30th April 2026

30th April 2026


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Luke 16v19-31) 


Message (Scott Woodburn) 


The lives of the rich man and Lazarus couldn't have been more different. One life was marked by wealth and plenty, while the other life knew great hardship. Even so, their fortunes were remarkably different in death. The rich man's wealth did not serve him well in the grave. He found himself in the place called "Hades" (v23) in great torment.


Where is Hades? Hades is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word "Sheol" which often in the Old Testament means the grave from where we can be delivered. We see this in various Psalms, for example Psalm 16v10 "For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption." and Psalm 86v13 "For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol." However Sheol can also mean the place that you and I call Hell. We read in Job 21v13 “The wicked in a moment go down to sheol” and in Psalm 9v17 “The wicked shall be turned into sheol, and all the nations that, forget God.”


So did Jesus use Hades in this passage to mean the grave from which we can be delivered or the place called Hell? Given that the rich man was in torment we must understand Hades in this instance as Hell itself which is a place of punishment for those who have rejected Christ and died in their sin.


Lazarus on the other hand was described as being carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom or side (v22). If Hades was Hell then we must understand Abraham's bosom as being the place called Heaven. The Scriptures paint Heaven as a place of joy and bliss. Jesus promised Heaven to the thief on the cross and described it as "Paradise" (Luke 23v43). It is the place where Jesus is and a place where the troubles of this life cannot exist. Heaven is the Christian's reward and the inheritance that is ours by faith in Christ.


I've never met anyone who wants to go to Hell and in fact I am told at every funeral I have ever conducted that the deceased person is in a better place. But the Lord's parable teaches that not everyone goes to Heaven. This life is not all there is, death is sure and then eternity is spent in one of two places - Heaven or Hell. If you want to go to Hell then do nothing and you'll get there. If you would prefer Paradise then believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you too will dwell at Abraham's side. Where will you spend eternity?


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC


Q55 What is forbidden in the third commandment? The third commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing of anything whereby God maketh himself known.
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