The Whole Story About Loving Wealth
Luke 16:19-31
January 19, 2020
If you’ve been with us the last couple of weeks you know that
Jesus is back on the topic of wealth.
It is a topic that Jesus continually returns to.
And in Luke 16 He chose to warn His disciples with a sermon
Regarding the dangerous consequences of loving the world.
FIRST – He gave us that story about
• The unrighteous manager who squandered his master’s possessions
• And then, when caught, cut a deal with all his master’s debtors
• In order to make friends out of them.
And then to everyone’s surprise
He actually praised that unrighteous manager.
Not because he was dishonest, but because of his SHREWDNESS.
He used wealth he could not keep to create for himself a better future.
And Jesus basically said, “I wish My disciples did that.”
• I wish they understood that all wealth belongs to God; they are only
borrowing it.
• I wish they understood that someday this wealth will fail; they will lose it.
• I wish that they understood that this borrowed temporary wealth was given to
them in order to grow the kingdom, not increase their comforts.
To which Jesus reminded:
Luke 16:10-13 “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? “And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
It was a pretty pointed sermon to say the least.
But you’ll also remember that mid-sermon JESUS TOOK A DETOUR
To address the Pharisees who loved money and were scoffing at Him.
He addressed their propensity to justify themselves
And promised that it would only lead them to judgment.
And now, having addressed them, JESUS RETURNS TO THE WARNING about money that He began giving to His disciples.
And He ends His sermon with a story.
Theologians argue whether this story is a made up parable, similar to the prodigal son, or if it is an actual true account.
I tend to think it is a true story that actually happened, after all Lazarus is mentioned by name, but other preachers will tell you it’s simply another parable.
There’s obviously no way for us to know,
But either way the point of the story is true because Jesus says it is.
And THE POINT of the story is (as Paul Harvey would say)
To give you “The Rest of the Story”
The fact of the matter is, that as we live in this earth, we only get to see half of the story.
• We see life as it is lived here.
• We don’t see the afterlife.
• We don’t see what is currently going on beyond the grave.
We only see half of the story.
This has caused great CONFUSION and FRUSTRATION over the years.
TURN TO: PSALMS 73
• Psalms 73 is a testimony of a man named Asaph
• Who admitted to being frustrated by the fact that his faith had led him into a life of hardship
• While those who are godless seemed to have a life of ease.
(READ 1-14)
You see his frustration don’t you.
From his vantage point, all he could see was the godless
And they were wealthy and comfortable and it left him feeling like
His decision to follow God was the wrong one.
But he only had half of the story.
All he was able to see was what took place in this life.
(READ 15-20)
• There God took Asaph into the sanctuary and showed him “their end”.
• Asaph saw that their comfort ends as soon as this life does.
• He could’ve been the first to coin that phrase, “All that Glitters Isn’t Gold”
When Asaph got the full story, it completely changed his outlook regarding wealth and what true treasure was.
(READ 21-28)
• Asaph went from being an angry envious man to a contented worshiping man because he saw the entire story.
• No longer was he envious of the wicked and their wealth, now he was filled with gratitude for the true treasure that he did possess which was God Himself.
I read you that story because the goal of Luke 16:19-31
Is to produce exactly that same response in you.
Jesus gives this story to His disciples
Because He wants them to know the rest of the story.
And may knowledge of the whole truth here totally change our perspective regarding the value of worldly wealth as well.
After we finish, may we all answer sincerely with Asaph, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
That is the goal.
So this morning let’s listen as Jesus takes us into the sanctuary
And shows us “their end”.
We will break this text down into 3 points this morning.
Each of them serves as a contrast.
#1 LIFE
Luke 16:19-21
First we look at the part that we can all see.
We see two men, and there is a great contrast to be seen here.
• One life could be described as: HABITUAL JOYOUS SPLENDOR
• The other life described as: HELPLESS HUNGRY SUFFERING
They are exact opposites.
• One is rich, the other is poor
• One is clothed in purple and fine linen, the other in sores
• One is joyously living, the other longs to be fed with crumbs
• One lives in splendor, the other is laid at a gate to beg
It’s a stark contrast to be certain, and from a human perspective,
THE RICH MAN’S LIFE IS CERTAINLY TO BE DESIRED.
The rich man has, by all accounts, what appears to be the better life.
• He’s got the life you’d naturally envy.
• He’s got the life you’d naturally want.
• He’s got the life you’d work to obtain.
• His life is the goal.
“habitually dressed in purple and fine linen”
Indicates extreme wealth since purple fabrics expressed the highest wealth, typically only for royalty.
• The purple dye had to be extracted from sea slugs and was very expensive to obtain.
• The “fine linen” would have been imported Egyptian cotton which was also highly expensive.
This man had all his world could offer
And because of his comforts, he was “joyously living”
That is to say, he loved life.
He loved his life.
And he enjoyed it “every day”.
• It wasn’t a vacation, it wasn’t a get-a-way, it wasn’t an aberration.
• This was his life every day.
He had the life everyone wanted.
CONTRASTED WITH THIS POOR MAN who “was laid at his gate”
• Indicating a likely paralysis or inability to walk.
• This man was a cripple who had to be brought to this place in order to beg.
He was “covered in sores” indicating a constant discomfort.
• Perhaps it was boils or bed sores or some other disease,
• But apart from being laid on the ground, apart from being laid in the elements,
• This man had no physical comfort to speak of.
He was “longing to be fed with the crumbs”.
• Dogs in that day would fight for the table scraps that fell from the table,
• And certainly a dog gets to scraps quicker than a cripple.
• He couldn’t even beat a dog to the table scraps.
• Instead, “the dogs were coming and licking his sores”
It paints a similar picture of hardship
To that of the young prodigal brother who found himself in a pig pen
Wishing he was a pig so he could eat a carob pod.
This man was hungry and no one would give anything to him.
• This rich man had ignored him.
• This rich man had overlooked him.
• This rich man was concerned only about his own comforts, and was not interested in mingling with this helpless beggar.
That is the picture of this man.
AND OBVIOUSLY, HIS WAS THE LIFE TO AVOID.
And IN JESUS’ DAY the Pharisees had devised a theology that actually painted this man as a sinner who was suffering for his sin,
And the wealthy man was obviously a saint whom God had rewarded.
Today we call it “The Prosperity Gospel” and it is certainly not new.
Job’s friends clearly believed it many years ago.
Well they believed it here too.
• The rich man not only had the best life, but according to their theology, he
also clearly had God’s favor.
• The poor man not only had the worst life, but also according to their theology,
he had God’s disdain.
And it seemed so clearly obvious to the human eye.
That is why you had guys like Asaph in Psalms 73 confused
Because he had tried to please God and was poor,
While those who didn’t try to please God were wealthy and fat.
He couldn’t figure out why they had God’s blessing and he had not.
AND THAT’S WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE DOESN’T IT?
It looks like God is smiling upon this rich man
And God is punishing this poor man.
And so, based on this information,
If you have to pick which life you want to pursue,
Then clearly everyone would have picked the rich man.
But that’s only because you don’t know the whole story.
You have only seen the beginning, you haven’t seen the end.
But that’s LIFE
#2 DEATH
Luke 16:22
Here we get another contrast.
“Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.”
The first thing you must recognize is
The great equalizer that has now occurred in their life.
It has been called “the debt that all men pay”
The writer of Ecclesiastes actually seemed to lament this reality.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2a “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven — A time to give birth and a time to die;”
Ecclesiastes 3:19-20 “For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity. All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.”
(That is, they all go to the dead)
Ecclesiastes 9:2-3 “It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead.”
Despite their contrast in life, neither of these men could escape death.
That is important.
But even in their death we see again a great contrast.
We have a POOR MAN whose death went unnoticed on earth.
• There was no funeral, there was no parade, there was no grieving.
• His death actually made life easier on the people around him.
• No one had to carry him to the gate anymore.
• The rich man no longer had to step over him or ignore him.
• His life appeared insignificant and his death did as well.
On the other hand we have the RICH MAN who Jesus simply said, “also died and was buried.”
The implication there is that he had a great funeral.
• Many showed up to mourn him.
• There were no doubt professional mourners hired.
• There was likely a death parade.
• There was a fine tomb.
• It was a big spectacle to pay homage to this wonderful life.
He was celebrity in life and he was treated as celebrity in death.
And that only adds to the human mystique of the wealthy.
MEN LONG FOR THAT.
• No one wants to be the poor cripple who gets the county burial in a cardboard box because no one cares enough to provide him a funeral.
• Everyone marvels at the man with the massive visitation and the expensive casket and the church full of friends and the TV coverage and national mourning.
The way these men died only reinforced the human mentality that
The rich man’s life was to be pursued over that of the poor man.
But again, that’s because you only know the first part of the story.
You don’t know the end.
And death is NOT the end.
The writer of Hebrews said:
Hebrews 9:27 “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”
There is a death and then there is an “after this” that you must see.
And if you don’t take the real end into account
It is quite likely that you will make the wrong decision in this life.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”
And this is what Jesus wanted you to know.
This is what Asaph was shown as he entered the tabernacle of God.
Psalms 73:16-17 “When I pondered to understand this, It was troublesome in my sight Until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end.”
That is what we see next.
Life, Death
#3 AFTERLIFE
Luke 16:23-31
There again the contrast could not be more distinct.
And I realize this story may present some questions for you regarding things like:
• Can those in hell really see those in heaven?
• Can they actually communicate across?
• Since this is before the cross, how was the poor man saved?
• Why was this rich Jewish man not saved?
I realize there are questions that immerge, and we could spend some time on that I suppose, but we aren’t going to this morning. Feel free to ask me later.
I think a lot of it depends more on the fact of rather this is a true story or a parable.
But I think to chase that rabbit will take more time than we have and will cause us to miss the main point of the story and so I don’t want to chase it right now.
ASK ME LATER if curiosity is getting the better of you,
But let’s make sure we get the main point here this morning.
There is another clear contrast between this rich man and this poor man.
LET’S FIRST LOOK AT THIS POOR MAN.
• His life was miserable as he lived as a cripple and a starving and sickly beggar.
• He was unnoticed, ignored, and unloved.
• His life was full of pain and misery.
But after death that all changed.
• In fact, though it could not be seen with human eyes, we found that when this poor man died in verse 22, he “was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom;”
• And in verse 25 we receive only a few words about his new state and that is that “now he is being comforted here”
There was no comfort for him in life,
But there is tremendous comfort for him in eternity.
Psalms 116:15 “Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.”
And even in the Revelation we see it again:
To those martyrs under the altar who had been so cruelly attacked in life.
Revelation 6:11 “And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”
Revelation 14:13 “And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”
Indeed it is true:
Psalms 23:4-6 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
That is the end for the poor man.
His 40-50-60-70 years on earth was full of pain and suffering,
But eternity is filled with comfort and peace and rest.
However, for the WICKED, there is NO REST.
There is no peace.
Jesus actually warned us of this already:
Luke 6:20-26 “And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. “Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. “Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets. “But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. “Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.”
Jesus warned us not to put too much stock in what we see now,
But to look with eyes of faith to what was coming.
James said:
James 5:1-6 “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.”
• James also warned about a rich man who hoards his wealth while men around him starve.
• James also warned about a rich man who withholds the pay of his laborers so that he can keep more for himself.
• James also warned about the rich man who oppresses the poor and in effect puts him to death through his refusal to help.
James said that miseries are coming for that man.
AND HERE THEY ARE.
The tables have clearly turned.
And just to make sure we get a comprehensive look, let’s break down the afterlife of this rich man into 4 easier points here.
1) PHYSICAL SUFFERING DUE TO FLAMES (24)
(24) “And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’”
Make no mistake, hell is a place of physical suffering.
Hell is a place of physical pain.
When you read Revelation 9
• And hell is opened for a brief time
• So that demons (described as locusts) might come and ravage the earth,
• It is a disheartening picture when that door is opened.
Revelation 9:2 “He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit.”
Jesus described hell like this
Mark 9:42-48 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] “If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] “If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.”
Other passages of Scripture refer to it:
• As “the outer darkness”
• Or also the “lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels”
• Or also a place “where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth”
Hell is a place of physical pain and this man is feeling it.
He is in such agony that his plea is for Lazarus to be sent
To dip his finger in water and touch it to his tongue.
“Give me one drop of water on my tongue
That one part of me might feel one moment’s relief”
And this pain is just punishment of God on the unatoned sin of this man.
Luke 12:5 “But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!”
This man is in horrific physical suffering.
He wants mercy.
• It is clear that he still sees Lazarus as a servant…
• It is clear that he has no room for repentance of his love of the world or lack of compassion…
But he wants mercy none the less.
And he wants it because the physical suffering is enormous.
2) EMOTIONAL SUFFERING DUE TO REGRET (25)
“But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.”
His request for mercy is DENIED.
Matthew Henry said, “He who denied the crumb was here denied a drop”
WE CALL THIS JUSTICE.
This man absolutely got what he deserved.
And I must remind you that THIS IS THE VERY NATURE OF JUDGMENT.
• At the judgment, men get what they deserve.
• Holy God renders to them, exactly what they deserve to receive.
• This man spent his whole life hoarding and enjoying his wealth and ignoring
the poor around him.
• This man cared more for feeding his dogs than for feeding the poor.
• This man determined to clothe himself in purple and fine linen not caring that
the poor had no clothing at all.
HE CHOSE THIS LIFE FOR HIS INHERITANCE
And that is what he received.
There was no injustice in it, and Abraham merely reminds him of that.
“Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.”
This is what you chose.
This is the justice you wanted.
And one can only imagine the agony associated with that memory.
• Flooding to his mind were all the times he felt an inner compelling to help the poor man but instantly ignored it that he might have more for himself.
• Memory after memory of all the opportunities he had to share his wealth.
• Memory after memory of all the warnings he heard not to be greedy.
• Scripture passages now flooding to his mind that told him this would happen.
And now those memories serve to be a horrible emotional torment.
How many will descend into hell and instantly remember the warnings of Jesus?
Luke 13:25-30 “Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘ I do not know where you are from.’ “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.’ “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. “And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. “And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last.”
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”
Today such passages are terrifying warnings,
In hell they will become gut-wrenching memories.
This man is suffering physically due to flame and emotionally due to regret.
3) ETERNAL TORMENT DUE TO PERMANENCE (26)
“And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.”
The point?
Even if we were willing, we couldn’t.
• Your life on earth was temporary.
• Your life on earth was never meant to last forever.
• But this is your life now, and this life never ends.
• This life is eternal.
Of hell we read
Revelation 14:11 “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
That makes hell a place of suffering from which there is no escape.
• It is permanent.
• It is eternal.
And if you need more in order to grasp this point,
It is sufficient to know that this story was told 2,000 years ago by Jesus
And THAT RICH MAN IS STILL THERE TODAY.
It is actually more than can be fathomed by the human mind.
4) SPIRITUAL TORMENT DUE TO REASON (27-31)
“And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house — for I have five brothers — in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ “But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ “But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.'”
Upon realizing
• That his suffering will never end
• And there is nothing that can be done to sooth it,
This rich man actually becomes an evangelist.
He begins to beg for his family.
• All those he gave a bad example to.
• All those he trained the wrong way.
• All those to whom he said, “I’m telling you this is the life, you’ve got to get one of these purple robes.”
• All those to whom he said, “Don’t worry about Lazarus, he’s a filthy beggar”
• All those who attended his funeral to honor him
• All those who looked to him as the model of success and the type of man you should become
He realizes he has made a grave mistake and that his influence and life has not only lead many astray, but even his own family.
And he pleads that they might be warned.
What manner of horror would overtake a father in hell when he realizes that he spent his life training his children to follow him to this very place?
What manner of horror overtakes a mother in hell when she realizes that she never told her kids of the importance of forgiveness through Jesus?
• I pushed them to college…
• I pushed them to earthly success…
• I pushed them to make money…
• I laughed at their immorality…
• I ignored their lack of concern for spiritual things…
• I led them down this path and one day they will follow me here…
What horror would that spiritual torment be!
And this man pleads again that Lazarus might leave his place of comfort
And if not come to meet him in hell,
Then go back to his hell on earth to warn his brothers.
And Abraham again says “No”
They already have the ultimate evangelist.
They have the word of God.
They have been warned.
And this man says, “That’s not enough!”
(30) “But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’”
And that’s not true.
• We actually have a story of Jews covering up the resurrection of Jesus.
There is no greater witness than the very word of God.
• The gospel is “the power of God for salvation”.
• “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ”.
If a man won’t listen to the inspired words of God,
He won’t listen to anything.
(31) “But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.'”
Well friends that is the rest of the story.
That is “the end” that Asaph saw.
No wonder he said:
Psalms 73:17-20 “Until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end. Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.”
But now let me remind you again who this story is for.
• We found out back in the first part of the chapter that Jesus was speaking to His disciples here.
• Yes, He was forced to address the Pharisees half-way through, but ultimately this story is for those who were following Jesus.
And Jesus has already made His point.
Luke 16:9-13 “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings. “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? “And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
This story is meant to reinforce that truth.
• When we are confronted with Jesus.
• When we are confronted with the only One who can justify us before God.
• When we are confronted with the only One who can satisfy God’s wrath.
And when this One says that:
He will save us IF we will forsake this world in order to follow Him,
WE ARE THE CONFRONTED WITH A REAL DECISION.
We are forced to choose our treasure.
Will this world be our treasure or will Christ be our treasure?
YOU CAN’T HAVE BOTH,
• Because to love one is to despise the other.
• To be friends with one is to hate the other.
• “That which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.”
And if all the information you had was what you see on earth,
That would be a difficult choice, for by all earthly accounts
The rich man’s life is clearly the better.
And that is why Jesus shows you “the end”.
• So that you will see how much more valuable Jesus is than the world.
• So that you will see why the call to forsake this world and follow Jesus is hands down the best decision.
• So that you will no longer see the rich man as the enviable life, but now see the truth that he has the life to be avoided.
• So that you will no longer see the poor man as the life to be avoided, but as the one to be sought.
James actually said:
James 1:9-11 “But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.
James said you should glory every time that money gets tight and the world slips through your fingers because it will teach you not to love this world.
That is the purpose of this story as well.
Jesus has graciously granted us the right to see “the end”
So that we might make the proper decision.
So that you will confess as Asaph did:
Psalms 73:21-28 “When my heart was embittered And I was pierced within, Then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You. Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. With Your counsel You will guide me, And afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.”
THAT’S IT FRIEND.
• Do not choose this world.
• Instead use the wealth of this world for eternal purposes.
• Use it to lead men to Christ and to secure eternal treasure.
Don’t think about what you have on earth,
Think about what you’ll have in eternity.
Matthew 16:24-27 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”
