LIFE AND WEALTH – HEAVEN AND HELL (LUKE 16:19-31)
Death awaits every living being on this earth and it is a fact that all created things have a beginning and an end. However, we live and are living our lives as if death will never come. Life is a going and coming and no one stays forever.
Death has nothing to do with age, social position, money, wealth, power, riches, education nor fame. Young or old, rich or poor, high or low, death takes everyone. Death can come at anytime and no one knows exactly when or how he or she may die.
Life is like a play on a stage in which we are all like actors playing our roles in this play but when the curtain is drawn our roles end and the play also ends. We shall be no more and new actors take our place.
Despite all this and strangely enough we forget all these realities of life. Why?
There is a deep sense of immortality in every living being and in every culture of this world and no one wants to die, everyone wants to live here on earth forever.
There are also several myths and stories in every culture of this world that point to the fact that there is life after death and that immortality can be attained.
Since the dawn of creation man has tried all possible means to prolong life and attain immortality but has always failed.
Based on the facts and experiences of life, I conclude that death is inevitable but after death what is your future? Where are you going and where will you be?
The choices we make in this life and the life we live based on these choices have a great and lasting effect on our life here on earth and will determine where we will go or where we will be after death.
Jesus Christ gives us the parable of a rich man and a poor beggar called Lazarus in
Luke 16:19-31 from which we can learn great lessons and apply them to our daily lives.
Let us turn to this passage of scripture.
All Bible commentaries on this passage of scripture concentrate on the key point of how we use our wealth in this life but I see many other lessons that come out of this passage which can be applied to our daily life and therefore cannot be overlooked.
1. OUR ATTITUDE TO WEALTH IS VITAL TO OUR FUTURE (Luke 16 : 19 -22)
The rich man is not condemned because he is rich but his attitude to his wealth and how he used his wealth for his own selfish desires neglecting the need of someone around him
(Lazarus) became a problem that led him to hell.
Money, wealth, and possessions are not condemned here by Jesus but the lesson here is that to hoard for one’s selfish purposes and neglect the needs of others around you is condemned.
The poor beggar is not approved because of his poverty but is approved because despite his circumstances he was neither bitter towards the rich man nor envious of his wealth. He trusted and believed in God.
Watch the choices you make in life, watch the way you live, and never forget that you will die one day and after death you have somewhere to go.
You are either heading for hell or heading for heaven.
2. HELL IS REAL AND HEAVEN IS REAL (Luke 16 :22-24)
Hell is a real place and not an imagination. Hell is a place of pain and torment. Jesus confirms this in this parable of the rich man and the poor beggar –Lazarus.
Hell means eternal separation from God – “He will punish those who do not know God and do not accept the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power” (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9).
Heaven is also a real place and not an imagination. Heaven is a place of everlasting joy and peace. Heaven is a place where we shall enjoy the everlasting presence of the Lord with all his saints. We shall never be separated from God.
(Revelations 21:3-4; 22:1-5)
The choice is yours to make and you can choose one of the following;
To choose the way of Jesus Christ by believing in Him and accepting Him as your Lord and Savior which will make you receive His free gift of eternal life.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. (John 3:16)
And Jesus promises perfect security to all who believe in Him -
“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand”. (John 10:28)
Or,
You can reject Jesus and face the wrath and condemnation of God –
“Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in name of God’s one and only Son.”
(John 3:18)
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on Him.”
(John 3:36)
The rich man made his choice and lived the way he lived and got what he deserved although God had given him the opportunity to live for him by given him the life and experiences of this world and all the scripture available for his correction.
2. THIS LIFE IS THE ONLY CHANCE (Luke 16:25-31)
Do not be deceived by some philosophies and teachings of this world that proclaim that when we die we shall come again and continue to come again and again until we are perfect. Some major religions of this world also teach this.
The Word of God (The Bible) clearly teaches that this teaching is false and that it is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment.
This life is your only chance and there will not be a second chance and we see this in this parable of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus. The rich man could do nothing for either himself or his brothers whom he has left behind. He had the Prophets and all the scriptures available to him but never made a choice to follow God and live for him.
The brothers he left behind are also not following God and living their own way and now he pleads for a message to be sent to them but that cannot be done.
Do not be like this rich man but make your decision now to follow Jesus Christ because it might be too late for you.
Know where you are going after death?
Pastor Nana Couffie