They will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.

Luke 16:19-17:10 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

“Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. ²⁰ And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, ²¹ and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. ²² Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. ²³ In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴ And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’ ²⁷ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— ²⁸ for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ ²⁹ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰ But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ ³¹ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

17 He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! ² It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble. ³ Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴ And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶ And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you.

⁷ “Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’? ⁸ But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’? ⁹ He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? ¹⁰ So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”

In today’s text, in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, Jesus says:   “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’”   Many people today, perhaps because we live under grace, and we are save by grace as it says in Ephesians 2:8, do not believe or acknowledge that there is a hell or a place of eternal suffering apart from God. Yet Jesus spoke of the fate of unbelievers and the unrighteous frequently. Was Jesus a liar? If there is no hell, why would Jesus have spoken of it? Why would He say that there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth?” (Luke 13:28; Matthew 8:12; 13:42; 24:51; 25:30; 22:13 and Mark 9:8) The parable indicates that the rich man was not just gone, with no awareness. He was in torment, in agony. He asked that a warning be sent to his brothers so that they would avoid the place where he was. Surely it was no party, no place for a happy reunion, as some today would suggest. Jesus response to the request for the warning was:   ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”       Today, we live under grace because Jesus died for our sins on the cross and indeed He did rise from the dead. Still, as He said, many will not be persuaded. Many refuse to believe. John 3:16 says:  “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  For those who do not believe, for those who are not persuaded, it is not because God is not loving. It is not because there is any lack in His grace. If anyone is uncertain, Jesus says:  “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8) James 1:5-6 says:   If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.     All who ask and seek with faith will be persuaded that Jesus is Lord and Savior.  

In today’s text it says:  The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you.”     We might expect that the disciples were looking for faith to do some great thing, to heal the sick or raise the dead; perhaps to feed thousands with a few fish and loaves as Jesus did. In John 14:12 Jesus says:   "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.”   Surely, to do the things that Jesus did, we like the disciples need increased faith.  Look though at what the disciples asked that their faith would be increased to do.  Jesus says:  “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”    Like the disciples, we need to recognize that we need to increase our faith simply to live like Jesus, to live lives of forgiveness and so as not to be a stumbling block to others. Hebrews 11:6 says:  Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.    In the text Jesus says:  “Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’? But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’? He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”    We should not boast or take pride in the things we do for or through Christ, we are only doing what we ought to do. Looking again at what it says in Ephesians 2:8-10, By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.    We are not saved by our works, but by faith in Christ we are both saved and empowered for good works.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; thank You for the grace by which I am saved and have eternal life. Thank You for giving me what I ask for in faith. Holy Spirit lead me and guide me in truth and increasing faith, that I might do the things that Jesus did, that I might live a life of love and forgiveness and be pleasing to God through faith. I am persuaded!   As Romans 8:38-39 says:   I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.