The Rich Man and the Beggar

■*’ There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and line iineii, und fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who 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 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. And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip 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 life time receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they who would pass from hence to you, cannot; neither ean they pass to us that would come from thence. Then he said, 1 pray thee, therefore, father, that thou wouldst send him to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but h one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.”

The context informs us, that our Lord delivered the preceding awful history on the following occasion. Some Pharisees being present, whose hearts Christ knew were inordinately attached to the world, who had the form of godliness, but were destitute of its power, and yet pretended to be the only servants of the Almighty; to awaken them to a due sense of the inconsistency of their conduct, and the vanity of their expectations, our blessed Lord repeated a sentiment which he had formerly delivered in his sermon on the mount: viz.” No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the on?

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and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other:” and this he urged home on their consciences with, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” This maxim could not be successfully controverted: it being sufficiently evident, that we fully serve him only, whom we love supremely: for a man cannot be in perfect indifference betwixt two objects which are incompatible: he must at least comparatively hate and despise what he does not love supremely, when the necessity of making a choice presents itself These sayings gave the highest offence: for the sacred writer immediately observes, ver. 14, “The Pharisees” 9«Xa£yufoi vnrapx^s, being lovers of money, having heard these things, derided him,” egsfwmjpgov avrov, a phrase which cannot be literally translated, but which signifies, they treated him with the utmost indecency and contempt ;* and why? Because they were lovers of money, and he showed them that all such were in the utmost danger of perdition. As they were wedded to this life, and not seriously concerned for the other, they considered him one of the most absurd and foolish of men, and worthy only of the most sovereign contempt, because he taught that spiritual and eternal things should be preferred before the riches of the universe.

From what farther passed on this occasion we learn, that they not only gave their hearts to the world, but endeavoured to justify themselves before men, in doing it: i. e. they endeavoured to make it appear to others, that though they felt an insatiable thirst after the present world, yet they could secure the blessings of another: reconcile God and mammon, and serve two masters of opposite interests, with equal zeal and affection. And in this they were unhappily successful: for, as in their outward conduct they were conformed to the letter of the law, the people not only considered them as saints, but had them highly in estimation, verse 15, and were

* MuKr?7pf£ei) airo tov ffveiv t<hj pvKTrtnm, HesvcTi.

doubtless influenced by their example to act in the same way. Had the matter ended here, the ungodly Pharisees might have triumphed in their scorn, and the common people have been confirmed in their worldly mindedness. Something, therefore, was necessary to be done, in order to confound these lovers of mammon, to undeceive the people, and to instruct all succeeding generations, which was this, to prove by example on the authority of eternal Truth, that if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him; and that howsoever conformed to the letter of God’s law his outward conduct may be; yet if his money be his idol, and his belly his god; he can never enter into the kingdom of heaven, though no outward viciousness can attach to his character. He shall perish, merely because he loved the world, and did not love God with all his heart: while the poor afflicted godly man, who was destitute of every earthly good, but whose heart was replenished with love and piety towards his Maker, shall at his demise be infallibly taken to the regions of the blessed.

In order to accomplish these great purposes, our blessed Lord thus addressed them: There was a certain rick man at Jerusalem, &c. Before I proceed to consider the different parts of this portion of Scripture, it may be necessary to inquire in what light the whole passage should be viewed. Is it a parable, or a real history? Many of the primitive fathers* supposed it to be a real history, because the circumstances are more distinctly marked in this, than they are in mere parables; and besides there is a man’s name mentioned in this account, which is never done in any parable, however the connecting circumstances may seem to require it. Others assert that it is a parable; and this they contend for principally, because they are not willing that any of the facts mentioned in it should be literally understood. Of all the modes of interpreting the Sacred Writings, the allegorical

* Irenaeus, Ambrose, Tertullian, Euthvmius, Gregory the Great. &e.

t»

HISTORY OP THE

and metaphorical have ever appeared to me, the most exceptionable and dangerous: and for the purposes of general edification, the literal method is undoubtedly the best. With fear and trembling should any man depart from the literal meaning of a text, except where a metaphor is evident, and a spiritual sense plainly indicated. As I am not certain how far this passage is to be metaphorically understood, and as a literal explication of it conveys a perfectly consistent sense, I shall prefer the latter, and shall not attempt to decide on the question, whether this be a real history, or a parable, though I cannot help leaning to the former opinion. If it be a parable, it is a representation of what may be; for parable properly signifies a near representation of the truth. If it be a real history, it is a description of what has been. Either a man may live as is here described, and go to perdition when he dies; and so the parable proves the possibility of the thing: or, some have lived in this way, and are now suffering the torments of an eternal fire. The account is equally instructive in whichsoever of these lights it be viewed.

Let us carefully observe all the circumstances offered here to our notice, and we shall see,

I. Why this man’s soul was sent to perdition? And

II. In what his punishment consisted?

“There was a certain rich man” in Jerusalem, ver. 19. As it is most likely this was a true history, there is no doubt our Lord could have mentioned the name of this rich man, as well as that of the beggar; but as this might have given offence, he with great delicacy passes it by. It is true, in the scholia of some ancient copies of this chapter, he is called Nineve; but this seems to be an attempt to be wise above what is written, and on it no dependance should be placed.

He was rich. As this, according to our Lord’s account, stands in the number of his vices; it is of the utmost consequence to the whole history to understand what is meant by it? Were the solution of this question, What is implied in being rich? left to those who are inordinately attached to the goods of this life, the answers would be strangely various; as each would give a definition according to the quantum of the covetous principle which ruled his own heart. We must, therefore, find some general definition which will explain the import of the word and determine its meaning.

As riches are put in opposition to poverty; and we know that poverty implies being destitute of the necessaries, conveniences, and comforts of life; then we may safely infer, that to be rich implies being possessed of all the necessaries, all the conveniences, and all the comforts of life. He who possesses these is indisputably a rich man. But what are these? By the necessaries of life we must understand, a sufficiency of nourishing meat and drink, with such clothing as is suited to the state of the body, the nature of the climate, and a man s circumstances in life. By the conveniences of life, a proper habitation, decent furniture, and suitable attendance. And by the comforts of life, we may understand what pleases the eye and gratifies all those reasonable desires, which contribute in the most effectual manner to promote the health of the body, preserve it in vigour, and prolong its life. A man, it is true, may possess all these and not think himself rich, but be a continual prey to earnest longings after more; for,

Crescit amor nummi quantum ipsa pecunia crescit,

the love of money increases in proportion to what a man gains, — but these unreasonable desires do not belong to the question, 1st, Because the gratification of them could not contribute to his happiness, who has already all the necessaries, conveniences, and comforts of life; and 2dly, Because such gratification would infallibly injure, if not ruin him, as whatever ls forced upon nature beyond what it needs, must impair the health, enfeeble the constitution, and, in the end, destroy life. In the above sense jj HISTORY OF THE

a man may be innocently rich: but there is a sense in which to be rich is criminal: i. e. when a man gets all he can, suppose even by honest means; and though he acquires much more than he needs, yet keeps all he gets: and he is more especially criminal when he expends any portion of his affluence on foolish, unreasonable, and sinful desires, neglecting the poor in whose behalf God has put him in trust with this extra property. How awful are riches when we find they are so difficult to be managed, and what a most solemn account must be given of them to God in the day of judgment! The person in the text is said to have been rich: to this circumstance our Lord adds nothing: he neither says that he was born to a large estate, nor that he had acquired one by unjust means; nor that he was proud, insolent, and oppressive in the possession of it: nothing of this kind is intimated in the text, it would be utterly improper to attempt to deduce it by way of inference. This alone appears pretty plain: he got all he could, kept all to himself, and lived without God in the world: This was the first step to, and cause of his perdition.

2. The matter of his clothing should be particularly considered. The text says, He was clothed with purple and fine linen. Purple, (*og<pvpu) Pliny says, is a species of marine shell fish, which has a white vein between its jaws, in which a small portion of that precious liquor is contained, which was made use of to dye garments.* The finest species of this shell fish was found at Tyre: hence the Tyrian Purple so celebrated through all antiquity; and this was so costly, that the same author tells us a pound of it could not be bought for a thousand denarii,! equal to 31/. 5s. sterling. This costly clothing was worn principally by emperors, princes, and generals; and

* Sed purpura florem ilium tingendis expetitum vestibus.inmediis habent faucibus: liquoris hie minimi est in Candida vena unde pretiosus ille bibilur, &c. Hist. Nat. lib. ix, cap. 36.

t Dibapha Tyria, quee in Iibras denariis mille non poterat emi. Hist. Nat lib. ix, c. 39.

RICH MAN AND THE BEGGAR. y

was originally used as an emblem of illustrious birth; or, to designate some important office. But in the times of Roman degeneracy, it became an article of dress. He was clothed also, the text says, in fine linen, /3u(T<rov, The Byssus, according to Pliny, was a species of fine flax that grew about Elis in Achaia, and was as precious as gold, for a scruple of it, he says, was sold for four denarii,* about 2s. 6d. Calmet contends that the Byssus, called in Hebrew, yte buts, (and mentioned for the first time, 1 Chron. xv, 27, as that with which David was clothed when he brought the Ark from the house of Obededom,) was that silky tuft adhering to the Pinna Magna, a species of large muscle, sometimes more than four feet in length, and by which it attaches itself to other bodies.! This shell fish, Mr. Tournefort says, is found along the coast of the Mediterranean sea, from Constantinople to Egypt. Of this beautiful substance it is certain, that very splendid garments were made among the ancients; and it is likely that from this the sacerdotal garments of the Jews were made. St. Basil and Procopius particularly mention it. We have thus seen the matter of which the clothing of this rich man was composed: and though the whole was extremely costly, yet it is not intimated that his purple and fine linen were unsuitable to his place, birth, or official dignity. If he were a ruler, his rank in life might have required this clothing: but be this as it may, it is not at all insinuated that he followed any ridiculous fashion, exceeded the bounds of his income, clothed himself a’t the expense of others, or endeavoured to debauch the heart of the giddy and unexperienced, or ever made his love of dress an agent to greater crimes. Nevertheless, our Lord lays this down as the second cause of

* — circa Elim in Achaia genito; quaternis denariis scrupula ejus permutata quondam, ut auri reperio. Ibid. lib. xix, c. 1, in fine.

t Harum Pinnarum altitudo aliquando quatuor pedes excedit. Lanam seu Byssum, ex ea parte, qua in terra figitur emittit. Vid. Index Conchylior. A*. Gualteriy Tab. lxxviii, fig. A. where the reader may see the figure of this extraordinary shell. his perdition: He was clothed in purple and fine linen; and probably felt little, if any concern, for those who were destitute of necessary covering.

3. Having examined his clothing, we may next consider his daily fare. Though the matter and quality of the first are particularly noticed by our Lord, yet in reference to the second, he says no more than this, that He fared sumptuously every day, su«ivof*evog xad’ ^av Xapirgus. He had splendid feasts daily, accompanied with great hilarity, for this the original word, svtpgaivu, imports; and in this sense it is frequently used: See chap, xv, 23; Actsii, 26, vii, 41; Rom. xv, 10; Gal. iv, 27, &c.

From the whole account it is plain that this man kept what is termed, a good table, and no doubt had constant companions in his daily festivities. But let us inquire how far all this appears from the letter of the text, to be criminal It is well known that the law of Moses, under which this man lived, forbad nothing but excess in eating and drinking. Indeed, it seems that a person was authorized by that law to enjoy the sweets of an abundance which it promised to those who faithfully observed its precepts. “The Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, — -in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, and in the fruit of the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee,” Deut. xxviii, 11, xxx, 9. “If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures,” Job xxxvi, 11. From these and similar promises, it is evident the Jews were led to expect great temporal prosperity and abundant pleasure; and therefore, faring sumptuously every day, might be considered by this man in the light of a duty, and not in that of a crime. Besides, it is not said that he ate any kind of food prohibited by the law; nor is he accused of neglecting any of the abstinences or fasts prescribed by kt His daily sumptuous fare is not said to have been carried to any kind of excess; nor to have ministered to any species of debauch. He is not accused of licentious discourse, of gaming, of frequenting places of illicit entertainment or pleasure; nor of speaking one irreverent word against divine revelation, nor against the providence, ordinances, or people of God. It is not even intimated that he got drunk at his festivities, or held the bottle to his neighbour’s head to intoxicate him. In a word, his probity is unimpeached; nor is he even in the most indirect manner accused of any of those crimes which pervert the simple from the way of truth, or injure any of the orders of civil society. As Christ has described this man, does he appear a monster of iniquity as some have represented him? No He is a comparatively innocent character. Yet in the sight of God he is culpable, — deserves hell, and gets it. What then were his crimes? Why, 1 st. He was rich. 2dly. He was superbly clothed; and 3dly. He fared sumptuously every day; i. e. He sought his happiness in this life in the gratification of animal desires. He made no provision for his soul, living without God in the world.

Now, as to most this does not appear any sufficient reason why a soul should be sent to hell, because they think, that only the most profane and tho most profligate ever go thither, therefore men have toiled from their own conjectures to represent the person in the text as an impious man; an uncharitable, hard-hearted and unfeeling wretch. But of all this, is there one word either spoken or intimated by Christ? Not one. And I again assert it, that it is unjust, unfair, and highly dangerous to put such meanings on the word of God, as it cannot, and will not, by proper construction bear: and he that does it, does it to the peril of his soul. But let us consider the leading circumstances, and we shall be convinced that our blessed Lord has not represented this man as a mon. ster of inhumanity; but merely as an indolent man, who sought and had his portion in this life, was unconcerned about anqther, lived without piety to God, and without usefulness to man.

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When Abraham addressed him, ver. 25, on the cause of his reprobation, we do not find that he reproached him with an uncharitable disposition, or an unfeeling heart, though that would have been the most proper of all times to have done it in. He does not say: Lazarus was hungry, and thou gavest him no meat: He was thirsty, and thou gavest him no drink, &c; but he said simply, “Son, remember that thou didst receive thy good things in thy life time,” i. e. Thou hast sought thy consolation upon earth; thou hast borne no cross, mortified no passion; didst not receive the salvation God had provided for thee; thou didst not belong to the people of God upon earth, and thou canst not dwell with them in glory.

There fire but few of those called Christians, who consider it a crime to live without Christ, because their lives are not stained with any gross transgression of the moral law of their Maker. “If Christianity,” says one, “only required men to live without outward sin, Paganism could furnish us with many luminous examples of this kind.” But the religion of Christ not only requires a conformity in a man’s conduct to all the principles of righteousness and truth; but it requires also holiness in the soul; a heart reconciled to, and wholly influenced and governed by, the spirit of purity and benevolence which dwelt in the Lord Jesus.

Having thus taken a view of the causes which led this honourable person to the place of torment, the character and circumstances of Lazarus must be distinctly inquired into.

“There was a certain beggar named Lazarus,” ver. 2(X The word Arc-wos, which we translate beggar, signifies a poor man; and does not mean beggar in the common acceptation of the word; i. e. one who goes about from door to door soliciting alms; such a person being termed s*ui<rv)s, among the Greeks.

The name of this person is mentioned, because his character was good, and his end glorious; and because it is the purpose of God that the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance. Lazarus is undoubtedly a Hebrew name; and may be compounded of vh la, not, and My ezer, help; intimating that he was a person destitute of all assistance. But, as it appears, he stood high in the favour of God, and though outwardly destitute of all things, yet was inwardly supported by the grace and mercy of his Maker; it is therefore, more likely that Lazarus here is a contraction for Eliezer, itjtSn, God is my help, which is not mentioned here without design, as it strongly intimates that God alone is the succour and confidence of the destitute: and that the person in the text had God for the portion of his soul, even when destitute of a morsel of bread, and his flesh and heart utterly failing. This name, therefore, was properly given to a man who was both abjectly poor, and deeply afflicted, and had no help but that which came from heaven.

Of this poor man it is said, he was laid at the rich man’s gate, and he was full of sores. Whether his lack of the necessaries of life were the cause of his affliction by impoverishing the blood and other juices; or whether his poverty sprung out of his affliction by rendering him incapable of getting his bread, is not intimated in the text. His abject and helpless state is sufficiently marked. He was full of sores, so as to feel constant pain. He could not even change his posture through his utter helplessness, without the ministry of others, for (s&§Xijto,) he was laid at the gate: he had neither power to come thither himself to get relief, nor depart from it when weary of waiting. Who could have thought that a man in such an abject, afflicted state, could have been a favourite of Heaven,? Could not the God, who appears to have loved him so well, have healed his sores, and raised him above want? Undoubtedly he could: but God, who knoweth all things, and knoweth particularly what is in man; and what, in all possible change of circumstances he will do, probably knew that Lazarus could not be trusted with either health j4 HISTORY OF THE

or affluence, and therefore in his abundant mercy he kept him in a poor and afflicted state. Many who are now poor, humble, and pious, were they to get into a state of affluence, would wax proud and insolent, forget God, and go at last to perdition.

He desired to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich mans table, ver. 21. He had no desire to fare as well as the rich man; he wished only to satisfy himself with the fragments which were left. And there is no room to doubt but his humble desires were gratified; for there is not the smallest intimation that he was refused, though most interpreters of this passage make no scruple to assert it., I feel myself justified in drawing this conclusion: for as we find, verse 24, that the rich man desired that Lazarus should be sent to cool his tongue with one drop of water; it is to me a strong intimation, that he considered him under some kind of obligation to him; for had he refused him a crumb of bread in his life time, it is not reasonable to suppose that he would have requested such a favour from him now Indeed there is not the least evidence in the text that any part of the rich man’s punishment was owing to his cruelty or hard-heartedness towards this distressed beggar.

And the dogs came and licked his sores. Though this circumstance still more strongly marks his abject state, and shows that he was really diseased, and that his sores were exposed; yet it is certainly intended to prove that he had some alleviation of his affliction. Among the ancients the tongue of the dog, applied to obstinate ulcers, was considered a sovereign help: and therefore the heathens painted their medical god Esculapius, as being always accompanied with a goat and a dog, the latter to lick the ulcers, and the former to wash them with her milk. Mercy is mingled with all our afflictions and distresses. However destitute we may now be, we might have been still worse. It is ever in the power of God, by the addition or deduction of apparently trifling circumstances, to increase or alleviate our sufferings and calamities, by almost innumerable degrees. Wretched as this man’s state was, he was kept alive till his work was done, and his soul completely prepared for the kingdom of God; though he had only the crumbs for his food, and the dogs for his physicians.

In process of time Lazarus is relieved from his afflictions. It came to pass that the beggar died, verse 22. It is in the order of God’s gracious providence that poverty and affliction destroy their own influence by sapping the foundation of life. He who surfers most, has, in general the shortest time to suffer in; for the more exquisite the sufferings, and the more extensive the privations of corporeal necessaries, the sooner life must ebb out; and consequently to a truly pious man in such circumstances, the road to the kingdom of heaven is considerably shortened. A hurried passage into the glory of God can hurt no man. Death and life occur in the same instant. When the work of death was finished, eternal life began: for it is added, He was carried by angels into Abrahams bosom. What an astonishing change both in place and circumstances! But a moment before, he was an ulcerated beggar, lying at the rich man’s gate! And now healed of all his diseases, and shut out for ever from the possibility of suffering, he is safely and immutably fixed in the regions of blessedness. The phrase, Abrahams bosom, is an allusion to the custom at Jewish feasts, when three persons reclining on their left elbows on a couch, the person whose head came near the breast of the other, was said to lie in his bosom. So it is said of the beloved disciple, John xiii, 25. He who occupied the next place at such entertainments to the master of the house, was the person who was nearest of kin, or highest in esteem. The Hebrews conceived paradise to be a place of spiritual delights, where the blessed enjoyed a continual feast. They represented Abraham as head of the nation, at the top of the table, and all the children of his faith as reel?-

yfl HISTORY OF THE

rang with him (according to the eastern manner,) at the same table; some nearer, and others farther off, according to their different degrees of holiness, &c. Lazarus, as his most beloved son, is here placed next to him; to intimate, that being fully conformed to the image of God, he is raised in the regions of the blessed, to the highest degrees of honour and favour. That by the bosom ofAbra,’ ham, om3N bar p’n chik shel Abraham, or sitting at table with him, the ancient Jews understood the future state of the blessed, is sufficiently proved in a variety of quotations made from the Rabbins, by Lightfoot, on this passage: and our Lord not only refers to, but countenances this opinion in the following words: “Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down (avaxXitfovrai, literally, shall sit down at table,) with Abraham,’ Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven,” Matt, viii, 11. Our Lord adds, that he was carried by angels to this place. This also was an opinion uniformly believed by the Jews. Angels were supposed to attend the separation of the souls and bodies of the just, and carry them straight into the paradise of God: by speaking as he does here, our Lord appears to confirm the opinion: and St. Paul assures us, that the angels are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister unto them that shall be heirs of salvation, Heb. i, 14; and the ministration that he principally refers to, is, that of conducting the blessed into that state of final salvation of which they were become heirs, by having been made children of God, Gal. iii, 6, 7, though it includes that of ministering to them by the order of God, on different occasions during life.

II. We are now come to consider in what the punishment of this rich man consisted.

Before punishment can take place, death must separate the body and soul. Sin cannot be adequately punished in this life. Such punishment would destroy the body, — human nature in its present state could not endure it. The soul, in its separate state, can; because it

RICH MAN AND THE BEGGAR jfis immortal and indestructible: and the body after the resurrection, may; because, to make it a proper com* panion for the soul, it must be redeemed from all that corruption which tends to dissolution, and be built up on indestructible principles. In a state of probation sin can* not be punished; therefore we are properly informed, that the rich man died, before any part of his punishment took place.

Of the last days of this man no more is said than this; The rich man died, and was buried. There is no mention of this latter circumstance in the case of Lazarus: buried he undoubtedly was; necessity required this; but he had the burial of a pauper; while the pomp and pride of the other, no doubt, followed him to the tomb. Though the poor man died first, God in mercy having abridged his days; yet the rich man died in his turn. His great possessions could not secure to him that life which he so highly prized. He was obliged to leave all behind — his house, his estates, his family, and social connexions; his animal appetites, with all their means of gratification; and detested and detestable funeral honours, the mock and insult of human glory, alone accompany him to the verge of the grave; and these, even these bid adieu to a carcass that is fallen into disgrace. What an awful change has time and Providence brought about! Alas! why could not time tarry for him, wlxo had lived for it alone? If useless in the world, yet he was harmless* only endeavouring to make himself happy inr the enjoyment of what Providence had made his own,

Eheu fugaces, Postume, Postuifte,
Labuntur anni! -

sive reges

Sive inopes erimus coloni.

Linquenda tellus et domus et placens
Uxor: neque harum, quas colls, arborum
Te, prater invisas cupressos,
TJHa brevera dominum sequeter. Ho jut.

But what a difference even in the burial of these two persons. Several ancient MSS. and Versions, as well as the first English Translation, read the place thus; the rich man died and was buried in hell* While his body descended into the grave, his soul went down into the place of torment. So that, in this case at least, it was true, Here rested the body of a damned soul! Reader! may the God of heaven save thee from this place of torment! But what are we to understand by hell? the place in which the text says he was tormented. The word in the original is, A8rlg hades, which properly signifies a dark or obscure place, from a negative, and »<5siv to see: Very properly translated by our English word hell, from the Saxon helan, to cover or conceal. Hence hyling, the covering or slating of a house. It answers to the Hebrew word Viw sheol, which among the ancient Jews, signified the place where the souls of the just and unjust were kept, while in a state of separation from the body. The Greeks supposed their hades to be a dark, gloomy place, deep under the earth, where the souls of the righteous and the wicked were detained, previous to their being sent, the former to Elysium, and the latter to Tartarus. This place, with all its appendages, according to the heathen mythology, is described at large by Virgil, En. VI, 1. 268, &c. From what our Lord says of it, and of Abraham’s bosom, we may understand, that simply the place of separate spirits is intended; where those who died without God, have a foretaste of tha punishment they are to endure after the day of judgment; and where those who die in the Divine favour enjoy a foretaste of their future blessedness. Neither the su%imit of glory, nor the depth of perdition, are suited to the nature

* In some ancient MSS. as well as in the Saxm and Vulgate, the paint after erafr, he was buried, is lacking, and the following ««, and, removed and set before errapas, lifting up; so that the passage reads thus: “The rich man died, and was buried in hell: and lifting up his eyes, being in torments, he saw,” &c. of disembodied spirits: when rejoined to their bodies, the one is capable of enduring the miseries, the other of enjoying the happiness of the eternal world.

Let us now view the circumstances of this man’s punishment. Scarcely had he entered the abodes of misery. when he lifted up his eyes on high; and what must be his surprise, who never dreamed of going to hell, to see himself separated from God, and to feel his soul tormented in that flame! Neither himself nor friends ever expected, that the way in which he walked could have led to such a perdition.

In a general and collective sense, bis punishment is indicated by Ms being in torments. His torments were as various as his faculties and powers; and therefore they are spoken of in the plural number, BaCavoi?. The understanding, judgment, will, memory, imagination, and all his passions and appetites, must be wrecked with regret, anxiety, self-reproach, fear, terror, anguish, confusion, horror, and despair! This was his general state; but what were the particulars comprised in it?

1st. He sees Lazarus clothed with glory and immortality — this is the first circumstance in his punishment. What a contrast! What an ardent desire does he feel to resemble him, and what rage and despair, because he is not like him! We may think it strange, that the gulf of perdition should appear to have been in the vicinity of paradise; and that beatified spirits, and reprobate souls, should have a distinct view of each other; and to relieve ourselves from an embarrassment, which is the result of prejudice, we may cry out, “These things are not to be literally understood;” but we must take care not to apply the attributes and relations of time to the eternal world; for as the measurement of time is lost in endless duration, so all ideas of relative distance are absorbed and lost in infinite space. Disembodied spirits may have a power of perception and discovery, which, in this state of existence, even our conjectures cannot go HISTORY OP THE

reach; and for aught we know, their sphere of vision may be extended almost infinitely. If we, without even the assistance of a telescope, can see a planet at nine hundred millions of miles distance, or one of the fixed stars, at a distance the computation of which is almost beyond the powers of arithmetic; and if, when assisted with telescopes, we can penetrate some hundreds of millions of miles farther, can it appear to us an incredible thing, that disembodied spirits should discover each other in the eternal world, where even impediments to natural vision cannot exist?

lit appears then, that reprobate souls can see the bless* ed in their state of glory; and we may safely conclude that this discovery, accompanied with a conviction, that they themselves might have eternally enjoyed that felicity, from which they are now, through their own fault, for ever excluded, will form no mean part of the punishment of the damned. This appears to have been a. [first source of torment to the rich man.

2. He appears to have had the most ardent desire, either to possess good, or have his miseries alleviated. He cried out, and said, Father Abraham, have mercy upon me! There was a time in which he might have prayed to the God of Abraham, and have found mercy: now, he dares not approach that God, whom, in his life-time, he had neglected; and he addresses a creature, who has neither power nor authority to dispense blessedness. This is the only instance mentioned in Scripture of praying to saints-, and to the confusion of the false doctrine, that states it to be necessary and available, let it be remembered, that it was practised only by a damned soul, and that without any success.

The cry for mercy is proper in the mouth of every sin» ner, who must be saved by the mere compassion of God, or perish for ever. A self-righteous man may so far impose upon himself, while in life, as to imagine he has rfeserved something from God; but this refuge of lies will c2l

sooner or later be swept away, and the doctrine of human merit be exploded, even in the gulf of perdition.

The rich man is tormented by a sight of the happiness of the just, as well as by a sense of his own misery The presence of a good, to which he never had any right, and of which he is now deprived, affects the wretched less than the presence of that to which he had a right, and from which he is now eternally separated. Even in hell a damned spirit must abhor the evil by which it suffers, as well as the evil of suffering, and desire that good which would free it from its torment. If a reprobate soul could be reconciled to the anguish of its feelings, and the horror of its state, its punishment would of course be at an end. — Milton puts a sentiment of this kind in the mouth of Satan.

“Farewell Remorse: all good to me is lost;
Evil, be thou my good.”*

If a damned spirit can suspend the influence of remorse, receive evil in the place of good, and esteem it as such, then its misery terminates; and if Satan has been able to realize what the poet has said for him above, then, though devil damned, he ceases even in the abyss of perdition, in the burning pool, which spouts cataracts of fire, he ceases, I say, to feel torment! But all this is only a flight of lawless fancy; for eternal Truth has said their worm (remorse) dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. An eternal wish to escape from evil, and an infinite desire to be united to the Supreme Good, the gratification of which is for ever impossible, must make a second circumstance in the misery of the lost.

3. The remembrance of the good things possessed in life, and now to be enjoyed no more, together with the recollection of grace offered or abused, will form a third circumstance in the torments of the ungodly. “Son, remember that, in thy life-time, thou didst receive thy good things.” It certainly was a very common opinion, in

♦Paradise Lost, Book IV, 1. 109.

c>2 HISTORY OP THE

ancient times, that those who enjoyed much temporal felicity, could never enjoy eternal blessedness; and on the other hand, that those who passed through much misery on earth, should be compensated with the everduring enjoyments of heaven. To this opinion our Lord seems here to refer; and it is certain that there are multitudes of Scriptures, both in the Old and New Testaments, which appear to speak a similar language. Earthly possessions are not less dangerous than precarious: they promise much, though they perform nothing; yet as these promises still keep up the expectation, and increase the desire, the soul is diverted from* seeking its rest in God; for rich men think they have reason to believe, that their wealth will secure them all possible happiness in this life. The poor cannot have this expectation, as there is nothing to support it; therefore, in times of distress, affliction, and want, they are obliged, if they seek at all, to seek in God, that happiness which they find their circumstances will not permit them to expect in life. As the gospel promises innumerable blessings to those who believe, they, pressed with want and distress, are glad to embrace it, while the others are too busy, or too happy, to obey the call of God, or seek that salvation, the want of which they scarcely ever permit their souls to feel. O! how deceitful are riches! Ye who possess them, hold them with a trembling hand; for all that you have received, you must give account to God. Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness. Draw out your soul to the hungry; be, to the utmost of your power, every poor man’s friend: and do not starve your own souls, and pamper your flesh, lest you should once hear, to your eternal dismay, Remember that in your life time you received your good things.

4. But privations of good, and recollection of past enjoyments, together with the earnest, though fruitless desire to escape from coming evil, and to enjoy a present good, will not form the whole of the punishment of the ungodly; ibr added to these, we find present, actual torment in the burning gulf, I am tormented in this flame, ver. 24. The torments which a lost soul must endure in a hell of fire, will form, through all eternity, a continual present source of indescribable wo. Sinners may lose their time, in disputing against the reality of hell-fire, till awakened to a sense of their folly, by finding themselves plunged into what God calls “the lake that burns with fire and brimstone.” But let them consider, that whether the words are to be taken figuratively, or literally, the punishment they point out is awful, horrible, and real, beyond the power of language to describe, or thought to reach.

5. The well-known impossibility of ever escaping from this place of torment; or of having any alleviation of their misery in it, forms a fifth circumstance in the punishment of ungodly men. But besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, ver. 26. This is the most horrible circumstance of all to the damned, that they never can be delivered from this place of torment. The sovereign purpose of God, founded on the principles of eternal reason, separates the persons, and consequently the places of abode, of the righteous and the wicked; so that there can be no intercourse. They who wish to pass hence to you cannot, neither can they cross over who would come from you hither. Happy spirits cannot go from heaven to alleviate the miseries of the wretched, nor can any of the wretched escape from the place of their confinement to enter among the blessed. For though, from the reasons alleged under the first article, there may be a discovery from hell of the paradise of the blessed; yet therccan be neither intercourse nor connexion.

On this circumstance Abraham appears to lay great stress; and therefore he emphatically adds, Kai «r» cratfi rouToiff, but, above all other considerations, this is the chief reason, the grand irreversible decision, a great gulf is placed between us and you0 Lightfoot has sufficiently proved in his Horoz Talmudica, that the ancient Hebrews believed that Paradise and Hell were so contiguous, that the respective inhabitants could plainly see each other. In the ancient Greek mythology, Tartarus, the place of punishment, and Elysium, the habitation of happy spirits,, were represented as in the vicinity of each other, but separated by the rivers Cocytus and Phlegethon, in the latter of which ran a ceaseless stream of liquid fire. The original word xa(S^ signifies literally an immense gulf or chasm in the earth, without bottom, and which swallows up and renders invisible, whatever falls into it. Some of the ancients considered this as the place of torment. Plutarch, in his Treatise on the Damon of So* crates, gives a description of this place in the vision which Timarckus had at the cave of Trophonius* “Looking downward he perceived a great gulf (x* f*s7ap the very words of the text,) round, resembling a sphere cut through; terrific, horrible, and deep, full of thick darkness, not quiet, but turbulent, and oftentimes belching up; whence might be heard myriads of groans, and roarings of living creatures, cries of multitudes of children, mingled with the lamentations of men and women, with noises and tumults of all descriptions, &c.”

What a horrible place to spend an eternity in! and yet the Scriptural account xif hell is far more terrific. But as the term is here used to signify the place that separates paradise from perdition, we must consider it not only as a real line of demarkation, by which the limits of the place of torment and the place of blessedness are designated; but also as pointing out the impossibility of the restoration of the wretched, and the impossibility of thg lapse of the blessed. In a state of probation men may

Plutarch. D. genio Socmt. p. 663. Edit. Xyiand. 15*4,

RICH MAN AND THE BEGGAJR.

stand or fall. Time is the state of probation to human spirits — in eternity their state is fixed. Those who are faithful unto death, shall receive the crown that fadeth not away. They ended their state of probation in the salvation of God; and are now irreversibly fixed in the state of glory. These cannot possibly fall, because their state of probation, in which alone defection was possible, is eternally terminated. The others fell in their state of probation, and rose not again: therefore they are consigned to an eternal separation from God: for as their time of probation is ended, consequently their state is irreversibly fixed. The great gulf, says Abraham, etfrwwcti is established, made firm and durable, and now there is no more hope! It was the opinion of Origen of old, and has been the opinion of many since his time, that the great gulf would be abolished; and that, in process of time, damned spirits. should be emancipated from the chains of darkness and perdition. This opinion was grounded on the supposition, that suffering tends to purify and expiate; that all punishment is emendatory, and that it is not likely that God should punish men eternally for those faults which they had committed in time. Leaving the nature of sin entirely out of the question, as well as the justice of God, we must consider that the final se* paration of an unholy soul from God, is a necessary consequence of the state in which it is found. For as it is unholy, it cannot be united to God, because God is holy. If then it cannot be united to him, it must be separated from him; and as he is the fountain of happiness, to be separated from him is to be separated from happiness and consequently to be in a state of misery. The perdrtion, therefore, of ungodly souls is not so much an effect of the vindictive justice of God, as a necessary consequence of the unholy state in which they are found at their departure from the body. If it be possible for them to grow holy in hell, of course they may at last be capable of endless union with God. But suffering cannot produce such a change, because suffering is an effect produced by sin; and it is physically and morally impossible that an effect should destroy the cause by which it is produced. Reprobate souls suffer only because they are sinful; and while sin remains they must suffer; and as suffering, which is an effect of sin, cannot destroy its producing cause, so misery must continue, unless their guilt be pardoned, and their nature be made pure. But there is no direct evidence from Scripture that ever this will be done, and therefore no solid ground to support a sinner’s hope, that he shall ever be permitted to cross this great gulf, and enter into the abodes of the blessed. It would be easy to strengthen these observations with other arguments, but they are waived, because not arising out of the text. We may, therefore, safely conclude, from the evidence afforded in the Sacred Writings, that a conr sciousness of the impossibility of ever being freed from the gulf of perdition, must form another circumstance in the torment of the lost.

6. The recollection, that their bad example and influence have perverted others, and brought them into the same ruin with themselves, must be a source of misery to the ungodly; for, according to the requisitions of justice, a man should suffer for the evil, and in proportion to the evil he has done to others. Send Lazarus to my fathers house, to testify unto my five brethren, that they come not into this place of torment, ver. 27, 28. “A rich man,” says Father Quesnel, “fry leaving bis relatives an example of an effeminate and vojuptuous life, and likewise riches to enable them to imitate his example, leaves them two means of damning themselves, and is punished in hell for so doing. For one part of damnation consists in being exposed to the reproaches of those whom we have loved in an improper manner, and thereby made companions in our misery.” His brothers had, no doubt, been influenced by his example, and led to content themselves with an earthly portion, and thus forget their im-RICH MAN AND THE BEGGAR. qmortal souls. Probably they did not credit the soul’s immortality, for there is some reason to conjecture, that this rich man had been a Sadducee, and believed neither in angel nor spirit; but now being convinced of his destructive mistake, he wished his brothers to be informed also; and thinks nothing so likely to convince a Sadducee of his erroneous opinions on this subject, as the mission of a disembodied spirit from the realms of blessedness: Send Lazarus; for if one go to them from the dead they will repent, verse 30. To this Abraham answers, They have Moses and the Prophets, ver. 29, which plainly intimates, they were all Jews, whether Pharisees or Sadducees; and had, or might have, the Sacred Writings in their hands; but we find, they did not permit them to influence their hearts, nor regulate their conduct. Whatever evidences God may be pleased to give men of his will, so perverse is the human heart, they still seek more. — Proofs of the truth of Divine Revelation are furnished in abundance; but are proofs to inattention and obstinate unbelief I It is not proofs that are wanting, but rational faith to receive them. After Christ had, in the most unequivocal and incontrovertible manner, manifested his eternal power by his miracles, the Jews came, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. Rational faith finds itself fully satisfied with the proofs which God has already given. Infidelity never has enow. But if men hearken not to Moses and the prophets, neither would they be persuaded though one came to them from the dead, ver. 31. This assertion of Abraham contains two remarkable propositions: 1st, That the Sacred Writings contain such proofs of a divine origin, that though all the dead were to arise to convince an unbeliever, the conviction could not be greater, nor the proof more decisive from such evidence, given in the most unequivocal manner, than that which may be derived from a careful attention to the Scripture itself.

2dly, That in order to repent for sin, find the favour of God, escape endless perdition, and get to the realms of glory, a man must receive the testimonies of God, and walk according to their dictates. And from these two points the sufficiency and perfection of the Sacred Writings must be, and have often been demonstrated.

What influence could the personal appearance of a spirit have on an unbelieving and corrupted heart 1 None, except to terrify it for the moment, and afterwards to leave it innumerable reasons for uncertainty and doubt. On this subject an eminent philosopher and divine thus speaks. “Were God to evoke any of the dead from the other world, it is demonstrable that infidels could not receive any additional conviction from even this new mode of proof. This is no paradox; and one decisive proof of its truth is, that such an apparition would require a whole series of principles and consequences to render it credible. It would be liable to difficulties more numerous and more powerful than those which can be urged against Revelation. It would be first necessary to prove, that the person who professed to see this spirit was in his right mind; for it might be considered as the effect of a disordered brain. It would be necessary to examine, whether that object came really from the other world, or whether it were not an imposition practised for the purpose, by the knavery of some head of the party, whose interest it was to keep up the deception. But supposing that this were no illusion, it would be necessary to examine, whether this spirit were really sent by the Lord, or whether it did not come from the enemy of our souls, to entrap our innocence, and raise scruples in our minds, under pretence of leading us into the truth. Lastly, allowing the apparition to be real, we should inquire whether it be not an effect of God’s judgment, who, as a punishment for our obstinacy and disobedience, may permit a strong delusion to induce us to believe a lie. These, and a thousand other questions, of a similar nature, might arise on the subject, which would require more time, labour, and talents, satisfactorily to answer, than most men are capable of bestowing. How true, then, is the saying, ‘If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither would they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.’ “*

Christ caused this to be exemplified in the most literal manner, by raising Lazarus from the dead. And did this convince the obstinate and unbelieving Jews? No. Why? Were not the evidences clear enough, and the circumstances sufficiently attested? They were incontrovertibly so: and yet so far were the Jews from believing, that they became more enraged; and from that hour conspired against the life both of Lazarus and Christ!

After all, many are desirous of seeing an inhabitant of the other world, or they wish to converse with one to know what passes there. Curiosity and infidelity are as insatiable as they are unreasonable Here, however, God steps out of the common way to indulge them. You wish to see a disembodied spirit? — Make way! — Here is a damned soul, which Christ has evoked from the hell of fire! Hear him! Hear him tell of his torments! Hear him utter his anguish! Listen to the sighs and groans which are wrung from his soul by the tortures he endures! Hear him asking for a drop of water to cool his burning tongue! Telling you that he is tormented in that flame; and warning you to repent, that you come not into that place of torture! How solemn is this warning! How awful this voice! — “But where is he? — We cannot see him!” It is true you cannot see him: God in his mercy has spared you this punishment for the present. How could you bear the sight of this damned spirit? Your strength would be dissolved, and your nature fail at the appearance. To alarm, to convince, and to save you if possible, the merciful Christ keeps him, as it were, behind the veil, and holds a conversation with him in your hearing: — a conversation which you have neither faith nor courage sufficient to hold with him yourselves. And now that this awful conversation is ended, permit me to

* Saurin. Sur Ta suffisance de la Revelation.

3Q HISTORY OF THE

reassert, that if you hear not Moses and the prophets, Christ and his apostles, you will not be persuaded even by the heart-rending and soul-appalling accents of this reprobate spirit, who has spoken to you from among the dead.

From what has been said, we may draw the following inferences . — Thepojor and the rich meet together, and, God is the maker of both: it is as much through the appointment of his wise and gracious providence that one man is deprived of the necessaries of life, as it is that another enjoys affluence. He who has assigned the bounds of their habitation has also determined the proportion of earthly good which each shall enjoy. The poor is in the state best for him; the rich is where he may have every opportunity of saving his soul, and honouring God with his substance. If each improve the advantages of his situation, the result will be his own eternal happiness, and God’s glory.

2. That the end of all things is at hand: the end of all the temporal evil endured by the godly; and the end of all the temporal good possessed by the wicked. The rich need not exult in his possessions, for he shall soon leave them: and the poor need not murmur because of his afflictions, for they shall soon terminate. Every state is sanctified to a man, if he devote himself to God in it; and then all occurrences shall work together for his good.

3. That riches generally are a snare: not necessarily so in themselves, but because men are so prone to rest satisfied with earthly good, and to forget their souls, while it is in their power to gratify their sensual appetites. — Therefore, he who possesses them should hold them with a trembling hand, and live under the constant influence of self denial, lest the portion God has given him in life be all the good he is to receive to all eternity. Men often, by their perversity and attachment to sensible thing, provoke Divine Justice to poison their enjoyments, and to curse their blessings.

4. That they who live in pleasure are dead while they live ,• a voluptuous life is not only unfriendly to the interests of the soul, but absolutely precludes the possibility of salvation. Had the rich man in the text not indulged his appetite by his daily sumptuous fare, his stupid soul might have at last hungered and thirsted after righteousness, and been eternally satisfied with God as its portion.

5. That however innocently a man may have lived here below, he cannot expect to be saved, if he have not made God his portion, and been useful in his generation: the rich man is tormented in yonder flames, not because he was a monster of iniquity, for even the Judge of quick and dead lays not this to his charge: but because he lived a godless, useless life. He received a large portion of God’s property, a sufficiency of which was allotted to himself, and the rest was entrusted to him for the benefit of the poor; but in faring sumptuously every day, he neglected to make himself friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; and when he would have done it, it was out of his power. Let no man, therefore, neglect to do good, while it is in the power of his hand to do it.

6. He that humbleth himself shall be exalted, and he that exalteth himself shall be abased: the afflicted pious beggar is raised from the dunghill, and set among the princes of God’s people; while the ungodly rich man is thrust down into hell. How true is the saying, “Riches, profit not in the day of wrath!”

7. That when a man dies, his state is irreversibly fixed; and as no man knows what a moment may bring forth, all should prepare to meet their God. The means of salvation are in every man’s power: — they have Moses and the prophets, Christ and the apostles, let them hear them. The general voice is, He who confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall find mercy: he who believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ shall not perish, but have everlasting life; but he that believeth not shall perish.

Reader! Death approaches. Eternity is at hand, and the Judge is at the door! Thou shalt speedily be numbered with the dead! Hast thou forsaken thy sin, and repented of thine iniquity? Hast thou found redemption in the blood of the New Covenant? Can thy heart rejoice in hope of the glory of God? Art thou a lover of money? of dress, high living, and worldly honours? then the love of the Father is not in thee; and if thou die in this state* because thou hast neglected a great salvation; because God is just, and thou art guilty; because he is pure, and thou art unholy; and because no human spirit can ever find happiness but in union with God, the Fountain of it, and thou art unfit for that union, because unlike thy Maker; therefore, thou must perish! — But thou hast yet a little time: — thy day of probation is not yet ended: — thou art still within the reach of the utmost salvation of God: — Hear the groans of this damned soul, and be alarmed! Hear the merciful voice of the Lord Jesus, and be encouraged. Cast aside thy sins, come unto him, and believe on his name, and thou shalt not perish, but have everlasting life!

Manchester Nov. 27, 1 803.