How many houses have you lived in during your lifetime? Have you ever counted up how many places you have been?
Last weekend we stayed with some old friends in Ft. Worth. The husband was a retired air force colonel. As we talked his wife brought out some pictures of the homes in which they had lived. There were homes in Texas and Oklahoma, New Mexico and California, Puerto Rico, England, Thailand, Germany – and then we didn't get any further. But I know they lived in other places, too, as he traveled about during his military career.
It got me thinking about the places where I've lived. To top it off, the next day I began reading the anniversary booklet that was put together at the church where I began my ministry. It listed the number of homes we had lived in during the time I was in Ft. Worth – 4 homes in 10 years. With the move to Missouri, 2 more homes can be added with a likely third one ahead. I thought back to the home where I was born in Cleveland, OH. From there we moved to Watertown, WI. When I was in high school we moved to another home as my boyhood home was eventually torn down. Then there were the schools I lived at – 1 in Minnesota and 4 in Wisconsin. I vicared a year in California, and lived overseas in a variety of places. Counting them I was shocked to see that in my lifetime I have lived in more than 17 different places. Time marches on; we move on, too. We're not in once place very long.
The Bible reminds us: “Here we have no enduring city (perhaps we could say: ‘no permanent address.') But we are looking for that which is to come” (Hb.13:14). Regarding the brevity of life it adds, “The length of our days is seventy, or eighty (years), if we have the strength; yet…they quickly pass, and we fly away.” Time marches on; we move on. None of us is here on earth very long. How true!
That's the reason, before God, that it is important for us to cultivate a sense of the brevity of life, the certainty of death, and an awareness of things that are eternal where houses and addresses don't change. What will happen to me when I move on from here? Where will I live when I die? And Where Will I Spend Eternity?
I. As I believe, so I will live in the present.
I wonder if the rich man in our text ever contemplated such questions during his life in the present . It doesn't seem like he had, or perhaps he didn't care, preferring to live in the moment and enjoy what he had. You see, he had it made, or so it seemed.
He was rich and it showed. His clothes were cut from the finest fabrics. His meals were culinary delights. Luxury ruled his day and he was most comfortable. But it all would soon be meaningless for the rich man was about to die and where he spent eternity became dependent upon how he had lived in the present .
He was a man of means, so he believed he should live life to the fullest, and his wealth enabled him to do just that. On earth we would say that he “lived high off the hog.” But such a life here soon ended with the horrors of hell. See where he let his riches and beliefs get him.
We know that God doesn't condemn people merely for being rich. This fellow didn't spend eternity in hell simply because he had too much income. If that were the case, how did Abraham get to heaven? During his time, he was one of the richest men on earth.
The problem isn't wealth. The problem is belief and one's attitude about wealth. For the rich man in Jesus' story, money wasn't a means to an end; it was the end in itself. Money was his god; living well was his goal in the present.
That belief system can be contagious. Without much trouble we could all sit back and imagine ourselves leading a life much easier than the ones we presently have. What would it be like to live a life of carefree luxury? The next step is to pursue it. Meanwhile, the real goal of life is rarely contemplated and seldom sought.
What is the goal of your life? What do you believe is important? It will determine where you spend eternity.
The goal of the Christian life is not to glorify self, but God. If God should grant us wealth, it, along with everything else becomes a tool for honoring Him and serving others in His kingdom here. Jesus once encouraged His disciples, “Use worldly wealth to gain friends for eternity so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings” (Lk.16:9).
He didn't mean by that that a person can buy his way into heaven. Oh, no. Heaven isn't for sale, neither is heaven earned. It's a gift God grants to those whose sin has been washed away in the blood of Christ through repentance and faith. And the reception of that gift starts right here on earth. Jesus once said, “Whoever hears my words and believes in the One who sent me has eternal
life” (Jn.5:24). Has eternal life already here, by faith.
Through faith in Jesus as our Savior, we Christians have already become fabulously wealthy – not the kind of earthly wealth this man in the story had, but the spiritual wealth that comes with sins forgiven and possession of an eternal home in heaven – all because of Jesus and faith in Him. Like the Bible says, He took on the nature of a servant and became obedient to death, even death on a cross so that “through His poverty we might become rich” – rich towards God (2 Cor.8:9).
That is a belief system that governs how we think and act towards things in the present; it establishes what is important to me, money or a Savior; and in the end it determines where I will spend eternity. As I believe, so I will live in the present. And…
II. As I live in the present, so I will die.
Our text continues: “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell he was in torment. He looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.”
In life the contrast was striking. Beyond the gate a rich man lived a life of privilege - well-fed, body draped in expensive robes. Just outside the gate lay a beggar, having an emaciated body covered with sores. His name was Lazarus; it means, “God is my help.” It's a fitting name, since it seemed that no one but God cared to help poor Lazarus. The doorstep of the rich man appeared to be a likely spot for help in the form of charity, but Lazarus never even got the leftovers. The dogs that roamed the streets show more regard for him than the wealthy man on the other side of the gate.
Some might even question whether God was helping Lazarus. This is justice? - the believer lies in the street starving while the unbeliever sits down to another sumptuous meal?
The prophet Jeremiah wondered about the same thing. He asked God, “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do the faithless live in ease?” (12:1) and the faithful suffer?
But appearances can be deceiving . As they lived in the present so they died. One with God; one apart from God.
If you had to choose between a brief life of poverty followed by an eternity in heaven, or a brief life of wealth, followed by an eternity in hell, which would you choose? Do I even have to ask the question?
Oh, don't be mistaken. It was not a life of poverty and pain that put Lazarus into God's heaven by Abraham's side. And it was not the wealth and the ease of the rich man that brought him God's condemnation in a very real and painful hell. The important difference between the two was not in their wallets, but in their hearts. Lazarus lived as a man poor in spirit. He knew He needed a Savior for help. He believed in the Lord Jesus for that help which He offers to all on the cross where He won our forgiveness and salvation. And from that moment on, Lazarus “crossed over from death to life” (Jn.5:24) to live at Abraham's side with Christ in heaven. But the rich man, having rejected Christ in life, lived without Him in death. As one lives in the present, so he will die.
III. And as I die, so I will remain forever.
Things do not change in the life beyond the grave, no matter how much a person pleads.
During his lifetime, the rich man had found it quite easy to get what he wanted. He snapped his fingers, and a servant ran to do his bidding. He issued an order; it was done. Now, after death, all of that changed.
The rich man requested only the smallest of favors: “Father Abraham,” he said, “have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in this fire.”
The rich man had requested the smallest of favors – “Let Lazarus put a drop of water my tongue” - but the request couldn't be granted – for two reasons. First, a great divide prevented passage between heaven and hell. Second, justice, divine justice was being served. The rich man was getting what he deserved for his life of unbelief in the present. The Bible says, “He that doesn't believe in the Lord Jesus, shall be condemned.” As one dies apart from God, so he remains apart from God forever.
What about Lazarus? Was he also getting what he deserved? No. Lazarus, too, was a sinner. He hadn't earned a place at the heavenly banquet just because he was poor and sick and put up with injustice here. Not at all! “God shows no favoritism.” He couldn't stand before God and demand, “Since I put up with so much on earth, you have to give me what I deserve - heaven.” No, Lazarus didn't deserve that. Christ earned it for him; and he believed it.
What Lazarus got was received purely out of mercy, God's
mercy that helped him, bringing him to faith in the Savior and granting him the blessings of forgiveness that the Savior won.. The rich man could have had the same. That's the sad part. But he had rejected eternal life in favor of worldly wealth and ease.
There will be a day of reckoning for all. Where Will You Spend Eternity for the truth is, you are not destined for this earth very long.
Christ has opened the door to heaven. By His life and death He has removed our guilt for sin forever. By faith in Him its blessings become ours. And now is the time to believe what the prophets and the apostles have told us about Him. Those words of theirs, which come from God, are powerful and enough to save us for “the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. It doesn't take a spectacular miracle to have faith. If that were the case, all those people who saw Jesus heal and raise the other Lazarus from the dead would be in heaven. But they refused to believe (Jn12:37). It doesn't take a miracle to convince someone. It takes the Word of God.
And for those who hear and believe it, no matter what their circumstance might be in this life, whether they are poor or rich, healthy or sick, important or unknowns, for whoever clings to the Lord Jesus in faith, a crown of life awaits. To them His promise rings true at the moment they leave this world: “Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise” – forever.
God grant that we each hold fast to the Savior in faith now for as I believe, so will I live in the present; and as I live in the present so will I die; and as I die, so I will remain forever. God grant heaven to us all through faith in the Lord Jesus as our Savior. Amen.