The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus contains some of the most searching and sobering words ever spoken by the Lord Jesus. The truths highlighted here, in a very vivid manner, are especially suited to awaken, sober and impress upon our minds the surpassing importance of the things of eternity and of the spiritual state of our souls before God. Jesus, the master teacher, the one who claimed to be sent to us by the Father from the world beyond, and who is embraced by Christians as the eternal Son of God, actually describes here the experience and feelings of the lost after death. He also brings before our minds several very basic and fundamental issues we can easily forget, try to avoid or not think about as often as we should. The story speaks about hell, that awful, terrible place. It speaks about a division among men between those who go there and those who go to heaven. And it also has some very important things to say to us about the importance of the Bible as the means God has appointed to reveal to men the way of salvation. These are all vital issues in our day and really in every time in history.

Author

Jeffery Smith has been a full time pastor since 1990, including planting a church in upstate South Carolina in 1994, where he served as a pastor for over 15 years. In 2009 he accepted a call to serve as a pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church, Coconut Creek, Fl., where he still serves. In addition to his regular pastoral responsibilities, Jeff speaks occasionally at various conferences and serves on the governing board and faculty of Reformed Baptist Seminary. He has been involved in ministerial and theological training in the U.S., Dominican Republic, the Far East, and Colombia.

Endorsements

Honestly, which would you rather be, a Christian beggar or a non- Christian billionaire? How you answer shows a lot about what you really believe. Jeff Smith opens up one of Christ’s most revealing teachings about life after death, and not only shows us the right answer, but gives us reasons to embrace it (and Christ) with all our hearts.

- Dr. Joel R. Beeke, President, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan

We are told that Jonathan Edwards prayed, “Lord, stamp eternity on my eyeballs!” He wanted a pressing sense of heaven and hell—an ‘eschatological edge’ to his thinking, feeling, willing, preaching, and living. Jeff Smith’s excellent little book will bring heaven and hell before your soul and stamp eternity on your eyeballs. With profound compassion, scriptural insight, and unflinching honesty, the author speaks directly to the reader through these pages to convince, rebuke, and exhort. In an age that too often assumes heaven and denies hell, this book provides a powerful and heartfelt corrective.

- Jeremy Walker, pastor of Maidenbower Baptist Church, Crawley

We should avail ourselves of any book, sermon, or conversation that sets the realities of eternity before us and pleads with us to respond. This brief work does just that. The book is not only doctrinal, but also pastoral and evangelistic. Although the author writes much of hell, it is clearly a means to an end—he longs for his hearers to flee from the wrath to come and embrace Christ by faith. Although this book sets forth the doctrine of hell clearly and emphatically, it is primarily a book about the gospel and the sufficiency of the Scriptures! It will convict and motivate pastors to think and preach on eternity. It will encourage believers to live their lives in the light of Christ’s work and the world’s need. It will warn the unconverted about the dangers of hell and instruct them in the free offer of grace. Finally, this book will be a most beneficial read for those brought up in a Christian home who demonstrate little reality of Christ.

- Paul David Washer, Heartcry

Jeffery Smith is a gifted preacher and writer. In his new work, The Rich Man and Lazarus, he faithfully opens up a well-known text of Scripture and makes us to feel the realities of it in a practical and pastoral way. Here is a book to give to your unsaved friends. It is also one to read yourself. For in it, you will be edified and motivated to reach out to the lost around you. This compact volume will sit next to my all-time favorite book, An Alarm to the Unconverted, and will continually remind me to “do the work of an evangelist.” I highly recommend it.

- Pastor Rob Ventura, Grace Community Baptist Church, North Providence, RI, co-author of A Portrait of Paul and Spiritual