11/11/07 – 45LAW - “The Rich Man and Lazarus and What Happens to Us at Death“– Part 3
 
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Hello!  This is Richard Vaughn

Today’s message is “The Rich Man and Lazarus and What Happens to Us at Death” Part 3

Before we begin, let us seek God’s guidance, “Heavenly Father, as we enter our third week in studying this most important subject regarding the real truth about the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus and the state of the dead, I pray that You bless those listening today with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, so that we may understand how Satan has deceived the Christian world into believing that this parable somehow teaches what happens to us when we die. We pray for wisdom, knowledge and understanding so that we may live in the center of Your revealed will, as we ask in Jesus Name, Amen.”

Right now, I continue to keep my pledge, to cry aloud and spare not, to lift up my voice like a trumpet and to show God’s people where they are transgressing God’s law.
Last week we have proven with Scripture, that when a person dies, they are dead and will have no more conscious thoughts until they come up in the resurrection at the second coming of Jesus, or when they come up a thousand years later in the resurrection of the hopelessly lost. 

We will continue this week’s study with our next thought question.

Question #2: Does the Bible speak of the “undying”, “immortal” soul? 
Answer: No. In fact the word “immortal” is found once in the Bible, and it is in reference to God. 1 Timothy 1:17 “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God”

Question #3: At death, the body returns to dust and the spirit (breath) returns to God. Where does the soul go? 
Answer: It goes nowhere as we have seen in the many scriptures given in the last two broadcasts. Two things must be combined to make a soul, body plus breath. There is no such thing as a disembodied soul. 

Question #4: Can you explain John 11:26 “And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” 
Answer: This does not refer to the first death, which all people die. See Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die”. Rather it refers to the “second death” which only the wicked die and from which there is no resurrection. Revelation 21:8 “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
  
Many Christians are able to quote John 3:16, but few realize that it clearly shows only the saved will live for ever and the unsaved will die and be no more. Look at it closely, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The believers will not perish, but they will live forever. Conversely the unsaved will not have everlasting life for they perish in the second death. They will be as though they had never been.

Question #5: Doesn’t 1 Peter 4:6 say the gospel was preached to dead people? That’s a good question so let us look at that Scripture closely. “For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead” Answer: No, it says the gospel “was” preached to those who “are” dead. They are dead now, but the gospel was preached to them while they were yet living.

Question #6: Matthew 10:28 says “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul:” Doesn’t this prove the soul is undying? Answer: No, it proves the opposite. The last half of the same verse proves that souls do die. “but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Question #7: What about the souls crying out from under the altar in Revelation 6:9, 10? Let’s read it, “I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”
Answer: No. This cry was figurative as was Abel’s blood (Genesis 4:10). The word souls used here means people who had been slain for their faith. They are in their graves in the sleep of death and will have no conscious state until the resurrection. It will seem but a moment from the time they closed their eyes in death, until they come forth from their graves, even though it may have been thousands of years. When righteous Abel began the sleep of death, the moment Cain crushed his head with a rock almost six thousand years ago, when he comes up in the resurrection at Jesus’ second coming, it will seem to him as but a moment in time.

Now it’s time to deal with the parable that many Christians try to use to prove there is a hell fire burning now and that people go to heaven at death. That parable of course is regarding the rich man and Lazarus. Understand of course what a parable is and what the purpose is. A parable is a short story that teaches some truth with a moral lesson to be learned. Now let’s put this parable under the microscope.

     In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Christ shows that in this life men decide their eternal destiny. During probationary time the grace of God is offered to every soul. But if men waste their opportunities in self-pleasing, they cut themselves off from everlasting life. No after probation will be granted them. By their own choice they have fixed an impassable gulf between them and their God.  

     This parable draws a contrast between the rich who have not made God their dependence, and the poor who have made God their dependence. Christ shows that the time is coming when the position of the two classes will be reversed. Those who are poor in this world's goods, yet who trust in God and are patient in their suffering, will one day be exalted above those who now hold the highest positions the world can give but who have not surrendered their life to God.  

     "There was a certain rich man," Christ said, "which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table."  Luke 16:19-21

     The rich man did not belong to the class represented by the unjust judge in another parable, who openly declared his disregard for God and man. The rich man claimed to be a son of Abraham. He did not treat the beggar with violence or require him to go away because the sight of him was disagreeable. If the poor, loathsome specimen of humanity could be comforted by beholding him as he entered his gates, the rich man was willing that he should remain. But he was selfishly indifferent to the needs of his suffering brother.
  
     There were then no hospitals in which the sick might be cared for. The suffering and needy were brought to the notice of those to whom the Lord had entrusted wealth, that they might receive help and sympathy. Thus it was with the beggar and the rich man. Lazarus was in great need of help; for he was without friends, home, money, or food. Yet he was allowed to remain in this condition day after day, while the wealthy nobleman had every want supplied. The one who was abundantly able to relieve the sufferings of his fellow creature, lived to himself, as many live today. 
 
     There are today close beside us many who are hungry, naked, and homeless. A neglect to impart of our means to these needy, suffering ones places upon us a burden of guilt which we shall one day fear to meet. All covetousness is condemned as idolatry. All selfish indulgence is an offense in God's sight.  

     God had made the rich man a steward of His means, and it was his duty to attend to just such cases as that of the beggar. The command had been given, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deut. 6:5); and "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Lev. 19:18). The rich man was a Jew, and he was acquainted with the command of God. But he forgot that he was accountable for the use of his entrusted means and capabilities. The Lord's blessings rested upon him abundantly, but he employed them selfishly, to honor himself, not his Maker. In proportion to his abundance was his obligation to use his gifts for the uplifting of humanity. This was the Lord's command, but the rich man had no thought of his obligation to God. He lent money, and took interest for what he loaned; but he returned no interest for what God had lent him. He had knowledge and talents, but did not improve them. Forgetful of his accountability to God, he devoted all his powers to pleasure. Everything with which he was surrounded, his round of amusements, the praise and flattery of his friends, ministered to his selfish enjoyment. So engrossed was he in the society of his friends that he lost all sense of his responsibility to co-operate with God in His ministry of mercy. He had opportunity to understand the word of God, and to practice its teachings; but the pleasure-loving society he chose so occupied his time that he forgot the God of eternity.  

     The time came when a change took place in the condition of the two men. The poor man had suffered day by day, but he had patiently and quietly endured. In the course of time he died and was buried. There was no one to mourn for him; but by his patience in suffering he had witnessed for Christ, he had endured the test of his faith, and at his death he is represented as being carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.

Now keep in mind, Jesus is not intentionally teaching something new about death, that goes contrary to all that we have studied in the last three weeks, no Jesus is giving a parable with a specific lesson for those Pharisees that actually believed the lie that when you died you immediately went to Abraham’s bosom. So Jesus was using what they believed to teach them an important truth about themselves. Let’s go on now.     

     Lazarus represents the suffering poor who believe in Christ. When the trumpet sounds and all that are in the graves hear Christ's voice and come forth, they will receive their reward; for their faith in God was not a mere theory, but a reality. 
Well time is up for this week. Next week we will continue our study of “The Rich Man and Lazarus and What Happens to Us at Death” – Part 4
If you would like to worship with seventh day Sabbath-keepers, come to the Victory Everlasting Gospel Church at our new location at the Hampton Inn Conference suite in South Hill, VA at the exit 12 interchange of Interstate 85. We meet at 9:30 am each Saturday the Lord’s Day and will be meeting there until out new building has been completed. Look, if you have been listening to these broadcasts for any length of time, you know Saturday is God’s Sabbath and He’s calling you to start keeping it holy. Why not begin this week?
Until next week, Jesus said in John 5:39, “Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me”. Even so, come Lord Jesus.