Eternity Isn't What You Think

I turned 50 earlier this month.

People have asked me how I feel.

And my response has been consistently that the thing that has struck me the most, people

think 40 is the big deal over the hump, halfway, whatever.

But when I got to 50, that was when I started to really realize that I have less time in

front of me than behind me, most likely.

And it's a sobering thought.

It's sobering to think about what is my life about.

It makes me realize that when I was in my 20s and 30s, I thought I was a pretty eternally

minded kind of guy.

But now that I'm 50, it's starting to sink in at a whole new level for me to think about

what is my life here on earth about?

And what will my eternity be like?

For those of you who are younger, this day is coming.

Some of you are already nodding your heads and saying, yes, we understand.

So, but as we think about this question, as I've pondered this this week in my own life,

I want to put the question for you, how much do you think about these questions?

About how your life today connects with your eternal state?

This is, in fact, part of what our passage this morning addresses.

And this is why I raise the question, because Jesus has things to say to us.

He has lots to say about eternity and about our lives now in light of it.

And so we're going to continue in our series in Luke.

If you have a Bible, you can turn with me to Luke 16.

I forgot my program.

Anyone want to give me a page number?

823 in your pew Bible, if you're using the pew Bibles.

Luke 16, we're going to be starting in verse 19 for most of our, for our parable today.

But I'm actually going to start in verse 14 as I read.

And 822.

Thank you.

822 is where it is.

Part of what you see, if you remember, Greg last week talked on the parable of the dishonest manager

and how to understand the shrewdness of taking our worldly beings, our worldly possessions,

and investing them for eternal purposes and eternal values.

And then Jesus continues.

And in 14 through 18, these are not passages, verses we're going to spend a lot of time on today.

And I'll just note verse 18 is a whole sermon in and of itself.

But in terms of the flow of thought, let me just walk you through it.

Verse 14, the Pharisees who were there heard Jesus talking about how to use their money for eternal purposes.

And they responded with ridicule.

And Jesus confronts them and says, you are those who justify yourselves before men,

but God knows your hearts for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

And then he turns this corner, which feels very abrupt to talk about the law and the prophets.

But what he's really saying is, if you understood the law and the prophets,

you would not be a lover of money rather than a lover of God.

And in fact, you would say a hearty amen to what I just preached about,

using your money for the poor, for those in need,

for the sake of eternal values of building God's kingdom.

But because you don't understand the law,

because you don't understand the prophets,

because you have hardened your hearts against God,

you instead respond to my parable and ridicule.

And then verse 18 is thrown in there as a,

oh, and by the way, the law still stands.

The law is still important because it points us to important things.

Now, how verse 18 fits into there is a whole other sermon.

I'm just going to bracket it and say,

come back another time, we'll deal with it.

But not today.

But it's in this context of Jesus' confrontation with the Pharisees

and this sort of head-to-head where Jesus is exposing their lack of heart submission

to God's word that we come to the parable that we come to today.

And so I wanted to point that out,

spend a few minutes walking through that

so that we understand where this parable is going.

Because this parable is an interesting one.

It's one of the more challenging ones as we look at it.

So, having said that, let's look together at God's word starting in,

I'll read starting in verse 14 so you can get the flow of what I just described.

And we'll read to the end of the chapter.

The Pharisees who were lovers of money heard all these things and they ridiculed him.

And he said to them,

you are those who justify yourselves before men.

But God knows your hearts.

For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

The law and the prophets were until John.

Since then, the good news of the kingdom of God is preached

and everyone forces his way into it.

But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away

than for one dot of the law to become void.

Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery.

And he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

And then he begins this parable.

There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen

and who feasted sumptuously every day.

And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus,

covered with sores,

who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table.

Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.

The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side.

The rich man also died and was buried.

And in Hades, being in torment,

he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.

And he called out,

Father Abraham, have mercy on me

and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water

and cool my tongue.

For I am in anguish in this flame.

But Abraham said,

Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things

and Lazarus in like manner bad things.

But now he is comforted here and you are in anguish.

And besides all this,

between us and you,

a great chasm has been fixed

in order that those who would pass from here to you

may not do so

and none may cross from there to us.

And he said,

Then I beg you, Father,

to send him to my father's house,

for I have five brothers,

so that he may warn them

lest they also come into this place of torment.

But Abraham said,

They have Moses and the prophets.

Let them hear them.

And he said,

No, Father Abraham,

but if someone goes to them from the dead,

they will repent.

And he said to them,

and he said to him,

If they do not hear Moses and the prophets,

neither will they be convinced

if someone should rise from the dead.

Let's pray together.

Lord, we thank you for your word.

Lord, we confess at times

that we find it challenging

to know what your word says.

But Lord, we pray this morning

that we would have hearts

that seek to submit to your word

and minds that seek to understand your word

and wills that seek to do your word.

Lord, help us to know it rightly

and to respond appropriately to it.

Lord, we thank you.

We pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

In this parable,

Jesus tells us two things about eternity.

The first thing is

that eternity may not be what we think.

And the second thing is that

the heart of eternity is in the heart.

I'm not usually that poetic.

Come on, I need a little love here.

So here we go.

So, eternity may not be what you think.

And the heart of eternity is in the heart.

Let's look at those two points together.

The first thing is

eternity may not be what you think.

This is what we see

in the first part of the parable

from verses 19 through 26.

And it starts right at the beginning.

Jesus lays out a situation

where there are two men, right?

And they could not be more polar opposite

in their life circumstances.

There's rich detail in this.

The man is described

as being clothed in purple,

which was very rare,

and therefore only the wealthy

could wear it.

And fine linen,

and who feasted sumptuously,

not just occasionally,

but every day.

He lived in the lap of luxury.

And at his gate,

there was the opposite man,

the poor man named Lazarus.

Not only was he poor,

but he was laid at his gate,

which suggested that he was probably lame

or crippled or ill in some way.

And so he was in quite a dire situation.

And he was covered with sores,

and he desired to be fed with the scraps

that fell from the rich man's tables.

And even the dogs came and licked his sores,

which is not a nice sort of helpful healing thing.

This is a sign that he was so unable

to defend himself.

And in a Jewish context,

this also meant that he was made richly unclean.

And so he was in every way

needy and impoverished.

And the rich man seemed to have

everything that he wanted.

And in the first century,

many would have equated God's blessing

with material wealth and prosperity.

Many of us maybe still think that today

in some ways.

Jesus then goes on to say,

but then eternity happened.

Verses 22,

the poor man died,

and he was carried by angels

to Abram's side.

The man who couldn't walk

was carried to the gate

of the rich man's house in need,

was carried to a place of comfort.

In Abram's side is an imagery

that pictures this place of welcome

in God's people and in God's place,

this comfort and provision

of all that he needed.

And the rich man also died

and was buried.

And he went to Hades.

Description of the place for the dead.

Their eternal destinies were flip-flopped

from their earthly realities.

And in fact, you see this,

Abraham says this very clearly

in verse 25, does he not?

In your lifetime you got good,

but then you ended up

in not so good place.

He had a hard road in this life

and yet he ended up in heaven.

Now, we're going to unpack this

a little bit more.

This is not saying that the poor

are inherently spiritually

superior to others,

nor does it mean that those who are rich

are inherently superiorly inferior

or acceptable or not acceptable.

That's not what the point

of the parable is.

But what I want to take from you

is in the first century,

this would have been a surprise,

this reversal.

The question I want to ask you is,

who do you think gets into heaven today?

Interesting.

Lifeway Research did some

interesting research

and said that 60% of Americans

think that people are

pretty much good.

And while every culture

will have its own subset

of what they think is good

or good enough,

I think the prevailing view

in our world today,

and maybe even in our own hearts,

is that good people

probably don't deserve hell.

Hell is for really bad people.

People who do...

Now, and you can define

really bad things.

You know, you can define

really bad as not recycling.

You know, we can...

We'll all have different standards

of what we think is really bad

and not bad.

But I think most of us,

if you really push us,

do we really think

that good people

should get into heaven?

And there's a church version

of good people too,

isn't there?

I come to church.

I give my money to the church.

I find a place to serve.

I'm a good community participant.

Isn't that enough?

I was...

Some of you have heard me

talk about this before,

but back in the 1990s,

there was a very momentous week

in my life

because my grandfather

passed away

the same week

that Ted Bundy did.

Some of you may be too young

to remember who Ted Bundy was,

but he was a serial killer

who was really atrocious.

He was a truly...

The things he did

were truly evil.

And yet, rumor has it

that Ted Bundy,

on death row,

before his execution,

repented of his sin

and trusted in Jesus

for his salvation.

My grandfather

was a great philanthropist.

The library

in Weston, Massachusetts

has a plaque on the wall

because he gave

most of the money

for it to be built.

He was an upstanding citizen

in every way.

He would have been seen

as a good man

in the community

in every way.

But he had no concern

for God in his life.

And he had no faith

in Christ.

The gospel tells us

that all have sinned

and fall short

of the glory of God.

And that the basis

upon which

we get into heaven

is not our goodness

or our badness.

But it is, in fact,

our abandonment

of all of our attempts

to save ourselves

or to prove ourselves

good enough

to God on our own

and to trust wholly

in Jesus.

So the first thing

this parable points us to

is a surprising sense

of who gets into heaven.

The second thing

this parable points us to

is that the weight

of eternity

is greater

than we assume.

The picture of comfort

at Abraham's bosom

is a beautiful one.

It is saying

heaven is going to be

the fulfillment

of all of your hopes.

Right?

This man in his life

longed for comfort,

for food,

for provision,

for relief

from his sufferings.

And when he was

carried by the angels

up to the bosom

of Abraham,

to the side of Abraham,

he was, in fact,

welcomed and embraced

and all of the things

he longed for

were his.

And so the comfort

was wonderful.

And yet,

the contrast again

is strong here.

The torment

was great.

If you look at verse 25,

you see this.

Well,

and even verse 24,

the man cries out

and asks for help

from Father Abraham,

please come and

cool my tongue

for I am in anguish

in this flame.

The Bible depicts

hell

as a terrible place

to be.

It is a place

of torment

and anguish.

Now,

let's just stop

and think about this

for a while

because we don't talk

about this very much,

do we?

We don't talk about

it's a pretty distasteful

thought for us today

in our culture.

you are thought

a cruel

and unkind person

to think that

someone might go

to hell

unless you're really

angry at them

and then you just,

it just comes out

and then you wish

you hadn't said it

because you really

don't want it.

But,

here's the reality.

We are uncomfortable

in our culture today

in a tolerant culture,

in a tolerance

of trying to seek

understanding,

we're uncomfortable

with hell.

And yet,

we know that

the Bible talks

about it a lot.

let me just give

a couple of thoughts

on this.

First of all,

one of the ways

that has been

most helpful

for me to think

about hell

is that there are

some people

that I truly do think

deserve judgment.

Okay?

This weekend,

we had in our world

yet another

terrible attack

where someone

out of hatred

of another

who was different

from them

took a gun

and shot

and killed

over 50,

maybe more people.

You want

justice to happen.

You want

that person

to be judged.

You want

there to be

a response

to evil.

people.

And that's

what I want

too,

I think.

That's what

we all want.

And we can

recognize that

there are people,

there are

sex traffickers

and there are

war mongerers

and there are,

you know,

we can go on.

There are some

people who deserve

to be judged.

The problem

is not that

we don't like

judgment.

Ultimately,

that's just

untrue.

The problem

is that we

want to be

on the right

side.

And we want

to be far

enough away

from the wrong

side that we

need to give

a lot of other

people a lot

of credit and

say,

well, you know,

they don't deserve

to be judged

either because

that's too

close to me

and I don't

want to be

on the wrong

side of that.

But I want

to tap into

our fundamental

human desire

that in fact

we do want

evil to be

judged.

The question

is not

whether we

would want

that,

but the

question is

where do

we stand

in relationship

to it?

Maybe another

way to say

it is that

a God

without judgment

is a God

who would

ignore evil.

This is not

good.

Second thing

about hell

that I want

to say is

that there

are pictures

here, right?

Flames,

fire.

What is

that all

about?

There's

been lots

of conversation

about how

literal or

not literal

this picture

is.

I think

that Jesus

is tapping

into a

first century

view that

these two

pictures would

be that there

was some

sense of an

intermediate

place on

your way to

your eternal

destinies,

that Jesus

is using

what would

be a

culturally

understood

form.

although even

in the

cultural

understanding

of the

day,

that did

not mean

that there

was a

chance for

switching over.

But he's

using this

imagery,

and with that

imagery then,

he uses this

imagery of

flames and

fire.

And we

think,

really?

It's just

kind of

incredulous.

And some

of us,

out of desire

to say,

no,

the Bible's

literal,

this is what

it says,

says,

well,

no,

there have

to be

real flames.

Tim Keller

says this

in response

to that,

to say that

the scriptural

image of

hellfire is

not wholly

literal should

be of no

comfort

whatsoever.

The reality

will be far

worse than

the image.

What then

are the,

quote,

fire and,

quote,

darkness

symbols for?

They are

vivid ways to

describe what

happens when

we lose the

presence of

God.

Darkness

refers to

the isolation

and fire

to the

disintegration

of being

separated

from God.

Away from

the favor

and face

of God,

we literally,

horrifically,

and endlessly

fall apart.

When God

brings his

judgment on

us,

when he

casts us

away from

him in

his righteous

wrath,

we are

separate

from him.

in such

a profound

way.

And it

is terrible.

And it

is horrible.

And at

times in

the past,

the church

may have

over-literalized

and used

this as a

cheap threat.

But in

fact,

that cheap

threat was

pointing to

a much more

profound

reality and

a much more

profound

warning.

thing.

This man,

the rich man,

ended up in

hell,

not because he

was rich

completely,

but because in

his riches he

refused the

word of God.

He ignored the

poor man at

his gate.

He did

nothing to

share from

what he had

to bless the

person who

was in need

right before

him.

not only

that,

but you

begin to

see in

his response

to his

situation in

heaven or

in hell.

Isn't it

interesting?

He doesn't

say,

please,

Father Abraham,

get me out

of here.

I know I've

sinned.

I know I

deserve this,

but have

mercy on me.

Instead he

says,

have mercy on

me.

Can you give

me a little

comfort?

He doesn't

even then

own,

that he

maybe deserved

to be

there.

And so,

eternity

tells us

that the

people that

we see

get into

heaven or

hell may

be surprising.

The second

thing is that

the weight

of it is

serious.

And the

third thing

is that

eternity

is just

that.

It is

eternal.

I want

to just

sit there

for a

minute and

think about

what does

that mean?

Because I

think that

part of

what you

see very

clearly here

is particularly

in verse

26.

Abraham says,

this is a

chasm that

cannot be

crossed.

Though there

was in the

story,

in the

metaphorical

story,

you could

view a

cross and

communicate

a cross.

cross.

In the

end of

the day,

what happens

in eternity

is fixed.

This is what

the Hebrews

passage ended

with that we

read earlier

this morning.

That as human

beings, we are

to live one

life and

then to die

once and

then to face

judgment.

And what

happens when

that happens,

at the end of

our human

lives here,

that judgment

is an

eternal one.

There is no

going back.

There are no

second chances.

There are no

ways to say,

well, I

didn't mean it.

Can I get a

do-over?

And that's a

very sobering

thought.

It also is a

very dignifying

thought.

It means that

our life now

matters.

God gives us

this life to

respond to

Him as He

would have

us.

He gives us

this life to

respond to

His word with

faith and

trust and

belief.

He gives us

this life to

turn from sin

and from a

life apart from

Him.

and a

holy trust in

Jesus' name.

This would

have been a

great sermon

if I could just

end it right

now.

And the

parable feels

like it's

done.

Okay, now we

know what Jesus

wants to tell us

and He's warning

people.

But the

interesting thing

is this parable

goes on.

It doesn't just

tell us about

eternity in these

ways.

But the

parable goes on

to talk about

how then do we

think about who

is it that does

get into heaven?

How is it that we

think about how do

we respond to

this?

I think at the

core of it what

Jesus is saying

is this, that

the heart of

eternity is in

the heart.

Part of the

reason that I

say that is the

context going

back to verse

15 when it

says God

knows your

heart.

Because it

sure seems like

this whole parable

is a warning

to the Pharisees,

doesn't it?

you go back to

the rich man and

you think about

it as we've

already talked

about.

He has not

treated Lazarus

well in life.

He did not

respond to the

need of this

man before him.

The man whose

very name says

God helps him.

Instead he's

ignored him.

He's ignored

God and

ignored God's

word and

ignored the

need in front

of him.

This has been

a broader

theme that we've

seen throughout

the book of

Luke, isn't

it?

That the

material possessions

and the things

we do with our

money and our

stuff and our

time and our

love, that these

make a difference

because they're the

expressions of the

kingdom of God and

if we claim to be

followers of Jesus,

these things ought to

be true of us as a

result of our

salvation, as an

outworking of it.

This man didn't

exhibit those

characteristics on

earth.

And when he then

gets to hell, part

of his attitude seems

to be, I don't

deserve this.

I deserve relief

from this.

Please, Abraham,

give me relief.

Maybe Lazarus, your

servant boy, can come

and help me.

recognize that the rich

man here has not

suddenly become a

sympathetic figure.

He continues in his

arrogance.

Lazarus should come and

serve me in my

torment.

And then this whole

thing with the

brothers, what is

Jesus pointing to when

he says that?

I think what he's

saying is, look,

Jesus, I don't think

that this is my fault

because I don't think

I truly understand.

No one came to me

from the dead and

said, look, it's

really bad.

Don't do this.

Change now.

It wasn't my fault.

I didn't know enough.

But maybe my brothers

would respond differently,

so go tell them.

His heart is not even

in hell and in

torment, responding

with a brokenness or

a recognition that,

in fact, he did

deserve it.

And Abraham rebukes

him and reveals this

to him.

He says, no.

No.

They have Moses and

the prophets just like

you did, and they're

not living any

differently than you

are.

Don't think they're

going to change.

Even if someone from

the dead comes and

speaks to them,

because the heart of

eternity has to do

with your heart

response.

And if your heart

isn't willing to

believe the things

you do know,

you're not going to

respond to something

new and different.

Recognize that what

Jesus is doing is,

in this, he is

very poetically but

very directly

confronting the

Pharisees.

He is saying, you

know the law and

the prophets.

You know that they

called on God's

people to not be

lovers of money but

to love mercy and

justice and the poor

and the needy.

you know that God's

word called Israel to

be a light to the

nations and you

have made it a

sectarian, selfish

empire.

And most

importantly, having

been rich and

ignoring the poor, you

also have ignored God's

word which is now

living right in front

of you.

As the Bible says,

God spoke in various

ways through the

prophets and through

Moses but in his

last day he spoke

through Jesus Christ

himself.

And Jesus is

confronting the

Pharisees and saying

to them, will you

respond to me now?

And here's the irony

of it, right?

In the parable,

Lazarus' brothers,

or the rich man's

brothers don't get any

second chance, right?

But the whole point of

the parable is for

Jesus talking to the

crowd in front of him

to say, you now do

have that chance.

You can now respond

right now differently

than what you are.

Rather than ridiculing

and hardening your

hearts, you can respond

to this word right

now.

And Luke's

audience,

reading this

after the

resurrection,

must just chuckle

at the irony.

Because one did

come back from the

dead, didn't he?

And even then,

not all believe.

Not all responded

to the resurrected

word of God.

And so, this

message, this

parable is a

warning.

It is a warning

to us that

our hearts

need to respond

to God and

to His word.

If you're here

this morning and

you haven't responded

to God in faith,

forsaking your

own means of

trying to get

into heaven or

God's good graces

by your own

effort, God

is calling you

to forsake

those and to

trust in Him

today, holy

and only in

what Jesus

has done for

you.

And if you're

here like the

Pharisee,

believing that

your church

involvement and

your good works

and your

participation in

our community

is enough

without a

real heart

submission to

and response

to Jesus,

this parable

warns us,

warns you.

Do you receive

and follow the

word of God?

Do you believe

in and follow

Jesus?

Do you follow

Him in a way

where all of

your life,

including your

money and your

resources,

are at His

disposal for

His glory and

for His kingdom?

Now I've said

that the heart

of eternity is

in our hearts

and what we've

seen here is

that this

parable has

actually focused

in.

If you notice,

Lazarus disappears

halfway through

the parable,

right?

It's really

about the

rich man

and what we've

seen is the

picture of his

hardened heart

and his

unwillingness to

receive God's

mercy.

And we need

to hear that

warning.

But the

reality is that

our hearts can

only respond

to God

when we see

His heart

for us.

You see,

we zoom back

from this

particular parable

to the whole

section.

And if you

remember when

Greg introduced

this section to

us way back

when, he said,

this whole section

in Luke 9 to

19 is Jesus

turning from His

ministry up north

in Galilee and

He is turning and

heading towards

Jerusalem.

Jerusalem.

He has set

His face

towards Jerusalem

which means that

He has set

His face

towards the

cross and His

crucifixion and

His death on

behalf of sinners.

And when we

look at the

cross, we see

God's heart

most clearly.

We see that

God cares

enough about

good and evil

that He will

not let evil

go unpunished.

That He will

not simply

wave a hand

and say,

it's okay.

But God will

say, evil

must be

punished.

But then He

says, but I

will in My

mercy and

grace provide

a way for

sinners like

you and me to

not be under

that judgment for

the evil of our

own sin.

He says, evil

will be punished

and that's how

much I care about

righteousness.

righteousness.

But He cares

enough to send

Jesus to take

that for us.

To take that

judgment in our

place.

And Jesus does

this with the

initiative where

He comes to us

just as Jesus is

coming to the

Pharisees to

say, turn now

while you can.

Change your mind

now while you're

still able.

Respond while you

are still in this

life before

eternity is fixed

and unchangeable.

This is the

heart of God

that He has

come to

rescue sinners

like you and

me.

And He calls

us to respond.

He calls us to

respond in faith

and trust in

Jesus.

He calls us to

respond to His

Word in a life

that is surrendered

to Him and to

His kingdom.

He calls us to

respond and to

live the way God

has called us to

as His children.

And this is why

it is so important

for us to

celebrate communion

this morning.

As we continue

with our service

we're going to

transition to

communion.

The Lord's

Supper

prayer.

This is what

Jesus instituted

before His death

for His disciples.

And in it He is

reminding us of

His heart.

In the bread and

in the cup we are

reminded that His

body and His

blood were broken

and shed to

experience the

judgment of God

upon sin.

Upon our sin.

God.

He did this in love

and in mercy so

that we who don't

deserve to know

God or be accepted

by Him

might be able

to enter in

by grace into

a relationship with

God where we

would sit at the

bosom of Abraham,

the side of Abraham,

and know His

comfort and His

peace and an

eternity of

relating to

God rightly

where His glory

envelops us

and captures us.

This is what

communion

celebrates.

It should be for

us both sobering

as we remember

the warnings

but also

encouraging and

strengthening as we

remember God's

heart for us.

What I'd like to

do is to pray for

just a minute

and then if

those who are

serving can come

forward as I come

down.

I want to just give

us a moment to

just have quiet

before we begin to

observe communion

together.

So let's pray

together.

Holy Spirit, I

ask for you to

come now.

Lord, and show

us our hearts.

Reveal to us if

there is hardness,

wickedness.

Lord, where we

are treasuring

independence or

selfishness, where

we are treasuring

anger and

hatred.

we are treasuring

pleasure in this

world more than

you.

Lord, show us if

there is an

unbelieving or

hardened heart in

us.

Lord, we pray to

you that you would

show us your heart

for us.

Your grace and

your mercy shown to

us in Christ.

Lord, that we

would respond to

you, Lord, in

faith, in

abandon, in

hope.

Lord, we pray that

you would, by your

spirit, do this in

our hearts in the

next few minutes as

we observe the

Lord's Supper

together.

We pray this in

Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.