The Rich man and Lazarus, Luke 16:19-31

In the first message of our series on the Parables of Jesus, I gave the following definition of a parable; Parables as Jesus used them are fictional illustrations taken from real life situations, which teach a spiritual lesson. Now by that definition, I do not think that the story we have in front of us today strictly qualifies as a parable.  And the reason I say that is because I don’t believe that it is fictional.  I think it’s an actual story about two real people.  I think that is evident because this is the only so called parable in which Jesus uses personal names of the people involved.  The rich man is not named, but Lazarus is, and so is Abraham.  I think these are real people, in a real life situation.  Furthermore, though by a somewhat lesser evidence, there is no qualifying statement which is sometimes found in other parables to identify it as such.  But that is a lessor qualification.  I think the primary reason for it to be a true life story is the use of personal names.

It’s comparable to me giving an illustration today in my message and I mention Nick and tell you some story about him, and then afterwards one of you comes up to me to ask some more information about what I had said.  Imagine if my response was “Oh, that’s not really true about Nick.  I just made it all up.”  I think you would find it very disconcerting that I had made up a story about Nick and presented it as true, but in fact it was not true.  And I think that is a good analogy for this story. Jesus presented it as a story concerning real people.  We certainly know that Abraham was a real person, and so it would be very odd if Jesus was to say certain things about him that were not true.  So I don’t believe it to be a parable in the sense that it’s a fictional story.

However, the purpose of an illustration is very similar to that of a parable. It is meant to be used as a mechanism by which to teach a lesson or a central doctrine.  As you know, I frequently use illustrations from real life in my preaching.  And so though today’s story is not a parable per se, in that it is not fictional, yet it serves a similar purpose, and so we will include it in this series.  Furthermore, most Christian literature considers it to be one of the foremost parables, so  I would be remiss if I didn’t include it.

But it’s important that we understand that this is a actual story from real life. It’s important because a lot of theologians have dismissed some important doctrines which this story illustrates, because it does not fit with their doctrines concerning eschatology or their doctrine of eternal punishment and so forth.  And they dismiss it because they say that this is a parable which Jesus made up, and therefore certain elements are not necessarily as He represented them.  I find that interpretation to be entirely unacceptable. The parables that Jesus gave were always founded in reality.  He wasn’t telling fables about mythical talking creatures. When Jesus gave a parable about a sower going out to sow, it was based entirely upon real situations.  Chances are there were sowers working on the hillside even as He spoke. But in any event, in an agrarian society such as they lived in, the basic elements of the story would have been one that they could readily identify with and understand because they were true to life.

So because this is a real life illustration with real events, it provides us with an important insights into the afterlife, particularly that time period which precedes the resurrection.  Now those insights are incidental to the central point of the illustration, but nevertheless they are important for us to consider.  But the central point of this illustration is to teach the eternal consequences of a life that is not rich towards God.  If you recall in our last parable, the central thought was the rich fool was rich in the world’s goods, but was not rich towards God.  And God required of him his soul.  This illustration builds on that by showing the eternal consequences of a life that is not rich towards God.

Let’s look then at the story.  There are two primary characters, the rich man and Lazarus the beggar.  They lived in close proximity to one another, and died in a similar time period. Jesus describes the rich man first.

19.“Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.”  I find it interesting that this man is not named.  In his life on earth, he probably had a name that everyone knew, that everyone associated with wealth.  Maybe his last name was Rothschild or Dupont. I doubt it, but whatever his name was, in heaven it was not recorded in the book of life, and so his name is unimportant. He has no eternal legacy.

Now this man was very rich. How rich? He habitually dressed in purple, the clothing of royalty. Purple die was very expensive in those days and reserved for the finest fabrics you could buy. “Joyously living in splendor everyday.”  The KJV says that he fared sumptuously everyday.  So he ate expensive foods, not just occasionally, but everyday.  He lived in luxury, enjoying all that the best of life had to offer.

I just returned from a trip to the Keys.  And while I was there I took my morning run through the multimillion dollar neighborhoods, and walked in the evenings around the marinas where the rich docked their million dollar yachts.  It was hard not to be impressed by the luxurious lifestyle that it seemed a lot of people are able to enjoy.  One neighborhood which we could not even enter without a pass had it’s own private airfield so the residents could fly in and out on their private planes.  I was told the houses started at 10 million.  It’s hard to imagine being that rich.  This man lived an opulent, luxurious lifestyle.

I notice something else Jesus described about this guy.  He said he lived joyously.  Eat, drink and be merry.  I think if you’re rich it’s possible to find a certain degree of  joy, happiness in the pleasures of this world.  And the pursuit of that pleasure can eclipse any concern you might have about the after life, because you’re so busy pursuing pleasure right now.

At the polar opposite end of the social spectrum, Lazarus was a  beggar who it would seem was lame, possibly paralyzed.  He had to be laid at the rich man’s gate.  That became his spot, his only hope of getting food or financial help.  There wasn’t government programs in those days to take care of people in his kind of condition.  Possibly as a result of his paralysis, he was covered with sores and the dogs in the street would come up to an lick them, showing more concern for him than anyone else did, particularly the rich man.  Lazarus was unable to fend for himself.  He was eager to eat from the crumbs, the garbage really, that came from the rich man’s table.

Jesus indicated that both men died, presumably at very near the same time.  He describes it in this way, vs.22, "Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.”

Not only was there a great contrast in the lives of these two men, but there is also a great contrast in their deaths.  The poor man, Lazarus died, and Jesus said that he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom.  According to Jewish tradition, Abraham's Bosom was an rabbinical idiom which refers to the custom of reclining on couches at table, which was prevalent among the Jews, an arrangement which brought the head of one person almost into the bosom of the one who sat or reclined above him. To "be in Abraham's bosom" thus meant to enjoy happiness and rest at the banquet in Paradise.  Abraham was considered the father of the faithful, and Lazarus then would be the son who has been gathered to his father’s, which is another common expression of the Old Testament saints concerning death.

I think a lot of commentators not only gloss over what Jesus said about this place, but also over the fact that Jesus said the angels carried Lazarus to Paradise.  I don’t  know if any of you remember the television show that used to be on about 20 years ago now, I think, called “Touched by an Angel.” I wasn’t particularly a big fan of the show.  I really am not a fan of any of Hollywood’s attempts at Christian themed movies or shows.  I’d rather not watch them, and would warn you  not allow your doctrine to be formed or influenced by Hollywood’s interpretation of the Bible.  But in that case, they may have gotten the idea correct that at the death of a saint, the angels of God are in attendance awaiting for the moment of their death. God knows the number of our days when as yet there were none of them, and He sends His messengers to attend us in those final moments, and they take our soul to Paradise. Psalm 116:15 says, “Precious in the sight of the LORD [is] the death of his saints.”  There may not have been a funeral on earth for Lazarus, no one cared when he died, but God cared, and He ushered Lazarus’s soul to Paradise by a procession of angels.

That same angelic accompaniment is not mentioned for the unsaved dead.  Perhaps Satan sends his fallen angels to claim the souls of the unsaved dead.  We don’t know.  But since they are held captive by Satan in life, it may be that he interns their soul in death.  The sting of death after all is Satan’s weapon against man.  But that is speculation on my part.  Jesus doesn’t tell us exactly how it happens, only that the rich man ends up in torment in Hades.

The rich man, Jesus said, was buried.  No burial was mentioned for Lazarus. It would have been customary for the poor man to be unceremoniously buried in an unmarked grave or perhaps even his body thrown on the trash heap outside of town.  The rich man though I’m sure had a great funeral.  He had five brothers who still lived, and I’m sure that half the town turned out to mourn the loss of this rich man.  But as the accolades are being said concerning him, and the priest was undoubtedly telling everyone how wonderful he had been, at that very moment his soul was in torment in the flames of Hades.

As the rich man was in Hades, he looked up and saw Lazarus at Abraham’s side. Vs23 "In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’”

Even in his death, even in torment, this rich man showed his true nature in the way that he wanted to use Lazarus to lessen his torment.  He had no regard for Lazarus in his life, and he obviously has no regard for Lazarus now.  And yet this poor man had been his neighbor, laying constantly at his gate, begging for food and for help.  It’s clear that the rich man knew Lazarus, even to the point of knowing his name. He must have despised him being outside of his fine home, of being a constant pest, a constant reminder of the frailty of the flesh.  And even after death, his contempt of Lazarus is evident in his asking Abraham to send him to serve himself.  It’s also a tragic irony that this man who was once rich and feasted lavishly everyday, is now begging for even a drop of water.

But Abraham denied his request.  Vs 25 "But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.’” During his life, the rich man enjoyed every comfort that Lazarus had lacked. Now in an ironic twist of fate, their situations were  reversed.

Not only did Abraham deny his request to send Lazarus, but Abraham explained why it was impossible.  And in this response we gain some insight into what Hades is like.  Abraham says in vs 26 “And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and [that] none may cross over from there to us.”

The traditional Jewish teaching was that Hades was the abode of the dead, where the souls of men await the resurrection.  In the Old Testament it’s called Sheol in Hebrew.  But in the Greek it’s called Hades.  As Jesus indicates in this story, Hades is comprised of two compartments, an upper and lower chamber.  The upper chamber is Paradise, or as Jesus calls it, Abraham’s bosom.  The lower part is the place of torment, which is generally referred to as Hades or hell.

The resurrection is not referenced here by Jesus, but in John 5:28 Jesus says this concerning the resurrection; "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,  and will come forth; those who did the good [deeds] to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil [deeds] to a resurrection of judgment.”  

Those two resurrections are talked about in Revelation 20, the resurrection to life, which is the resurrection of the saved, and the resurrection of the dead who are judged according to their works and cast into the Lake of Fire. But Jesus does not give us any information about the resurrection here, but only speaks concerning the intermediate abode of the dead in the time before HIs second coming.  And of that place we find most of our insight in this passage.  

I want to emphasize some things that we can learn from this description. In Paradise or in Hades, there is consciousness.  It is not soul sleep, it is body sleep.  The body sleeps until the resurrection, but the soul is alive and conscious. In the case of those in Paradise, they are gathered to their relatives who were saved and have died before.  There is a reunion of the saved who have died.  David said concerning his baby son who died, “I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”  In Paradise we will know and be known.  We will be recognizable in a way that may not be understandable now.  The soul must bear the imprint of the body to be recognizable.  Samuel was recognized when he came up from Paradise to speak to Saul. Moses and Elijah were recognizable at the transfiguration.  And so as well Abraham and Lazarus are recognized here in this story.

Furthermore, we learn that Paradise is a place of rest.  It is a place of comfort.  It is a place of communication. Hades as the compartment of torment on the other hand is just that, a place of torment.  It is a place of flames.  It is a place of thirst. But it too is a place of cognizance.  It too is a place of communication at least to some degree.  It is a place of remorse. And it is a place of recompense.  From other scriptures we know that it is not the final judgment nor the final punishment, but it’s the temporary abode of those who are doomed to eternal punishment by their deeds on earth.

And finally, as Jesus revealed by Abraham’s words, there is a great chasm between the two, that no one can cross.  That separation is fixed, and what is done is done.  There are no second chances. There is no way to escape once you are dead.  The only escape from Hades will be at the resurrection, but that will be only to make eternal that which was already evident, either a resurrection to a new body and a new life for those in Paradise, or to a resurrection of the dead which is the second death and eternal damnation in the Lake of Fire.

It really is a tragic, horrible end for those who are without the Lord.  We do ourselves or our loved ones no favors by ignoring the consequences of rejecting Christ.  Not everyone goes to heaven when they die and it’s a terrible lie to tell people that they do.  To give them a false hope.  The rich man probably didn’t really believe in the realities of eternity when he was alive on the earth.  But he certainly believed now.  And because he realized the reality of hell, the awfulness of his predicament, he wanted to save his family from joining him there.  Notice what he asks of Abraham in vs 27 "And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father's house--  for I have five brothers--in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’”

I give him credit for his compassion for his family.  He shows a lot more compassion than what he showed Lazarus during his life.  But it’s too late to save him.  And his request shows that his heart is still selfish, wanting Lazarus to do his bidding. By the way, the sin of the rich man that Jesus highlights that disqualifies this man from Paradise is the sin of not loving his neighbor as himself.  It’s not being rich.  It’s not being a drunkard or adulterer or any other number of moral failings.  The condemning sin which Jesus highlights Is the sin of not loving your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus was asked on one occasion what was the foremost commandment, and He answered, “To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” I think we all fail miserably in that.  We have all sinned against God by failing the foremost commandment and that alone is enough to condemn us to hell.  But then Jesus said the second greatest commandment is like it, and that is to love your neighbor as yourself.  And I am sure that we all have failed to keep that commandment.  That failure alone in God’s eyes is reason enough for eternal damnation. This rich man was guilty on both counts, but Jesus only highlights the second commandment, because it is evidence that he also failed in the first.

Jesus is not saying that we are saved by our works.  We are not saved by doing social work.  But what He is saying is that not loving your neighbor as yourself is evidence that you are not saved.  Our desire to keep God’s commandments are proof of our faith.  And the lack of evidence on this man’s part was proof that he was not a child of God.  

Well, Abraham’s answer to this man’s request to send Lazarus (once again you see the attitude of this man towards Lazarus even in Hades) to his brothers to tell them the gospel is denied. Vs 29 "But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.' But he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!' But he said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’"

The rich man recognized that his unsaved brothers needed a change of heart in order to be awakened to their state of spiritual peril.  And so the rich man asked for Lazarus to be sent to warn his five brothers so that they would not have to experience the same torment he was experiencing.

But Abraham said the  brothers already had the Old Testament writings, and it would accomplish nothing to send Lazarus to warn them. He said if their hearts were hardened against the warnings of Moses and the Prophets in the scriptures, then his brothers would not repent even if Lazarus were to rise from the dead and speak to them.

It’s ironic that there was another man named Lazarus who was a personal friend of Jesus.  And this Lazarus also died, but Jesus raised him from the dead.  The Bible records how many people would come to see Lazarus who had been raised from the dead, and though a few believed as a result of seeing him, for the most part the vast multitudes did not believe.  They looked upon it as a curiosity.  But they did not believe unto salvation.

In the same way, those among Jesus’ listeners whose hearts were hardened toward God’s Word would refuse to repent and believe even after Jesus was raised from the dead.  But the warning of this story should be  clear: now is the time to repent and to secure our eternal

security.  Because once we die, it’s too late.  Now is the day of salvation.  Now is the opportunity to believe in Jesus Christ for our righteousness so that we might be saved.

And for those of us who have believed unto salvation, if we really loved our neighbor as ourselves as we are commanded to do, then should we not do everything we can to introduce them to the gospel of Jesus Christ, that they might not go to eternal punishment, but that they might be received into life? If we truly believed what Jesus said concerning death, then certainly that must be our mission in life, to win our neighbors and loved ones to Christ.  Let us not be so preoccupied pursuing the pleasures of this world that we fail to prepare for the next.

Parable of the Rich Fool, Luke 12: 13-21

Today we are looking at the second in our series on the parables of Jesus. This particular parable is given in a context though which is important to consider if we are to understand the meaning of this parable.  Remember last time we said that some parables are explained by Jesus, in some cases the central thought is given by the author, and in some cases we are left to figure it out on our own from the context.  In this case, Jesus gives some instruction beforehand  which helps us to understand  what He is teaching in the parable. 

So to begin let’s look at vs 13.  Jesus has been  teaching about the kingdom of God and suddenly a man from the crowd calls out to him. The man says, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”  In effect, this man addresses Jesus as a rabbi, a teacher.  According to Jewish law, inheritance disputes could be settled by a rabbi.

The brashness of this man’s request showed that he really wasn’t interested in hearing about the kingdom of God, but he was interested in his own selfish concerns.  It’s as if he was sitting there listening to Jesus preach, and thinking, when is he going to get to something that I can relate to?  When is he going to tell me how I can profit from this?  And so he finally reaches the end of his patience and interrupts Jesus.  He wasn’t interested in what Jesus had to say, but in what Jesus could do for him.  For this man, Jesus represented an opportunity for financial gain. He can’t wait for the Lord to stop talking about heaven, salvation, God, forgiveness, revelation, and get to the really good stuff. This guy wants to turn it into a Tony Robbins seminar.

I think that kind of mentality is common today in the church.  That’s the kind of thinking that is behind the popularity of the prosperity doctrine.  They really aren’t interested in spiritual things, they are interested in carnal things, and how to manipulate God into giving them prosperity.

So Jesus responds with a warning against greed, or covetousness. Notice vs Luke 12:14-15 “But He said to him, ‘Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” In other words, Jesus isn’t interested in arbitrating trivial civil cases.  Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not [even] when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.’”

You know, when we think of moral failings, what the Bible calls sin, chances are covetousness is not something that readily comes to mind.  And even if it does, if we’re truthful, we really don’t think it’s all that bad of a thing.  After all, there are a lot of worse sins it would seem to us. But God thought enough of it that He made it one of the 10 commandments.  Think about that for a moment.  Of all the things He could have included in the 10 commandments, He includes coveting. And chances are, if you’re like me you probably don’t really think coveting is all that bad.  In fact, more than likely you do it all the time and never really feel guilty about it.

It’s interesting to me that this man who called out is coveting what his brother has.  I have a brother that is very close to my age.  We grew up doing everything together and competing in everything.  But we also were constantly fighting.  We had epic battles that sometimes lasted for days.  They were pretty brutal. As we got older we graduated to using BB guns in our battles.  It’s a wonder we didn’t put our eyes out.

But as we matured into adults we stopped fighting. However, I guess there is still some sense of competition between us.  My brother is a pastor as well.  And I have to admit that at times I have to guard against being jealous of how my brother compares with me.  We’ve both had churches about the same length of time.  But his church has about 600 people in attendance.  He has just finished his third building program and has a huge church, another large children’s church, and acres of property. Meanwhile, my church doesn’t seem to grow, and we probably will never have a building.  To make it worse, he just bought a new house on 20 acres.  It’s a horse farm with barns and a big Tudor style house.  And I still live in the same old farm house that we’ve been renting for 20 years. 

Now as I said, I have to guard against wishing that I had some of what he has.  The Bible calls that coveting.  And it’s a serious sin. In Colossians 3:5 Paul equates covetousness as amounting to idolatry.  And we would all recognize that idolatry is a serious sin against God. Coveting causes hatred, jealousy, anger, resentment.  It leads to theft, to murder, to adultery, to every form of greed.  Wars are often started by one country desiring what a neighboring country has.  That was the situation with Nazi Germany.  Or Saddam Hussein invading Kuwait.  

Politicians exploit coveting by class warfare, promising to give to you what belongs to your neighbor.

Covet is to desire what is not yours, to desire what belongs to another.  This man that called out to Jesus to tell his brother to share his inheritance with him was desiring what was not his.  It was his brother’s inheritance.  In Jewish culture, the bulk of the inheritance of the father’s estate went to the eldest brother.  According to the law of the day, the elder brother received two-thirds of the inheritance and the younger brother received one-third.  So this man wants what is not his.  He desired what his brother had inherited. That is coveting.

So Jesus tells this man, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”  Jesus uses the Greek word for life which is zoe, which really speaks of the fullness of life, not just physical but spiritual.  It’s the abundant, full life that we are given in salvation, which is everlasting life.  So Jesus says that the fullness of life does not consist of possessions, or of riches. You cannot find true satisfaction in riches or possessions.  Contrary to the popular mantra of our generation, he who dies with the most toys doesn’t win, and if that was what they lived for, they end up losing their very soul. So beware, Jesus said, be on your guard against becoming controlled by greed, being covetous, desiring more, desiring what is not yours.  That is a form of idolatry instead of putting God first.

So beginning in vs 16 Jesus told a parable to communicate the danger of covetousness. Jesus said, “The land of a rich man was very productive.  And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?” Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.”

The ground yielded to him a bumper crop.  It would seem that year after year it was very productive land.  This man in Jesus’ parable was blessed with fertile ground; we can assume that by adding hard work to the fertile ground, he was a financial success. He was so successful that he had trouble finding a place to store it.  But what he failed to realize was that it was God who provided the means by which it was prosperous.  God provided the nutrients in the soil,  the rain,  the sunshine,  the good weather that did not damage the crops.  God gave him the health and strength to plant and harvest.

God blessed him, but this man did not think of sharing his prosperity, or giving back to the Lord. It was his hard earned money.  It was his!  He thought it was due to his genius, due to his work ethic, due to some inherent goodness in himself.  This man never thought of giving anything back to God or to be generous with others who had not been so fortunate.  One sin that this man committed was that he  robbed God of His fair share of the proceeds. He really shows by his use of his riches that he has no regard for God or man and is selfish.

This man is described as rich.  Being rich is not sinful in and of itself. We see men in scripture who were rich, such as Abraham, or Job.  Or in the New Testament, Joseph of Arimathea.  Paul says in 1Tim.  6:10  “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”  So greed, making money an idol is the root of all sorts of evil, but having money is not sinful in and of itself.  But I will say that it is difficult to separate having money from the love of money.  It’s difficult to be rich and have your treasure in heaven and not make an idol of your money. It’s your attitude towards riches that are the problem.

The other description of this man is he is a fool.  That’s a pretty harsh thing to say about someone. But if it’s true, then it’s legitimate.  And God says that this man is a fool. He is a fool because he put his trust in material things, in temporal things.  He is not concerned with eternal things, but he is living for today.  He is living for all he can get out of this world.

To be a fool in Biblical terms does not mean that you are stupid or unintelligent. There is a difference between stupidity and foolishness.  To be a fool is to have a disregard for God.  The opposite of a fool is one who is wise.  And Psalm 111:10 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”  This man had no fear of God, and thus he was a fool.  The Psalms say, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”  This man was a fool because he did not honor God.

So this man who gets a bumper crop, who has become wealthy as a result of God’s providence, talks to himself.  He does not thank God, or honor God for what He has done for him.  But he consults with himself. You know, when someone has conversations with himself that’s a pretty good indication that there is something wrong upstairs.  Or at least that you may be heading in the wrong direction mentally.  And when you talk to yourself and then answer yourself that’s a sure indication that they are going nuts.

So he’s not interested in God and he starts a discourse with himself. And he comes up with a strategy which is very typical of the natural man’s thinking.  Store up treasure on earth, build bigger houses, and bigger barns.  Grow your investment.  Manage your investments so that you can retire comfortably and then eat, drink and be merry. Work really hard and make the accumulation of wealth your primary goal for 25 years, and then retire on a golf course in Florida. That’s really the goal of most people’s lives.  The one who dies with the most toys wins. Live as long as you can, grab as much gusto as you can, eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.  This life is all there is.  Make the most of it.

If you drive around Sussex County you may notice that it looks like one of the most profitable building projects that are going up are storage facilities.  There are more storage facilities than you would think would be necessary.  But they keep building more, and they seem to fill them.  And  it seems like every other local  that has some empty lots behind his house turns it into a storage lot for boats and trailers and RV’s.  And those seem to fill up with no problem as well. It’s amazing that people buy all kinds of things, and then they put them in storage so they have room in their house to go out and buy new things.  

This rich fool thinks that storing up his treasure and hoarding it and building bigger and bigger barns to keep all his possessions is the answer to a satisfying and rewarding life.  It’s a godless formula for happiness that can never provide the fullness of life that we were intended to have.

This rich fool talks to himself, consults with his own reasoning, and decides on his course of action that he thinks is going to set him up for the rest of his life. But then God speaks. Proverbs 16:9 says, “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.”  God speaks and He’s not complimentary of how smart He thinks this guy is - He doesn’t congratulate him on how well he’s done financially.  God speaks; “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?”

While this man was celebrating how well he had done, God brought the accusation of foolishness against him. That very night, the rich fool’s soul was demanded of him. God was not impressed or satisfied with the rich man’s wealth and possessions.  Sadly, although he was rich in treasures, this man was not rich toward God and was not prepared to meet the Lord.

“Tonight your soul is required of you.” In one night, all the man’s accomplishments and plans came to an abrupt end. He made business plans and life plans, but could not control the day of his death – and all his accomplishments and plans were instantly terminated.  The Bible says, “It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the judgment.” Psalm 90:12 in light of that says, “So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”  

Jesus said in Matt. 16:26  "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “You can’t trade God your possessions for eternal life.  God doesn’t want your house or cars or even your bank account in exchange for eternity.

“Tonight your soul will be required of you”.  That’s the  language of obligation. This man owed his life, his livelihood, and his wealth to God; but most of all he owed his soul to God, and that night it would be required of him. He was obligated to God every day of his life, but his soul would be required on the day of his death.

If the rich fool stood before God in eternity and said God I will give you all my possessions in my barns now,  God would say to that man, you no longer have it to give.  You can’t take it with you.  You didn’t really possess it then, you were merely a caretaker of what God gave you. It’s no longer yours.  You left it on earth and furthermore it’s the wrong currency in heaven. 

Everyone on earth looking at this man’s life would think the man in the parable was a great success, but God said he was a fool. Eternity proved the man a fool, and his story showed that it isn’t only sin to give earthly riches first place in your life – it is also foolish.

The rich man in the parable had thought that his possessions  was all for him. He said, “I will, I will, I will, I will, my crops, my barns, my goods, my soul. Everything was about him, and nothing was about God. But at the end of his life he found that nothing was his – even his own soul was subject to God. He no longer had any crops, any barns, any goods, and he was spiritually bankrupt.

He who lays up treasures for himself and is not rich towards God is like this man. So how do we become rich towards God? We must give first place in our lives to God. We reverence God, we honor God.  We come together to worship Him on the first day of the week.  We honor Him with the first fruits of our labor.  We use our possessions for spiritual purposes and not just to fulfill our fleshly desires. We become rich toward God by sacrificial giving to those in need. Luke 12:33 says, ”Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  And as Luke 18:22 says,  When Jesus heard [this,] He said to him, "One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

Another text that tells us how to be rich towards God is 1Tim.  6:17-19 “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.  [Instruct them] to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,  storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed."

We can also be rich towards God by trusting in Jesus for the righteousness which no amount of money can buy. In Rev. 3:17-18 Jesus says, 'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,  I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and [that] the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.”

Jesus said in Matt. 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (or riches)  We can’t ignore the fact that earthly riches often keep us from the pursuit of heavenly riches as we should. Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 6:9, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.”  Most of us are afraid of poverty; we should be afraid of wealth.  Let us instead lay up treasure in heaven, where moth and rust does not corrupt.  Let us be rich towards God, so that in the day when our soul is required of us to stand before God, we will not be classified as a fool who wasted his life that God had so graciously given him, by focusing on the riches of this world rather than the true treasure which is God.

 

The Parable of the Unjust Judge, Luke 18:1-8

Today we are beginning a series on the parables of Jesus.  This is a deviation of sorts from the way in which I normally  preach.  I have never actually done a series before in 15 years of preaching.  I always rely on what is called expositional preaching, which takes a book of the Bible and then goes through it verse by verse, and chapter by chapter.

But even though I will be doing a series, I will still be using an expositional style.  I’m not going to start doing topical messages where you bounce all around in the Bible trying to find texts to support your thesis.  But we will continue to study the word to determine what the Holy Spirit is saying in that passage.

Now that being said, that brings us to the purpose of parables.   Traditionally, Bible scholars used to approach parables like interpreting an allegory.  They sought to discover all the possible hidden meanings in every word.  But that isn’t how a parable should be considered.  If you follow that line of reasoning, then you end up deducing all kinds of erroneous observations.

An early church figure by the name of John Chrysostom is quoted as saying, “It is not right to search curiously, and word by word, into all things in a parable; but when we have learned the object for which it was composed, we are to reap this, and not to busy ourselves about anything further.”

The way a parable was intended by Christ was to teach usually one major doctrine or principle. Sometimes there can be more than one, but generally speaking we should try to discern the major central thought that is being presented.  Sometimes that is given to us in the scripture.  Sometimes it is given in an interpretation.  And sometimes it is left up to us to figure out.

But that brings us to another aspect of parables.  And that is that generally speaking they are illustrations.  When a speaker gives a speech, he will often use an illustration to help explain a point that he is making.  And that is primarily the purpose that Jesus uses as well.  But I’m afraid that oftentimes today the illustrations that are used in a sermon are not employed to make a point more understandable.  But oftentimes they seem to have little relevance to the main point of the message at all.  They are often just sentimental stories that are given to break up the monotony of the sermon.  After the sermon, people often remember an illustration, but couldn’t tell you what the scripture was.

Jesus, however, is the master of the message, and thus a master of the parable.  Parables as Jesus used them are fictional representations taken from real life situations, which teach a spiritual lesson.  He spoke as one with authority.  Consequently, even His enemies said about Him in John 7:47, “No one ever spoke like this man!”  And we know that to be true because Jesus was the very incarnation of truth.  He was the incarnation of the word of God.  And so what He said was from God.

The word parable is from the Greek word “parabole” which means to come alongside.  We see the root of that word in our language today, with words such a parallel, or paralegal.  A parable, then, is given alongside teaching in order to illustrate a concept or clarify meaning.  

But there is another purpose of a parable, and that is it can also be used to conceal a meaning. It is given to provide a principle or doctrine to those with understanding, but to conceal it to those who cannot understand.  For instance, in Mark 4:9 Jesus concluded the parable of the sower by saying,  “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”  Now why would someone say that?  

The answer becomes more apparent in the Greek.  The Greek word for obedience is “hupakoue” - which includes “akoue” - the word translated as hearing.  So when Jesus says “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” He is saying not just to hear the words that are being

said, but to understand and obey his teaching.  To hear and to obey.

So to those who have ears to hear, parables bring a deeper understanding of the things of God resulting in obedience. But to those who do not have ears to hear, parables are instruments of concealing and obscuring the mystery of the kingdom of God. God’s word brings either salvation or condemnation upon the hearer.  So Jesus’ use of parables reflects his two-fold mission of salvation and judgment upon the world.  As Jesus said in Matthew 10:34-35, I have come not to bring peace but a sword.  Jesus is both the cornerstone of the church and a rock of stumbling and offense to those who reject the truth. He offers salvation to all who believe, and judgment upon those who do not. And His use of parables accomplishes both or either of those objectives. 

Now today we are looking at the first parable in our series, which may be called the Parable of the Unjust Judge. Sadly, we live in a fallen world.  And in this fallen world we find ourselves victims of hatred, of oppression, of persecution, of lies, slander and even worse crimes.  Our recourse in society is to go to the courts, to a judge, which can help us get justice.  But as is indicated in this parable by Jesus, not all judges appointed by man are people of good character.  In fact, often times such unjust judges are corrupt and out for personal gain.

As we have already said, the purpose of the parable is to teach or illustrate one central principle. And to our great advantage, this parable begins with the Holy Spirit  telling us that central principle.  The key to the parable is hanging on the doorknob, so to speak.  In vs 1, it says, “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.”  So at the outset, Luke reveals the goal of the parable of the unjust judge.  Jesus tells this parable so that the listeners “ought always to pray and not lose heart.” This parable teaches the value of persistent prayer in the midst of difficulty and trouble.

In order to teach this principle of the effectiveness of persistent prayer, Jesus tells the story of a widow who had no one to protect her against her adversary.  In the culture of that day, a widow was practically helpless.  Without a husband, she had very little rights.  She had very little opportunity for work in that society.  Jesus tells the story of a widow who had been treated

unjustly, and whose only hope was to find justice at the hands of the judge.  This would have been a civil judge.  But as a widow would more than likely have no property or resources to persuade or influence the judge, he had little interest in helping her.

The Bible teaches that we are sort of like this widow.  We have an adversary who is the devil. 1Peter 5:8 says,  “Be of sober [spirit,] be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”  We have no resources with which to fight him on our own.  Our only hope is to go to God, the righteous judge, and plead for help from Him.

In this story, the widow went to plead her case before a judge who does not fear God nor regard man.  Notice that description by Jesus in vs 2, “there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man.”  He was guilty of breaking the greatest commandment, to love God, and the second commandment, to love your neighbor.  Obviously, this judge was not concerned about justice.  And that was probably a familiar situation in that day, especially in the case of Roman courts.  The judges were notorious for accepting bribes and getting paid off to render a sympathetic judgment.  That’s why I said the widow was particularly helpless and of little interest to the judge.  Because widows typically were without financial resources.  That’s why James 1:27 tells us as Christians to visit the orphans and widows.  Two groups of people in that society particularly that were socially and financially bankrupt and without resources.

Even today in our society, I am afraid, we have seen a decline in the character of sitting justices in America.  Many of them seem more than willing to give favor to an agenda and interpret the law for the sake of their political party.  But justice should not play favorites. It should not reinterpret the law. It should not use unbalanced scales.

But this widow doesn’t give up, even though the judge is disinterested.  She is persistent.  Vs 3, “she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.”  Jesus indicates here the value of persistence, of perseverance in prayer.  I think that is really the central point that He is making. After all, Luke identifies that thought as the central teaching of this parable saying in vs 1, Jesus “was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.”  So her persistence in coming back to the judge is the principle that is applicable to effective prayer.

I’ve read a lot of commentaries about this parable, and some of them want to restrict this prayer to only a prayer that Jesus will return.  In other words, the persistent prayer that Jesus wants us to make is the prayer for the second coming.  And they derive that idea from the last verse, vs 8, which says, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” So they say that this prayer is limited to eschatological prayer.  But I think that unnecessary restricts this parable.  I don’t think that Jesus is trying to narrow it down like that.  The widow is pleading for protection from her adversary.  That would indicate that our prayers for anything by which we feel we are being attacked, or unjustly treated, or anything which we have no defense against, would come under the same category as the widow’s appeal.

Notice it was her not the content of her pleading that was the deciding factor, but the persistence of her pleading that won her case.  It says in vs 4 "For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, 'Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’"  Her continually coming to him wore him out.  Her persistence was the key, not her plea. 

When the widow first sought the judge’s help, he refused to help her. Even when the judge refused to help her a second time, she would not take “no” for an answer. But because of her persistence, her continually coming to Him, the judge finally grew weary and granted her request.  The original language of the text literally says she will give him a black eye.  Her persistence is buffeting the judge.  She is going to war with the judge.  It reminds us of Jacob wrestling with the Lord until dawn saying, “I will not let you go until you bless me.” That kind of persistence in prayer is rewarded.

Charles Spurgeon said about this principle of persistence in prayer; ““Too many prayers are like boy’s runaway knocks, given, and then the giver is away before the door can be opened.” I used to love knocking on doors and then running away as a kid.  Nowadays, you can’t play that game.  They are going to catch you on their webcam on their porch.  But persistence is the key to opening the door.

Now the other key to understanding this parable is by recognizing that it shows a contrast between how human judges behave and how God behaves.  It is not teaching us that we have to keep coming to God because He is like the unjust judge and doesn’t really care about our problems.  But Jesus is showing a contrast between an unrighteous judge and God. If the unjust judge answers the widow’s request, how much more will the righteous judge, our God and Father, answer us when we call upon Him.  It’s a contrast of extremes, not of similarities.

We live in a society as Americans when we are always concerned about our rights. Unfortunately we are seeing our rights being taken away at an unprecedented pace over the last year or so. We would hope that our justice system would stand up for our rights and protect them, but sadly that doesn’t seem to be the case more often than not.  But even if God’s people are exploited and treated unjustly, we are not to seek vengeance upon those that take advantage of us.  Romans 12:19 says  “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 

There is coming a day of reckoning, a day of judgment, when God will right all wrongs. When God will judge every thought, and every act.  God will judge the judges.  God will judge the rulers, the authorities of this earth.  We are assured in scripture that day is coming.  And in that way I concur with the interpretation I mentioned earlier that says we are told here to pray for the second coming.  Certainly we should.  And we can look forward to seeing justice served on that day, especially if we did not see it in our lifetime.

If you do a word search in the Bible for the phrase “how long” you will find 131 references, many of them in the form of a prayer.  It was a frequent question of the Psalmists.  For instance listen to David in Psalm 13:1-2, “How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? 2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, [Having] sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?”  And we see it expressed in Revelation as the martyred Christians who were persecuted unto death cry to the Lord, “how long” until they are revenged.  Rev. 6:10 “and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

Not every appeal to our Heavenly Father will be answered in our timing.  But every prayer will be answered in God’s timing. God will repay.  Many of us wonder during our days at the injustice in the world.  We wonder about the cheating and the corruption in our political system. In a sense our politicians are our judges. They decide our laws.  They interpret our laws and apply or dismiss our laws according to their own corrupt desires.  We seem to have no leverage to do get any justice.  We feel helpless.  But we must not take our own revenge. But as Romans 12:19 says, “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath [of God,] for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.”

In the book of Exodus, God reveals Himself as the one who hears the prayers of His suffering people and liberates them from bondage.  They cried out to the Lord for 400 years before He brought about their deliverance. The exodus from Egypt is a foretaste of the greater exodus in the New Testament, when God delivers His people from the world, the flesh, and the devil. But  we haven’t seen that deliverance completed as of yet. However, we are assured that it is coming. We still live in the flesh and in the world and the devil still goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.  

So we pray, we pray consistently, we pray persistently, and we know that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, who intercedes on our behalf and who has broken the power of sin and the  devil. And so we are confident that He hears us and He will help us in our time of need.  But as the text I quoted from Revelation should show, and history shows, we may not always see that deliverance in the time and manner that we would like.  We may be persecuted and even die for our faith.  We may pass from this earth without ever being vindicated from our enemies and injustices.  But Jesus promises that we will prevail with God, because He loves us as His children and their is no injustice with God.

Jesus taught us this parable so that we would persevere in prayer and not lose heart. To lose heart is to be discouraged, to give up hope.  I’m afraid that a lot of Christians lose heart because they don’t get the answer to their prayers, and consequently lose faith in God.  Jesus indicates that  in vs 8,  “However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”  I think that indicates that when Jesus comes again, there will be some who have become discouraged, who have given up hope in seeing a divine resolution to their problems, and consequently have strayed from the faith.  Since they feel the Lord won’t help them, they then take whatever natural means they could find to get a resolution to their problems.  But our task is to remain faithful.  To trust God. To persevere even when we don’t get the response we are looking for.

But Jesus’s own language seems to lend itself to the idea of a quick  response to our prayers.  Notice in vs 7 He says, “now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?”  And in vs 8, there is another indication of a quick response; "I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

And I can only believe that Jesus spoke twice about the Lord’s quick response to prayer in order to give us hope that we may receive an answer while we are still living.  David, the psalmist, who constantly cried out to God in prayer, “O Lord, how long!” How long will You keep silent?  How long will you turn away from me?  How long until you answer me? That same David also prayed in Psalm 27:13, “I would have despaired] unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.”  

Thank God that Jesus included those phrases in the parable.  But what seems quick or timely to us is not always quick and immediate in the plan of God.  Jesus said, “I come quickly.” But it’s two thousand years now and He still hasn’t come back.  But God also knows that we are but flesh. He knows that we have immediate needs.  And He will help us in real time when it serves the will of God to do so. Our responsibility is not to dictate to God the terms, ours is just to plead our case with persistence until He gives us an answer.  

Yesterday I heard a song on some radio station by the late Janis Joplin.  Most of you probably know who she was, but if not, she was a very famous rock singer from the sixties.  She sang with a rather bluesy, barroom style.   The song that I heard on the radio was “Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes-Benz.”  I think she did it all acoustic. 

If you haven’t ever heard the song, it is an irreverent prayer done in song, in which she asks the Lord for three things; a Mercedes-Benz, a color tv, and a night on the town.  The song was recorded in one take, and she performed it live that night on October 1st, 1970. That was the last song she recorded. Three days later she died from a heroin overdose.  

I’m sure that she sang the song as an irreverent kind of joke.  She probably didn’t seriously consider it a prayer.  But the fact is, that she asked the Lord for the wrong thing.  She never got her requests answered  and if she had, it really wouldn’t have changed anything.  She probably would still have died from an overdose. But she should have asked the Lord for eternal life. That’s a prayer that God promises to answer.  The Bible promises that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That prayer for Jesus to save is one that is guaranteed an answer.  And it is one that will last eternally.

God is not a genie at our beck and call.  We aren’t told to ask for three wishes and He will make them come true. There isn’t some magic incantation that we can recite that assures us of the answer that we want.  John said that if we ask anything according to God’s will, He hears us. And God is not willing that any should perish but all should come to repentance.  

If you are here today and you have never been saved then that is the prayer that you need to pray.   You must come to God in repentance and faith, realizing you are lost and helpless, and your only hope is in Jesus Christ, and call upon Him to save you.  And He will do it.  You can be born into the kingdom of God, and all the blessings that come from salvation.  He is waiting and willing  for you to call upon Him.  I pray that you don’t wait, for today is the acceptable day of salvation.  

The ministry of the new man, Colossians 4:7-18

The ministry of the new man,  Colossians 4:7-18

Last week I remarked about how Paul in his imprisonment is believed to have had a guard chained to him at all times.  And I made note of the fact that the scripture says that as a result of being in close proximity to Paul for many hours every day, every day of the week, for two years, many of the Praetorian guard became believers in Christ.  And I posed the question to you, that those who are in close proximity to you in work or in some endeavor that you are a part of, would they end up becoming a Christian on the basis of your testimony to them for all those hours you spend together?

Well, in this passage, we see more people that were a part of the Apostle’s daily life while he was in prison.  Now this was a prison, yet not like what we might think of today.  It was his own rented quarters, a private house, but in which he was imprisoned and unable to leave.  But it’s evident that he was able to receive visitors there, and perhaps some of them were even able to stay in the house.

So Paul actually had a church in his prison.  And that should serve to be a reminder to us, that the church is not a building, it’s not an organization.  The church does not consist of a lot of programs or special events.  You know, we sometimes see people leave our church because they want more of what they think the church is supposed to be.  And a lot of times it’s something like a church that has a good youth group program, or children’s ministry.  Or they claim they are looking for a way to be involved in a church that has resources like financial or marriage counseling that are better suited to their talents.

But here in Paul’s prison church we see that the church is just people that are committed to Christ, that are committed to one another, and are committed to the spread of the gospel.  Now if you remember in this epistle back in chapter 3, Paul made an appeal to the Colossians to be the church, saying “since you have been raised up with Christ,” or since they had received new life in Christ, keep your focus on things above and not things on earth.  And then Paul gives a series of practical admonitions of how we are to live now as the church.  

The church is made up of Christians.  We are the church.  And so though this section might easily be dismissed as just a series of personal greetings and so forth, I think Paul might also be displaying a group of people from his church, who were living illustrations of what it means to be the church of Christ, whose focus are on things above, and not the things of this earth.  

So I want to try to take each person that Paul mentions here, and give each a vignette of sorts which I hope will show their ministry to the church, which should serve as a model for the church today.

Paul’s first mention is a man named Tychicus. He is a man with a servant’s heart. Paul says in vs 7, “As to all my affairs, Tychicus, [our] beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information.”

The name Tychicus means fortunate.  And he was certainly fortunate because of the time that he spent with the  apostle Paul. He’s mentioned in five different places in scripture, and each time only very briefly.  But from these references we can determine that Tychicus was a faithful servant of Paul throughout his ministry.

We hear initially about Tychicus in Acts 20.  Paul is collecting offerings from the churches in Macedonia for the saints in Jerusalem.  And he is joined by Tychicus in his journey.  In those days journey’s such as this were quite difficult affairs.  You couldn’t just book a ticket on an airline.  Such journeys often took months.  But Tychicus left his home and family to travel with Paul, perhaps to provide security for Paul.  I get the feeling that Tychicus was a very capable man, physically speaking as well as spiritually.  We see Tychicus making many such trips in which he safeguarded something valuable and important for the churches. He had to travel through all kinds of terrain, over the sea, in all kinds of weather, sleeping often out in the open at night, on guard against all kinds of robbers and thieves who preyed upon the traveler.

We see him again in Titus 3:12. Paul sends him to Titus, possibly to relieve Titus as a substitute pastor while Titus visits Paul in Nicopolis.  (Nick Demopolis’s hometown)  That shows that not only was Tychicus very capable physically, but he was capable spiritually as well.  He is able to sub for the pastor, Titus. 

And in 2 Timothy 4:12, we see a similar situation with Timothy. Paul wants Timothy to come to him and bring his cloak and parchments, and he sends Tychicus to hold down the fort for Timothy.  This is probably near the end of Paul’s life, and we can see that Tychicus has obviously matured as a Christian, from just a man with a servant’s heart, to a man that could take the pulpit so to speak from a person such as Timothy who was Paul’s prodigy and who would take up the mantle of Paul when he was gone. 

The first time that Paul was in prison in Rome is when he writes the letter to the Colossians.  And Tychicus has been with Paul at that point about 4 years.  And Paul indicates in this epistle that he is going to send this letter by Tychicus.  But it wasn’t just this letter, but it’s also believed that he carried the letter to the Ephesians as well as the epistle to Philemon.  Just imagine the importance of that trip.  Three of the Bible’s epistles were under the care and guardianship of Tychicus.  Not only does that indicate a servant’s heart, but a faithful man.   A man that would not let anything stop him or deter him.  I can’t help but think of this guy as a former soldier who had been converted and discipled by Paul.  I cannot prove that of course.  But I look forward to meeting this guy one day in heaven.  He was a tough, very capable, disciplined, determined and faithful soldier of Christ who Paul leaned on quite heavily.  Thank God for men like Tychicus. 

Paul calls him a beloved brother, a faithful servant and a fellow bond servant in the Lord.  That’s a pretty high commendation.  In 1Cor. 4:2  Paul speaks of a servant of Christ being a steward, one to whom is entrusted something, and he says in that passage, “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”  There is no higher commendation that a man is found to be faithful.

The second man mentioned here is Onesimus.  Paul says he that accompanying Tychicus on this journey is Onesimus, vs. 9, “and with him Onesimus, [our] faithful and beloved brother, who is one of your [number.] They will inform you about the whole situation here.” Onesimus is a man with a sinful past. Now all of us have sinful pasts.  But if we have been raised up with Christ, then our old past should be in the past, and all things have become new.  Onesimus had a past, but he became  a new creation who God can use in His kingdom.

Now if we know who Onesimus is, then we can understand why Tychicus is bringing a letter to Philemon as well as to the church at Ephesus and Colossae.  If you have read the letter to Philemon, then you know the story.  Onesimus was the slave of Philemon who it would seem had stolen something and ran away from Philemon.  That was an offense that in those days was punishable by death.  But as providence would have it, Onesimus ended up in Rome, and somehow or another ended up being led to Christ by the apostle Paul.  

Now when Paul learned of Onesimus’s background, he realized the connection, because Paul had also led Philemon to the Lord.  And furthermore the church at Colossae met at Philemon’s house. That indicates that he was a wealthy man as he would have the biggest house suitable for holding church.  Somehow in his journey’s Paul had  led Philemon to the Lord because he says in the letter, “you owe to me even your own self as well.”  So in the letter, which Onesimus and Tychicus are delivering, are instructions for Philemon to forgive Onesimus, and whatever he owed Philemon from the theft, to charge it to Paul’s account.

What is also very interesting is that there is a letter that has been found which is written by Ignatius, one of the early church fathers just after the death of the apostles, and he is writing to the church at Colossae, in which he mentions the pastor of their church, who is none other than Onesimus.  Imagine that.  A former runaway slave, a criminal, who repents and is restored to his master, and eventually ends up becoming the pastor of the church there at Colossae.  What a wonderful testimony of the grace of God upon sinners, that He is able to make all things new, and use even the least of us as examples of His grace.

Next, Paul mentions a man named Aristarchus, who he describes as my fellow prisoner.  We might say about Aristarchus as a man with a sympathetic heart.  Now Aristarchus’ name appears elsewhere in the New Testament in association with the town of Thessalonica. Aristarchus is mentioned about 5 times in scripture.  You might remember on one occasion he was with Paul in Ephesus, and he and Gaius were arrested.  It seems quite likely that Aristarchus continued with Paul in his ministry because the next time we see him he is boarding the ship with Paul on his way to Rome.  If so, that could be the reason Paul calls him his fellow prisoner.  It would seem that he continued with Paul throughout his imprisonment, and he did so because he was sympathetic towards Paul, and wanted to share his burden.  He was willing to forego his own liberty to help Paul spread the gospel.  

The fourth man Paul mentions is a man whom we might say is given a second chance. Really that is true about all Christians, but we see it illustrated here particularly in the case of Mark. He describes him as “Barnabas’s cousin Mark (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him).” 

You may remember Mark who went with Paul and Barnabas on missionary journey and somewhere along the way he decided he wanted to go back home.  We don’t know the reason but it may have been loneliness or just missing home.  He was a young man. Later, when Barnabas wanted to take Mark along on another missionary trip, Paul wouldn’t hear of it, because he considered Mark a deserter.They ended up getting in such a disagreement about it, that Paul and Barnabas split up, with Barnabas taking along Mark on a missions trip, and Paul taking Silas on another.

Well, by the time of this letter some time has passed, and it’s obvious that Mark has matured as a Christian and is now reconciled to Paul.  In fact, later on Paul will say in 2 Timothy 4:11, “Take Mark and bring him with you, for he’s profitable to me for the ministry.”  That was near the end of Paul’s life.  But what is also very interesting is that somewhere along the way Mark became a prodigy of Peter.  And after years of spending time with Peter God used Mark through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to write the Gospel of Mark.   

So it should be very encouraging for us to see that God is the God of second chances.  Even when we are faithless, He remains faithful.  God is a God of reconciliation, and He has chosen to use us, the weak things, to do mighty things for Him.  

Another man is mentioned here in this closing passage by Paul.  One that I’m sure you have never heard of.  In vs 11, speaking of the coming of Mark Paul adds, “and [also] Jesus who is called Justus; these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision, and they have proved to be an encouragement to me.” 

I suppose that they called him Justus rather than Jesus because he did not consider himself fit to be called Jesus.  Even though in Hebrew Jesus was Joshua and it was a fairly common name.  But interestingly, the name Justus means righteous.  So we have some indication from his name that this was a man who was committed in his faith.  And that is what we might say concerning Justus, he was a man with a strong commitment. 

Now what gives us that idea is that Paul says Justus and Mark and Aristarchus are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision.  What that indicates is that they were the only Jewish men who were working with Paul. Whenever Paul went into a new area he always began by ministering to the Jewish community.  And it took a lot  of commitment for a Jewish man to leave his people and all the heritage and traditions of the Jewish religion and follow someone like Paul. It would seem that only these three men were all that had come out from among the Jews.  And Paul says that they were a source of encouragement to him.

Let’s look at the next person, Epaphras. Vs. 12 “Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.  For I testify for him that he has a deep concern for you and for those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis.”  We might say that Epaphras was a man of single purpose. 

Epaphras was the pastor of the church at Colossae.  He had come to Rome to tell Paul the trouble that the  false teachers were teaching to the Colossians. And Paul is writing this letter to the Colossians in answer to what Epaphras has told him.  Epaphras is going to stay awhile longer and spend more time with Paul. So Paul says he sends his greeting.

Notice that Paul says this pastor is always laboring for them in his prayers.  A pastor should be a man of prayer and always be lifting up his people before the Lord.  Furthermore, this pastor is concerned that they become mature in their faith.  He is not just interested in filling an auditorium or even with just making converts.  But he is concerned that they know the will of God and are completed in their faith.  Not remaining infants, but mature. That’s the hallmark of a godly pastor. To disciple and shepherd his church.

He says in vs 13, “For I testify for him that he has a deep concern for you and for those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis.”  That word translated as a deep concern is more literally translated as much toil or great pain.  His concern over his church is such that it causes him pain, he suffers because of his deep concern for the church.  And that’s why he labors so intensely in prayer. He contends with God in prayer for his church.  That’s the kind of leadership we see in a man like Moses who regularly went to bat for his people before the Lord, even to the point of wishing that he might be accursed in their place.  Paul said the same thing about his countrymen.  That’s the purpose of a pastor, to see His people come to maturity in Christ.

The next one Paul mentions is Luke.  Now he should be a familiar figure to us all.  Paul says in vs 14, “Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings.”  Luke was a physician.  He attended to Paul.  Paul, we believe, had problems with his eyes.  Some say that it was the result of the Damascus road experience. Some say that the situation with his eyes might have been the thorn in the flesh that he asked God to take from him three times, and God did not.  But God did give Dr. Luke to be a companion of Paul, to minister to him.  God gave Paul his own personal physician. 

Luke is a great illustration of a man who had a talent to offer to God.  And he gave his talent to God, and God took his talent and gave him back a gift that was much greater.  He gave up his practice in medicine, but he gained the privilege of being used by the Holy Spirit to write two of the books of the New Testament; the gospel of Luke, and the book of Acts.  The gift that this man gave to the church, not just of that period, but for over 2000 years is something that cannot be compared to whatever fortunes that he might have given up for the sake of following Christ. 

The last guy that Paul mentions is Demas.  Demas was a man that seemed to be in good standing at that time, but in fact he had a sad future.  In 2 Timothy 4:9, Paul says to Timothy, “Make every effort to come to me soon; for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.”  Demas abandoned Paul because he fell in love with the world.  Demas is like a lot of people in the church today.  They hang in for a while, they are around for a while, but they end up loving this present world more than they love God.  It’s a life in contrast to chapter 3 vs 1, “since you have been raised up with Christ, then keep seeking the things above.  Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”  But for so many people like Demas, the things of this earth have a greater allure and they end up turning back to this present world and forsake the things of God. Perhaps Demas never was saved, we don’t know.  But he certainly made a bad trade, giving up the eternal rewards of heaven for the temporary pleasures of this world.

Paul closes the letter in vs 15 saying, “Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house.  When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part read my letter [that is coming] from Laodicea.  Say to Archippus, ‘Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.’  I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my imprisonment. Grace be with you.

Notice that the church at Laodicea met at the house of Nympha. Laodicea was a neighboring town, sort of like Bethany is to Rehoboth.  So there was a house church in Laodicea that met int he house of Nympha.  We saw earlier that same situation in  Colossae, where they met at the house of Philemon.  Now neither Nympha nor Philemon are pastors, but they probably were wealthy enough to have a large house which served as the meeting place for the church.  But even with a large house, it’s doubtful that these churches had more than 75 people or so in their congregation.  Probably a lot less than that.  

I think that Christianity today has gotten the wrong idea of what a church should look like.  It’s evident from biblical history that those churches were small, intimate groups of people meeting together and serving one another in house churches.  Today the church in America for the most part is the polar opposite.  Pastors don’t even know the majority of their congregations names.  Paul indicates an intimate knowledge of the people in his church and those churches that he had visited.  And I think that kind of relationship is important if you are going to make diisciples, and fulfill the completion of their spiritual maturity as  Epaphras was praying for his church.

The last person we should question is who is Archippus mentioned in vs17? Paul says to him, “Take heed of the ministry which you have received in the Lord that you may fulfill it.”   In Philemon we read, “To the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house.”  Commentators believe that Apphia was Philemon’s wife and Archippus was Philemon’s son.  Now Paul calls him a fellow soldier, but that may not be a reference to the military, but to a calling of God on his life to go into the ministry.  And that seems to agree with the context of Colossians where Paul says take heed of the ministry which you have received in the Lord that you may fulfill it.  Paul is encouraging him to continue to follow the Lord’s leading in his life. To continue to fulfill the ministry which God has given him to do.  And in a prophetic sense, he is encouraging you and I to fulfill our ministry which we have been given in the Lord.

All of the people here mentioned at the close of this letter have a ministry.  Most of them seem to be fulfilling it.  Demas did not.  He deserted.  Mark deserted for a while as well, but he came back and accomplished great things for God.  Archippus is just starting out it would seem.  And Paul is encouraging him to complete his ministry, to fulfill it.  

We are the church.  We are the people God has chosen for ministry in this community.  I hope you know what ministry you have been called to fulfill. We have all been called to be ministers of the kingdom of God, ambassadors of Christ. I urge you by the Spirit of God to be found faithful in completing your ministry.  And if you are found faithful in the little things, then God will entrust you with greater things.  I pray for each of you today, take heed of the ministry which you have received in the Lord that you may fulfill it.