Joy Is Found In Repentance
I'm just gonna read from Luke 16 verses 19 to 31. 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. 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 this 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 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 him, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. Let's start in prayer. Father, you have given us this day. this day now to hear your word. You have brought us here to be changed, to be renewed in our minds. So we pray that you might open our ears and our hearts, Father, that we might be changed. So leave us not alone, Father, but help us by your Holy Spirit to be made more like you, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. So on the topic of raising hands and clapping, you know, it's all because we're rejoicing, right? We're joyful to be here. We're joyful for what Jesus has done for us. I'm gonna make this a bit more interactive than I do for most of my messages. I have a question for you. And I want you to ask, talk to the people around you, talk to the people beside you, and answer this question. What would make you happy? If you had one thing, what would it be that would make you happy? I'll give you one minute. can figure it out. And designate one person to speak on, I'm kidding, no, you don't have to talk, no, it's all good. Sorry, you just go. gonna All right, seems like most people have figured it out by now. Cool. Oh well. I'm sure most of us in church, so we know that there are certain things we shouldn't say. We shouldn't say, wanna win the lotto. We should say Jesus or something like that. All the kids in Sunday school know that, right? You just say Jesus, that's the answer. All right, not saying that, well, look, hint, yes, it is the answer too. Our question. And it's funny because you read this passage and it doesn't immediately jump out to you, why are we talking about what would make me happy? All right, I just don't want to end up like that guy in Hades, right? If I'm not there, I'm good. But it's funny, this passage, there are so many things in there, so many ways you could go, but this is what we're gonna focus on today. Where do we find our joy? What do we need to be happy? And ultimately, like the title of the message, if you want a title, is that our joy is found in repentance. So here you've got this parable, right? This isn't a big long list of parables. You've got the parable of the prodigal son, everyone's favorite. You've got one about a dishonest manager. There's all these different things, but they're all being addressed to the Pharisees. So, you know, these religious leaders of the day, and Jesus now, he's turning and he's addressing this kind of, in all these parables, he's revealing sinful parts about themselves, motives, bad things. He wants to show them who they really are. So he has these lessons for them in these parables. and now he turns to their love for money. In the passage before, it literally says that he talked to them about this parable because they had this craving for money and for honor, for riches. And so he shares this parable with them to show them basically, excuse my language, but how stupid they are to pursue such a thing. So here we have, I'll read, we'll start verses 19 to 22. So there was a rich man who was clothed in purple fine linen 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. The rich man also died and was buried. Before we jump into it, quick thing to address. Some translations are gonna not say Abraham's they'll say Abraham's bosom. I'm glad you guys didn't chuckle at that. If there are plenty of immature children here aged about 40, he would probably chuckle at that. It's simply just back in that day when they used to sit down for dinner a lot of times, they didn't sit down on chairs like us. They used to lie prostrate, you'd have a pillow on the floor like this and they would kind of lean on their elbow or something like that and you'd eat things off the table. So the idea being, the idea was to be near, and then Abraham, the father of the faith, so it's literally just representing heaven, but to be in his bosom is to be comforted, right? And so all it's talking about, you're in the intimacy of Abraham, which means you're in heaven. That probably wasn't the best explanation in the world, but just clarifying, it's really not the biggest point for the sermon, don't get lost in it. But here, let's focus on Lazarus and the rich man. All right. So here in these two fellows, we have represented two ways of life, almost. So you have the rich man. Now let's look at him first. So it says he's clothed in purple, purple robes. Okay, right, is that his favorite color? Maybe, but there was a particular reason he liked purple. You see, it's not like nowadays where you can just kind of, everything gets sent to Chinese factory and everything costs the same price, right? To get purple dye was a very, very, very expensive endeavor. was to have purple clothing showed, I am very, very well off. It's like back in the day before you had lawn mowers, if you had a very nice lawn, that's because you had people you could pay to do it. It was a show of wealth. And normally it was, say, for special occasions. This guy, he just wears it every day. It even talks about him wearing fine linen. It's talking about his undergarments, so even his undies are fancy. So see, he is just dressed head to toe in the best money can afford. He is loving life. Every meal for him, Right, he feasts sumptuously, so every meal is a three-course meal in this house. He's got so much, the spears are just being thrown to the dogs, he doesn't even care. He said, there's another three-course banquet coming, why would I keep the leftovers? No reheating things, he doesn't need a microwave. And so here you also have Lazarus, the poor man says is placed by his gate. So his gate, the rich man's gate. So this guy, he doesn't have a house, he has a compound, all right? So this fellow, this is... He has everything. This fella is at the, this is the top of the top. He may as well be Caesar. He has everything he has. Right? He wants, not just has. And then you turn to Lazarus, sitting beside the gate. Why is he doing that? Because he just, he just, he's sitting there. He's obviously unable to work for some reason and he's just begging for scraps, for a little bit of money. He's just trying to survive. He can't even afford. to have his, he's covered in sores and he can't pay and afford a doctor or to have them bandaged up. Better yet, no one even loves him enough to bother doing it for him. Who's the only one that seems to love him? The dogs. And these aren't your nice pet hole, sorry, household pets. These are stray dogs. No one had pets back then. The only reason he had pets is for guard dogs. All right. That was the only reason. And so here you have these two men, complete opposite ends. of the spectrum. They couldn't be further set apart. And yet it's funny. Because when you get down to verse 22 and 23, what do you see? They still end up in the same place, don't they? All of us face the same fate. The richest men in the world and the poorest, they all die. But then you see here, so it just says Lazarus dies. Don't pay attention to him being carried by the angels just yet. We'll get to that, that's the next point. You see Lazarus dies and it records this. doesn't say he was buried like the rich man, it just says Lazarus died. Now look, he would have been buried, not in some fancy, he wouldn't have had a whole church filled with people coming to attend his funeral. He would have just been thrown in some kind of common mass grave where all the poor people are thrown. to just represent the fact that you're poor, no one cares, no one attended your funeral because look, God obviously doesn't love you. No one even here loves you. So why would God? But then you have the rich man. It says he was buried, he received a burial pointing to the fact that he was honored in this life, right? So even after he's dead, his body is treated very, it would have been put in a tomb. They would have had a whole procession through the town. People just being, oh, wasn't he just such a nice guy? Oh, you know, like, yeah, there was that poor guy. He never helped once at all, but you know, like he was just such a good guy. And this whole elaborate service and funeral to pay honor to this man, but especially a pompous event to show, we should honor him even in death because surely now, as he is with God, he is being honored in that life now. He is honored in this life as he will be in the one to come. What do you find out? What happens in verse 23 and after? Whoop, he ended up in the wrong place. Oh, did God forget? Oh, God must've just messed that up. No, exactly where he's meant to be. You see, here you get this contrast where suddenly the person who was despised and rejected in life, who you would expect to be in hell, because it seems like that's where the world wanted him to go. No one cared for him, is in fact being comforted in heaven beside Abraham. and you have the rich man with everything in life who seemingly was blessed by God here, cursed by God in the next. So here, we see this rich man, right? I said this stuff, he embodied everything the Pharisees wanted. They wanted to be up here, the top echelons of society, to have everyone bowing before them. They wanted the elaborate funeral service, right? This is almost asking the question, what do you want at your funeral? These fellows wanted everyone there. They wanted everything. for themselves, they wanted every blessing this world could give them. but then he turned and we come back to Lazarus here. Now the important thing to note, he's the one in heaven, right? It was not the one who received all the riches, who was blessed in this life, who was blessed in the next, but rather the one who was rejected and despised. But was it because he was poor, why did he get into heaven? It was not because he was poor, all right? Poverty is not a virtue in and of itself, all right? Neither is money condemned. but the love of it is the problem. But first, let's turn, right. Lazarus here represents the way of the Christian, because obviously the Christians are the ones in heaven. So what does he show us about what it means to be a Christian? Look at him. Two aspects you wanna look at, the physical and the spiritual, right? The physical side for a Christian. You think, I'm not sitting begging outside someone's front gate, so what's happening, what's going on there? Yes. But you see, in comparison to those of the world, that will be okay. Jesus said, if you are of the world, the world will treat you as its own. But because you are not of this world, you'll be hated by it. So understand that to be a Christian, hopefully you guys know this by now, is not to have everything go easy. You may not be to the point of Lazarus, but he is a reminder to us. You may be poor, you may be rejected, you may be despised. Don't be surprised. All right. That is the way it must go. says in Acts 14 22, Paul tells this, many tribulations, we must enter into the kingdom of God. Tribulations being troubles, worries, problems. If you want a problem-free life, don't become a Christian. If you want to have life go wrong, become one. You see, Lazarus understands here, this fictional man, he understands that to be ye, A Christian is to invite trouble, to invite affliction and suffering into your life. Here you receive the picture of a man who's taken up his cross. He is bearing the suffering that he must for being a follower of Christ. Just as Christ took his cross and went up the hill for us, so now we take up our cross and follow him. It may not be the same suffering that he went through, but we all have to suffer. But now we turn actually to the more important aspect, the spiritual. You see, Lazarus was treated like the scum of the earth. Right? Just nothing good about him. No value. He's basically just a dog. Not the nice, cavoodle Pomeranians. All right? Not a nice little cute corgi that the queen had. No. Just wretched things. Just like, you've seen the picture of those dogs that no one would love. Not even a mother would love that face. Right? These are the kind of dogs that are loving. That's the only one that could actually love Lazarus because he was just scum. All right, and so what you see here is actually a blessing. What kind of blessing was there for Lazarus in receiving nothing, being cursed in seemingly every way? He saw himself as God sees him, right? We're not to think that some reason that he's in heaven because he kind of had this poor person outfit on, but underneath there was just a heart of gold. There is no heart of gold underneath. It is still... filth, just as the rich man was filthy from the inside out, so is Lazarus. Why is this a blessing? To be so humbled and just to see yourself, your heart as you really are? Matthew 5.3, the first beatitude. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So to be poor in spirit is what? To recognize, even if you're to come before God with your best, You kind of get the best thing you can think of. You know on a resume, right? You write it up and you come up with all these little details that frankly are really simple like, I don't know, you used to put in orders through the POS system and you do it as handling sales and orders or something like that. And you make it sound really fancy in the resume. And here you do it up. You bring it all to God, your best things. And then when you get there, he says that right there, your best. so filled with wickedness, with wrong things, I actually have to punish you for that. Instead of reward, there is no reward for anything we have done of ourselves. Nothing. And so, being poor in spirit is recognising this. I lack everything spiritually. I am poor in spirit, I have nothing good. And it is blessed because those who recognise this are the ones who receive the kingdom of heaven. It is not about being good enough. is actually recognizing that you never can be good enough that gets you into heaven. And the blessing was that he was humbled and then what brought to repentance. It is not just enough to be humbled, but being humbled must lead us to acknowledge our wrongs and come before God asking for His forgiveness. So I ask you, right, what are you gonna choose now? You see where they ended up, right? So what would you choose? everything in this life. You want it, it's like you're in Aladdin, all right? The genie's there, you have a wish, he grants it. Anything you want, right? You were smart and you used your first wish to go for infinite wishes, okay? And you just get whatever you want in this life you receive. Or would you rather not receive every earthly pleasure or comfort, but rather suffer and be humbled? Like Lazarus. Which one do you want? Should we do a survey or raising hands? Again, you're in church, you probably know what the right answer is. But understand here, we all still fall for this trap though. We all still fall for aspiring to be like the rich man instead of Lazarus. Because you see these worldly things. If you want a good definition of worldly things, you know, we can do a long list of money, power, career, family, everything you have. But literally, everything that you have that you can't take with you, when you die, if it leaves you, that is worldly things. whatever you can take with you into the next, which frankly isn't even your own body, you get a new one. That is worldly things. But you see, there is this problem with worldly things, because it should just be as simple as me telling you, just be like Lazarus, don't pursue worldly things. But you see, worldly things are like tap water. Don't think chinchilla tap water just yet. Think like something better. Maybe in the islands or somewhere where there's just fresh water and it's great. It's just there at the tap. You just turn it, easy. enjoyable. It's just the things of the world are just the path of least resistance. You just go to, I know sometimes it seems hard, know, I've got to work for the money and all that, but it's still the easier way. That's the way the world wants you to go. All right. That's the way your flesh wants to go. It's just, everything's pushing you that way. But you see, but then it does become like chinchilla tap water. Why? Because it's filled with so much chlorine that it's probably gonna kill you. Alright? And so you see, but the problem is we just have this, just we crave this tap water. I don't know why you guys like chinchilla tap water so much. You just keep drinking it, but it is going to kill you. I'm not, okay, if anyone's a sanitation worker or something, I'm sorry. It's just, it's not the best water in the world. I think we can all agree with that. There's a reason we have water tanks. What I'm talking about is I'm not having a go at Western Downs Water, but we are talking about the fact that if we are primarily concerned with material things, with physical things, what will happen? It is not just die, but you will end up like this man. This man knew he was gonna die. Rich man knew he did not expect to end up in a place of eternal torment and suffering. And so here we observe this. This is our observation. This is the thing in tech. Success in this world, and we know this, but we still fall for it, is not an indicator of blessing in the world to come. We are consumed with worldly success. Now, obviously, I know most what you're gonna say to me. I don't, I don't desire material things. Like, I'm not, like I know not to pursue it that, like I'm actually quite content, like I've... Like most of you, like some of you probably paid off the house. Like you're kind of happy, like I don't want more, don't need more power, influence or like just I'm happy, I'm good. But I wanna ask you a question. What do you desire for your children and your grandchildren? Right, sorry, I know I'm saying this to some people, you don't have children and grandchildren. It's just many people here do, so anyway. But imagine you do have children and grandchildren. What do you want for them? What would you want for them? Well, you know, obviously, you know, go to school, do your homework, do well, get a good job. Maybe you want to have a bit of money laid aside so you can help them buy a house. Of course, these aren't bad things, seemingly. But do we emphasize their spiritual success as much as we do their material? This is the question, would you be happy for your children to be destitute, left with nothing, no inheritance, no money? You don't give them anything good. In fact, you probably leave them with debt. If they were to be spiritually rich in God, if they were to know salvation, would you be happy with that? You see, our labors can be poured out in pursuing gifts or helping our children out and our grandchildren. That's not a bad thing. But we must be careful because we must labor more in teaching them spiritual truths and encouraging spiritual pursuits. Because I have to, you know what my deepest wish is? My deepest wish for my only child at the moment is this. Not that Marnie would... go and find a nice man or not that money would go up and I don't know never date anyone because I don't want to touch any of the boys or anything like that right no What I want for her is this, that she would have her eyes open to see herself as the wretched sinner I know she is. I'm not saying because she's some horrible child. I know it because it's in the Bible. It's in the heart of all of us from birth. And I want her to be brought before Jesus and for her to be put on her knees and for her to come in repentance to Him. That is what I want. That is my deepest desire for my child. So that is the goal I will seek above all other things. I do not care if she doesn't get a single cent from me. If she gets that, I'm happy, I don't need any other wishes fulfilled, I'm happy there. And so this is what I want you to teach yourself, this is what I want you to teach your children and your grandchildren. It's from 1 Timothy 6, 6, godliness with contentment is great gain. We were going through this in our Bible study last week and here is what we were talking about, godliness, it is to pursue anything. that might make you more like God or bring you nearer to Him. Then satisfaction. It is to acknowledge every day when you wake up, this is what God has given me. Everything that comes at me this day is from God and it is good and I accept it. I do not need more, I do not need less. Whatever God sends my way, I am satisfied with that good or bad. And so what this means is that here, the great gain is our joy. Your joy is found in pursuing God, not the things of this world. God will send you what you need, stop worrying about it, stop pursuing it. Just focus on God for you and your families. Because you see, this is about, we seek Him and reading His Word, we obey His commands, we want to make Him the center of our lives. That is the best thing for you, for your families, for everyone, for this whole nation, if we make God the center. And you see pursuing God. Remember I talked about the tap water earlier. Pursuing God is like pulling water from a deep well. And it's not great and easy nowadays where you can just stick a pump on it. I'm talking about olden days where you had to throw the bucket down with a rope. And let's say it's like an artesian bore. So you got to throw it a couple hundred meters down. And you have to pull this rope back up from this freshwater spring. You're just sitting there. You're sweating. You're sweating. You're like, man, I can't wait for this bucket. And finally it comes up way better than the tap water. You just, but of course the tap water is just there though. It's on the tap. It's just so much easier. I like it there. It's good. Sometimes finding joy in God is laboring for it. It's seeking, pursuing Him. The whole world does not want you to find your joy in Him. But we have to work and it is so much better. It will actually satisfy, it will actually make you happy. We have to fight and labor for joy in God. We do not take the easy path of worldly pursuits. There you go, we made it through our first point. Good job, guys. Now we move on to our second point, verses 23 to 26. Here, we have talked about the dangers, right, but let us see where they end. All right, 23 to 26. And in Hades, being in torment, the rich man, lifted up his eyes and he saw Abraham far off. Lazarus at his side and he called out, Abraham, have mercy on me. Send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am an anguish in this flame. But Abraham said, child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, Lazarus in like manner bad things. But now he is comforted here and you are an anguish. And besides all this, between you and us 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. So here, the second point is the reality of hell. So this is funny, you would think, you would think when this man gets to hell, all right? It portrays whether heaven and hell is actually like this, I don't fully know, whether you're resting on some giant version of Abraham's bosom, yeah, I don't know, all right? But here we are portrayed in this parable that they are able to see each other. And you would think when he gets there, when he realizes where he is, when he can see Lazarus up there, you think, what would be the first words out of his mouth? Surely at least I'm sorry. Surely, oh, all right, obviously I've got something wrong here. Obviously I screwed up, okay? But instead, what does he do? He says, Father Abraham have mercy on me. So first thing he does, you can almost say he's playing the race card. He says, Father Abraham, I'm a Jew, we're related. Like I know that guy. We're related, we have the same DNA. I'm a descendant of you. So he appeals to that first. And yet obviously he finds it avails him nothing. Because though, yes, he may have shared the same DNA, what was the reason that Abraham was the father of the faith? Because he was the father of the faith. He had faith in God. That is what makes us children of Abraham, is our faith, which is what Lazarus had. But it is not what this fellow had, a rich man. And you see another thing. Who does he ask Abraham to send down to quench his thirst. Lazarus. Even in the afterlife, this guy still expects Lazarus to be going around doing his dirty work, to be going around helping him. Even still, when he is in the pits of hell, it's still him here, Lazarus here. He still cannot seem to comprehend the fact that he has done wrong by Lazarus. So two truths from this passage. One, hell is not filled with repentant people, all right? So, because often many of us think, you're like, surely once on judgment day, you know, they're sitting on the edge of that cliff and God kind of gives a final on the bum and sends them off the edge that they're like, oh, and freaking out and saying, sorry, God, sorry. Not the picture we are given at all. Better yet, doesn't fully pay respect to what a sinful heart is actually like. You see, the torment and the pain does not lead to repentance, just as it does on the Christian. It actually leads them to further curse God. Think about it when someone faces some hardship in life, an unbeliever, right? Some family crisis, financial problems, sickness. Do they normally recognize, oh, obviously I have done wrong here. And they understand they're under the judgment of God and then turn to repentance? No, because then everyone would be Christians, because we've all gone through hardships. But what instead did they often do? They turn to God and say, how can you let this happen to me? If there was a good God, He wouldn't let this happen. If this happens to me, there must be no God. Instead of turning around and repenting, they turn and curse God. That is what happens seemingly every time they see the fault not in them, but in God. understand this hell. When people get there, when all grace is removed from them, when their sinful heart is just fully exposed, even after eternity in hell, it will not submit to God. Instead, rather, it will continue to curse Him. Then to the second point, there is no chance for repentance after death. This is almost, know, people had that whole thing a couple years ago. was like the fat of you did, I know the congregation here is a bit... older demographically, do know what the word YOLO means? Yeah, like hands up if you know what YOLO means. Yeah, it's okay that not, it's okay not to know. So it means you only live once. It was a big thing about five or 10 years ago and all of the youth leaders thought it was really cool. No, we're gonna go YOLT because you only live twice. Anyway, sorry, just a trend. The whole point being, right. It is actually a very real truth. You do only live once. If you get this wife wrong, you don't get another redo. All right. Because what is said to the rich man by Abraham, between us and you 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. The point here is not to say that people from heaven want to go to hell. It's just to point out the fact no one can cross it. The chasm is too great. And you see, this is This is a problem because here people sit like the rich and deceived thinking, there are so many people that just sit around and say, I'm just gonna kind of get to Christianity when I settle down. When I get a bit older, I'm sure many of you probably have friends or family that are like this. They don't say that God isn't real. They just say, I'll deal with it at a later point. I'll get there. That is stupidity. Because to delay seeking God, this is not a matter of life and death, this is a matter of eternal life and eternal torture. This is the most urgent matter for every Christian, for every person, for every human who's ever lived to get right with God, to be reconciled to Him and be saved from His wrath. Obviously, this should spur us, share the gospel with people. They don't know they're on the highway to hell at the moment. and so as well, we had to tend to ourselves with the same urgency. Just because we sit in a pew, just because we sing some songs to protect communion, that is not what makes you a Christian. They are things that Christians do that does not automatically make you one. So I ask you today, have you seen yourself as the sinner that Lazarus has? Have you seen yourself as dirty and wretched? Have you experienced the joy of God's grace? Have you known what it is like to repent, to come home to Jesus and just be, wow, He's forgiven me? If you have not known that, do not be so certain of your place in heaven. All right? I do not say that lightly, all right? I say it for your sake. We have to have known the sweetness of repentance and the joy that comes because we've seen how bad we are. And to know the grace that God and Jesus have given us. So you see, they're just a few points from that little point there, from that section of Scripture. But now we want to turn. We want to see how do we do this. Okay, I understand, I only have one chance. I have to find my joy in Christ. How do I do that? But yeah, because we want to find the right way, because if we start going the wrong way, we're wasting our time. So verses 27 to 31. Sorry, I know I'm going a bit over time, so I'll try and make this quick. And he said then, I beg you father, 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, if you do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. So the rich man, just, okay, all right, I've accepted I'm in hell, he still hasn't repented, but he's like, all right, send Lazarus back. Lazarus still doing his dirty work. Send them back to my brothers. If they just see someone from the dead, they'll repent. What does Abraham say? They have Moses and the prophets. No, no, no, no, no, no, Abraham, no. They need a dead guy to rise from the dead, all right? They need to see him. Very ironic when we live in a day where Jesus risen from the dead and people still don't believe. So if you needed evidence to that fact, there you go. So why don't people come to faith? Two things we can observe. Because we don't wanna say, it's because someone hasn't risen from the dead or we need more miracles or something. Why? The reason for not coming to faith, two things. Someone is actively blinding them. So understand, it's not just because they're kind of like, finding their, you know, they're just trying to find their way and they'll get there. Someone is actively stopping them. Who is this? Second Corinthians 4, 4. The God of this age, if you need a translation, Satan, has blinded the mind of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ who is the image of God. So you see, Satan is there blinding unbelievers. He prevents them from hearing and understanding the gospel, seeing the glory of Christ, because when you see it, When you know the joy of repentance and coming to him, you're like, that is my joy, that is my treasure, I want him. So he blinds him, lies, temptation, snares, traps, things of the world. He just wants to keep him occupied. Oh, just make sure you got to take care of your family first. What about that promotion coming up? Man, isn't that gonna be good? Oh man, I can't wait for retirement. Oh man, I'm finally gonna do that whole lap. Oh, it's gonna be great. I only made it to Western Australia last time. You would just, so many things, so many things in life to distract yourself with. He just wants to keep you busy there. finding your happiness in other things, keep us blind to the truth of everlasting joy. And so, just imagine it, right? Do you guys know what Fortitude Valley is in Brisbane? Right, the valley, yes? So the red light district in Brisbane, basically, the place you do not wanna go to on a Friday night. Satan, imagine him, he's like a mother taking his child through there on a Friday night. Young, impressionable child. What is any good mother gonna do? Oh, don't look at the strip club. Oh, don't look at that. Oh, you know, probably just grabs them up, picks them up and just so they don't see anything. Trying to protect their innocence. You don't wanna look at that. That's gonna ruin you. Not a bad thing. Any good mother would do that. Of course, any good parent would. But Satan is doing this too. The mother does it for the good of the child. Why is Satan doing it? Why is he blocking us from seeing certain things? Not because he's taking us through the fortuit valley, but rather because we are walking through a world where the gospel is evident, where it is seen, where people are speaking it, where people might come to see the light, but he must keep them distracted. No, don't look at that. No, keep this way, go this way. So understand that is a reality for all unbelievers. They are being actively blinded at this very moment. The key to not being blinded, they must be shown who they really are, right? We've just gone through this. The whole point is that we must be like Lazarus. They must be shown to see that they are Lazarus. They are dirty, sinful, that they need to come to repentance and that in that repentance, they find their true joy. And so this leads on to the second point, right? They are actively being blinded. How do we break through that blindness? Because as a church, we could go so many ways. We know our families and friends and the people in this town are being blinded by the God of this age. So what do we do? Well, Abraham lays it out. He shows us what God's ordained means for salvation is. It is through His Word. All right? That is why he said, said they have Moses and the prophets. They have the scriptures. They do not need anything else. it comes from here, Romans, see we need faith. This is what we need, right? Because we come through faith through God, by grace, through faith you have been saved. This is a gift of God and how does this gift come? Romans 10, 17, faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. So we all know the truth, the truth is in God's word, like most of us here, Christians, right? We know the truth is in God's word. But how do we convince people what will make them believe God's word? It is not because someone sits up here and they're really charismatic. like, I just, maybe I need to ask you guys a few more questions so you like you're paying attention. That'll be the thing that'll get it across to you. I don't put my hope in how I do it. Nor is it in miracles or any kind of other thing. The only thing it is, is God's word. We think there must be some way in which it is spoken. No. The only thing it matters is that it is His words. Doesn't mean you just have to read the Bible, but I mean the truth, even spoken through your words, whether in a shout or a whisper, they have the same power. They can save people. They do. And so don't think you need to prove God's word to people. It authenticates itself. Simply speak his word to others. And so we know God's Word is the only thing that can save them. Now a quick turn and then we'll finish. A warning for us in this. We are called to trust God's Word. That is the Christian thing to do, to have faith. What does that mean? We can't sit and say, God, like I wanna trust you, but you just need to do this one thing first. Like, yes, I'm gonna trust that if I'm praying for the salvation of my children, that it'll happen, but I need you to kind of like do something first before I'm really gonna trust you in my prayers. No. We have to understand that we're in doubt and unbelief about the prayers that we give to God. We do not need to wait for God to answer our prayers. There's one thing you need to do. We need to repent. See, because we've fallen for the devil's lie, that God does not have the best plan for us. So don't trust him. You need to trust God. Regardless of the results, regardless of when it comes, trust him. Because when we do not believe Him, we imply there is untrustworthiness in Him than never is. So, concluding, right, there is one place the devil does not want you, humbled under God, Repentant before Him. Why? Not because it's just about, doesn't want you there. That's where you're actually gonna find happiness. That is where you will actually find joy. Lazarus right now is seated by Abraham's side in comfort and joy. You can find joy in this world even, but only by sitting at the feet of Jesus. You were made to be happy in God and nothing else. Nothing else in this world will satisfy. So set your eyes on the things that are above. Draw near to God. Do not let Satan lead you away with his lies. He does not care if you worship God or sorry, if you come to church or not. What He does not want is you repentant because you show that you treasure God above all things in that moment. You say, will worship Him. I will not hand myself over to things of the world. I choose Him when we repent. So, if you fell asleep, there's one thing you need to do. Oh, well, this actually sounds bad. Repent, not because of sleeping. That's fine. Not totally fine, but anyway. The whole point, the message, repent, come back to God. This is not just about doing it for the sake of a command, it's for the sake of your joy. Do it and you will receive joy. Anyway, we'll close and finish in prayer now. Father, thank you that you have given us this time, this time to sit under your word. Father, lead us into your joy. We know at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. So in all we need to do to draw into your presence, we do not need to be perfect, we do not need to get it right. You ask one thing of us, repent and turn to you in faith. So Father, fill us with your joy now. We come, we repent, we confess our sins, we have done wrong, we all know it, nothing is good in us. Fill us with the righteousness of Christ and let us enjoy you today. We pray all these things in Jesus' name, amen.