Intoxicated With The Things OF The World
Mt 13:22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
1Co 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.
This is a true story - it actually happened. In a large American city, a man was walking late at night. He wandered into a construction site and fell into a large hole and was injured. He filed a lawsuit against the construction company. The attorney for the construction company argued that the site was well marked - there were plenty to signs saying "keep out", and "danger - construction site".
The man argued that the signs were insufficient because he was too drunk to read them.
Too drunk to see the warning signs. Can you imagine that?
I wonder how many people will stand before God at the judgment and say, "But Lord, I didn't know. I was having too much fun to notice your warnings. I was too busy. I was distracted."
The problem is - most believers are intoxicated with the things of the world. We're just too caught up in the world around us to notice the spiritual world. We're too busy with worldly things to pay attention to spiritual things.
1Jo 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
The fact is - we must choose. Which world are you going to join? Which world are you going to pour yourself into?
Jos 24:15 . . . choose you this day whom ye will serve . . .
1Co 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.
Mt 6:24 No man can serve two masters . . . Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Treasures & Hearts
Mt 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
We all have a common problem - we become attached to our possessions. It's very natural. People tend to determine their value by how much they possess. But what is the value of a man? What makes a person of value? Money? Possessions? Riches?
Ec 5:10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.
Vanity is emptiness. Riches and possessions are temporary. They do not satisfy. Many have labored for worldly things only to find that once they had them they were not satisfied. We have a bad habit of realizing these things too late.
Charles Spurgeon said, "Worldliness is a preoccupation with ease and affluence. It elevates creature comfort to the point of idolatry; large salaries and comfortable life-styles become necessities of life. Worldliness is reading magazines about people who live hedonistic lives and spend too much money on themselves and wanting to be like them." Today, he would probably say, "Worldliness is watching Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous."
Ps 62:10 . . . if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.
Note the warning to Israel:
De 6:10 And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,
De 6:11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
De 6:12 Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Also note that Israel fell because they forgot this advice and did set their hearts upon their worldly possessions. They became intoxicated with the things of the world.
1Ti 6:17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
Pr 23:5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
Ps 39:6 Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
The rich young ruler
Consider the rich young ruler:
Luke 18
18. And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
21 And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.
22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.
Why was he sorrowful? Because possessions were important to him. He now had to choose - Jesus or things? True life or possessions? The natural man would choose possessions, because he can see them. He can put his hands on them. Spiritual things you receive by faith. You have to believe you have them when you can't see them.
Satan always appeals to the flesh, because the flesh wants gratification now. Satan said to Jesus, "I'll give you everything you want. I'll give you everything you see. Just worship me." The natural man would say, "Sounds like a good deal to me." Jesus said, "Get thee behind me Satan. For you savour not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."
What do you desire? What fills your heart and mind? Is it the things of God or the things of the world?
Jesus said:
Mt 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Mt 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
The things of the world are fleeting. They will fool you. They will lead you astray.
1Ti 6:9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
Mark these words from the writer of proverbs.
Pr 11:4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.
Now bear in mind that these words were written by the richest man in the world.
1Ki 10:23 So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.
11 times in the New Testament we are told to "be sober". It's not talking about alcohol, but about keeping you mind clear. It means to be level-headed, of a sound mind, to have your values aligned properly.
Are you intoxicated with the things of the world? People who come into sudden riches, such as winning the lottery or coming into an unexpected inheritance, find their heads spinning. It's a form of intoxication.
The key is to keep it in perspective. Earthly riches can be a blessing or a curse - depending on how they affect you. When a person or an organization's chief purpose becomes to pay the bills for what it owns, it becomes intoxicated. When all of the energy expended is for the purpose of maintaining, then something has gotten badly off track.
Jesus said -
Mt 6:25 . . . Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine {or, I might add, with the things of the world}, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
A prominent citizen in town was dying. As he lay in his lovely home, the best doctors surrounding him, he whispered, with a note of despair, "I'm leaving home, I'm leaving home." Across town there lay a solitary figure in surroundings bare. Her modest home contained only the most threadbare of life's essentials. In her eye was a gleam. Before she died she was heard to say, "I'm going home, I'm going home."