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LESSON FOR MAY 26 Finding a New Sense of Values LESSON MATERIAL: L u k e 12:19, 20; 18:24-30; 19:1-10. GOLDEN TEXT: "The kingdom of God Is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and Joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom. 14:17). Outline and Exposition I; T rusting in M aterial T hings (L uke 12:19, 20) This man used no wrong methods In getting his riches; he was an ex pert farmer, was industrious and thrifty, and his fields brought forth “plentifully.” There was, and is, noth ing wrong in possessing riches, and men would consider this man ex ceedingly wise. But God said he was a fool. Why? Because he had a wrong conception of the place of safety for his riches— mere barns; a wrong conception of the ownership of riches—“my goods, my barns, my soul” ; a wrong conception of the length of life—years, when he had only minutes. Hence, he was a fool because he was rich In material things alone, and poverty-stricken in the things of God. He trusted the earthly and disregarded the Heavenly. II. T he D anger of M aterial T hings (L uke 18:24-30) The young man went away sorrow ing because he could not take what the Lord Jesus offered and at the same time hold on to his riches. It is not wrong to possess material wealth, but, when the love of riches takes the place of the love of God in the heart, it becomes “ the root of all evil” (1 Tim. 6:10). It would be easier for a camel to pass through the needle’s eye than for one with the love of money uppermost in his heart to pass into the kingdom of God. Those who put the Lord first and material things second, have more in this pres ent life, and everything in the world to come. III. D eliverance from M aterial T hings (L uke 19:1-10) Zacchaeus had spent his life acquir ing material things, and he was well on the way to becoming one like the rich fool. But he heard the Lord Jesus speak, and transferred his t r u s t to Him. Though he still possessed his earthly wealth, the peril to his soul was removed. When Zacchaeus said, “Half of my goods I give,” he was not stating the ground of his acceptance with Jesus, but the evidence of that acceptance (Gal. 3:26; Num. 5:6, 7; Ex, 22:1). Jesus came to save men from trusting in material things, from being en trapped by them, and from becoming fools over them. But the lesson does not teach that one cannot have both the material and the spiritual, if the letter holds first place.
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