Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
The abacus has been around for thousands of years, even as far back as 2500 BC, and functions as a very simple calculator that is still in use today. If you saw one of these before, there is a good chance that you took note because they are an interesting invention that has lots of rows and wires that are filled up with beads. When you slide them around, you can do all types of different mathematical equations. For example when you do addition or subtraction, beads are moved toward or away from a central beam to add or remove numbers. When they made bricks in ancient Egypt, they would continue to add them all up on the abacus. Even when they brought in grain to store in large bins, they would continue to add it all up on the abacus
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
Things eventually add up, just like wealth in an Earthly savings account. But the more that people store up, the greater the liability they will have at the judgment. Every single day, rich people have the opportunity to help out the poor with all of the wealth they possess, but if they neglect this daily duty and responsibility to God, all of their earthly assets will count against them in the end.
James 5:1-3 (KJB) Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
When I was a kid we used to do a lot of swimming, and we used to put on goggles and dive down to the bottom of the lake to look for things. But the bigger the rock that you carried when you jumped off of our raft, the more quickly you sank all the way to the bottom. Riches are the same way, because the larger the bank accounts that somebody has, the greater the fall is going to be. Many people quickly justify their own greedy hearts, by claiming that they will give it to somebody when they die. But if death is the only thing that can wring money from your hands, then you never really loved your neighbor as yourself. Jesus spoke about a wealthy man who had an opportunity to help a poor man, but chose to look the other way.
Luke 16:19-31 (KJB) There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
This is why the love of money is the root of all evil, because when you cannot reach out to help the poor in their moment of need, then your love for your wallet has become greater than a love for your neighbor. We live in some very wicked times. Jesus taught the wealthy to sell what they had and give to the poor, but nowadays the rich people expect the poor to sell what little they have and give it to them. This is because their hearts are filled up with covetousness and greed. Jesus was speaking with a young rich man who felt that he had kept all of the commandments, but the truth is that he loved his riches more than helping out his poor neighbors.
Matthew 19:16-26 (KJB) And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 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. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth on judgment day, but God will not hear them simply because they chose not to hear the cry of the poor people of this world.
Proverbs 21:13 (KJB) Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
Many people will receive a windfall, almost like winning the lottery, but rather than doing something good with it while they have the opportunity, they will squander it all upon themselves. Woe unto these rich men, for they shall weep and howl.
Luke 12:16-21 (KJB) And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
God is watching every day to see what you do with the wealth that he has given you, so make sure that you consider closely what you do with it. This is because just like evidence in a courtroom, the misuse of it is going to count against you at the judgment. Each day presents another opportunity to use your wealth to help out the poor, but for most people they will continue to store it all up for themselves. When that happens, the only thing that they are doing is adding up more evidence against them, just like adding up a few more bricks on,…..
……The Abacus
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.
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