Street Meeting Twelfth

We have two texts set before us this Lord’s Day. The first, found in the opening thirteen verses of the sixteenth chapter of Saint Luke, is a word intended for the sheepfold alone. The second, found in the verses that follow—from the nineteenth to the thirty-first—is a message directed both to the sheep within the fold and to the public gathered without. 

Luke 16:1-13 The Parable of the Deceitful Steward

The first was given to the sheepfold as a solemn reminder that the Christian religion is a practical thing. It is not enough to offer God our worship in the spirit; we must show the reality of that worship in a tangible way to those who bear His image. In like manner, God did not merely declare His love from the heavens; He demonstrated that love toward us by the giving of His own Son. It is in this very act of giving—of pouring ourselves out for the sake of others—that we truly mirror the Lord Jesus, making His grace wonderful and visible to a world unfamiliar to such kindness. The true proof that we love the God we cannot see is found in the kind and humble service we render to the neighbor we see every day.

As we sat together sharing a meal as one body, giving God thanks for allowing us this sweet time of fellowship, we read that difficult word in the sixteenth chapter of Luke—the account of the Unjust Steward. I confess that for a long time, I had questions with this story. Why should our Lord offer praise to a man so deceiving? He was caught in his sin and stripped of his office, yet even then, he used his very dishonesty to secure his impending unemployment. Oh, what a mercy it is to finally behold the beauty and wisdom of our Lord in this great and purposeful lesson! We ourselves are the stewards who have, time and again, been unfaithful with the riches entrusted to our care. We have squandered our time, our money, and our opportunities, acting as though they were our own, when in truth we must shortly lay down our stewardship and give a strict account to the Master. When we leave our post upon this earth, we shall surrender every earthly thing; we take nothing to the Judgment Seat of Christ but the record of our stewardship. Therefore, we are called to use whatever earthly goods our God has entrusted to our care, and to employ them wholly for the advancement of His Kingdom’s cause. As citizens of a better country—even a heavenly one—we ought to be every bit as diligent in the business of Heaven as the men of this world are in the pursuit of their worldly gains.

These precious lessons were not given to amuse our minds with the mysteries of the Divine, but for a far higher end: to stir our sluggish spirits to our Christian duties—with great urgency! It is to put our so-called love into action, for charity is an active thing; it remains but a hollow word until our deeds give it a living meaning. Throughout the Holy Scriptures, we are exhorted to do 'good work' as unto the Lord Himself, and not merely for the eyes of men (Col 3:23). Now this plainly teaches that we cannot earn a living for our souls through any labor for this world; nor, indeed, can we do anything of true purpose for our eternal welfare by any power or ability of our own. 

I shall not recount here every mercy the Lord has shown the saints concerning that beautiful parable; instead, let us proceed to the second part of our message. While our beloved brethren also have their portion in these words, this message is directed most especially to the people gathered without—those who stand outside the fold.

Luke 16:19-31 The Rich Man & Lazarus

Eternity, we see here, answers back to our conduct in this present world. There is no sin in being rich, nor is there any crime in wearing fine raiment, nor in sitting down to a well-spread table every day. Wealth in itself is no transgression. The sin lies here: in a heart that is locked against the needs of others—in a life that cares for nothing but its own comfort and ease.

Death is the great equalizer of all men, whether they be rich or poor, famous or forgotten. There is a casket prepared, and upon it is written your name; and into that narrow bed you shall one day descend. Not one of us is exempt from this solemn appointment. The beggar lived miserably every day, his body diseased and immovable, he was unable to care for himself. He longed only for the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table, yet even these were denied him. The very dogs showed greater mercy than the master of the house, for they came and licked his sores, offering the only comfort he received.

The true adversary of Christian love is not found in the bitterness of hate, but rather, in apathy. It is the silencing of the spirit’s whisper; an indifference that neither weeps with the afflicted nor rejoices in the Light. Where Love is a burning hearth and Hate a consuming fire, apathy is but the grey ash of a soul that is numb to the pulse of its Maker or cares nothing for the needs of its neighbor.

Though the rich man knew the beggar by name, he cared nothing for him. At last, both men died. The rich man was given every earthly honor—a decent grave and perhaps a fine procession attended by relatives and friends—but the poor man received no notice from the world at all. It may be that his earthly rest is a hole in the ground. Yet, he received the far greater honor from Heaven: he was carried by the angels into his eternal rest.

Here we behold a startling change: the misery of the beggar is now the lot of the once wealthy man, while the comfort of eternal rest is given to the one who was once poor (Luke 16:23). We hear the once rich man pleading for Lazarus by name, begging from him kindness for a single drop of water to cool his parched tongue, as he is tormented in the flame. But his request is denied. It is the very same denial of kindness he once showed to the poor man who asked only for crumbs. Such is the righteous justice of God—we will reap, most deservedly, exactly what we have sown. In hell, no request is given heed. Everything is totally denied.

It is only natural for a man who is a stranger to the grace of God to think as this rich man did. Only a fool would imagine that God owes him another day of life, and we are surrounded by such people every hour. How gracious of our God to warn us before we perish! He reminds us that once we find ourselves on the dark side of that great gulf, no amount of pleading can ever change our eternal state (Matthew 25:46). Let it be known: Hell has but one entrance, and it has no exits (Revelation 14:11).

This story also flies in the face of the Papists, who insist upon that fabled place they call Purgatory. It is a vain thing to dispute over names—whether the place be called Hades, or Gehenna, or Hell, or Tartarus—for in all of Holy Scripture, there is no record whatsoever of a single soul escaping that prison once they have entered. The Word of God speaks of no middle ground, no second chance, and no cleansing fire after death. There is but the comfort of the bosom of Abraham or the torment of the flame, and between them, a great gulf fixed that no man may cross. When the silver cord is loosed, the soul’s destination is sealed forever. (Hebrews 9:27)

Here we behold a strange thing: it is the dead who is pleading for the living. This stands as a direct rebuke to the vanity of those who claim we can pray for the departed to find comfort, or that a soul who dies a stranger to Christ can yet enter into His grace through the prayers of those left behind. Such claims find no footing in the Word of God; they are but the foolish inventions of men who would rather trust in a concocted fable than heed the truth of Scripture. (The Roman Catholic church practices praying for the souls in purgatory, a state of final purification before entering heaven. Prayers and Masses offered by the living are believed to assist these souls in their journey to heaven. It is anathema in their teaching, Council of Trent, Canon 9, to believe that anyone can be saved solely through faith in Christ alone. The Mormon church practices ordinances in temples, such as baptism for the dead, wherein a deceased person can accept or reject the opportunity to become Christian in the afterlife - in direct contradiction to Psalm 49:7 and Hebrews 9:27)

Now, let the truth be applied to every hearer: your own kindred, who have passed before you into eternity, are at this very moment pleading that you might never arrive in that dark place of woe. Abraham reasoned with a cold but holy truth: 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' The rich man knew his five brothers only too well, just as your departed loved ones know you—they know that without a change of heart, you will not believe. Do not be so foolishly proud as this rich man, who remains a captive to his pride even in the depths of Hell. He imagines that the glorious Gospel of Christ is not enough, and that a man requires some great, startling proof before he will believe. He looks for signs and wonders, while God offers His Word. Let us all beware of this spirit. It is the height of arrogance to tell the Almighty that His message is insufficient to save. If you will not bow to the truth of the Scriptures, no ghost rising from the grave will ever convince your stubborn heart.

Hear me plainly: to believe unto salvation does not depend upon great proof or a clever mind, but entirely upon the grace of Almighty God (Exodus 33:19, Romans 9:15-16). This grace is freely offered to every soul who will ask in true humility (Acts 16:31, Romans 10:9). We must come to see (Luke 15:17) that we cannot, by any effort of our own, work for our own deliverance, in the same way a corpse cannot desire, much less work by itself, to attain life. Salvation cannot be found within our own breast; it must come from outside of us. It can come only from God (Joel 2:32). It is a gift God offers to whoever the Son gives it to (Matthew 11:27, Ephesians 2:8-9).

This parable was aimed directly at the Pharisees, who mocked our Lord for His words against worldliness. Let us pause here and take heed, so as not to be deceived: the abundance of this world’s goods is no certain token of the Lord’s favor, even as poverty is no sure evidence of a soul’s sanctification. These outward conditions are but the trifles by which we, in our fallen state, judge according to sight; yet the all-seeing Shepherd peereth into the most secret chambers of the inward man. He searcheth those hidden recesses of the heart which remain veiled even from our own understanding, discerning there, in plain view, the true measure of our character. A man may live a life of ease, surrounded by every luxury, and yet perish under the wrath of God. Physical pleasures are like a thirst that grows the more it is quenched; they deceive the natural man into feeding his lusts until he is consumed by them. It is a perilous thing to indulge our natural inclinations, for the heart of man is a bottomless well—it is never, ever satisfied.

For the space of an hour, I pleaded with the souls gathered there, laying these truths upon their consciences. The Lord, in His goodness, brought forth a crowd who listened through the whole of the message, though some few more still joined our company as the hour grew late. Our one cry was that the Lord might enable us to lift up His holy Name, and He most graciously answered our prayer. Among the listeners was a couple of the Baptist persuasion, with whom our brethren shared greetings, even as they spoke with others in the gathering. 

Thus we bring to a close this twelfth street meeting, at the opening of this year of our Lord. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.