Lucas 16

Lucas 16

Calvin - Where riches hold the dominion of the heart, God has lost His authority. Possessions are interesting for if one is not careful he or she will be possessed by their possessions! The two great tests of character are wealth and poverty (but both can be mastered by wealth, one because they have it and the other because they covet it! For example, as has been well said gold is the heaviest of all metals, but is made more heavy by covetousness. There is but one letter difference between gold and God! And as Matthew Henry said "Worldlings make gold their god; saints make God their gold." And as George Swinnock said "Many a man's gold has lost him his God." Matthew Henry however reminds us that "Poor people are as much in danger from an inordinate desire towards the wealth of the world as rich from an inordinate delight in it." J C Ryle wisely reminds us that "Wealth is no mark of God's favor. Poverty is no mark of God's displeasure. Money, in truth, is one of the most unsatisfying of possessions. It takes away some cares, no doubt; but it brings with it quite as many cares as it takes away. There is the trouble in the getting of it. There is anxiety in the keeping of it. There are temptations in the use of it. There is guilt in the abuse of it. There is sorrow in the losing of it. There is perplexity in the disposing of it." (Luke 16 Commentary) Remember Jesus' words to Martha "Only one thing is necessary." (Luke 10:42+) Vernard Eller rightly said that "One's ultimate loyalty must converge at a single point. To try to go two ways at once will rip a person down the middle." Warren