Red Letters: The New Mercy Seat - Pastor Josiah Elias

We were blessed by the testimony of Francesca, one of our own at Faith Chapel. Francesca told her story about leaving the world of lesbianism, a powerful story of transformation. Today she is living a life that follows scriptures and honors the Lord. Give God the Glory!

Mission: Culture Like Christ

Vision: Jesus

Pastor Josiah reminded us that our last time together he spoke of finances and stewardship, calling us to be obedient to and trust the Lord. In Luke 16, Jesus was speaking to the pharisees, who dearly loved money. We were reminded to be faithful in all things. 

As we continue in Luke 16:19, Jesus is speaking to the same audience. He often speaks in parables, but in this case, it is not clear if it is a parable or a true story. As it is the only story that he uses specific names, it may be a true event. 

“There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and

who lived each day in luxury.”  

He’s speaking about stewardship to the pharisees who felt that wealth was a sign that God favored you

and that poverty was a sign of God’s judgement on you. This is not entirely true, as we covered previously.

But is there a realm of blessing that can have finances attached to it? Of course there can be. And is there a realm of circumstances that can be negative, and God is behind it teaching us in our walk of life? Of course that’s true. But you cannot subscribe across the board that just because someone is wealthy they are blessed and just because they are poor they are not favored. 

Luke 16:20-21 “At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.”

The poor man was outside the gate, specifically targeting the rich man. The rich man couldn’t turn a blind eye. He had to see the man.

Luke 16:22 “Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and his soul went to the place of the dead.”

Though we have no explanation about the rich man’s death, we know that life is short. Death comes to us all at some point. How we live our life really does matter. We all face death and what comes after we die. 

If asked “what if you are wrong about your beliefs? Pastor Josiah answered, “if I’m wrong, I know that I was kind and loving and lived a good life. When I die, I will be dust. But, if you are wrong and have to stand before God and have heard the Gospel and chosen to reject it, the consequences are eternal.”

We want to preach the Gospel as clearly as possible and bring as many as we can to Jesus!

The poor man died and was carried to be with Abraham. This is the place called Abraham’s Bosom.  Abraham’s Bosom was the place where the righteous dead rested in fellowship with the Lord’s faithful before Christ’s sacrifice. There were many faithful ones that were faithful to the Lord before Jesus had ever shown up on earth. Jesus has been there since the beginning, but before he was born on earth and died for us, there were lots of people who were faithful to the Lord. In John 1, “the Word became flesh.” Before he came to earth in flesh and died and shed His blood, Abraham, Jaccob, Elijah and all of the many men and women were faithful to the Lord.  When you die, you slip outside of time. When these faithful ones died thousands of years ago, does time feel like a day or like thousands of years? We don’t know. 

Those faithful ones are often referred to as righteous. In Romans 4:3, Paul tells us that “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” What did he discover about being made right with God? Good deeds were not what made him righteous. That is not God’s way. Faith is the only avenue to righteousness. Romans 4:5 says, “But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.”

Romans 4:20-25 tells of Abraham, who never waivered in his faith and brought glory to God. “When God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded for our benefit too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him.” God saw someone this side of the cross and counted him righteous. Faith is the only avenue to righteousness.

If your righteousness was only based on our works, we are all in trouble! All have sinned and fell short.

It can’t come by something you earned, because none are perfect! If you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you are righteous!

In Isaiah 64:6, it says, “we are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, 

they are nothing but filthy rags.” Your righteous deeds and our righteous deeds are nothing. 

Romans 5:18 “Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. 19 Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.” That’s the Gospel in a nutshell. Adam messed it up and you and I didn’t get a chance to make a choice! But Jesus!

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” There’s a big if there…therefore IF anyone is in Christ. When you put your faith in Christ, you actually become in Christ. We call it the IN HIM Dimension. Dimension is a place where you actually live. It’s a step and reality for you as you put your faith in Christ. 

2 Corinthians 5:21”For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  In simple terms: Your righteousness couldn’t get you there. Jesus went to the cross and if you put your faith in Him, he gives you His perfect righteousness. 

You are either perfectly righteous or not righteous at all. There is no middle ground. You are either unrighteous – which means no faith in Jesus Christ, or you put your faith in Jesus Christ, in which case you are perfectly righteous! When he looks down on me, am I perfect? – no! Have I made mistakes, done dumb things?-yes! Someone might argue that I’m not righteous. There is a difference in behavior and actual status. When the Father sees me, even in all of my brokenness, He says, “righteous”, because the blood covers all. The blood set you free!

Romans 3:23 “For everyone has sinned: we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet, God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past.”

God was being fair by not punishing the faithful ones who were in Abraham’s Bosom waiting for Jesus sacrifice. He was being patient with those, who weren’t perfect, but lived before the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. The word sacrifice (Greek hilasterion) was used only twice in the New Testament. It means propitiation, or mercy seat. The mercy seat was the cover of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies.

It was sprinkled with blood of the sacrificed animal on the annual day of atonement, to atone for the sins of the Jewish people. Jesus shed His blood and says no more sacrifices were needed, because He gave His blood to cover sin. Jesus is the new mercy seat, the ultimate atonement for mankind’s sin.

The Gospel may not always be easy to live out, but it is certainly simple. It’s not complex when you can understand that we were separated from God and put our faith in Him. This had to happen so that the faithful in Abraham’s Bosom could have their sins fully atoned. In the story in Luke 16, Jesus was still with them. He was looking ahead, including them in what would be done. All of this was to understand why there was Abraham’s Bosom. 

Luke 16:22 “Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and his soul went to the place of the dead.” In Biblical thought, there was paradise where righteous went and also segments of Hades, the realm of the dead. It was commonly believed in Jewish tradition that there were sections for “righteous, moderately righteous, wicked and the very wicked.” 

Luke 16:23 “There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.” The rich man

asked for Lazarus to be sent with water. It’s ironic that he asked Lazarus, someone who had begged him for water in life and probably been denied. Luke 6:45 says “For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Be careful what you say. Make sure that what is coming out of our lips is truly what is in our heart. James 3:6 says “the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness.” Beware how you talk. Be careful that your wants and desires don’t become your ticket to destruction. There is nothing wrong with nice things, but our desires and wants must be in alignment with God’s will. The rich man had a beautiful mansion but neglected the needs of the poor outside his door. 

Then, the rich man wanted Lazarus to be sent to warn his brothers about the place of torment. He thought that they would change their ways if they knew. As Abraham said in Luke 16:31, “If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even if someone rises from the dead.” Fear of Hell isn’t a great motivator to enter into a relationship with God. Love is the best motivator. Do we walk in faith because we’ve fallen in love with God or because we don’t want to go to Hell? Did I ask my wife to marry me because I love her, or because I’m afraid of being alone? Fear and love are like oil and water. Perfect love casts out all fear. Some people in the church probably came to Christ because of the “hell” tactic. But if you are only here today to stay out of hell, you will miss so much of the relationship with Christ. Fall in love with Him. Take on His nature. Declare the promises of God over your life. Jesus didn’t tell his disciples what not to aim at. He taught his disciples what to aim at.  Know what to aim at, not what to avoid.

 Pastor Josiah said when he is golfing, if he just concentrates on missing the traps, he will hit the traps!

Aim at something, it’s a different way to live!

In Matthew 27 it tells of many dead rising after the death of Jesus. Still, so many people doubted. Even when Jesus rose from the dead, he was doubted. We all have a choice to determine what we believe. We still have time. We have today.  2 Corinthians 6:1 “As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. 2 At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.”  

Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation. As said before, you can’t get there by works, but only by faith. This story of Lazarus can remind us of much. As we learned from chapter 16, are you faithful to the Lord? Live the life that honors God. Death will come knocking. Will we make the choice to give our life to Jesus?

Submitted by Debby Jarrell