Grace Bible Church
Pastor Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Sunday November 30, 2014
Parables never mention proper names.
The narrative in LUK 16:19-31 is a true story, which can be entitled “Dead men tell tales.”
This true story describes the first and second compartments of what is known as Sheol or Hades during the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union.
HYPOSTATIC UNION = In the person of TLJC are two natures, inseparably united without mixture or loss of separate identity, without loss or transfer of properties or attributes, the union being personal and eternal. Since the incarnation, Jesus Christ is true humanity and undiminished deity in one unique person forever.
(1) the perspective of life, verses 19-21. (2) the perspective of death, verse 22. (3) the perspective of sheol or Hades after death, verses 23-31.
Verse 19 introduces a wealthy unbeliever.
Verse 20 introduces a suffering believer.
Lazarus was normal; and he still had normal desires.
Because he was starving, Lazarus was normal and had an intense desire for foods.
Are you ready for this?……bosom.
JOH 1:18 No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
Bosom actually connotes acceptance and welcome into someone’s presence.
The only friends Lazarus had were dogs who had much more compassion than the rich man and his friends or the mob and their cruelty.
Lazarus was suffering for blessing, a suffering which glorified God to the maximum; a suffering that makes Lazarus one of the great all-time believers, recognized as such by our Lord.
Lazarus was totally isolated from any form of human companionship or human compassion.
Doctrinal orientation, grace orientation, personal love for God, impersonal love for all mankind who treated him so cruelly, +H (sharing the happiness of God), a personal sense of destiny, and occupation with the Person of Christ.
The fact that he was in great pain did not in any way slow down his appetite.
a. He had a lack of basic necessities of life: he had no food, no shelter, and virtually no clothing so that his skin was exposed for all to see.
It’s amazing how dogs can be so compassionate and sympathetic toward people who are suffering, whereas rational people, in the cruelty and vile evil of their old sin nature, have absolutely no compassion.
b. Lazarus had loss of health, and real pain.
c. Lazarus was cut off from any form of love, friendship, or compassion.
People ostracized him, rejected him, and ridiculed him.
Lazarus was a mature believer and realized the importance of his suffering.
He would demonstrate to both mankind and angels the importance of eternity compared to time.
In contrast, the rich man was demonstrating daily that to him, only time was important; eternity didn’t matter.
1CO 10:13, “No testing has overtaken to you but such as is common to mankind. but god is faithful, who will not permit you to be tested beyond what you are able to bear, but with the testing, he will also provide a solution, a way of escape, so that you may be able to endure it.”
Lazarus was a believer who had nothing, but he was very happy with +H.
Lazarus demonstrates the principle of being happy without having anything at all.
For while Lazarus had nothing, he had the problem solving devices, like +H, and used them.
The very fact that he had an appetite indicates he was functioning under the Ten Problem Solving Devices.
His desire for even crumbs from the rich man’s table indicated how normal he was, having an appetite in spite of suffering.
The fact that Lazarus was hungry not only indicated that he was normal, but that he was handling his situation through the use of the problem solving devices.
Lazarus suffered to demonstrate the importance of eternity compared to time.
Time is just a drop in the bucket compared to eternity, according to JAM 4:14.
JAM 4:14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.
Time is the only opportunity to have eternal life, 2CO 6:2 “Now is the time to accept Christ; now is the day of salvation.”
It takes only one second in time to believe in Jesus Christ, yet the rich man didn’t even take that one second to do so; Lazarus did.
We do not know the original status quo of Lazarus; we only know what he faced before he died and entered into a compartment in
Hades or Hell called Paradise.
Time is the special opportunity for the believer to glorify God, and to demonstrate to the angels the greatness of God’s justice, wisdom, and grace policy.
PHI 4:11 “Not that I speak on the basis of want, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances may be.”
“Lazarus, how do you feel about your suffering at the rich man’s gate and the abuse you took prior to that?”
“It was nothing. Time is just a drop in the bucket compared to eternity. Now I have billions and billions of years to enjoy the most indescribable and fantastic blessings of the eternal state.”
“Rich man, how do you feel about your lifetime of wealth, influence, power, and pleasure on earth?”
“I regret every second of my prosperity and power, for it blinded me to my need of eternal salvation, a relationship with God, which I could have had both in time and eternity. And yet I must take the responsibility for my own decisions and my own perspective.”
He was a mature believer, and therefore he departed from his body under the principle of dying grace.
The garbage heap outside of Jerusalem was called Gehenna, a large area where garbage was burned.
These were special angelic officers in the Angelic college of Heralds.
The rich man’s soul was sent to torments, the second compartment of Hades.
en plus basanois meaning in torture, torment, great pain, guilt, disgrace and shame.
Kolpois which means chest, bosom, or breast. = used for a place of honor at a meal.
This indicates that Lazarus died as an invisible hero.
Lazarus was carried into a place of honor, called Abraham’s bosom, the place of the Old Testament believers.
Abraham is the father of the new racial species called the Jew, therefore, Abraham is designated as the place of honor.
Jesus Christ is called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who are the regenerate descendants of the new racial species.
“Today, you will be with me in paradise,”, LUK 23:43.
That which was once his glory, is now the very reason why his guilt is so intensified.
Abraham is the father of the entire Jewish race, and in that sense the rich man was right in calling him “father Abraham.”
Augustine – “The proud man of time, the beggar of hell.”
A place described as a place of torment, LUK 16:28.
A place where desire is never met, LUK 16:24.
A place of unspeakable misery indicated by the term, everlasting fire, MAT 25:41.
Where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched, MAR 9:44.
The lake (which many believe to be a liquid form of Lava) burns with fire and brimstone, REV 21:8.
The place of eternal suffering is also called; A bottomless pit, REV 9:2 Outer darkness, MAT 8:12 Fire unquenchable, LUK 3:17 Furnace of fire, MAT 13:42 Blackness of darkness, Jud 13
REV 14:11, that “the smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever and they have no rest day or night”