The Bible Provocateur
The Bible Provocateur
The Dead Remember: Rich Man, Lazarus (Luke 16)
A single word—remember—turns the parable of the rich man and Lazarus into a mirror we cannot ignore. We walk through Luke 16 with clear eyes, tracing the rich man’s comfort, Lazarus’s suffering, and the great reversal that follows death. What emerges is not a fable but a sober map of eternity: a conscious awareness after the grave, a great gulf fixed, and a memory that does not fade. The question ceases to be “Is this fair?” and becomes “What will I wish I had faced today?”
From there, we wrestle with the claim that Scripture is enough light for repentance. Abraham’s answer to the rich man—“They have Moses and the prophets”—pushes back against the thirst for spectacle or shortcuts. If truth won’t move the heart, no miracle will. That’s why we lean into the plain gospel with gravity: grace that we cannot earn, mercy that turns away wrath because Christ bore it, and peace that ends enmity with God. We unpack how these gifts arrive in that order, why law-keeping cannot rescue us, and how the cross satisfies justice without softening sin.
The tone is urgent but hopeful. If memory endures past death, delay becomes its own future pain. Faith is not lit by dim lights and mood music; it is a decisive turn toward Christ made possible by grace and sustained by God. We speak against the temptation to make God a buddy or the gospel a brand, and we challenge ourselves to persuade with clarity rather than entertain with fluff. The aim is simple: to help you see what you’re saved from, who saves you, and why today—right now—matters.
If this conversation moved you, share it with a friend, leave a review to help others find the show, and subscribe so you never miss a new episode. Then tell us: what does “remember” call to mind for you today?
BE PROVOKED AND BE PERSUADED!
I'm going to be in Luke chapter 16. I'm going to be in Luke chapter 16. And I'm going to be um uh talking about the rich man and Lazarus. And in my reading, I was coming, I came across a section in there that I decided I wanted to talk about, which I find very interesting. So in Luke chapter 16, we got the story of the rich man and Lazarus. And it says that in verse 19 of chapter 16 in the book of Luke, Luke 16, verse 19. And Jesus is the one carrying the narrative. And then he says, There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen. And he fared sumptuously every day. He ate well. He dressed well and he ate well. And then it says, and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who was laid at his gate, the gate of the rich man. And he was full of sores. And desiring to be fed from the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table, and the dogs came and licked his sores. So he desired to be fed from the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. And the dogs came and licked his sores. So you have this pitiful picture of this poor beggar sitting at the table, underneath the table, of this rich man, taking crumbs and scraps which fall from the rich man's table. And in addition, you have the dogs licking his sores. So Christ goes on. And he says that it came to pass that the beggar died, and he was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. And the rich man also died, and he was buried. And then it says about the rich man, and he lifted up his eyes being in torments. He lifted up his eyes being in torments. And he saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus was in his bosom. And he cried and said to Abraham, the rich man, he cries out to Abraham, and he says, Father Abraham, have mercy on me. And send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am tormented in this flame. Tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember. Remember. Remember that thou in your lifetime you received good things. And likewise Lazarus received evil things. But now he is comforted, and you are tormented. And beside all this, there's a great gulf fixed between, so that they which would pass from here to you cannot, neither can they pass to us that would come from there. Then he said, I pray you therefore, Father, that you would send them to my father's house, the rich man says, because he has five brothers, that they may testify unto them so that they don't come to this place of torment. And then Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And then he said, No, no, Father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto them, If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. So what I want to do here is glean some things out of this section. And hope that you would be benefited thereby. So it starts out by saying, Christ, by saying there was a certain rich man. He had everything, he had fine linen and purple. And purple was always associated with princeliness or kingliness, royalty, and linen, the garment of the wealthy. So this is a picture of a man who is rich. And we know that from the whole narrative. Everyone knows this story. But this man had everything. And Lazarus was exactly on the opposite side of the spectrum. Abject poverty. Abject poverty. Had nothing. The day came when these two men died. But I want to pay attention to the rich man. Not going to deal with Lazarus today. But I want to deal with something that Abraham said to the rich man. So I want to jump down to verse 25 in Luke 16. Because when the rich man died, the first thing I want you to notice, well, let me back up a little bit. First, it says that Lazarus died, and it says that angels carried him into Abraham's bosom. Angels carried Lazarus into Abraham's bosom after he had died. Now notice the contrast with the rich man. It says that he died. When the rich man died, it says that he was buried. There's no reference of the angels. There's no reference of going to Abraham's bosom. It is clear that in his death he did not share the same experience that Lazarus experienced. It says that simply that he was buried. But then in verse twenty-three, Christ tells us that the rich man lifted his eyes up, being in torment. It says he was buried, and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment. Now, this is some pretty strong language. And yet you have so many people that want to deny the torment that is spoken about by Christ and the apostles that are to take place for those who die unrepentant, who die as sinners. The impenitent. You have the righteous who, when they die, they are carried away with angels, by angels, into Abraham's bosom. But the wicked, they are buried, and then it says, and in hell they lift up their eyes, being in torment. Being in torment. And notice that he says, They lift, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment. He could see. He could see. He was sensible to his condition. He knew that he was in this place of torment. He lifted up his eyes in hell, being in torment, is what it says here. And from this place in hell, he sees Abraham afar off in the distance. And he also sees Lazarus being comforted in Abraham's bosom. Now, Abraham, or the rich man, cries out to Abraham, and he says, Father Abraham, have mercy on me. And he says, Send Lazarus that he may dip his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But then Abraham says, Son, remember that in your lifetime you received good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things. Now he is comforted, and now you are tormented. Now, here's what I want to put some special attention to. Abraham tells the rich man. He says, Remember that in your lifetime you received good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things. Lazarus is comforted, and the rich man is being tormented. But we see that Abraham tells the rich man to remember in his lifetime. And there's so much that can be extrapolated from what Abraham says to the rich man. As I already stated, it says that Abraham lifted up his eyes, being in torment, being in hell. So he's able to see. Abraham said to him, Remember when you in your lifetime you had everything good. And remember that Lazarus had everything that was evil. And now he's comforted, and you are tormented. But Abraham told him to remember. And this suggests what is obvious that when sinners die, when impenitent men die, they will lift up their eyes, being in torment, they will see where they are, know where they are, have an awareness of their surroundings. They will see in the distance those who are comforted, and they will be left to reflect by way of remembrance of their life. Every impenitent soul who hears me right now, understand this. If you do not know Christ, you're going to die. You are going to lift up your eyes and in hell know that you will be in torments. And that will be day one of eternity. And throughout this eternity, in addition to the torment, you will have the ability to remember everything. You will remember every sin you ever did. You will remember the disdain that you had for Christ and for his people. You will remember everything godly and goodly that you rejected. You will remember everything that you poisoned. You will remember how and when and with whom you became a stumbling block for others in coming to Christ. All these things you will remember. When you die, there is no annihilation. If you don't know Christ and you die, annihilation would be a mercy. Annihilation would be a grace. Annihilation, the very thought of it, would bring peace and joy to the sinner today who refuses to embrace Christ. But that is not what is coming for you. That is not what is coming for the sinner. What is coming for the sinner is torment. It is a flame that will never be extinguished, ever. All because you refuse to embrace Christ here in this very short life. Somebody says, You state assertions without proof. The proof is going to be your conscience. The proof is going to be your conscience. We are told in the Word of God that the worm does not die in hell. Hell is where the pla is a place where the worm does not die. What does that mean? He's talking about maggots that feed on carcasses, dead carcasses. And the fact that they won't die means that they will never run out of food to consume. Meaning that the substance of those who perish outside of Christ will never be consumed. They will never vanish and disappear. There's an eternal preparation that will be made for them when they resurrect that enables them to endure the eternity of torment forever. And I believe that here in this passage, a significant contributing factor to the torment of the flames of hell will be the fact that you will be able to remember. You won't just remember the bad things. That is going to be exacerbated by the fact that you will remember the good things. You will remember everything that God gave you, that you were unthankful for and ungrateful for. You will remember everyone that you cheated. You will remember everyone you cheated on. You will remember every lie you ever told. The very thing you are doing right now, potentially, you will remember this on the other side of the dark doorway of death. You will remember all of it. And this will add to the torment. Now I know that there's a lot of people on all these social platforms and everywhere. They will tell you soft and cuddly gospels. Messages designed to provoke mirth and laughter and humor and entertainment. You're going to find messages that don't challenge you to have a need to be fearful of that which is coming. This is not one of those discussions. This is what is missing in modern-day gospel teaching and preaching. We are told that we need to flee to Christ for salvation. But we don't want to talk about what we're being saved from. We want salvation, but we don't want to know what we're saved from. We have people that want to paint a picture of our God as if he is their buddy. God is not your buddy. God is not your pal. He's not the man upstairs. God is not someone or something to be toyed with, to be joked about, to be mocked and scorned, even by people in the pulpit, even by those who pretend to preach the truth, even by those who alter the disposition and the holiness that is supposed to be ascribed to the preacher of God's word. This is not the day, especially today, of humor and mirth and laughter when so many people are perishing in their sins. This is not the day. Joy comes in the morning. But right now, we need to honor God in this dark day that we live in right now. I know a lot of people don't like hearing this. Frankly, it's probably foreign to most people. But Christ makes it very clear in these words that there is a definite separation between the experience that those who believe have versus those who do not believe when they die. It is going to be a very sad day on the day of judgment. Don't ask me how, but that's what we are told. Don't ask me how, but it's what I believe. And this is what we are all supposed to believe by faith. The day of judgment is coming for us all. And for the believer, for those of you who believe it is going to be a great and glorious day to be changed in the twinkling of an eye, and to be resurrected in that glorified body that is fashioned after the body that Christ currently lives in today, at this very moment. But for that impenitent sinner, for that willful soul who refuses to submit to Christ, it is going to be a dreadful day, a terrible day, a tempest. It is going to be a resurrection to damnation and everlasting contempt. That is what your lot will be if you do not turn to Christ immediately. Not tomorrow. Not in an hour. Not in five minutes. Immediately. This is the word of God here. When I came to Christ, it wasn't with some soft and cuddly altar call, with mood music, and soft preaching, and people's heads swaying and hands swaying in the air. No, I read the dreadful words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when he said, Do not fear him who can destroy the body and do no more, but rather fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell. I read those words, and that changed my life forevermore, and it has been forty years since that day. No elaborate altar calls, no elaborate gimmicks, no elaborate ploys, no emotional settings with lights dimming. None of that stuff. None of the entertainment that takes place in these churches today. I didn't succumb to a show. But it was just the simple word of God arresting the heart of a sinner, making him to see that the voice that is earthquaking in his heart is the voice of the Lord God Almighty. This message is not for everybody. This is for God's elect souls. This message is for his sheep. Those who are given the capacity to hear and to see and to have these things emblazoned on your heart. Christ is coming back for vengeance. That's what he's coming to do. He's coming back to take his people home and to exact vengeance on every one of his enemies. How can God send anyone to hell? How can God send anyone to heaven? That's the question that needs to be asked. If God were fair, the world would already be over and all men would have perished. Every single man on earth would be dead and in hell right now if God were just to deliver that which was fair. If God was going to exact equity for the sin of men, we would all be dead now. But God had a workaround, a loophole, if you will. And I don't mean that irreverently. Because the wrath that man is due, the wrath that man deserves, God must exact. Because God is just. God must punish men for their sins. And if he were fair and equitable, as I said, we would all be gone. The world as we know it wouldn't be here today. We would all be in hell in flames like the rich man. But what did God do? What did he do? He sent his one and only son. Man did not escape wrath in the purest sense of the terms. Because God sent his son to take on himself our sin so that God could punish him for what we did and deserved. The cross. What happened there? We who believe in Christ, we were there with him. Our sin was put on him. And that burden he carried. He carried it to the grave. And on that third day, he resurrected, so that those of us who are able to believe that he died for them could be saved. And escape the punishment and the wrath that the rich man in Luke 16 received. And it's so simple. All you have to do is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. All you have to do is call out to his name. All you have to do is repent from your sin. This is only a moment away. And it doesn't take hours. There is no process, it is just believing. Turn from your sin and turn to him now. Living the holy life, yes. But even that is a gift from God. For it is he who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. God doesn't just give you salvation, he gives you the graces to maintain it. He gives you the graces to continue and to endure until the end. He doesn't just give you life and then leave you on your own. He gives you life and then he gives you the elements that cause that life to be preserved in you until the very end. When your redemption is complete. You will see in many of the greetings or the openings in many of the apostles' letters, you'll see grace, mercy, and peace. And if you go back and you look at these epistles, you will see that grace and mercy and peace always go in that same exact order. That order is never changed. It is always grace, mercy, and peace. What is grace? That unmerited favor of God. God shows you favor that you could not earn from Him. You had no end. You weren't part of any circle. You weren't special in and of yourself, that there was something in you that warranted his grace. Grace means what it is: unmerited favor, unearned favor. God did not owe you. There's no amount of lawkeeping you can do to obtain God's grace. You either have his grace or you live by the law. You either seek salvation by God's grace or you seek salvation through the law. Good luck trying to keep the law. If men had the ability to keep the law, there would have been no need for Christ to come here. There would have been no need for Calvary. No need for that cross. No need for the beating and the piercing of his side and the piercing of his hands and feet. There would have been no need for his humiliation. There would have been no need for the great drops of blood that drip from his pores in the garden of Gethsemane. No need for any of that if man had it within him to keep God's law. Or if man had it within him to will to choose Christ from his sinful nature. Mercy. What is mercy? Mercy is God not giving you the wrath you deserve. It is appeasing God's wrath. It is appeasing his wrath. It is God extending compassion. A compassion he does not give to all. A compassion he is not obligated to extend. The same is said about his grace. Grace is what starts it. Grace is the beginning of this chain. And then there's mercy, the turning away of God's wrath. And then there's peace. Peace is the result of the reconciliation between the sinner who puts their faith in Christ, is that reconciliation between him or her and God the Father. So you have grace, mercy, and peace. Unmerited favor, freed from wrath, peace with God. He is no longer your enemy. No longer the enemy. These are the elements that make up our salvation. Our faith springs forth from his grace. That is the gift that he gave us who believe. And faith is able to lay hold of all these things that sustain us in Christ. But our faith is in him, and he forever will be the object of our faith until he returns. Because when he returns, faith will no longer be needed. Because the reality will be sitting right there in front of us. Right there. And I'm telling Christians, you something here. If you believe these things, how motivated, how motivated ought you to be to see that others come to the conclusion you do? How motivated ought you to be in light of these things to seek to persuade men to come to an understanding that you? Have. People are always saying, Christ is my personal Lord and Savior. I personally can't stand that statement. Christ is not intended to be personal. He's intended to be for everyone who will accept him and embrace him. Yes, he's personal in the sense that he saves us personally. But why does he do this? For us also to be instruments to reach those others. Oh, Christ is very social. We need to reach out to men and women and children and let them know that salvation is ready and available to be accessed now and immediately. We need to make sure that we make them understand what they're being saved from. And we need to point them to God's law so that they can see themselves as the sinners that they are, which is what the law does: reveals sin in us, arouses our attentions, and hopefully promotes within us a desire to seek a remedy for this new discovery about ourselves as sinners. Christians, we need to promote and communicate and promulgate that old school gospel. We don't need any fancy gospel. We don't need any fancy methodologies to win people to Christ. People are always saying, well, this is the way that people should preach to children, and this is the way that people should teach. No, there's one gospel and there's one way to preach it to everybody. The gospel is the means through which God communicates his saving grace, his mercy, and his peace. The simple, plain gospel, preached sincerely, solemnly, with gravity, and seriousness. Because this is what a dying world needs. And it needs it now more than ever. We always have these ideas of what will make somebody come to Christ. Well, don't preach that because you're going to turn people away. Don't preach that because they're going to just throw their Bibles away. Anybody that does not come to Christ, anyone who doesn't come to Christ or throws their Bible away or doesn't or doesn't embrace the truth, it's not going to be because of our methods of preaching or the doctrines that we're preaching. It's going to be because they were condemned already. It's going to be because they hate God, they hate Christ, they hate the gospel, they hate Christianity, they hate truth. This is why. This is why men put down their Bibles and abandon the church. But they will go and worship Satan on Super Bowl Sunday. Watch how many people go to that Sabbath celebration. This is what we live with today. People reject Christ, the gospel, and everything sacred and holy because they are sinners. They are sinners. And the word of God and the doctrines divides as it is intended to. It divides because it is intended to. To call them out from among the world. And the one thing a lot of people don't like, and I'm going to tell you straight up, Jesus Christ did not come here to save everybody. Because if he did, they would all be saved. They would all be saved. But do I know who's saved and who's not? No, I don't. And neither do you. But I do know this. If you want to know that God chose you to salvation, then lay down your weapons and submit to him. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will know that you are one of his chosen people. And from that, be provoked and be persuaded and have a good night.