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T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
in one way and riches te st ch aracter in ano th er way and th e ch aracter th a t stands th e te st in eith er condition is ap proved. If the rich man puts the favor of God above his w ealth and uses his money as a stew ard, h e will be accept ed. If th e poor man, em bittered by his poverty, tu rn s away from God, he will be rejected. Our relation to God in th e Lord Jesu s Christ is the factor th a t determ ines eternal destiny. jjjg v. 19. There was a certain man. It is not said th a t th is is a parable. It is related as an historical incident. We are introduced to a certain rich man. God did not th ink COMMENTS FROM him of sufficient MANY SOURCES i m p o r t a n c e K eith Xi. Brooks to mention h i s name. Rich men are not of as much consequence in God’s eyes as they are in ours.— Tor- rey. Jesus called him no t an oppressor of th e poor, nor a robber, nor a spoiler of orphans, a persecutor of widows. None of these, bu t w hat did He say? “A certain rich m an”— and w hat was his crime? A Lazarus a t his gate and lying unrelieved.—Augustine. Called by some Dives. Dives is simply the L atin for “ a rich man.”— Camb. Bible. F a re d sumptuously. A life of ban quets. The description generally m ight well have applied to Herod Antlpas (7 :2 5 ; Mk. 6:14, 21.)— F a rra r. The rich man thought his w ealth was his own to do w ith as he liked. I t never occurred to him th a t he would have to give account of it to God. How did he incur such an aw ful and hopeless doom? By his flagrant breach of tru s t in not using his wealth for th e relief of those whose sufferings touched th e divine h ea rt and to whom he should have been th e messenger of Christ.—Dale. Cer ta in destruction awaits th e worldly. Peace and joy aw ait those who have laid up trea su re in heaven.—Taylor. v. 20. Named Lazarus. Seems He not to have been reading from th a t book where He found th e name of th e poor man w ritten bu t found not the name of th e rich, for th a t book is th e book of life?—Augustine. Laid a t h is gate. God pushed opportunity rig h t under th e rich m an’s nose and he did not use it.-—Bennett. The rich m an’s ignor ance of Lazarus was culpable. A man ought to know th e sorrows of those who are in his path.—Vaughan.
v. 21. Dogs licked h is sores. In contrast w ith the- inhum anity of men _toward th e beggar is set th e pity of the ' dogs. They licked his sores as they licked th e ir own.—Willcock. This en hances the rich m an’s neglect. The fau lt of Dives was careless selfishness. — Camb. Bible. Desiring to be fed. It is implied th a t his appeals were not heeded. The story teaches th e responsi bility of rich men not only for what they do b u t for w hat they do not do w ith th e ir wealth.— Speakers’ Com. v. 22. The beggar died. The beg gar died first, -being taken from his sufferings. The other was given longer space for repentance. The beggar is carried by angels. In his life he had not a single friend and now suddenly not one bu t many angels w ait upon him— Luther. C arried by angels. The scornful rabbis who were listening would have declined to accompany a beggar’s funeral. The angels gladly escort his liberated sp irit to the abodes of th e blessed for he was a tru e child of God.—-Grossart. Abraham ’s bosom. His sp irit w ent to th e happy side of hades where th e saints rested in bliss. —Horn. Com. To correct the notion th a t wealth as such excludes from hap piness hereafter or th a t poverty as such insures fru ition of th a t happiness, it is sufficient to observe th a t th e beggar Lazarus is carried by angels into the bosom of th e rich man Abraham who made rig h t use of the riches of th e world and tru ste d in th e Lamb of God. —T rench. R ich m an buried. W hat happened to th e carcass of th e poor man is passed over in delicate reserve.— Morris. v. 23. In hell. L iterally hades, the place of departed hum an spirits between death and resurrection, th e equivalent of th e Old Testam ent sheol. Hades ac cording to Scripture was form erly in two divisions, th e abodes respectively of the saved and of th e lost. The for mer was called paradise and Abraham ’s bosom. The lost were separated from th e saved by a g reat gulf fixed. There has been no change of place or condi tion so far as th e unsaved are concerned, bu t a change has taken place since th e ascension of Christ, which affects p ara dise. P aradise since th e ascension is referred to as in the immediate pres ence of God. Eph. 4:8-10 indicates the tim e of th e change. During th e present age the saved who die are imme diately “ at home w ith th e Lord.” The wicked dead in hades and the righteous dead a t home w ith th e Lord alike await th e resurrection (Job. 19:25; 1 Cor.
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