Thread: "Jesus said unto him, If you will be perfect, go and sell that you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions." Matthew 19:21, 22
"Jesus said unto him, If you will be perfect, go and sell that you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions." Matthew 19:21, 22
Posted : 26 Sep, 2011 01:02 PM
There cannot, perhaps, be a position, however peculiar and difficult, in which the believer may be placed, but he will find that Jesus, either by precept or example, has defined the path in which he should walk. The subject of this meditation pointedly and solemnly addresses itself to the rich. Circumstanced as you are by the providence of God, you have need closely and prayerfully to ascertain how, in your situation, Jesus walked. One of the peculiar snares to which your station exposes you is high-mindedness, and consequent self-trust and complacency. But here the Lord Jesus presents Himself as your example. He, too, was rich; creating all things, He possessed all things. The Creator of all worlds, all worlds were at His command. Yet, amazing truth! in the days of His humiliation, He was as though He possessed not�"Though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor." In view of such an illustrious pattern, what is your duty? Simple and obvious. You are in a degree to become poor, by devoting your substance to the glory of God. To amass wealth, for the purpose of hoarding it, is contrary to the spirit of the gospel, and is opposed to the teaching and example of Christ. It is a sin, an awful, a soul-periling sin. Your property is a talent, for which, as a steward, you are as certainly and as solemnly accountable to God as for any other. It is, perhaps, the one talent that He has given you. What if you bury it in covetousness and parsimony, or in a prodigal expenditure and self-indulgence, refusing to relax your grasp of it to promote His cause and truth, who became poor to enrich us, how will you meet His scrutiny and His glance when the judgment is set, and He demands an account of your stewardship? Nor is it a small, though perhaps a solitary talent. Bestowed upon but few, the obligation becomes the greater to consecrate it unreservedly to the Lord. And how can you withhold it in view of the claims which crowd upon you on either hand? What! are you at a loss for a channel through which your benevolence might flow? Are you inquiring, "How shall I devote my property to God? In what way may this, my one talent, best answer the end for which it is bestowed?" Cast your eye around you�surely you cannot long hesitate. Survey the map of Christian missions�is there no part of Christ's kingdom languishing through an inadequacy of pecuniary support? Is there no important enterprise impeded in its course of benevolence by the lack of funds? No useful society discouraged and crippled through the narrowness and insufficiency of its resources? Is there no important sphere of labor in your vicinity neglected, no spot in the moral wilderness entirely untilled, because the means to supply an effective agency have been lacking? Is there no faithful, hard-working minister of Christ within your knowledge and your reach, combating with straitened circumstances, oppressed by poverty, and toiling amid lonely care, embarrassment, and anxiety, studiously and delicately screened from human eye, which it is in your power to alleviate and remove? Is there no widow's heart you could make to sing for joy? no orphan, whose tears you could dry? no saint of God tried by sickness, or need, or imprisonment, from whose spirit you could lift the burden, and from whose heart you could chase the sorrow, and from whose feet you could strike the fetter? Surely a world of need, and woe, and suffering is before you, nor need you yield to a moment's hesitation in selecting the object around which your charity should entwine.
Here, then, is your example. Jesus became poor, lived poor, and died poor. Dare you die a rich man�an affluent professor? I beseech you ponder this question. If your Lord has left you an example that you should follow His steps, then you are called upon to become poor, to live poor, even to die poor for Him. Especially are you exhorted to rejoice in that, by the grace of God, you are made low. That in the midst of so much calculated to nourish the pride and lofty independence of the natural heart, you have been made to know your deep spiritual poverty, and as a sinner have been brought to the feet of Jesus. By that grace only can you be kept low. Here is your only security. Here wealth invests its possessor with no real power or greatness. It confers no moral or intellectual glory. It insures not against the inroad of evil. It throws around no shield. It may impart a measure of artificial importance, authority, and influence in the world's estimation; beyond this, what is it? Unsanctified by Divine grace, it entails upon its unhappy possessor an innumerable train of evils. As a Christian man, then, exposed to the snares of even a moderate degree of worldly prosperity, your only security is in drawing largely from the "exceeding riches of Christ's grace;" your true wealth is in the fear of God ruling in your heart, in the love of Christ constraining you to "lie low in a low place;" to bear the cross daily; to walk closely, obediently, and humbly with God; employing the property with which He has entrusted you as a faithful steward; your eye ever "looking unto Jesus" as your pattern. You "know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ"�the rich, the amazing, the sovereign, the free grace of Jesus, to which you owe all that is precious and glorious in the prospect of eternity�let this grace, then, accomplish its perfect work in you, by leading you to glory only in Jesus, to yield yourself supremely to His service, and to regard the worldly wealth God has conferred upon you as valuable only as it promotes His kingdom, truth, and glory, who "though rich, for your sakes became poor, that you, through His poverty, might be made rich."
"Jesus said unto him, If you will be perfect, go and sell that you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions." Matthew 19:21, 22
Posted : 26 Sep, 2011 01:43 PM
Great Post JLDRN!!
HEAVENLY TREASURES AND ETERNAL REWARDS:
Ephesians 4:28: "Work so that you:rolleyes: may have something to share with those in need!"
James 4:3: �When you ask you do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures!"
In the old covenant God's commandments were only preached to Jews but in the New Covenant Jesus commands us to preach to every nation in the world teaching them to obey *EVERYTHING* He commanded and everything would also include all of the approximately 400 NT commandments also taught in Acts to Revelation {See 2 Timothy 3-16 to 4:2.}
Jesus also eliminated the earthly rewards for faithful service and commanded us to sell our possessions and give to the poor and get *TREASURES IN HEAVEN* and **THEN** come follow Him.
Luke 12:33,34: Jesus says, �Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted....For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.�
Matthew 20:20-24: �All these {Commandments} I have kept, the young man said. �What do I still lack?� Jesus answered, �If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. **THEN** come, follow Me.� When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Then Jesus says, �It is hard for a rich man to enter the *KINGDOM OF HEAVEN*. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the *KINGDOM OF GOD*.�
Luke 6:20: Jesus says �Blessed are you who are *POOR*, for *YOURS* is the *KINGDOM OF GOD*.�:applause:
2 Corinthians 6:4-10: As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance, in troubles, hardships and distresses, in beatings, imprisonments; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love, in truthful speech and in the power of God; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; dying, and yet we live on; beaten and yet not killed; *POOR*, yet making many rich; *HAVING NOTHING*; and yet possessing everything.�:applause::peace:
I Timothy 6:5-10: There are men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain....If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.�
Unfortunately there are many who teach the Satanic Prosperity Gospel such as Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland who teach the exact opposite of what Jesus commanded in His New Covenant.
John 12:48: Jesus says, "There is a Judge for the one who does not accept My Words; that very Word which I spoke will condemn him at the Last Day."
I John 2:3-5: " We know that we have come to know Him {Jesus} *IF* we obey His commands. The man who says, "I know Him," but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys His Word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in Him!!":applause::angel::peace:
The early saints followed the commands of Jesus and the NT Covenant:
Acts 2:44,45: "*ALL* the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need." Acts 4:32: "*ALL* the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.":angel:
