Glory in Humility

If God’s people would take their
Bibles and turn once again to the epistle of James, we find
ourselves once again in that opening chapter, James chapter
one. As we glide into verses nine
through 11, it’s a pretty simple connection. James has been talking
about faith, the testing of faith. He’s been talking about the sincerity,
the legitimacy of faith. He has encouraged us, admonished
us to cultivate joy even in the midst of tribulation. He has warned us, cautioned us,
admonished us about a double-minded heart and mind. And so as we
draw near to this particular passage we would we would all
understand the connection almost immediately. What tests the believer’s
faith more severely than finances? What tests the believer’s faith
more significantly than money? And so when James admonishes
us to avoid that flightiness being tossed about like the waves
of the sea, one of the things that he obviously had in mind
was the people’s response to their finances. This transition is really quite
simple if you read it in its natural flow. The problem of
prosperity with God’s people looking on, seeing those who
are quite evidently wicked. We’ve already noted from Psalm
73, from the book of Job, other places, the problem of the prosperity
of the wicked has always been vexing to believers, to the faithful. And so, not surprisingly, James
deals with this very typical struggle. that as a believer
looks on and sees those who are blessed in finances, seemingly
wicked, the questions mount, the accusations build, the doubt
creeps in, and the child of God has a real trial of his own on
his hand. One described this section, which
is really just one in a series of treatments of the rich in
James’s epistle. One said that this is just another
nugget of truth that the tested believer needs. This is another
way, he says, that believers need to shore up their faith,
to have their faith proven. poverty and wealth as tests of
faith, the believer’s response to that particular setting. You may recall one of the most
striking Proverbs, the more lengthy variety is Proverbs 30. Proverbs
30 verse 7 says, two things I asked of you. Do not refuse me before
I die. The Psalmist, or the proverb
writer rather, falls before God and asks Him two simple requests. You know what they are. Keep
deception and lies far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Now I read that because I would
suggest to you that many of us have prayed at least part of
that prayer. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is
my portion. I would suggest to you that most
of us haven’t even prayed that prayer. Give me just what I need,
God. Give me only just enough. That’s
essentially what Jesus was saying when he taught his disciples
to pray in what I call the disciple’s prayer, give us this day our
daily bread give us what we need two things I’ve asked of you
keep deception and lies far from me give me neither poverty nor
riches feed me with the food that is my portion that I may
not be full and deny you and say who is the Lord that is the
plight of the rich man that is the plight of the person who
has means to be able to defer their need, right? Visa is everywhere
you want to be. Or if you’re carrying the American
Express, membership has its privileges. Those are the things that financial
security is what allows someone to slip into the sin of forgetfulness
of his God. But there’s a sin for the poor
people too, isn’t there? Two things I’ve asked of you,
feed me with the food that is my portion that I may not be
full and deny you and say who is the Lord or that I may not
be in want and steal and profane the name of my God. I remember
counseling a young man one time that had already practiced some
sleight of hand. He had already done something
that was unethical with regards to an insurance issue. And I just challenged him with
this simple truth. What if God wants you poor? What if God wants you poor? What
if this calamity that has fallen to you, all they wanted was the
truth from you on this little document. What if God wants you
poor? God has the means. It’s not like
you can circumvent God’s plan for your life. And so the challenge is wrestling
with those two polar opposites, that conundrum of the rich and
the poor. And the church even is not exempt
from that struggle. If you would, I want to look
at James chapter one verse nine through 11. As we look at glory in humility. Verse nine, but let the brother
of humble circumstances glory in his high position. and let
the rich man glory in his humiliation because like flowering grass
he will pass away for the sun rises with a scorching wind and
withers the grass and its flower falls off and the beauty of its
appearance is destroyed. So to the rich man in the midst
of his pursuits will fade away. This passage this section of
scripture has been kicked about like so many footballs. Some
have taken this to add to their collection of verses that they
believe in the New Testament teach that any degree of wealth,
any degree of financial stability is a mark of sin. And so it’s a sin to be rich
and they just add this to a long list of verses that they believe
teach that. Really, if you back away from
this passage, what really is in focus is glory, we’ll talk
more about that in a minute, and humility. Both are said of
both of the people mentioned in this section of scripture. There are basically three different
views. when you come to this and one
of them we can throw out pretty quickly but the first view the
first view says goes something like this this is the view that
judges any kind of wealth the rich person is inherently evil
he is a wicked man the poor therefore are inherently better off with
God The brother is a Christian and only a poor man can really
truly be a Christian. That is the view of some people. The rich people are inherently
worse off with God and here evidently a godless man is passing away. That is the view number one. Throughout this particular epistle,
one of the arguments that is used is this recurring theme
of riches and wealth. James chapter 2 verses 6 and
7, James chapter 5, 1 through 6. Over and over again, James
returns to this theme of riches. My only challenge to this is
why would James rebuke the rich as a class with such noted and
wealthy Christian believers such as Nicodemus, Mary of Bethany,
Joseph of Arimathea, Barnabas, and others, many others. Why
would James say what Jesus Christ himself had not said? James says
things here that really echo what Jesus said. Jesus never
said that riches in and of themselves are a sin. In fact, Jesus taught
more often, whenever Jesus taught on the subject, it was really
about focus. What is the man’s focus? What
are his priorities? What are his affections? Matthew 6, do not lay up for
yourselves treasures on earth. What is your focus? What are
your affections? Lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven. Matthew 16, verse 26, What will
a man be profited if he gains the whole world and forfeits
his soul? So it’s his affections, it’s
his focus that is again in view. Luke chapter 12 verse 15, beware
and be on your guard against every form of greed. It’s not
mutually exclusive that a man just because he is wealthy is
necessarily greedy. So why would James Why would
James say something that Jesus Christ himself had not? Well,
there’s another view, and this is the view that we can literally
breeze through. It won’t hold water. It’s an alternative argument.
One writer described it just with a simple sentence. He called it grave reverses a
decisive test of character. Grave reverses. So in other words,
the poor man one day hits the lottery, is essentially what
he’ll go on to say. The poor man falls into it and
is suddenly wealthy beyond his wildest dreams. And you guessed
it, the rich man, exactly the opposite. By some stroke of God’s
providence is immediately made poor. And so the grave reverses
are the ultimate test of character. Well, that’s a curious option. The problem is, and it’s a big
problem, the text doesn’t support this. The poor man’s exaltation,
his high position, can’t possibly be construed to mean his newfound
riches. It isn’t what the text says,
it isn’t what the text means. And neither can the rich man’s
humiliation be construed to mean his newfound poverty. I’ll make
that case later in the morning. In fact, how difficult would
that message be to receive, right? A poor man who suddenly finds
himself to be rich beyond his wildest dreams doesn’t need to
be told to rejoice, right? And a rich man who’s suddenly
poor, he would be automatically humbled, right? And so there
is a third view. And guess which one I have adopted
The third view goes something like this that humiliation at
God’s hands is a blessing in whatever form it takes you see
there are tests and trials in poverty and there are tests and
trials in riches and Both have their pitfalls, and either way
the believer is humbled. It’s a blessing. Humiliation
at God’s hands is a blessing in whatever form it takes. That’s
what I think we find here in this passage. If it’s the humility
of being poor, which comes as a consequence of being poor,
knowing that it’s coupled with the true and unspeakable riches
of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ or whether it’s being the godly
humility of being a saved sinner regardless of what earthly riches
a person possesses that God had mercy on their soul and that
kind of humility. That’s the position. the lowly and the rich. James says one man experiences
a physical humbling and yet he exalts in his spiritual riches. Another man, even though he’s
physically blessed in this earthly realm, he acknowledges his spiritual
humbling. And through their Though their
earthly condition is mutually exclusive, you would seem to
be there at polar opposites. In truth, they’re blended together
as one. There’s a translational note
that I would call your attention to. If you look down at verse
9, oftentimes in scripture you will have these, and there’s
a device that I know New American Standard uses, ESV, I think,
uses something similar, italics, right? You’ll see italics. Italics
are supplied words. And so the passage literally
should read something like this. Verse nine, but let the brother
of humble circumstances glory in his high position. That much
is pretty much as it should be. But the following portion of
that, verse 10, You will note that depending on your version,
there are words that are supplied there. Let glory is usually what’s
indicated in our translations. Let the rich glory in his humility. That word doesn’t occur in the
Greek. That’s a pretty common device
that is used in language where you don’t have to supply all
of the words of the previous statement. We do it all the time.
But there’s another word that is omitted, and clearly some
words have to be supplied in order for the second sentence,
that is verse 10, to make any sense. That’s why I say the NAS translators
have done that, supplying the verb in verse nine, let him glory,
let him exalt. But there’s a word The translators
have made one subtle insertion that could affect our entire
understanding of this passage. They could have, and I would
suggest to you, should have supplied one additional word found in
verse 9 that was not supplied in verse 10, and that is the
word brother. Both of the rich, both the rich
and the poor men are, I believe, Believers. James holds them both
to be believers. There is the lowly one, the poor
man, who is a brother, and there is the wealthy man, the rich
one, who is the brother. Both of them relate to that same
little word that is just translated by the new American standard
as the man, the rich man. There’s almost a disdain in that,
isn’t there? It should read like this, my
suggestion. Let the brother, the one who
is rich, glory in his humbled place. One pastor said so appropriately
how sweet a term brother is. I mentioned this a couple of
weeks ago when I came across this quote that was too much
already in my notes to treat it, but he says, what a sweet
term brother is. Don’t you love to use that of
your Christian brothers? Were its force universally understood
and felt throughout the church of Christ, what a loud and emphatic
reiteration would thus everywhere and continually be given, such
as even the inattentive world could not but hear. Did you hear
what he said? If we truly lived out what we
believe on paper, what we say, we believe that we are Christian
brothers. The world would have to sit up
and take notice. The world could not ignore it. He goes on to
say, of heaven’s testimony regarding the objects of Messiah’s reign,
but sin has filled the world with dissensions and hatreds,
jealousy and anger, private quarrels, public wars. They are all the
natural fruits of depravity. The world is used to seeing that.
The world is used to seeing people who are divided and split over
all manner of disagreements. And the problem is nothing has
been found to remedy that. Remember, well, I can remember
in the 60s, people would stand around and hold hands. All we
are saying, give peace a chance. And we would sing it, you know,
sing it until people started dropping. Nothing worked. And he goes on to say, no power
can deeply and lastingly counteract the alienating energy of sin. No power can make men feel and
act towards each other as brethren whom God has made of one blood
except vital Christianity. That’s why it’s so important
that when we come to this passage and we hear James refer to one
as the brother, we have to defend James and we have to say that
this passage is referring to both men as brothers He concludes
by saying this the truth taught to humble candid souls by the
one master is the only salt that can preserve Humanity from the
corruption of sin. It’s only Christianity But it
bears fruit and it bears fruit in both of these brothers lives,
let’s look at it first of all the humble brother and Let’s
look at this poor guy, literally poor. But let the brother of
humble circumstances glory in his high position. The word but is, it’s not a hard
and fast adversative here. It just is, it’s a transition
point that he makes between one paragraph and the other. But
he says, let the brother of humble circumstances, literally the
lowly one. And what he points to here is
not just his finances, although that is at the core of his condition,
but it’s kind of his status, it’s the way he carries himself,
it’s the way other people look at him and treat him. It’s not
right, it’s not justified, but it’s real. The poor man is in
a lowly place. It’s a lowly condition. As one
said, James, by lowly, he had in mind not the Christian grace
of humility. And I think that would be a big
caution here that we have to point out. It’s not just that
being poor, you’re better off being poor just because poor.
As if poor makes you humble poor doesn’t make you humble Poor
puts you in a lowly condition, but only God by his grace will
make the man humble What he points to here is not
the grace of humility But really the the condition the financial
and social condition that the individual finds himself is it’s
the place of a beggar It’s the place of a slave. It’s the place
of one who is really by most people despised. Prayerfully not by the Christians. The word literally means low,
as I said, humble, lowly, depressed, meek, downtrodden. And that condition
is common to all ages, isn’t it? No wonder Paul said in Romans
12 that as believers we are to associate with the lowly. We’re
not supposed to, as James will go on to point out, we’re not
supposed to separate people out according to class, according
to their financial standing. What Paul admonishes believers
to there is just almost an indifference to people’s wealth, The bottom line of this opening
sentence, verse nine, is that this person of low degree, this
person of humility, this person of humble means, this person
who doesn’t have a lot of the world’s goods is absolutely a
Christian brother. And the fact that he is impoverished
is not a barrier to him being welcomed in and a full member
of God’s loving family. But James tells him, and it’s
that same word, it’s that same word that’s so hard for, you
know, rejoice. Rejoice in all things. It’s that same word that we looked
at in verse 2, glory. And the word, as we have seen,
can be translated as glory or boasting or even exultation. In the Old Testament, it was
used of just a almost an exuberant, overwhelming, enthusiastic response. Just a few psalms here. Psalm
511 let all you take refuge in you be glad let them ever sing
for joy may you shelter them those who love your name may
Exult in you what a great psalm Psalm 31 likewise because of
all my adversaries I have become a reproach especially to my neighbors
and An object of dread to my acquaintances those who see me
in the streets flee from me This is the man who exalts before
God and that is the way that he’s retreated Frequently the word is used in
the New Testament only a couple of times by James but by Paul
almost 30 times and Almost always in a good sense Now the scriptures
will tell us that there are things in which we are not to boast. You know those, don’t you? We’re
not supposed to boast in the law, Romans 2.23. We’re not supposed
to boast in our works, Romans 3.27. We’re not supposed to boast
in what we have. 1st Corinthians 28 the base things
of the world and the despised God has chosen the things that
are not that he might nullify the things that are why so that
no man may boast before God we don’t buy our way into heaven
or work our way into heaven 1st Corinthians 4 7 what do you have
that you did not receive and if you did receive it why do
you boast as if you had not received it. We don’t boast in the privileges
and blessings that we have as if God did not give them to us,
but although there are things in which we are not supposed
to boast, Paul especially talks about those things in which we
are supposed to boast as Christian believers. Just note a few of
them. These will all echo in your mind
We exalt in the hope of the glory of God. Romans 5 verse 2 and
3. We exalt in God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Romans 5 verse 11. 517 again. 1 Corinthians 1 31.
Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. Echoed also in 2 Corinthians
10 17. He who boasts is to boast in
the Lord. Paul uses this to describe the exaltation that naturally
wells up in the heart of the believer when he sees his God
move, when he sees his God reach down in an abundance of mercy,
save him from the depths of sin. How can we not exalt? It’s a boasting, it’s an exultant
joy in the thing that most comforts and pleases the believer. And so what is it for the poor
man? What is in his bank account? It isn’t in the property that
he owns. It isn’t in a fancy car. Look
at verse nine. Let the brother of humble circumstances
glory in his high position. That’s what it says. What high
position? He actually had some commentators
suggest that he had recently been voted into office. Or because
he was a poor and a humble man, he had been made the president
of the church. It goes completely against the very point that James
is trying to make. His high position is his position
as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, as a member of God’s
family. God has lifted him up out of
the depths. God has saved him. And he is
now in a position of absolute dignity. Not perhaps before the
eyes of the world, and sometimes not even in the eyes of the church,
to our own shame, but he absolutely, in the eyes of God, he is in
a high place. He’s in a respected place. He’s
in a place of honor. It’s a high position. This is
the man who thinks of all of the blessings in Christ. His regeneration. That he didn’t
work for that. God woke him up from the sleep
of death and began bestowing. Can you imagine? Being awoken
out of the sleep of death. And all of a sudden God starts
lavishing you. You know, you expected hell. And yet God begins lavishing
you with gifts, forgiveness. The righteousness of Christ.
You wake up out of this coffin and put on the righteousness
of Christ. No longer are you going to be
judged on what works you did. Those works are absolutely worthless. The fact that God had mercy on
you The fact that God by His Spirit brought you salvation
and now gives you faith to walk in Christ. And then as you begin
to, you know, you climb out of the box, you begin to look around,
you’ve got Christian friends, Christian fellowships. You begin
to realize that you will spend eternity with Christ forever.
That’s a pretty high position, wouldn’t you say? from one who
was just previously in the grave? John Calvin spoke of this in
superlative terms when he said, since it is incomparably the
greatest dignity to be introduced into the company of angels, nay,
to be made the associates of Christ. He says, forget about
the angels. We are friends of Christ. He who estimates this favor aright
will regard all other things as worthless. You know what? Even the poor man in the midst
of this discovery realizes he forgets all about his earthly
poverty. All he knows now from this point
forward is his earthly riches. And this status, this blessing
that he has in relation to Christ One pastor said, amid the depressing
influences of poverty, the Christian is to keep his eye fixed on his
real dignity and glory in it. Don’t worry about your poverty.
Don’t worry about what you don’t have. Don’t even think about
it anymore. Think about what you do have.
Think about God’s mercy. Think about how he has blessed
you. His present low position is merely
in external things and consequently temporary. and has appointed
him because of his heavenly father saw fit that poverty be needful
for the good of his soul. God put you here. God wanted
you poor. And if that’s the case, there
is no escape. What about the rich man? How
can he glory in humility? Since he’s so utterly insulated
from the needs and the plight of this poor man. Well, look
at verse 10. Let the rich man glory in his
humiliation. And as I have already suggested
to you, and I’ll stand fast, let the rich brother glory in
his humiliation. I think he’s talking about a
Christian here. Let the rich brother glory in the humiliation
that he also has as a Christian. And it could be that James is
just suggesting here that the rich man humble himself, rejoice
in the fact that he has been humbled. The picture that that
we’ll paint here in a moment speaks of men who so often build
this insulation there. This is the complaint again of
Psalm 73. Insulated from the difficulties
of life insulated from the challenges that other people face trouble
comes into his life. He just Rips off some cash and
buys his way out of the trouble. I Don’t think that’s the case
here This is the this is the brother
who maybe lived like that at some point Maybe saw himself
insulated from trouble, maybe saw himself as above others just
simply because of what he owned, but now he’s come to Christ. One of the sad arguments that
I read about in one of the commentaries was that there were people that
really believed that boy, this guy got his comeuppance, right?
Bank account got drained. Hackers got into his stuff, and
they stole drained it all right and Because only because of this
outward The frown of God’s providence as the Puritans used to call
it only because of that now that his crown is laid in the dust
Stripped of all only now does he humble himself I? Think that
too that idea goes against what James is saying. This is a Christian
brother This is a Christian brother who no longer puts all of his
hope, no longer puts all of his value in what, by God’s grace,
he has come to own. There is that tendency. There
is that pitfall. Ralph Wardlaw, Puritan commentator,
said, riches operating on the corruption of human heart are
ever apt to produce in their possessor the spirit of pride
and vanity, self-confidence, self-elation. Even when the tendency
does not manifest itself in behavior and the bearing of the rich on
their fellow man, it appears in a spirit of independence. Right? They’re just aloof. They’re
not troubled by the difficulties of life. Instead of being led
to the gifts By the gifts to the giver, they forget the giver
of the gifts and in the use of them place self before God. That is a real pitfall of riches. To think that we cannot be moved. But it even gets worse. Another one pointed out this
simple equation. The spirit of many is pennies
make quarters, quarters make dollars, dollars make men. Did
you hear what he said? Pennies make quarters, quarters
make dollars, dollars make men. The more money they have, the
more Mr. Big you are. And you’ll hear
people talk about all the time how, about their net worth. All week long, I was haunted.
I had this thing that I was supposed to, and I would have a fleeting
recollection of it, and then just as quickly, because of my advanced age, I
would forget. And then I would remember again,
and I would be sure that I was gonna send an email and make
sure that if there was ever a week to sing this great song, this
is the week. And I forgot. Again. But God, but God reminded John,
my worth is not in what I own, Not in the strength of flesh
and bone, but in the costly wounds of love. My worth is not in skill
or name, in win or lose, in pride or shame, but in the blood of
Christ that flowed at the cross. What is the rich man’s humiliation?
Is it really just so simple and so crass as to think that he
lost it all in the Great Depression, or in a bad investment, or through
theft? What is the rich man’s humiliation?
I’ve already suggested to you what it is. It’s the fact that
he came to Christ. The fact that he placed his faith
in Christ. He no longer is insulated from the world. He doesn’t need
to be insulated from the world. The poor brother forgot all about
his poverty and now the rich brother forgets all about his
earthly riches. He no longer puts all of his stock. And now
these two brothers come together and they’re one. I love the way John Adams described
this beautiful situation. He said, the natural tendency
of wealth is to fill men with pride, self-confidence, vainglory.
There is not a more formidable barrier in the way of that poverty
of spirit, which is fundamental characteristic of all Christ’s
disciples. When the affluent are delivered
from this snare, when they are enabled to see the emptiness
of all their treasures, the danger which possession of them involves,
when they are made willing to take their places in the dust
as sinners, to abase themselves before God, to walk without high
looks and haughty bearing toward men, they have good reason to
rejoice, good reason to exult, good reason to glory. This is the brother who has come
to Christ. He’s no longer proud and arrogant. He’s no longer aloof from anyone. So James only naturally tells
this man likewise to rejoice in this newfound humility. Rejoice
in the humility which God has brought to him. To no longer look on his riches
as the world looks on them, but to look on them as being just
another tool in God’s hands as the service of Christ. And because of that entrapping
tendency of wealth, James provides this absolutely unforgettable
illustration. And he borrows it we must note
from the Old Testament. The rich man has learned a principle
that affects all humanity. And it’s a very common biblical
image. It’s the transitoryness of all
humanity. The rich man has come to see
that eternity is in view. Jesus Christ has paid for his
sin. One day He will go to glory and He will leave everything
behind. Psalm 90 says this, You turn men back into dust and say,
Return, O children of men, for a thousand years in your sight
are like yesterday when it passes by, or as a watch in the night.
You have swept them away like a flood. They fall asleep. In
the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew. In the morning
it flourishes and sprouts anew. Toward evening it fades and withers
away. Well, that’s exactly James’s
illustration. James says this. Look at verse 11. For the sun
rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass and its flower
falls off. The beauty of its appearance
is destroyed. So too the rich man in the midst
of his pursuits will fade away. He literally takes it from Isaiah
40 almost verbatim. Isaiah 40 verses 6 through 8,
1st Peter uses the same illustration, 1st Peter 124. But it’s absolutely
plainly evident, as these are both Christian brothers in view,
that this isn’t a threat that is just uttered towards the rich. You know, one day you’re going
to dry up and blow away This is a truth that’s applicable
to all. That’s why Psalm 90 is one of
my favorite verses to use at a funeral. The rich man and his riches are
just as fleeting as the flower in the field. And they’re just
as fleeting as the poor man in his humility. Those four graphic
sentences in rapid succession indicate the systematic and inevitable
progression of this decline. Listen, the sun rises, the grass
withers, the flower falls off as the appearance is destroyed. So too the rich man will fade
away. Not just the rich. No wonder the psalmist, knowing
this truth, He said, Lord, teach me, make
me to know my end. What is the extent of my days?
Psalm 39. Let me know how transient I am.
Behold, thou hast made my days as hand breaths, and my lifetime
is nothing in thy sight. Surely every man is at his best
as a mere breath. Surely every man walks about
as a phantom. Surely they make an uproar for
nothing. He amasses riches and does not
know who will gather them. But for the rich man, just like
for the poor man, Christianity has changed everything. Changed
his entire perspective on life and living and finances and wealth
and possessions. The poor man learns a dignity,
a self-respect, It isn’t about what other people think of him
anymore, it’s about what God thinks of him. And the proud
likewise learns this humility. As one commentator noted, you
know what I get from this? What it reminded me of, where
you have the poor man suddenly exalted and the rich man suddenly
humbled. Remember that passage in Isaiah 40, let every Valley
be lifted up in every mountain and hill be made low Far from Being undecided Unsettled
the Christian should exalt in his profession if in lowest state
he should glory in the church. I If rich, he should cease to
pride himself on wealth or rank and rejoice that he has learned
the emptiness of all worldly distinctions and been taught
that they are only valuable when they are regarded as a trust
to be used in the service of God and the good of man. What
a privilege we have in the church to see that God is the one. God
is the great distributor. God is the great employer of
souls God is the one who gives and God is the one who deserves
all of the glory Glory in your humility. It’s good before him Our merciful King We do humble
ourselves in your glorious presence. I And Lord, we thank you for
how this verse strikes each one of us. Lord, we thank you and we praise
you. And we know that we have. We
have played the part of the psalmist in Psalm 73. Lamenting even. Complaining to you. As we see
others who do not know you. Seeming to flourish. Blessed
beyond measure. And Lord, we thank you for what
this passage does. But it sets forth what is really,
truly and ultimately important. And it isn’t about wealth or
poverty. Financially speaking. It’s about
wealth and poverty, spiritually speaking. So, Lord, we come to you as those
who. From a Spiritual standpoint. We were. We are beyond poor. We were utterly bankrupt. We
had nothing. Nothing to give to you. None
of our works was worth a thing. And you enriched us. You clothed
us with the righteousness of Christ. And we are now rich beyond
measure. in our spiritual sense. We know
there are others in our midst. They may have a great wealth
here on earth, but from a spiritual standpoint they are poor and
naked and dead. Lord God, only your spirit can
breathe life. Only your Spirit at work, applying
your word to the hearts and lives of those. We do not know you. And bring bring life to dead
sinners. And make rich those who are poor.
Lord, what a what a beautiful passage. And we rejoice to to
even read it. We ask your blessing as you apply
it to our lives. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray.
Amen.