Thank you church for your faithful attendance tonight. Let's look to the scriptures now if you'll open your Bibles to Luke chapter 16 Been titled this message divies damnation It's based upon this text in Luke chapter 16 beginning in verse 19 if you'll stand with me for the reading of God's Word I 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 do so, 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 also they come into this place of torment. But Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. He said, No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. He said to them, If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, Neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Please be seated. Sobering text there. I'm going to talk a little bit about the classification of this story we just read here in Luke 16. There's a picture up on the overhead now. Features two of the cutest little guys that you'd ever wanna see. Does anyone know what these are? Platypus, duck-billed platypus. And these are baby platypus. Some people call them platypups. Some people call them puggles, just cute little guys. But the duck-billed platypus is a strange creature. And for the biologist that's called a taxonomist, that gets to, these are the nerds that get to classify which animals are which, they have a really hard time with the platypus, right? You ever think about, in mythology, we talk about a strange animal, we consider a strange animal called a unicorn. How strange is that? I mean, we've got whales with a horn coming out of their head. How much more difficult would it be for a horn to come out of the head of a horse, right? We think it's silly for a horse to have a protruding horn, but I mean, there's a rhinoceros, so why not? But we don't bat an eye when we see something like this, right? These little guys are troublesome for these biologists that we call taxonomists because they don't fit into those nice, neat little boxes. that taxonomists like to put animals into and living creatures into. They like pigeons to go with pigeons and they like cats in the feline group and they like dolphins with the porpoises and so on and so forth. So you see the problem with the platypus, which drawer do we put them in, right? Is it the beaver's cousin or is it the duck's cousin? They've got a coat of fur like a mammal, but the female lays eggs like a reptile or a bird. Mama platypus produces milk like a mammal, but then again, they have a bill and webbed feet just like a duck. And the male platypus even has a little venomous barb on its hind feet. And these strange features are not the best fit for a mammal. It just doesn't fit perfectly. We expect for venomous pokes or bites from a snake or a lizard or even a scorpion. But what in the world with this little guy? Cute little guy. You wouldn't expect a venomous poke from them. The point is these little guys are unique. They don't have a perfect fit somewhere. And tonight's account is also unique. And there are many debates over whether or not this is a parable, how to classify this one. And most books, commentators, you're going to find are going to include them in the parables. But I'm going to tell you, this can be controversial, and perhaps there are even some here that would be a little bit upset that I've included this text in what we have referred to as the prince's parables, and you're waiting for an explanation. So, some are going to say, categorically, this is not a parable, and others are going to argue, hey, this story, after all, That's in Luke 16 is couched within a whole slew of other parables. You know Luke delivered more Records more parables than any of the other gospel writers and by the way The way this opens up, this story opens up, is the same way that many other parables open up in the Greek. Same exact words, so it looks in many ways like a parable. But beloved, we can still be friends here. Typically, there are two main reasons that people would refuse to classify this account of Lazarus and the rich man as a parable. Number one, they would believe that classifying this story as a parable is a sneaky way of dismissing the reality of hell. And for the record, I've preached several times on the doctrine of hell. And perhaps you remember those. I affirm everything that the Bible teaches about hell, everything that our statement of faith affirms. I fully believe in the second death. I believe and teach that hell is a real place of conscious and everlasting torment and destruction. And you will find that message in tonight's message as well. In fact, you saw the title, right? The second reason that people argue that this story of the rich man and Lazarus can't be a parable is It's got some names in there. It's got some personal names in there. In fact, there are two of them. It's argued that most parables, or all the rest of the parables, don't include names, but this one happens to have names, two names. And yet you see that I've entitled this message, Divey's Damnation. Perhaps some of you have heard that word before. Divey's isn't actually a proper name. It's the Latin way of saying rich man. So some of you that cut your teeth on the King James, you've encountered this before. So the Latin translation of the Greek New Testament called the Vulgate. hung around for a long time, so church tradition has used this nickname, Divies, and you'll hear me use that tonight in place of the rich man from time to time. The fact that he is unnamed is actually a significant commentary on the story. Only the really important folks in the story are named, and the two proper names in the story are Lazarus and Abraham. Lazarus' name, as we're going to see later, has a special meaning that fits that character's condition in the story. And Abraham, we already know Abraham, Father Abraham, right? It's assumed that we know him, and he's referenced to describe the joy of the heavenly banquet, as we soon shall see. Here's the question though. Is it plausible that this is a historical story? Many would maintain that it is. And I would say yes, it's plausible that this is a historical story. Just as the story of the prodigal, it would be plausible as a historical story. Or the story of the lost son, the prodigal son. That could be a historical story. An event like that could have really happened, right? The Good Samaritan would be plausible. Does this story fit perfectly into the parable box? No, it doesn't fit perfectly into the parable box, as we think of parables. So like the platypus, maybe it's a distant cousin, if you will. I like one designation that I heard this week, one label, if you will. A commentator called this an example Story an example story. I personally believe that we spend way too much time debating over the classification like is this a parable or is this not a parable and we forget about what it would what's Jesus talking about here after all. Right. So arguing over classification really proves in my mind to be a fruitless endeavor but I think it's worth bringing up at the outset. But the principles that are being conveyed by our Lord are the same regardless of how we classify this story. At the end of the day, parable or not, this is a story with intent. Jesus wants to get something across to us, even tonight, friends. Well, what is Jesus' intent? That's what we're after. Some people, especially some of the social justice warriors out there will read this story, and they'll rip it right out of context. And they're going to use it as ammunition to blast the rich, and exalt the poor to create a socialistic panacea. If you've got money, you're an oppressor. If you're poor, you're on Jesus' team, right? Is that his intent? No. Is it really live well and end up in hell? Suffer pain, enjoy great gain? No, no. I hope you all recognize that's far too simplistic. You understand the context? That hasty interpretation doesn't hold water when we consider the whole counsel of God. Think about the story just for a moment. Just what's here. This story tells of this destitute, impoverished beggar Lazarus. Friends, who do the angels carry him to? Abraham. He's carried to Abraham's bosom. Abraham was loaded. He was filthy rich. He's carried to Abraham's bosom. If all the rich are bound for hell, how did Abraham get to heaven? So this oversimplified eternal reversal hot take does not comport with scripture. Plenty of examples in the Word where we see the righteous poor. Think of John the Baptist. Think of Jesus. The righteous rich. You think of Job. You think of Lydia. Maybe you think of Joseph. The Bible warns also of an unrighteous class of even poor people. Castigates certain poor people over and over again. How many times do the Proverbs preach against living the life of a sluggard? And what does this sluggardly life, this life of the lazy man, what does that produce? What does the Scripture tell us? Poverty! Poverty's gonna come upon you like a robber. So it's not that the poor are necessarily exalted. That's not what this is about. Having said all that, this does deal with wealth in a way, right? We should consider the context which does deal with wealth. It's important to note that Jesus had been railing against the Pharisees in verse 14 in the same chapter. And the text tells us that the Pharisees were lovers of money. Early on in the same chapter, there's another story with intent, the parable of the dishonest manager, which we've already covered here in the series. Perhaps you remember the way that parable closes in verse 13 of the same chapter. You cannot serve what? Both God and money. You cannot serve both God. That's the context here, friends. So tonight's example story, however we categorize it, may not fit perfectly in the parable category, but it is a story with intent. So follow along. We trace Divey's behavior, his broken theology, and his outcome. As we unpack the story, We're going to discover Jesus' intent and close with three parting principles. So let's look at Divey's behavior first. We're gonna look at Divey's disdain, number one. The rich man's sinful neglect, Divey's disdain. And we're gonna see that he's in the lap of luxury, and then we're gonna see that Lazarus is lapped by mongrels. Verse 19 introduces us to Divey, this rich man. He's clothed in purple. Of course, this Tyrian purple dye, you've heard about maybe before, was used for such clothing. It was well known in the ancient Mediterranean that it was painstakingly and putridly harvested from shellfish, a special sea snail. Garments dyed in this stuff would be on the Beverly Hills boutique level. He had to have a lot of money to have purple garments in that time. It's top shelf apparel. And I read somewhere that in order to dye just one garment with this special Tyrian purple dye, it would take 12,000 of these snails. So no wonder the stuff is so expensive, right? And the text tells us a little bit more about Divey's clothes, his luxurious living. The fine linen that is described next tells us that Diabes didn't just have fine outer clothing, but also fine under clothing. He was bedecked from his robe all the way to his Fruit of the Looms. Fine linen in the original is a word used to describe undergarments. So you understand, even the rich man's skivvies, they were swanky. He had the best stuff on the outside and underneath. And the text goes on to tell us that Divey's dined in a way that is described as sumptuous or in splendor. His multi-course meals that he enjoyed, they didn't just happen from time to time. They weren't occasional. Jesus tells us that his extravagant banqueting took place every single time he sat down at his table. He had a sumptuous meal. Now let's look at Lazarus. Lazarus experiences, ultimately, the lapping of mongrels. Jesus goes on to describe this man named Lazarus here, and we'll talk more about what his name means in just a moment, but every word here in this description is so important, friends. The Lord indicates that this poor man was laid at Divey's Gate. Notice that Lazarus was passive in his own placement. In other words, Lazarus had to be carried and placed wherever he went. The word that's used here actually doesn't even suggest a gentle placement or setting him down, but more of a he was thrown in place, more that he was dumped in place. And why would he be dumped at Divey's Palace anyway, at the rich man's mansion? There's no social security at this time, right? There's no such thing as SSI, no disability for someone like this in that time and in that culture. So the wealthy were expected to provide out of their excess for the extremely poor and needy, the disabled especially. So his placement, or dropping if you will, by others each time, each day, suggests that he was lame in some way, that he was crippled and unable to carry himself. And that would certainly be consistent with the sores that were on his body. Any of you that have visited a nursing home or been around people that are immobile, you've got to keep moving them around. Why? Pressure sores, also known as bed sores. I remember being in Moldova. Some of you were with me there in this room. There was a woman that we visited there. Of course, Moldova is the poorest country in all of Europe. One home that we visited, we were delivering groceries there, and there was this precious matriarch, this grandmother in this family. And the only way that she could get around, of course, they didn't have the money for a wheelchair or any way else to get around, and so she just slid, she came to the door and kind of slid Her legs are just withered away and she's sliding up to the door and her knuckles and everything are calloused and she's got these ulcerations, these sores on here. So whenever I read the story of Lazarus, I think of this poor old lady. So there he sits. He's unable to move until he's picked up again and that's Lazarus' lot. Well, evidently Lazarus was even less mobile than this Moldovan lady that I mentioned, because the text tells us that the dogs would come and lick on him. They would come and lick these oozing sores. It's an ugly picture that's painted here. But as you think about these dogs, I don't want you to be thinking of the fur babies that we Westerners think of. These are not designer dogs. These are not Labradoodles. These aren't primped up pups. These are third world country type of dogs. And you know how wealthy a country is when, if you've been to a third world country, when you see their dogs, they look inbred and nasty. And typically when you go to places like this, and many of the dogs in the ancient world were like this kind of dog. Some of you have a picture in your mind, you've seen these kind of things. They were either that kind of dog or a working breed that's bred for a specific reason, but it's not a household pet, okay? It's a different thing. They're probably feral mongrels, or perhaps a working dog. And the way, as I think this through, you know, as you think about where they are, they're at Divey's Gate, aren't they? guard dogs for a wealthy man's estate. And so what do they do? These mutts, they come up, and you know what dogs do when they see a wound. If they've got a wound of their own, they start licking it, and that's what these dogs are doing, and that's really gross. It was gross then, and it's gross now. We're supposed to be repulsed by this. And in the mind of the Hebrew listener, the Jewish listener, the dog It's an unclean animal. So this picture is going to be incredibly disturbing for them, as it is for us. Probably more so for them. But we're not only supposed to be repulsed at this graphic description, it also reveals a gross irony. This picture reveals a gross irony in the story. And the irony is this. These mongrels are taking better care of Lazarus than the man who has more than enough means to take care of him. The text tells us that Lazarus desired to be fed from Divey's dinner scraps. And dinner scraps at that time usually consisted of leftover sopping bread pieces that were only fit for the dogs. And you remember another story that illustrates this phenomenon, the account of the Syrophoenician woman, where she says, Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs. No Purina at this time. Divies would have fed his dogs the refuse from the table, and all poor Lazarus wanted, really, at the end of the day, was some dog food. And he wouldn't even The rich man wouldn't even give him that. The dogs took better care, don't you see, of this pitiful man than the rich man did. And the rich man didn't even notice Lazarus. Or did he? Now we're gonna see the outcome of what was obviously a gross and willful neglect. Number two, we're gonna see Divey's destination, the rich man's eternal reversal. Paradise versus perdition. There are actually two destinations that are described here in the following verses. Lazarus dies, and notice there's no funeral for poor Lazarus. No funeral for him. No remembrance, no memorial. The angels come, they scoop him up, they carry him to this first destination. The first destination that Jesus describes is referred to in the ESV, if you got the ESV there, as Abraham's side. He's taken to Abraham's side. Some translations render this Abraham's bosom, or other translations, Abraham's lap. And the point of this expression is one of intimacy. The picture is one of a banquet. And there's another image up here, if you would put that up, Carm. You remember the disciple whom Jesus loved at the Last Supper? He, Jesus, and all the disciples were, they were reclining at table. at a low-lying first-century table like the one you see up here, and they're all on these little floor mats. And to dine at this table, you would lean on your side and you sort of lean on one arm. You're really lying down at the end of the day as you eat this special meal. And right next to you, you have another person. Wouldn't that be an awkward way to eat a meal? It seems awkward to me, anyway. But right next to you, you have another person. And you remember Jesus, he had said, one of you is going to betray me, and they're all in a fuss trying to figure out who the betrayer was. Well, there was one who was closest to Jesus. That's John. Remember, it's John. And what did he do at the table? He puts his head. on Jesus' bosom. That's the picture we're supposed to have here. He's right next to Jesus, and all He had to do is just lean His head back, and it's on Jesus' bosom. This seems wildly awkward to me. It seems wildly awkward to all of us in this culture, doesn't it? Right? And if you've been other places in the world, you know that this kind of thing varies from place to place. I remember being in Korea, and there would be guys just holding hands, and they were the most masculine men you'd ever want to see, and they were not gay, I promise. They were tough guys, but when they would go someplace, they'd be holding hands. Right? It's different, right? You know, depending on culture, we see a difference in kinship and closeness. We see an array even in different cultures, even in our own church. Many in America are more comfortable with what we call a Presbyterian hug. Right? It's AKA a handshake. And we all know that Pastor Rich, he's a hugger. He hugs people when they go out the door, but he's a sensitive pastor. He knows you guys that don't like to be hugged. And so instead of one of these, you get one of these things, right? If you really want to see things get awkward, when Pastor Larry gets back home, go give him a big old hug. I think he might be watching right now, so I don't know. It gets a little squirmy at times. The point is that we all have adopted different cultural norms. When I'm eating a meal, thinking of putting my head on another man's chest isn't normal. It's not comforting. But in the first century, this picture here that Jesus paints, it's supposed to be incredibly comforting. It's one of paradise, really. You see, Lazarus has been promoted to the banquet table with the very father of his nation. That's why it's Abraham. He's the big dog. He's at the head of the table, right? The head of the Jewish nation. He's comfortably, is Lazarus, and intimately situated in the best possible arrangement. Now he's feasting, and this is the feast of feasts, and the presence of God's chosen at the head of the table, at the right hand of, and at the side of the most honorable guest. as it were. It's the best place. Abraham's bosom was a well-known Jewish metaphor for this place of eternal blessing. So now, let's look at the extreme inversion in the story. The rich man, he dies too. He gets a big funeral with proper burial, but that's where the blessing ends for the rich man. Where is Divey's destination? The text tells us, Hades. Many of you know that Hades is the Greek designation for what's called the abode of the dead. It's really the cognate for the Hebrew term Sheol, right? It's the place of the dead. It's where you go when you die. And interestingly, the typical term that Jesus uses for hell isn't used here. The one that he normally uses is Gehenna. And Gehenna is related to the Valley of Hinnom, where the garbage and the refuse burned perpetually. It's that place that we read of where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched. And I think people make too much of Jesus' use of Hades here. Why? Well, the text makes it crystal clear that even though he uses this folklorish term here, Jesus does, telling the story, it extends beyond merely a neutral place for the dead. That's clear in the text. Divey's destination is clearly a place of torment and of anguish, just like Gehenna. Now to be sure, the scripture does teach in Revelation chapter 20 that death and Hades in the eternal state will be thrown into the lake of fire. So there's an extension to all of this, that final place of damnation. But again, the point is not to press this so far as to miss Jesus' intent. The point is, there is a separation, one to a place of joy and felicity, and the other to a place of torment and of anguish. So the rich man notices that there's a big difference here. There is a great disparity between these destinations. And he sees Abraham and Lazarus somehow, and he cries across this chasm, something has gone terribly wrong. And I want you to notice something that's very revealing here. Lazarus whom the rich man hasn't noticed before, whom he neglected on earth, all of a sudden, Davies notices him. The rich man cries out, Father Abraham, which tells us that Davies was at least culturally Jewish. But he cries out to Father Abraham. He says, have mercy on me. And look at what it says next, what Davies says next. He says, send who? Send Lazarus, how do you know his name? Send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue. So Dives, this rich man, sees the great reversal. He sees Lazarus enjoying his paradise, but notice how he treats Lazarus. How does he treat him? Treats him like a slave. Nothing changed about Divey's here. He's not changed his attitude, his behavior, his outlook. He's treating him as a slave. So Divey's now, instead of thinking of his great neglect of Lazarus, he thinks of himself and wants this peasant to be his slave. Come, bring me comfort. No repentance, no apology, just orders. And Abraham's response is rather terrifying, isn't it? 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. So Abraham goes on to describe an eternal truth that should sober us right up. There are no second chances. Abraham tells Lazarus that the journey from that place of blessing to that place of torment is impossible. There is a gulf fixed. There's literally, and the ESV bears this out, there's literally a chasm that prevents travel from one of these places to the other. There is an eternally fixed roadblock, if you will. It's appointed once for man to die and then the judgment. No do-overs, no reset button, no second chances, no upgrades to first class. There is a definitive dead end both ways. The destination is a fixed destination. So now I told you that we would discuss the name Lazarus. Lazarus is an abbreviation of a more formal name. Just like my name, like that young man that was baptized tonight, is William. There's an abbreviation for that name, Will. Sometimes it's Bill or Liam, if you're in England or Great Britain. is the abbreviated form of Eleazar. Did you know that? It's another form of Eleazar, which means God helps. Lazarus means God helps. So think about that for a moment. When we're first introduced to this poor fella called God helps, as he sits pitifully at Divey's gate being licked by mongrels, we're thinking, wow, God doesn't seem to be helping him much here. If that's what God's help looks like, I'd hate to see what it looks like when he doesn't help. But now we see it, don't we? God helps. This man did suffer for who knows what, 55 years? But when we compare those 55 years to 55 trillion and beyond, in glory, we recognize quickly that God does help beyond what we could ask or think. We realize Paul's words to be true when he says in 2 Corinthians 4, this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are Unseen for the things that are seen or transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal and then finally divies delusion We're gonna see his delusion the rich man's Misbelief as we close we've seen the great reversal take place, but Jesus isn't done It's more to this story and the rich man was denied any relief Due to this great chasm preventing this journey from one destination to the other but old divies has another plea based upon his poor understanding he didn't spend much time in his Bible and Now he's begging, and he's looking for a scrap. How ironic. Divey still is not repentant. He thinks of his own people. He thinks of his own family. He says in verse 27, I beg you, Father, to send him, him, to send him, to send who? Lazarus, this guy that it looked like I didn't even know, but I did know him the whole time along. Once again, Davies is going to put old Lazarus to work as his servant. Send him to my father's house, he says. And the rich man insists that his brothers be warned about the coming judgment. You can say, well, there's some form of unselfishness, and there's a bit of tenderness here, but ultimately, I believe this request is intended to make yet another theological point. How does Abraham respond to Davies' request? How does he respond to the rich man? They've already been warned. The Jews had the law and the prophets. There are warnings in the scripture. He's been warned. You heard Moses, you heard the prophets, and you didn't heed those warnings then. What makes you think that you would heed them now? They would heed them now. Let them hear those warnings. But the rich man isn't done, is he? You see what he does in verse 30? He actually argues theology with Abraham. You see it? Can you believe the gall of this guy? He's deluded. He shows his misbelief, doesn't he? No, Father Abraham, if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. Sadly, Abraham's final reply is true. We know it to be true. We see people all the time who see the great works of God. We see God's hand moving providentially and even miraculously. And yet people continue to deny Him, even in light of those things. And so verse 31 says, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, Abraham says, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. And I think it's fascinating that someone rising from the dead is mentioned as the unconvincing truth. You would think seeing the dead raised would compel us to believe, but we all know of another Lazarus from Scripture, don't we? He laid in tomb for four days after death, long enough to be rotting, long enough to be stinking. And Jesus said to this Lazarus, Lazarus, come forth, and he was raised from the dead. And everyone believed, right? wrong. For so many that miracle only served to harden their hearts. It served to harden their hearts in some ways even more. They got more emboldened and days later we would see that the Lord of Glory would be crucified by some of these same people. What a fascinating story. What is Jesus' intent in this text? We'll close with this. What does he want us to take home tonight? I think there are three principles that we can take home, that you can meditate upon this week and apply to your lives, to our lives, in this account of Lazarus and the rich man. The first thing I want us to see, and these are in your outline here if you forget about them, but the Lord expects us to have eyes to see the Lazarus in our lives. We've all got folks like this in our lives. And so I want to exhort us tonight to cultivate a heart of compassion for those who have less. Luke's gospel features a picture of the generosity that blesses the Lord. Read another parable that's a bit of an outlier in terms of classification, but it's a story with intent just like this one. The parable of the Good Samaritan. The Jews hated the Samaritans, and they were rotten people to them. Look at this guy, look what he does. He puts his money where his mouth is, and he takes great care of this man. He shows great love, even to his own hurt. It's uncommon generosity, and this is the ethic that Jesus wants us, as Christ followers, to embrace. So ask yourself this question, am I feasting sumptuously and living in luxury while those that I come in contact with are suffering? It's easy to get jaded. I know that. I mean, we work with travelers here all the time. You see it here, poor and needy often here at our church. And to be fair, some do take advantage. Pastor Rich has served for eons on Traveler's Assistance. I've been on for 13 years. And I've seen the whole spectrum. And we do help the neediest of the needy with that ministry. Thank you for those who contribute to Traveler's Assistance Society of Sweetwater County. And our monthly benevolence that we took up this morning. Right? Those are just a couple of ways that we can put our faith into action. But a compassionate heart sees a need and moves to help. Beloved, I challenge you to ask the Lord, even tonight, if there is a Lazarus in your life that you can bless. Secondly, the Word of God is sufficient. I believe, this comes out loud and clear in this account. Beloved, don't you ever think that we need some glitzier, something glitzier than the word of God, that we need something glitzier than the eternal breath of God, the inspired word to call people to faith and repentance. I always say as a youth pastor that if you bring a man with gorillas riding bicycles, you gotta keep him with gorillas riding bicycles. The Word of God is sufficient to call people to faith and repentance. That's what brings people from the dead, right? And for some, the Word will not awaken, but it will, even as Aaron mentioned earlier, fulfill its purpose, Isaiah 55, 11, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. And then thirdly and finally, this vapor's breath of a life, friends, will soon disappear. The day is almost over, and we can only work during the day. Per Pastor's message this morning, the night is coming when none of us can work. Remember, loved ones, death is final. There is a chasm beyond the grave which cannot be crossed. Which side of that chasm will you be on? Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for your eternal word. Thank you for the testimonies we've heard tonight. Thank you for this baptism where we've seen pictured life, the burial, the death, the resurrection. all pictured in these baptismal waters. Thank you, Lord, for this example story, this account of Lazarus and the rich man. Call us to greater places, and our lives lived out in obedience to your word. We give you praise and thanks. In Jesus' name, amen.