Thousands have asked for
the true explanation of ...
THE RICH MAN
Introduction: I grew up in the late 30s and early 40s on a hill farm in
Northeast Arkansas. My sister and I were terrified about the thought of burning
in Hell fire forever and ever. This is still being taught in many churches
today. I never could understand how a loving God could torture people in
something as cruel as "HELL-FIRE."
In 1955 I was given this booklet. It opened my eyes to the truth. I am
reproducing it, hoping that it will help others.
Tom Justus, Minister
Church of God, Sabbath Day
Springdale, Arkansas
June, 1996
Presented By: Church of God
Do SAVED mothers up in heaven see the writhing and hear the shrieks of their
own lost children down in hell?
STOP AND THINK! Would you really want to spend eternity in a heaven where you
would be forced to gaze constantly upon your own loved ones who were lost,
hearing them frantically screaming to you for help you would be unable to give,
gazing constantly upon their indescribable agony, as they, on fire, are
burning-burning to death-yet never really burning up? Would you be happy?
Yet that is exactly the kind of "heaven" that is being pictured by most of
the churches and the clergy! They rely more on Jesus' account of Lazarus and the
Rich Man than any other argument to support their teaching that the "saved" go
instantly, at death, to heaven while the lost leave their bodies and are plunged
into an ever-burning inferno of eternal torture.
Those who deny going to heaven or to hell at the instant of death have said
the account of Lazarus and the rich man was merely a parable. But the "immortal
soul" advocates insist this is not a parable! Jesus was stating facts that had
happened, they argue.
So let's pretend this was not a parable. Let's take it literally. Jesus
surely meant exactly what He said. But He did not say what is popularly
believed!
Jesus said, "There was a certain rich man." Then there really was a certain
rich man! Jesus said definitely that this particular rich man "was clothed in
purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day." He really lived in
luxury and splendour! (Luke 16:19.)
Also, Jesus said, "there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid
at his gate full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell
from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores." (Verses
20-21.)
Yes, there were many such beggars in Palestine when Jesus lived there.
What Happened?
Next Jesus described what happened to them."And it came to pass, that the
beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man
also died and was buried." (Verse 22.) They both died.
That is exactly what Jesus said. Now read that again. Did Jesus say the
beggar went to heaven?
He certainly did not! He said the beggar "was carried by the angels into
Abraham's bosom."
Now what is a "bosom"? If you can find what a "bosom" is, -and in this case
Abraham's bosom, you will know where the beggar was taken.
Look in your dictionary. A "bosom" is the breast of a human being, with the arms as an enclosure; a loving embrace by the arms of one person about another; an intimate relationship.
So Lazarus was carried into an intimate relationship with Abraham.
Lazarus here is pictured as a Gentile, who received salvation. Do Gentiles,
upon being converted and becoming Christ's, enter into any intimate relationship
to Abraham? They certainly do! To the Gentile born Galatians, the Scriptures
written by Paul say definitely: "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's
seed (children), and heirs according to the promise." (Gal. 3:29.)
Thru Christ they become the children of Abraham. Thru faith we all become
"the children of Abraham." (Gal. 3:7.) That is an intimate relationship with
Abraham. That is being taken into Abraham's bosom!
Now Abraham is an HEIR of God. God gave Abraham a PROMISE. Notice (Gal.
3:29), those who thru Christ become Abraham's children are heirs but heirs
according to the promise God made to Abraham!
Now what did God promise Abraham? To what promise was this beggar now an
heir? Did God promise Abraham and his children HEAVEN?
Let's not put any interpretation upon the sacred Word of God. No scripture is
of any private interpretation it is interpreted by other Scriptures. It ought
not to be interpreted by man.
To learn what God promised Abraham, we must turn back to Genesis 12.
"And Abram took Sarai his wife .... and they went forth to go into the land
of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. ...And the Eternal appeared
unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed I give THIS LAND." (Gen. 12:5-7.)
The land of Canaan is called PALESTINE today. It is on this earth, not up in
heaven. This beggar thru Christ became "Abraham's seed."-in the intimate
relationship of one of Abraham's children. Then God included this beggar when He
said, "Unto thy seed will I give THIS LAND."
Again, later, God promised Abraham: "For all the LAND which thou seest, to
thee will I give it, and to thy seed FOREVER." (Gen. 13:15.)
Again, still later: "In the same day the Eternal made a covenant with Abram,
saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the
great river, the river Euphrates." (Gen. 15:18.) Here God wrote into the
agreement, or the title to the property, the very boundary line of the property.
Of course the expression "thy seed" refers in particular to Christ, but since
this beggar was Christ's, he, also, was "Abraham's seed, and heir
according to the promise."
The PROMISE was not heaven. The promise was the LAND of Palestine, on this
earth. It was for ever, so the promise included eternal life, and eternal
inheritance. (Heb. 9:15.) The PROMISE then, was ETERNAL LIFE ON THIS EARTH!
Now notice an important point. The beggar was carried by the angels into
Abraham's BOSOM-that is, by Bible explanation, he became one of Abraham's
children, and therefore he became an HEIR to inherit the LAND ON THIS EARTH and
ETERNAL LIFE. He was not yet a possessor-not yet an inheritor-merely an HEIR!
The next question is, when was this beggar to inherit-to come into possession
of ETERNAL LIFE in THE PROMISED LAND? Jesus, in telling about Lazarus and the
rich man, did not cover that point. He only told what happened, not when. We
must find the answer, not in human imagination or the false teaching of man, but
IN THE BIBLE!
The son, who is heir to his father's property cannot come into possession of
it before his father inherits it. This beggar, carried into the intimate
relationship of a son of Abraham, could not inherit either eternal LIFE, or this
LAND, prior to the time his father Abraham receives these promises.
When, then, did Abraham actually receive these promises? The startling answer
of Scripture is-HE DIDN'T!-he has not, even yet in our day, inherited these
promises!
Scripture reveals the answer thru the inspired speech of the very first
Christian martyr, Stephen, who was stoned to death for these very words.
It is in Acts 7: "And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God
of glory appeared unto our Father Abraham ... and said unto him, Get thee out of
thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into THE LAND which I will show
thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans ... into this land, wherein
ye now dwell. (Palestine.) And He gave him none inheritance in it ... yet He
promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after
him." (Acts 7:1-5.)
Again this amazing fact is stated in the FAITH chapter-Hebrews 11: "By faith
Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive
for an inheritance, obeyed; ... By faith he sojourned in the LAND of promise, as
in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs
with him of the same promise: . . . These all died in faith, not having received
the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and
embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the
earth." (Heb. 1 1:8-13.)
Abraham died, but has not to this day inherited the promises!
Abraham died, and was still DEAD, not living on earth or in heaven or
anywhere, but was still DEAD, at the time of Christ's earthly ministry. We read
in John 8:52, "Abraham is dead." At that time-centuries after he died, Abraham
WAS DEAD! He is still dead today. When, then, is he to inherit the promises?
At the time of the RESURRECTION of the just, of course! [1].
The Kingdom of God is the government to be set up IN PALESTINE to rule
all nations after the Second Coming of Christ.
"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven . . . and the dead in Christ
shall rise first." (I Thes. 4:16.) Human mortals, in Christ, living and dead,
receive eternal life-immortality-the PROMISES God made to Abraham at Christ's
Second Coming. That is when they shall put on immortality! "Flesh and blood
(human mortals) cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption
inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but
we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead (including Abraham and the
beggar) shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."
(1 Cor. 15:50-53.)
Again, notice when Abraham and all his children co-heirs are finally to
inherit the promises the Kingdom of God, on this earth, in Palestine:
"When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with
Him,"-notice, this is the Second Coming of Christ-and all the ANGELS come with
Him-"THEN shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: ... THEN"-
and not until then-"shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye
blessed of my Father, INHERIT THE KINGDOM prepared for you from the
foundation of the world." (Mat. 25:31-34.) [2].
Jesus said Abraham would receive the promises, including eternal life, thru the RESURRECTION: "But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of [4] Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." (Mat. 22:31-32.) Jesus did not say Abraham was then living. Yet the things God has promised are so certain they may be counted as if already accomplished. Abraham, as shown above by Scripture, was and still is DEAD, But Jesus spoke this about Abraham "as touching the RESURRECTION of the dead." Abraham will be RESURRECTED.
Jesus told the Pharisees they would see Abraham in the Kingdom (Luke 13:28),
because Abraham, now DEAD, will then be RESURRECTED from the dead!
Now again let's get back to what Jesus said about Lazarus in Luke. Jesus said
this beggar died. So, like Abraham, he is STILL DEAD!
But Jesus said that, after he died, "he was carried by the angels
into Abraham's bosom." We now know that WHERE he was carried was not up
to heaven [3] , but into the status of a son and heir of
Abraham, to inherit THE LAND on this earth, and ETERNAL LIFE upon it, at the
time his father Abraham comes into his inheritance-at the time of the
Resurrection.
But notice, Lazarus is to be carried there by the angels!
When do the angels come down from heaven? In Matthew 25:31, quoted above, we
saw that it was at the Second Coming of Christ-at the time of the RESURRECTION!
[4 ]
Again, Scripture reveals: Christ shall "send his angels with a great sound of
a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds"-out of
their graves in a RESURRECTION. (Mat. 24:31.) The TIME when the angels carry
Lazarus and the saints into sharing the INHERITANCE with Abraham into Abraham's
bosom- is the time of the RESURRECTION! Lazarus is to be resurrected, and
carried by the angels thru the air to meet Christ, at His return, [5]
and to be with Abraham, in the intimate relationship of father and son!
Yes, HOW PLAIN! Lazarus will then enjoy the fond embrace of his father thru
Christ, Abraham - both then resurrected and LIVING for evermore, in the promised
LAND, then inherited!
There is no doubt as to how the Bible uses the word "bosom." Turn to Isaiah 40:1 1. Here God will care for His people as a shepherd does for his sheep, which He will carry "in His bosom." Jesus was "in the bosom" of the Father (John 1: 18), enjoying the Father's blessings and close relationship. Moses carried the children of Israel in his bosom. To be in one's bosom is to have that one's love and protection, and share his blessings and inheritance. So it will be
AT THE RESURRECTION!
Now let's see what happened to the rich man-and when!
Jesus said of him:" rich man also died, and was buried." (Luke 16:22.) Jesus
did not say the rich man was taken immediately at that time to an eternally
burning hell. He did not say the body was buried but that the rich man himself
was plunged immediately into a burning hell. He said the rich man died-and the
rich man, himself, was buried.
Now one would hardly say of one being put into the burning caldron luridly
described as the imaginary hell that the act of throwing one into that burning
region was a BURYING of the person, would he? One is not buried unless he is
covered up.
People are buried in a grave, and covered with earth. But the imaginary hell
that was invented by Dante Alighieri accepted by the Roman Catholic church and
later by most Protestants is never pictured as a place of BURIAL! But this rich
man died and was buried! He, himself, was buried-not a "house" he had lived in.
JESUS SAID so- read it in your Bible! The rich MAN was buried!
In the next verse, Jesus said, "And in hell he lifted up his eyes." (v. 23.)
So the rich man was in a place called "hell," after all, wasn't he? And in
this hell he "lifted up his eyes." His eyes had been closed, in death, and now
there came a time when they opened-he "lifted up his eyes!"
What kind of "hell" is this?
Startling tho it may be, the rich man was buried in the same kind of "hell"
Jesus was buried in! Yes, Jesus died and was buried-and in "hell! "
In the first inspired sermon preached by Peter on the day the New Testament
Church started, Peter said: "He (David) seeing this before spake of the
RESURRECTION of Christ, that His soul was not left IN HELL, neither his flesh
did see corruption." (Acts 2:3 I.)
Jesus, too, died and was buried. And in "hell" He, too, lifted up His
eyes--WHEN HE WAS RESURRECTED!
Now let me explain that, and make it plain!
The New Testament was written in the Greek language. Your Bible is a
translation in the English language. In the English language your Bible probably
reads "And in hell he lifted up his eyes." However, in the original Greek in
which the New Testament was written there are three different Greek words, each
having a totally different meaning, but all three of which were translated into
the "King James" and Catholic translations by the English word "hell."
One of the Greek words is "tartaros," which refers only to the present
condition of darkness, or perversion, and of restraint, of the fallen angels, or
demons. Another is "gehenna," a place at the bottom of a high ledge at the south
end of Jerusalem, where garbage, refuse, and bodies of dead animals and the
worst criminals were dumped over the ledge to be burned up. Down below, the
fires were kept continually burning. They burned up, or consumed totally
destroyed the bodies and refuse dumped there. This is the word
Jesus used when He spoke of being finally DESTROYED in "HELL FIRE."
But this rich man was not buried in that "hell." He was not in "gehenna." The
third, and most commonly used Greek word was written here by Luke"hades." And
"hades" means THE GRAVE-A place of BURIAL in the ground!
When the King James translation of the Bible was made, Englishmen spoke
commonly of "putting their potatoes in hell for the winter." They buried them in
the ground!
This is the "hell" Jesus was buried in - the "hell" His soul was not left in
- the grave, or tomb, from which He was RESURRECTED! And this, hades, was also
the "hell" in which the rich man was BURIED!
Now once again, Jesus did not say when this rich man, "in hell," lifted up
his eyes. Jesus pictured him as one of the wicked, or lost. We must look to
other Scriptures to tell us when the unjust will lift up their eyes in their
graves.
Daniel speaks of the resurrection of the just, and of the unjust: "And many
of them that sleep (their eyes closed) in the dust of the earth (their
graves-buried-in "hades"), shall awake (lift up their eyes) some to
everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."
(Dan. 12:2.)
Jesus said: ". . . the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves
(the original Greek word Jesus used is hades) shall hear His voice, and shall
come forth: they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they
that have done evil (including the rich man), unto the RESURRECTION of
judgment.' (John 5:28-29.)
Here Jesus speaks of two different, separate resurrections. Quoted above are
Scriptures showing that the "dead in Christ" are to be resurrected HIS SECOND
COMING. In I Cor. 15:22-24, w read that ALL are to be resurrected-but in an
order of different resurrections-Christ Himself, 1900 years ago; afterward, in a
different resurrection "they that are Christ's at His coming," and the "corneth
the end," - indicating the resurrection o the unjust later.
In Rev. 20:4 we read of the resurrection of those in Christ at His coming.
But Rev. 20:5 says: "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand
years were finished." So the resurrection of the rich man and all the unjust or
unsaved will take place after the millennium! It is pictured and described in
Rev. 20:11-12:
So, while Jesus in speaking about the rich man an Lazarus did not say when the rich man will open his eyes and be resurrected out of his grave, other scriptures do reveal that it will be after the millennium!
Notice, now, Lazarus, with Abraham and all saints who are Abraham's children,
are to resurrected at the time of Christ's coming. They shall live thru the
millennium. But the rest of the dead shall not live until the thousand years are
past. The rich man, then, will not come back to life until a thousand years
after Abraham, Lazarus, and all are Christ's, have been made alive.
Will this rich man be conscious of the great I of time?
Your Bible says, if you will believe what it says,' the living know that they
shall die: but the dead not anything ... for the memory of them is forgotten
(Eccl. 9:5)-that is, there is no longer any conscious memory. They are totally
unconscious! Job speaks of a dead man and says: "His sons come to honour, and he
knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them."
(Job 14:21). Isaiah says our father Abraham knows nothing of us, today. (Isa
63:16). David was inspired to write: "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to
his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." (Ps. 146:4).
Many times people have died, and by the drug adrenalin or other methods the
heart has been started beating again. Always they say they were totally
unconscious-no dreams-no knowledge-just total blank.
The rich man, then, at the time of his resurrection after the millennium,
will come to consciousness open, or lift up, his eyes, knowing absolutely
nothing of the hours, days, and years since he died. To him will be the next
fraction of a second from the time he died. It will SEEM to him as if he had
gone immediately to this state or condition in which he finds himself rising up
out of the rave.
But when he is resurrected, he sees a flame which torments him. What is this?
Now Jesus did, on other occasions, speak of perishing and being destroyed in
"gehenna FIRE What is this? It is described in Rev. 20:14-15, a lake of fire. "
Scripture everywhere describes the final fate of the wicked as being burned
up by fire. It is this "lake of fire," which is "the second death," from which
there shall be no resurrection! The PUNISHMENT death by fire! They remain
forever DEAD! This death is for ALL ETERNITY-ETERNAL PUNISHMENT-but it is not
eternal punishing!
Now, opening his eyes in his grave, this rich man SEES Abraham, and Lazarus
in his "bosom'embrace! Yes, Jesus told the Pharisees that they would SEE
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom and they themselves thrust out! This
rich man sees them! He also sees this awful flame of fire-this LAKE OF FIRE
which is about to destroy him forever! He is terrified!
What happens when one is suddenly so horrified with fear? His mouth goes dry.
His tongue sticks his mouth and throat!
The rich man cries out in this mental agony "Father Abraham have mercy on me,
and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger water, and cool my
TONGUE; for I am tormented in this flame."
Now if the rich man were in the kind of "hell" most people seem to believe,
his whole body would be on fire-you would think would have called for at least a
bucket of water to put out the fire, wouldn't you?
Look at this!
How much water did he call for? He said to Abraham: ". . . send Lazarus, that
he may dip the tip of his finger in water." Just a couple of drops-that's all
the water he requested! Doesn't that strike you as strange?
Why did he call for water? To put out the fires of all "hell"?- the kind of
hell people would have you believe he was in? Ah, no! He only wanted a mere
couple of drops of water on Lazarus' finger - "why?" to 'COOL MY TONGUE!"'
That's what the rich man said! Open your own Bible again, and read it!
The flame, he said, was "tormenting" him. This word "tormented," used in
verses 24 and 25 is translated from the original Greek word "odunasai." This is
defined in Liddell & Scott's Greek-English Lexicon as "to cause pain, to
pain, distress:-From 'ODUNH'-pain of body, but also, 2, of mind, grief distress.
"
Why, of course! This rich man opens his eyes in his grave in a resurrection.
He is resurrected MORTAL, just as he was before he died-not immortal like
Lazarus! He sees this lake of fire. Now he knows the frightful, the AWFUL doom
he is to be thrust into-to be burned up-destroyed! He is suffering mental
anguish such as he never experienced in his life-time. HIS TONGUE IS DRY. He
breaks out in cold sweat. He cries for a little water on the tip of Lazarus'
finger TO COOL HIS TONGUE! He is in a condition of WEEPING and GNASHING OF
TEETH!
Now once again READ IN YOUR BIBLE! Read exactly what Jesus said, not what the
"hell-fire" preachers have told you He said! Did Jesus say this rich man was
going to suffer endlessly and forever always burning-being on fire-yet never
burning up! DID HE? Of course not!
There is not one word here about how long his anguish is to last.
Jesus was saying these things to the Pharisees (verse 14). What did He want
to make them understand, when He gave this account about Lazarus and the rich
man? Jesus answers this question for us in Luke 13:27,28 where He said to these
same Pharisees: "Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the
prophets, in the Kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out."
Yes, they are going to be in exactly the same position as this rich man!
Jesus is using him as an illustration to show the Pharisees what is to befall
them! They are to be THRUST OUT-into the LAKE OF FIRE which shall consume them,
leaving them neither root nor branch, as the Scriptures say!
The wicked are going to be cast into the lake of fire! When they lift up
their eyes in their resurrection, they shall KNOW that they are doomed, now to
be cast into the lake of fire to be burned up! This rich man cried out for help
because of his mental and physical anguish-KNOWING what was now to befall him!
He knew he was GUILTY! When a man realizes he is guilty, and faces his just and
terrible retribution, the very first part of the body to be affected is the
tongue, which dries out-seems to be on fire!
But Abraham and Lazarus were afar off, and no water was brought. The rich man
had to suffer mentally for his sins. He had had his reward, in the material
things he sought and craved, during his mortal life-time.
There is a great gulf fixed between this doomed sinner and all the glorified
saints in God's Kingdom.
The gulf mentioned by Abraham which prevents the wicked from escaping death
by hell-fire, and which also keeps the righteous from being burned, is
immortality. Those who are immortal shall never die because they are born of
God. (Rev. 20:6). But human beings who have not been begotten and born by the
Spirit of God are still flesh, subject to corruption and death. They can be
burned by fire.
Don't forget, this is a literal fire and the rich man is a human being
composed of flesh and blood. Only the saved possess immortality as the gift of
God (Rom. 2:7), but the wicked reap anguish and wrath that shall devour the
adversary - fiery indignation (Heb. 10:27). What happens when a human body is
being burned by a flame?
There is a period of torture during which the fire consumes the body before
the person dies. Then what about this rich man? Jesus didn't say he was
immortal, for if he were he would be spirit and flames do not burn spirit. Fire
is a physical process. It is combustion of matter.
The rich man is a physical person as you and I.
And Jesus leaves us in this account, with the rich man hearing the words of
Abraham in his mind or conscience and tormented by the flames that are billowing
about his body.
A human body doesn't burn forever. It finally turns to ashes in a fire.
Therefore we must go to other verses of the Bible to find out exactly what did
happen after the short conversation recorded.
Matthew 13:30 speaks of the wicked being gathered into bundles to be burned.
What happens to tares (weeds) when in fire? They burn up!
Again in Matthew 3:12, John warned the Pharisees that they would be burned up
as chaff if they didn't repent. They are to be burned with unquenchable
fire, too. A fire so hot that no amount of
water put on it could put it out, because the flames would turn the water to
steam.
When God punishes the wicked the fire will be unquenchable! But that doesn't
say it won't burn itself out when it has nothing more to burn. An unquenchable
fire can't be put out, but it can burn itself out when it has
consumed everything.
Malachi 4:1,3 speaks of this fire that will burn the rich man: "For, behold,
the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that
do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith
the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. And ye
shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your
feet in the day that I shall do this."
That is the end of the wicked! They shall perish and not be any more. "Into
smoke shall they consume away." (Psalm 37:20).
The rich man then, being mortal flesh, is going to burn up after being
tormented in the flame. He is going to die the second death. (Rev. 20:14). The
wages of sin is death, not endless torment. (Rom. 6:23).
The rich man at last realized he was DOOMED! He now comprehended the gulf
that existed between him and those who had been made immortal. Abraham had made
clear the utter impossibility of the rich man crossing that gulf into
immortality. He had had his chance during his life-time. He had passed it up for
this world's material riches and pleasures. There was no hope for him. He was
now DOOMED to perish in this lake of fire.
His last thought flashed finally to his five brothers. He gave one last cry
to Abraham, begging him to send Lazarus to his father's house to plead with his
brothers, lest they come to his terrible fate. Abraham replied they had the
writings of Moses and the prophets. But the rich man realized they would not
hear these Scriptures.
"Nay, Father Abraham," he screamed, "but if one went unto them from
the dead they will repent!" (verse 30).
The rich man knew Lazarus was RAISED FROM THE DEAD! This one statement proves
that the whole experience of Lazarus and the rich man was given by Jesus to SHOW
THE TRUTH OF THE RESURRECTION-not to teach any immediate going to "heaven" or
"hell" at the instant of death.
Abraham replied, "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they
be persuaded, though one ROSE from the dead." (verse 3 1).
THERE IT IS! In plain language! The experience of Lazarus and the rich man
shows the RESURRECTION from the dead-not an instantaneous going to "heaven" or
"hell." It is a resurrection from THE DEAD-not from life. It shows MORTALITY
which dies, and is DEAD-not immortality which never loses consciousness and
lives forever in an eternal punishing of the imaginary "hell." Jesus was showing
a RESURRECTION-or bringing back to life of one who was DEAD-of one who had no
consciousness whatever of the lapse of centuries and millenniums since his
death.
Far from illustrating immortality of the soul and the lurid eternally burning
torture of Dante's fabled "hell," Jesus illustrates DEATH-total UNCONSCIOUSNESS
thru the centuries,-RESURRECTION from death and restoration of
consciousness,-and, finally, the SECOND DEATH in the lake of fire that shall
totally destroy the wicked-in which they PERISH-and become ashes under the soles
of the feet of the saved-the eternal punishment of DEATH-eternal DEATH-the
SECOND death!
Finally, what is the REAL LESSON?
Jesus was preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God-the NEW Testament
Gospel. He was showing salvation, the resurrection to eternal LIFE as the gift
of God-inheritance of the Kingdom of God on this earth.
The Apostle Paul plainly tells us that the New Testament Church of God is
BUILT upon the FOUNDATION of the apostles and the PROPHETS. Jesus Christ being
the chief corner stone. (Eph 2:20). Jesus said, "I will build my Church." Paul
reveals it was built on the foundation of the PROPHETS as well as the apostles!
Jesus here teaches YOU that if you refuse to hear Moses and the PROPHETS-and
Moses was one of the prophets- you have no hope of salvation! The SCRIPTURES
(Old Testament as well as New), according to 11 Tim. 3:15, are able to make us
wis unto salvation! We are to take the WHOLE BIBLE not the New Testament only.
Those who teach that the Commandments of Go are done away teach a message of
DOOM! Those who teach the pagan doctrine of the immortality the soul-going off
to "heaven" at death, or eternal punishing-teach contrary to what Jesus SAID!
May your take heed, and hear all the word of GOD.
Editors comments church of god UK.
At the time of the RESURRECTION of the just, of course! [1]
The Kingdom of God is the government to be set up IN PALESTINE to rule
all nations after the Second Coming of Christ.
[1] NO. At the time of the resurrection of the just, lazarus will be taken by
the angels to meet Christs in the air and then be taken to heaven for the first
time awaiting the marriage of the lamb. "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with
Him,"-notice, this is the Second Coming of Christ-and all the ANGELS come with
Him-"THEN shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: ... THEN"-
and not until then-"shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye
blessed of my Father, INHERIT THE KINGDOM prepared for you from the
foundation of the world." (Mat. 25:31-34.) [2]
[2] NO. When christ comes after the marriage of the lamb in heaven. The Father
will then give the go ahead and he will come with his bride and all the holy
angels. The Univers will melt away and then he will sit upon the throne of his
glory which we know as the coronation throne. But Jesus said that, after he died, "he was carried by the angels
into Abraham's bosom." We now know that WHERE he was carried was not up
to heaven [3] , but into the status of a son and heir of
Abraham, to inherit THE LAND on this earth, and ETERNAL LIFE upon it, at the
time his father Abraham comes into his inheritance-at the time of the
Resurrection. 3) YES he was carried to heaven to take part as the bride of christ in the
marrige of the lamb. When do the angels come down from heaven? In Matthew 25:31, quoted above, we
saw that it was at the Second Coming of Christ-at the time of the RESURRECTION!
[4 ] 4) When do the angels come down from heaven? For the sake of discussion, the first time the angels come down from heaven
is with Christ IN THE CLOUDS to pick up his resurrected bride. 1 Thes. 4:16.
This time Christ comes in the clouds WITHOUT HIS SAINTS ----get it? The next time christ comes to earth he comes WITH HIS SAINTS as his bride;
with his angels This time his feet will stand on the mount of olives Lazarus is to be resurrected, and carried by the angels thru the air to meet
Christ, at His return, [5] and to be with Abraham, in the
intimate relationship of father and son! Yes, HOW PLAIN!
Check point 1)