Our father in heaven has, in his love and kindness towards us, seemed fit to bring us together to worship him on another Lord's Day face to face this sweet corner here in Edgefield, South Carolina, in this building that he has provided for us. It is another joyful day, another joyful Sabbath day for us, his people. We're continuing forward in Luke 16, looking at the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the second part of this parable we'll look at together today. Please stand, brothers and sisters, as I read the scriptures to us. I'll read from verses 14 through 31, and I hope that you will, as usual, listen very carefully, because this is God's holy and infallible word. Now, the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things and they derided him. And he said to them, You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time, the kingdom of God has been preached and everyone is pressing into it. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail. Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery. There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared substitutely every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. Then 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. But Abraham said, Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and likewise Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you, there is a great gulf fixed. so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us. Then he said, I beg you, therefore, Father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment. Abraham said to him, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said, No, Father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent. But he said to him, If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rise from the dead. Thus ends the reading of God's word. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. So the Pharisees missed the great redemptive story of God's salvation that had been unfolding from the garden, through the patriarchs, through Sinai, through the ups and downs of the people of Israel. They missed the story that was told of Jesus Christ in all the pages of the Old Testament. And Christ had now come to demonstrate to them and to all the world in fullness who God is. And standing there in his presence, they missed the story. They didn't understand the trajectory of history. They didn't understand what was happening around them. And Jesus Christ, in his kindness to them, has come to implore them to hear the truth of who God is. They had turned God's law into a self-justifying system of living rather than seeing the law of God as the expression of the love towards God and the love towards our neighbors that we are called to live out as an expression of our humility and gratitude to God. And so they were Unfortunately, demonstrating lies about who God was. And Jesus Christ was instructing them and us and leading them, seeking to lead them away from the path they were on. And so in this parable, he lays out trajectories for them to consider. These are individual trajectories, but they represent also cultural trajectories, things that come to pass not only upon individuals, but upon families, upon churches, and upon cultures if we do not learn these lessons. Calvin says, there can be no doubt that this example was intended by Christ to confirm the discourse which we have last examined. He points out what condition awaits those who neglect the care of the poor and indulge in all manner of gluttony, who give themselves up to drunkenness and other pleasures and allow their neighbors to pine with hunger, nay, who cruelly kill with famine those whom they ought to have relieved. when the means of doing so were in their power. Outside of Christ, this rich man, he remained, as you can see, unable to see life accurately. He was unable to love others in his estate, unable to care for them and to be inwardly motivated to help them. He didn't have compassion. As we look upon his life and its outcome, do our souls ache and long to remain close to Christ, to avoid this outcome, to avoid this tragic trajectory in our own lives, in our own futures, in our own families, in our churches, in our neighborhoods, in our region, in our world? Do we long for those like him to be awakened to their tragic trajectory? Do we have compassion upon those whom it would be easy to scorn in their selfishness and their foolishness? So in today's sermon, we'll look at part two of the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. Recall last week, we looked at the situations that are laid before our eyes, the comparison between Lazarus and the rich man as they were still in this life, living under the sun. And this week, we'll look at their situations compared in the afterlife, the beginning of the situations described, and they're contrasted there before us. Next week we will look at the pleas of that poor rich man and a deeper look at what hell is like. But today, the Lord Jesus Christ calls before our mind's eye the contrast in the afterlife between these two men. And we will look at that today. And then, of course, some questions to know and to love and hopefully by God's grace to grow more like Christ as he's working in us and teaching us and show us the ways that we're not loving him and not loving our neighbors. And we'll be able to grow as a result of God's word. You recall last week that the self-focus and lack of compassion of the rich man are shockingly obvious to us as we hear Jesus tell the story about him. But the rich man himself didn't see his own trajectory. I think that's probably the most critical part of looking at this. He was blind to himself. And so the question comes to us, do we see our own trajectory accurately? Do you see the path that you're on? Do we allow the wealth of others to blind us to the potential emptiness of their souls, the tragic trajectory of their lives? Are we deceived about ourselves and are we deceived about others? Do we know how to assess accurately what path we are walking? The quiet suffering of Lazarus, recall him covered with sores, recall him unable to walk, Alone, ignored, starving, licked by dogs. Recall him. This draws out our compassion as Christians. We ache for him. We want to help him. Yet Lazarus was on his way to bliss. Do we rightly assess life according to what is valuable to God? Do we have the ability to stand back and understand that everything that we see in each moment is just one part of a larger story that God is unfolding for His glory. And are we able to gaze more deeply into each life, and each relationship, and each situation, and each piece of news that we encounter, and to review it all in light of God's great plan for His glory and for His kingdom in this earth. We need to be able to have that perspective if we will be people of discernment and wisdom and love in this world, because that's, I think, the main heading that comes to us from this scripture right now, brothers and sisters, right now. Do I love God? Right now, looking back over the last days, even this morning, even sitting here now, do I love God? Do I love my neighbor? Looking back in your behavior, in your heart and your attitude towards the people around you, do you love your neighbor as yourself? And how do we know this? How are we to judge ourselves accurately as we seek to understand what path we are on? These are the important questions that come to us. Jesus lays before our eyes. The near context, of course, is in regard to theft and breaking the commandment because of their stinginess, the Pharisees. But he also goes on to bring in the whole view of God's law, mentioning all of God's law and the prophets, pointing to their breaking of the commandment regarding adultery. So it's Jesus Christ showing to the Pharisees they don't love God. and they don't love their neighbor and they violated all of God's law. So, their situations compared in the afterlife, the focus of today's sermon. The text says to us in verses 22 and 23, so it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried and being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. So first of all, we see Lazarus at Abraham's bosom, that's kind of the first head that we'll look at and looking at their comparison in the afterlife. Now, we do learn a little bit more about their life under the sun prior to their death from this text. Lazarus is called the beggar. We're reminded of how the world saw him. We're told that the beggar died. It is important to see that no mention is made of his burial. It's as if no one noticed that Lazarus was gone. Henry says nothing is said of the internment of this poor man. They dug a hole anywhere and tumbled his body in without any solemnity. He was buried with the burial of an ass. Nay, it is well if they that let the dogs lick his sores did not let them gnaw his bones. Yet, his grave bed brought him into full and final relief and joy. Lazarus is consoled at his death. Again, Matthew Henry the beggar died first. God often takes godly people out of the world when he leaves the wicked to flourish still. It was an advantage to the beggar that such a speedy end was put to his miseries. And since he could find no other shelter of resting place, he was hidden in the grave where the weary are at rest. So the question comes as we look at this, what is your attitude towards your approaching date with death? God has written the days of your life into his book. And one of those days is a day that contains the moment of your last breath. And do you look to this moment as one like Lazarus, aware of the bliss awaiting you, and knowing that to live is Christ and to die is gain? Or do you look upon that moment with uncertainty, not sure of what awaits you? Every preacher, every pastor's deepest longing is for you to answer these questions with certainty about your moment when you leave this world. That is what we long the most for. For our children and for those who are given into our care, we're called to watch after your soul and help lead it to this great moment of salvation. And so Jesus Christ lays this before us today. Do you consider the moment of your death that it is approaching and it is coming towards you? The text goes on and says that Lazarus was carried by the angels. God noticed. These great beings that we all in scripture see people falling down before tempted to worship them are his pallbearers. And they come and gather him home. You know, Catherine has been saying, why don't you take something up there in the pulpit with you to wipe your face with? Thank you, my dear. Jesus wants us to see that those who are carried home are carried home not only safely, but with great honor. This man was once carried by those who would drop him on the ground. outside the gates of the stingy rich man with no apparent honor in his life whatsoever. But now Lazarus is carried by God's angels through the gates of heaven, not left outside, but brought inside. into God's eternal generosity. This long quote from Matthew Henry is worth our attention. They are ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation, not only while they live, but when they die. It's true of us as His people. The angels are here with us now, surrounding us, singing with us, joining in our praises of God at this moment. Hopefully, maybe even enjoying the sermon with us. And they're with us all the way through helping us, and they will deliver us home on that day of death when they come into view, when they crystallize before our eyes as those who bring us to God. Going on with Henry. Not only while they live, but when they die, and have a change concerning them, to bear them up in their hands, not only in their journeys to and fro on earth, but in their great journey to their long home in heaven. to be both their guide and their guard through regions unknown and unsafe. The soul of man, if not chained to this earth and clogged by it as unsanctified souls are, has in itself an elastic virtue by which it springs upward as soon as it gets clear of the body. But Christ will not trust those that are his to that, and therefore will send special messengers to fetch them to himself. One angel would think sufficient, one would think sufficient, but here are more, as many as were sent for Elijah. Saints ascend in the virtue of Christ's ascension, but this convoy of angels is added for state and for decorum, Saints shall be brought home, not only safely, but honorably. Our father rejoices in our deaths, brings us home in celebration. What were the bearers at the rich man's funeral, though? Probably those of the first rank. But what were they compared with Lazarus's bearers? The angels were not shy of touching him for his sores were on his body, not on his soul. That was presented to God without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Praise God for the writings of Matthew Henry. The text tells us that he's brought to Abraham's bosom. It's a bit of a confusing phrase to us. We wonder about it. He was one that had been previously only touched by apparently those who ignored him and by licking dogs. But now he's embraced in safety and in affection. Bach tells us that Abraham's bosom was a place of blessing and it represents the patriarch's reception of the faithful into heaven. It may also be a more graphic way to speak of someone's being gathered to the father's. Lazarus goes from being a lonely sufferer at the rich man's gate to an accepted, blessed saint at the side of Judaism's patriarch. Lazarus is at Abraham's side in intimate fellowship. Part of this shows us the abomination of human beings not experiencing regular, affectionate contact with one another. We experience this in our closest relationship of marriage. We experience it with our children. Our children have affection and kindness to one another. You'll notice even as you look around, children in the bosom of their parents laps as we speak. This is by God's design. And so we know that as Christians, there will never be a time where we long endure the absence of one another's close touch. With Peter telling the saints, greet one another with a holy kiss. We've been designed not for social distancing, but for closeness and warmth. In addition, we see the reference to relational joy with Abraham would be An especially pointed rebuke to the Pharisees listening to this parable. They clung to their lineage connection to Father Abraham. They could trace back their mother's womb and the grandmother's womb and the great grandmother's womb. They could trace themselves back. They could prove to you their righteousness by their lineage going back to Abraham. Yet they had no real closeness or affection for their ancestors in the faith. No real desire to honor them. No spark of passion. Or gladness or a desire to emulate sprung up from their souls when the name Abraham came to their lips. It was just a list of names. And they did not really have Abraham as their father, as we were told in other parts of the teachings of Jesus. You know, of course, the question comes, in what ways are we like these Pharisees relying upon our lineage instead of upon our faith? How do we refuse to honor those in the faith who have gone before us? In what ways do we try to cling to outward things instead of walking in genuine faith towards God like Father Abraham? like our good ancestors who've gone before us, like those who are worthy of our honor and our praise and our emulation. What do we see next? Well, we see the rich man is being tormented in Hades, so simultaneously Lazarus there in Abraham's bosom, but the rich man not so. The rich man also died and was buried, and being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. So first we see this word also. It's worth pausing there. I've said it once this morning already. We all have the same destination in this life under the sun. We will all be placed in the dirt. There will come a time when your soul is parted from your body. Matthew Henry says, Death is the common lot of rich and poor, godly and ungodly. There they meet together. One dieth in his full strength and another in the bitterness of his soul, but they shall lie down alike in the dust. Job 21 26. Death favors not either the rich man for his riches or the poor man for his poverty. Saints die that they may bring their sorrows to an end and may enter upon their joys. Sinners die that they may go to give up their account. It concerns both rich and poor to prepare for death, for it awaits them both. Death blends the scepter with the spade. with equal pace, impartial fate knocks at the palace as the cottage gate. This text calls us to consider our coming death. So I hope that as a part of contemplating the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, you will see the very clear call for you To ask yourself, even now as you're listening to this sermon, as the days go by and you contemplate the words of the preacher, what awaits me when I die? Where goes my soul once parted from this flesh? What will that experience be like for me? Going on, the rich man was buried. So people buried this man. His death was noticed. His life was remembered. He had a funeral and a eulogy and his earthly friends and family publicly mourned him. Did any of them understand the torment the rich man was experienced as they gathered at his funeral? It is far, a far, far better thing to be ignored by those who do not matter. than to be ignored by God. It is a far, far better thing than to be carried up on the arms of angels, than to be carried up on the arms of hollow and shallow men who shall die and whose plans shall perish. Matthew Henry says, The rich man had a pompous funeral, lay in state, had a train of mourners to attend him to his grave and a stately monument set up over it. Probably he had a funeral oration in praise of him and his generous way of living and the good table he kept, which those would commend that had been feasted at it. After he passed from this life to the next, this rich man, like Lazarus, had the reality of his soul demonstrated in perfect clarity for his own mind to see. He saw it the first time and at that moment he was then ushered, unlike Lazarus, into torment in Hades. Now this word torment The first thing to see is it's related to this touchstone idea, which is a black stone that was used to test the purity of gold or silver by the color of the streak produced on it by rubbing it with with either metal. So there's a way that gold and silver can be tested to see if they're pure by the use of this kind of stone. And so what has happened here is not just an initial testing and proving to be false and lacking at his judgment, but understand that the torment that he's experienced is an eternal testing and eternally being found as a failure, constantly, forever and ever, not just one time, but more and more deeply aware of the failure to love. More and more deeply full of regret and sadness for all of history, constantly being drug across this touchstone, these flames that we will see next week, these purifying flames. Constantly reminding of moral failure. Now, in addition, this word refers to the rack or instrument of torture by which one is forced to divulge the truth. So the body is stretched, the body is torn slowly until finally you tell the truth. This is an example to us, an illustration of what hell is like, except the stretching never ends. And it just comes to mean, finally, this idea of torture and of torment, of the pains of a disease or of those in hell after death. So we see that the Lord Jesus Christ would not only have us ponder the moment of our death through this parable that comes to us, not only ponder how we're living in this life, but he would have us ponder both heaven and hell. that await every person that has ever lived, every person sitting in this room, every person listening to this sermon, every person that will ever live upon this earth has one of these two destinations awaiting them. Jesus Christ, our Lord, would have us in his kindness to ponder these things. Now, I'll ask you, It's hard to imagine a greater contrast in the life of one person, this rich man, all of his pleasures, and now in this torment. In one instant, he goes from comfort to torment. The shock of that moment. Don't you think of Jesus when he talks about those who will be lost when they say, Lord, Lord. The Pharisees standing there believing that they were serving him, believing that they were part of the flow of history and salvation and the redemption of God's people, and yet being a part of the flow of death. Oh, brothers and sisters, I hope that by the preaching of God's word and by your efforts in God's word daily, that this kind of shock would never occur in your life. This level of surprise would never take root on your soul, but that instead you'd be having little surprises along the way as you stand before the mirror of God's law, God's holy law, God's law of love. And and with each new glance in the mirror, you repent and you rejoice that he is changing you and that he's shaping you. and that the moments of shock that you experience are moments filled with His grace and His mercy and change. You know, the idea of Hades is brought before us, and we really could do a whole sermon series understanding Hades and Sheol. We're not going to do that, but it is worth hearing just some basics. Bach says the rich man is in torment in Hades, the place in the Old Testament and Judaism where the dead were gathered The righteous and unrighteous both resided there, though they are separated from one another. If you study this, you'll see the development of the idea of upper Sheol and lower Sheol. And paradise, that word being connected with upper Sheol. Suffice it to say for us now, when our souls are parted from our body as Christians, we go immediately to the presence of Christ. So what is this man in Hades experiencing these torments? What are we told? There's many things he's experiencing. What does Jesus Christ emphasize to us? Well, he lifts up his eyes and he sees two things afar off. First, he sees Abraham. The real Abraham. Not the one that he had been using his name in vain. Not the one he had been using as a false covering for his unrighteousness. The real Abraham he sees. The one in whom he said he trusted, but turns out the rich man was no friend of Abraham during his earthly life. And this reality is now on full display. This rich man and the Pharisees who were being corrected by this story had become the enemies of Abraham. They were not his friends. But he also sees Lazarus and Abraham's embrace. He sees one who was Abraham's friend in this life, and he sees the end of those who are both Abraham's friend and God's friend in this life. This man, in his looking afar off and seeing the intimacy of the saints of God in heaven with one another and with God, emphasizes the pain of loss of relationship with God. is also a loss of relationship with all of those good saints who have gone before us. And it points us to the reality that this man's life, had he looked closely, would have been a life of emptiness. This rich man did not suddenly become a man with no friends. This rich man did not suddenly become a man who was not friend of God. Had he judged himself properly, he would have seen that he was not a true friend and that he had few true friends. And this is a way that we judge ourselves and look at ourselves right now. As we look to see what trajectory we are on in this life and to grow in a trajectory that is less wobbly and less oscillating and more firm and sure in the path of Christ. To the haven of joy and glory awaiting us. You know, this heightens and intensifies his torment. Everything that comes after this is set for us and we'll look at it next week. Everything that comes after us is set in this context of loneliness and emptiness and regret over what has been lost. It's all taking place in loneliness. Bach says, Well, going back suddenly in a single moment, this rich man has come to understand himself accurately. And I think that the looking up that we're told is that first major point of awareness that hits us. He understands himself accurately, and the first thing that he sees is that he's an enemy of God. That he's an enemy of the saints. And thus that he is a stranger forever alone and rejected. The first thing that happens when your soul departs your body is on the one hand an awareness of your eternal friendship with God and with his people that will never be threatened or harmed again and will only grow closer and better forever. And for those who are cast into hell, conversely, the first thing they see is they'll never have closeness again to anyone. Bach says death permanently changes everything. A reversal occurs as the rich man looks up and sees Lazarus at Abraham's side. And it's a situation vividly displayed with the present tense. It's the eternal present tense. So this man's state cannot change. He cannot change. The Lord Jesus Christ would have us see that this is an eternal state. Heaven and hell both are eternal states for the souls that depart and go into hell and the souls that depart and go into heaven, depart into an eternal experience that is without end. And this is contrary to the false teaching that is present in Christianity, unfortunately, of annihilationism. The belief that those outside of Christ, when they die, are destroyed and cease to experience anything. They are simply annihilated. It's not true. And it cuts at the heart of God's holiness and God's justice. It is a false representation of who God is. Matthew Henry says of this rich man, he now began to consider what was become of Lazarus. He does not find him where he himself is, nay, he plainly sees him. And with as much assurance as if he had seen him with his bodily eyes, afar off in the bosom of Abraham, the same aggravation of the misery of the damned we'd seen before in Luke 13 verse 28. You shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and yourselves thrust out. This is an example of what Jesus had already said would happen. He saw Abraham afar off. To see Abraham, we should think, a pleasing sight. Do you look forward to seeing Abraham? I mean, y'all are going to have to give me the forearm shiver to get in front of me in that line. I can't wait to talk with him. Of course, the longest line is going to be Jesus himself. But all the wonderful things we're going to hear from the saints who've gone before us. But to see him afar off was a tormenting sight near himself. He saw devils near himself. He saw damned companions, frightful sites and painful sites. And far off, he saw Abraham. We need to see that every site in hell, every site in hell is an aggravating sight. Every site in hell makes everything worse. He saw Lazarus in Abraham's bosom, that same Lazarus whom he had looked upon with so much scorn and contempt as he passed him day by day. The one not worthy of his notice, he wouldn't even give him his trash. He now sees preferred and to be envied. The sight of him brought to his mind his own cruel and barbarous conduct toward him. And the sight of him in that happiness made his own misery even the more grievous. So this displays before our mind's eye their state upon their departure from this world. Next week, we'll look more deeply at the rich man's pleading with Abraham from hell. There is no hope once in hell. So listen now to the word of God. So some questions, some points for you to perhaps consider more deeply as you go forward with God's word today, seeking to know the Lord Jesus Christ better, to love him more, to obey him more fully. I think that we see that there are three moments in time that are laid before our souls here. three moments in time for us to consider as we are growing in sanctification. The present. You need to see the present right now, brothers and sisters, as the culmination of all the forces and choices of your life up to this moment. All the forces and all the choices of your life culminate in this moment. Have you seen those wonderful 3D videos of bullets flying through the air and how you can kind of travel around it and then come to a moment and freeze the moment and see it and look at it? Of course, if you trace it back in time, you could follow it back into the barrel of the rifle, back into the chamber, perhaps even out of the chamber and watch its construction. A similar thing is true for each one of you today. The scriptures speak of children as arrows in the hands of their children. You are the culmination at this moment of all the forces and choices that you have made in your life. And you are on a path at this moment. You're not separated from history. You're not separated from your own past. You're not separated from your family's past. You are on a trajectory. And this is how the Lord would have us consider each moment. So right now, understand this about your reality. And so the question comes, is self-evaluation a part of your daily life? Next. The other moment that's laid here before us, a critical moment, is the moment of your death. The Lord Jesus Christ would have you not only look at your current state right now, but to look at your moment of death. As Christians, we're tempted to stop thinking this way. We think, oh, I'm a Christian. I don't need to worry about my death. There's truth in that, but there's sanctifying fruit God makes available to you through the ongoing, continued meditation, not only upon who you are right now, but upon the moment of your death. And you see that you learn to look at your current life in light of what will be written on your tombstone. Or more importantly, what will be revealed to your own mind at that moment about who you really are. That moment when God will show you the full truth about your life. So is this a part of your walk with God? I believe this, when we look at this way that Jesus is teaching the Pharisees, he's teaching all of us. to make the meditation upon the moment of our death a part of the sanctification that we're going through in this life. Next. There's a moment that comes after your death. When you have learned about yourself, you've seen the truth about yourself and you know yourself fully and perfectly at that moment. There's a moment that comes and that's called the moment of the beginning of eternity for you. where you are either placed in hell or you are either placed in heaven. And this will be a continuation of the prior trajectory of your life. Those who go to hell have been going to hell their whole life. And those who go to heaven have been going there ever since they were born again. Do you meditate upon the joys of heaven and the torments of hell? These are laid out before us as ways that God helps us to love His pure and safe paths more deeply, to see ourselves more clearly, so that in that day when He reveals our full selves to ourself and to Him, that mirror is a familiar mirror. That moment is not an unfamiliar moment. It's a moment we've been seeking every day of our lives. Oh, God, show me if there be any impure way within me. God, show me the ways that I'm not like Jesus, my captain and my friend and my brother and my savior and my king and my maker and my provider and my sustainer. Show me how I am not like him. And in that moment, when all of it's finally taken away, it'll be the culmination of every moment of sanctification we've been experiencing all the days of our lives. So we make the moment of our deaths and the moment of our transition into heaven a part of our daily considerations. So how did Jesus teach the Pharisees in this parable? He taught them through trajectory comparison. What would you say to someone like the rich man in light of this parable? What kind of questions might you ask him? Today, what would you say to yourself? Are you willing to honestly judge yourself according to the perfect law of love and to evaluate the trajectory of your life based on God's law? I mean, when you when you think about the questions that you would ask someone to help lead them to Christ, brothers and sisters, these are the same questions we ask ourselves to help lead ourselves to greater love for Christ. Where does that kind of life end up? You can ask people this question. You can ask yourself where the behaviors I am embracing today, the thoughts that I am thinking today, the songs I'm listening to, the books I am reading, the people who I make my companions, the behaviors that I embrace today, The people that I listen to, the videos that I watch, the movies I bring into my life, the things that are shaping me, the things that I do, where does that lead? Another way of asking it is what commands did the rich man break? You could ask a rich man in today's world, where does that life lead? You could also ask them about God's law. You can ask simple questions about what they have done recently to take care of those who are in need. You can ask them simple questions about their faithfulness in their marriage and in their assisting and propping up the families of those around them as much as they can. You can ask simple questions. Well, brothers and sisters, are you asking these same questions of yourself? Right? This is the path of sanctification, for us to get into the mirror, stand before the mirror of God. So Jesus, through this trajectory comparison, would have us daily ask ourselves, which path are we currently traveling? And the question always comes, how do you know this? And the answer always comes the same. the law of love set before your mind's eye by the Holy Spirit of God, revealing to yourself what you really look like and who you really are. Last week, as we were riding to church, I got out of the van. My daughter, this week, came and said, oh, we've got to fix that hair. And she came up to me, you know, and she kind of helped it, like I guess it was sticking up or something. It was like way the wrong way. I think it was last week. It was recently. And of course, you know, you see the analogy, right? We need help, right? Mirrors are really helpful things, right? And when we look into a mirror, you know, it helps us. And it's pretty apparent if you haven't looked in the mirror lately. Right? You know, it kind of starts to show up. It's like, um, is your mirror broken? Right? And so, well, that happens in the moral realm as well, in the sanctification realm also. When we don't look in God's law regularly, I had a friend tell me one time, I asked him, I said, you know, I just, man, I'm having a hard time staying in God's word. It's just, you know, it's always this or always that. He goes, you know, he said, have you ever wondered why it's so hard? And I said, well, yeah. And he said, well, what about this? Maybe you won't like what you find. And I think there's a lot of truth in that, if we'll be honest with ourselves. If we're not regularly in God's Word, one of the big reasons is maybe we think we look fine. Maybe we think we look fine. Maybe we think we're just doing well. Or maybe we know we're not and we just don't want to hear what it has to say. So I hope that we will trust in God's grace towards us enough to let him show us the ugliness of our sin and repent before his mirror and know that in that process, he is bringing beauty from ashes. He is making us more like Jesus Christ. He is forming us. He is completing the work in us that he began through this process. So Jesus uses one's response to human suffering to teach the Pharisees about their trajectory. But when you step back, you can see from the context, it's not just about that one commandment, about the sixth commandment, or maybe the eighth commandment. There's obvious violations of murder in terms of how he didn't feed his neighbor, and violations of the eighth commandment, how he wasn't generous towards his neighbor, he stole from his neighbor. But it's not just about that. It's about the law of God. It's about learning how to love God and to love our neighbors. Wherein is the moral law of God summarily comprehended? The moral law of God is summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments. Right. And so it is the moral law of God that comes to us in the Ten Commandments that teaches us how to love God and how to love our neighbor and that serves as our beautiful guide. That's why with the psalmist, you know, when we go through this section of our liturgy, we extol God's word. We extol what he brings to us from his word because he helps us through his word. When you see your neighbor suffering, do you act to help them if you can? disappointed question from the parable. And then finally, I think another good question, and there are many, I think, if you go through God's law, you know, one through ten on a regular basis, looking at yourself, pondering this parable, you'll come up with other good questions. But here's a really good question. Are you currently in good relationship with God and with your family and with your friends? Would you describe your relationship with your friends and your family, people in this church, as akin to being in Abraham's bosom together? Is that how you would describe your relationships with your friends and your family, your church members? Or not? You know, that's a really important question for us to be in close relationship with one another is God's desire. You know, when we look at Abraham's bosom, it is what it is, is it is to be in union and communion with God and with one another. OK, and I'm going to end with this point and we're going to pray. The rich man looked like he had community and fellowship, but he did not. Lazarus had union and communion with God in this life. As Christians, God provides for us union with Him, so we are one with Him in unbroken fellowship through Christ, and thus opens the door for us to enjoy fellowship and communion, the exchange of relationship with Him. Do you see that? And it is true for us as well as Christians. We have union with one another. And it's a beautiful thing. And the reason that Jesus Christ, our great and glorious Savior, brings us into union with one another is to go on from there and experience communion with one another, the exchange of our lives, so that we are sharing our lives with one another, telling each other the story of our lives day by day. Opening our souls more and more to one another as time goes on, as the Lord builds trust between us more and more. Repenting of our sins against one another more and more as time goes on. And finding the beautiful joy of communion together as God's people. And if that is not happening in your relationships with your friends and your family and the people that you know in your life, if that doesn't mark you in Christianity, then you are missing out on Abraham's bosom. Do you understand this? That God calls us to this? I mean, you know, when people join the church here at Foothills, we read about all the one another's. All of those one another's are this communion that we have with one another. God calls us to this and it is a legitimate way for us, each one of us, to evaluate what trajectory we are on. Because perhaps, brothers and sisters, one of us, more than one of us, could be going along life's path thinking that we are the friend of Abraham and the friend of God, and yet we can't be friends with anyone else. And so what trajectory are we really on? So this, I hope, will come to us as a way that we can look in the mirror of God and be more like Jesus, and be real friends to each other as Christians, and help each other grow together, support one another, and be that community that Jesus describes with that simple phrase that we've heard so many times that we read the end of that word that I give when someone joins the church. They will know you are my disciples by your love for one another. By your love for one another. Let us pray. Almighty and gracious Heavenly Father, we are thankful to you, Lord, that because of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are forgiven of our sins and we are brought close to you, Lord, made your friends made your family members brought into the one eternal family. And we are so thankful, Lord, that in that we are one another's siblings in Christ. And that we're more than just neighbors in this world. We are friends in the family of God forever. We are the church of the living God. And we do seek you, Father, that we would consider our lives and that you would bless us with an accurate picture, each one of us, of who we really are. More and more each day as we come to your word, and by your spirit you help us repent, and you tenderly lead us into paths of greater righteousness for your name's sake. And through all of this, Lord, you cause us more and more to come together at the table of fellowship of God, experiencing the bosom of Abraham, not just in theory, but in real life. day by day, being those people whom Jesus describes as loving one another, that all the world would know we are disciples and that the kingdom of love, led forth by the king of love, would go forth in conquest and glory over this entire earth. In Jesus name, amen.