Luke 6:20-26 Luke 16:19-31The Beatitudes are glimpses of heaven ; that is, the conditions they describe - are qualities which belong to the heavenly life. Those who live there are lowly, are meek, are pure in heart, hungering after righteousness, and are merciful. We cannot think of any people in heaven who are proud, resentful, or unmerciful, who thirst after worldly power or fame. To get the Beatitudes of the New Testament into our hearts and lives, even as beginnings, is to enter upon the heavenly life."Blessed are you who are poor - for yours is the kingdom of God." This beatitude is not pronounced on the poor in worldly circumstances; for one may be very poor - and yet very proud; or one may be rich in worldly goods - and yet be very poor in spirit. Nor is it on the poor in mind ; for mental poverty is not necessarily a state of blessedness; and ignorance certainly is not desirable. It is the poor in spirit, in disposition, on whom the beatitude is pronounced; that is, the lowly in heart, the humble, those who are conscious of their unworthiness.<div class="center-it mtb10">Humility is an attitude that bows reverently before God, and then holds its most divine gifts as not too good or too fine to be used in Christ's name in the service of the lowliest of God's creatures. The bible everywhere speaks it praises of humility. God dwells with the humble. Christ only once opens a window into His own heart, and through this window it is this picture that we see, "I am gentle and humble in heart" (Matthew 11:29). To be poor in spirit - is to be rich toward God; while pride of heart - is spiritual poverty. Humility is the key that opens the gate of prayer; while to the loud knocking of pride - there comes no answer. The kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are humble. They may wear no earthly crown - but a real crown of glory, unseen by men, rests even here upon their heads!</div>We are sure always of Christ's sympathy with the poor. He was Himself brought up in poverty. His mother could bring only the offering of the poor - when she brought her child to present Him to the Lord. In His public ministry, He said He had nowhere to lay His head. He rode on a borrowed donkey, on His triumphal entry. He slept in a borrowed grave, when He was dead. He understands poverty's conditions. He is the poor man's friend. Poverty itself is not a blessing; but the poor who love Christ and follow Him - have many blessings."Blessed are you who hunger now - for you will be satisfied." Hunger means dissatisfaction, craving, desire, yearning, longing. It strikes us somewhat strangely at first, that there should be a beatitude for dissatisfaction. We know that peace is promised to the Christian, and peace is calm repose and satisfied restfulness. The word "hunger" appears to suggest experiences incompatible with rest and peace. But when we think a little more deeply - we see that spiritual hunger must form a part of all true Christian experience. In all of life - hunger is a mark of health. It is so in physical life; the loss of appetite indicates disease. So a healthy mind is a hungry one; when one becomes satisfied with one's attainments - then one ceases to grow. The same is true in spiritual life; hunger is health. If we become satisfied with our faith, love, obedience, our communion with God, and our consecration to Christ - we are truly in a sad condition. We have ceased to grow. Often invalids die amid plenty, die of starvation, not because they can get no food - but because they have no appetite. There are many professing Christians who are starving their souls in the midst of abundance of spiritual provision, because they have no hunger. There is nothing for which we should pray more earnestly, than for spiritual longing ."Blessed are you that weep now - for you shall laugh." Weeping is not usually considered a blessed condition. We do not think of those having sorrow - as fortunate. We pity them, and think their condition most unenviable. Here, however, is a special beatitude for mourners. Probably Jesus meant particularly, those who are sorrowing on account of their sins. In all this world there is nothing so precious before God - as tears of contrition ; no diamonds or pearls shine with such brilliance in His sight! It was Jesus Himself who said that there is joy in the presence of God over one sinner that repents on their earth.Truly blessed, therefore, are those who grieve over their sins ; a holy light shines from heaven upon all such mourners. They are comforted - with God's pardon and peace .But the beatitude refers also to those who are in sorrow. Blessing is never nearer to us - than when we are in affliction. Someday we shall see that we have received our best things from heaven - not in the days of our joy and gladness - but in the time of trial and affliction. Tears are lenses through which our dim eyes see more deeply into heaven - and look more fully upon God's face than in any other way. Sorrows cleanse our heart of earthliness and fertilize our life. The days of pain really do far more for us - than the days of rejoicing. We grow best when clouds hang over us, because clouds bear rain, and rain refreshes."Blessed are you - when man shall hate you." We do not like to be hated. Nor can everybody who is hated take shelter under this beatitude. Many people deserve to be hated. It is only those who are hated for being and doing good - who can claim this blessing. If any of us are suffering in this way - here is comfort for us. There have been times in the history of the Church, and in the history of almost every great reform - when those who would be loyal and true could be so, only at the cost of losing their friends, often at the cost of property and reputation, even of personal liberty - sometimes of life itself. We must read down to the end of the verse, before we begin to congratulate ourselves, that the hatred we find in our neighbors toward us - is a mark of God's favor. "For the Son of man's sake," the verse reads."Woe unto you that are rich! For you have received your consolation." Evidently it is not very safe to be rich. It is not easy to be rich - and to be a godly Christian. Jesus said a great many words about the rich and about riches - which show that those who have wealth are in a perilous position. People would not think of a prosperous man, a man growing rich, as especially needing the prayers of a congregation. Yet perhaps this is the very man in all the community, who most needs to be remembered with prayer. Those who are rich or getting rich - would better look well to their spiritual state.

A unique type of devotional from the writings of James Russell Miller, published between 1908 and 1913.

Devotional Hours Within the Bible

Luke 6:20-26;Luke 16:19-31

Poverty and Riches

For Reading and Meditation:      Job 21:1-9Before moving on, we pause to remind ourselves once more of the question with which the psalmist struggles in Psalm 73: Why is it that the wicked seem to prosper while the path of the righteous is beset by so many difficulties? Look now at how the psalmist views the condition of the ungodly: "They suffer no violent pangs in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they smitten and plagued like other men. Therefore pride is about their neck as a chain; violence covers them as a garment - as a long, luxurious robe" (Psalm 73:4-6, Amplified Bible). What a graphic description this is of the person who has no time for God, yet goes on from day to day with few troubles. It is probably the most perfect picture in all literature of the so-called successful man of the world. Note that the psalmist begins his description of the ungodly with a reference to the way they die: "They suffer no violent pangs in their death." Throughout time the notion has been universally present that a good life ends in a good death, but the psalmist makes the observation that in his experience the reverse is true. Have you not struggled with these same feelings whenever you have heard of a Christian dying in great agony while a non-Christian passes away peacefully in his sleep? What do you do with those feelings? Ignore them? Deny them? Repress them? Remember, it is only exposed problems that can be resolved. I say again, if you are not willing to face a problem, how can you go about getting it resolved? O God, save me from denying the difficult problems and feelings I encounter in life. Help me understand that it is easier to deal with things when they are up and out than when they lie buried within. In Jesus' Name. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Luke 12:15-21</li><li>Luke 16:19-31</li><li>Psalm 14:1</li><li>Psalm 53:1</li><li>Proverbs 12:15</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What is the danger of worldly prosperity?</li><li>How did Jesus draw the contrast in his parables?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?" (v. 7) 

For Reading and Meditation:      Luke 16:19-31The final state of those who die without availing themselves of the forgiveness God offers them at the Cross is eternal banishment from God's presence. The Bible calls this "hell." "There is no heaven with a little hell in it," said George MacDonald, meaning that the God who is passionately for righteousness and implacably against sin must ensure that the two are finally separated. However, hell is always something that people choose for themselves. It is a state for which men and women opt. Before hell is experienced as eternal, it is always experienced as something temporary in the sense that as men and women retreat from the light God shines into their hearts to lead them to Himself, they experience in a small way what they will experience in full when they are banished into "outer darkness" (Matthew 25:30, KJV). Dorothy Sayers described hell as "the enjoyment of one's own way forever." God says to those who die impenitent: "You preferred your own way to mine; you shall have it - forever." In the last analysis, all that God does in consigning people to hell is to allow them to face the full consequences of the choice they have made. God is resolute in punishing sin, and hell is the final consequence of this. I know most of my readers are Christians, but I know also some are not. Those of you reading these lines who have never surrendered your lives to Christ, I urge you to surrender your hearts to Him today. Christ has died to save you from hell. Pray this prayer with me now.Father God, I come to You now through Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I repent of my sin, ask Your forgiveness, and receive You into my life as Savior and Lord. Thank You, dear Lord. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Matthew 5:27-30</li><li>Matthew 18:7-9</li><li>Matthew 25:34-43</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>How did Jesus illustrate the importance of avoiding hell?</li><li>How can we be sure of avoiding hell?</li></ul></div></div>

"In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away " (v. 23)

For Reading and Meditation:      Proverbs 24:15-22Today we look at another reason why God allows the ungodly to flourish - to illustrate by contrast the horror of an eternity without God. Spurgeon commented: "Eternal punishment will be all the more terrible in contrast with the former prosperity of those who are ripening for it." The seeming joy and splendour of the prosperous ungodly actually renders the effect of being cast aside by God more awful, just as vivid lightning does not brighten but intensifies the thick darkness around. You will no doubt remember the story of Haman, who prepared a gallows for Mordecai but finished up by being hanged upon it himself. The ascent to the gallows was an essential ingredient in the terror of the sentence: "Hang him on it!" (Esther 7:9). The wicked are raised high so that all might see how great is their fall. A preacher tells how he read the story of the rich man and Lazarus, in Luke 16, to a group of young people who were hearing it for the first time. He stopped at the part where Lazarus lay at the gate, the dogs licking his sores, while the rich man ate in splendour in his house, and said: "Which would you rather be, the rich man or Lazarus?" With one voice the young people shouted: "The rich man." He then read on, and after telling the story of how both died and the rich man was in torment while Lazarus was carried to Abraham's side, he asked: "Now which would you rather be?" This time they responded more quietly and soberly "Lazarus." That is the truth the psalmist saw as he sat quietly in the sanctuary of God. Father, the more I see the whole picture and realise what I have been saved from, the more I feel like flinging myself at Your feet in adoring worship and praise. Thank You for saving me, dear Lord. Words cannot fully express my gratitude. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Luke 16:19-31</li><li>Matthew 13:24-30</li><li>Matthew 13:49</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What is Jesus' teaching in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus?</li><li>What is the message of the parable of the weeds?</li></ul></div></div>

" for the evil man has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out." (v. 20)

22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

Luke 16:22

 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

In 1604, King James I of England authorized that a new translation of the Bible into English be started. It was finished in 1611, just 85 years after the first translation of the New Testament into English appeared (Tyndale, 1526). The Authorized Version, or King James Version, quickly became the standard for English-speaking Protestants. Its flowing language and prose rhythm has had a profound influence on the literature of the past 400 years. The King James Version present on the Bible Gateway matches the 1987 printing. The KJV is public domain in the United States.

OT: Masoretic Text, some LXX and Vulgate influence.
NT: Textus Receptus, similar to the Byzantine text-type; some readings derived from the Vulgate.
Apocrypha: Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate.

Luke 16:22 KJV

Luke 16:22 KJV

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