Luke 16:25—“thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things …”

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 lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence (Luke 16:24-26).

COMMON GRACE ARGUMENT:

The rich man in hell is said to have possessed many good gifts from God. Surely this is a sign that he, a reprobate, was an object of God’s grace or favour?

(I)

Rev. Martyn McGeown

[Source: sermon—“Inexcusable Unbelief from Hell” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKsX2MiUzoQ)]

We see [in Luke 16] how the “good things” were not blessings for the rich man. Oh yes, God gave him many good gifts in His providence. But they did not come to him in His love, or His mercy, or His grace. This man received good things—an abundance of good things—but he received them in God’s wrath. This man was a son of hell and a child of wrath. To reference Psalm 73, God had, by means of these good things, placed this man in “slippery places” so that he had slid “down into destruction” (cf. vv. 18-19).

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(II)

More to come! (DV)