Luke
16:31, "And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."
This
morning, we live in a "not good enough" world. Economically, people's
financial situation is never good enough as they always want more.
Socially, people complain about things not being good enough with their
spouse, children, friends, etc. Politically, those in offices of
authority over us do not ever measure up to either expectations or their
own promises. Sadly, these ideas of culture spill over into church
thinking. Today, people in church desire the "good old days" when
preachers preached a certain way, buildings had more attendants than
they do today, and meetings seemed "more spiritual." While there are
generally kernels of truth in most of these thoughts - politicians could
do a better job, our relationships with family and friends could be
improved, and churches could certainly be more vibrant than we are at
times - that does not excuse or justify that we fail to follow the
injunction from Scripture to have godliness and be content. (I Timothy
6:6) However, a prevailing mindset with some today about God, His
church, His Book, and spiritual matters in general is seen from the lens
of the "not good enough" viewpoint.
Our
study verse is found at the end of Christ's discourse on the rich man
and Lazarus. Since it is not our point of the study today to examine
this story in detail, we suffice to say that this account reads like a
literal account of two real men that lived and died. Christ shows not
only their life on earth but the end result in eternity: one is in
heaven and the other in hell. Before moving to our thought of the day,
should one read this as a figurative story that is not talking about two
real people, consider that such a premise still does not change the fact
that Christ's parables are never based in imagination. Whether He is
talking about a sower of seeds, net with fish, labourers in a field,
etc., He always takes real situations to teach His points. So, should
this story not be about two real men, we have every Scriptural precedent
and pattern to believe that His description of the afterlife is nothing
short of a real situation that will be experienced just as He laid it
out. People will really live in the comfort, peace, and love of
Abraham's bosom (heaven), while others will really and truly experience
the flames and torments of punishment (hell).
Leading
up to our verse, the rich men begs Abraham to send Lazarus back to earth
to warn his brethren to "save themselves" from coming to the awful place
he now inhabits. Abraham's response to him is that they have the law
and the prophets. Let your brethren hear them. When the rich man makes
a second plea, he exposes the faulty logic that our study verse will
then address. His logic is that the law and the prophets are not good
enough. One coming back from the dead will be good enough to accomplish
this - he thinks. In our verse, Abraham informs the rich man that if
what he thinks is not good enough will not work, what he thinks is good
enough will not work or be good enough either.
While
the rich man's thoughts come from a non-elect suffering the flames of
hell, his mentality is not regulated to the wicked unregenerate man.
All of us - even post-regeneration - carry the vestiges of the depraved
old man that lead to this kind of faulty and unreasonable thinking.
Whenever we get in the "not good enough" mindset, we fall prey to not
being able to see things honestly and clearly. Have you heard people
today, even professed Christians, make the claim that the Bible is not
good enough? Just having the written word of God to go by is not
sufficient for them? They follow after people that talk about dreams,
visions, revelations, etc. More than anything, they seem much like the
mob on Mars' Hill that wanted to hear something new.
These
people oftentimes will make the claim that if they saw some great sign
like the Bible talks about, they would be amazed and follow it
wholeheartedly. Truly, they would declare that if someone came back
from the dead, they would believe. If they had seen Lazarus come back
in John 11 from the dead, they would rejoice and accept the message.
However, that mindset of thinking is never permanent. People who follow
after amazement and emotional tickling never perpetually follow what
they rejoiced in for a season. Permanence comes from something that we
follow for reasons other than those. Whenever people's "amazement and
'Wow!' meter" is ramped up, they expect it to stay that way, and when it
goes back down, they look for other ways to ramp it up again. Maybe a
resurrection today is seemingly good enough, but does that heightened
sense of emotion content for tomorrow or the next day?
What
did our examples do? Paul tells us in I Corinthians 10 that the
children of Israel in Moses' day were an example for us not to follow.
They saw repeated signs, miracles, and wonders, but after the
"Wow-o-meter" went down, they quickly forgot the glory and majesty of
the experience. Things became not good enough anymore. Are we any
different today? The Lord blesses repeatedly, and sometimes we stand
back in wonder at the gracious kindness of the Master. Then, things are
never good enough anymore. Eventually, it takes more and more to even
impress us anymore. So, how do we take Abraham's words to the rich man
and see that what we have is sufficient for our present needs?
Obviously, the rich man also had faulty logic in thinking that his
brethren could do something to save themselves from hell, as the
salvation from hell is accomplished by Christ wholly apart from human
aid or action. However, passing over that point, Abraham's statement is
applicable generally to all today. If someone refuses to hear the law
and the prophets, they will not hear one though he came back from the
dead. Why? When people refuse to accept Biblical testimony (law and
prophets included), why does that insufficiency immediately condemn the
sufficiency of a literal resurrection?
Considering the testimony of a resurrected person, that testimony will
only be believed if one truly believes their circumstance. In other
words, do they really believe he was dead? Do they really believe that
he has been resurrected? What evidence would it take for them to accept
it? Seeing him come out of the grave? There has to be some measurable
amount of faith (confidence) that his case is true for one to accept his
testimony. To believe the man's case takes some amount of faith. To
believe Biblical testimony, it takes faith to see and accept the
evidence that these accounts within the pages are verily real and
infallible. It takes faith to perceive that references to the dead
rising are in fact real. It takes faith to perceive that the story of
Jesus Christ - as testified and prophesied by the law and the prophets
(Romans 3:21-22) - is verily a true story about His majesty, greatness,
and power.
To draw
the two points together, the heart and soul of the law and the prophets
is a testimony of Jesus Christ. The heart and soul of His course here
on earth for us centers on His literal and bodily resurrection. Paul
staked his gospel message on the testimony of the Scriptures of the
death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. (I Corinthians 15:1-3)
The testimony of Scriptures are hinged upon the reality of Christ's
resurrection. Without that, the whole story is not worth anything.
Everything in Scripture points to that blessed event and takes from that
a forward looking glance to the final resurrection of the family of God
to righteousness and joy and the wicked to everlasting punishment. If
someone denies that testimony, they are - in fact - denying the power,
reality, and manifestation of the resurrection of the dead. So, why
would they believe another testimony about the same thing? Point of
fact, as Abraham declares, they would not, nor do many today.
Friends, we live in a world that is never satisfied, never content, and
will never be in peace. Since there will never be a utopia on this
earth, may we seek to live contented lives looking forward to complete
satisfaction in the world to come. Do we have all we need? Positively
and certifiably we do. The evidence of our sufficiency is found within
the cover of the Book we call the Bible that tells of One who conquered
over death, hell, and the grave for us. Because He triumphed, we
triumphed with Him and through Him. We do not need the testimony of
anyone else as we have His. We should not be looking for something new,
as the same old story grants all the necessary information to live
contented lives walking and talking with the Saviour. Instead of
saying, "Things just aren't good enough," may we instead declare, "Thank
God that things are not only good enough but greater than anything we
could possibly ask or think."
In Hope
Bro Philip |