Riches and poverty

Now Luke chapter 16, please. The Gospel of Luke, Matthew, Mark, Luke chapter 16. And I'm not going to read the whole story, I just want to pick up a little phrase, a couple of phrases, about this rich man who was a sinner and he died and he went to hell.

And that's very solemn. Verse 19, there was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. And verse 20, and there was a certain beggar.

We discover in the story that this beggar is actually a Christian named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores. Now look at verse number 22, and it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. Abraham's bosom is a lovely title of heaven.

The rich man also died and was buried, and in hell he lift up his eyes being in torments and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. 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. Now let's go over to the book of Romans, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Acts, Romans, chapter 10.

Romans chapter 10. We'll pick up at verse number 12, Romans 10, and verse number 12. Now these are marvelous words.

I'm a visitor here so I don't know who in my audience is familiar with the Bible, but if you're not familiar with the Bible, this is amazing truth from the God of heaven. Romans 10 and verse 12. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek.

Now that encompasses all of humanity, the Jew and the Greek or the Gentile, okay? Everyone. For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

I want to read that again so you get that in your mind. I want to pick up the middle part of verse 12. For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

And look at the incentive of verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And finally one final verse in 2nd Corinthians chapter 8. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians chapter 8. These are lovely, lovely truths about the Lord Jesus God's Son.

Verse number 9, 2nd Corinthians 8 and verse 9. For ye know the grace. Now Paul is writing to Christians. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich.

Let's read those marvelous words again. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich. Now what I have in my mind is very simple.

I want to think of a man who was rich in eternity, God's Son, and he came down from heaven into earth to be absolutely poor. Then in contrast I want to think of a man who was rich in earth and he died in his sins and he went out into eternity and he's still a pauper. He's still poor.

There's nothing greater, friend, than to die in your sins and go to hell. That is the ultimate of poverty. We often think of poverty in the physical sense.

Riches, poverty, money, houses, boats, cars, whatever it might be. Able to take vacations wherever you want throughout the world and we look upon that as something to be grasped after. Listen, here's what is true riches in time.

Knowing your sins are forgiven. Knowing that Jesus Christ is your Savior. Knowing that when you die heaven will be your destination.

That is riches that cannot be, can't be fully explained. I want to think about this rich man in Luke chapter 16. It's very clear from reading the story that he didn't go to hell because he was rich.

That you're missing the point of the story. You're going to discover in the story the reason that he went to hell is because he didn't repent of his sin. That's further developed in the story.

The beggar, the beggar, the poor man laid at his gate did not go to heaven because he was poor. You're going to discover in the story the man knew Father Abraham. Okay, there's a relationship there.

So we just want to clarify that. It's a very sad story Luke 16 because God actually tried to stop this rich man from going to hell. The story tells us that this poor man who is a Christian was laid right at his gate.

God did that. I call it a roadblock on the way to hell. And that rich man daily as he went out of his gate he would look at that poor man.

He would wonder why that poor man was at his gate. Maybe he got disgusted by it. There are the dogs licking his sores.

Though if I had taken time to read the whole story there is what he witnessed. But here's what I want you to get a hold of. When the rich man died and went to hell he wanted that beggar.

He wanted him. What he did not value in time, he ended up understanding the value in eternity. But friend this Bible is very clear.

It's on earth where we commit sin. It's only on earth where our sins can be forgiven. And once a person crosses from time out into eternity, contrary to what the religious systems around will tell you, there is no cosmic balance where your good deeds are weighed against your bad deeds.

This Bible is very clear that it's on earth that the son of man have power to forgive sins. Not out in eternity. And that is why God purposely had this Christian dropped at this man's gate so that he wouldn't be poor in hell.

I wonder as I look over the audience tonight, do you have a friend who's a Christian? Do you have a friend who's constantly asking you to come to gospel meetings? Is it starting to irritate you? You will value that one day in hell if you die on your sins. You got a saved mother and father that pray for your soul. I had that.

I didn't value it at the time. Like my brother that just preceded me. I thought that was, this is, this is terrible.

Imagine my father making us get on our knees as he prayed for us. I was saved at the age of 24 and I got way into the world. But I thank God now, as I look back for such a home life like that, where I was literally surrounded by the word of God, surrounded by truth about a man called Christ Jesus, who was so rich in eternity and for sinners dying in their sins, he left it all behind.

And he came down into this world to just be absolutely poor. On one occasion, he had to ask for a penny. He didn't even have money in his pocket.

You know what he was known as? He grew up in a little town called Nazareth, where he was known as the carpenter. They said, is not this the carpenter? They knew his earthly father, Joseph, who was a carpenter. And here's his son learning the trade of a carpenter.

You know what the Bible tells his friend? He's more than a carpenter. He was the creator of the universe, upholding everything by his word, by his power. Think of what he left behind.

You ever sometimes wonder, those in the meeting that are not saved, you ever wonder what the gospel is all about? It's about a man, a person, God's son, that gave up everything to die for your sin. Friend, it's tremendous. There couldn't be a better message falling upon your ears than what's falling on your ears.

Not that you have the privilege to listen to me. I'm just an average person. But this person we're trying to tell you about, God's son, what a tremendous person.

I came to know him as my personal savior 28 years ago at the age of 24. My sins were troubling me greatly. And I came to a point where I understood on April the 4th, 1990, it was a Wednesday afternoon, 3.30 in the afternoon, that if I was to die in my sins, I would go to hell and be there forever.

And I remember just simply acknowledging, God, you're right to do that. That's what I deserve. And I discovered for the first time, I didn't have an open Bible in front of me.

Just some thoughts from the Bible were going through my mind. I just remember this. But the Bible, the same Bible that condemns me as a sinner is the same Bible that tells me Christ died for the ungodly.

Right there, I understood. I can call it to God for salvation. That's what I did.

I've been saved ever since. It's marvelous. That's why I read in Romans chapter 10.

Romans chapter 10 is a lovely verse. The same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. Brother Murray was showing a picture of us a number of It was a beautiful, sunny day, and it was just marvelous, the weather.

And we were flying by Niagara Falls. We were at 9,000 feet. And there you could see the mist coming up over the falls, out of the falls.

And he took a picture out of the window. And I was just meditating upon Romans chapter 9 and verse 10, the same Lord over all. And I was thinking of what a perspective I have at 9,000 feet.

As I look, people don't know I'm up here. And I couldn't see people, but you could see a little bit of traffic, and you'd see quite a distance. And I was just enjoying the view.

But then I thought, you know what? I can only see so little. And I couldn't hear somebody calling at 9,000 feet. And then as I was meditating on that verse, I thought of the Lord in heaven, God in heaven.

The same Lord over all. The higher I go up into space, the more narrow my view becomes, because this thing becomes a big ball, a little ball, a smaller ball, a little dot. You want to know what the entire world is to God? It's just like a flat plane.

He sees everyone the same. His ear is attuned to every single sinner from the four corners of the earth. It doesn't matter what language they speak.

It doesn't matter what time of the day they call. Listen to the verse, dear sinner, the same Lord over all. Guess what it says? He's rich unto all that call upon him.

You ever called onto him? Maybe out of your bedroom, maybe at your desk where you're working at school, maybe in a gospel meeting like this. Have you ever, you don't even have to open your mouth. Just the voice, just that inner voice of your heart, of your mind, just understanding that God is right.

I have committed sin against God. These men are not giving us their ideas. They're quoting from the Bible, the oldest book on the face of the earth.

And they're telling us truth from the word of God, that before God, we stand helpless sinners, destined to an awful place, a real place called hell and the lake of fire. And that for all of eternity, that truth ever gripped you and you just simply called. Guess what? There's plenty here right now, recalling the day they called.

Did God put you on hold? No. Did you hear a beep? No, no, no. God wasn't out doing something else? No.

You weren't informed that you were number 100 in a long line? No. It's an amazing, all across this world, the instant an honest sinner calls out to God for salvation. Guess what the word of God says? He is rich unto all that call upon him for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord.

Listen to it shall be saved. How much clearer can God make it? Or is there someone sitting here and you're thinking to yourself, all right, all right, right, right, right. That man, he's just making it too simple.

There must be more to it than that. There's no more to it than that. Here's the sad thing.

I'm looking at people that could possibly die in their sins, knowing all this and you will find yourself in hell. I've met people that tried to convince me there is no hell. You die in your sins, you will believe it.

Because you will be there. I've met people who try to tell me there is no God. You die in your sins and you will believe it.

Because you will meet him. God's existence does not depend upon your acceptance of it. Everything associated with God does not depend on what this world thinks of him or his word.

Their friend is such a thing as absolute authority. It's found in this Bible, the word of God. I'm here tonight, friend, to warn you.

I'm here to plead with you. This meeting, just like that poor beggar laid at the gate of this rich man, this meeting is a roadblock on your mad dash for hell and your sins. Your saved Christian friend who has tried to get you out to meeting is a roadblock that got a blinking light that God has brought into your life to say, stop.

Stop. Listen to the word of God. Call it to God for salvation.

Your saved mother and father, they're a roadblock. That is how much God loves you, friend. God could not do any more than he's already done in his doing.

God could not. You get to know this Bible. You read this Bible enough and you will start to understand just how long suffering and gracious God is.

Contrary to that world that tries to convince us that God is some angry, hateful being that is so distant. You get a completely opposite view when you read the Bible. Your God who could be your savior is so close to you.

So close. He doesn't ask you to get off your seat and come to the front. He doesn't even ask you to put up your hand.

He just asks you in your heart, accept the truth that you're a sinner going to hell and that Christ died for you. There's so many verses. He that believeth on the son hath everlasting life.

We sang it. You don't even have to open your mouth to believe. It's just something that's done in the mind, done in the heart.

I was thinking this afternoon as my brother was up preaching Frank Sona, he brought us into Isaiah. Isaiah just reminds us again of how rich Christ was. I want you to think for a minute.

I want you to be reminded of what Christ willingly gave up to come down here to die for us. I want you to think of the environment of heaven in contrast to the environment of earth that he came into. Christ, according to the word of God, never had a beginning.

He is the eternal God. We heard that clearly stated this afternoon. Those angelic, those created angelic beings, every single one of them in heaven always recognized him for who he is, the eternal God.

Heaven is one constant choir recognizing and praising and worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ. Those angelic beings that we heard today constantly saying, holy, holy, holy art thou Lord God Almighty. That wasn't something that just sort of struck up once every hour in heaven.

Heaven exists in eternity, friend. This is something that was constant in the environment of heaven. No one overlooked him.

Everyone understood him. Do you know what happened when he came to earth? Who's this? Who's this? They mocked him. They ridiculed him.

What I'm amazed at when I read the Bible, the gospel of John, which really gives us that perspective of God from eternity come to earth. You know the amazing thing? John only records one time that a person worshiped him. Think of that.

Coming from an environment where he was worshiped all the time, coming to an environment where just one blind man after having his eyes opened fell down and worshiped him. Think of what humanity did to him, friend. Think of individuals that cleared their throat and spit on them.

That never happened in heaven. Think of soldier after soldier that would line up in front of them and clench their fist. And the word of God says that he hid not.

They struck him. That never happened in heaven. Think of the crown of thorns that they were weaving together and they placed it on his head and they picked that read out and they struck him on the head.

Never happened in heaven. You think of the time they stripped the clothes off him. That never happened in heaven.

And then I come out to a hill called Calvary and I see a hand already there to accept the nail. And they drove a nail through his hands and through his feet. That never happened in heaven.

It would never happen in heaven. And they lifted up that cross and they just left the son of God hanging there. Why? Think of the poverty he came into.

I read that verse in 2nd Corinthians chapter 8 and here's how for ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. I know it. I only see one thing in all that that I described.

He did that for me. That's why I'm saved. That's why I'm going to heaven.

I'm not going to heaven because I preach. I'm not going to heaven because of the way I live. I'm not going to heaven because I've been baptized.

I'm not going to heaven because I give money. I'm going to heaven because of the richest person that ever or will ever live. He just left it all.

He came down into this world and he went all the way to the cross of Calvary and there he died for my sin. Praise my land. I feel like shouting hallelujah.

What a truth. That's why I'm going to heaven. It's not because I go to the gospel hall.

There's no church that can take away your sin. But Jesus Christ, now he can. So I bring my message to an end.

God has been very kind to you friend. You've heard the gospel message yet again. It's another roadblock.

What are you going to do with it? You got to keep going on. You're going to be like the rich man and step over the Christian at his gate and go on about his life. Then we read this.

The rich man died and in hell. You know the most amazing thing about that whole story to me is a rich man in earth who didn't have a table big enough to hold all the food that he had. Here is a rich man in hell and all he's asking for is just one drop of water.

He's still asking for it. You talk about poverty. I could never explain to you how poor that rich man is right now.

Friend, don't follow him. Understand you're a sinner before God. Call it to the one who is rich unto all and you could go home tonight saved on the road to hell.

Amen.