Things, Things, Things

Things, Things, Things – Samuel Chadwick

Luke 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

I have ceased to wonder that Jesus Christ was crucified. For many years it was impossible to imagine how men could so misunderstand and hate Him . But a fuller understanding of His teaching and wider knowledge of the world have led me to the conclusion that there is only one end to a ministry like His – and that is a Cross.

There are woes enough in these two chapters to account for all that happened. He unmasked iniquity where it was least suspected, and attacked the vices of the wealthy and powerful in terms of liquid fire;
He shocked and angered the most religious people of his time; called them ’whited sepulchers’, and defied their traditions; He hurled woe upon woe in all directions. His own friends understood Him but little better than His enemies.

A man, perhaps a follower, has been wronged by his brother, and appeals to this preacher of righteousness to secure him his rights. Instead, He rebukes the petitioner, and asks, Who made Me a judge or a divider over you? Disappointment was inevitable. To preach sternly and then refuse the responsibility of practical application to particular cases always brings provocation.

The explanation of His attitude is plain enough now. He came to establish a world-wide spiritual kingdom. He laid down principles that are universal, not precepts which were local. He sought to correct the dispositions of men rather than to secure their rights. He would destroy wrong, not by direct attacks upon vice, but by saving the sinner. That is His method. A new world through a renewed humanity. So here, instead of interfering in the quarrel, He reads the motive behind the appeal, and warns against covetousness. He detects the undue eagerness to gain possessions, and corrects the false estimate of the things of this world. And in so doing incidentally states one of the profoundest truths concerning the true philosophy of life. ’A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth.’

To the world things are everything. It longs for them, works for them, fights for them, lies for them, lives for them. Its one ambition is to possess abundance of things. To secure them it will pay any price, endure any hardship, suffer any obloquy, sacrifice any thing. Its homage and its envy are reserved for those who have the most things. It never troubles about how they got them, nor what they do with them, it is enough that they have won for themselves piles of things!

The cry of the world is for things. Things, things; always more things. This is a purely pagan view of life. After these things do the heathen seek. Pagan philosophy is based upon the supposed supremacy of things. Heathen religions find their heaven in the abundance of things. And, alas, most of us are pure pagan. We live for the things. We toil and strive for the possession of things. Our only idea of heaven is a place where we shall have undreamed abundance of glorified things. We call ourselves Christian, but our lives are heathen.

Christ’s teaching concerning things declares that true life does not depend upon things at all. Indeed the only way into life is by the renunciation of things. We must forsake them, sacrifice them, die to them if we would live. Not only He, but all the world’s greatest have proved that life is not measured by the possession of the world’s things. The greatest of all had not where to lay His head. Things are an encumbrance to the man who would rise.

He who wins the world loses his soul. To live for things is to die to all that is spiritual and divine. Life is being, not having. It is what a man is, not what he has that really matters. What you have will perish, what you are abides forever. Seek not things. They perish, they corrupt, they pass away. Seek to BE manly, honest, brave and good. “Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Seek God first, always first. In Him only is the true life.

Who will Jesus be to you?

This was written by a dear brother. I hope this encourages and challenges you.

Who will Jesus BE to ME?

Is Jesus the same to everyone? There are those who believe He is and those who would disagree. What does the bible say? We know that Jesus is the same today, yesterday and forever – but the question most relevant to us is – Who will Jesus BE to Me? Does our walk have anything to do with how He will be to us? Is Jesus one way to some men and a different way to others? Knowing that Jesus will be what He has been, I urge you to read carefully what the record will clearly indicate.

Let’s begin by looking at how Jesus introduces Himself to four of the churches in Revelation. To each of the seven churches Jesus takes a portion of the full revelation of Himself that He had shown John and begins His word to that particular church with the aspect of Himself most relevant to the church He is addressing. Note first His introduction to the church of Pergamos, which had some among them who held to the teachings of Balaam and others who held to the doctrines of the Nicolaitans. To this church He introduces Himself as “He who has the sharp two-edged sword.” To the church of Thyatira that was tolerating the woman Jezebel and her evil influences, Jesus introduces Himself as “The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire….” To the church of Laodicea who saw themselves as wealthy, rich, and having need of nothing, while in fact they were wretched, poor, miserable and blind, Jesus introduces Himself as “The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness….” Not all is negative though, for to the church of Smyrna for whom there is no rebuke, Jesus begins His word to them by introducing Himself as “The First and the Last, who was dead and came to life….”

Jesus will not appear the same to everyone and He will not give the same reward to everyone; “each man will be rewarded according to his own works.” Consider His warning to some in the church of Sardis – “Remember therefore how you have received and heard: hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.” How Jesus will come to us depends entirely upon our walk. This is amply illustrated in Jesus’ words found in Luke 12:35-48: “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Then Peter said to Him, Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people? And the Lord said, ‘Who then is that faithful and wise steward, who his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, My master is delaying his coming, and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when his is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.’ “

The same Jesus will be two different masters to two different servants. To the faithful servant who prepares himself and is found watching and serving, Jesus will be the benevolent master who rewards with kindness. However, to the unfaithful servant, who neither prepares himself, nor is found watching and serving, Jesus will come like a thief to seize that one, cut him in two with his own sword and assign him his place with the unbelievers. Jesus is not the same to everyone. This should be no surprising revelation, but it is often forgotten when we fail to understand why Jesus would appear to be stern to some and kind to others. Have we fully comprehended these words? – “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Even in the parable of the talents we can see that the same master appears as two different men to his servants. To the faithful servants who put what he had entrusted to them to good use, he was the gracious rewarder of their diligence; but to the self-centered, lazy servant, he appeared as a judge sentencing a criminal. Many of us forget the end of the parable that Luke alone records foreshadowing the end for all who do not joyfully serve the man whom God has appointed Lord of heaven and earth. Luke records the last act of the recently returned, newly crowned King, with these words – “But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.” The same Lord who is kind to some is severe to others.

This is no new revelation, for David the man after God’s own heart clearly understood and recorded this in Psalm 18:25-27 “To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless, to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd. You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.”

God is the same - He does not change – this is plain to see

But this does not answer the most crucial question

Who will He BE to ME?