Eternal Choices: The Parable of Rich Man and Lazarus

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"There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and faired sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus -- full of sores -- who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores." [00:01:15]

"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 fingers in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.'" [00:03:11]

"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.'" [00:04:00]

"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.'" [00:05:01]

"And he said, 'No, Father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' But he said to them, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rise from the dead.'" [00:07:29]

"This is a terrifying parable. It's a parable that focuses attention on severe contrasts. The characters in the parable include, in the first instance, the rich man -- called Dives -- and the beggar, named Lazarus. The rich man is described in the most opulent terms. He dresses like royalty, in purple and fine linen, and he fares sumptuously not once a year or once a month, but his sumptuous style of living is a daily matter." [00:08:29]

"But in contrast to him, there was this beggar named Lazarus, who obviously had some kind of incurable, chronic skin disease that left his body covered with sores. He was not even able to move himself to the gate of the rich man, but had to be carried there -- presumably by friends. And there, he was laid at the gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table." [00:09:25]

"And so we were told the beggar died. And as soon as he died, he was accompanied not by friends or by relatives, but by the angels of God, so that in his dying breaths, as his eyelids closed to life in this world, the first thing that Lazarus saw after he died was the refulgent glory of the heavenly host, who picked this poor sorrowful beggar up in their arms and carried him to paradise and placed Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham." [00:11:24]

"Nothing is said of his burial. Nothing is said of a monument to him in this world. But we read that the rich man also died, and he was buried and where he went was not to the bosom of Abraham. He was not carried in glory by the angels of God, but was sent to be tormented in hell. And there, he lifted up his eyes, and he could see into the heavens, and he could see this miserable beggar now being grasped in the arms of Abraham, in glory." [00:12:41]

"Not only that, he says -- and this I think is perhaps the heaviest part of the whole parable -- '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. Don't you understand, Dives, that between you, down there, and us, up here in the bosom of Abraham, there is an immeasurable chasm, an unbridgeable chasm?'" [00:13:33]

"Don't you understand that on your side of this gulf, on your side of the chasm, there are no provisions for parole? The sentence that has been given to you is forever. There is no hope of future probation. You had your probation. There is no hope, for a court of appeals that will get you out of there and free you for another place. And don't even entertain the idea of a second chance." [00:14:53]

"Jesus is telling the people who are listening to this -- you don't listen to Moses, you don't listen to the prophets, and when my Father raises Me from the dead, you still won't listen. The reason you won't listen is you don't want to listen. And you don't have ears to hear. And the reason why you don't have ears to hear is because you don't want to have ears to hear. Because you don't want God in your thinking, and you certainly don't want hell in your thinking." [00:21:06]

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