The truth is, if we wish to live apart from God during our time on earth, He will grant us our wish for eternity as well. He who has the Son has life he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11-12). “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26 Mark 8:36). Perhaps the greatest lesson to learn from this story, then, is that when death comes knocking on our door there is only one thing that matters: our relationship with Jesus Christ. Our earthly sojourn is exceedingly brief. The Bible says our earthly lives are a “mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14). Furthermore, knowing Scripture helps us to understand that God’s children, like Lazarus, can suffer while on this earth-suffering is one of the many tragic consequences of living in a sinful and fallen world. The Holy Spirit’s residence in our hearts will most certainly impact how we live and what we do.Ībraham’s words in verses 29 and 31 referring to “Moses and the Prophets” (Scripture) confirms that understanding the revealed Word of God has the power to turn unbelief into faith (Hebrews 4:12 James 1:18 1 Peter 1:23). Christians are known by the fruit they bear. In fact, those who show mercy to the poor are in effect ministering to Christ personally (Matthew 25:35-40). God loves the poor and is offended when His children neglect them (Proverbs 17:5 22:9, 22-23 29:7 31:8-9). True followers of Christ will not be indifferent to the plight of the poor like the rich man in this story was. It is certainly not impossible for the very rich to enter heaven (many heroes of the Bible were wealthy), but Scripture is clear that it is very hard (Matthew 19:23-24 Mark 10:23-25 Luke 18:24-25). Not only do riches not get one into heaven, but they have the power to separate a person from God in a way that few other things can. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter” (James 5:5). Yet, as the apostle James exhorted, “You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. Likewise, he believed the poor and destitute, like Lazarus, were cursed by God. Like many these days who buy into the “prosperity gospel,” the rich man wrongly saw his material riches as evidence of God’s love and blessing. Those in hell will perfectly recollect missed opportunities and their rejection of the gospel. He was eternally separated from God, and Abraham made it clear to him that there was no hope of ever mitigating his pain, suffering, or sorrow. That’s why his requests were merely to be comforted and to have a warning sent to his brothers. Notice the rich man didn’t ask for his brothers to pray for his release from some purgatorial middle ground, thereby expediting his journey to heaven.

When unbelievers die, they are just as immediately in the conscious pain, suffering, and torment of hell.

When believers die, they are immediately in the conscious fellowship and joys of heaven. The transition to our eternal state takes place the moment we die (2 Corinthians 5:8 Luke 23:43 Philippians 1:23). This story also illustrates that once we cross the eternal horizon, that’s it. Like the rich man in the story, multitudes today are complacent in their conviction that all is well with their soul, and many will hear our Savior tell them otherwise when they die (Matthew 7:23). The Bible is clear that every person who has ever lived will spend eternity in either heaven or hell. Yet Christ spoke about hell a great deal, as did Paul, Peter, John, Jude, and the writer of Hebrews. Some even teach “universalism” – the belief that everyone goes to heaven. Sadly, many preachers shy away from uncomfortable topics such as hell. Parable or not, however, there is much we can learn from this passage:įirst of all, Jesus teaches here that heaven and hell are both real, literal places. There is some question as to whether this story is a true, real-life account or a parable, since two of its characters are named (making it unique among parables).

Bible story about lazarus