the Lord to join us in worship on this Lord's Day. We heard from His Word, we have repented of our sins, we've declared His glory, and we have offered ourselves as a sacrifice to Him. And now, in light of that, we can come before Him offering a prayer for our needs. And so let us now go before the Lord in prayer. Pray with me. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you, O Lord, for your great and awesome glory. That as you are glorious, you, O Lord, draw us into that glory that we might be children in your kingdom. And as we come as children in your kingdom, we come with requests. We pray, O Lord, for our own government. We think of our federal government this morning and the House of Representatives and their work. We pray, O Lord, that you would raise up leaders within our Congress that would honor you by the decisions that they make. For we know, O Lord, that the Word of God is written on every, the law of God is written on every one of our hearts. And in light of that, we pray, O Lord, that our government would rule in light of that knowledge. We pray, O Lord. for the minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, and we pray for Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House. We pray, O Lord, that you'd give them wisdom and discernment as they lead that chamber. And we pray, O Lord, that the work that would be done there would be to your honor. Your honor, and that, O Lord, the people of this country would have a time of peace and prosperity. We pray, O Lord, that they would cut through the divisions in the land at this time. And we pray, O Lord, for peace. We pray, O Lord, for prosperity. But we also pray, O Lord, for justice and revival. O Lord, that you are a God who will not be mocked. And by the way by which our government is ran, O Lord, you will either judge harshly or bless mightily. And so we pray, O Lord, for our own country. We pray for revival in the churches here. We pray for revival in the broader society. And we pray, O Lord, for the preaching of your word to that end. In light of that, O Lord, we also lift up the Taylor family as they preach the word in Scotland. The mother Kirk, O Lord, who has often gone far astray from her original beliefs, often into denying the faith itself. We pray, O Lord, for the Taylor's ministry as they establish faithful Presbyterian churches in Scotland. We pray, O Lord, as their house church meets and is further established, we pray, O Lord, that you'd bless their ministry, that you'd encourage their ministry, that you'd use Nate well, and that you'd remind him of your steadfast love and care, and that you'd bless their ministry, that they would have a church that grows, that grows in a knowledge of the truth, that grows in dependence upon Christ, that grows in trust for the scripture, but that also grows numerically, That the people that they serve in the town that they serve would grow in the knowledge of God. That they would come to a saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh Lord, we yearn, as the Taylors yearned for their own country, we yearn for our own state. Oh Lord, there's a multitude, perhaps even millions, who do not know you in our state. We pray, oh Lord, that you would use the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ here in Illinois to bring about transformation in our society. that faithful preachers would continue to preach the word zealously and faithfully, that congregations would continue to witness and bear witness to the work of Christ in their own lives. But we pray, O Lord, that there would be a conviction of sin, a softening of hearts, that a multitude that do not know you, O Lord, would come to know you. We pray, O Lord, for those who do not know you in our own state. We pray for grace and mercy, that you'd give us wisdom and discernment and courage to represent you in this secular age. We pray also, O Lord, for our own congregation. We pray for the fruits of the Spirit in our own lives, that we, O Lord, would grow, not merely in knowledge, but that the fruits of the work of the Spirit would be evident in what we do. We are reminded of our own besetting sins, our own weaknesses, our own frailty. But we are also reminded by the magnitude of the Spirit's work in our own lives. O Lord, on this day, encourage us by revealing to us all of those fruits that you have grown within our hearts. And, O Lord, we do pray for those in need. We pray, O Lord, for the Walters family as we mourn with them over the death of Nancy. We know, O Lord, of her profession, and we know, O Lord, that she is with you today. There is no more pain. There is no more forgetfulness. All is made new by death for those who are in Christ Jesus, and that includes this dear saint. We pray, O Lord, for Erin and her sisters. We pray that you'd bless them now, that you'd comfort them in their mourning state. And all that has to be done between now and the end of the month, we pray, O Lord, for your mercy upon them. O Lord, we are a people who have joy with those who have joy, and we are also a people that mourn with those who mourn. And so we mourn with these dear saints. We pray, O Lord, for your sustaining comfort upon them now. Remind them, O Lord, that even when they have restless nights, that they can still rest in you. We pray, O Lord, for the reading and the preaching of the word here momentarily, that you would bless it, that we would be convicted and drawn in to be more like Christ. It's in his name we pray. Amen. I invite you to turn with me to the Gospel of Luke. We are in chapter 16, and we're turning the corner to the end of the chapter. This is the last sermon that deals with wealth. And we'll see the perhaps contrast of the poor and rich in this passage as we are called to be good stewards of what the Lord has entrusted to us. We are reminded of the foundational truth that what is ours is not truly ours but belongs to God. And we are just stewards of what he has given to us. Everything that we have, everything that we possess is his. And because it is His, we have to care for what He has entrusted to us well. And we'll learn that in this passage today. That there is great judgment for those who do not use what the Lord has given to us well. As we read in Luke 16. So stand as we hear from Luke 16. We'll begin in verse 19 and go through the end of the chapter. There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on 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. But Abraham said, child, Remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in like manner, bad things. But now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who had passed from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us. And he said, Then I beg you, Father, to send to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that I may warn them, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment. But Abraham said, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said, no father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. He said to them, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord stands forever. You may be seated. In C.S. Lewis's great work, The Great Divorce, there are those who are sent on a bus from hell to heaven to experience what heaven is like. It is a great allegory of perhaps what we could fixate on our minds this passage here. How would it be to traverse through the veil from hell to heaven? But as those on the bus reach heaven, they realize that heaven is too real. Too much to experience for their sinful bodies is too painful. The grass of heaven, in Lewis's allegory, is like razor blades to the feet of those who traverse there from hell. And it is no experience any of them want. They beg to go back to hell. Reminds me of that quote later in the book which says this, there are two kinds of people. in this end. Those who say to God, thy will be done, and those to whom God says in the end, thy will be done. All that are in hell, Lewis says, choose it. With that self-choice, there could be no hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek, find. Those who knock, it is opened. Lewis would go on to say in this great allegory that the choices we make today look forward to what we will enjoy in the everlasting life and in eternity. For people who choose the world today, in other words, will receive the world in hell. But those who choose God today, though they may be poor, will find great glory in everlasting life. But the difference between the allegory that we see in the great divorce in this passage is today, is that there is an insurmountable divide between heaven and hell. There is no bus from hell to heaven. And we see that in the life of the rich man. Jesus here paints us this painful picture. This painful picture of a life that was enjoyed and then a life lost. A life that was not enjoyed and a life gained. Jesus is concluding his comments on wealth and how we are to use what he has given to us for his glory. by helping those who are in need. This little parable on the rich man and the poor man Lazarus show us a great contrast between this life. A life that is contrasted with wealth and poverty, of faith and faithlessness. A contrast we often see within our own churches and our own society. But the Lord calls us in this passage to be great stewards. To be great stewards. To be a good steward is to be responsible with what the Lord has given to you. Whatever it may be. Whether it be wealth, time, talents, possession, resources. We are all stewards of all that the Lord has given to us. We are responsible. And how we use those things that God gives to us reveals the nature of our hearts. It reveals what we value. It reveals whether we are serving God or man. That is the painful truth here. And if we reflect on our own lives, we know that we often struggle in this department. We neglect to show compassion to those who are in need. Do we not? It reveals the spiritual condition of our own hearts as we are unable to heed God's word. Even here, our fallen condition lives in light of complacency. of neglect. We overlook the needs of others because we ourselves are more consumed with our own needs. And so, we serve our own needs first. And by the time our own needs are met, we forget about those who are truly in need. We neglect. We neglect our responsibility by stewarding God's resources poorly. So the main point of this sermon is simple. Jesus commands us to be faithful stewards. Since he does that, we must care for those in need. we must care for those in need. The first thing to support that in this passage is we see that our stewardship includes the needy. Our stewardship includes the needy. Our wealth is a blessing, but with that blessing also comes obligation and responsibility. The Lord has blessed this congregation, the Lord has blessed America with great wealth, but with that great wealth there is great Responsibility. And we see that responsibility in the parable. The parable where a man neglects his responsibility. Look at verse 19 with me. There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, who feasted sumptuously every day. There's nothing sinful about being rich. I want to get that out in the front. There's nothing sinful about being rich. There are plenty of examples in the Bible of this. Father Abraham, as we'll see in this passage, was a rich man. Joseph, David, and many others who were rich but viewed honorably in God's sight. It is not a sin to be rich. But how we use our riches can be sinful. And that is this man here. He is exceedingly sinful with how he uses his riches. There are three strikes against him in this passage. First, he clothes himself in purple. This is the color of kingship. His visage, he wants to be viewed as kingly. He is a rich man and he wants everyone to know he is a rich man and what better way than to get exotic clothes that communicate that he truly is indeed rich. He's kingly in his purple attire. He spares no expense. Even his undergarments, his underwear is so fine linen imported from the great textile mills of Egypt. Oh, he is bougie. He is decadent and he spares no expense. He eats like a king too. He looks like a king. He dresses like a king. His underwear feels like that of a king and he eats like one. He eats the best food. The passage says he feasts. Feasts are devoted to those times of great celebration. Every year we have a Thanksgiving feast and what do we do? We gather and we eat foods together and we enjoy great company and we celebrate. This man feasted daily. The regular diet at this time, it might not be appealing to you, was soup, bread, and fruit. That was the average thing you ate daily. You just enjoyed your stews. You enjoyed your stews with the bread and fruit sides. My kids would love this. But this would be lacking. I think you'd all agree. This man knew none of that. Every day he slaughtered animals. He ate meat, the delicacy of that time, as often as he sat. He drank wine and ate meat like it was going out of style. He had abundance and he ate with abundance. He sought fulfillment in the things of this world. That's what that first verse says. He sought fulfillment in his wealth. Randy Alcorn warns us of this reality when he says, seeking fulfillment in money, land, houses, cars, clothes, boats, campers, hot tubs, world travels and cruises. has left us bound and gagged by an age of materialism. We are like drug addicts. We pathetically think that our only hope in life lies in getting more of the same. That is this man. That's why he eats bountifully every day. That is why he adorns himself with great excessive indulgence. Because that is where his values are. And in the very next verse we get the contrast. We get the contrast. Oh, what a sad contrast. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered in sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man in this parable, this is a parable, is given the name Lazarus. That's unique. Jesus doesn't often give parable people names, but here he does. He gives him the name Lazarus. This is not to be confused with the Lazarus that is the brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany. When you first read this passage, you might think of that Lazarus. Oh, the one that will be raised from the dead. This is not the same person. This is a parable person. A made-up person. And we'll get to why his name is Lazarus in a little bit. There is maybe a connection there. But this is not the same person. This is a story that Jesus is. telling. And he gives us the name Lazarus to show how he knows this man. That the Lord knows this man. This rich man may not know him well, but the Lord knows this man. And he gives him a name. But what about this man? He is crippled. He is brought to the gate and laid at the gate. Whose gate? This rich man's gate. This rich man lives in a gated community. His house is protected, safeguarded from riffraff like this poor man. But he sat at the gate every day, hoping that when this rich man came out, that he would offer him food. He doesn't have such high lofty goals that the rich man would invite him to the feast, no. This poor man just wants to be a dog in the house. He wants to eat the scraps that fall from the table. That's all he desires. He's covered in sores, unable to move, and starving. And all he wants is a little food. All he wants is a little food to survive. It even gets more grim at the end of verse 21, as the dogs come. They licked his sores. Instead of getting the food of the dogs, he is food for the dogs. That's how lowly this man is. Jesus wants you to see the stark contrast between the rich man and his elegant kingly attire that feasts every day, to the man that slowly whittles away in starvation in the streets that is eaten by the dogs. These aren't man's best friend in this parable. These are those who are ravenous, ready to devour. But you know dogs like this. No, they are always ready to eat. Maybe not you. We were at the Lindenfelsers last week and their dog just hovered around the kitchen as we had our youth fellowship together. Why? Because as the kids, as the youth all traveled through the line, as they got their taco meat, the dog hoped for what? That there would be little particles of food to fall off that plate and would land for him to eat. And there were. There were many. And he ate them all. The poor man wishes to be like that dog. That's how dogs are. But think of the dehumanizing nature of a human doing that. Think of how dehumanizing if we were at the Lindenfelsers last week and a poor man was eating off the floor like that. Oh, that's all this man hoped for. And he couldn't even get that. Instead, he became food for the dog. Every time that rich man left his house, he saw this poor man. And he knew his name. We'll learn that in the second point. He knew his name was Lazarus. He walked by in his elegant, decadent attire and brushed him off. Ignored him. But we see that there is a great equalizer in the midst of this contrast as we are called to care for the needy. There is a great equalizer and that equalizer is found in verse 22. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side, his bosom. And the rich man also died and was buried and in Hades." We see that the equalizer here is death itself. The man, the poor man, dies of starvation. He goes to the gate begging for food, hoping to have scraps off the rich man's table. He gets none and dies. And yet the rich man dies as well from his own self. Indulgence. He had the king's disease, and the king's disease dealt him in. We see the poor man, not on his own volition, is carried up by the angels to heaven itself, to Abraham's bosom. We are reminded, perhaps, of this from other passages where we're talking about great banqueting feasts. But this poor man is exalted while on the other hand the rich man is lowered. This passage reminds me of Lamentations 4 or 5 when it says those who once feasted on delicacies will now perish in the streets. And those who are brought up in purple shall embrace the ash heaps. That is what this rich man now has. His judgment is full. because he did not care for the needy amongst his people. Now you might, as we apply this passage, you're already thinking, how is this pastor going to apply this today? You might have jitters at this point. Who am I to care for? He has called me to care for the needy. You might start thinking too big. You might start thinking of global poverty, global starvation. You might think of the people that as you're driving through St. Louis to the zoo, the people on the side of the streets as you get off the highway who are asking for more. The people that you avoid eye contact with. I'm not going to go there today, though I name it all. I'm not going to go there today. Because this passage is not actually about that. It's not about the big, big pictures. It's not about solving poverty or even starvation locally. There's nothing wrong with helping those in need, and I deeply encourage you to do so. But this passage is a little more personal, in my opinion. It is a little more personable. It's not about finding those in human wretchedness, going to the deep vows of our society. It's about neglecting those around us. Remember, this poor man was at the gates of the rich man. And the rich man knew his name, and yet the rich man did nothing. That is what is in view here. It is neglecting and overlooking the Lazaruses in our life. Those whom we know that we intentionally neglect. You're Lazarus. I'd be the wife you're neglecting. Your Lazarus might be the husband you've emotionally stiff-armed for years. Maybe your Lazarus is the child that you seldom read to, the child you seldom pray with, the child you seldom play with because your agenda is just too busy. Or maybe it's the widow next door that you know who's lost her husband and you just never went to visit. That's what this passage is talking about. The Lazaruses in your life. Not the faceless, nameless, poverty-stricken people. Though those are great needs that should be fulfilled. This is talking about those whom you know that you overlook. And there are people that you overlook. That's the better application. Who are the needy in your life? It doesn't need to be a poor starving man at your gate. But who are the needy in your life that you overlook? Who are those neighbors? Who are those in need? That's what this parable is about. It's not so big that you can never fulfill it. Jesus is bringing you right home, right to your heart in order to prepare you. We might not be qualified to solve world hunger, but we are qualified to use our wealth in a way that helps those who are needy in our lives. Whether they be family, co-workers, friends, or neighbors, we are to use our wealth to be stewards of that wealth. to care for those in need. The second thing I want you to know in this passage, as Jesus commands us to be faithful stewards in caring for those in need, is that our stewardship reflects our hearts. How we use our wealth reflects our hearts. We see that in the eternal destiny of these two men. Look at verse 22 again. And the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. And the rich man also died and was buried in Hades. being in torment. He lifted his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me. Send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in the water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this Flame. You see, there is a great reversal. In the first point, there was a great contrast. In the second point, there is a great reversal, and it reveals the hearts of both of these individuals. The poor man is not saved because of his physical poverty, and the rich man is not damned because of his material wealth. It is the heart that draws these men to their eternal destinies and the poor man trusted in God. Think of how difficult it would have been for this poor man to trust in God. He starved in the street as he was being eaten by dogs. If there's ever a case to say why this man shouldn't trust or believe, this man has that case. Perhaps we do our own woe is me's, don't we not? Woe is me. This man had every reason not to believe in God and yet he believes in God. And he is rewarded for that belief. He is so rewarded that not by his own volition, the angels themselves draw him up to Abraham's side. Again, I want to connect that to the feasting that we've seen in the Gospel of Luke. To be at Abraham's side is to be the honored guest of the banqueting hall. This man who has never known a feast in his life is now honored by being the guest of honor in the kingdom of God. He is elevated despite his poverty and lowliness. And he doesn't even need to lift a finger. Angels do the work for him. The reversal reveals that the rich man gets a punishment worse than being eaten by dogs. And that is hell itself. Hades, as the passage says. He is in torment. And he can see Lazarus in the distance as a chasm separates them two. He sees Lazarus and he calls out to Father Abraham. And he asks for mercy. As the poor man desired to have the scraps of food from the table of the rich man, now the rich man desires a mere drop from the finger of the poor man. But it's interesting, as in C.S. Lewis' book on the Great Divorce, the heart doesn't change when one goes to hell, and this man's heart doesn't change. He still views Lazarus as lowly. He thinks that Lazarus is Abraham's boy. Go, get your boy, send him down here so that he might help me. He still sees Lazarus as lowly. But he knows his name, which is probably the most incriminating part of the parable. He knows his name. He knows his name, and he still views him so lowly. He still views himself as a king in hell. And he calls for Lazarus to be his servant. Send him a drop so that my tongue might be cooled, for I am in anguish in hell." What do we learn from hell in this passage? We learn that it is a place of torment. It is not a place of enjoyment. It is a place where the dead from one location can see the dead from another. It is a place where there is thirst. It is a place where there is flames. It is not a place of enjoyment. It is a place of suffering. The rich man who was once healthy, wealthy, and enjoying life now suffers torment worse than death as he is in hell. And this is no temporary place. This is an eternal place. This is an eternal place. It's not a good place for him to be. So he asks for help. But, he cannot receive the help. If you look down at verse 26, we see there is more than just a moral separation. There is a distinct divide. After Abraham rebukes him for his request, He goes on to say, and 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. And so, not only does Abraham reveal to this rich man the issue, the moral issue, you have enjoyed your life to the fullest and you got what you deserved. And the poor man, in not enjoying his life at all, he gets what he deserves as he has placed faith in a world beyond his own. But there is another issue. The other issue is that the chasm, the chasm that divides heaven and hell is so fixed that you cannot go from hell to heaven or heaven to hell. It is an impassable barrier. When both of these men were alive, there was a barrier between them. The gate itself served as a barrier between the rich man and Lazarus. But it was a bridgeable barrier. That rich man perhaps thought heaven and hell was kind of like his own estate. You can go out and come in as you please. But it is not so. There's a chasm, an unbridgeable divide. It reminds me when I was in Colorado and on top of a mountain. I was looking out and in the midst of the mountain that I was on, there were many mountains. And they looked so close, almost that you could reach them. You just reach out and you could bridge the divide between the mountain. But a chasm laid between. The valley laid between, and getting from one mountain to the other was almost insurmountable. I'm sure maybe some of you amongst us could do it, I couldn't. But I remember asking the guide, how long would it take for me to get from this mountain to that one in the distance? He's like, it looks much closer than it seems. He's like, maybe a day, but perhaps even more than that. It would take days to bridge that chasm. The chasm between heaven and hell is insurmountable. Not even the healthiest, wealthiest among us could bridge that chasm. And so the application that when you think of the divide, it is a warning to all who read. That today, you should put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ because you still have time. You have not died like either of the men in this parable. You still have time and you should take that time seriously. You have sin, a burden of sin that can only be dealt with in one way, not by your wealth, not by your health, not by your good deeds, but by Christ alone. The warning here is that once you die, you will be judged and that judgment is eternal. And there is no transferring from hell to heaven based on good behavior. No. It is insurmountable. So in the second point, as we think through the revelation of our heart, what is the state of your own heart today? What is the state of your own heart today? Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. I typically say that for the end of the sermon, but you get it in the middle of the sermon. Do not harden your heart, but call to Him, for there will be a time where you will not be able to call to Him. There will be a time when you call to Him, and the insurmountable divide between you will bring no mercy. There is no mercy for the sinner after death. There is only judgment. And that judgment is made known in this passage. So I plead with you. Do not wait. There is mercy and grace to be found today. But for those who die in their sin apart from Christ, there is no mercy. There's only an insurmountable divide and you will either be at the bosom of Abraham's table or you'll be eternally in a place of anguish where the fires of hell make you long for just a drop of water. The stewardship of your resources reveals your heart. The last thing I want you to see though in this passage is that our stewardship flows from the scripture. How are you to become good stewards? Well, you must learn from the scripture. The stewardship of earth is drawn from the faith of God that is revealed in the scriptures. The scriptures remain a pivotal focal point for how we become good faithful stewards. It's the Word of God. It's what changes our hearts through the work of the Spirit. We need the Word, and that is where this rich man, though still in his sin, has a plea. He says, I beg you, Father, to send my to my father's house. I have five brothers so that they may warn them lest they also come into this place of torment. He's desperate. You might say that there might be a changing of heart. There's no change of heart. Mm-mm. In some ways there is an accusatory tone. If only I would have known. Since I don't, I wasn't given this warning. Please warn my brothers. Please warn my brothers so that they don't end up like me. It's almost accusatory in some ways. He has five brothers. But even further, he's caring about his own kin, his own legacy, his own name. My name is tarnished in the depths of hell, but maybe our family name can be redeemed at Abraham's bosom if they just turn from their sins. This man is still focused on his own. So he asks Abraham to send someone to admonish his brothers, because they are living in luxury too. And if they continue in that luxury, they will end up like this man as well. But notice how Abraham responds. Instead of sending someone, he says this. Verse 29, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. The Moses and the prophets is a reference again to the Old Testament scriptures. In other words, what Abraham is saying in this parable is that they don't need someone to come from the eschaton, from heaven or hell, to remind them of their need for Christ. For their need for a messiah. They already have it in the scriptures. And obviously Abraham is in such a place where he knows that these men have access to the scriptures. They know of Moses. They know of the prophets. And they seem not to be enough. This man who died had access to Moses and the prophets. He may have been in the synagogue. Perhaps he's the Pharisees that Jesus often references. They knew. They should know better. That's what Abraham is saying. You should know better. Go to the Moses. Go to the prophets and you will learn of salvation and how to walk right with God. How to be good stewards of the kingdom. But this man pushes back. He says, no father Abraham, but if someone goes from the dead, they will repent. Perhaps it takes a little stretch, but in my mind, I think he's still thinking of Lazarus here. And this is where the connection of the name comes with the real person. This rich man says, if you send Lazarus beyond the grave, if you resurrect him and he shows up before my family and tells of this story, this situation, then they will believe. Well, this actually happens in the New Testament. As Lazarus is, a Lazarus is raised from the dead. And yet the Pharisees still choose not to believe. Resurrection, miracles, life-changing events aren't what save us. They don't have the power to save. Someone coming back from the dead like Marley's ghost in the Christmas carol is not how one is saved. No, what Abraham says is if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone like Lazarus is raised from the dead. This is the supremacy of the scriptures. The scriptures are what God uses most ordinarily to draw people into his kingdom. It is not the fanfare, not the extravagance, not the gimmicks. Not the programs of the church. It is the word of God that draws sinners to Christ. And this warning here from Jesus through this parable with Abraham is that if they want to be saved, they must heed the words of scripture. For they will not believe in a resurrection unless they first heed the words of scripture. They need the scriptures. They need the teachings of the scriptures before they will be saved. I saw a sermon earlier this week by Andy Stanley, and he said, as his attention getter, in order to be a Christian, you only need to believe in two miracles. You don't need to believe any of the other miracles of the Bible, just two. He says you need to believe that God created the heavens and the earth, and you need to believe in the resurrection and everything else inconsequential. What Stan Lee often reveals in his preaching is a low view of the scriptures. Low view of the scriptures. The scriptures are what reveal to us the true resurrecting power of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not some resurrection, not some life or death experience that draws a sinner to God. It is the Scriptures. The Scriptures reveal our sin. The Scriptures reveal the Savior, and the Scriptures reveal to us salvation in Him. It is the Scriptures. When we're thinking about the power of the Scriptures, this should encourage you. I was reading a book on preaching this week, and it was talking about how ineffective preachers are. That it is not the preacher and his eloquence and his craft that convert dead sinners to life. It is the Word of God. It's the Word of God. The sermon, the preaching, all of that is secondary to the Word. Robert Rayburn said, the king of the Christian life and the study of God is the Scriptures, and homiletics is its queen. That means homiletics comes next. It's a reminder that even in my vocation in ministry, the Scriptures are central, but this is applicable to you. When you're wondering in this life, how am I to represent God well to those around me, you might have pause on your own insignificant ability. It's okay. You have a pastor who stands up here week and week wondering the same thing about his own abilities in the pulpit. The scariest thing about being a pastor is having to stand here every week with a hundred prying eyes reading the sermon. It's terrible. And it reminds me of my own inability. I can empathize with you. But that doesn't take us away from what is supreme here. And that is bringing these scriptures to the dead and dying world. I am a broken stick amongst broken sticks. and how the Christian faith is to advance is not by our own eloquence or ability, but merely by sharing the word of God. And if you feel so insignificant that you can't even read well, we can bring them to a place where they'll have someone read poorly to them in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scriptures are supreme. You want to know how you are made right with God? It is not by the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus. It is by the miraculous resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, as revealed in the Scriptures. If you want to be a good steward of God's resources, you must first get your foundation well in order. And that foundation is the stewardship that flows from the Scriptures themselves. You can't be a good steward without the Scriptures, and you can't be a good steward without Christ. And those two things will reveal your heart. So if you're wondering why you aren't caring, if you're wondering why you are neglectful towards the needy in your own life, well maybe you haven't heeded the teaching of the scriptures well. And so for the Christian here today, I want you, perhaps today, to go home and think a little more diligently. Children, challenge your parents in this regard. How are we as a family caring for the needy in our own lives? How are we doing that? How are we faithful stewards today? For the non-believer, I want to circle back to the second point. The reminder that there is a place for all humans. There are two places. And one is reserved for those who know God, and one is reserved for those who do not know God. Perhaps if you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, you're only concerned about your own familial orbit. Your own needs, your own wants, your own desires. You're like the rich man in this parable. It's easy to neglect those in need because it doesn't matter. The warning here is that it does. There is a life after this life. And how you use your wealth here today reveals your own heart to God. But it is not what saves you. Don't mistake it for that. What saves you is the precious work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The one who knew no sin, who became sin, and who died on a cross that you might not die today. When I was on my way to Presbyterian with John Owen a few days ago, it was interesting. We were on the highway, and it was the oddest picture that I've ever seen. It was a man in a construction garb walking on the side of the highway, bearing a cross. It was the oddest thing that I had ever seen on the highway, and you can see quite odd things. And it was striking to me the burden that he bore on his back as he drug that cross on flatland across the Illinois side of the highway. It reminds me of this today, that we cannot bear our own sins. I wonder what that construction worker was thinking as he drug that cross, as he probably set it in place because someone had died in a car accident not too long ago and they were seeking to honor their life. I wonder what that construction man thought. As he bore that cross to remember of a beloved life lost in a motorcycle or vehicular accident. What was his state? What was going through his mind? I don't know. And I don't know what's going in your mind as well. But what I do know is this, that today if you want to see Christ in everlasting life, you will place your hope in him as he is revealed in the scriptures. You may struggle with some of the miracles. How could the Lord have done this? What I ask for you today, the first step a non-believer could take today is to go to the scriptures and with a childlike faith trust them. All of those doubts, all of those struggles, as time go on, will pass away if your stewardship flows from the Scriptures. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, but call upon Him in grace and truth. Let us close in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank You for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, that while we were yet sinners, Christ came and died for us. We pray, O Lord, that we would be good stewards of all that You've given to us on this earth. and that we would be challenged here today to that end. We pray these things in Jesus' holy name. Amen.