Friday, September 5, 2008

The Rich Man and Lazarus, Part 15 of 28

TEXT: "Then [the rich man] said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send Lazarus 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'" (Luke 16:27-31).

IDEA: It’s possible to be “so set in our ways” that God’s Word or even a resurrected messenger cannot get through to us.

PURPOSE: To warn listeners of the danger of habitual unresponsiveness to God

Do you think that the emphasis on missions that used to be a strong part of the church, has lessened today?

It’s interesting that in one of the parables of Jesus, there is a man in hell who seems to show a missionary concern:

"Then the rich man said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send Lazarus 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'" (Luke 16:27-31).

I. He wants Lazarus to go back as a missionary and tell his five brothers to repent.

His brothers, who are still alive on earth, were probably very much like him before he died.

II. Do you think that his brothers would heed the message?

Do you think they will hear “Moses and the prophets” before they die?

Why wouldn’t someone coming back from the dead make the message stronger?

III. The implication seems to be that our actions form our character, and when the character is formed, neither the Word of God nor a resurrected minister from God can get through to us. Why?

From Abraham’s response to the rich man, Jesus tells us that if a person cannot be humane with the Old Testament in his hand and Lazarus on his doorstep, nothing—not even a visitor from another world—will teach him differently.