What
shall you give to the poor,
in
order to gain treasure for yourself in heaven?
(Later
we will learn the
answer to the above question in Matthew
11:5)
Christ is now going to tell the
young rich man
what to do about what he
"lacks",
which is "perfection" which means maturity
in the Word
of God.
Take note of the word "IF" used
again in this verse for
it is a matter of choice...
your choice!
Matthew 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Unfortunately,
this statement went right over the head of the rich man,
as
it does with most Christians who are blinded by the traditions of men.
Even the disciples did not
think this
out on the spiritual level Christ was explaining,
which is simply the
same thing He stated
before which was IF the
man
truly wanted to be
"perfect", complete
and mature,
then he needed to
keep the commandments,
which is to do God's
will.
All Christ is doing now is expounding
upon the will of God,
which is to do the
work His servants
were sent here to do... which is what?
Pop quiz time again!
Remember
Mat. 13?
Go "sell all you have"
and purchase
the field full of spiritual riches and that pearl of great price.
Matthew 13:44
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the
which when a man hath found, he hideth,
and for joy thereof
goeth
and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field."
Then, once
he or she "is instructed
unto the kingdom of heaven"
that servant becomes
as an householder
and is to take of
that precious treasure
and bring it forth to their household!
Matthew 13:52 "Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old."
Again, what does a true servant of God do?
Does a
servant of God spend most of
his or her time going to church
and helping out with
all sorts of good
charities
like raising money
and canned goods
to feed the poor?
Don't get
me wrong,
there is nothing
wrong with helping
people who are down and out,
as long as those who
are down and out
are intent
on raising
themselves back up to the
level of self-sufficiency.
And it goes
without saying that the
handicapped
and those who are
unable to provide
for themselves are another matter.
However,
just giving money to the poor
does not help the
poor beyond the moment.
The old
adage
"Give a man a fish
and you feed him
for a day,
but teach a man how
to fish and you
feed for a lifetime"
is true indeed.
Do-gooder
liberals like to feel good
(and righteous) by giving of their possessions,
or better yet giving
of yours (like
your tax dollars or charitable donations)
to those who are
willing to play the
roles of victims and accept freebies and handouts.
Many there
are who are infected with
the social disease "Itsnotmyfaultism".
True Christians
accept responsibility
and pay their own way.
Now let's go back and reread what Christ said to the rich man.
Matthew 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
What
is it that the man was to "give to the poor"?
All his material
goods that he possessed?
Again, will
giving material goods to
the poor
"lay up treasure in
heaven" for you?
No, it will not!
The poor are to
have the precious pearls of wisdom and truth
given to them
by those who possess the keys to the kingdom.
Because
you see,
Christ
is not talking about the materially poor
but
rather the spiritually poor,
the
poor in spirit!
Hello!
What is it that makes one rich and gives one life?
It is the Living Word of God, the gospel of truth!
Matthew 11:5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
What has the subject
been all along here?
Salvation to
the poor, to the blind, to the lame,
to those LOST
children of the house of Israel
who wander blindly
to and fro in the wilderness.
Christ came to save the lost!
Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
Jesus
Christ paid the price on the cross
to make all of this possible.
Let us continue the
good news
and the giving
to the poor the precious pearls of His truth
that they may
come to know Him and be set free.
The "meek" to
whom the "good tidings", i.e. the gospel,
are preached
are the "poor" in spirit, not
the materially
poor.
Remember we
read of those materially
rich people of Laodicea (Rev.
3:14-19)
who "art wretched,
and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked"
indeed!
In
contrast, those of the church of
Smyrna (Rev. 2:8-11)
who are one of the
only two churches
out the seven found pleasing to Christ
for the works they
do in keeping His
Word, are just the opposite.
In other
words,
they may not
be materially rich but they are spiritually rich!
Rev. 2:9 "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich)..."
We could go
on and on covering again
what the
"kingdom of God is
like unto"
but the fact is that
one cannot have
his or her heart set on studying and teaching Father's Word
and still be
consumed with coveting
the material things of this world.
Remember we
learned that one cannot
serve both God and mammon.
One or the other as
a matter of
priority has to go.
Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Which will
it be for you?
You see, what the
rich man served was
the god of gold and silver,
so what he really
needed to "sell"
was the idol,
the golden image in
his head,
and "buy of Him gold
tried in the fire"
that he might become
rich spiritually!
Then he could give to the poor of those riches and lay up store for himself in heaven.
Matthew 6:19-21 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
The young rich man was consumed (as in coveted) with laying up treasures on earth.
[20] But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
If
your heart is in giving
the true spiritual
riches of His Word to the poor,
then
you shall lay up treasures for yourself in heaven.
The ironic
part is,
that those who love
bringing forth
out of their treasure
the new and old
riches to their household,
do not do so for the
purpose of laying
up treasure in heaven.
They do it
because they love the Lord
and they love their
brothers and sisters
who are held in
bondage by man's traditions.
The question for
all to ask,
"Where's your
own heart?"
This is the
generation wherein Jeshurun
waxes fat (Deut. 32:15),
meaning that it is a
time of peace
and prosperity.
Many do not
realize that peace and prosperity
brings about a
greater spiritual testing
(a greater tribulation)
than do times of war
and conflict.
In other words,
people are real
quick to turn to God
when they find
themselves frightened in a foxhole
or in danger
from hanging upside-down in a well.
But when
they are safe and warm and
fat and happy with money in the bank
and a fancy car in
the driveway,
they are quick to
turn
from God!
That is the
story of this generation
as outlined in the
Song of Moses
which the overcomers
sing in Rev. 15.
Here's how the sad story goes:
Deut. 32:15 "But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of His salvation."
And so it is our
people in times of peace and prosperity
are drawn away
from the Word of God
and do lightly
esteem the Rock of His salvation,
Jesus Christ.
Again,
where is your
heart?
What is foremost on your mind everyday when you wake up?
[21] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
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