05/03/2017
THE ETERNAL IMPORTANCE OF A NEGLECTED MINISTRY
Luke 16:19-31
Christ reveals the great significance of the neglected ministry of the Word through the story of the rich man and Lazarus in the text. This account, through which Jesus reveals the reality of hell more than any other prophet or preacher in both testaments, is not a parable as He does not mention names in His parables. He describes vividly the perpetual, eternal suffering and damnation of all sinners after death. Deserving of our constant attention in the story is the revelation that, one, a man’s outward condition is no proof of his state in the sight of God; two, death is the common end to which all classes of people must come; three, the souls of believers are especially cared for by God in the hour of death; four, the unconverted immediately goes to hell at death; there is no purgatory or place of waiting or improvement; five, hell is as real, eternal and perpetual as heaven; six, in hell, there is perpetual and eternal fire, flame, torment, pain, suffering, sorrow, regret and remembrance; a place where there’s no water, peace, love, sympathy, relief, light, fun, excitement, joke, jesting, escape, ease or annihilation; and seven, the unconverted will suddenly realise the value of a soul after death. It was this realisation that made the rich man request from Abraham that Lazarus should be sent to the world to warn his sinful brethren of the danger of hell. “Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them” (Luke 16:29). His objection affirms the truth about God’s plan, purpose, pattern and project of appointing His ministers with the ministry of the Word (and not the testimony of those who died and rose again about hell or heaven) to save sinners. The reason is, their claims do not tell of the atoning blood of Jesus, conversion, repentance, holiness without which no man shall see the Lord and perseverance of the saints till the end. They have no doctrine at all but fables that cannot save. “And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead” (Luke 16:31). The Scripture’s mention of “Moses and the prophets” does not refer to them in person but their writings. Now, we have the totality of the word of God revealed by Moses, the prophets, Christ and the apostles. If we read and do everything instructed in the entire Scripture, heaven will be ours.
1. THE RECOGNITION OF MOSES AND THE PROPHETS
Luke 24:27,32,44-47; Acts 3:22-24,26; 26:20-23; 28:23,24,27; Galatians 3:24
Abraham’s directive that the five sinful brethren (representing all sinners) of the rich man should hear Moses and the prophets was for them to read their writings and be transformed to avoid going to hell. It is obvious that Moses and the prophets did not converge in any temple to minister to people as they lived in different centuries, separated by hundreds of years. Though they are gone, their writings are available for everyone to read and understand what it means and takes to get to heaven. Christ revealed Himself in the writings of Moses and the prophets after His resurrection. “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). He did not tell stories or mention names of people He saw in hell or heaven when He arose as some people who downplay the ministry of the Word do today; He simply preached from existing “scriptures” to bring conviction on His disciples about salvation and godly lifestyle of the heaven-bound. After affirming that “all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning [Him]... Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the SCRIPTURES” that “Thus it is WRITTEN, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem”. In fulfilment of Scriptures, Christ, the expected “Prophet”, has come to save from sin. All that the apostles preached was from the writings of Moses and the prophets. Reading and studying the Old Testament should drive us to repentance, conviction and prayer to have all the needed spiritual experiences. Moses and the prophets are not the Saviour; their writings only serve as the “schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24).
2. THE REDEMPTION THROUGH THE MERIT OF HIS PRIESTHOOD
Isaiah 55:6,7; Micah 7:18,19; Psalm 103:3,12; 19:12,13,7; 51:12,13; 32:1,2; Isaiah 63:8,16; Exodus 32:32,33; Psalm 69:28; 132:9,16; 51:10,11; Isaiah 6:7; Leviticus 20:7,8; Psalm 4:3,4; 84:11; 9:17; 73:24,25,26; Daniel 12:2,3; Luke 13:24-28
Old Testament believers obtained redemption by faith in the anticipated priesthood of Christ while New Testament believers obtain same by faith in His already accomplished sacrifice. Based on the writings of Moses and the prophets, Old Testament saints had (1) repentance and pardon; (2) forgiveness and freedom; (3) cleansing from sin; (4) conversion and salvation; (5) imputation of righteousness; (6) sonship or the privilege of becoming children of God; (7) their names were written in heaven; (8) righteousness; (9) the Spirit’s transformation; (10) purging and sanctification; (11) holiness and purity of heart by grace; and (12) preservation from hell and entry into heaven. Thus, God made sufficient provision for Old Testament saints to obtain genuine spiritual experiences the same way we obtain them today. With this great provision of redemption, Abraham directed that sinners should read the Scriptures and be redeemed on the merit of Christ’s priesthood. Christ preached that sinners in the New Testament dispensation who rejected His Word would be cast into hell while Old Testament people who were saved would be found in heaven because they knew about hell, how to obtain redemption and enter heaven, and obtained the requisite spiritual experiences.
3. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MINISTERS AND PREACHERS
2 Corinthians 5:11; Matthew 3:10,12; 13:40-42,49,50; 18:8,9; 25:41,46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 12:4,5; 17:28-30,32; Jude 7; Revelation 14:9-11; 20:10-15; 21:8; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20
“Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences” (2 Corinthians 5:11). The knowledge of judgment after death, that sinners who die in sin will spend eternity in the lake of fire brings a responsibility with it for us to warn them of the terror of the Lord that awaits them. Christ and John the Baptist firmly declared that there would be judgment at end of a sinful life and career. No one can be more gentle, tender, loving and compassionate than Christ who spoke about hell; refusal to speak the same truth about the eternal suffering of sinners in fire is not an expression of virtue but vice. So, we must tell our friends, families and well-wishers that sinners shall be “cast into hell fire ... everlasting fire ... everlasting punishment... the fire that never shall be quenched” according to the uniform testimony of Scripture; that “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” (Revelation 21:8).
Thus, we must preach the gospel, seek the lost, do the work of an evangelist, teach the Word and earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints, exhort and warn backsliders, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send more labourers into the harvest field, strengthen weak believers, warn the righteous, expose false prophets and the deceivers, rebuke compromisers and corrupters, turn many to righteousness and raise up a strong army of growing believers. As we declare the Word to rescue as many as we can, we must remain saved and steadfast because it is “he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” and rewarded on the final day.
GHS: 205, 162 & 208