![]() ![]() Notice: less than 25% of this story is about life on earth. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us." And he said, "Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house-for I have five brothers-so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment." But Abraham said, "They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them." And he said, "No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent." He said to him, "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead." (Luke 16:19-31) And he called out, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame." But Abraham said, "Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. ![]() And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. During his lifetime the rich man saw the poor man suffering, yet he turned a blind eye and didn't lift a finger to help him. In our passage today he pictured a familiar scenario from everyday life in which two very different people have died, one of them is a very poor man, whereas the other is extremely rich. As a gifted teacher Christ captured people's attention by telling simple stories. Let's look at a parable in Luke 16 that Jesus used to teach a vital lesson about death. (We will revisit this in our conclusion.) Sadly, however, few people realize that Satan is the murderer from the beginning and he exploits our fear of death, using it to hold us in bondage all our lives. In fact, the Bible plainly states that God sent his Son into our world as a human so that he could “destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” (Hebrews 2:14-15) To say that humans fear death is a no-brainer, whether they admit it or not. The bottom line is: Fear of death, especially the second death, hell, is normal as we all know from personal experience. Obviously no one in their right mind wants to die although here in Canada euthanasia is now permitted. The simple truth is, fear of death is the elephant in the room, having strongly impacted lockdown policies and restrictions across Canada and throughout the world. ![]() In fact, a certain preacher who wrote Ecclesiastes said “A wise person thinks a lot about death.” (7:4, NLT) Indeed, the topic of death has been very much on people's minds since the COVID pandemic struck. However, the Bible has a lot to say about both. There is one topic that many people, even Christians don't like to talk about – death and even more so, hell. ![]()
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