Transcript Luke - God's Character

The Rich Man and Lazarus
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Tertullian (160-225 AD)
At that greatest of all spectacles, that last and eternal
judgment how shall I admire, how laugh, how rejoice,
how exult, when I behold so many proud monarchs
groaning in the lowest abyss of darkness; so many
magistrates liquefying in fiercer flames than they ever
kindled against the Christians; so many sages
philosophers blushing in red-hot fires with their deluded
pupils; so many tragedians more tuneful in the
expression of their own sufferings; so many dancers
tripping more nimbly from anguish then ever before
from applause.
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Augustine (354-430 AD)
They who shall enter into [the] joy [of the Lord]
shall know what is going on outside in the outer
darkness. . .The saints'. . . knowledge, which shall be
great, shall keep them acquainted. . .with the eternal
sufferings of the lost.
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Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
In order that the happiness of the saints may be
more delightful to them and that they may render
more copious thanks to God for it, they are allowed
to see perfectly the sufferings of the damned…So
that they may be urged the more to praise God…The
saints in heaven know distinctly all that
happens…to the damned.
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John Calvin (1509-1564)
Forever harrassed with a dreadful tempest, they
shall feel themselves torn asunder by an angry God,
and transfixed and penetrated by mortal stings,
terrified by the thunderbolts of God, and broken by
the weight of his hand, so that to sink into any gulf
would be more tolerable than to stand for a moment
in these terrors.
There are babies a span long in hell.
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John Bunyan (1628-1688)
Set case you should take a man, and tie him to a stake,
and with red hot Pincers pinch off his flesh by little pieces
for two or three years together, and at last, when the poor
man cryes out for ease and help, the tormenters answer,
Nay but besides all this you must be handled worse. We
will serve you thus these 20 years together, and after that
we will fill your mangled body full of scalding lead, and
run you through with a red hot spit, would this not be
lamentable?...But he that goes to hell shall suffer ten
thousand times worse torments then these, and yet shall
never be quite dead under them.
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Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
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What bliss will fill the ransomed souls,
When they in glory dwell,
To see the sinner as he rolls,
In quenchless flames of hell.
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Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
“Here all judges have a mixture of mercy, but the wrath of
God will be poured out upon the wicked without mixture.
Imagine yourself to be cast into a fiery oven…and imagine
also that your body were to lie there for a quarter of an hour,
full of fire, as full within and without as a bright coal fire,
all the while full of quick sense; what horror would you feel
at the entrance of such a furnace? Oh! Then how would
your heart sink if you knew that after millions and millions
of ages your torment would be no nearer to an end than ever
it was. But your torment in hell will be immensely greater
than this illustration represents.”
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John Wesley (1703-1791)
Is it not common to say to a child, ‘Put your finger in that
candle, can you bear it even for one minute?' How then
will you bear Hell-fire? Surely it would be torment enough
to have the flesh burnt off from only one finger; what then
will it be to have the whole body plunged into a lake of fire,
burning with brimstone?...Consider that all these torments
of body and soul are without intermission. Be their
suffering ever so extreme, be their pain ever so intense,
there is no possibility of their fainting away, no, not for one
moment…They are all eye, all ear, all sense. Every instant
of their duration it may be said of their whole frame that
they are ‘Trembling alive all o'er, and smart and agonize at
every pore.' And of this duration there is no end … Neither
the pain of the body nor of soul is any nearer an end than it
was millions of ages ago.” Sermon 73
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J.I. Packer (1926 - )
"...love and pity for hell's occupants will not enter
our hearts."
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“My spirit cannot accommodate itself to this book. For
me this is reason enough not to think highly of it:
Christ is neither taught nor known in it.” – Luther
“There is no excuse for any one in taking the position
that there is no more truth to be revealed, and that all
our expositions of Scripture are without an error. The
fact that certain doctrines have been held as truth for
many years by our people, is not a proof that our ideas
are infallible. Age will not make error into truth, and
truth can afford to be fair. No true doctrine will lose
anything by close investigation.” Review and Herald,
Dec. 20, 1892
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According to Christianity, eternal suffering awaits
anyone who questions God's infinite love. That's
the message we're brought up with, believe or die.
"Thank you, forgiving Lord, for all those options."
--Bill Hicks
So revolting to my moral nature is the creed of
eternal punishment that it, more than any other
cause, produces the most widespread unbelief.
Compared with this, all objections to Christianity
fade to insignificance. --Loren Anderson
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“Tell them that as surely as I, the Sovereign
LORD, am the living God, I do not enjoy seeing
sinners die. I would rather see them stop
sinning and live. Israel, stop the evil you are
doing. Why do you want to die?” (Ezekiel
33:11)
“How can I give you up, Israel? How can I
abandon you? Could I ever destroy you as I
did Admah, or treat you as I did Zeboiim? My
heart will not let me do it! My love for you is
too strong.” (Hosea 11:8)
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“You have heard that it was said, 'Love your
friends, hate your enemies.' But now I tell you:
love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you, so that you may become the
children of your Father in heaven. For he
makes his sun to shine on bad and good people
alike, and gives rain to those who do good and
to those who do evil.” (Matthew 5:43-45)
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“One day when many tax collectors and
other outcasts came to listen to Jesus, the
Pharisees and the teachers of the Law
started grumbling, ‘This man welcomes
outcasts and even eats with them!’ So
Jesus told them this parable:
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99 sheep; one is lost
9 silver coins; one is lost
The “loyal” son; the “lost” son
The shrewd manager; “people who
belong to the light”
The rich man; Lazarus
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‘Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and
loses one of them---what do you do? You leave
the other ninety-nine sheep in the pasture and
go looking for the one that got lost until you
find it. When you find it, you are so happy
that you put it on your shoulders and carry it
back home. Then you call your friends and
neighbors together and say to them, ‘I am so
happy I found my lost sheep. Let us celebrate!’
In the same way, I tell you, there will be more
joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine respectable people who
do not need to repent.’” (Luke 15:1-7)
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Who are the 99?
Who is the lost sheep?
 “I tell you: the tax collectors and the
prostitutes are going into the Kingdom
of God ahead of you.” (Matthew 21:31)
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“Or suppose a woman who has ten silver
coins loses one of them---what does she do?
She lights a lamp, sweeps her house, and
looks carefully everywhere until she finds
it. When she finds it, she calls her friends
and neighbors together, and says to them,
‘I am so happy I found the coin I lost. Let
us celebrate!’ In the same way, I tell you,
the angels of God rejoice over one sinner
who repents.’” (Luke 15:8-10)
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Jesus went on to say, ‘There was once a man
who had two sons. The younger one said to
him, ‘Father, give me my share of the property
now.’ So the man divided his property
between his two sons. After a few days the
younger son sold his part of the property and
left home with the money. He went to a
country far away, where he wasted his money
in reckless living. He spent everything he had.
Then a severe famine spread over that
country, and he was left without a thing.”
(Luke 15:11-14)
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“So he went to work for one of the citizens
of that country, who sent him out to his
farm to take care of the pigs. He wished
he could fill himself with the bean pods
the pigs ate, but no one gave him
anything to eat. At last he came to his
senses and said, ‘All my father's hired
workers have more than they can eat, and
here I am about to starve! I will get up
and go to my father and say, ‘Father, I
have sinned against God and against you.
I am no longer fit to be called your son;
treat me as one of your hired workers.’
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So he got up and started back to his
father. He was still a long way from
home when his father saw him; his heart
was filled with pity, and he ran, threw
his arms around his son, and kissed him.
‘Father,’ the son said, ‘I have sinned
against God and against you. I am no
longer fit to be called your son.’
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“But the father called to his servants.
‘Hurry!’ he said. ‘Bring the best robe and
put it on him. Put a ring on his finger
and shoes on his feet. Then go and get
the prize calf and kill it, and let us
celebrate with a feast! For this son of
mine was dead, but now he is alive; he
was lost, but now he has been found.’
And so the feasting began.” (Luke
15:23,24)
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“In the meantime the older son was out in
the field. On his way back, when he came
close to the house, he heard the music
and dancing. So he called one of the
servants and asked him, ‘What’s going
on?’ ‘Your brother has come back home,’
the servant answered, ‘and your father
has killed the prize calf, because he got
him back safe and sound.’ The older
brother was so angry that he would not
go into the house; so his father came out
and begged him to come in.
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But he spoke back to his father, ‘Look, all
these years I have worked for you like a
slave, and I have never disobeyed your
orders. What have you given me? Not even a
goat for me to have a feast with my friends!
But this son of yours wasted all your
property on prostitutes, and when he comes
back home, you kill the prize calf for him!’
‘My son,’ the father answered, ‘you are
always here with me, and everything I have
is yours. But we had to celebrate and be
happy, because your brother was dead, but
now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has
been found.’” (Luke 15:25-32)
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The prodigal son:
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rebels who came home
The other son:
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loyal legalists who stayed home but do not
know God
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“No servant can be the slave of two
masters; such a slave will hate one and
love the other or will be loyal to one
and despise the other. You cannot serve
both God and money. When the
Pharisees heard all this, they made fun
of Jesus, because they loved money.”
(Luke 16:11-14)
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“Jesus said to them, ‘You are the ones who
make yourselves look right in other people’s
sight, but God knows your hearts. For the
things that are considered of great value by
people are worth nothing in God’s sight. The
Law of Moses and the writings of the
prophets were in effect up to the time of John
the Baptist; since then the Good News about
the Kingdom of God is being told, and
everyone forces their way in.’” (Luke 16:1516)
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99 sheep in the pasture; one is lost
9 silver coins; one is lost
The “loyal” son; the “lost” son
The shrewd manager; “people who
belong to the light”
The rich man; Lazarus
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“There was once a rich man who dressed in the
most expensive clothes and lived in great luxury
every day. There was also a poor man named
Lazarus, covered with sores, who used to be
brought to the rich man’s door, hoping to eat the
bits of food that fell from the rich man's table.
Even the dogs would come and lick his sores.
The poor man died and was carried by the
angels to sit beside Abraham at the feast in
heaven. The rich man died and was buried, and
in Hades, where he was in great pain, he looked
up and saw Abraham, far away, with Lazarus at
his side. So he called out, ‘Father Abraham! Take
pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip his finger in
some water and cool off my tongue, because I
am in great pain in this fire!’
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“But Abraham said, ‘Remember, my son, that in
your lifetime you were given all the good things,
while Lazarus got all the bad things. But now he
is enjoying himself here, while you are in pain.
Besides all that, there is a deep pit lying between
us, so that those who want to cross over from here
to you cannot do so, nor can anyone cross over to
us from where you are.’ The rich man said, ‘Then
I beg you, father Abraham, send Lazarus to my
father’s house, where I have five brothers. Let him
go and warn them so that they, at least, will not
come to this place of pain.’
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Abraham said, ‘Your brothers have Moses
and the prophets to warn them; your
brothers should listen to what they say.’
The rich man answered, ‘That is not
enough, father Abraham! But if someone
were to rise from death and go to them,
then they would turn from their sins.’ But
Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to
Moses and the prophets, they will not be
convinced even if someone were to rise
from death.’” (Luke 16:19-31)
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Abraham’s bosom?
Chasm in between?
If the soul is apart from the body, is there a
need to cool the tongue?
Why only a drop? Why not ask for a bucket?
This is the only case in which Hades is
associated with any punishment
Do we take the individual points of other
parables literally?
Who is the rich man? (“dressed in purple and fine linen”)
Who is Lazarus?
‘That is not enough, father Abraham! But if someone
were to rise from death and go to them, then they
would turn from their sins.’ But Abraham said, ‘if they
will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not
be convinced even if someone were to rise from
death.’”
“From that day on the Jewish authorities made plans to
kill Jesus…the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus
too, because on his account many Jews were rejecting
them and believing in Jesus” (John 11:53)
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1. Listen to Moses and the prophets
2. they will not be convinced even if someone
were to rise from death
Peter’s speech in Acts 2:
 “Many of them believed this message and
were baptized, and about three thousand
people were added to the group that day.”
Acts 2:41
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"If you call your brother a worthless fool,
you will be in danger of going to the fire
of hell" (Matthew 5:22).