The Parables of Christ no. 28
The
Rich man
Rev. Brian Kocourek
Prayer…
This morning we will examine the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus. I
know we are all well aware of this parable because Brother Branham spoke often
about it. So let’s read from the Book of Luke chapter 16.
LUKE 16:19
¶ There was a certain
rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously
every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at
his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell
from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 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; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in
torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and
said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the
tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this
flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in
thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but
now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and
you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to
you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father,
that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: 28 For I have five brethren;
that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the
prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay,
father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31
And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the
prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
First let me say that an investment
has but one purpose and that is a future return. An investment is not a
payment. It is not an I.O.U. an investment is not buying something or selling
something. But an investment is something you do with a view to the future. It
is the aquiring something that will return a future dividend or benefit.
Therefore, to invest you must be willing to foresake the now, in favor of the
tomorrow. Let me repeat that. If you are going to invest, you must be willing
to foresake today in faor of tomorrow. So if you have to have your cake and eat
it, you are not willing to lay up for tomorrow. And that is the essence of
investing. Foresaking todays need in favor of tomorrows benefit.
Now, there are five elements to any
investment.
a.
ROR Rate of
return. What percentage rate are you making on this Investment
b.
ROI return on
Investment. You need to know what the return will be on the investment.
Now, the parable we read for our
text this morning shows the end of the life of two men. One appears to have
become very wealthy in terms of material possessions, while the other was
considered very poor in comparison to the other. But I want you to notice that
when their time was up, that is when the cost of investment will be noticed.
That is when the investments either pay of or they don’t.
I want you to think about these 7
things as we study this parable this monring.
As we study this parable this morning, I want you to see what investment
opportunities these two men had to choose from, and how each went about
chossing their investment.
In the following scene we see Jesus
offer a rich young man an opportunity to invest in Eternal Life. LUKE
18 ¶ And a certain ruler asked him,
saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Now, notice, he approached Jesus. Jesus did not
approach him. And in his approach to Jesus he asked the question, “what must I
do, or what is the price that must be paid to inherit eternal life. Now, he
does not approach Jesus in a wrong manner. In fact he is very complementary to
Jesus and even calls him good master. 19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? In
other words, there is a reason you called me good. YOU see something in me that
these others do not see, and therefore you have come to me to ask about this
investment. Then Jesus says, none is good, save one,
that is, God. 20 In other words, if you really meant what you said,
then you will
acknowledge that God is with me and even in me, and so with that in mind, I am
going to tell you how much the investment will cost. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not
bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. 21 And he said, All
these have I kept from my youth up. 22 Now when Jesus heard these things, In
the book of Mark we are told that Jesus loved him. In other words, he was
pleased to hear this and could not help but to really like this young man. And
so we find Jesus telling him of one more cost that is involved with this
investment. he said unto him, Yet
lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor,
and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
Oh, how many young men we see today
who have grown up living a good life. They might have grown up to fear God and
obey the ten commandments, but one thing they still lack, and that is to put
God first in all their life especially concerning their jobs, and their
abuility to earn an income. How many souls have been lost because the line of
business they have chosen takes them further and further away from God. How many have turned away from honoring the
Resurrection, and have worked on Sunday instead of coming to Worship their
Father on this day that is called by God to be set aside for Worship. And yet
it first begins by the ox being found in the ditch, and they say, well, the company
needs me, and so I must go pull that old cow out of the ditch. And after a
while they begin to push the cow into the ditch so they can make more money,
and before you know it, they work on Sunday as though it is no different from
any other day of the week. And thus they have turned away from the commandments
of God for filthy lucre sake.
They will reason within themselves,
“I really need this job”, and so they begin to compromise their beliefs and
that is exactly what satan wants them to do. But the question
should be, “is this job worth my soul?” How many people have sold their souls
to the devil for a mere handful of dollars.
But there was another rich young
ruler that counted the cost and he decided that the cost of Eternal Life, no
matter what the earthly cost was well worth the investment. And that rich young
ruler was Moses.
HEBREWS 11:24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years,
refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 25 Choosing rather to
suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin
for a season; Notice Moses
was a wise investor. He knew the timeframe of the investment and knew that it
would be merely a season before his investment would reward him with great
dividends. Choosing
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures
of sin for a season;
Now, in the next verse we find the
key to Moses making the right decision. 26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches
than the treasures in
You see Moses esteemed the reproach
as greater than al the temporary riches that
Now, if you were to receive an offer
to go to work for a company that would pay you 1 million
U.S.dollars or another company would pay you 1 million Ugandan shilling.
Now, if you chose to work for the 1
million
Now, notice that Jesus is telling
this rich young ruler, that he knows that he has invested well
on earth concerning his earthly investments, and now, he has an opportunity to
cash in all that he has done so far for a place Eternally in Heaven. Now, this
rich young ruler was offered a place with Jesus to become a disciple. Yet he
turned it down. Jesus offered Him Treasure in Heaven, where moth can not rust
and where the worm can not destroy, and yet the man was so set back by the temporary
loss of what he had thus far gained in his earthly treaure hunt, or his earthly
investments, that he had forgotten that he is going to lose it all one day anyway,
because you can’t take it with you. And if you can’t take it with you, then why
do men strive so hard to store up so much that they are just going to leave it
all to someone else who is undeserving.
Solomon, the wisest man in history
said, ECCLESIASTES
So there must be a balance to our
labor, for if we are all labor and no rest and relaxation, what good is it to
us?
Now, in getting back to the rich
young ruler and the investment opportunity Jesus had to offer, we pick up at
verse 23 And when he heard this, he was very
sorrowful: for he was very rich. 24 And when Jesus saw that he was very
sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have
riches enter into the
Now, I am told that there is a gate
in
28 Then Peter said, Lo,
we have left all, and followed thee.Notice that
Peter was looking for assurance from Jesus that they had made the right
investment. And Jesus says, 29 And he said unto
them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or
parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, 30
Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to
come life everlasting. And in the Book of Matthew the rate of
return is said to be 100 fold, or 100 times more in return. MATTHEW
So the rate of return is important
and Jesus was offering to this rich young ruler a rate of return that was 100
times what he was willing to invest and not only that but also with Eternal
Life. MATTHEW
So we see the return on investment
is 100 times whatever you are willing to invest plus Eternal Life. Now, I
thought it was quite good when Hillary Clinton invested $1,000 and made
$100,000 a few years ago, but whith Jesus investment, not only will your
investment yield 100 times more than what you put into it, but it will also
yiled you Eternal Life. What more could a person ask for. And if you do not
take him seriouly then you are calling Him a liar. Then what reward
have you? Just consider that. What reward have
you if you turn down His investment? You have but whatever you can earn for yourself, and that is a pitance compared to what He has
offered. That is why I could never figure out why these young boys think that gettiing
$6 dollats an hour or $9 an hour is worth turning down eternal life. It shows
they have a need to go back to
MATTHEW
MARK 10:29 And
Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left
house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or
lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, 30
But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and
brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions;
and in the world to come eternal life.
Brother Branham said, “The poor man is too
busy trying to make a living that he doesn’t take time for God, and the rich
man spends all his time trying to hold onto what he has, and therefore has no
time for God, But the common people heard him glady.”
And so you ask, what is the common
man? Brother Branham said, QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 54-0103M 77-Q-10 The
Bible said, "The common people heard Him gladly." The
aristocrats, then there was another class. But the common people, just the
ordinary run of people like we are, people who love God, don't have much of
this world, have their children and families; we love God and like to go to
church, give the clothes off of our body for His Kingdom, anything like that.
We love Him, we'll do anything; that's the common people that heard Him.
And it's still the same way today: the common people heard Him gladly. Now, the
rich man's got too much of the earth to think about. See? And--and the real
fellow down there who you can't do nothing with him on skid row, he just won't
pay no attention to it. But just the common people heard Him gladly.
And the wisest man that ever lived
said, PROVERBS
LUKE 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware
of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the
things which he possesseth. 16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The
ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 And he thought
within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow
my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull
down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my
goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for
many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, [Thou] fool, this night
thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which
thou hast provided? 21 So [is] he
that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. 22 ¶ And
he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your
life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. 23 The
life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. 24 Consider the ravens:
for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have
storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the
fowls? 25 And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one
cubit? 26 If ye then be not able to do
that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? 27 Consider the
lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you,
that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is
to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more [will
he clothe] you, O ye of little faith? 29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or
what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. 30 For all these things do
the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need
of these things. 31 But rather seek ye the
People look for a quick return and
no one today invests for the long run, and yet that is how you make the best
investments. And that is exactly what Jesus was offering to the rich young
ruler, and he turned it down because his focus was not on an eternal
investment, but on the here and now. We got to have it today mentality. And
thus when his time was up, although he had invested in the world quite well,
his long term portfolio was very bleak, and completely devoid of heavenly
treasure. Therefore we need to know what makes a good investment and what makes
for a bad investment. Just because you
might make a quick return on your money does not mean that the investment is
good in the long run. I know people who have made mega bucks in the stock
market only to lose it all. But as the world goes, real estate is the best
investment you can make, because God isn’t making anymore of it, and the
population continues to grow at a high rate. So with supply gowing down demand
going up, you can’t go wrong investing in raw land.
Now, how does that apply to the
spiritual side of things? Well, there
are only so many days you have been alotted to live upon earth, and that means
there is only so much time you are given to begin to store up treasure in
heaven. Jesus gave the offer to the riich young ruler, and because his focus
was more on gaining earthly treasure, he did not think he had the time, to
focus upon the heavenly. And it seemed for a long time that he had made the
right decision, because his earthly treasure kept increasing and his barns got
full and he was rich and increased with goods, but did not know that
spiritually, he was naked miserable and blind.
Blind because he could not recognize
what God was doing in his hour. Miserable, because spiritually
he was destitute having turned down the investment for Life, eternal Life.
And Naked because, let’s face it, no matter how many acres of wheat he had and
no matter how many barns he could fill, and no matter how much property he had,
and no matter hhow much popularity his wealth could buy him, when he died he
lost it all. He lost his education, he lost his possessions, he lost his
standing in the community, he lost his political stature, he lost it all, and
he was left destitute, naked, miserable because he had
been blind to the eternal investment that had been offered to him, by Jesus
Christ. Oh, how many young men and women
today have there whole focus on the wrong things, and have left off storing up
treasure in heaven for what they could get in worldly possessions. And yet you
can’t take it with you. Never could and never will be able to take it with you.
So what will you have when your number is called? Where will you be when its your turn to cash in your chips in life. And that is the condition of the church today
as well. And the Rich young ruler is a type of the individual church members in
Investments 62-1124B P:64 Oh, increased in goods. Certainly this man did. You
know what? Jesus told him, if you notice here, He said, "Go, sell what you have, and give it to the
poor. And come follow Me. Take up your cross and
follow Me, and you'll have riches in heaven."
See? What an investment to make, but he
chose not to do it. Now, so has the
Investments 63-0126 P:103 We find out that Moses, he had
pallbearers that had to take him up. Man couldn't do it. But this rich man had
probably the celebrity of the city for pallbearers. But in hell he lifted up
his eyes. But why? His investment in the... Now, he was a church member. You say,
"He wasn't." He was. The Bible said he was. He called Abraham father,
see "Father Abraham (See?), send Lazarus."But he was a professed
church member, but he did not want any investment in Jesus Christ. So you see
where he lifted up his eyes? In hell. Then he seen this beggar far off in the bosoms of Abraham. Then
he became the beggar.
Investments 63-0803B P:97 And the same night, the rich,
old ruler now, he'd had a great
prosperous life, and he died. Now, he paid off in dividends too. Some
intellectual preacher come along, perhaps with his collar turned around, and maybe in all of his priestly garb, and he
said... And they half-mast the flag, and the flowers couldn't be held in this
ballroom here. And, oh, what a great to-do and they had, and
all the business. Maybe the president of the bank association,
and all of them come, and was pallbearers for him. And maybe the intellectual
minister stood up and said, "Our precious brother, how many times has he wrote checks for the widows, and how many
times has he paid in our great organization and sponsored our program." And maybe the businessmen might've got up and made a talk. He got his reward. That's right. His investment paid off like that. But from the world he was a great man. But because that he rejected the investment
that Jesus gave him, the Bible said, "In hell he lifted up his eyes."
And he saw the man who had made the investment otherwise, safely in the bosoms
of Abraham, comforted, walking around, fine. And he
cried. Now, watch. You say, was he a Chri... Yeah. "Father Abraham,"
a Jew, right, "I pray thee, send
Lazarus, the poor in spirit, that made the investment.
I turned it down. But send Lazarus with just a little water; these flames
are tormenting me."He said, "Son,
you had the opportunity." He did.Jesus presented
it. "Sell what you got, and come, follow
Leadership follow me 65-1031A P:34 Well, you know, after while, this rich man, when he thought he had money
to buy all kinds of medicine if he got sick; he had all kinds of doctors.
But, you know, sometimes doctors can't
help us; medicine won't help us; nothing can help us; we're at the mercy of God.
And he come down to the end of his road; the doctors
couldn't help him, and the nurses couldn't help him, the medicine couldn't help
him, and he died. And then when his soul
left his body (See?), it left all of his money, all of his education,
everything that he had, all of his popularity. They give him a great big
funeral, maybe a half-mast the flag, and the mayor of the city come, and they,
and the preacher come and said, "Our brother now has gone to glory,"
and all like that.But the Bible said that, "He lifted up his eyes in hell, in torment, and looked way across
that great gulf there, and seen that beggar that had been laying there in his
sore, over in heaven. And he cried, 'Send Lazarus down here with a little
water. These flames are tormenting.' Said, 'Oh, no.'"
Evidence of the resurrection 58-0406E P:11
You say unto me
then, "Preacher, is there
remembrance in hell?" Jesus said there was. He said the rich man that
lifted up his eyes in hell and saw Abraham, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he
said, "Remember in your lifetime..." There is a remembrance, and how
the lost... What an awful thing that would be to know that the great meetings
that they'd set in and had heard the mighty sermons of the anointed ministers
of God, and not only that, but to see the anointed signs and wonders that God
had performed among the people, and then to
remember all these warnings and yet be lost, why, it would haunt them
forever.
Leadership 65-1207 P:76 He was a great success. He
was a great success here in this life. Certainly.
We find him where we notice... Then we find this fellow, that
he went... We follow him a little bit, and we see he got a great successful.
And we follow him through the Bible. We notice that he... We find him a rich
man. He's got such great big places; he was entertaining the judge and the
mayor of the city, or whatmore. He's up on top of his roof, and he has great
banquets; and plenty of waitresses, and women, girls, and everything else,
around him. And there's a beggar laying at the gate named Lazarus. He sweeps the crumbs off
to him. We know the story. The next thing, he goes on successful, just like the churches today are getting. A businessman setting here, telling me right here in
Now, in closing there is but one last point I wish to make.
And that is that jesus pointed out that there is a
guld bewteen them. And that means that when you go to your reward, there is no
way you can change your mind then. Its over. He that
is filthy will be filthy still.
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in
torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and
said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the
tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this
flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that
thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil
things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and
you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from
hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from
thence. 27 Then he said, I pray thee
therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: 28 For I
have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into
this place of torment. 29 Abraham saith unto him, They
have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the
dead, they will repent. 31 And he said unto him, If
they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though
one rose from the dead.
Pride 55-0807A P:68 What does Simon the Pharisee
think today in hell where he's at? I imagine he'd like to call that little party over again. I
imagine it would be different. Simon would be weeping, "O Jesus, I'd wash Your feet." A year from today, there's people setting
here today that if they won't accept Christ, a year from today, you'll wish you
had. You say, O Jesus, if I could go back to that little campground again. O
Jesus, if I could hear that preacher call again, Jesus, I'd raise up, oh I'd
raise up."Too late, sin separated you. "Lord, I remember that day it
was raining so hard; tears was pouring down out of people's eyes. Preacher was
telling us about how You loved us and how indifferent we
had been towards You. And I was different, Lord." The rich man had that
kind of a plea one time, after Lazarus had preached to him.
QA Hebrews part 1 COD 57-0925 P:97 I... You say, "Will it be
just like regular brimstone?" I believe it'll be a million times worse than
that. I believe you couldn't be--describe it by fire, by a literal fire. The
only reason it's put by fire: that fire is the most consuming thing that we
had. It absolutely consumes and destroys everything: fire does. Well, then,
it'll be in there, but you'll have a soul that'll have to be punished through
some kind...Now, you have to watch the word "fire," because the Holy
Ghost is used, "Holy Ghost and fire"; 'cause Holy Ghost fire burns
sin out (See?), and makes clean.But this fire, it comes from hell; it said a
"lake of fire." And ever what it is, it's a
punishment with torment. The rich man lifted up his eyes, being in hell, and
said, "Send Lazarus with a little water on his fingers to put on my lips,
for this flames are tormenting me."
Don't think there isn't a burning hell, and a literal hell; there is. If
there's a literal Devil, there's a literal hell.But, you see, everything that's
perverted has a end to it, because it finally must
come back to that purity and holiness of God. And God is eternal; and if we
have Eternal Life, God is in us, and we can no more die than God can die. There
you are.
QA Hebrews part 2 COD 57-1002 P:43 The way the tree leans, that's the way it falls. And the state you
die... That's the reason I differ with praying for the dead (See?), the
intercession of prayers or communion of saints and so forth. It cannot be
according to God's Word. It does no good
to pray for anybody after they're gone. They're finished. They're--they've...
They've passed the line between mercy and judgment. They either went to mercy,
or went away from mercy. Jesus said so. In 16th chapter of St. Matthew He
taught it; 16th chapter of Mark, I believe it is: the rich man and Lazarus. No
man can cross over this gulf, and never will cross over it. There you are. See?
So it settles it.
Remembering the Lord 62-1209 P:40 A man said to me once, "I
believe that's the Truth. But if I preached that, I'd be begging there in the
street."Do you remember the rich man and Lazarus, what their last and
their eternal stage stood at? Though one had--was a
beggar, and the other was a rich man, but the picture changed one day and both
of them could remember. So people
tonight holler about Judas that sold Him for personal gain, and so many do the
same thing today, sell Him for personal gain.The priest of them days will also
remember they sold their chance of Him, their chance to become His servant, to
become His disciple, to become a convert to Him. They sold it for green
poisoned jealousy. They were jealous of His doctrine..
Why, when He was yet twelve years old, He could stump them any way; and not
recognize it, that that was Messiah. They could not do the things that He did.
And they were afraid that they'd lose their prestige before the higher
up-and-up people, and they sold their opportunity. And they're just as guilty
as Herod was.
Voice of the sign 64-0321E P:9 You remember the rich man and
Lazarus. There's a great gulf betwixt
you and he that no man has ever crossed or ever will cross. See, when you
die, that settles it. I know people claim that they pray you back out of those
places. But don't you never believe it. That's
contrary to the Word of God. See? The
way the tree leans, that's the way it falls.Jesus said, Himself, that there
was a gulf, that when a man died and went to hell, he could never come to
heaven. No man ever crossed it, and never would. That settles it as far as I'm
concerned. When Jesus said that was it, that's all of it. So, just remember,
now is your chance. And tonight might be your last opportunity.