What is the meaning of Luke 16:28? I have five brothers The rich man, already fixed in his eternal state, still cares about his family on earth. Death has not erased his identity, memories, or affections. Scripture presents post-mortem consciousness just this way. • Hebrews 9:27—“people are appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment.” • Luke 23:42–43 shows the thief on the cross immediately aware of Christ and Paradise. • 2 Samuel 12:23 reflects David’s confidence of future reunion with his deceased child. Together these passages confirm that earthly relationships remain real in our memories, even though our eternal destinies are set. Let him warn them The rich man begs that Lazarus be sent back to testify. He knows his brothers need clear, urgent warning while there is still time to repent. God’s pattern has always been to send messengers: • Ezekiel 33:7—“I have made you a watchman… so you must warn them from Me.” • Luke 24:47—repentance and forgiveness are to “be proclaimed in His name to all nations.” • Acts 17:30–31—God “commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has set a day when He will judge the world.” The request underscores the role of believers today: lovingly speak truth before the door of opportunity closes. So that they will not also The phrase reveals the rich man’s dread that others might share his fate. Hell is not a symbolic idea but a real destination to be avoided at all costs. Scripture echoes this divine desire that none should perish: • John 3:17—God sent His Son “that the world might be saved through Him.” • 1 Timothy 2:4—God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” • 2 Peter 3:9—He is “patient… not wanting anyone to perish.” Yet the same passages make clear that salvation is only through conscious faith and repentance before death. End up in this place of torment Jesus describes hell as an actual place of unending agony. The intensity of the rich man’s plea hinges on the reality of judgment. • Matthew 25:46—“They will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” • Mark 9:48—where “their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.” • Revelation 20:15—anyone not in the Book of Life is “thrown into the lake of fire.” This is not corrective discipline but irreversible, conscious torment. The certainty of such judgment magnifies both God’s holiness and the grace offered now in Christ. summary Luke 16:28 shows a man in hell begging that his still-living brothers be warned while there is time. The verse affirms: • Personal identity and memory continue after death. • Urgent witness is essential; people must be warned and invited to repent now. • God truly desires that none experience hell, yet judgment is real and eternal. The passage calls every believer to speak the gospel plainly, convinced that eternity hangs in the balance. |
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