Let us pray. Our Father who art in heaven, as we come now to the consideration of thy holy and eternal word, we pray, O Lord, that thou would grant us grace to receive it. O Lord, may we graciously know of that truth of God as it is contained in this passage before us. We pray then that the Lord, our helper would be, that the Spirit, our teacher would be. We pray, O Lord, that thou would open up our eyes if they are closed to these things, open up our ears if they are dull of hearing, and open up our hearts in the enlargement of the truth. of Jesus Christ. Continue with us then, O Lord, we pray. This we ask for the Redeemer's sake. Amen. Well, we turn again to the portion of Scripture that we read together, Luke chapter 26. And we consider the words of verse 25, oh, sorry, 16, Luke 16, and the words of verse 25, but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. But now he is comforted, but thou art tormented. Now this parable of the rich man and Lazarus is no doubt one that is indelibly etched upon the minds of all those who have read it and all those who have heard it preached. From time to time, whether it be a parable or whether it be in a historical account, we hear something or something about someone that is disturbing. and it's something that is not so easily forgotten. And what is the reason for this? Well, the reason sometimes is the vividness with which we hear that parable or hear that account that has happened. When we hear something with such vividness, it seems to be etched upon our memory and quite difficult to forget. We have that old Arabian proverb. It says, he speaks the best who turns the ear into an eye. He speaks the best who turns the ear into an eye. And we must confess that Jesus Christ, as he ministered on this earth, was the greatest teacher, greatest minister of the word of God. that walked upon this earth. And as Christ was this master teacher, he here transports our eyes through the hearing of our ears. And he does so into this most vivid picture of biblical truth, matters of eternity. Now this parable conveys the most solemn truths to us. And it is the second parable of this chapter 16. Chapter 16, verse one, we read, there was a certain rich man. There we have the parable of the unjust steward. But in between these two parables, Christ deals with a problem with the Pharisees. and it was their hypocrisy. It was the hypocrisy of their covetousness. Verse 14, and the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things, and they derided him. So it conveys to us most solemn truths of life, of death, and of our eternal destination. Therefore, dear congregation, each and every one of us here this evening can find ourselves in this account that is set before us this evening. Each one of us will find ourselves in one of two of these men. These two men that are contrasted throughout So it's relevant for us all. For not one of us in here escapes this truth. We will either be comforted or we will be tormented. Now these two men are contrasted throughout this parable. One was rich and one was poor. One was poor and one was rich. But both these men die. One is comforted and one is tormented. And that's our theme for our time remaining. Comforted or tormented? What will it be? Comforted or tormented? Well, firstly, let us note these two men contrasted in life. Contrasted in life, quite clearly. One was rich and one was poor. That's how it starts. Verse 19, there was a certain rich man. Now, we must note that it's not about being rich in temporal things. You see, we have records in Holy Scripture of rich men, but they weren't only rich in temporal things, they were also rich toward God. We think of King David, a man after God's own heart. Solomon, wise, the wisest man, rich beyond measure, and yet they were rich toward God. And we can have someone who is in the depths of poverty, and they can be godless and have no time for God, and they have nothing in this world, and they have no hope, and they are without Christ and without God. So it's not about temporal riches. And we should also note something about this rich man, that there is nothing outwardly immoral. mentioned about this rich man. We don't read that this rich man was an idolater, an adulterer, a liar. We don't read any scandalous sin about this man. In fact, dear congregation, it is implied that he was a well-respected member of the synagogue. You may say, well, preacher, how do you get that from the text? Well, look at verse 24. When he opened up his eyes in hell, he cried and said, Father Abraham. He knew Abraham as his father. He knew that Abraham was the father of the faithful. Verse 27, then he said, I pray thee therefore, Father, that thou wouldst send him to my father's house. For I have five brethren that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. What was Abraham's response? They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. So not only was he a member of the synagogue, but so is his five brethren and his family, because they sat under the gospel, under the law and the prophets. And we know from Luke 24 that they spoke of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we see that this man sat under the word of God. He was just like those who Christ was addressing. Who was he addressing? He was addressing the religious elite. He was addressing the Pharisees, men of the faith, they called themselves, of the true religion. They were not ignorant of Abraham and outward things, but ignorant in the heart. But just like these Pharisees, he loved expensive things. We read in verse 19 that he is clothed in purple and fine linen. He fared sumptuously every day. No expense spurred in the living of his life. In this world, he was richly blessed. He lived and fared expensively. Literally, this means making merry brilliantly. He enjoyed life. He enjoyed all the possessions that he had. hadn't a care in the world, a good member of the synagogue and rich beyond measure. He knew how to live and he enjoyed living in this world. He lived, we could say, as an existential hedonist. You say, well, what does that mean? Well, he lived for the moment. That was the end of his life, to live for the moment. And in that moment, He would enjoy it. He would enjoy himself. This is the chief good, the highest good. And yet he knew of Father Abraham. He knew of the law and the prophets. Like most people today, whether rich or poor, this man was infected with the pleasures of the world. The pleasure of this world is the only good, they say, and now is the only time to live and to enjoy it. So just live. They don't think beyond this moment, dear friend. They never think in the perspective of eternity. They live for now. Remember, keep this in your mind, your mind's eye. He was a well-respected member of the synagogue. Well, we read in verse 20 that when we read of this beggar, we see the true heart of this rich man. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores. Now we see his heart and we see it in the rich man lying at the beggar lying at the rich man's gate. This rich man knew not true religion. He may have had the outward performance of true religion, but he knew it not. True religion in the Jewish faith was charity, compassion, love to their neighbor. Something this rich man lacked. You see, it wasn't an issue of riches, as I've already said, but now we more clearly see it was a matter of the heart. Inwardly, he was pure toward God. while he was rich in this world. He was void of sympathy in his heart. And that's where this covetousness comes in. We see, we read he fared sumptuously, but he couldn't give a crumb to this beggar. He couldn't help him in the way at all. Now let us consider this beggar in this life. The beggar himself is the only named character. And this is important. We should note this. His name means God is my help. God is my help. One remark that name stated right at the start marks this man as being one who put all his trust and faith in God. He may not have looked like much on the outside, He may not have possessed very much at all, but he was rich toward God. And he knew that the Lord was his helper. Dear congregation, we should thank God that he looks upon the heart. It's a fearful thought for us, isn't it, at times to know that God looks upon the heart. When we see the wickedness and wretchedness of our own hearts, But when there is true faith in the heart, God sees it. God looks upon the heart. For this man outwardly, he is a most pathetic and wretched picture of a man. Yet God looks at his heart. He's a picture of misery. He laid at the gate and was full of sores. Look, he desired crumbs from the table. And look at his only friends. Verse 21, there were the dogs of the street. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. Yet what do we have here? We have an example of contentment. This beggar was content in his condition. Why? Because there's no memory. Because he knew that God was his help. His only friends were the dogs. And yet, unseen to all, he was like his father, Abraham, as we will go on to see. Abraham was known as the friend of God. To this beggar also, was the friend of God. So two men contrasted in life, much like some of us here this evening. But secondly, we have two men contrasted in death. Again, one was rich and one poor. In life, these two men differed. And so it was in death. And we see the difference being made in the final clause of verse 22. We read of the rich man and significant what it says, and was buried. And was buried. And yet these two men that differed in death they took of Adam's common cup at the last. They both took. So they had something in common, as we all do, and that is death. They took Adam's common cup. We all knew death to be the great leveler of all men. What does Job call death? He calls it the house appointed for all living. And dear congregation, it's Adam's common cup that we take. Adam built that house that is appointed unto all living. When he fell, when he fell into sin, and we fell with him. Well, you may say to me that you already know that death is appointed unto all men. You may say, why do preachers mention this all the time? Why is there always the mention of death? Well, simply, dear congregation, because there is nothing more common to us all than death. You as a congregation have known this in recent weeks. There's nothing more common than death. Now, there are three commonalities of death that demonstrate the preacher's necessity to warn men that death is appointed. Firstly, it is certain. It is appointed unto man once to die. Your death is certain. There's no escaping death unless the Lord returns. It is certain. It is indiscriminate. All men die. Fathers die. Mothers die. Sons die. Daughters die. Christians die. Unbelievers die. It is decisive. Once you die, you die. You enter into eternity. Charles II used to have preachers preach to him, and he described one of his preachers, and I quote, that man preaches as though death was behind his back. When I hear him, I cannot go to sleep. My dear friend, my intention is not to keep you from sleep, but my prayer is that the Lord would awaken you from that sleep that leads to death, the sleep of sin, the sleep of unrepentance, the sleep of the ignorance of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the sleep of the rejection of Jesus Christ. Well, let's consider these two men's deaths. Verse 22, the beggar was poor in death in two ways. And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. He was poor in two ways. Firstly, there's no record of his burial. The rich man, remember, I said to note that he was buried. But there's no mention of the burial of the beggar. And that is why, that is because he would have been unceremoniously treated. He wouldn't have had a burial. He was a beggar. He was a leper. He was diseased. They just would have disposed of him. He was poor in his death and that it would have been cast aside unceremonially. But secondly, He was poor in spirit, and that is where his hope lay. He was poor in spirit, so we inherited the riches of heaven. What do we read in the Sermon on the Mount? Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. If you're going to be poor in your death, dear friend, make sure that it is poor in spirit. for you will inherit that great inheritance that Christ has laid up for his people. But let's consider the rich man. The rich man was rich in death and yet became poor. He was buried. That indicates something to us. It teaches us two things. Firstly, much to do was made of his death. Here was a well-known figure of the synagogue, upstanding man outwardly, much to do about his death. No doubt there was a great service held, maybe days of mourning and wailers, wailing, much to do. Great pomp and extravagance of his life was matched in his death. But secondly, it also teaches us he became poor. He became poor. That which made him who he was in this life could not be buried with him. Ecclesiastes 5 and verse 15, as he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came. and shall take nothing of his labor, which he may carry away in his hand." We all know also, of course, Job. He came into this world with nothing. And it is certain he was also going to leave with nothing. That which made him who he was could not be buried with him. His brothers could not be buried with him. His friends who made merry with him could not be buried with him. Those things that he enjoyed in this life could not be buried with him. It is singular. He was buried. That is it. He was buried. Well, let us move on then thirdly to two men contrasted in their eternal destiny. Two men contrasted in their eternal destiny. One was poor and one was rich. Verse 22, we read of the beggar. What do we read of him? Carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. What do we read of the rich man in verse 23? And in hell, he lift up his eyes, being in torments. The vividness of this account is apparent in these verses. The immediacy of going from time to eternity should be marked by each and every one of us. And was buried, and in hell he lift up his eyes. Do you see the immediacy of it? In the closing of the eyes in this world, dear congregation, it is but the opening of the eyes in the next instant, either into the bosom of Abraham or into the torments of hell. Quite simply, we are confronted here, aren't we, with the doctrine of heaven and hell. We see further how each one of us is in this parable. For each one of us will find ourselves in either heaven or hell. And these, blessed congregation, are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. We look forward to the glories of heaven, those of us who believe, but in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, he made it known of the torments of hell, that place of everlasting judgment. Christ was a preacher, He did not ignore this doctrine because the Sadducees denied it. No, he preached it. He preached it. And he preached it to the Pharisees who thought that they would never be in it. The importance of the doctrine of heaven and hell. What about this poor beggar? The poor beggar who had God for his help. We read he is in the bosom of Abraham. And that is a metaphor for heaven. And you might say, well, why Abraham? Well, Romans 4.11 tells us that Abraham is the father of all believers. He is the father of all believers. And yet we have this rich man call out to him, Father. Abraham knew him not as a son. Let's apply this to the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, I have done. Depart from me. I never knew you. Why Abraham? Because Abraham is a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. And we read of this in Matthew 8 and verse 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. Abraham is in the kingdom of heaven. Dear congregation, in order to be received into the bosom of our father Abraham, we must first by faith so do with Christ. You may say to me, well, what do you mean? Well, John 13 and verse 23, we read these words. Now there was one leaning on Jesus' bosom, one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. We must first, by faith, lean our heads upon the bosom of Jesus Christ. And therefore we will be received by him at the point of our death. Why? Because we will have shown ourselves to be one of those whom Jesus loves. We've heard it mentioned over these past few days that we love God because he first loved us. Dear friend, are you leaning your head by faith upon the bosom of the one who is altogether lovely? Of Jesus Christ our Lord, thou shalt call his name Jesus. for he shall save his people from their sins. This man lived a miserable life, but had faith to God and is now comforted forevermore. What will it be? Will you be comforted forevermore? Children, will you be comforted forevermore, evermore? Do you lay your heads upon the bosom of your mother and of your father? Do you lay your head upon the bosom of Jesus Christ? Do you trust him for your salvation, that you also may be comforted when you visit that house that is appointed unto all men? The rich man Well, what can we say about this rich man? And it is solemn for us to consider this rich man. Let us not handle these things lightly. Let us seriously consider this rich man as we find him tormented. The rich man who was without the riches of Christ and life was in torments. That's the first thing we're told about this rich man in verse 23. And in hell, he left up his eyes being in torments. It's the first thing we're told about him. And it doesn't stop. We are told four times that he is tormented. What can we learn from that? It is when the tormenting starts. It will never end. The tormenting will endure forever. Verse 23, he is tormented. Verse 24, he says, for I am tormented in this flame. Verse 25, we read, and thou art tormented. And verse 28, lest they also come into this place of torment. He was tormented in the place of torment, the doctrine of hell. We learn five things with regards to the sinner in hell. Firstly, we learn about the sinner's consciousness in verse 23. And in hell he lift up his eyes being in torments and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. He is conscious of his torments. He is conscious of Abraham. He is conscious of the one who he ignored at his gate. You see, hell is not an experience of unconsciousness. The sinner in hell is conscious of their torments. We also learn of the sinner's senses in hell. You know, the believer had their senses heightened this morning as we took of that bread, as we tasted the bitterness of that cup that told us and taught us of the bitterness of the Father's cup that Christ took for us. we exercised our senses at the Lord's table. And the unrepentant sinner will exercise their senses in hell. Verse 24, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. He was thirsty. He was thirsty. His mouth was dry, the dryness of the torments of hell. The finger of the beggar, if there was but a drop of water on the end of it, give it to me. But also we note the sinner's memory in hell. Verse 25, but Abraham said, son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things. There will be a tormenting remembrance in the place of torments. We will remember. Those who find themselves in that place will remember. Remember every opportunity of the gospel being heard. Remember every occasion when they saw their friends come to the table. It's a fearful thought, isn't it? To remember the good things in life in the place of torments, knowing that it was just on to a greater condemnation. Also, we note that the sinner will have no relief. Verse 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 hence. There's no relief because it is a fixed abode. No man will pass from the place of torments. No relief. And then we learn also that the sinner remains unrepentant. And we see this in the rich man's selfishness. Verse 28, he says, for I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torments. He was worried only about his kith and kin, his blood. Let everybody else perish. Let everybody else come into this place of torments. But as long as my five brethren don't. You see? He cared not for his neighbor. He loved not his neighbor. He loved not his enemy. John Calvin remarks, for the reprobate are prepared terrifying torments, which can no more be conceived by our minds than can the infinite glory of heaven. You know, we have spoke much in our fellowships about the glories of heaven, the glories that await the believer. And we can't really comprehend such glory that is yet to be. It is that glorious. but neither can we comprehend the torments that await for the unrepentant sinner, because they are that horrendous and tormenting, that they are incomprehensible to us. Dear congregation, I would suggest to you that hell would have been incomprehensible to this rich man in life. as he sat under the gospel in the synagogue. And yet, it was his experience in death. What an awful thought that is. Hearing of the doctrine of heaven and hell, knowing that they are incomprehensible, the glories of one, the torments of the other, but at the point of death, it becomes your experience. Two men contrasted in their eternal destiny. Fourthly, the only authority in matters of eternity. That's what we're speaking on, matters of eternity. So we ought to speak with authority. And what is the only authority upon the matters of eternity? Well, we're taught in this account. Verse 28. He says, for I have five brethren that he may testify unto them. That word testify literally means to make a solemn declaration, to make an exhortation with a certain degree of authority in matters of extraordinary importance. So we wanted the beggar to return and to make a solemn declaration to them. Your brother's in the place of torment. Don't go there. Repent of your sin. Dear congregation, this is a most crucial point that we need to grab hold of and not let it go as we leave this building this evening. The word of God, the everlasting gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only sufficient testimony in the matters of eternity. What we need to grasp is that the privilege is not enough. You see, the rich man had the privilege of hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that privilege of hearing was not enough. He failed to believe the gospel. His hearing was not mixed with faith. So we see the privilege is not enough. You may be privileged here this evening to sit under the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, but that's not enough. The believing of the gospel, seeing this as the only authority and to believe it, as it is the word of God. The rich man and his family enjoyed the privileges of the covenant community, the privileges of the word preached. Now let me rewind a wee bit. Remember one of those marks of the sinner in hell is their memory. Dear friend, if you find yourself in that place of torment, you will remember every word that you've heard from me and from any other minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and you will vividly remember each word, and you will need to give an account for each word. Just like the minister. That's why we preach on death. That's why we preach on hell. That's why we present Christ as the only remedy to sin. Why? Because we also will give an account for what we preach. So do not think that you will not give an account for every word that you hear. For you will. How do we know this? Verse 29. What was Abraham's response? They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. That's what the Lord is teaching us here in this parable. You have the everlasting gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. What are you to do with it? You are to hear it. You are to believe it because it is sufficient for the saving of the soul. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Let them hear implies a wasted privilege. They were wasting their privilege of hearing the Word of God. Let them hear it. They were following their brother's footsteps. They were wasting this privilege. The rich man did not hear them. That is the law and the prophets did not hear them. And he is in hell. And you know, his brothers buried him. And how common is this? You know, we may we may see men and women burying loved ones, burying mothers and fathers. And move that the loss and the grief. But yet they make no use of that hard providence. And even in the hearing of the word of God, they still won't hear. This is the same as this five brethren that buried their brother in great pomp, great extravagance. And yet they still sat under the word without hearing the word. The final verdict then is let them be. They have all that they need. They have all that they need. Moses and the prophets, what did they have? Luke 24, 25 to 27 teaches us. Moses and the prophets spoke concerning Christ. They spoke of him. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is enough. Verse 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. Dear congregation, how much more are we in this New Testament age? We have Moses and the prophets. We also have the account of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of Moses and the prophets. As they looked forward in hope to Christ for the saving of their souls, we look back, and in our looking back, as we did this morning, remembering his death, we look forward in hope in the day of his coming. You know, We had the visible and the audible word of God this morning. We had the elements of the Lord's table, visible gospel preached to us all. We have had the word preached day after day in this communion season. Can we say that we have not had all that we need? Has the witness of Christ not been sufficient? What more do we want? Well, it's been sufficient. The gospel has been preached in word and sacrament. If they had all that they needed, men who won't hear at this time, And in this age, sin against greater light than this rich man and his five brethren. And in sinning against greater light, dear congregation, may so aggravate the greater torment than this rich man. Sinning against greater light. Dear congregation, as I close, God is merciful. unto us. He is. What more do we need? We do not need one to return from heaven or from hell. We do not need an angel to come to us to speak of the glories of heaven. We have the everlasting gospel. of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the very testimony of the risen, living, and exalted Savior, the one who sits at God's right hand, victorious and triumphant. Let us hear, so we shall live. Let us hear so that although we will die, yet shall we live in the kingdom of heaven. Comforted or tormented, what will it be? Turn your head toward Christ in faith and put your head upon the one who came to seek and to save that which is lost. Let us pray. Whoever blessed God, we have been presented this evening with the most solemn of truths. And our prayer is that we would not consider them likely. We pray, O Lord, that thou would give us the grace to think seriously about these things. Help us, Lord, we pray, to have a mindset of eternity. Where will we spend eternity? We pray, O Lord, that thou would give each one of us here the grace to be assured that through faith in Jesus Christ, we shall be comforted. And we know this because we are comforted in this life, in the pardon of sins forgiven. Lord, we pray that thy word would now be blessed of thyself and thy spirit would tarry with us and teach us afresh of these solemn things. This we pray, seeking the pardon of our sins for Christ's sake. Amen.