0:00:00 - 0:00:32 There are many older women out there who for one reason or another are alone and they desire more than anything that that was not the case. And they wonder how a loving God can, could allow them to be in, in such a situation. And I was, I was praying for you all the other day. And as I was, the Lord 0:00:32 - 0:00:59 began to speak to me and he opened my understanding and he explained some things to me. And I would like to share with you those thoughts. I'd like to read a passage from Luke 16. This is about the so called Parable of Lazarus and the rich man. Now I'm going to start reading this one verse prior to the 0:00:59 - 0:01:32 actual story. And I want to give you a key to understanding the scriptures, which is that very frequently, the order of these stories is meaningful and stories that are next to each other are sometimes related in very important ways. In verse 18, it says, the Lord says, whosoever put away his wife and 0:01:32 - 0:00:00 Marie another commit adultery and whosoever Marie her that is put away from her husband, commit adultery. And before continuing to verse 19, where the story begins. I'll acknowledge that at least some of the ladies who are in this situation are there because of men who have treated them very poorly. 0:00:00 - 0:02:37 The subsequent story is not independent from that comment. If you go to the context in this chapter, it might seem puzzling why verse 18 is there. But the one reason why is that one valuable dimension of this story is to understand Lazarus as a woman who has been poorly treated by her husband. Beginning 0:02:37 - 0:03:00 in verse 19, there was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs 0:03:00 - 0:03:27 came and licked his sores and it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried before we get into the eternal welfare of these people. I just want to point out that the man was rich. He was clothed in fancy clothing, the purple 0:03:26 - 0:03:53 and the linen might might have reference to clothing of kings in the case of purple and the linen is the clothing of a priest. He had plenty to eat. And it says that this beggar was laid at his gate, his gate was the entrance to his domicile. It's his territory, it's his domain. And clearly this man 0:03:53 - 0:04:25 needed help. He was full of sores uh unable to earn his own living. And the man, the rich man had plenty, obviously, he had surplus, but that area was also his responsibility and Lazarus was content with just the crumbs that fell off the rich man's table. But apparently he, he didn't even get that. Um 0:04:25 - 0:04:44 , he certainly didn't get more than that when the rich man should have been giving him more than that. And then the rich man failed to let him in where he would be protected by these do from these dogs who came and licked his swords. And I, I can only imagine how much that would add to not just the pain 0:04:43 - 0:05:08 of this man's situation, but his shame. You have to remember that in this culture, leprosy wasn't just an extremely painful disease and debilitating disease. It was also shameful because the law of Moses linked it to morality, to uh to worthiness. And so you were, you were unclean if you had leprosy 0:05:07 - 0:05:37 . And so it was shameful in addition to being debilitating and painful. So let's continue on to the, the eternal welfare of these two gentlemen. Uh Verse 23 starts describing the rich man and in hell, he lift up his eyes being in torments and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. Now the bosom 0:05:36 - 0:06:02 of people in eternity. That is a kingdom. It's a domain. And so, for example, we read about the Father's bosom. Abraham has a bosom as well. He's a king in God's Kingdom. And so that's where Lazarus went verse 24. And he cried and said, Father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip 0:06:01 - 0:06:27 the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receives thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted and thou art tormented. Now, this lesson goes on, but that's the end of the 0:06:27 - 0:07:06 part that I'm going to talk about today. So when the Lord began speaking to me, um he, he explained that this, this wasn't a made up story and that this man Lazarus, he was a real man and this, he knew this man, he, he knew him in life and he, this, this was the situation he was aware of and it was his 0:07:06 - 0:07:34 desire to heal this man. Now, I don't wanna get into details about the Lord's life prior to his public ministry, but suffice it to say that the Lord learned a lot during his life and he had many experiences before his public ministry. And it was during those experiences that he was taught the things 0:07:33 - 0:08:08 he would need for later and everything that the Lord gives us comes line upon line. And so that that was an important time for him to learn these things. Anyway, obviously, the Lord was a compassionate man and he desired to heal this man. But as he prayed about this, with the father to the father, he 0:08:08 - 0:08:47 was shown what this man's experience would mean in the eternities. And so it's very hard to come up with words, to convey how the Lord felt, to see this and to be inhibited bye his understanding of the situation and to reconcile that to how he knew that this man Lazarus felt. Because obviously Lazarus 0:08:47 - 0:09:26 didn't understand any of that. He was just overcome daily by pain and need and suffering and shame. Too many has sought to comfort you by promising you blessings in this life that will not be yours. It might feel good in the moment, but it will always lead to emptiness and regret as reality sets in no 0:09:25 - 0:09:49 amount of delusion can provide the same comfort as the truth. Don't succumb to the temptation of thinking that your present situation is any evidence of distance or disinterest from your father in heaven. He numbers the sparrows that seem beyond number and without identifiable detail to us. Do you think 0:09:49 - 0:10:18 he's lost track of you? This life is not the place where we receive our eternal reward. The details of exactly how he will make it up to you may be beyond you, but he has given you every reason to trust him. He will make good on his promises. And he has promised that all who love him will be rewarded 0:10:17 - 0:10:42 in ways that exceed their present ability to understand. Now, I read to you the story of one Lazarus and you know the story of another who is the friend of Jesus who was very sick and Jesus was away and that Lazarus died and he was brought back to life by Jesus when Jesus returned. So we have the story 0:10:42 - 0:11:07 of one Lazarus who trusted God in spite of a lifetime of terrible pain and poverty and another Lazarus who trusted God in spite of his apparent absence during a terminal illness that took his life. One of the key factors of the story of Lazarus, the friend of Jesus was that Jesus knew he was sick, that's 0:11:07 - 0:11:46 revealed in the text. And he knew when he died, even though he was still far away in the case of, of both Lazarus, not only did Jesus know exactly what would happen, his heart was full of compassion and empathy for these people who he cared very much about. You'll remember that when he came to the tomb 0:11:46 - 0:12:29 of his friend Lazarus, we see one of the shortest verses in the scriptures, it said says, and Jesus wept. Now in that moment, he knew what he would do. He knew that it would work. So why did he cry so bitterly that even the hard hearted Pharisees who were constantly following him around looking to find 0:12:28 - 0:13:00 something that would give them the opportunity to condemn him to death. Even those people, they were touched by it and they marveled at how much he loved him. He cried so bitterly for Lazarus and what Lazarus had gone through, he wasn't crying for himself and his, his sorrow, he was crying for Lazarus 0:13:00 - 0:13:31 because what Lazarus had to go through, he had to go through without understanding it. It wasn't the indifference of Jesus that kept Him from immediately swooping in and relieving the suffering of these two men. It was his incalculable love for them. I want to make two things completely clear to you 0:13:31 - 0:14:13 . One whenever you suffer, God suffers more two, what God has in store for the righteous is always greater than what it costs them to receive it. In some cases, people suffer because of their faithfulness to God. In other cases, people suffer because of their own poor choices. In both cases, the best 0:14:12 - 0:14:36 outcomes will be realized through present trust in God. No matter how you got to where you are, you will get closer to God through fully trusting in Him from now on trusting in Him. Doesn't just mean assuming that you'll eventually get to something better. It means fully surrendering to His will in all 0:14:36 - 0:15:04 things at all times. Surrender to God's will includes surrendering our actions to His commandments, but it also goes beyond that. It includes surrendering our hearts to Him, our deepest desires it means treating our situation whatever it might be as the greatest possible blessing. God could give us because 0:15:04 - 0:15:40 that's what it is. If you understood what God does about your situation and you will one day, if you are true and faithful in your present trial, you would be so filled with joy here. And now that you'd spend every moment praising God for his goodness to you in giving this to you. It was not given to 0:15:40 - 0:16:07 Lazarus the one with leprosy to know the reason why God was subjecting him to his trial. It wasn't given to the other Lazarus either their willingness to trust God in spite of their lack of understanding is pre precisely what resulted in either of their circumstances thereafter. It's why the leprous 0:16:07 - 0:16:35 Lazarus went to Abraham's bosom. It's why the friend of Jesus was brought back from the dead. You see that Lazarus he had so fully trusted in the Lord during his life that he was able to trust in him. After his death, Lazarus was able to be raised from the dead because he had listened to the voice of 0:16:35 - 0:17:05 Jesus so fully that he recognized it when he heard it. Even though he was dead, if you want to be resurrected into a glory that exceeds your present understanding, hereafter you need to learn to receive the will of God. Beyond your present understanding here, I invite you to trust in the Lord and to 0:17:05 - 0:17:09 learn to have joy through faith.