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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
March, 1936
foolish as he was when he left the father’s house of plenty. We are told : “When he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!” He realized at last that the sinful sack contained deceitful nuts. W e will call the other sack “The Sal vation Sack.” It, too, has three nuts in it. The first one we crack has a little white silk robe in it. When the prodigal returned home, his father gave him the best robe. When the sinner comes to God, he receives the righteousness of Christ. Upon cracking the next nut, we find that it has a gold ring in it. The father gave the son a ring, showing that he was a member of the family. What a great privilege it is for us to be members of God’s family! The third nut has bread in it. In the father’s house the son had plenty to eat. Those who accept Christ as Saviour find that He is the Bread of Heaven, which satisfies the hunger of the soul. revelation of the future life, and that rev elation was given by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It is the Son of God who speaks of “torments,” of “this flame,” and of “hell.” And if one mentioned as endur ing this suffering were nonexistent, what becomes of the veracity o f the Witness? Suppose this passage is a parable (although the writer o f these notes does not agree that it is) ; shall we deny the truth of what our Lord was teaching? N o! Our Lord was speaking of realities. The rich man died and went to hell. It is gliby said that every man carries his own hell in his own bosom. But there is little com fort in this idea in the light of this lesson. Hell is a place of consciousness (v. 23). In the teachings o f the Lord Jesus, there is no suggestion o f soul sleep. The rich man was conscious immediately after his death—conscious of the place, the suffer ing, and the despair in which he found himself. The place of his abode is a place of vision '(v. 23). He shut his eyes to the scenes in the palace with its pleasures, and opened them in the prison with its pain. It is a place o f recognition (v. 23). He evidently knew who Lazarus was. This was not the first time he had seen the beggar, and the rich man instantly rec ognized him in the bosom of Abraham. It is a place o f sensation (v. 24). (It is the soul that actaully sees and feels, as some psychologists are just now finding ou t; the body is merely the medium o f the soul’s expression.) It is a place of mem ory (v. 25). The rich man was reminded of former days. It is a place without re pentance (vs. 26-31). The rich man had sorrow for his suffering and a desire that others should be spared this torment, but he evidenced no sorrow for his sin, even as Judas wept bitterly because of remorse but not because of repentance. Finally, it is a place of reason; he recognized the justice in his being there, and he did not complain about that. He recognized also the hopelessness, and did not ask for re lease. Indeed, he was satisfied with the place, but dissatisfied with the conditions if the conditions could have been changed, he would have been content. This man, and all others who at last find their way to hell, would rather be there with their sin and selfishness than in heaven with its love and holiness.
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We will try the next one. It is per fectly empty. It was not long until the prodigal’s purse and stomach were both empty. Examining the other nut from the sack of sin, we find corn husks. Living a sinful life, the young man wasted his money, and became so poor that he had to take a job looking after swine. He was so hungry he felt like eating the husks thrown to the pigs. This was a pretty poor food for a hungry boy. This young man was not always as Lesson T ext: Lk. 16:19-31. Golden T ext: “ The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker o f them all” (Prov. 22:2). Outline and Exposition I. . I T he W ealth (19). I n considering this passage, we must be careful to remember that Jesus is not teaching that there is sinfulness in wealth and godliness in poverty. Many godly men are wealthy in this world’s goods, and many poverty-stricken men are thoroughly ungodly. In the passage before us, the wealthy man of whom our Lord spoke was entirely selfish; his time was occupied with the obtaining o f the things calculated to bring ease and physical comfort to himself alone. He was also foolish—considering only the present, and having no thought concerning the future life. Moreover, he was unfaithful to a trust. His wealth was a sacred obligation laid upon him by God, and his riches were to be used for the help of God’s poor ones on earth. But this man thought neither of God nor of man. II. T he P overty (20, 21). The man described in these verses was a beggar; and in the country in which he lived, and at that time, beggary was the last stage of human misery and distress. Added to the poverty, this man suffered from illness, and so helpless was he that he must needs be carried to the rich man’s gate. In constant hunger, he desired only to receive a few crumbs falling from the rich man’s table. The beggar was full of sores, and his pain would be aggravated by the dogs’ licking of his sores, for he seems to have been strengthless to drive them away. A more vivid picture of ab solute poverty and dire need could hardly be drawn. III. T he D estiny of B oth (22-31). It is said that both the rich man and the beggar died (v. 22). Death is the nat ural end of all men, and unless we are “ caught up . . . to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:17), we must all die. The infidel may say that death ends all. But the scripture before us presents a
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