Luke 16

Luke 16:1-13

Chapter 13 The Parable Of The Unjust StewardAn Illustration Remember that parables are earthly illustrations of heavenly truths. We do not build our doctrine upon parables. We do not interpret the rest of the Bible in the light of the Lord’s parables. We build our doctrine upon the plain statements of holy scripture. And we interpret the parables of our Lord in the light of the whole Volume of Inspiration. A parable must not be forced beyond its purpose. The purpose of a parable is to illustrate one primary thing. It has one central message. It is not necessary to give every word of the parable a spiritual or doctrinal meaning. In order to understand it, we must look at the parable as a whole, and seek to determine what its primary message is. In this parable the certain rich man represents the Lord our God.

The rich man’s steward represents us all. We are all, in a sense, stewards of God. The message taught in this parable is this: As the stewards of God, you and I are responsible to wisely use what God has put into our hands for his glory and for our own eternal good. This unjust steward was not commended for his injustice, but for his wisdom and great care in using his present circumstances to provide for himself in the future. Someone has suggested that this world is a house. Heaven is the roof of the house. The stars are its lights. The earth, with its fruits, is a table spread by the Master of the house, who is the great and glorious Lord God. Man is the steward of the house, into whose hands God has given all the goods of his house for a time. It is the steward’s responsibility to use his Master’s goods wisely for the honour of his Master, and according to his Master’s will. In the Day of Judgment we will be called to give an account of our stewardship. The message of this parable is a subject of indescribable importance. It is deeper than election, more profound than predestination, and more difficult to receive than Divine sovereignty. You and I are stewards under God, responsible to use what he has put into our hands for the good of his people and the glory of his name, according to his will. If we learn nothing else from this parable, I want us to learn this: Everything (money, material possessions, time, talents, opportunities, family ¯ everything!) we have in this world belongs to God. We are only the stewards of God’s property for a while. He allows us to use that which is his. But it is our responsibility to use it for his glory and according to his direction. The Parable Itself First, we will briefly look at the parable itself (Luke 16:1-8). “And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil.

And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light” (Luke 16:1-8). Here our Lord holds before us a wicked, self-serving, unjust steward. His master trusted him with the goods of his house. But this man used his office and position to cheat his master and his master’s debtors and served himself. As stated above, this unjust steward represents all men and women. God made man to serve him with his creation and honour him. But we have taken that which belongs to God and used it for ourselves. We have all attempted to rob God, both of his dominion and his dignity as God. It is not accidental that this parable immediately follows the Lord’s story of the elder brother and the parable by which he rebuked the Pharisees and scribes in Luke 15. I am certain that the Pharisees understood both that parable and this one as specifically speaking of them, because they took offence at it (Luke 16:16). Here are four things that the Lord specifically tells us about this unjust steward … “He wasted his lord’s goods” (Luke 16:1). This steward embezzled his master’s goods, misapplied them, or through carelessness lost them. And for this, he was accused before his master. This is the charge laid against us all. We have taken that which God has given us to use for his glory, his Son, and his people and wasted it upon our own pleasures. Because he had wasted his lord’s goods, this steward was given notice that he would soon be put out of his stewardship (Luke 16:2). In a little while he would be required to give up his stewardship and give account of himself to his master. Our Lord Jesus Christ spoke these words against the Pharisees; but he spoke them to his disciples. They are written for our learning. What do they teach us? Soon we will be compelled to give up our stewardship. Our Lord tells us to “work while it is day, for the night cometh when no man can work.” We will not always enjoy the privileges and pleasures that are now ours. Death will soon come. When it does, it will deprive us of the abilities and opportunities we now have of serving Christ and his people. And when we are gone, another steward will come to take our place. We will soon be forgotten. Our discharge from our stewardship is a matter of justice. We must die, because we have sinned. We have wasted our Lord’s goods. Therefore, we have forfeited our stewardship. When the Lord takes it from us, we have no grounds for complaint. When our stewardship is taken from us, we must give account of it to our Lord (Hebrews 9:27; 2 Corinthians 5:10-11). Having been warned of these things, if we were wise, we would make preparation for that great day. He is a wise man who says to himself continually, “Prepare to meet thy God.” Soon we must stand before God to give account of our stewardship. As soon as this unjust steward realized that his stewardship was to be taken from him, he began to make preparations for the appointed day (Luke 16:3-7). He used the time and opportunities he had to prepare for that appointed day when his stewardship would be taken away. We would be wise to think upon that day. We have been warned. Soon God will take us out of this world. Soon we will stand before God in judgment. We are fools if we do not prepare for that day. He realized that he had no ability to earn his livelihood, and that he was too proud to beg. “Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed” (Luke 16:3). He could not dig, because he would not dig. He was not willing to lower himself to what he looked upon as menial labour. He was not too proud to steal. But he was too proud to work! He was too lazy to work and too proud to beg. Both work and humility were contrary to his nature. Spiritually, you and I are in the same position he was in. We cannot, by the works of our hands, save our souls. We have neither the will nor the ability to obey God’s law. “By the works of the law there shall no flesh be justified.” “Man is not justified by the works of the law.” Salvation is by grace. It cannot be earned or won by works. Salvation is the free gift of God’s free grace in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). But there is another problem We are all too proud by nature to beg for mercy. We are too proud to come to God like the publican, upon the footing of free grace through a Substitute (Luke 18:13). We are too proud to seek grace through the merits of another. Though he was too lazy to work and too proud to beg, this unjust steward determined that he would make friends of his lord’s debtors, so that when he was turned out of his master’s house, he might be received into theirs. This unjust steward was a treacherous, dishonest man. But he was brilliant in one thing. He used the opportunity he had to prepare for his future welfare. “I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore” (Luke 16:4-7). In Luke 16:8 the Lord Jesus tells us that the unjust steward’s master commended his behaviour. “And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” This is a strange commendation. His lord did not commend him because he had done the things he had done, but because he had wisely provided for himself. Dishonest as he was, by lessening the bills of his master’s debtors, he made for himself friends. Wicked as he was in his deeds, he had an eye to the future. Disgraceful as his actions were, he provided well for himself. He did not sit still in idleness and wait to be reduced to poverty. He schemed, planned, contrived, and found a way to secure a future home for himself. Therefore, the Lord Jesus said, “The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” Do you see the contrast? This man, with regard to earthly things, was diligent. He wisely looked to and provided for the future. This is commendable even in insects and animals (Proverbs 6:6-9; Proverbs 30:24-28). But, as John Trapp observed, “The worldling’s wisdom serves him (as the ostrich’s wings) to make him outrun others upon earth, and in earthly things; but helps him never a wit toward heaven.” Spiritual Things Without question, the Book of Proverbs is a book of inspired wisdom drawn from earthly maxims. But the maxims, as given by Solomon, under divine inspiration, are not about carnal matters. They are about spiritual matters. Solomon is not telling us how to lay up treasures upon the earth. That would be a direct contradiction to our Lord’s word in Matthew 6. Solomon’ purpose is to show us the necessity of laying up treasure in heaven. Yet, how foolish we are to neglect our souls! In this regard the unjust steward sets before us an example we would be wise to follow. Like him, we should look to the future (2 Corinthians 4:18). We would be wise to make provision for that day when we shall have to leave our present habitation and secure for ourselves, by faith in Christ, “an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” We should use every means at our disposal to secure our everlasting welfare. J. C. Ryle wrote, “The diligence of worldly men about the things of time should put to shame the coldness of professing Christians about the things of eternity.” They improve their opportunities. We waste ours. They redeem their time. We squander ours. They seize the moment to increase their riches. We live as if we expect to live here forever, as though there were no eternal riches in glory. Christ’s Exhortation Second, I want us to understand the exhortation our Lord Jesus gives us in Luke 16:9. The parable ends in Luke 16:8. Luke 16:9-13 are words of instruction to you and me, by which our Saviour pointedly applies the parable to us. “And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations” (Luke 16:9). This is the meaning of our Lord’s words in this verse: Make to yourselves friends with your money and earthly goods, so that when you die, you may enter into everlasting habitations. Use your earthly goods, as stewards under God, with an eye to the future. Use your riches in this world in such a way that they shall be friends to you and not a witness against you in the Day of Judgment. Lest any mistake what I am saying, or what our Lord is teaching in this verse, let this be perfectly understood. No man can purchase an eternal inheritance in heaven with money, any more than he can earn it by his works. Our only grounds of acceptance with God is the precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-21). Your earthly riches cannot get you into heaven, no matter what you do with them. But your earthly riches can keep you out of heaven (Matthew 13:22; Luke 18:22-24). It is our responsibility not to serve our earthly possessions, but rather to use our earthly possessions to serve our God, his people, and his gospel.

All that we have belongs to God and is to be used for God. We are nothing but stewards. A steward takes in with one hand and distributes with the other according to his master’s will (Matthew 6:19-21; Matthew 6:33). We were not put here to amass wealth, but to use what God puts in our hands for the glory of Christ and the good of his people. The doctrine our Lord teaches us by this parable is unmistakable. The proper use of our earthly goods, from the proper motives, will be for our eternal benefit. It is an evidence of God’s grace in us, which shall befriend our souls forever. God the Holy Spirit has given us three inspired commentaries on our Lord’s exhortation in Luke 16:9. “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days” (Ecclesiastes 11:1). “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:7-10). “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19). “And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations” (Luke 16:9). Faithful, Or Unfaithful? Third, our Lord gives us the basis of this exhortation and enforces it in Luke 16:10-12. If we do not make good use of God’s temporal gifts of providence, we need not expect him to bestow upon us the true riches of spiritual and everlasting grace and glory. “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much” (Luke 16:10). The riches of this world are called that which is least. Men think riches are great, significant, and all-important. Our Lord calls riches that which is least, the very least of all God’s gifts to man. The spiritual riches, the riches of grace and glory are much, infinitely, immeasurably much. These are “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8) and “God’s riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Matthew Henry said, “God withholds his grace from covetous worldly people more than we are aware of.” And our Lord said virtually the same thing in Luke 18:25. “If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?” (Luke 16:11) The riches of this world are deceitful and uncertain. They are “the unrighteous mammon”. Spiritual riches are “true riches”. I wonder if we really believe that. Those who are rich in faith are truly rich. Those who are rich in grace are infinitely rich. Those who are rich towards God are permanently rich. Those who are rich in Christ are perfectly rich and rich in all things (1 Corinthians 3:21). In Christ all providential things are ours, all temporal things are ours, all gracious things are ours, all spiritual things are ours, and all eternal things are ours. “And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?” (Luke 16:12). The riches of this world are another man’s. They all belong to God. We are only stewards of them, who use them for a very little while. Then, we must leave them to another. Spiritual, eternal riches are our own. They are that good part which shall not be taken away from us, neither in this world nor in the world to come. That which God has imputed to me is mine forever. That which he imparts to my soul can never be separated from me. It is my very own forever. Christ’s righteousness is our righteousness (Jeremiah 33:16). His reward is our reward (Colossians 1:12). His inheritance is our inheritance (Romans 8:17). And his glory is our glory (John 17:20). Little Things In these verses, our Lord plainly shows us the importance of faithfulness in little things. He is showing us that little things are the truest tests of character. A man who will steal a dime will rob a bank, if he thinks he can get away with it. A woman who will gossip about you would murder you, if she could. A person who is not faithful in little things is really unfaithful in all things. And he certainly is not an heir of heavenly things. Yet, it must be understood that faithfulness is not measured by acts, but by lives. David failed greatly in some areas; but he was a faithful steward in God’s house. Our Lord’s Lesson Fourth, our Saviour sets before us a lesson we must learn. “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13). As Matthew Henry rightly observed, “We have no other way to prove ourselves the servants of God than by giving up ourselves so entirely to his service as to make mammon, that is, all our worldly gain, serviceable to us in his service.” If we love the world and seek to hold on to the things of the world, we will hate God and despise his grace. Our worship of, service to, and faith in God will be made to be subservient to our worldly interests. We will use the things of God to serve the world. If we love God and seek to hold on to him, serving his kingdom and his glory, his Son and his gospel, then we will hate the world and despise all that it offers. That simply means, when the world comes into competition with God, we throw the world away and hold our God and Saviour (Luke 14:25-33). We make our business and worldly interests subservient to the worship of, obedience to, and service for our God. We make the things of the world to be neither more nor less than instruments with which we serve the Lord our God. “Ye cannot serve God and mammon”! So I say to you as Joshua did to Israel of old, “How long halt ye between two opinions? … Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” As for me and my house, I have made up my mind, “We will serve the Lord”! “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:34-37).

Luke 16:13-18

Chapter 14 “That Which Is Highly Esteemed Among Men” Single Heart The Lord Jesus concluded his parable of the unjust steward with these words, “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13). The lesson he declares is unmistakable: if we would worship and serve our God, we must worship him and serve him with a single, undivided heart. “The Lord looketh on the heart.” In all things concerning faith in Christ, obedience to our God, and worship, the heart is the principle thing (Proverbs 4:23; Proverbs 23:26). “The Lord looketh on the heart.” “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart” he will not despise. The one thing he requires of all who come to him in faith is the heart, a sincere, single, undivided heart. The heart was the one thing lacking in the rich young ruler. The heart was the thing the Scribes and Pharisees would not give. The heart is the one thing none will give to God, except the Lord God create a broken, contrite, single, undivided heart in us by his omnipotent grace. Faith in Christ is the surrender of myself to him.

It is giving up my life to him. Faith in Christ is not a partial consecration, but the entire consecration of myself to my God. Read the scriptures for yourself and understand the doctrine of Christ. Where there is no consecration, there is no conversion. Where there is no surrender, there is no salvation. Where there is no voluntary bowing to Christ as Lord, there is no knowledge of Christ as Saviour (Luke 14:26-33; Mark 8:34-37). The plain and simple fact is “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” We are not the servants of God, we do not trust Christ as our Lord, if we do not give up ourselves so entirely to his service as to make mammon, that is, all our worldly gain, serviceable to his kingdom, his will, and his glory. If we love the world and seek to hold on to the things of the world, we will hate God and despise his grace. Our worship of, service to, and faith in God will be made to be subservient to our worldly interests. We will use the things of God to serve the world. If we love God and seek to hold on to him, serving his kingdom and his glory, his Son and his gospel, then we will hate the world and despise all that it offers. That simply means that when the world comes into competition with God, we throw the world away and hold our God and Saviour. We make our business and worldly interests subservient to the worship of, obedience to, and service for our God. We make the things of the world to be neither more nor less than instruments with which we serve the Lord God. It is a useless show of hypocrisy to claim that we are worshippers and servants of God, when in reality we only serve ourselves. God in heaven cannot be served with a divided heart. That is so obviously revealed in the New Testament that dispute regarding it would seem to be unthinkable. Yet, multitudes in this world try to do the thing our Master declares is impossible. They try to be friends of the world and friends of God at the same time. Does that describe you? Your conscience forces you to be religious. But your heart is chained to earthly things. You live in constant unrest. You have too much religion to be happy in the world and too much of the world in your heart to be happy in religion. You labour to do that which cannot be done. You are striving to “serve God and mammon”. Whole-hearted, decisive faith is what our Lord requires. Whole-hearted, decisive faith is the key to contentment and peace in this world. Half-heartedness brings up an evil report of the good land and of God’s promise. Whole-hearted faith in Christ, like Caleb, is of another spirit and follows the Lord fully, saying, “The Lord will bring us into this land and give it to us.” J. C. Ryle said, “The more entirely we live, not to ourselves, but to him who died for us, the more powerfully shall we realize what it is to have ‘joy and peace in believing’ (Romans 15:13). If it is worthwhile to serve Christ at all, let us serve him with all our heart, and soul, and mind and strength … If we cannot make up our minds to give up everything for Christ’s sake, we must not expect Christ to own us at the last day. He will have all our hearts or none. ‘Whoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God’ (James 4:4). The end of undecided and half-hearted Christians will be to be cast out forever.” Sneering Religionists When the scribes and Pharisees heard our Lord’s parable of the unjust steward and the conclusion he drew from it, “they derided him”. These lost religionists turned up their noses in contempt at our Saviour’s doctrine. “And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him” (Luke 16:14). When the Pharisees, a money-loving, money-obsessed bunch of religionists, heard the Master say these things, they rolled their eyes, dismissing him as hopelessly out of touch. These covetous men, these lovers of the world, turned up their noses, made faces at the Son of God, and sneered at him. They laughed and scoffed at his doctrine. These men professed to be, and everyone highly regarded them as being lovers of God; but that which was the master passion of their hearts was the love of the world. “These men”, wrote G. Campbell Morgan, “were filled with scorn for this poor, Galilean peasant who talked like that about money. To them, the teaching Jesus had been giving was so preposterous that they could not restrain their mockery.” There are many in pulpits and churches around the world today of the same opinion. They are moral. They are religious. But they tell us that such things as our Lord here emphatically declares are not practical. What blasphemy there is in the use of that word “practical”! When religious people talk about “being practical”, “teaching practical things”, “practical doctrine”, and “practical godliness”, what they usually mean is: “We’ve heard enough about Christ and his gospel.

That no longer appeals to us”! When they talk about devotion and consecration to the Son of God as something “excessive” and “impractical”, they are only attempting to cover their own rebellion, self-interests, and love of the world. Nothing in all the world is more reasonable and practical than the whole-hearted consecration of our lives to our God and Saviour (Romans 12:1-2). That man or woman who loves the world, no matter how religious he or she may be, betray themselves by the object of their affection (1 John 2:15-17). A Biting Reply The Master had already stung their consciences. They knew he had been talking about them. And, now in Luke 16:15 our Saviour gives a biting reply to their sneers. God sees right through the mask of hypocrisy. He knows every man’s heart. “And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” Hiding behind the mask of religious devotion, these men passed themselves off as being great lovers of God and of his law. But their religion was nothing but a mask to hide their covetousness, their love of all that can be gained in this world. Here, our Lord unmasked the Pharisees publicly. In essence, he is saying, “You are masters at making yourselves look good in front of others, but God knows what’s behind the appearance. What society sees and calls “monumental”, God sees through and calls “monstrous”. In doing so, he gives us two, sobering lessons, if we have ears to hear them. First, “God knoweth your hearts.” Second, “That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” That which is high in the estimation of men is an abomination in the sight of God. That is to say, those who attempt to justify themselves by their works, ever making a show of religion and godliness before men, are a stench in the nostrils of God in heaven, who knows their hearts. They are a stench in his nostrils, and all their religion is a stench in his nostrils. Their religion and holiness, their devotion and ceremonies, their zeal and their prayers are a stench to God! Everything by which they gain the applause of men as “holy, devoted, godly people”, everything by which they gain the world they covet is an abomination to God. What was our Lord referring to here? Did he have anything specific in mind? Hear his own words and see … “Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly” (Matthew 6:1-4). “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him” (Matthew 6:5-8). “Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly” (Matthew 6:16-18). “Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren” (Matthew 23:1-8). “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves” (Matthew 23:15). “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess” (Matthew 23:23-25). “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matthew 23:27-28). “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” (Matthew 23:29-33). God’s opinion of a man’s goodness and his own opinion of his goodness are not quite the same. Your opinion of your righteousness and God’s opinion of it are as different as heaven and hell (Isaiah 1:10-15; Isaiah 65:2-5). God loves what men despise: mercy, grace, lovingkindness, and faith. And men love what God despises: a form of godliness, a religious show, and the praise of men. “Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him. Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself. He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light. Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish” (Psalms 49:16-20). Legalists And The Law In Luke 16:16-18 our Lord exposes the legalists’ contempt for God’s holy law. While all legalists denounce as antinomian those faithful men who proclaim the believer’s complete freedom from the law (Romans 6:14-15; Romans 7:4; Romans 8:1-4; Romans 10:4; Galatians 5:1-4; Colossians 2:8; Colossians 2:16; Colossians 2:20), the fact is all who claim to live by the law would destroy the law. It is the legalist who is the antinomian, the one who is against the law. All who want you to believe that they are holy, that they live by the law of God and make themselves holy by their obedience to God really despise the law and endeavour to destroy it by lowering it to their level. This is exactly what our Lord charged against the Pharisees and all their followers in these three verses. Legalists love to show their obedience to the law, though they despise it inwardly. How often we hear legalists say, “If I didn’t believe I was still under the law, I could go out and live any way I wanted to.” With such assertions they betray their hatred of the law; and by their own words they are judged. Believers delight in the law after the inward man. A New Age Our Saviour declares in Luke 16:16 that the law and the prophets have now been fulfilled and a new age has begun. “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.” In the strictest sense, the law and the prophets were not fulfilled until Christ died and rose again. But John the Baptist appeared as the forerunner of the Christ, preparing the way before him, announcing the beginning of this present gospel age. Since the day John the Baptist pointed to him and cried, “Behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world”, the types and shadows of the law have been fulfilled. The kingdom of God no longer has any connection with meats, and drinks, and ceremonies, and bondage. It is not outward, but inward. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17). In this gospel age we do not call men and women to duties and ceremonies, but to Christ himself, preaching the kingdom of God. The law portrayed eternal things in the words of temporal things and spiritual things by carnal things. The gospel deals only with the spiritual and the eternal. The old things of the legal age have passed away. We are no longer looking for a kingdom to come, but proclaiming a kingdom established, and pressing men and women into it. The Church of God is the Kingdom of God, a kingdom established by Christ, a kingdom established upon righteousness, a kingdom of which Christ is the King, a kingdom of grace, and an everlasting kingdom. Pressing In In the last line of Luk 16:16 we read, “the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.” What do those words mean? Certainly, our Lord does not mean for us to understand that all men are trying to get into his kingdom. These Pharisees were not! They not only would not enter the kingdom, they did everything they could to block others from entering, just as our modern religionists do by their traditions, ceremonies, altar calls, scripted prayers, and displays of piety. So what does it mean? The word translated “presseth” in Luke 16:16 is used in only one other place in the New Testament (Matthew 11:12). It means, as it is translated in Matthew, “suffereth violence”. Everyone who enters the Kingdom of God strives to enter in at the strait gate. He strives against all the religion and religious duties, against all the saying of prayers and doing of penance, against all the laws and ceremonies, by which lost religionists would keep them from Christ. Word Fulfilled In Luke 16:17 our Lord declares that the Word of God stands and must be fulfilled in every detail. “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.” Apply these words to the Mosaic law or to the whole of divine revelation in the Old Testament, or to both. They mean exactly the same thing. Our Lord is here declaring, lest any foolishly say (as many do) that since they are fulfilled, the law and the prophets have been destroyed. Fulfilled is not destroyed, but fulfilled. As all the law was exactly fulfilled, so every Word of God stands forever. Not one word written in the Book of God shall fall to the ground. God’s Word is sure and unalterable! With regard to God’s holy law, the preaching of the Kingdom of God (the preaching of the gospel) does not lessen it, or destroy it. Not at all! The preaching of the gospel maintains the utter severity, strictness, and justice of the law, and its fulfilment by Christ as our Substitute (Romans 3:24-26; Romans 8:1-4; Romans 9:33 to Romans 10:4). Committeth Adultery To enforce what he says in Luke 16:17, our Lord declares to these self-righteous, self-serving, mean-spirited legalists that the specific law they were most flagrantly guilty of perverting, violating and trying to destroy means exactly the same thing today as it did when Moses wrote it in Deuteronomy 24. “Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery” (Luke 16:18). The Word of God is crystal clear. Marriage is the lifelong union of a man and a woman (Genesis 1:27; Genesis 24). Any man or woman who breaks that union, except upon the grounds of or because of adultery or abandonment (Matthew 5:31-32; Matthew 19:1-9; 1 Corinthians 7:15), and marries another commits adultery. The Pharisees were flagrant in their disregard of God’s law in this regard. The famous rabbi Hillel, who lived during the days of Herod I, asserted that a man had the right to divorce his wife if she burned his food! Another rabbi (Akiba) taught that a man could divorce his wife if he found a woman who was prettier! So commonly and easily did the Pharisees divorce their wives and marry another that when our Lord’s disciples heard what he had to say about it, they were shocked. They said, “If the case of the man be so with his wife”, if a man cannot put away his wife for any and every cause as the Pharisees do (Matthew 19:3), “it is not good to marry” (Matthew 19:10). Does that sound familiar? All this looseness and laxity, all this contempt for God’s law was promoted by men who pretended to be lovers of it and zealous for it, while they lowered it to their own level. In reality, they were men who simply used religion and God and the Bible to gratify their own lusts, promote their own praise, and secure their high esteem in the eyes of men. Why here? Many seem to have great difficulty trying to figure out why the Lord Jesus said what he did in Luke 16:18 in this context. They think it is out of place, that it has nothing to do with the parable in Luke 16:1-13, the comments in Luke 16:14-17, or the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. They are all mistaken. In Luke 16:18 our Lord sticks his finger right on the ever-swelling chest of every proud legalist, exposing his hypocrisy, and says, “Like the unjust steward, you live for yourself. Your religion, your great piety, that you think will get you into heaven is carrying you rapidly, headlong into hell. And, soon, you who are so rich in your own eyes will lift up your eyes in hell and see all God’s poor Lazarus’s, all these publicans and sinners who trust me alone for acceptance with God, these who come to me at mercy’s open gate as poor, needy beggars seeking grace, these who feed with me at the Father’s bounteous table, these you will see in all the riches of heavenly glory with me. Then, then, you will remember your imaginary riches and good things to the everlasting torment of your souls.” Hear the words of the Son of God and flee to him for mercy, trusting him alone as your righteousness. “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). Oh, poor, guilty, needy sinner, come to Christ as a filthy, empty handed, naked beggar and find in him the righteousness that God requires. Everything God requires is in him. And God gives it freely to all who need it (1 Corinthians 1:30-31).

Luke 16:19-31

Chapter 15 Seven Lessons Learned Too Late The Lord Jesus is continuing to address religious Pharisees, those who justify themselves before men. He said to them in Luke 16:15, “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” These are the people to whom the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son was spoken in chapter 15. In that parable they are described as the elder brother who despised the goodness and grace of God, by which poor sinners are saved. They scorned the Lord Jesus saying, “This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them” (Luke 15:2). It is specifically to all who attempt to justify themselves before men, to all who despise the grace of God in Christ that the story in Luke 16:19-31 is addressed. A Great Change The first thing we see in this parable is the fact that eternity brings about a great change. Things were not the same for the rich man after he died; and things were not the same for Lazarus (Luke 16:19-24). The Lord Jesus tells us, “There was a certain rich man”, a certain, notable, distinguished man, who thought himself rich before God and was highly esteemed as such, “which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day”, a man who never had a trouble in his soul. “And there was a certain”, poor, helpless “beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores”, full of trouble, “And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 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”, and was forgotten. “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.” What great changes are made when breath is taken from our bodies! Here are two men. One was very rich, and the other very poor. The one “fared sumptuously every day.” The other was a “beggar … full of sores”, who had nothing that he could call his own. Yet, it was Lazarus, the poor beggar, who possessed all things, who was born of God, and had true riches in Christ. The rich man though clothed in purple and fine linen (long robes, showing himself to be a distinctly righteous man) had nothing.

Lazarus, the poor man, lived by faith and walked in the steps of Abraham. The rich man was a thoughtless, self-righteous, selfish worldling, dead in trespasses and sins. While on earth, the rich man was at the top of the world and Lazarus on the bottom. Now, Lazarus is above in glory and the rich man below in hell. We should never imagine that men are blessed because they are wealthy, in good health, and appear to be happy. That which appears to be the blessing of God is often his curse. And we must never imagine that those who are poor, plagued with disease, and troubled are unbelieving and cursed. Earthly woe is often an indication of Divine favour. “Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 9:23-24). Wealth and worldly honour are not marks of God’s favour. Poverty and adversity are not marks of God’s displeasure. Those whom God justifies and glorifies are seldom the rich and honourable of this world. One End Learn this, too: death is the common end of all men. The trials of the “beggar” and the sumptuous living of the “rich man”, both ceased at the appointed hour. At God’s appointed time, both men died. Both went to the grave. As Solomon tells us, “All go to one place” (Ecclesiastes 3:20). You and I are dying creatures. Few like to think about it, but it is a fact. Soon we must die (Hebrews 9:27). Death is the one thing that is common to all. Yet, most people eat, and drink, and talk, and plan as if they were going to live in this world forever. How foolish! Someone once said, “He that would live well should often think of his last day, and make it his company-keeper.” Here is an epitaph left on a tombstone long ago … Please view my tomb as you pass by, As you are now, so once was I; And as I am now soon you shall be ¯, So make your plans to follow me. “The beggar died”, and his pains, sorrows, and needs died. “The rich man also died”, and his sumptuous living, all his delight, all his wealth died! “Prepare to meet thy God”! Blessed Prospect This parable is also intended to assure us that for God’s elect the death of this body is a blessed prospect. In that hour all men dread, believers are specially and tenderly cared for by God. The Lord Jesus tells us that when Lazarus died, he “was carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom.” I find something very precious and comforting in this expression. We know very little, if anything, about the true, inward experiences of dying people. But this much is certain: “Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord”! “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord”! “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.” Those who sleep in Jesus are in good keeping. They are not disembodied spirits, floating around in the atmosphere. While their bodies sleep in the earth awaiting the resurrection they are at rest among friends in Abraham’s bosom, at the feet of Christ, the Lamb upon his throne. They have no want of any kind. Best of all, Paul tells us they are “with Christ” (Philippians 1:23). Truly, for the believer, “to die is gain”. No wonder Paul wrote as he did about things temporal and things eternal in 2 Corinthians 4:16 to 2 Corinthians 5:9. The End Here we are allowed to see the ultimate end of all, the righteous and the unrighteous, the believing and the unbelieving. Soon, very soon, you and I will join one of these two men. We will join Lazarus in heavenly glory, or we will join the rich man in hell. This is the end of all men. May God give us wisdom and grace to lay to our hearts the things he lays before us in this portion of his Word.[5] [5] “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth” (Ecclesiastes 7:2-4). Lazarus died and was carried up to heaven. Chosen, redeemed, and born of God, he entered into glory. But “the rich man also died”! What became of him? “In hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments”! Here, the Lord God allows us to look beyond the grave. He allows us to look into hell itself. He shows us the pains, feelings, and desires of an eternally lost, damned soul in hell, one who is forever shut up in hell under the torment of God’s infinite, holy, justice and wrath. Trust Christ Are you ready to die? Are you prepared to meet your God? Oh, how I pray that God will grant you grace and cause you to flee his wrath and find refuge in Christ, that he will save you from the wrath to come, lest at last you find your place with the damned in hell![6] [6] Most people think nothing of saying to another, “Go to hell.” ¯ If they had any idea what they were saying, I think that even the most profane man on the face of the earth would tremble at the thought of wishing such a horrible thing upon another. If you would escape the fires of hell, you must give up and forsake your imaginary, pretended goodness. That which we think is goodness in ourselves is only the self-delusion of self-righteousness. That which we perceive as goodness in others is the biased perception of people who think someone must be good, because we have benefited in some way from their kindness, love, and generosity to us. The Word of God declares, “There is none righteous … There is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Romans 3:10-12). In fact, even David, the man after God’s own heart, said to the Lord his God, “My goodness extendeth not unto Thee” (Psalms 16:2). Your goodness will never take you to heaven. Your goodness is nothing but horrible sin under a pretty mask, hatred for God under a cloak of decency, and putrefying rottenness under the cover of religious perfume. If you and I would be saved, if we would stand accepted before God and be accepted by him in his presence forever, we must have a goodness, a righteousness that is worthy of God’s approval. A religious decision will do you no good. Religious morality will profit you nothing. Saying, “I believe in Jesus”, will not save you. Saying “the sinners’ prayer” will only add to your condemnation. If you would be saved, you must know the Lord God himself. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.” You and I cannot be saved unless we know Christ, unless we are made to be the very righteousness of God in Christ. You know that is true. Your conscience verifies these things. You may not like them. You may suppress them until you perish in hell. But you cannot deny them. This is what God demands from you and me: perfect satisfaction (atonement) (Hebrews 9:22) and perfect righteousness (Matthew 5:20). We cannot give him either. These things are to be had only by the obedience and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the sinners’ Substitute. They are ours only if we trust the Lord Jesus Christ. Sooner or later, you will learn these things are true. I wonder if you will learn it before it is too late. Most do not. Here in Luke 16 is a man who learned everything too late. He did not learn them until he was in hell. Lessons Learned In Hell The passage before us has a very sobering distinction that separates it from all others. This is the only place in the entire Bible (the only place in the world) in which we learn anything at all about the thoughts and emotions of the damned in hell. Here are seven things that the rich man learned. But he learned them too late. He learned them in hell. I pray that you who read these lines will not learn them too late.

1. As soon as he died, this rich man discovered that death does not end all. “If a man die, shall he live again?” Indeed, we shall. We all have an immortal soul that will live on forever, after our bodies are in the grave (Mark 8:36-37). Will you spend eternity in the bliss and glory of heaven or in the torments of the damned in hell? What a meeting place hell will be for lost neighbours, for a lost daughter and her lost mother, a lost son and his lost father, a lost church member and his lost pastor
2. This poor soul also learned that there is a real place called “hell”. Hell is as real as Danville, Kentucky. The same Inspired Book that tells us about heaven and the eternal bliss of the redeemed tells us about hell and the eternal misery of the damned. The Lord Jesus tells us plainly that after death the rich man was “in hell … tormented with fire”. What a fearful picture he gives us. This lost soul in hell longed and begged for a drop of “water to cool his tongue.” He was tormented in flames. There was “a great gulf fixed” between him and Abraham, which could not be crossed. J. C. Ryle wrote, “There are few more dreadful passages perhaps in the whole Bible than this. And he from whose lips it came, be it remembered, was one who delighted in mercy”! I do not know where it is, and I cannot imagine what it is, but hell is a real place. The rich man found out too late that hell is not a myth. Hell is a place of unquenchable fire, undying worms, inescapable torment, everlasting darkness, unending hopelessness, and eternal, conscious separation from God and all that is good! Nathan Terrell said: “To say Hell is a horrible place is an understatement. Most people think of Hell as the farthest point from God. It is the caves where Satan’s minions scamper about, poking feeble folk with tiny pikes and taunting them for all eternity. As bad as this seems, it does not even compare to what Hell really is. Hell is the very presence of God and his wrath without Christ as a Mediator. Hell is the ‘place’ where men face God without a Saviour, without anybody to pay their debt of sin. If you thought Satan’s minions were scary, imagine being face to face with all God’s wrath with no Jesus in sight.”
3. Lifting up his eyes in hell, this rich man found out what he tried his best to ignore all his life, that a holy God must and will punish sin. It is written, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die”! God is so inflexibly just and holy that when he found sin upon his own dear Son he poured out his infinite wrath upon him. And he who punished his Son for sin will certainly punish you for sin, if your sin is not removed by his Son.
4. The rich man found out that hell is a place of endless torment. He cried, “I am tormented in this flame”! Hell is a place of lust and desire unfulfilled, a place of mental, moral, and physical agony. When I try to imagine what the torments of the damned in hell must be, I am shocked by what I know, and quake because I realize that what I know is nothing in comparison with what those torments actually are! Unspeakable torments! Endless torments! All I can do is cry out to poor, lost sinners, “Flee! Flee! Flee away to Christ, lest you fall into hell and the torments of the damned”! The Names What dreadful names are used to describe that place in the Book of God! It is called a place where the worm dieth not (Mark 9). It is called a burning oven (Malachi 4:1). It is called a fiery-furnace (Matthew 13). It is called the bottomless pit, the unquenchable fire, fire and brimstone, hell fire, the lake of fire, devouring fire, everlasting fire, eternal fire, a stream of fire (Revelation 21), and “the second death”. The Torments The torments of the damned are unthinkable. In hell you will have full sight and knowledge of your condition. All your senses will be fully awakened. You will have a full sight and knowledge of your wasted life, from first to last. “Son, remember”! (Luke 16:25). The guilt of all your sin will lay heavily upon your soul. There will be no pleasure in sin for a season in hell, but only torment. Who can imagine the agony of a tormented conscience, fully awake? It will be a worm that dies not and a fire that is not quenched forever! When God lays judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet, when the hail of fire and brimstone sweeps away your refuge of lies, when the waters of God’s horrible wrath overflow your hiding place, and your covenant with death is disannulled, your covenant with death shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it (Isaiah 28:17-18). Then shall be brought to your never ceasing remembrance the fact that you are in hell, that you are damned because you despised Christ and his gospel, because you refused to hear his word of grace, because you rejected that one Foundation laid in Zion. What a vexation your awakened memory will be to your lost soul forever in hell (Isaiah 28:14-20; Proverbs 1:23-33).
5. Though he was forever confined to hell’s dark prison of torment, the damned rich man saw Lazarus in the bliss of heaven’s glory. Yes, the damned in hell see their friends, families, neighbours, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, children, and those they despised on earth in the kingdom of heaven, and themselves cast out forever (Luke 13:28). In hell your only company will be the damned, the damned angels, the damned sons of men, the damned like yourself, a vast company of men and demons who hate you as fully as you hate them, screeching and roaring so insidiously that they drive you mad, mad forever, and your madness will be madness without hope of relief!
6. In hell God Almighty will lay upon you all the fulness of his unmitigated wrath, without mercy. He will punish you with everlasting destruction from his presence and glory (2 Thessalonians 1:9). In this condition you must be forever (Revelation 20:6). Perhaps the greatest torment of all is what is described in the last line of Luk 16:23. In hell the rich man saw “Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.” He saw Abraham and all the blessedness of covenant grace fulfilled in him. He saw Abraham and those blessings “afar off”. And he saw “Lazarus in his bosom”, possessing and enjoying all the blessings of covenant grace!
7. In hell this poor, lost soul learned, but learned too late, that Christ is the only way of salvation. The rich man’s riches, religion and works were of no value to him in hell. Missing Christ, he lost all! Christ alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He alone is Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption. There is no salvation except by faith in him. In hell the rich man learned, but learned too late, except a man repent he will surely perish. In hell this man realized that without repentance there is no salvation (Luke 16:30). In hell he saw nothing temporal is of any real value. In hell he learned that nothing really matters except Christ and faith in him, that all else is vanity. One more thing that this rich man learned in hell, but learned too late, is this: no one can ever be saved without hearing and believing the gospel (Luke 16:28-31). Gospel preaching is the catalyst God uses to give life to chosen, redeemed sinners by the mighty operations of his Holy Spirit (Romans 1:16; Romans 10:17; 1 Peter 1:23-25). A catalyst is an agent of action. If a chemist desires to unite two substances to create another, in many cases, a catalyst is necessary. The catalyst does not cause the union and never enters into the union of those substances. But without the presence of that specific catalyst, the union would never take place and could not continue. That is exactly what the preaching of the gospel is in God’s savings operations. Without question, were it his pleasure to do so, God Almighty could have chosen to save sinners without the use of any means or agency of any kind. Had he chosen to do so, he could have sent angels to pull us into heaven by our noses, once atonement was made for us. But that is not his pleasure. The Lord God has chosen to regenerate and call chosen, redeemed sinners through the agency of gospel preaching. The fact that God has so ordained it makes the preaching of the gospel the catalyst necessary for the communication of his saving grace. I know that many cry out against this and say, “That limits God’s sovereignty. That makes salvation depend upon man.” Do not be so foolish as to be found fighting against God. We must never force the scriptures to mean what we want them to mean. We must never bend the Word of God to our doctrinal notions and theological system. Rather, we bow to God’s Word. We cannot extol and honour God if we refuse to submit our reason to his Revelation. Carefully read the scriptures once more. It is impossible to read the following passages in their context without concluding that regeneration and faith in Christ, gifts of God the Holy Spirit and operations of his irresistible grace are communicated to chosen sinners through the instrumentality of gospel preaching (Romans 1:15-17; Romans 10:13-17; 1 Corinthians 1:21; Ephesians 1:13; 1 Timothy 4:12-16; Hebrews 4:12; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23-25). In each of those passages the Lord God plainly declares that it is his purpose and pleasure to save his elect through the preaching of the gospel. Perhaps you think, “What if one of God’s elect is in a remote barbarian tribe in the jungles of New Guinea where no gospel preacher has ever been?” I can see how that would create a problem, except for one thing, there are no problems with God! He knows exactly how to get his prophet to the people to whom he has purposed to show his mercy. Just ask Jonah! We preach the gospel with a sense of urgency, knowing that sinners cannot believe on Christ until Christ is preached to them. Yet, we preach with confidence of success, knowing that our labour is not in vain in the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58). God’s Word will not return to him void. It will accomplish his will and prosper in the thing it is sent to do (Isaiah 55:11). Every chosen, redeemed sinner must be regenerated and called by the Holy Spirit. And that work will be accomplished through the preaching of the gospel. Be wise, believe the gospel, trust Christ lest you also perish forever under the wrath of God.