Bags

Listen from:
A BAG may be used for what is good or bad. Notice these:
A Bag of Gold: “They lavish gold out of a bag, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.” Isaiah 46:66They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship. (Isaiah 46:6). Those men made very bad use of their bag of gold.
A Bag of Silver: Judas “was a thief and had the bag.” he said, “What will ye give me, and I will deliver Him (Jesus) unto you?” They agreed “for thirty pieces of silver” (John 12:66This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. (John 12:6); Matthew 26:1515And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. (Matthew 26:15)). Could a bag have a more awful use than to hold the money Judas received for selling the Lord Jesus? No, surely not.
A Bag of Sins: Job said his sins “were sealed in a bag” (Job 14:1717My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity. (Job 14:17)). This is a strange bag, but each of us has one. Our wrong words, looks, or ways would fill for each of us a big bag. Yet if we believe in the Lord Jesus’ death for those sins, the bag of our sins is sealed up, and God “remembers them no more” (Jeremiah 31:3434And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:34)).
A Bag of Stones: David “choose him five smooth stones out of the brook and put them in a shepherd’s bag” (1 Samuel 17:4040And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. (1 Samuel 17:40)). David believed in God’s power, and he slew the wicked giant who had come to destroy God’s people, with one of his small stones. Boys, now who believe in God do not fight a giant, but He will show them what they can do for Him as He did David.
A Bag with Holes: “He . . . earneth wages to put into a bag with holes.” Haggai 1:66Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. (Haggai 1:6). Aren’t we like that man if we let our best treasure, the words of God, go from our minds and hearts? Jesus said:
Where can we get these last bags? Only from the Lord: they are His rewards for what is said or done for Him. But first be sure your bag of sins is put away by God.
ML 04/25/1937