THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES WITH THE CHOICES THAT WE MAKE

Proclamation:

“There was a rich man … At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus … 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 … ‘send Lazarus … because I am in agony’ … ‘Then I beg you … send Lazarus to my family … let him warn them’ … 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.’”  Luke 16:19-31 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, as recorded by Luke, the physician, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  In this chapter Luke records the parable of the shrewd manager (Luke 16:1-13) which Jesus told His disciples, in addition to His words to the covetous Pharisees (Luke 16:14-17) and His words on divorce. (Luke 16:18)  Then Jesus presents the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. (Luke 16:19-31)  Both of the parables deal with the unwise choices that men make.  The shrewd manager was dishonest and then made “self-preservation” deals with his master’s debtors and proved that he was not trustworthy.  The rich man had plenty of everything, during his life, but did not share any with the poor man outside of his gate.  In death the rich man suffered and became a beggar, begging for water and then begging to help his five brothers.

Application:

There are two very important lessons here.  The first is that we cannot serve The Lord God and love Him, and also serve and love money at the same time. (Luke 16:13)  If we follow the first rule of the world, self-preservation, and let the love of money rule us, then we will find ourselves wrapped up in evil. (1 Timothy 6:10)  The second point is that if we are too hard-hearted to share with the less fortunate, The Lord God will not be pleased.   Christ said that as we did, or did not do, to the less fortunate people, we did it, or did not do it, to Him. (Matthew 25:35-45)  We are blessed in order to be a blessing to others, and we will be blessed for being a blessing to others. (Proverbs 11:25)  We are also to share The Word of God with others.  However, not all of the people will believe The Bible or that Jesus, The Christ, was raised from the dead; but some will believe and confess. (Romans 10:9)