"THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND WEALTH"
The sixth chapter of Matthew contains a signi-
ficant portion of the "Sermon on the Mount," by
our Lord Jesus Christ. This sermon takes up the
fifth, sixth and seventh chapters of this Gospel
and is probably some of our Lord's most revered
and "difficult" standards. The truth expressed in
these passages of God's Word holds followers of
Jesus Christ to higher levels of commitment than
anything previously published in Scripture. We
will consider one principle addressed, from Mt.
6: 19-24.
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon
earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves break through and steal.
"But lay up for yourselves treasures in hea-
ven, where neither moth nor rust doth cor-
rupt, and where thieves do not break
through nor steal." (Matthew 6: 19-20)
"But they that will be rich fall into temptation
and a snare, and into many foolish and hurt-
ful lusts, which drown men in destruction and
perdition. For the love of money is the root of
all evil: which while some coveted after, they
have pierced themselves through with many
sorrows." 1 Timothy 6: 9-10
In Proverbs 28:11, we find; "The rich man is
wise in his own conceits, but the poor that hath
understanding searcheth him out."
The Scripture, Old and New Testaments has
several references to the negative effects of
riches on persons who would follow Christ.
The negatives concern the attitude one has as
he faces just what he will do for riches and if
one is willing to sacrifice personal righteous-
ness in that pursuit. There are certain things
one is able to do, good things, with wealth,
but it seems a rare blessing, indeed, to find a
person willing to use his wealth in service to
people in need around him. That is what our
Lord requires of the one He has blessed with
the riches of this world.
This, however; does not let us off the hook.
Although you or I may not be so blessed, is
it not still incumbent upon each of us to have
the same attitude? Since every blessing from
our Lord brings with it a responsibility, it is
no less a charge from our Lord, to share in
the poverty, loss or grief of anyone with whom
we come into contact. Since we are so blessed,
we must comfort those we know, who suffer or
or are disadvantaged. We share the blessing
and comfort of the Lord on us, with them.
(2 Corinthians 1: 4)
"But thou, O man of God, flee these things;
and follow after righteousness, godliness,
faith, love, patience, meekness...
God bless you and keep you in the faith of
our Lord Jesus Christ; with no faith in mate-
rial things of this World System.
donporter, sr 9.03.16
"THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND CHARITY"
In Matthew 6: 1 - 4, we discover how to perform
deeds of charity to persons who are in need of our
help. The Lord God has specific conditions we must
meet in verse 1, that determines whether we will be
blessed in doing good deeds..(Matthew 6: 1-4) One
definition of "blessed," is knowing the good and the
doing of it." A primary benefit of blessing is know-
ing the blessing of our Lord will accomplish that
or Lord intends. Work in this vein will be multi-
plied in a way that we may be aware the Lord God
is the doer.
We are HIS instruments in the doing.
"Take heed that you do not do your charitable
deeds before men, to be seen of them. Other-
wise you have no reward from your Father in
Heaven.
Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do
not sound a trumpet before you as the hypo-
crites do in the synagogues and in the streets.
that they may be seen of men. Assuredly I say
to you, they have their reward.
But when you do a charitable deed, do not let
your left hand know what your right hand is
doing that your charitable deed may be in sec-
ret: and your Father, who sees in secret, will
Himself reward you openly."
" THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND PRAYER"
"And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as
the hypocrites are, for they love to pray stan-
ding in the synagogues and in the corners of
the streets, that they may be seen of men.
Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy clo-
set, and when thou has shut thy door, pray to
thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father
which seeth in secret, will reward thee openly."
Matthew 6: 5-6
The way prayer is practiced, in public, today,
gives one pause as we read this one verse from
Matthew. Praying in public seems to be, to say
the least, risky. While the teaching of Jesus might
be interpreted as an outright prohibition against
praying publicly, it seems the church, as a rule,
does not follow that line. When you parse words
here we see Jewish leaders actually prayed aloud
in order to be heard/seen of men and the content
of prayers was largely dictated by the hearers. It
is certainly possible prayer today is influenced of
such factors.
What then, do we learn from Matthew. Since our
Lord, in his Word condemns public displays of a
kind that might be construed to promote the appa-
rent "Holiness" of the individual, on display... We
must be careful to abide by the letter of the advice
as well as the spirit of the information. Chapter 6
of Matthew condemns Pharisees for such. Are we
not held to a higher standard than they? Let's be
circumspect in our worship and keep our focus on
the one whom we worship and away from the one
who worships.
donporter,sr 9.05.16 edited 9.06.16
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