Evangelical Lutheran Synod Of
Published: 2013-09
Total Pages: 98
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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1914 edition. Excerpt: ...1. An address to His diseiples, in the presenee of a vast multitude, w. 1--12 (paraphrase), v. 13. So the diseourse had meant nothing to him! His mind had been elsewhere, and he had impatiently waited until the Savior had eoneluded His address. It was nothing to him that the Lord warns His own: v. 5. The Lord's solemn injunetion, w. 8. 9, and the eomforting promise, v. 12, equally unheeded. The man wanted his share of the inheritance! v. 13. So it is with men to-day. They know there is a Chureh of Christ on earth, know that there is a Bible, sacraments, the preaehing of the Gospel. But all this is nothing to the world; the gaining of riches is everything. Toward the aequisition of wealth men will devote every effort, saerifiee health, friendship, honor. A wrong view of life, surely, into whieh their desire for wealth has deceived them, the view, that "a man's life eonsisteth in the abundanee of things which he possesseth," v. 15. This the prevalent view among men to-day, espeeially in our country. The parable, w. 16--21. A fool the Lord calls him. Why? Because he has a view of life whieh is utterly wrong. A fool, because he considers the things of this temporal existenee the essential things--money, fields, barns, fruits, to eat, to drink, to be merry. A fool, beeause he leaves God out of the reekoning. My goods, my barns, my fruits. Really? Whose rain was it, whose sunshine? So to-day. The "self-made men." Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. 4, 30. Parallels from every-day life. Again: wrong view of life: The rieh man imagined he was living only for himself. Left fellow-man out of his reekoning. "What shall I do?" No thought of helping others. Mine, mine, all mine! So many of the rieh will look about them and see all the...