DON'T VALUE MONEY MORE THAN CHRIST

PROCLAMATION

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ ”  Matthew 19:23-24 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

These words are from the gospel, the good news regarding Jesus, The Christ, which were spoken by Christ according to the Apostle Matthew.  After speaking in parables to the crowd in Capernaum regarding Causing One to Stumble (Matthew 18:6-9), the Wandering Sheep (Matthew 18:10-14), Dealing With Sin in The Church (Matthew 18:15-20), and the Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18:21-35), Jesus left Galilee and went into Judea, on the other side of the Jordan River.  A great multitude followed Him, and He healed all the sick among them. (Matthew 19:1-2)  Some Pharisees also followed Him, but they wanted to test Him.  They asked Him a question regarding the lawfulness of divorce for any and every reason. (Matthew 19:3)  Jesus explained that divorce was not part of God’s original plan.  Moses permitted them to divorce because the hardness of their hearts.  Divorce is only acceptable in the case of sexual immorality. (Matthew 19:4-9)  In response to a rich young man who wanted to know what he must do to get eternal life, Jesus told him to keep the commandments.  He replied that he had kept the commandments and wanted to know what else he should do. (Matthew 19:16-20)  Jesus told him to sell all of his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor then follow Him.  The young man went away sad because he had great wealth.  That was when Jesus, The Christ, said that it would be difficult for a rich man to enter heaven.

APPLICATION

There is nothing wrong with being rich or wealthy.  Poverty is not a requirement for becoming a Christian.  The problem is that the rich tend to rely on their money to solve their problems and they cannot buy salvation.  They value their money and their possessions more than they value having a relationship with The Lord God.  They put their trust in their money rather than in God.  Nothing in our lives should be more important to us than The Lord God.  We need to put God first in our lives.  We need to acknowledge Him in all that we do. (Proverbs 3:6)  The love of money is the root of all evil. (1 Timothy 6:10)