These statements of Jesus revolutionize all our conceptions of charity. Much of our modern philanthropy is based on the motive of giving to the poor because “they deserve it,” or because we are distressed at seeing poor people. Jesus never taught charity from those motives. His rule was, “Give to the one who asks you, not because he deserves it,

Integrity means unimpaired purity of heart.

It is a trial of faith all through. The conflict for the Christian is not a conflict with sin, but a conflict over the natural life being turned into the spiritual life. The natural life is not sinful—the disposition that rules the natural life is sinful. When God alters that disposition, we have to turn the natural life into the spiritual by a

never discard a conviction. If it is important enough for the Spirit to bring it to your mind, that is the thing He wants to address.

Doctrine of Division • Matthew 6:22–23 In verse 22, our Lord is using the eye as the symbol of conscience in a person who has been put right by the Holy Spirit. A single eye is essential to correct understanding. One idea runs all through our Lord’s teaching—right with God, first, second, and third. If we are born again of the Holy Spirit, we do

People cannot receive the Holy Spirit until they are convinced of their own spiritual poverty.

“But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven”—that is, have your banking account in heaven, not on earth. Lay up your confidence in God, not in your common sense. It is the trial of your faith that makes you wealthy (see 1 Peter 1:7), and it works in this way: every time you venture out on the life of faith, you will come across something in your

We do not fail because of the Devil, but because of carelessness on our part—the fact that we have not disciplined ourselves.

As long as we have a conceited, self-righteous idea that we can do these things if God will help us, God allows us to go on until we break the neck of our ignorance over some obstacle. Then we will be willing to come and receive from Him. The bedrock of Jesus Christ’s kingdom is poverty, not possession. It is not “decisions for Jesus Christ,” but a