Daily Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek
21 April 2025
Reading From Luke 16
“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
—Luke 16:27-31
In the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus, we learn that in the afterlife we will have cognition (the rich man remembered his own life, knew of the condition of Lazarus by Abraham’s side and was able to converse with Abraham) and that our destination will be permanent. The Bible tells us that, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”[1] When we transition from this life to the next, we will have greater knowledge than we do in our present reality.
The question is often asked if people will have a second chance to choose faith in Christ after death. From what I know of the Scriptures, I do not believe we will. The very concept of salvation is by grace through faith. Faith is believing in what is not seen. When we die, as we see in this parable of the rich man and Lazarus, faith will become sight and therefore that dynamic of trust will not be the same as it is for us now. When the rich man died, he saw that the spiritual dimension is real and was filled with regret for how he led his earthly life. The time for faith and repentance had passed and there was no passing the great chasm separating the place of torment from paradise. Scripture tells us in Hebrews 9:27, “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
Abraham’s conversation with the rich man reveals much about the hearts of men and women who reject the way to abundant life on earth and eternal life in the hereafter. When Jesus told this story, the Jews were keepers of extensive records of prophetic leadership. The prophets of Yahweh had shown the way to life and blessing while also warning of the dangers of sin and the curses that result. Some people are so stuck in their stubborn pride that they not only refuse to listen to the wisdom of hundreds of years of prophetic messages, but they also will not listen to Jesus, who died and returned to life to lead us home to be with Him. You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.
Throughout the ministry of Jesus, we see a theme that what is needed in the lives of human beings is not only a definite change of heart by grace through faith in Him, but that the evidence of such a change is genuine compassion for our fellow humans and a commitment to real, personal holiness unto the Lord. Jesus emphasizes that if we are not sharing His love with others then it shows that we have not truly believed and received His message. He wants us to be in righteous, healthy, balanced, life-giving relationship with Him and to continually share His love and message with those around us.
“Sovereign Lord, soften our hearts. May we not be like the rich man who ignored the warnings of the Law and the Prophets. Open our ears to receive spiritual truths and open our eyes to see spiritual realities. Reveal to each of us what is truly important in life. Order our priorities according to the wisdom of Your Word. May we be flexible enough to receive Your correction and allow the Holy Spirit to align our lives with Your principles which lead to life abundant and eternal. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray these things. Amen.”
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
—John 10:10
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
—John 3:16
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
—Matthew 25:40-43
[1] I Corinthians 13:9-12
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