Latest / HBCWestminster / 8.8.21 Luke 16:19-31 Pastor Danny Gardner

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8.8.21 Luke 16:19-31 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Well, Luke 16, starting in verse 19, I'm going to read our text. If you're able to stand in honor of God's word, I would ask you to do that now. 19 to 31, it says, there was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side.
• 0:30
  The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side, and he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in the flame. But Abraham said, Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things, but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you,
• 1:00
  a great chasm has been fixed in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able and none may cross from there to us and he said then i beg you father to send him to my father's house for i have five brothers so that he may warn them lest they also come into this place of torment but abraham said they have moses and the prophets let them hear them and he said no father abraham but if someone goes to them from the dead they will repent he said to them
• 1:28
  If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. Allow me to pray. Make your word alive to us, O Lord, and make it live in us. You have promised that if your word abides in us and we in it, then we can ask boldly in your name, knowing that it will be done for us. And so, Lord, before we ask for your blessing, we ask for your grace to abound in our lives. And before we ask...
• 2:01
  for your gifts. We ask for your strength to obey. We are your people, the people of your pasture, and we rejoice in that truth. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, church. You can be seated. Well, this parable, as we pick up in Luke's gospel, this parable is the final installment of Luke's arrangement of parables in the teaching ministry of Jesus while on his way.
• 2:26
  to jerusalem for the final time the journey which we know will end in his crucifixion we said that luke wrote his gospel with a very clear and unique perspective he himself luke was a gentile and he writes to gentiles his goal was to make sure that gentiles understood that christ came for all peoples not only the jews christ came for the sinner not the righteous
• 2:52
  Christ came for the poor, not the rich, for the sick, not the strong. And understanding that perspective will help in understanding the book as a whole. We noted that the Gospel of Luke is one of the three synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Synoptic meaning from the same or from a similar perspective, the same optic.
• 3:12
  They have many shared events. In fact, many of the stories in these three gospels are repeated in the other two. But several of Luke's stories we noted are unique about Christ and so must have had greater value to this author. For instance, when Christ healed the demon-oppressed woman, the one who was doubled over with a severe spinal condition, Luke reminded us that Christ came to seek and to serve those whom others...
• 3:41
  would have overlooked the parable before us this morning is also unique to Luke's gospel. It's the only place in the scriptures that this event, that this parable is recorded. And so it shows powerfully Luke's point that the gospel of Luke is for all people. It is, as we have described it previously, it is the gospel for whom the world had had no gospel.
• 4:04
  The gospel for whom the world had had no gospel. And I've been encouraging you, church, if you've been listening and following through the story of Luke, the gospel of Luke with us from 18 months ago until now, if you've been with us, then I have said, don't think that you have out sinned the grace of God.
• 4:22
  That is impossible to do. God's grace abounds, grace upon grace. If you feel that sense of guilt and shame that you cannot approach the throne of grace, then Luke's gospel is the gospel for you. If you are a sinner, if your life is in shambles, then Luke's gospel is the gospel for you. It is the gospel for whom the world has had no gospel. And even the reading of this parable powerfully penetrates the hearts and minds of its hearers because it speaks with such clarity.
• 4:51
  in relation to heaven and hell, to our eternal destinies. In a country, and indeed in a city, which is becoming more and more godless, even hostile to biblical spirituality and Christ-like values, the Word of God stands as a clarion voice. It is a reminder of the eternity for which we were made. It is a call which becomes impossible to ignore.
• 5:20
  In a country, and indeed in a city, which seems to be devoid of any true answers, our parable causes us to question the sufficiency of Scripture.
• 5:32
  Does God's word, we would be forced to ask, does God's word sufficiently answer our questions regarding the world, regarding sin and death, and regarding heaven and hell? And the answer is a resounding yes. Where the world can provide no answers, God's word certainly answers those questions sufficiently. But it also causes us to question the authority of scripture.
• 6:00
  Does Jesus have the authority to speak in such a manner? Can Jesus stand there and teach us, presume to teach us about heaven and hell? Does he have the authority to do that? Did Jesus know what he was talking about when it comes to eternity? And again, the answer is a resounding yes. Jesus spoke of heaven and hell as if he had seen those things. Why? Because he had.
• 6:28
  He spoke of the judgment of our souls as if he was the judge. Why? Because he is the judge. Listen to John 5, verse 25. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, and he has given the Son authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.
• 6:52
  The Father, our Heavenly Father, has given His Son, Jesus Christ, the authority to execute judgment. He is the authority. He is the judge. And so when Jesus speaks about our souls, when Jesus speaks about sin and forgiveness, even when Jesus speaks about heaven and hell, we have a few options. First, we can ignore Him. And many do.
• 7:19
  Although Philippians 2 says there will be a day when he becomes impossible to ignore. Indeed, every tongue will confess Jesus as Lord. Every knee will bow. That ignorance that people so willfully live in against God's word and against the words of Jesus, that willful ignorance will come to an end one day, Philippians 2 says. So we can ignore him. Second, we can disbelieve him outright. And many do. We can just say, I know that's what he said. I don't believe him. I can remember a time.
• 7:49
  When I and another man from church met for lunch and when our food arrived we bowed our heads and we thanked God for the food and as we were praying another man not with our group, but another man walked by our table and deliberately and loudly and disrespectfully Said as our heads were bowed and we were praying both for the food thanking God for the food and for one another He walked by our table and just said dear Santa
• 8:15
  and just kept walking, right? Equating praying with writing a letter to Santa Claus. You're children, you believe in a myth, this is a fairy tale, what you're doing is idiotic. Many just choose to disbelieve him outright. The third option is that we can trust his word is true, and then we can live accordingly. If what Jesus said in this parable is true about heaven and hell and about our eternal destinations, then it must change the way that we live.
• 8:46
  In the midst of that increasingly vague and confused community, Jesus speaks with clarity and precision in matters of right and wrong, of life and death, and especially life after death. What we learn about from our parable here, that we get a little glimpse into heaven and hell. Now, I've got to issue a disclaimer here because many would take this parable and derive, develop a theology of heaven and hell, but we have to be careful doing that.
• 9:13
  Because Jesus, we've said Jesus is offering a parable. Parables are a literary device for teaching spiritual truths by allegorical means. They are a literary device, I'll say it again, for teaching spiritual truths by allegorical means. The parable was not meant to describe the details of the afterlife, however much we may want it to. So people have looked at this parable and said, okay, does this mean that people in hell can see people in heaven?
• 9:41
  Right? I mean, no, that's not necessarily what this means. He's using a literary device, an allegory, to describe not necessarily what it's like in heaven and hell, although we will draw some deductions, but rather that this life that we live in now determines our eternal destiny. The parable was meant to speak, Jesus was not speaking untruths necessarily about heaven and hell, but his point was to connect our earthly lives.
• 10:11
  with our eternal lives. Our lives on this side of the grave should be taken seriously, he says, with the understanding that our lives here affect our lives there. And so we would ask, well, then how do we interpret the parable? And Alistair Begg offers a simple approach when he says, and I quote, the plain things are the main things and main things are the plain things. So what is plainest, what is the easiest to understand are the main things in the parable.
• 10:38
  And so what is plain or main in our text? And that is that heaven and hell are real. They exist. Heaven is a state of bliss we find in the company of the redeemed of every age here represented here by Abraham. Hell is a state of isolated anguish represented by the lonely rich man.
• 10:57
  Personalities survive death in a conscious state. Death brings division and distinction between human beings. And that distinction is determined by our faith represented in our works on this earth and church. So few, even within the church, believe anything I just said. That heaven and hell are real.
• 11:19
  that we really will be divided after death, going to one place or the other. And the determining factor for where we will spend eternity is our faith represented in our works here on earth. About 10 years ago, I attended a funeral service. It was for an extended family member. In fact, a family member that I had never even met. It was like a cousin of a cousin by marriage, that kind of thing. I'd never even met this young man who had died tragically.
• 11:46
  But I knew that many of my family members were going to be there. They would be in attendance. And so I went in order to support those family members that I know and love. And so I was there, and the room was packed, as is often the case when a younger person dies. The place was packed. There were hundreds of people.
• 12:03
  in attendance and that family's pastor again a family that i didn't even know and this pastor whom i had never met the pastor got up at the end of the service and and for about an hour people were sharing stories testimonies about this young man and what he was like and is often the case in funerals the theology is awful
• 12:21
  Right? People will say that they become angels and guardian angels and that they'll always be with us and that they live in our hearts and that, you know, whatever. And it's just bad theology. You're just waiting the whole time for the pastor to get up and correct all of the bad theology. And so the pastor finally got up and I said, okay, here finally will be some common sense preached. Here will be some biblical theology preached. Here is where we will hear the gospel. And the pastor stood up.
• 12:46
  And he said, you know, I've been in ministry now. It was something like 40 years. This was an older guy. And he said, I've been in ministry now for 40 years. And in that 40 years time, I've learned two things. And I thought, okay, this will be good. This will be good. I'm thinking, number one, we're all sinners. Number two, there is a savior. Number one, heaven and hell exist. And number two, we don't all go to heaven. Right? I'm listening for these. What are the two things that he's learned in ministry over the course of these 40 years? And he says, number one.
• 13:14
  He says, I've learned that life is short and so we need to take time to smell the roses. And I thought, well, that's odd. Okay.
• 13:27
  Enjoy your life. Life is short, and so enjoy your life. Okay. And I'm just waiting. The place is quiet. And I thought, man, here, you've got 500 people. They are literally hanging on every word here. They're looking for hope. They're looking for something. They're looking for life after death, right? That it doesn't end here. And he says, life is short, and so take time to smell the roses. And I thought, okay, that wasn't great. But I thought, you can still redeem it. Get to Jesus. You can still redeem it. Number two, he said this.
• 13:55
  Heaven is real. I thought, okay. And I know in the end we will all get there. He said, no matter what you believe is the gospel that he preached, you will get to heaven. Heaven is real. And there will be a day when we all get there. And I was so angry, church. I was so mad. This guy had an opportunity, hundreds of people. And rather than preaching the gospel, he preached a false hope.
• 14:25
  a false hope, the hope that had nothing to do with the message of Jesus, nothing to do with God's word. Even in the church, we find that few believe what Jesus taught in regard to heaven and hell. Church, we're not being judgmental or intolerant when we preach the gospel, although we will be accused of being so.
• 14:50
  We're not being judgmental or intolerant. We are extending grace and mercy when we talk about heaven and hell being real, and that our faith determines not everybody will go to heaven when we say that. We're not being jerks. In fact, we're being loving because we're telling the truth. And this parable contrasts two men, one extremely rich, one extremely poor, and that's even how I'm going to divide it, based on two major contrasts.
• 15:17
  Okay, so the first contrast we see is the contrast of their earthly lives and notice verse 19 says there was a rich man Who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day a rich man and to call him rich was perhaps an understatement This guy was absolutely loaded His clothing was the costliest type in existence purple dye
• 15:43
  could only be found in marine snails that was the only place you could get it you could collect these marine snails huge quantities of them and then they would boil them over the course of many days it would produce a horrible odor but the extract from these snails once combined with alcohol produced a purple dye that could typically only be afforded by royalty and this is where you get purple equated with kings
• 16:10
  because kings are the only ones who could afford to do it. It was extremely costly, hence the reason the color purple was reserved for royal households. And it wasn't until the 1850s, relatively modern history, the 1850s, that a synthetic purple dye was discovered, making purple accessible to the masses and also saving the lives of a great many snails.
• 16:37
  And so for him to say, for this to say that he was a rich man wearing purple and fine linen would be like saying the guy was wearing a Louis Vuitton suit. A Louis Vuitton suit. He was sporting an Omega watch. He was carrying a Gucci bag all while driving his Bugatti through Dubai. Okay, that's the kind of money that we're talking about this guy had.
• 17:03
  The text continues in verse 19 saying that not only was he distinguished by his clothing, but he was also distinguished by his food and by his parties. Verse 19 says that he feasted sumptuously every day. Every day.
• 17:18
  His lifestyle was lavish. His food was expensive. His home was opulent. His guests, you can imagine, were important. This would have been like the A-list, the who's who of Hollywood, celebrities and athletes and whatever. I mean, that was this guy. His guests were important and they were constant. But we find that although his wealth was vast, his life was empty.
• 17:48
  Although his wealth was vast, his life was empty and contrary to popular belief, money is not the solution to the void in man's heart. Although
• 18:00
  Money can be used for great kingdom service and can be the necessary vehicle for the advancement of the church and missions, right? I mean, we need money. The church needs money in order to advance. We've got to send missionaries. We've got to do those things. It takes money to do those things. There's nothing wrong with money. Money can be a very good thing. But we also know that money can also be used for great self-service. I believe the scriptures teach.
• 18:28
  that the lord actually gifts people with wealth wealth can be a gift from god
• 18:37
  Because God knows that certain people will use it for the good of his kingdom. And so he pours out wealth on certain believers because he knows they will pour it out on others. Some of the most generous people I have ever met, some of the most hospitable, some of the most gracious people I've ever met have also been some of the wealthiest Christians. Because God often couples together the gifts of wealth
• 19:05
  and generosity it makes sense that he does that he couples together wealth and generosity and so if you're thinking well lord bless me with the gift of wealth may i encourage you to be faithful living that way now you don't have to be wealthy to be generous you don't the number of zeros may change right but you don't have to be wealthy to be generous the bible actually calls all
• 19:34
  believers to practice hospitality. It calls all believers to be generous. We can be generous now, even with very little. And the promise of scripture is that if you're faithful with small things, the Lord will entrust to you more. But we also see in verses 20 and 21 that he's contrasted this rich man, although very wealthy, was very poor. Spiritually speaking, we see that the rich man is contrasted with a poor man. Look at verse 20.
• 20:02
  At his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus covered with sores who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. And so Dr. Luke, with his incredible eye for detail, describes a beggar at the rich man's gate.
• 20:18
  He has seen the poor man, even though no others maybe did, and is often the case, though super wealthy also attract the super impoverished. The impoverished, the poor people hoping maybe that money would find its way out, even in a minuscule way. And we see that although the rich man is never named, the poor man's name is Lazarus, Eleazar, Lazarus. And interestingly, church, this is the only
• 20:43
  parable there are dozens of parables in scripture this is the only time in any of christ's parables that he gives one of the characters a name the only time where one of the parables names the character and so the name must be significant lazarus means god has helped god has helped and ironically
• 21:05
  If there were one of these two characters that as you passed by, you thought, which of these has God helped? The rich man or the poor man? You'd probably say, well, it was the rich man. I wouldn't have selected the poor man. But how appearances can deceive.
• 21:20
  We see that Lazarus was laid at the rich man's gate Perhaps he was lame in his legs and so had to be transported like the man who was lowered down through the roof in front of Jesus Perhaps he was so ill that he didn't have the strength even to stand We see that Lazarus rather than being covered with fine linen was covered with sores and we find also and this is kind of gross We find also that his only friends were the dogs who would come and lick his sores
• 21:48
  This man could not have gotten any lower. Similar to the parable of the lost son who befriended the pigs, so also Lazarus' only friends were the dogs. The poor man's earthly life was empty, but we find that it was full. The poor man's earthly life was empty, but his soul was full. And notice the second contrast. There was the contrast of their earthly life, but there is now the contrast of their eternal lives.
• 22:18
  You pick up in verse 22. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. And the rich man also died and was buried. And not only is this the only parable where Christ names one of the characters, it is the only parable in the scriptures which carries over into the afterlife.
• 22:37
  Perhaps the most shocking part of the story is that the two men were contrasted not only on earth but in eternity and we see that the extremes were just as harsh only reversed Alistair Beg has said there is inequality on earth. We are very aware of that but death changes everything He continues death is the great leveler
• 22:59
  death is no respecter of persons but we see here that there is a society beyond the grave and that society beyond the grave is no more egalitarian than the society before the grave he says just like there is inequality on earth there is inequality in the afterlife contrary to the universalist pastor's statement that there is a heaven and we all will get there he says no we won't there is just like there is inequality here there will be inequality there
• 23:27
  Daryl Bach says it similarly when he says death is the great equalizer, even reverser. Since after death, the one thing that counts is the human heart, possessions and status symbols are left behind. What God considers is not written down with numbers.
• 23:45
  and dollar signs and church recall that in jesus's own words only a short a short few verses ago he said that a man cannot serve both god and money that was chapter 16 verse 13. and that is exactly what the rich man appears to have done the problem was not his wealth the tragedy was not that he was a wealthy man but rather the tragedy is that he was only wealthy
• 24:10
  There was nothing to his life other than his wealth. He had nothing else but riches to speak of. And instead of using what he had to thank God and trust in God, he used his wealth to serve himself. It wasn't that he had done so many despicable things. He wasn't an awful guy. In fact, his friends, his neighbors probably would have called him a very nice man. His problem was that he had really, in terms of the kingdom, done nothing.
• 24:36
  The problem for this man was not that he was lost and doing horrific things. The problem was that because of his wealth, he thought himself sufficient of himself. Again, Alistair Begg says he was sent to hell not on account of the bad things he had done, but on account of the good things that he had left undone. And he says hell will be populated with good people.
• 25:01
  Imagine how many people you know that you would call good people. He's a good guy. He's a nice, that's a nice woman, right? The woman you meet in Costco or Walmart or wherever at the school. I mean, it's this nice person, right? But he says hell will be populated with good people who nevertheless did not know Christ. C.S. Lewis describes that hell will be populated. He uses the term nice people. He says, C.S. Lewis, businessmen to whom I often speak concerning the claims of Christ have manicured nails.
• 25:30
  which match their white starched cuffs. They pass their businesses in beautiful offices. Nice men lost in their own niceness. Nice men lost in their own niceness. Men and women like these are everywhere in our lives. They fill our city. They are our neighbors and our classmates. They eat in our restaurants. They attend our schools. We play golf with them. We serve on HOA boards with them. They're in line in front and behind us at Costco. They are wonderfully nice.
• 26:00
  And yet they are hell bound because they don't understand that eternal destiny that awaits. They're lost, C.S. Lewis says, in their own niceness. And church, I would encourage you, don't get lost in your own niceness. You could be very generous. You could be very kind and very compassionate and very outgoing. You could be the most giving and the most charitable and yet not know the Savior. That is what matters. It is not about the wealth that we accumulate.
• 26:31
  We can have our wealth be very vast and yet our souls be empty. And the reality is that the way that we live today determines our destiny tomorrow. We find that after death, both of these individuals went to a specific place. And you find in Jesus's words that there's nothing vague about their destinations. Every one of us, church, will find ourselves in one of these two places as well. Sometimes, sometimes we back down.
• 27:00
  from speaking about eternity because we don't want to be perceived as harsh. And yet Jesus, who was the kindest and most merciful and most compassionate man who ever lived, was nevertheless bound to the truth. He didn't shy away from speaking about hell. Jesus spoke about hell, in fact, more than any other person in the Bible. Jesus spoke about hell more than all other people in the Bible combined. Consider that for a moment. Why would he do that? The answer is because it was the truth.
• 27:30
  And he loves us. And he doesn't want anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance. And so notice how he describes these two destinations. One is Abraham's side and one he describes as Hades. It says in verse 22 that the poor man went to Abraham's side. And so Lazarus...
• 27:51
  died and was carried to Abraham's side. Abraham, the man who received perhaps the greatest promise of blessing from God, that through him, the entire earth will be blessed. Abraham's side is therefore a place of blessing. So the poor man Lazarus died and went and was blessed. But notice verse two continues. The rich man also died and was buried and went to Hades. Hades, the rich man went to Hades. We find
• 28:19
  that the main character of the parable is not Lazarus, but the rich man. Lazarus said nothing. He had no lines, but the rich man actually speaks. We read that the parable becomes more about hell than it does about heaven. And notice how hell is described. You pick up in verse 23. It says, and in Hades being in torment.
• 28:41
  He lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me. Send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame. But Abraham said, Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things. Lazarus in like manner, bad things.
• 29:01
  But now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you, a great chasm has been fixed in order that those who would pass from here to there may not be able and none may cross from there to us. And so one time, one time in the New Testament, we have an eyewitness account of what it was like to go to heaven. One time. But it's actually not very helpful.
• 29:28
  In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, the apostle Paul says that he was caught up. He was caught up to heaven. And when he came back, he said, but I can't really describe it. You're like, well, gee, thanks. It's not very helpful. But here we read like an eyewitness account of what it's like to go to hell. It's a place, as Jesus described it, of torment, a place of anguish. It's a place of thirst.
• 29:57
  and heat. It's a place of separation and isolation. And it's a place that we find is impossible to escape.
• 30:07
  And so you can imagine the rich man being in hell, looking up and seeing this veritable gulf, and Abraham saying, there's no way to cross from there to here. There's no way. You know, unlike Dante's Inferno, you can't go down into the seventh circle and then cross back over to the other side and get out. There is no escape. The message really is, as Dante would say, abandon all hope, ye who enter here. It is not a place of hope, but a place of eternal anguish.
• 30:38
  And notice, finally, in the remainder of our text, verses 27 to 31, that Christ himself actually offers a very dark foreshadowing. Notice verse 27. And he said, Then I beg you, Father, to send them to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment. But Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets. Moses and the prophets was a phrase used for the Old Testament.
• 31:04
  Moses is the five books, Genesis to Deuteronomy, and the prophets is all the rest. Okay, so they have the Old Testament. They have the scriptures. Let them hear the scriptures. But the man said, no, Father Abraham, if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. I know they will. He's saying just if somebody rise from the dead, that is going to be undeniable evidence. If somebody would just rise from the dead, they wouldn't be able to deny that.
• 31:31
  And Abraham said to him, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. A dark foreshadowing. And although parabolically Jesus is quoting Abraham, we understand that the words are Christ's.
• 31:49
  When he says, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. Hell's occupant here, the rich man accepting of his own fate, nevertheless issues a warning to we who hear when he requested his own still living brothers be warned. Abraham's reply is simply that if they will not believe the words of scripture, he says, surely they will not also believe the words of one who comes back from the dead. Again, Daryl Bach, there is irony in this reply.
• 32:18
  Right? The clear irony is that Jesus will come back from the dead and they won't believe him either. Jesus will come back from the dead. You would think that would be verifiable, undeniable evidence if somebody comes back from the dead. And nevertheless, we who believe are few. The road to eternal life is narrow and the path to destruction is broad and there are many on that and yet few who find heaven.
• 32:45
  He says there is irony in this reply, Daryl Bach. What Abraham refuses for the brothers is accomplished for the readers of the parable by warnings issued for them. We hear a person in torment warn us to respond with compassion to those around us. And in this parable, the grave speaks so that we might hear. And church, as I conclude, let me just say, take Jesus at his word. Heaven and hell are real, although many deny it.
• 33:10
  And our lives today affect our lives tomorrow, although many deny it. Simply being good isn't enough because none of us are good enough to cover our own sin. And so we must, as we've spoken about in weeks previous, we must be washed by the blood of Jesus. And Lord, we are thankful.
• 33:34
  We are thankful that you spoke about heaven and hell and that you were honest with us because, Lord, it is the truth. The truth is that those destinations await every one of us, one of those two destinations. And the way that we live today will determine where we live tomorrow. And so, Lord, I pray an outpouring of blessing and grace upon those who hear this sermon today. I pray, Lord, that they would respond in faith.
• 33:57
  and be washed by the blood of Jesus. Lord, you are the resurrection and the life, and any who believe in you will never die, but have eternal life. And it's in his name we pray. Amen.