“No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

Luke 16:13Mammon = “money” ESV

Luke 16:14-15Pharisees were lovers of moneyHighly esteemed among menAbomination in the sight of God

Parable - ???Real characters -Does not matter

AbrahamLazarusCertain rich man

Rich man Before Death

Luke 16:19 “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:”

Sumptuously = LuxuryUsed possessions for self

1 John 3:17 “But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?”

Proverbs 21:13 “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.”

James 4:17 “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

Lazarus Before Death

Luke 16:20 “And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,”

Luke 16:21 “And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.”

The Two Men In Death

Destinies were sealed Burial Did not cease to exist

• conscious• rational

Not their final abode• Lazarus - paradise• Rich man - hades

The Men After Death

They could remember

Lazarus comforted

Rich man in tormentSend LazarusSend him to my brothers

Refutes Many False Doctrines

Modernism = deny miracles - inspiration

Jesus endorsed Moses“They have Moses and the prophets”“If they hear not Moses and the prophets”

Jesus believed in Flood and creationMt. 24:37-39 “days of Noah”Mt. 19:4-6 “made them at the beginning”

Refutes Many False Doctrines

Christian Science = deny sin, sores, death and future punishment

Jesus tells us:Rich man sinnedRich man punished after deathLazarus

Had soresHungry

Refutes Many False Doctrines

SpiritualismDead can communicate with loved onesDead can come back to earthSaints care for ones in hell

Jesus teaches the oppositeRich man could not communicateRich man could not go back to earthLazarus could not help

Refutes Many False Doctrines

Souls SleepingUnconscious sleep waiting for resurrection

Rich man was conscious - knew he was in pain

Lazarus was conscious - was comforted

Abraham was conscious - could think / talk

Matthew 27:52-53

52. “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

53. And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”

Refutes Many False Doctrines

PurgatoryWicked can be releasedPrayers of dead are heard

Rich man could not escape

He could not change from Hades to Paradise

His prayers were not answered

Refutes Many False Doctrines

CalvinismDirect operation of Holy Spirit by miracles

God refused to work a miracle by sending Lazarus back to the brothers

Repentance is by the power of the wordLuke 16:31Rom. 1:16 - gospel is the powerJames 1:21 “engrafted word”

Refutes Many False Doctrines

Second Chance

Rich man was not offered a second chanceHe tried to get relief but failed

Judgment will be the way we are at deathHeb. 9:27

According to deeds - 2 Cor. 5:10

Refutes Many False Doctrines

Dead have lost their Identity

Rich man had not lost his identity

Lazarus had not lost his identity

Abraham had not lost his identity

Refutes Many False Doctrines

Can live in Wealth and Ease

Fate of the rich man is a warning

Matthew 16:26 “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Sermon by Arthur Pigman

Evans Church of Christ

515 Gibbs Road

Evans, Ga. 30809

706-855-1249

evanscoc@bellsouth.netevanscoc@bellsouth.net

www.evansgachurchofchrist.orgwww.evansgachurchofchrist.org

Sunday Morning Jan. 26, 2014