Thank you twin1954 for your invitation in Post #451.
In the thread “Baptists and the Virgin Mary” Avid made reference to Abraham's Bosom in Post #22.
He said:
I would love to get your take on Jesus' story being referred to. (Luke 16:19-31)
Thanks.
Since I was studying the passage in order to answer you I felt that the Lord gave me a message from it for this morning. Here are my sermon notes on it if you care to read them.
Introduction:
In Luke 16: 19-31 our Lord is speaking to a group of Pharisees who had earlier derided Him. In order to understand the parable we must first know something of those men to whom the Lord was speaking.
The Pharisees were the ruling sect of the Jews. They were very powerful men and, as is most often the case, used their power to become rich men. Not only were they rich and powerful but were the most strict in their religious practice. The Apostle Paul was of the sect of the Pharisees and he describes himself in Phl. 3: 4-6
(Php 3:4) Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
(Php 3:5) Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel,
of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
(Php 3:6) Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
A Pharisee considered himself above reproach and looked down his nose at everyone who wasn’t a Pharisee. They expected that all others look up to them and that they be given all the best seats and be honored above all others.
The made a great show of their religion as well. Everything they did they did in such a way that was to be seen of men. Yet our Lord says of them that inwardly they were stinking dead corpses and more than once called them hypocrites. I don’t believe He ever had a good word to say about them or to them.
These men were the religious leaders of the Jews. They taught that happiness is the next world was dependant on how well you kept the law of Moses in this. They also added many of their own traditions to the law that had no Scriptural basis but were meant to make them seem to be very righteous. They studied the Scriptures continually and were highly educated.
Now we have some idea of who it was that the Lord spoke this parable to. In these twelve verses our Lord is telling these religious leaders of the great change that will take place after death. He is contrasting the result of resting in your self-righteousness and supposed wealth and living as one who is forced by life to depend totally on the Lord. He is preaching the Gospel to them.
I want us to look at five things in this parable so lets read it together.
(Luk 16:19) There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
(Luk 16:20) And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
(Luk 16:21) And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
(Luk 16:22) 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;
(Luk 16:23) And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
(Luk 16:24) 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.
(Luk 16:25) But Abraham said, 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.
(Luk 16:26) 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.
(Luk 16:27) Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
(Luk 16:28) For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
(Luk 16:29) Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
(Luk 16:30) And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
(Luk 16:31) And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
First: The rich man.
Our Lord could paint a very clear picture in the mind of His hearers using few words, unlike most preachers today. With one simple sentence He gives us a very distinct and clear picture of the rich man.
He clearly describes the rich man as one who was very rich and very powerful. He was clothed in purple and fine linen and lived sumptuously every day. Only a ruler could afford those things and they were a sign of power and riches. Obviously he was a ruler among men.
The Lord here was picturing the Pharisees and their state in the present world. They were the religious leaders and supposed themselves to be the rulers of the Jewish nation. As such they gathered to themselves riches and wealth and lived as most rich men do.
Second: Poor Lazarus.
Now the Master is giving us a picture of a poor beggar who is full of sores and suffers torment in this present world. He was an outcast and considered less than nothing by the rich man. He was content to be fed by the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table and was such a helpless wretch that the dogs, considered unclean and detestable, would come and lick his sores.
This is a picture of a lost sinner who has nothing but his ugly, stinking, putrifying wretchedness to claim as his own. He has nothing he can hope in but the mercy of God. His life is one of torment because of his wretchedness. His sin is a hateful thing to him and he suffers in his heart because of it.
Third: The everlasting state of the beggar and the rich man.
Here is the crux of our Lord’s teaching in this parable. The beggar was carried by angels into Abraham’s bosom. The rich man woke up in hell being in torments. What a drastic change for both of them. The poor wretched sinner was taken to Heaven and the rich religious leader to torments in hell.
Now I must pause here to focus a moment on Abraham’s bosom. Far too many make so much of these two words as though they were to teach us something of where saved people went before the Lord died. Some suppose that Abraham’s bosom is a purgatory like place where souls went to await the time of redemption. We must remember that parables are not meant to teach many things but one spiritual truth. It is totally unwarranted to try and deduce a doctrine from this simple saying. Our Lord simply spoke to these people in a way that they could understand. Abraham’s bosom is nothing more than heaven. Every reputable commentator that I read tells us that it was a common saying among the Jews for happiness in the afterlife.
We find a parallel statement in Matt. 8:11;
(Mat 8:10) When Jesus heard
it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
(Mat 8:11) And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
(Mat 8:12) But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Abraham’s bosom is a picture of a feast in Heaven where the poor beggar is resting his head in the lap of father Abraham. The Jews made a big deal of being the children of Abraham and they would have understood what the Lord was saying.
Fourth: The torment of the rich man in Hell.
The rich man shut his eyes resting in his riches and comforts and woke in torments. The torments of Hell are describes in several ways in the Scriptures: A worm that never dies in Mark 9, a firey furnace in Matt. 13, the bottomless pit, lake of fire, everlasting fire and the second death in Rev. 21.
We see described for us that the rich man is fully aware of his condition and wide awake to the torments. He has full knowledge of why he is in torments, Son remember, vs. 25.
He is able to see the blessedness that he cannot experience and finds that great gulf fixed so that he cannot go to heaven’s bliss and heaven’s bliss cannot come to him. Oh what a wretched state he is in now that can never be eased or comforted.
Take heed that you do not find yourself in this torment when you die. I pray you in Christ’s stead be ye reconciled to God by faith in the finished work of Christ Jesus the Lord. Do not take the Gospel for granted and leave here and go to your end without knowing its power to save.
Fifth: The utter blindness and deaf ears of those who look to themselves and their goodness and religion instead of Christ.
They once asked the Master to give them a sign that He was who He said He was ad He told them that no sign would be given them but the sign of Jonah, that He would be raised from the dead.
The rich man being in unquenchable torments wanted Abraham to send Lazarus back to tell his brother of the danger they were in. But Abraham told him that they had Moses and the prophets let them hear them. Many think that they can find eternal life in the law and in self-righteous religion. They read and study the Scriptures and suppose that they understand them but they have no knowledge of the truth taught in them or the person and work of Christ revealed by them. Our Lord is pointing His finger of condemnation at the Pharisees and religious leaders. He points that same finger at those today who claim to be teachers of truth but will not believe and trust Christ alone. They who add to the work of Christ by their obedience, repentance, works and will.
Here is a link to the sermon if you care to listen:
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?sermonid=614151848193
