Yesterday evening I learned that the man who had lived next door to me for as long as I can remember — I recall tossing huge water balloons over the fence and onto their patio where him and his wife were relaxing, ya.. it was that long ago — has passed away. Since finding this news out I cannot get the story of the rich man and Lazarus out of my head. The story (Luke 16) goes as such: “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” Within the past two years or so I had noticed something different in this man. I am not sure whether it was something new or perhaps it just hadn’t previously surfaced. This man knew, from what he claimed and from what I could tell, that hope is only found in Jesus. He knew that “we all needed prayer.” I don’t believe — not that it matters what I believe — that he is in the position of the rich man, but instead, covered by the blood of Christ in the presence of an infinitely holy God. However, there are many —for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction — who are in the position of the rich man, yearning for their family and friends to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The fact of the matter is there is one God and One pathway to eternal fellowship with Him. We have all fallen short and sinned against this holy God and deserve nothing but eternal separation from him in hell; for the wages of sin is death. And yet out of grace, he has sent His son to take the punishment of those who he calls his own the cross. Jesus was crucified, buried, and then raised from the dead, appeasing God’s wrath towards His children’s sin so that we might enter into His presence. For Christ has paid the debt of the elect, something we could never do ourselves. Death is coming to every one of us with eternity on the other side of it. For those not in Christ, this bodily death is just a gate into eternal death and torment. But, for those who know Jesus Christ, and are covered by his atoning work on the cross, having their heart of stone replaced with hearts of flesh, we have the hope of everlasting life with this holy and glorious Father. If I were breathing my last breath on this earth, it would be my greatest desire that my friends, family, and loved ones hear this message of the cross.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Aug 2013 00:11:24 +0000
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