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Luke 16: 19-30 "If Only I Had Known"

"There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried . And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.' But Abraham said, Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.' "Then he said, I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' Abraham said to him, "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' And he said, 'No , father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.' " (Luke 16: 19-30)

There are many things in life that must be experienced to be understood. But often is the case that by the time you experience it for yourself it is too late. Carnival games are like this. We went to the amusement park one Saturday as a family and my son was attracted to the flashing lights of the midway. There were brightly costumed men and women who encouraged everyone nearby to come and try their luck, and the prizes that were displayed were certainly enticing to a young boy. All you have to do is knock over a pyramid of bottles with a ball, how hard could it be? 100 yen a throw. But soon after spending three hundred yen we walked away with nothing at all.
Buying a used car is another example. You see, it doesn't matter how carefully you look at it, you don't really start to notice what is wrong with a car until about a month after you have bought it. Moving into a new apartment is like that as well. When we first rented our place we thought that it was perfect for us. But now after living there for a year we know that the family upstairs has a little boy that just loves to jump up and down and run back and forth down the hall, at 11:00 at night!
Oh, I wish I could have talked to the last people who had lived in that apartment! I wish they could of warned us before we signed the contract. But, of course we never even saw the previous tenants.

The rich man in the story that Jesus told wished that someone would have warned him before he experienced hell for himself. He pleaded with Abraham, "send Lazarus to warn my five brothers, if someone comes back from the dead, surely they will listen." Oh, if I would have known beforehand! But Abraham replies, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead." You see the problem is that someone did warn him beforehand. The Old testament teaches very clearly that the wicked will be turned into hell, that there is punishment for the evil things that we do. And now we have an even more clear testimony in the New Testament. Jesus teaches us here that there is a choice to make, you can enjoy the unrighteous mammon now, in this life, but then you will be bankrupt in the hereafter. Or you can trade in the unrighteous mammon for the things of eternity, the true riches that last forever. We have been warned, we have the opportunity to learn from those who really know what is going to happen beforehand. And yet we don't like what we hear and choose not to believe.
This is probably the most difficult teaching in the Bible for most people. We do not like the idea of hell. We are not comfortable with the idea that if people do not turn to Jesus as their savior that they will be punished and suffer for their sin. But please do not make the mistake of thinking that just because it is unpleasant that it is not real. I do not like the idea of bacteria and viruses. Just think that there are millions of little things that you can't even see that can make you horribly sick and even kill you. I do not like the idea of cancer. Imagine something growing inside of you and taking over parts of your body for it's own use. I do not like the idea of children killing other children with knives and guns. Aren't all children were innocent and pure? But it is happening. Just last week another child went to a junior high school dance in the U.S. and shot his teacher and other children. Here in Japan the number one age group for violent crime is junior high school children. I do not like to think about any of these things. I do not like to talk about them. But that does not mean that they are not real.
We have been conditioned by modern thinking that we can believe whatever seems right to us. We are convinced by whatever argument is the most persuasive. One man tells you that because God is love then there is no way that God can condemn millions of people to eternal punishment. Another man tells you that because God is love everyone will be saved, in the end there will be no punishment at all. Another person will tell you that actually you have another life after this one as somebody else in which God will give you another chance or perhaps you will become an angel that has to prove his goodness before gaining his wings. In my personal opinion, I happen to prefer any of those theories that I just said to what the Bible actually teaches. It does not seem right to me that my neighbor, who is a pretty good person, a nice fellow, will spend eternity in hell.
Let me tell you a few more things that don't seem right to me. It doesn't seem right to me that my favorite uncle, a man who filled our house with laughter and gifts at Christmastimes when my family had barely enough money to get by on. It doesn't seem right to me that this wonderful man would die in his prime of AIDS. It doesn't seem right to me that my brother, would die before his children, before his son could even say "Daddy". It doesn't seem right to me but these things really happened. I do not understand them. I cannot explain them away sufficiently to accept them. You see, there are many things that are very real, much too real, that do not seem right to us. The world that we live in, the reality of the universe is not built around man's ability to reason. If we simply believe in what we think to be best we are living in fantasy land, a dream world. This is not our creation. We did not make it. It is God's, and only He is wise enough to understand why all things happen as they do. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord. His ways are higher than yours and His thoughts are higher than your thoughts. If you really want to understand the truth. Not a fairytale that you want to believe in, but the truth, then you must go to the word of God and humble yourself and submit to what it teaches to be true.
In the book of Romans chapter 1, Paul explains to us quite clearly why there is punishment and what we should do about it. In verse 18-19, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." No one can say that they did not know that there was a God, someone who was incredibly powerful and incredibly good, because all of creation, everything around us, is proof of His existence. Even our very selves, our bodies are proof to us of God. But even though we know in the depths of our hearts that there is a God, and because He is our Creator He deserves our worship and thanks, we suppress that truth that is in us. We turn away from God so that we can do the things that we want to do, that will benefit us. We conveniently forget that we are brother and sister with every other created person and thing on the planet because we have the same Father God, and use them for our own selfish ends.
Every one of us is guilty, every one of us is deserving of punishment from God. This is the teaching of the Bible. My mind rebels and says, "But God, I am pretty good", "But God, I did twice as many good things as bad.", "But God, I didn't mean to do it.", "But God, I am not a criminal" But my heart knows that I am guilty, that whatever I do I cannot measure up to the standards of heaven. I cannot reach the goodness of God. My best efforts at being good, pale in comparison with the wonderful love of God in sending me life and breath every day totally free of charge. I fall way short of the glory of God. But what can I do about it? The Bible says that there is absolutely nothing that you can do. But God, in His mercy, in His love, has done something about it for you.
In our twisted logic we have tried to turn God's love back against Him. We have accused Him, saying, "If You really loved us then You wouldn't send anyone to hell." But in reality God has made a way that anyone who wants to escape hell can do it. He took all the punishment that should have been placed on us and placed it instead on His own Son, Jesus Christ. Then He told us the good news, if you want to be saved, believe in my Son, and His goodness, His righteousness will be yours. Out of love, God has given us a second chance. We have all rejected God in our lives, walking our own way, but God has given us Jesus so that if we choose to worship Him, to give our thanks to Him, we can escape Hell and have eternal life.
Today, you get the chance that the rich man begged for. Today, you are being warned, you are getting the chance to escape punishment. Don't disregard it because you don't like the idea. Don't ignore it because you don't think it seems right. The truth is that hell is real, and none of us are good enough to avoid it, none of us have an excuse that will get us out of it. The terrible truth is that unless you have Jesus as your savior you are in danger of spending eternity in torment. But the wonderful truth is that God has made a way for you! Receive Jesus as your savior today. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, God. Admit that you are not the center of the world, that you don't understand everything, and that you need His help.