WHY DOESN'T GOD SPEAK DIRECTLY NOW?

Do you ever think it would be easier to speak to people about the gospel if God would just appear in front of them to confirm his existence and power? Do you wish God would just show himself to you and tell you what to do? Maybe you say you would do more for God if you could see deliberate miracles being performed that were unquestionably from God. Maybe you have talked with your loved ones and shared the gospel message with them. You might have talked about the events in the Bible, and they might have read the book cover to cover. You might think those people would definitely believe if they had just one more push by seeing God appear before them. This is an attitude that is shared by the rich man in the parable from Jesus that is recorded in Luke 16:19-31. The story is referred to as the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. In the story, the rich man had plenty of possessions and food, while Lazarus was poor and sick. Lazarus was starving outside the gate of the rich man, but the rich man had no sympathy for Lazarus. When both the rich man and Lazarus died, the rich man went to a place called "torments" while Lazarus went to a place called "Abraham's bosom" or "paradise". There is a great gulf between paradise and torments, and there is no way for either soul to cross this divide. The rich man says he has five brothers back on earth, and they are in a sinful state. He asks if Lazarus can return to earth as a ghost or image of himself to explain to the rich man's brothers that they should turn from their wicked ways. Abraham says the brothers have Moses and the prophets, let them believe them. The rich man insisted that if his brothers saw someone rise from the dead, then they would believe. Abraham says if the brothers do not believe Moses and the prophets, then they still would not believe even if one rose from the dead.

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Scott Carpenter
(Huntsville, AL)

Updates

• Audio from the Mt. Carmel (Woodland, AL) and Ephesus (Ephesus, GA) summer meetings has been posted on the Sermons page. (8/20/18)
• Audio from the Revelation series by Thad Eubank has been posted on the Sermons page. (8/7/18)

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