Today on Real Life Radio. You're blessed. And the Bible says, haven't you thought about this all the way through? It's the goodness of God that leads to repentance. What does that mean?
God's been good to you. And you should respond back to him in faith. This is real life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I'm David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's Word, the Bible.
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Pastor Jack continues his series now called The Parables of Jesus and a message today called The Parable That's Not a Parable.
Now, it might sound like a confusing title, but this parable is given by Jesus in such a way that it's not like the others. See, Jesus starts by breaking apart a common misconception about heaven and hell by being specific about the reality of hell. The religious leaders think that hell isn't a real place, so in their reasoning, the story must be symbolic. He also mentions a person's name in this story, which not only makes it personal, It's highly unusual for a parable.
So today, Pastor Jack teaches us that the common belief is that if a person is rich, They are highly favored by God, and the poor?
Well, they must have done something wrong to be poor and despised. But rich or poor, Jesus is saying that only God's goodness leads us to repentance and ultimately eternal life.
Now with his message called Parable That's Not a Parable, here's Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. Bless this last and final installment of our Parable series, and Father, we pray that tonight would be a capstone evening in this word. In a sense, we saved the best for last, I guess. And so, Father, we pray that you'd speak to us, you and you alone. Inhabit the praises of your people.
We've been promised by you, Jesus. You said that The Holy Spirit would be present to exalt you. And so, Lord, it's all about you. Your word And Father, we pray that you'd bless this time together. And we ask it in Jesus' name, and all God's people said.
Amen. Amen. Church, grab your Bibles tonight and turn to Luke chapter 16. Luke chapter 16. And we'll be reading verses 19 down to verse 31.
And if you've noticed, we're looking at the parable that's not a parable. The parable that's not a parable, let me explain to you. Very important you know this. The parable, that's not a parable. In Luke chapter 16, this teaching.
is hotly debated. Always has been. And for good reason. Because Jesus speaks to the Pharisees and the crowd Just after having to deal with again, once again, the arrogance, the self-righteousness, the blindness of the religious leaders of Israel. Jesus called them blind guides.
Jesus had said that they Would travel land and sea to make one convert to themselves, notice not to God, to themselves. And once they had been discipled by them, Jesus said, you're creating followers that are twice the children of hell than you are yourself. Deceivers. And so for that reason, some Have said This is a parable. But there's aspects about this particular quote parable that's not parabolic at all.
For example, Jesus mentions A name. He's never mentioned a name in a parable before.
Now he mentions a name, a person's name. That's odd and unusual. The other thing is that Jesus speaks in a structure or in a way that is unlike all other parables.
So the debate is: it's not a parable, it is actually Jesus, who is God in human flesh. Speaking about something he personally knows about. That's why there's so much insight into it. Parables are predominantly somewhat Shadowy or not so exact. This one's going to be extremely specific.
And so the camps are divided.
Now look, this Parable slash Not a parable. has been used in modern times by Those who do not want to have a God. or a Bible or a Jesus where there's actually a hell. And so they say this has to be a parable because it's Symbolic. It's symbolism, it's typology.
There is no real punishment for the wicked. There is no eternal damnation for the unbeliever. No, no, no. But by the way, they're very quick to say, but there is eternal blessing for the believer. They believe in annihilation.
And that's growing, by the way, in many of the young churches in America today. And that comes from an inability or an unwillingness to know the nature of God. They think somehow, because there is the existence of hell, that God must somehow be evil. They think that because there's an existence of hell, God must somehow not be nice. And you come to that conclusion, or maybe you're here tonight and you're being tempted by that.
Thinking, but let me help you out. The only way you can entertain that form of thinking is if you have a very, very recreational view of sin. And a very, very low view of God's holiness. That's where that thinking comes from. A small view of sin, a very tolerant view of sin, and a very small view of God's righteousness and holiness.
Those two things combined cause you to have to manipulate the scriptures. to justify your way of thinking. Jesus is going to blow the doors right off of that tonight.
So here we go. Let's follow along and then we'll look at this together. Luke 16, verse 19. There was a certain rich man. who was clothed in purple and fine linen.
And fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus. full of sores. who is laid at his gate, that is at the rich man's gate. Desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table.
Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. And so it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's. Bosom. Place of comfort. The rich man also died and was buried.
And being in torments, plural, In Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off. and Lazarus in his bosom or place of comfort. And then he cried out and said, verse 24, 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.
But Abraham said, Son, Remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus' evil things, but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you, there is a gulf. Fixed.
So that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us. Verse 27, then he said, This is the man. I beg you, therefore. Father, that you would send him to my Father's house. For I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, witness to them.
Isn't that amazing? That he might witness to them, tell them. Wow. Lest they also come to this place of torment. In Abraham, verse 29 said, they have Moses and the prophets.
Let them hear them. And he said, No, Father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, They will repent. But he said to him, If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, Neither will they be persuaded, though one rise from the dead. Wow, do you see the difference in this? This is powerful stuff.
You know now, just in the reading of it, this is: if it is a parable, this is unlike any other parables, and now I see why people would view this as an actual, factual Jesus. Revealing something to the Scribes and Pharisees A situation that, quite frankly, and this is what I believe, I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying this is what I believe. I think there's enough evidence to convince me, it's not a parable.
So what's going on? Jesus is speaking to a crowd of people who have been rejecting him. By the way, those professional religionists were very wealthy people, and they viewed those people who were poor as being disenfranchised from God. They must have done something in their lives. That's why they're poor.
That's what they thought. They must have somehow sinned God out. out of their lives, that's why they're destitute. That's how they thought.
So, I believe Jesus is killing a lot of birds with one stone, though, Jesus wouldn't kill birds with stones. I believe Jesus is speaking to the hearts of these godless Pharisees. An actual truth that if they don't repent, remember that you heard the word repent here a moment ago? Interesting, huh? If they don't repent, they're going to wind up just like this rich guy.
And he puts forth the name Lazarus. Because I believe it's a situation that they all, and he knew this, that they all would have been aware of a situation that this Lazarus man was connected to.
Now, don't confuse this Lazarus with Martha and Mary's brother Lazarus. It's different. Think of this now. This is a vivid moment. It is in technicolor.
It's as bright and shiny and full vivid view that, like when we started our very first parable, telling you that the parables themselves are in technicolor. But this may be, as we saved it for last, the parables brought us to this point to speak to us of the culmination of a parable that's not a parable. Why? Because he speaks about apples. Absolute reality.
This is not. A joke. This is not Uh metaphorically speaking. This is Awesome. The parable, that's not a parable, number one, mark it down in your Bibles or in your note-taking, verses 19 to 21, is really this: the days of our lives.
The Bible tells us the days of our lives are numbered by God. The days of our lives are but a breath or but a moment. In comparison to eternity. And by the way, as we get into this, I want all of you to pay close attention, church. Listen, you will hear about the rich man and the poor man.
One guy had it good in life, he was rich. One guy was poor and he had it bad in life. One guy winds up in hell who's rich, and the poor guy winds up in heaven in the end. Is that how you get to heaven? By being poor?
No. Is that how you go to hell? By being rich? No. What is underlying in this also is the fact that the man who had the power to help the other guy that was laying outside his own gate never lifted his finger to help another human being in need.
You want to talk about this bogus thing called social justice? Listen, the Bible tells us Jesus commands us to help and to love one another. No political connections, no weirdness, just love people. You have to have somebody tell you to love people? No, you just do it.
And you do it for God because God views that person valuable enough to love. Are you with me? Do you hear that?
Well, we're going to start a movement. We're going to start doing all these things, and we don't need God. We're just going to do all these things. That's the big deal today. We don't need church.
We're going to go paint the curbs and fix the trees, and we're going to walk grandma across it. We're going to do social justice. We don't need God. Listen. That's just being nice.
That's just being nice. As a Christian, This issue of social justice should never come up because if I'm following Jesus, I'm going to be loving on people and meeting the need wherever God brings the need into my life. That's the Christian life. And here's the deal: one, you'll do for yourself so you feel better. That's why, by the way.
That's why. That's why when you see movie stars most often, Feeding people. They got the camera, they got the photo shot. Are you ready? Are you ready?
Okay, ready? Ready?
Okay, here you go. Did you get it? You got it?
Okay, get get me out of here. Listen. They feel better. They did something and they feel better. Listen, you and I are commanded to love because God thinks that person's valuable.
That's why you do it. Because if God loves them, then I'm supposed to love them. You're listening to real life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. You know, To hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com.
And now let's get back to our teaching. Once again, here's Pastor Jack.
So, regarding this, look at verse 19. The days of our lives, listen, can be smooth and pleasurable. There's no doubt about it. Watch this. There was a certain rich man.
It's not a sin to be rich. He was clothed in purple. It's not a sin to wear purple. And fine linen. Look, this is high-end stuff.
Look. It's not a sin. That's not a sin. Who fared sumptuously every day. The guy had a lot.
Nowhere in this teaching of Jesus is here is the guy condemned for having this stuff. Did you hear that when we read it? You didn't hear that when we read it. That's not the issue. Here's a guy who, listen, his life is smooth and pleasurable.
Look, don't answer out loud because we'll all want to go home with you tonight. Is your life smooth and pleasurable? Listen, right now, you could be here tonight.
Somebody whose life is just super smooth and pleasurable. And you don't know God. You could be here tonight and your life is like that and you do know God. The issue is That's what you have in life has been given to you by God. And you might say, I don't believe in God.
Well, you should, He's been good to you. I'll have you know I made all this all this money myself. No, you Didn't you funny person? You, you. God gave you the health.
God gave you the brains. God gave you the ability to do all that. You didn't do that. Think of it.
Now, listen, what should separate the rich Christian from the rich unbeliever is that the rich Christian is saying, oh my goodness, God, you've been so good to me. How do I manage this for your glory? You know, he who dies with the most toys wins? You ever seen that sticker? The Christian lives like this: God, I got all this stuff.
I want to make sure that the day I die, I run out of my last penny on that day. That's good management. For the glory of God. Think of it.
Think of it.
If you have a million bucks and you're a Christian, if you're doing it right, you're gonna wanna make your life be in such a way that you either die the day that you spend your last penny. helping people and using it for the kingdom of God. Or you leave it to a great institution that's going to promote the Word of God and to reach people. You don't ever leave your God-given money and resources to a drunk or drugged son or daughter just because they're your son or daughter. That would convert all that God blessed you with into a sin.
And all the all the Kids in the room are like, oh my gosh, I can't believe I just heard that. Hey, That's a message for another day and boy that could draw a crowd. It's not your money to give to a knucklehead. It's God's money.
So this guy's blessed. You may not know it, but he's blessed. But with all that what we have, how are doing Conduct ourselves in life. What do we do?
Well, in Psalm 116, jot it down, Psalm 116, verse 12, it says, What shall I render to the Lord for all of his benefits toward me? Think of this. Has God been good to you? I will take up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all his people.
This is awesome. God has blessed me. I'm going to acknowledge him and I'm going to be bold about letting the world know God's been good to me. I'm going to announce his faithfulness. to the people that I come in contact with.
That is amazing, that's awesome. What a witness. Romans chapter 2 verse 4 says, Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering? Not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? Are you not a Christian tonight?
But listen, God has blessed your life. Look, I don't know what your story is. We all have stories. But if you're sitting here tonight, if you're sitting on a cushion, if you have feet at the end of your legs, You're blessed. You're blessed.
And the Bible says, haven't you thought about this all the way through? It's the goodness of God that leads to repentance. What does that mean? God's been good to you. And you should respond back to him in faith.
Give your life to him. We still live. In a country that, if you're hungry tonight, it's quite possibly because you've chosen to go without food tonight. Certainly know this, if you're hungry there are people who have the resources to feed you. Oh.
We're blessed. Listen, America's messed up. Never been this bad before in the history of America, but people are still trying to break into this country. Think of that. People are trying to leave their countries and break into this country.
People still want to come here. Why? America. We are at least running off the residual of God's blessings. Right?
But, you know, were you out today?
Now, I was not outside today. I was preparing for this message today. But I had all my windows open in my house. The wind was blowing. And it was so perfect all day today.
It's been like that for about a week. Have you noticed that?
So blessed. I'm reading that verse. Oh, God, I'm so blessed. The breeze is blowing, and it's just my Bible, the wind is moving my Bible.
So blessed. Got up this morning, it was crystal clear outside, and then at about 6 or 6:30, it got all cloudy. And I went out in the backyard. God. This is amazing.
Do you ever think about that? He's so good to us. He's so good all the time. The Bible also tells us regarding, listen, if your life is smooth and pleasurable. I have some encouragement for you.
The Bible tells us in Philippians 4, verse 11, not to speak and regard, Paul says, to need, for I have learned in whatever state. Amen. I think he means California also. To be content. He says, I know how to be abased.
Wow, Paul says, I know how to be poor and have nothing. And I know how to be rich. Everywhere and in all things, I have learned both to be full and to be hungry. Both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Listen, I love that portion of scripture, and I think verse 13 should be read before verse 11. Yeah, that's it. Pe how do you how can you say that? Because of this, it's through life's experiences that Paul learned I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Listen, I want this to encourage you.
I don't think Paul came to his poverty. or to his wealth, and said, All right, this is poverty standing right outside my door. I see it. I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. I don't think you did that.
I think Paul said, Yikes, I'm a Christian. This poverty. Whew, well, look, God knows. He's able to cause a falafel to fall out of the sky. If he wants me to have one.
And so I'm not going to complain. I'm just going to trust in him. And maybe Paul, who was a Jew, Hebrew, knowing the scriptures, a Pharisee, would have even drawn from Job and said, you know what, I remember when Job wrote, Naked I came and naked I go, blessed be the name of the Lord. What is he doing? What am I doing with you?
I'm saying to you what Paul, I think, would have said to himself. He would have preached the word of God to himself. And all of us as Christians need to be preachers of the Word of God to ourselves. That is vitally important. Are you discouraged?
Then you need to look, look right down your shirt and say, Why so downcast, O my soul? Hope thou in God. That's what David said. David took his robe and he looked down and he said, Why so downcast, oh my soul? Did you know he said he wrote that?
He wrote that. In the time of Great Depression, he said, wait a minute. He looked all around. I've got so much to be thankful for. David looked around.
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Hope and God. Um He preached to himself. We need to do that. We need to do that many times during the course of one day.
Right? It's awesome. Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio, and his message called Parable That's Not a Parable. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called The Parables of Jesus. It's a series highlighting the teachings of Jesus while he was ministering right here on this earth.
And we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. What do you say when a friend says their marriage might end? Or how do you help a coworker dealing with depression? Do you have the right words when your child opens up about school stress or family issues or something else? The Biblical Counseling Reference Guide by June Hunt.
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