THE K I N G ’S BUS I NES S style; had a cultivated appetite, fared sumptuously. He was like the rich man whose ground brought forth plentifully; he thought within himself, he lived within himself. Or, perhaps, he was like the rich young man to whom Jesus said “Sell all th a t thou hast and give to the poor, and come, follow me,” and who went away' sorrowful, being very, rich. It is not a crime to be rich, but it is a crime to use riches as so many do . use them. Riches may be a great bless ing, but they too often become a great curse. The Word of God is full of warning concerning the accumulation of riches, and yet the world of men run in search of them. The Bible does not say th a t a rich man cannot be saved, but it does say “How hardly shall they who have riches enter into the kingdom of heaven.” The risk is tremendous, yet most men would be willing to risk the riches of glory for a good bank account here. There was a certain beggar named ^Lazarus, whose name means “God is my helper.” He had ^nothing to specially mark him except the sores which bore testimony to his lack of nourishment. It may or may not have been his fault that he was a beggar. We are not told. Nothing is said in his favor, but that he was an object of need is evident. Some- kind friend laid the famished frame down at the gate of .the rich man. We are not told whether the servants of the rich man tossed him any crumbs or not, but it does say th a t the dogs, who knew what suffering was, were gbod enough to minister to him. It is no crime to be poor, but it is woe fully inconvenient sometimes. Yet God hath ordained th a t the poor Should play an important part in the drama of life. “The poor ye have always with you.” What would become of us if there were no poor to whom we might minister; no blind or halt or lame to arrest our attention and cause us to think, and to
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heart and life. Here we have a picture of God’s wrath upon unholy accumula tions of wealth as shown by the prophet of Israel. Here there is a greedy de vouring of the poor; false weights and false measures; crowding the poor to the wall; lowering of wages and in creasing prices; as do the profiteers of our day. Listen to* the New Testament “woe” which fell from the lips of our Lord (Luke 6:24): “But woe unto you th a t are rich! For ye have received your consolation.” The love of money is the root of all and every known evil. It is the essen tial as the motive and power in the pursuit and propaganda of evil, and in James 5:1-6 there is a message as strong as the Spirit of God can make it. All that wealth is good for, from a Chris tian standpoint, is to use for His glory. (3) THE WARP OF WEALTH, Luke 16:19-25. Here we have a life drama in three acts. Act 1:—A Contrast in Life. Scene 1—-The Rich Man and His Riches. Scene 2—The Poor Man and His Pov erty. , ^ Act 2:—A Contrast in Death. Scene 1—Angels Attendant. Scene 2—A For mal Funeral. Act 3:—A Contrast in Destinies. Scene 1—The Rich Man on the Rack. Scene 2—The Poor Man at Peace. Taking them in order (1) A Contrast in Life: One verse tells the story of the rich man— clothed and fed. We are not told how he came by his riches. It is not germane—he had them. We are not told his name, because his name is not found in the Book of Life and'is therefore unimportant. He is not charged with having a brutal nature, nor with being a drunkard,'r—ju st a rich man, absorbed in himself, indiffer ent to the world and its needs, self- satisfied, selfish, worldly. He had refined tastes, dressed in
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