The Rich Man and Lazarus

Dr. Michael Youssef: Today we're going to hear from the lips of Jesus himself an answer to the question, what happens a moment after we die? What happens to the believer and the non-believers? What happens a moment after we die?
Guest (Male): Dr. Michael Youssef is reflecting on the content ahead on today's Leading the Way audio. And we thank you for joining listeners across six continents for this life-changing teaching. Ever since time began, people have watched those moments that their loved ones draw their final breath and they've thought, what are they seeing now? What are they doing now? What's happening now? Please accept Dr. Youssef's invitation to hear what Jesus said. This is a look at the truth and comfort in Jesus's words about death and eternity as Dr. Michael Youssef continues his series called Enduring Wisdom. Listen with me as Dr. Michael Youssef begins his insightful Leading the Way.
Dr. Michael Youssef: In Luke chapter 16 beginning at verse 19 there's several very important things that I believe with all my heart the Lord would teach everyone of us whether you are a young person, old person, it doesn't matter. But the first thing I want to tell you is that there are some people who mistakenly think that this man ended up in that region of Hades where there's suffering is because he was rich. It could not be further from the truth. You see the man did not end up there because he was rich, because the the whole Bible from cover to cover never condemns riches. In fact, the only ones who do are the communists and the socialists. Abraham the man of faith, the father of faith was exceedingly wealthy. Joseph of Arimathea whose brand new tomb that buried Jesus for just for the weekend. He was exceedingly wealthy man. And I can go on and on and on, but you get the point. But what took this man to this miserable region of Hades and I'm going to explain to you the difference is because of his greed. It was his selfishness. It was his self-centeredness. It was his self-worship. It was for caring only for himself and nobody else. Look at the text with me. Story of two people who ended up in two different eternal destinations. One lived for self and the other one lived for God. One worshipped self, the other one worshipped God. Remember Jesus is telling this story before his own death and resurrection because I'm going to explain to you what had taken place since then. He was telling this story, the true story, actual event before his death and resurrection. He hadn't gone to the cross yet. Why am I saying this? Because in the Old Testament the Old Testament believers who looked forward by faith to the coming of their Messiah started with Abraham 2,000 years before Christ. And Jesus said Abraham saw my day and rejoiced. You see everyone after Abraham and you see it throughout the prophets in Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Isaiah particularly they looked forward to the coming of the Messiah. They anticipated the coming of the Messiah and they saw it through the eyes of faith. And so there were two regions of Hades, two regions. They were separated, but they could communicate with each other. One region was called the bosom of Abraham. It's really a Hebrew word of can saying fellowship, intimacy with Abraham. They were close to Abraham. Why? Because Abraham is the first to see by faith the coming of the Messiah, the redeemer of the world, the redeemer of Israel. The other region of Hades was a place of torment and suffering. Now don't miss this. Please don't miss this. Both men were fully conscious after death. The non-believer was conscious of his own region of Hades where there is unbelievable, incredible, unbearable suffering. He had memories. He was able to speak. He was experiencing pain. Lazarus also had memories. He was able to speak. But he was experiencing joy in the so-called bosom of Abraham. Look at verse 24. This self-centered self-worshipping man said father Abraham, he could call him father Abraham because obviously he's Jewish. You see all Jews looked to Abraham as a father. But not all Jews were saved not anymore than all the so-called Christians are saved. Father Abraham have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and cool my tongue because I am in agony. Beloved, the Bible makes it very clear from 1 Corinthians 15:54, 2 Corinthians 5:2 and 3 is that for the believers as soon as I go to heaven the moment they close their eyes in death they are closed in a glorified body the moment they reach heaven. Our souls are not going to be floating around in heaven. Did you get that? When John the Revelator was privileged to be taking into heaven he did not see souls floating around. He saw real people real people in glorified bodies. As for Lazarus he was in that blessed place where all of the Old Testament saints were at the bosom of Abraham or the company of Abraham. All those who have shared the faith of Abraham in anticipating the coming of Jesus before Jesus came they'd been with Abraham. That's why Jesus said they're going to come from the East and the West and they're going to be coming from Africa, from Asia, from South America, from North America. They're going to come from all over the world and they're going to be with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But those who are the physical descendant of Abraham who have rejected the faith of Abraham they're going to make it. After the resurrection of Jesus Christ the apostle Peter in his epistles tells us that Jesus went to Hades. He went to Hades and there he declared his lordship. He declared his victory over death to those Old Testament saints who were in that region of Hades who were waiting and anticipating patiently. He came and declared his lordship. He came and declared his resurrection to all of these Old Testament saints and he took them from that region of Hades and opened paradise for them. Amen. And ever since then every new Testament saint, every person who died died in Christ have been with them in paradise. From that time on second thing I want to tell you is this. Both destination are irrevocably fixed. They're irrevocably fixed. Verse 26 Abraham said we have a great chasm between us and it's been fixed. We can't cross to you and you can't cross to us. Now there are some people beloved who have convinced themselves is when they think with their emotions and their feelings instead of the facts. As somebody said facts are stubborn things. But they don't want to think with facts. They don't want to be bothered. They don't want to be confused with the facts. So they convince themselves that somehow if they end up in the place of torment God is going to feel sorry for them and he's going to take them to the other side. None of that is here. Others think that they're so good. They're so good without God. They are so good without Jesus. Even they rejected Jesus, but they're so good that God obligates himself to put them in heaven. The greatest news of all, beloved friends, the greatest news of all in this story is the unspeakable joy that awaits the believers immediately as soon as they die. Please listen to me carefully. There is no waiting place. There is no waiting place. There is no purgatory. It's not anywhere in the scripture. There is no soul sleep. The second you close your eyes in death if you are in Christ you are immediately looking at Jesus's face. In fact, that's exactly what Jesus said to the repentant sinner on the cross next to him. He didn't say you know in the by and by when your soul go to sleep and then wake up. No, no, I said today. Today you're going to be with me in paradise. And the reason the Bible calls the believer's death sleep it's really more of a semantic way of expression because like deep sleep it's restorative. It's restorative. Like sleep it is temporary because we close our eyes here, we open them up in heaven. A sleep is saying goodbye to the physical pain we're experiencing and this life. Please hear me right. I'm going to hammer at this point. I'm going to hammer at it because I know some of you have come from traditions and from churches that taught soul sleep that the soul goes to sleep until the resurrection day. And all of that built on one thing from Thessalonians where Paul said that they'd will rise first. But they don't understand that in the next breath Paul said they're going to come with Jesus in the clouds. I mean to the last they resurrected. They're not going to go in the grounds, they're going to the cemetery is going to you know shake up and they're going to come out of the No, no, no, no, no, they already gone to heaven. How many of you remember the story of the transfiguration? Jesus takes three of his disciples and they go up probably Mount Hermon the highest mountain out in northern Israel. And there Moses and Elijah representing the law and the prophets because in 1616 Luke 1616 Jesus said the law and the prophet were until John. From then on the kingdom of God is proclaimed. And so Moses and Elijah they there. I mean dear old Peter and he was so excited to see Moses and Elijah with Jesus and there is a cloud that's covering them and he said well let's stay here. We don't want to go back to the valley. Let's make tents. Let's permanently stay here. I mean he was so excited. He did not see two souls floating. No. He saw Moses and Elijah in glorified bodies. When Stephen, the very first Christian martyr in the book of Acts chapter 8 when he died they're stoning him and they're stoning him and finally he's about to die. What did he say? Oh my soul's going to sleep now. No. He saw Jesus standing up to receive him. And that's exactly why the apostle Paul could say Philippians 1:23 our desire to depart and be with Christ which by far is much better. Paul didn't say oh I long to die so I can get my soul asleep. He longed for death because he knew that it means instant transliteration it to instant and immediate presence in the presence of Christ. While Paul was torn I honestly God is my witness. I understand that feeling now. He was torn between wanting to go with be with Christ or stay and serve him here some more and take some more people to heaven. He made it very clear that to be in that glorified body in heaven hands down is much better. You see to Paul far from being terrified of death, far from being frightened of death, he was looking forward to it because it meant presence with Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:8 Paul spells it out when he said absence from the body immediate presence with the Lord. In Revelation 14:13 John said blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. From now on they will rest from their labor and their deeds follow them. Again 2 Corinthians chapter 5 Paul describes this body in which houses our soul because this body is not you. It's just a house. It's a a housing operation where the soul lives. What's inside of you, that's who you are. And Paul describes this body, this flesh and blood in which our soul dwells as a tent. Tent. Now what happens to a tent? A tent deteriorates. A tent sags. A tent gets tattered and eventually the tent collapses. Tents always remind us of the temporary nature of this earthly body, of this housing place in which our soul is. We are on a pilgrims, my beloved friends. We are traveling. We have a traveling plan and we are going home to be with Jesus. And that is why Jesus said in my father's house there are many mansions. Now God bless some people think that they're going to get 20,000 square feet of a palace. Yeah. 15 bedrooms, what do you do with all that? He's not talking about physical mansion. This is a reference to the glorified body that God has prepared for the soul of every believer in Jesus. The mansion is that glorified body that will be like Jesus's body after the resurrection. In the contrast between the tent and the mansion hands down I don't want a mansion. You see the earthly body is a tent compared to the glorified body which is like a mansion and I can't wait. And there's a third thing I want to share with you that Jesus wanted those who know him and love him to know about eternity. And that is self-awareness. Self-awareness. Let me repeat that. Self-awareness. This self-centered self-worshipping man, the nameless man, he was fully aware that he deserved to be where he ended up that he got what he deserved in that place of torment. He never complained. He never said well this is unfair. This is unjust. This is a raw deal. How can the loving God do that to me? No, no, no, no, no. You do that here. People do that all the time here. But when they get their heightened awareness they're not going to do this. They're not going to say that. They're going to know they got themselves into that place but their little selves. He knew that he got what he deserved and he ended up where he deserved. He had a heightened awareness of his sin and rebellion against God. He had a heightened awareness that he lived this life for self totally ignoring God and the needs of others. Who knows? He probably was one of those people who mocked the godly. Probably one of those people who fought godly and the Bible believing Jesus believing children. He probably attacked godly people and called them all kinds of names. You probably know those people who call them prejudiced and bigoted and and unloving and narrow-minded. By the way I love it when people call me narrow-minded because it's the absolute truth. I am guilty as charged. Jesus said only through the narrow way. I'm happy to be narrow-minded. And that is why he knew exactly that he belonged to that place of torment. But the one thing that always always gets to me here every time I read the passage in the scripture every time I read it and it is it is never stopped for many years. Every time I read the story the one thing it gets to me. He said this self-worshipping man was only in that place of torment for few seconds. And he became an evangelist. He became an not just witnessing, he became an evangelist. Look at verses 27, 28 and 29. Send Lazarus back from the dead. Send him to my family. Send him to my five brothers. When they see him risen from the dead they may believe and not come to this terrible painful agonizing place. Please don't miss what I'm going to tell you. Don't miss what I'm going to tell you. This self-centered self-worshipping man pleads with Abraham verse 30. If someone rises from the dead and go to my brothers they will repent and will come here. Here's a classic response from Abraham. Underline it in your Bible. I really can preach a whole sermon on that. Maybe more than one. Verse 31. Let me give you a use of translation. You have your Bible where you check on me. If I say I'm not going to do injustice to the text, but I'm going to give you a translation. If they do not listen and obey the word of God which they already have they already know even if someone rises from the dead they're not going to believe. You know we have preachers running around saying oh you know what ditch the Old Testament. Oh you don't like the story of Jonah just get rid of it. You don't like the story of Noah and the flood, get rid of it because only focus on the resurrection of Jesus. If they're not going to believe the Old Testament they're not going to be the resurrection of Jesus. It's all supernatural. It's all God. If they refuse to believe the Bible, if they refuse to believe the witnessing of their family and their friends, if they refuse to accept the invitation issued to them by preachers all over the place with radio, television, every corner of this nation even if Lazarus rises from the dead they will not believe. This man knew that the decision you make here and now in this life will impact your eternity. Of course with his state of heightened perception and understanding he becomes aware of the fact the relationship with God through Jesus Christ is everything. Don't miss this. Don't miss this. You can have everything in the world, but you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus said what can profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? We saw in the last message the necessity of scrutinizing every investment we make in life. Why? Because it impacts eternity. Here he's saying that your relationship with God through Jesus in this life will determine your eternity. So my beloved friends, how much more should we be concerned about where we're going to be spending our forever and ever and ever and ever? If you die today will you be in the presence of Jesus in that glorified body? And if your answer is I hope so then you need to come and pray with our pastors. Make sure you take care of that. If you have the slightest doubt make sure you don't leave this place without taking care of it. Can I get an amen?
Guest (Male): Talk further about the unspeakable joy available through Jesus with a Leading the Way pastor or counselor today. The place to start your conversation is ltw.org/jesus ltw.org/jesus You may have seen in your community how many people are leaning deeper into faith especially in these past few years. I mean we've all really had to. And it's so exciting for us to see the ways that God is using Leading the Way, meeting people with the gospel during these times in new expanding ways. In fact, recently a note was delivered to our international office that really deepened the faith and encouraged the Leading the Way team. So we want to share it with you because we hope that it encourages you as well just to hear how God is transforming lives. A man writes from Algeria. Words fail me as I try to express my gratitude for Dr. Michael Youssef and Leading the Way. You have been a source of spiritual nourishment and discipleship. I've been amazed to see the ways God has used Leading the Way to redeem the many years in my life that were eaten by locust while I sought everything but God. May God bless the work of your hands as you serve the lost souls of our world. Thank you Dr. Youssef for your obedience and your faithfulness to passionately teach God's word. Amen. And please pray for this man and for others who learn about Christ through Leading the Way. In addition to praying I hope that you'll consider partnering with Dr. Youssef so that many more people can experience the power and the redemption of the gospel. Now there are so many ways to stand with Dr. Youssef and Leading the Way. Some like to send a one-time gift. Others become frontline mission partners, monthly financial partners. Still other people add Leading the Way to their estate plan. We invite you to connect today, get information, become a part. 866 626 43 56 and online ltw.org ltw.org This program is brought to you by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. Connect further with audio and video content at ltw.org or through your favorite social media platform.