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Author: Stephen Weller
603 words, 3 minutes read time

The Burden of the Rich Man

Scripture: Luke 16:27-31

We ended the previous lesson with the rich man’s request for some water to cool his hot tongue being denied. In this lesson we will learn how he responded to such discouraging news.

^{Lk 16:27} “And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— ²⁸ for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’”

The rich man finds himself in a very undesirable place and would like to warn his brothers and encourage them to live in a way that would allow them to join Lazarus when they die. He begs Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers to explain what happened to him and what they should do to avoid coming to join him in that place of torment.

^{Lk 16:29} “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’”

Abraham explains to the rich man that his brothers have Moses and the Prophets with the message and that they should listen to them just as you should have when you were alive and had a chance. Today, we have the gospel readily available to us. Are we learning it and living it out in our daily lives? How important are the Scriptures to you? How much time to you spend in the Scriptures in comparison to your time with social media or watching TV? How does this time spent affect your life now and how do they prepare you for the life you will live for an eternity?

^{Lk 16:30} “And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’”

If someone were to return from the dead, how willing would we be to listen to them and learn from them? Jesus returned from the dead and in so doing, he validated the things he taught while on earth. Are people willing to accept him and do what he told us to do? As a believer, how willing are you to do the good works which God has prepared beforehand for us to do (Ephesians 2:10)?

^{Lk 16:31} “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.’”’

Paul tells us in Romans 3:10 – 12 ESV: ¹⁰ “None is righteous, no, not one; ¹¹ no one understands; no one seeks for God. ¹² All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Those who are spiritually dead have no desire for God and don’t care to hear anything he has to say to them. If it was not for the presence of the Holy Spirit working within us, even we as believers could drift away from God and not return. Any element of sin within us will always be at work drawing us away from God.

Conclusion

Our study in this section point out the importance of continually learning from the Scriptures and living it out in our daily lives. The weakness of the western church, its lack of growth and its dwindling effect on the culture in which we live, is a good indication that its members do not see much value in knowing Jesus and his word. Beyond a free ticket to heaven, the world with its pleasures and its things seem to have the greater influence.