HEAR AND BE PERSUADED UNTO SALVATION (PART 3)
TEXT:
"And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." (Luke 16 verse 31, King James Version).
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the fulcrum of the Christian faith. The Apostle Paul, in 1st Corinthians 15 verses 12 to 23, took time to explain the significance of the Lord's resurrection from the dead as it relates to the Christian faith.
Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, one of the predicaments that he has had to contend with is sensuality. Man became disoriented from God's original plan for him; he lost his sensitivity to spiritual matters and essentially became sensual in nature.The path of faith became strange to him and since then, it has become something he has to learn to walk in.
From that moment, man had become accustomed to being led by his senses, rather than by faith. Expressions like "Seeing is believing" have become associated with man. This is like Thomas' kind of faith saying, "Except I shall see ... I will not believe." (John 20 verse 25). But according to the Lord, "blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." (John 20 verse 29).
What many do not understand is that spiritual facts, especially those relating to life after death cannot be evaluated by the five human senses. These are matters that call for the exercise of simple faith. But since "all men have not faith" (2 Thessalonians 3 verse 2), there still are many men like the rich man and his five brethren in the Lord's narrative in Luke 16 verses 19 to 31, that continue to pay lip service while here on earth to the salvation of their souls.
This is a dangerous phenomenon because until the rich man found himself in hell did it really dawn on him concerning the flagrant neglect he had given to his soul while he lived on earth. Therefore, to forestall his five brethren from making the same mistake, he requested for Abraham to send Lazarus whom he had shown neglect to return to earth and testify to them, "lest they also come into this place of torment" (Luke 16 verse 28). According to him, "if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent." (Luke 16 verse 30). But Christ is risen from the dead!
The question is, what do men make of Jesus' resurrection from the dead? The rich man had supposed of his five brethren that "if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent." Alas, how true is Father Abraham's assertion that "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." (Luke 16 verse 31). This is so because it's the same faith it takes to hear the Gospel that you need to believe the miracle of resurrection from the dead, failing which both are unprofitable to you. May this not be so with us, in Jesus name.
PRAYER:
Father, I receive faith to believe the Gospel unto the salvation of my soul, in Jesus name