead, they will repent. And he said to him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if one may rise from the dead, Here we see a clear refutation of the popular dogma so emphatically preached in the carnal Churches; i.e., that all who love the Lord are justified. This is true of the agape, Divine love, in the E. V., erroneously translated charity (e.g., 1 Corinthians 13), but not of philia, the love of friendship; i.e., human love, in contradistinction to the love of God, which is exotic in the human heart, which remains a stranger to it till the Holy Ghost pours it out (Rom 5:5) in regeneration, while the philia, human love, is indigenous in all mankind, sinners as well as saints. The popular: dogmatism, so prominent in the Churches, that the love of the brethren is an index of regeneration is woefully misapprehended and misconstrued, being true of the agape, Divine love, but not true of the philia, human love. Here we have an unanswerable refutation of this dogma, so prominent in the popular Churches. We see members gladly received in platoons on the profession that they love the brethren, the preacher then assuming that they have passed from death unto life (1Jn 3:14), which would be true if their love had been poured out in their heart by the Holy Ghost; but otherwise utterly untrue, a they simply love the brethren with human love, which. is peculiar to all sinners, not only in this life, but as w see in the case of Dives, even surviving death, as you here observe that he loved his brethren so dearly while in hell that he wanted to send them a missionary, to say their souls and keep them out of that devouring flame. I certainly do commend his judgment in selecting Lazarus, the hottest holiness crank he had ever known Hence you see that, so far as grace is concerned, the popular Churches that are so ready to take in member on a simple profession of love for the brethren, might: go down to the regions of woe, and there take in mere hers to their satisfaction, as we -have no fight to conclude that Dives is the only soul in hell who truly loves his brethren, as he proved it by manifesting the greatest enthusiasm in behalf of their salvation. The truth of the matter is, if you really have the agape poured out in you heart by the Holy Ghost, it will be attested by a clear conversion, accompanied by the witness of the Spirit and a conviction for entire sanctification soon following as normally as the shadow follows the substance. Sore very striking coincidences are suggested by this narrative delivered by our Lord. But a few days previously He had raised Lazarus, of Bethany, from the dead, who was with Jesus at that time, and even under His convincing testimony, those proud Pharisees did not repent. Within a few days afterward, Jesus Himself came forth from the dead; yet those scribes and Pharisees did not repent. Therefore, at that time, they had a literal demonstration of the truth as spoken by Abraham, who said, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even though one should rise from the dead. At the same time we have an ostensible demonstration of the rich mans mistake in thinking his brethren would repent, if one should come from the dead.

h. There is a grand significance in these two prominent biographies, broad as the world, and comprehensive of all the teeming millions who have trodden terra firma from Adam down to the latest posterity that shall stand on the terminus of time and look out into boundless eternity. There is absolutely no exception. Every son and daughter of Adams race is in the succession of Dives in hell or Lazarus in heaven. These two characters are strikingly contrastive at three grand, salient points; i. e. living, dying, and beyond the grave. While living, the contrast is decidedly in favor of Dives. He lived in royal splendor, having more than heart could wish. His riches, honors, and pleasures were without embargo; while Lazarus was at the other pole of the battery, a penniless beggar, destitute of everything calculated to render this life comfortable and desirable. Here is Satans occult trap, in which he caught Dives, and the multiplied millions now populating hell. No wonder the saved are few, when only one here and there has the stamina to resist the temptations of riches, honors, pleasures, worldly aggrandizements and emoluments. Very adroitly has Satan long ago appropriated religion, using it as a veil to hide the smoke and flames of hell, and a greased plank to slide his deluded rotaries in. Humanity is magnetized by the splendor of Dives, and horrified by the degradation and suffering of Lazarus, thus drawn toward the one and driven from the other. This is the fundamental reason why perdition devours humanity with such fearful voracity, and heaven gets but here and there a traveler. Now we perceive the contrast these diametrically opposite characters exhibit in the article of death. On the human side, the old contrast is perpetuated pomp, pageantry, and royal splendor gathering around the deathbed of Dives, and even running on through the magnificent funeral, eloquent sermon, and royal interment which followed; meanwhile, the tattered beggars, amid the bleak winds, constitute the faithful cohort gathered around the dying beggar, and carrying away His ulcerated corpse, coffinless, shroudless, and sepulcherless, covering it up in the burning sand, to await the resurrection trump. But another scene, thrillingly contrastive, visible only to immortal eyes, climaxes both of these deathbeds. The royalty, nobility, elite aristocracy, and robed clergy are no obstruction to the black cohort of demons which come up from the bottomless pit, and arrest the soul of Dives simultaneously with its evacuation of the body, and drag it down to hell; meanwhile the forlorn visages, naked limbs, and emaciated forms of the ragamuffins who stand around the pallet on which dying Lazarus bids the world adieu, are no barricade against the bright angel band from glory, descending and lighting the scene with the unearthly splendor of radiant pinions, while they congratulate their heroic brother on the victory won over the world, the flesh, and the devil, and probation triumphantly sustained to its glorious termination, under the bright smiles of heaven and the approval of the Father: Well done, My son! Come away from that land of storm, trouble, sorrow, and suffering. The fair fields of glory are open to your ingress, while saints and angels shout you welcome to their heavenly home. Finally, we see another exceedingly decisive contrast: Lazarus has joined the patriarchs and prophets, martyrs and saints, of all bygone ages, who have been gathered by the angels and garnered in Abrahams bosom; meanwhile we hear the mournful wail of Dives, crying from the fiery depths of Tartarus for water to cool his parched tongue. He cries in vain, for there was none to help. The billows of fire which then rolled over him will inundate him with flames inextinguishable through the flight of eternal ages.

i. Without a dissenting voice, all immortal intelligences respond: Let me die like Lazarus. I want the angels to come for me and take me to heaven. While all aspire to the glorious triumphs of Lazarus in death and in eternity, why do so few ever reach this grand desideratum? It is because they are unwilling to live like Lazarus. They all warn to live like Dives. What God hath joined together, no man can separate. If you would succeed Lazarus in death and eternity, you must succeed him in life. Were not Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Job all rich men? Was not Daniel prime-minister of the universal Chaldean Empire, handling bushels of gold? To these questions we certainly respond in the affirmative. Yet these patriarchs and prophets had the experience, patience, resignation, and humility of Lazarus, beautifully illustrated in the case of Job, who, when brought clown from millionaireship to beggarly destitution, his body covered with blackleprosy and eaten by vermin, was true as an angel and courageous as a martyr, abundantly confirming and authenticating the conclusion that he was ready for all the poverty and suffering of Lazarus, even while in possession of royal affluence. The trouble with Dives was that of millions now. Though a Church member, he was without experimental salvation, this being the reason why his soul was lost, his vast estate, abstractly, having nothing to do with it. While earthly possessions open a thousand doors to the vices and follies incident to worldly pleasure, honor, and aggrandizement, yet Omnipotent grace, which is free for the rich as well as the poor, is more than a match for the demoniacal platoons that swarm up from hell and besiege you on all sides. So if you would die like Lazarus and meet the angels, ready to waft you to the paradise of God, you must have his experience and life of self-denial, humility, and holiness. The trouble with Dives was that, while a great Church member, he depended on the form, while destitute of the spirit and the power. Now, reader, it is certain that you are in the succession of the one or the other of these conspicuous and diametrically opposite characters. If you are living in the succession of Lazarus, the angels will come for you when you die and take you to heaven. If in the succession of Dives, the demons from the pit will seize you the moment you evacuate the body, and you, with him, will lift up your eyes in hell, being in torments. Will you not settle this matter quickly? We are so exceedingly fortunate in the Biographer who gives us these two antipodal characters. We are all fond of reading biographies; but there is one serious trouble which looks us all in the face, and that is, that no biographer in all the ages has ever delineated his subject beyond the grave when they reach the dark river, the black curtain always falls. Consequently all human biography is restricted to this life. Not so with Dives and Lazarus. Our Biographer is as familiar with eternity as time. Consequently, He unhesitatingly pursues both of these characters, right through the dark portal of death, into the infinite beyond, giving us the history of one of them as wailing in the flames of hell; and the other, wafted by the angels to the paradise of God. Be sure that, in the clear light of the Holy Ghost, you calculate your spiritual latitude and longitude, and ascertain definitely and indubitably whether you are in the succession of Dives or Lazarus!

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Luk 16:19-31. Parable of Dives and Lazarus (Lk. only).The story may have originally ended at Luk 16:23 or at Luk 16:25, and been intended simply to illustrate the contrasted lot of poor and rich in this world and the next. Cf. Luk 6:21; Luk 6:24. Inequality is redressed apart from moral considerations. We need not suppose that Dives was specially cruel; if Lazarus had only got harsh treatment at his door he would have shifted his pitch. Certain points are (as usual in the parables) ignored, e.g. the fate of the godly rich or the wicked poor, and the unequal balance of temporal comfort and eternal woe. To the rich mans deprivation is added punishment, so that we have to assume that he was not only rich but wicked. The five brothers are types of unbelieving, unrepentant Judaism, and the object of the addition (Luk 16:26-31) to the parable is to show that their unbelief is without excuse. Moses and the prophets really testified to the Messiahship of Jesus and therefore how to avoid Gehenna. It is scarcely necessary to find in Luk 16:31 an allusion to the resurrection of Jesus, or even to the raising of Lazarus (John 11).

Luk 16:20. Lazarus: the name (= Eleazar) may have been chosen for its meaning, God is his help.

Luk 16:21. crumbs: the word is not in the Gr., and we should rather understand the pieces of bread which took the place of table napkins after the eaters had dipped their hands in the dishes.

Luk 16:22. into Abrahams bosom: i.e. reclining next to Abraham in the celestial banquet.

Luk 16:23. Hades: here equivalent to Gehenna, not simply a places of shades, but of torment, which is emphasised by Paradise being within sight. Note that judgment here follows immediately on death, and is unalterable (Luk 16:26). The description of the realms beyond death is without parallel in the reserve with which the conditions of the future are elsewhere veiled (Carpenter).

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

Verse 19

Purple; worn only by persons of very high rank.

Luke 16:20,21. A very graphic description of extreme helplessness and misery.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

16:19 {6} There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in {h} purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

(6) The end of the poverty and misery of the godly will be everlasting joy, as the end of riotous living and the cruel pride of the rich will be everlasting misery, without any hope of mercy.

(h) Very gorgeously and sumptuously, for purple garments were costly, and this fine linen, which was a kind of linen that came out of Achaia, was as precious as gold.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus 16:19-31

In this parable the rich man and his brothers who did not listen to Moses and the prophets (Luk 16:29-31) represent the Pharisees (Luk 16:16-17). The Pharisees believed in a future life and a coming judgment, but they, as the rich man, did not allow those beliefs to deter them from the pursuit of present wealth (Luk 16:14). Jesus announced that even His resurrection would not change them (Luk 16:31). This parable also affirmed Jesus’ teaching on a future reversal of fortunes (Luk 1:53; Luk 6:20-26; Luk 12:16-21; Luk 13:30; Luk 14:11) and the fact that present decisions affect future destiny for the saved and the unsaved.

The rabbinic story of how Abraham sent his steward Eleazar, of which Lazarus is the Greek form of the name, to Sodom to test the hospitality of its citizens may lie behind this parable. [Note: Derrett, Law in . . ., pp. 86-92.] Jesus may have built this parable on that story, which was extra-biblical but perhaps factual or merely fictional.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Jesus began the parable by introducing its two main characters. He presented the rich man as living selfishly in luxury and rejoicing in his present earthly prosperity (cf. Luk 16:1; Luk 16:13). Only the very wealthy of Jesus’ day could afford to dress in the expensive purple garments that kings wore. The rich man also possessed the best undergarments made of fine linen. Lazarus on the other hand was poor, incapacitated, begging, diseased, hungry, unclean, and despised. These descriptions prepare for the dramatic reversal in the conditions of these two men that follows (Luk 16:22-24). Obviously the rich man had disregarded the Old Testament teaching that the Israelites should care for the poor among them (cf. Pro 14:21; Pro 19:17; Pro 21:13; Pro 28:27).

The fact that Jesus named the beggar and not the rich man hints at the ultimate greater importance of Lazarus. He was not the brother of Mary and Martha (John 11). This is the only parable that Jesus taught in which He named one of the characters. The fact that Jesus mentioned his name does not necessarily mean that he was a real person. However he could have been. [Note: R. Summers, Commentary on Luke.] Everything else about this story indicates that this was a typical invented parable.

"The naming of the poor man as Lazarus and the failure to name the rich man personalizes the level of concern for the poor man, while making clear that the rich man is a representative figure. God cares for each poor person and is fully aware of their plight. The rich man could be any rich individual." [Note: Bock, Luke, p. 431.]

Lazarus was a common name, the equivalent of the Hebrew Eleazar, meaning "whom God has helped." Abraham, also mentioned in this parable, had a servant named Eleazar who was evidently a Gentile (Gen 15:2). This fact has led some students of this passage to seek an interpretation that comes from Abraham’s experience. [Note: E.g., Derrett, Law in . . ., pp. 85-92; idem, "Fresh Light on St Luke xvi. II. Dives and Lazarus and the preceding Sayings," New Testament Studies, 7 (1960-61):364-80.] One such writer concluded that Jesus was teaching that severe judgment would come on the Jews if they failed to repent. [Note: C. H. Cave, "Lazarus and the Lucan Deuteronomy," New Testament Studies 15 (1968-67):319-25.] However the connections with Abraham’s history seem so obscure that Jesus’ hearers would have missed them. Tradition has given the name Dives, the Latin word for "rich," to the rich man, but there is no basis for this in the text. [Note: Marshall, The Gospel . . ., pp. 634-35.]

"Giving Lazarus a name helps to personalize him, and the description of his piteous condition encourages readers to sympathize with him and to condemn the rich man’s callousness. It is not simply being wealthy but this callousness toward the suffering poor which is condemned in the parable." [Note: Tannehill, The Narrative . . ., 1:131.]

That Lazarus lay among unclean dogs heightens his abject condition. The dogs that came and licked his sores would have aggravated them, not alleviated them. [Note: Edersheim, 2:279.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)