St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 25a, The hearing of the disciples.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The danger of riches) Part 3.  

The rich young man was saddened by what Christ told him.  And now Christ speaks the words of truth about the kingdom of heaven.  There is a transition.  There are requirements that must be met.  Each person entering the kingdom must meet the standards.  Death starts the process.  How one lived his physical life determines the criteria.  And the examination at the entrance will set the stage for life everlasting in the kingdom or.

These are the truths that Christ wants his disciples to understand about the kingdom of heaven.  The spiritual kingdom is not like the physical kingdom.  You cannot buy your way in.  You cannot force your way in.  No amount of power or influence will guarantee your entrance.  For what we do on earth will determine if we are eligible to enter.  And Christ gave his disciples a simple example to demonstrate what criteria is used.  He told them that it is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.  The disciples, hearing this, were exceedingly astonished.

Just as the rich young man was saddened when he heard Christ's words about selling his possessions, the disciples were astonished when they heard these words.  For it was in the hearing that they did not understand.  It was in the hearing that the meaning was lost.  It was in the hearing that the mind transformed and transposed those words to resonate to heartfelt doom.  All want to be rich.  All want to enjoy the pleasures that come with wealth and riches.  This is what we are given to believe and know from birth.

We see everyday those with wealth and how they are able to live.  We hear everyday of those with riches and how they are able to do the things that everyday people dream about.  Everyday we are told about the lives of the rich and famous, the movie stars, the sports stars, and those of wealthy origins.  And our minds are transformed from where we are into where we would like to be.  So the disciples were exceedingly astonished as we are today with these words.  Yet it is these words that are meant to astonish.  It is these words that are meant to shock.  It is these words that are meant to open our hearts to provide us with the opportunity to see the truth of who we are and what we are given to believe. 

What do we believe?  Do we believe that there is a heaven?  Or do we believe that we are in heaven now, on this earth, and we should live forever here?  Do we fear what comes after death?  Are we afraid of that which we have not been given, that which is foreign to us?  We have been given the here and now.  The world gives us this each day.  We are not given what comes after today, what comes after death, what comes after the physical life.  That information is not published.  That information is not talked about on the talk shows in the lives of the rich and famous.  For that has not been given to us to know as we know the world.  It has been given for us to believe. 

Christ came that we would have life everlasting.  He came to teach us of his Father and our Father, the Creator.  He came to demonstrate his love for us.  And he came to pay the penalty for our punishment.  All this and yet we do not know who we are.  All this he gave to us and we cannot see who we are.  All this and we are blinded by the glitz and glamour that the world offers to us if we only go to sleep in the world and do not seek the spiritual.  Each of has the key to reignite the life that Christ has given us.  All it takes is an open mind and an open heart.  All it takes is a desire to know him who has loved us from the beginning.  Seek that which is within you.  Knock on the door of your heart and open it to the love of Christ and he will come to you to let you know of his love and the love of the Father .  For no one lights a lamp and puts it in the cellar or under a measure, but puts it on a lampstand so that all who enter may see.  Christ wants to light your lamp so that you may see the truth of who you are in him.  Come!  Light your lamp and you will be astonished at who you are in him!

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you.  Open the door and let him in.  

St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 24, Difficulty for a rich man entering into the Kingdomof heaven.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The danger of riches) Part 2. 

With difficulty will a rich man enter into the kingdom of heaven is what Christ told his disciples.  He spoke words of wisdom to them.  He spoke words of knowledge.  He spoke words above and beyond their comprehension.  But he wanted them to understand the truths of the kingdom of heaven.  He wanted them to know the rules and the mysteries of that place which we all ascribe to attain.  For he lives in heaven and it is the place where we want to be with him.

Yet he spoke these words to the rich young man as he left upon hearing the words of truth.  The young man wanted to know what he had to do to enter the kingdom of heaven.  He had a desire to be with Christ for all eternity.  And in order to achieve this goal he had to rid himself of all that would hold him back.  He had to rid himself of all those earthly possessions that he had acquired, those things that had a hold on him.  For as Christ told his disciples:  "And further I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." 

And this was the wisdom of the kingdom of heaven that Christ wanted his disciples to know.  He presented to them an impossible example to help them understand the difficulty with which a rich man will have entering the kingdom of heaven.  One can only imagine a large, hump back camel attempting to pass through a small sowing needle.  To our way of thinking this would seem impossible.  For a needle as we know it today is very, very small.  And a camel is very, very large.  The two do not seem to compare at all.  How would this be imaginable in anyone's mind?  But this was the example that Christ gave to his disciples to ponder, to understand.

This was the example that he gave to show how difficult it is for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.  Riches demand holding onto.  Riches demand that they are kept.  Riches demand that they are protected, provided for, adored, glorified, and guarded least they are stolen.  They are not easily come by.  They require hard work and sacrifice.  They often times demand that we forgo our morals to acquire them.  And yet we can not take them with us.  We can hide them.  We can lock them up so that no one else may have them.  Or we can pass them on, so that others may possess them as we have.  But they can not be taken into the kingdom of heaven.

And this is the example that Christ wanted his disciples to understand.  The impossibility of a camel entering the eye of a needle is compared to a rich man entering the kingdom of heaven.  The two do not compute.  A camel would have to be reduced to the size of a pin head or the size of thread to be able to pass through the eye of a needle.  And likewise, a rich man would have to reduced to the size of a pauper to enter into the kingdom of heaven.  You see, what have we of earthly riches?  What have we of paper value, glass rocks that we value as precious or gold colored rocks or silver?  These things have no value in the kingdom.  They are already plentiful and in abundance, available to all.  Possessions of these things imparts no special significance.  They give no power, no prestige, no glory, no honor, no status in heaven.  For the gold in heaven is God's love and it is available to all.

We are children of God our Father.  His love is what fills us, what completes us.  His love makes us whole; without it we are empty.  Christ came to give us this message: our Father loves us.  Our Father loves us so much that he forgave us our sins and sent his only son to atone.  And with that atonement he gave us new life.  Our sins killed us.  Our sins destroyed the life that we had from the beginning.  And even today our sins take away the life that is freely given.  We have only to ask to receive it back.  We have only to seek to find again.  We have only to knock and the door will be opened to us to regain that life that we lost. 

The world does not want us to have that life.  The world does not want us to know.  The world wants us to forget and to continue to live in sin.  For those who want, the opportunity is theirs for the taking.  For those who seek the treasure is there for the finding.  And for those who want the love of the Father, his arms are open wide for you to receive his love only for the asking.  You will know the truth if you seek it.  You will see the life if you knock.  Your heart will know the peace when you open it to the love of the Father.  Come!  Receive the life that is yours for the asking.

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you.  Open the door and let him in. 

St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 23, Entrance into the Kingdom for rich men.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The danger of riches) Part 1.

Christ gave the rich young man the opportunity of a lifetime and he went away saddened.  The young man turned away.  He did not know how to accomplish it.  He did not know how to do what was being asked of him.  He did not understand the greatness that stood before him which would change his life forever.  The physical had a hold of him.  The riches of this world would not let go.  The things that he had so treasured in this life possessed him.  He could not let them go.

This is what Christ wanted to warn his disciples about, the dangers of riches.  He wanted them to know the depths to which riches could and would possess mankind.  For the deception was real.  The hold was crippling.  The unrelenting grip would so lock a person that with difficulty one would struggle to find a way out.  And this young man could not find a way out.  Christ saw the struggle and warned his disciples that they would know the truth of what physical riches would do to the spiritual life within us.  But Jesus said to his disciples, "Amen I say to you, with difficulty will a rich man enter the kingdom of heaven.

Those were the words that Christ spoke to his disciples that they would know the effects of the physical riches of this world.  What are the riches of this world?  We scrap and grab and claw at, wish for, desire and work for our whole lives to have that which is presented to us from our time of birth.  Have the good life.  Paper money or wealth gives us the opportunity to do as we please.  We become free to live a life that others dream about.  We have the opportunity to buy whatever we see that pleases us.  For we are rich.  We are wealthy.  We have the buying power to own that which our heart desires.

And it is this power, this wealth that will drive us to keep it, to maintain it, to hold onto it least we loose it.  And it is in that struggle that we become possessed of the things that we desire.  For we continue to want that which we have and that which we have continues to hold us.  It is with difficulty that we will enter the kingdom of heaven Christ says.  It is with difficulty that we will let go of that which we have struggled so long and hard to have.  It is with difficulty that it will let go of us once it has possessed us.

Through this possession we loose sight of that which is most precious and dear, our life, our soul.  For more than anything else in this world, the life within us is more precious, more valuable than anything this world has to offer.  The life within is more precious than ten thousand diamonds, precious gems, or tons of gold.  For all this is dirt compared to the life that was given us by Christ through God our Father.  And yet we are not able to see, not able to understand, to know this one simple truth.  Be not blinded by the glitz and glamour that the physical world has to offer in exchange for the true light of life given us by the sacrifice of Christ Jesus.

He came that we would know.  He came that we could see.  He came that we would have that life eternally.  Yet darkness prevails.  Darkness is all around us.  Darkness wants to put out the light.  Darkness wants to take control of us and influence us to do evil.  And darkness wants to destroy us in the eternal pit of fire in hell.  We are the children of God our Father.  We are children of the creator of the universe.  We are children of the one who created the wealth that is presented to us.  And as His children we already have the wealth of the world.  Not only do we have the wealth of this world but we have the wealth of the entire universe.  The universe that we can barely perceive is ours.  It belongs to us as our inheritance.  It is our treasure, our gift, and our joy.  It is already given.  It is not something that we must exchange to obtain.

But more than the physical treasures of the universe is the spiritual love of the Father.  Things cannot satisfy us.  Riches cannot fill the hole.  Physical passions, physical desires, wants and needs cannot begin to fulfill the longing within.  The love that our Father bears for us is the only thing that can fill us completely.  For it is overwhelming.  It is uplifting.  It is like nothing that we have experienced before.  It is there for the asking, there for the receiving, there for the knowing. 

Be not deceived by the riches of this world.  Do not exchange that which is real and eternal for that which is not.  Entrance into the kingdom awaits you.  Fulfillment of that which your heart desires, is yours.  Seek that truth within yourself and you will know the love that the Father has for you.  He has given you the path to follow.  He has placed the Advocate at your door waiting for you to open it.  He has given you the keys to unlock your treasure once you find it.  The choice is yours.  Chose to see it.  Chose to open it.  Chose to believe that it is there for you and you will find it.

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you.  Open the door and let him in.