Enough Light for Those Who Desire to See
Luke 16:27–31
"…He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' "'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"
Mathematician Blaise Pascal once wrote, "there is enough light for those who only desire to see, and enough obscurity for those who have a contrary disposition." The Bible says there are those who even suppress the truth (Rom 1:18). There are times that God will honour their free choice and "give them over to their sinful desires" like the rich man in the parable. However, we cannot simply assume. God has given enough signs, though many of even His chosen people have rejected, through Moses and the prophets and "in the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent, for He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead" (Acts 17:30–31). The resurrection of Jesus Christ remains the most important piece of evidence for the Good News of God's Great Love (John 3:16), and we are called to stand in that very chasm father Abraham talks of, between the spiritually living and the dead. We are called to care for all and intercede for Christ. British theologian J. Sidlow Baxter said that people may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers."
"…He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' "'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"
Mathematician Blaise Pascal once wrote, "there is enough light for those who only desire to see, and enough obscurity for those who have a contrary disposition." The Bible says there are those who even suppress the truth (Rom 1:18). There are times that God will honour their free choice and "give them over to their sinful desires" like the rich man in the parable. However, we cannot simply assume. God has given enough signs, though many of even His chosen people have rejected, through Moses and the prophets and "in the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent, for He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead" (Acts 17:30–31). The resurrection of Jesus Christ remains the most important piece of evidence for the Good News of God's Great Love (John 3:16), and we are called to stand in that very chasm father Abraham talks of, between the spiritually living and the dead. We are called to care for all and intercede for Christ. British theologian J. Sidlow Baxter said that people may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers."
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