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There was a famine that hit the 
empire in the first century, and Judea was hit very, very 
hard. And you'll see Paul's allusions 
to this situation in the book of Romans, as well in the book 
of Galatians, and of course here in 2 Corinthians chapter 8. And 
essentially, he exhorts the Corinthians concerning charity toward others. They are to give of their resources, 
their temporal goods, to try and alleviate the suffering of 
other brothers and sisters. And he makes an appeal first 
to the churches in Macedonia, sets them forth as an example, 
primarily the church in Philippi is the church that he appeals 
to here. They are a great example of giving. to those in need, and then he 
appeals to the example of Christ. Now, Christ in the first place 
is not an example. The Lord Jesus Christ is a sacrifice, 
he is a substitute, he lived, he died, he rose again, so that 
we might have everlasting life. But there are instances in several 
places in the New Testament where Christ is exemplary, and it's 
instructive for us here that Paul appeals specifically to 
who Christ is in his essential deity, and in the humanity that 
he took on in the incarnation. So I just want to read beginning 
in chapter 8 at verse 1. Moreover, brethren, we make known 
to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia, 
that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and 
their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. 
For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond 
their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much 
urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of 
the ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, 
but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by 
the will of God. So we urged Titus that as he 
had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well. But 
as you abound in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, 
in all diligence, and in your love for us, see that you abound 
in this grace also. I speak not by commandment, but 
I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of 
others. For you know the grace of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes 
He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. 
And in this I give advice. It is to your advantage not only 
to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago, 
but now you also must complete the doing of it, that as there 
was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion 
out of what you have. For if there is first a willing 
mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according 
to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others 
should be eased and you burdened, but by an equality, that now 
at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their 
abundance also may supply your lack, that there may be equality. As it is written, he who gathered 
much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no 
lack. But thanks be to God who puts the same earnest care for 
you in the heart of Titus, for he not only accepted the exhortation, 
but being more diligent, he went to you of his own accord. And 
we have sent with him the brother whose praise is in the gospel 
throughout all the churches. And not only that, but who is 
also chosen by the church is to travel with us with this gift, 
which is administered by us to the glory of the Lord Himself 
and to show your ready mind, avoiding this, that anyone should 
blame us in this lavish gift, which is administered by us, 
providing honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, 
but also in the sight of men. And we have sent with them our 
brother, whom we have often proved diligent in many things, but 
now much more diligent because of the great confidence which 
we have in you. If anyone inquires about Titus, 
he is my partner and fellow worker concerning you. Or if our brethren 
are inquired about, they are messengers of the churches, the 
glory of Christ. Therefore, show to them and before 
the churches the proof of your love and of our boasting on your 
behalf. Amen. Let us pray. Father in 
heaven, we thank you for the Word of God and we thank you 
for this place that you have given us to come out of the world 
to gather with the saints of Christ and to worship Father, 
Son, and Spirit. We pray that tonight you would 
be glorified and exalted. that we would honor and praise 
you, that we would acknowledge your graciousness and your mercy 
to us. God, as the Apostle says, you 
have blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places 
in Christ. And as the psalmist reminds us, 
it's not only the spiritual blessings, but temporally you load us daily 
with benefits. We thank you that we have liberty 
to worship you. We thank you for food and shelter 
and clothing and all of the things that you have given out of your 
abundance to us. And we would ask that you would 
just fill us now with the Holy Spirit. We would ask that you 
would cleanse us in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and 
that you would help us to appreciate the Apostle's argument in this 
passage as he sets before us the glory and the majesty and 
the excellency of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in his name 
that we pray. Amen. Well, as I said, he appeals 
first to the Macedonians, primarily the church in Philippi, and it 
is intriguing. Notice in verse 2, he says that 
in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and 
their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. 
So the Philippians, the Macedonians gave out of their poverty. They gave when they did not even 
have it to give. That is genuinely sacrificial 
giving. And then as I said, he appeals 
to Christ. And verse 9 sets before us both 
the riches of Christ and the poverty of Christ. He says, for 
you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He 
was rich, He Yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through 
His poverty might become rich." A fitting text for a remembrance 
of our Lord's incarnation. Well, we'll just simply look 
at those two things. First, the riches of Christ, 
and secondly, the poverty of Christ. But notice in the first 
place, there's an assumption made by the Apostle Paul. He 
says, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Say 
whatever we may about the church in Corinth, and certainly there's 
a lot to be critical of, especially as we read 1 Corinthians. There's a whole lot of sin that 
the apostle is dealing with in that space, but this specifically 
is a good sign, it's a good indicator. It appeals to something they 
know. He appeals to the reality that Christians know Christian 
theology. That is absolutely crucial. We are not saved because we're 
good. We are not saved because we are 
better than others. We are not saved because we obey 
a code of conduct. We are saved by grace through 
faith. And that faith, as I mentioned 
this morning, isn't a blind leap, but rather that faith lays hold 
to objective, propositional revelation. And so the apostle is able to 
say to the Corinthians, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
That is commendable. The Christian church must know 
Christian theology. The Christian church can't make 
heads or tails out of such exhortations as these unless they appreciate 
what we will discover in this particular passage, the incarnation. of our Lord Jesus, what has been 
called the hypostatic union. That's just a big word to say 
that the human and the divine natures of Christ unite in the 
one person of Jesus Christ. But you can't appeal to that 
knowledge if someone doesn't have it. There is an assumption 
by Paul that I hope would be a fitting thing for all of the 
churches of Christ. Hodge says, the fact referred 
to including the highest mystery of the gospel, specifically the 
incarnation of the Son of God or the manifestation of God in 
the flesh and the love therein manifested, is assumed to be 
known and acknowledged by all who call themselves Christians. 
I think in some sense the bar has been radically lowered. Christianity 
is no longer seen as a doctrinal situation or doctrinal religion. It's just a feeling. It's an 
experience. It's a mystical thing. What we 
need to recover is what the apostolic church set forth. We believe 
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. That belief is founded 
upon, grounded in, targeted upon certain truths revealed to us 
in that gospel. The importance of private Bible 
study is here in joint. The importance of prayer. Whenever 
you read your Bible, whenever you look to the Word of God, 
you ought to be a prayerful sort. As well, the importance of the 
public means of grace. Remember that when Paul wrote 
2 Corinthians, they didn't have this. They didn't have a beautiful 
Cambridge Bible. They didn't have the sorts of 
Bibles that we have put together. The Corinthians heard Christian 
doctrine when they came to church on the Lord's Day Sabbath. This 
is why Paul tells Timothy to give attention to the reading 
of Scripture. Yes, for Timothy's personal growth. Yes, for Timothy's ministerial 
progress. But in that context, in 1 Timothy 
4, the reading is most likely public reading of Scripture, 
because that's where the people of God came into contact with 
the Word of God. Certainly, they would memorize 
the Scripture. Certainly, they could meditate 
upon it during the week. Certainly they would contemplate 
that word and roll it around in their minds and in their hearts, 
but they probably didn't have the sorts of Bibles, well they 
didn't have the Bibles and the resources that we have. So it 
was absolutely crucial that persons attended church so that they 
could in fact learn the truth as it is in Jesus. As well, this 
assumption indicates that we ought to thank God for the Apostle 
Paul. We ought to thank God for the 
Apostle John. We ought to thank God for all 
of the apostles that were committed to preaching truth, that were 
committed to teaching doctrine. Remember that blessed snapshot 
that we find in Acts chapter 2. On the day of Pentecost, when 
the people of God are saved, they continued steadfastly in 
what? not in religious experience, 
not in mystical and ecstatic experience, but they continued 
steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. We also ought to be 
thankful for the history of the church that has yielded to us 
wonderful creeds and confessions that at this time of the year 
are a wonderful thing to revisit. Those ones that dealt with the 
incarnation. Those ones that dealt with the 
hypostatic union. Those ones that deal with Christian 
doctrine and truth. Brethren, Christianity is a doctrinal 
religion and we need to appreciate that. As well, this assumption 
indicates that when men and women understand the truth, when we 
appropriate it in the mind and in the heart, then the practice 
should follow suit. In other words, we can't be genuinely 
practical people unless we are radically doctrinal people. Orthodoxy 
leads to orthopraxy. Right knowledge leads to right 
practice. Now note what the apostle goes 
on to say, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that 
though he was rich, this is an indicator of the riches of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. And it is intriguing, he was 
rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. The participle, the type 
of the verb that is used here, points to what he is essentially. He was and always will be rich. He was rich, yet he became poor. There is a parallel sort of a 
thing in John's gospel. And you can turn there, just 
to highlight the essential deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. He 
was rich, and yet in time and in history, he became poor. Notice 
in John 1, in verse 1, in the beginning, was the Word. That 
same idea. He was rich. He was the Word. And the Word was with God, and 
the Word was God. He didn't become the Word. He 
was the Word. He has everlastingly been the 
Word. He is the eternal Word of the 
living God. He, in the beginning, was the 
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Now drop 
down to verse 14. It says, and the Word, the same 
Word of John 1-1, the One who was God, the Word became flesh. So He was rich, He became poor. He was the Word, He became flesh 
and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the 
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace 
and truth. Paul is doing the exact same thing in 2 Corinthians 
8, verse 9. He's appealing to Christ in His 
essential deity. He's appealing to Christ in terms 
of the incarnation as an example for the Corinthians to give money 
to the churches in Judea. The explanation specifically, 
what is highlighted in the riches of Christ in this particular 
situation, does not point to what is His by virtue of His 
exaltation after His resurrection. Remember this morning we talked 
about the ascension. We said that Christ was incarnate 
and then Christ ascended on high. What happened when he ascended 
on high? He led captivity captive, he 
gave gifts to men. We see that God was pleased, 
the Father was pleased to raise Christ from the dead and to set 
him at his right hand. The Father conveyed an exalted 
status upon Christ as mediator. That's not what's in view here. 
It is the essential deity of our Lord Jesus. You know the 
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though He was rich, though 
He had everything, though He possessed all, though He still 
in His incarnation possesses all, nevertheless became poor 
for us. so that we through his poverty 
might become rich. This is an evidence of the graciousness 
of our Lord Jesus. So if we follow Paul's argument, 
the Macedonians, out of their poverty, gave liberally. Christ, 
out of his riches, gave liberally. So Paul's argument essentially 
to the Corinthians on a practical level is, You need to give. You 
need to cough up. You need to send money to Judea. 
You need to help the brethren. You need to give like what you 
see in Jesus and what you see in those Macedonians. But as 
we consider Christ, He was rich. His divine nature is on display 
in this particular instance. As well, with reference to His 
divine nature, He's got divine authority. Christ is the Creator. When we say that He was rich, 
yes, it is an appeal to His essential deity. It is an appeal to the 
reality that He is divinity, and as God, He is Creator. that 
the creator of heaven and earth would humble himself and become 
obedient to the point of death. Even the death of the cross ought 
to serve as a great example to the Corinthians as to why they 
ought to give liberally to the churches in Judea. Christ is 
creator. Christ is sovereign in providence. Everything consists in him, Colossians 
117. There's nothing that exists that 
his hand hasn't made. There's nothing that exists that 
he doesn't sustain and support. And yet he became poor for us. So he was rich, Paul says. Again, he doesn't stop being 
rich. He doesn't divest himself of 
his deity. He doesn't lay it aside, more 
like what we sang this morning. Veiled in flesh, the Godhead 
see. Hail the incarnate deity, or 
as John Gill says, not that by becoming man he ceased to be 
God or lost his divine perfections, though these were much hid and 
covered from the view of man. In other words, if you were walking 
around and in the first century, and you saw the Lord Jesus Christ, 
you wouldn't see that radiance and that beauty and that majesty. 
There were glimpses on the Mount of Transfiguration, for instance, 
but for the most part he was a man of sorrows and acquainted 
with grief. He was rich, Paul tells us. He never stopped being 
rich. Then Paul continues, notice secondly 
with reference to his poverty. You know the grace of our Lord 
Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became 
poor. Yet for your sakes he became 
poor. I mentioned earlier what's called 
the hypostatic union. Again, that's something that 
you should just know, not intuitively, but because we talk about it 
a lot here. And some might go, wow, there's that word again. 
I've never taken the time to Google it or listen to Pastor 
Kim or Pastor Butler or whatever. It just refers, as I said, to 
the two natures, the divine and the human in the one person of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. It's a blessed reality. It is 
a blessed truth. that whether you saw it or not, 
in that first century context, when you looked upon that man 
of sorrows who was acquainted with grief, he was nevertheless 
very God of very God. Light from light, true God from 
true God. He is two natures in one person. That's called the hypostatic 
union. As I said, it's good when we 
refer to the theology of the incarnation to rehearse our creeds 
and our confessions. And London Baptist Confession, 
Chapter 8, Paragraph 2, I think is a beautiful and a wonderful 
display of Christology. It says the Son of God, the second 
person in the Holy Trinity, being very and eternal God, See, no 
other religion offers a Savior like our Savior. Our Savior is 
eternal God. It says, The brightness of the 
Father's glory, of one substance, and equal with Him who made the 
world, who upholds and governs all things He has made, did, 
when the fullness of time was come, take upon Him man's nature, 
with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, 
yet without sin. That means He was a real man. 
See, there were those who said, he wasn't a real man. He just 
appeared to be a real man. No, he was a real man. He was 
a real man who wept. He was a real man who ate. He 
was a real man who suffered. He was a real man who bled. The 
true humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ has always and ever been 
upheld by the church. It goes on to say, being conceived 
by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the Holy 
Spirit coming down upon her, and the power of the Most High 
overshadowing her. And so was made of a woman of 
the tribe of Judah, of the seed of Abraham and David according 
to the Scriptures. That encapsulates what Brother 
Steve read at the outset of worship. What's Psalm 89? It's the covenant 
psalm. It in many ways is an exposition 
or at least a reflection upon 2 Samuel chapter 7, where God 
promises to David there will be an an heir, a royal heir of 
the seat of David, one will rise up who will occupy David's throne 
and his kingdom will have no end. You see, it's not some fable, 
it's not some devised myth, but rather it is the objective reality 
of God incarnate coming into the world, fulfilling what the 
prophets spoke. It goes on to say and describe 
this hypostatic union. I'm going to give everyone a 
quiz tonight when they leave. I might stand right at the door 
and say, what's the hypostatic union? So pay attention, be alert. This reflects Chalcedon. Our 
London Baptist confession here reflects the Council of Chalcedon 
when it says, so that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures 
were inseparably joined together in one person. Remember that? Two natures, one person. It's not a 60-40. It's not an 
80-20. It's not a little bit of God, 
a little bit of man. It's not God in a flesh suit. 
It's two distinct natures in one glorious person. Without 
conversion, composition, or confusion, which person is very God and 
very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and 
man? Outside of scripture, I don't 
think you can do much better in terms of a definition or a 
description of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was 
rich, yet for your sakes, he became poor. He became poor in 
the incarnation. John Murray makes this observation. When Jesus became man, he did 
not cease to be rich in his divine being, relations, and possessions. He didn't stop being rich. He didn't put it on a shelf in 
Mary and Joseph's pantry and say, I'll come back for the deity 
when I've done what I'm supposed to do. Murray again, when he 
became man, he did not cease to be rich in his divine being, 
relations, and possessions. He did not become poor by ceasing 
to be what he was. It's very important that you 
get this. He did not become poor by ceasing to be what he was. We don't look at Christ and highlight 
his poverty by saying he laid aside his divinity. That's not 
what the Bible teaches. That is not what Scripture confers. Murray goes on to say, but he 
became poor by becoming what he was not. He became poor by 
assuming our nature with all the essential properties and 
the common infirmities thereof, yet without sin. You see, Christ 
became poor taking on the seed of Abraham. Murray goes on to 
say he became poor by addition, not by subtraction. You get that? We usually become poor by subtraction. We become poor by more money 
going out than money coming in. I think that's a common understanding 
of how poverty occurs. You say, I've lost everything. 
Probably it's rational to conclude because you didn't put back into 
the kitty. If you just take it out and you 
spend it and you don't replenish, then you will be poor. But not 
so with Christ, He became poor by addition, not by subtraction. Murray ends by saying He added 
manhood to His immutable and eternal Godhood. He became poor 
through addition. Again, we need to understand 
that Christ didn't lay aside His divinity. The divinity didn't 
energize the creature, and the creature didn't diminish the 
divinity. Augustine says the divinity is 
not changed into the creature, so as to cease to be divinity, 
nor the creature into divinity, so as to cease to be creature. Two distinct natures in one glorious 
person, such that He is very God and very man, yet one Christ, 
the only mediator between God and man. So before we move on, 
with reference to teasing out the state of humiliation, we 
learn from this passage that the Lord Jesus is eternally God. 
He was rich. The Lord Jesus in the incarnation 
became poor. He didn't give up his deity. 
Remember, he became poor by addition, by taking on humanity. And as well, the Lord Jesus is 
one glorious person in two natures. One of those ancient creeds called 
the Athanasian Creed. says, this is the Catholic faith. And Catholic there doesn't mean 
Roman Catholic. It means universal. That's what 
the word Catholic means. It's a good word. It's unfortunate 
that we don't get to use it as much as we ought because of associations 
with Roman Catholicism. But the Athanasian Creed, summarizing 
the reality, which is Christ, says, this is the Catholic faith, 
which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved. It's an amazing 
thing. Those early creeds were called 
ecumenical creeds. Does everybody understand what 
ecumenicism is today? Ecumenicism is that desire to 
bring the most people together in unity. Well, the way ecumenicism 
is pursued today is by sacrificing truth. It's by getting rid of 
truth. It's by shelving truth, what's 
the lowest common denominator available to us so that we can 
have this religious unity. It's very intriguing that in 
these ecumenical creeds, again designed to bring believers together, 
they always end with anathemas. A pronouncement of condemnation 
from God Most High upon anybody who rejects the truth stated 
in the particular creed. You see, for them it wasn't the 
lowest common denominator, it was what does the Bible say? What is the truth concerning 
the triune God? What is the truth concerning 
our blessed Christ? If a person does not confess 
that truth, then let him be anathema. It was truth that was designed 
to bring the people of God together, not just in the early church, 
but in the scriptures as well. They continued steadfastly in 
the apostle's doctrine. This is what bound them together. This is what gave them their 
identity. This is what brought them from 
various walks of life to commune with the same savior and to glorify 
his most holy name. Now, as we look at this particular 
passage, we have considered briefly his riches, but consider his 
poverty. Referral to Christ's state of 
humiliation. The Lord Jesus took upon Him 
man's nature with all the essential properties and common infirmities 
thereof. Matthew 1 and 2, He was born 
of the Virgin Mary. The Word of God highlights to 
us again that He was a real man. And as well, the humanity of 
Christ did not destroy, it did not diminish His deity. He never 
ceased to be God. Pastor Porter handled ably that 
section in Philippians chapter 2, Christ the form of a bondservant, 
Christ the form of God. Brethren, we need to appreciate 
what's going on in such passages concerning our blessed Redeemer. 
Well, that state of humiliation is seen in His life lived on 
earth. What does the prophet Isaiah say concerning him way 
back when? He is despised and rejected by 
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it 
were, our face from him. He was despised and we did not 
esteem him. For your sakes, he became poor. 
He was rich. He never stopped being rich. 
He never divested himself of deity. He became rich by or he 
became poor by addition, taking on humanity. And he was a man 
of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He himself says foxes 
have holes and birds of the air have nests. But the son of man 
has nowhere to lay his head. You see, the creator of all couldn't 
get a place to lay down. The creator of all couldn't get 
treatment that was consistent with even normal human beings. The creator of all is despised 
and forsaken. But perhaps we view this poverty 
of our Lord Jesus most vividly in his sufferings and in his 
death. Again, this is, I think, encompassed by the apostles' 
appeal. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though 
he was rich, Everlasting God, yet for your sakes he became 
poor. Paul doesn't develop this because 
I think he assumes that the Corinthians knows what he's talking about. 
And we ought to know that as well as sufferings in his death. 
The poverty of Christ was something that Peter could not conceive. 
Remember that bit in Matthew chapter 16 when the Lord Jesus 
announces that he's going to go to Jerusalem, he's going to 
suffer, he's going to die, and he's going to be raised the third 
day. What does Peter do? Peter tries to stop him. Peter 
couldn't get his mind wrapped around a Messiah suffering and 
dying. As well, the Jews after the resurrection 
continued to see the concept of a suffering Messiah as a stumbling 
block. 1 Corinthians 1, 23, the Jews 
seek after a sign, the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach 
Christ and Him crucified. To the Jews, what? A stumbling 
block, a scandal. This just wasn't known or thought 
through with reference to the Messiah that was promised to 
come. Again, a great misreading of 
the scriptures, because Isaiah tells us he's going to be a man 
of sorrows. Isaiah tells us he's going to be cut off. Isaiah tells 
us that Yahweh was pleased to crush him. Isaiah tells us all 
these things, so they misread the scriptures. You see, they 
couldn't get their minds wrapped around a poor Messiah. As well, 
the apostle traces the trajectory of Christ's humiliation in Philippians 
2.8. And being found in appearance 
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point 
of death, even the death of the cross. Philip Hughes makes this 
observation. He says, from highest heaven, 
Christ descended to Calvary and the grave. None was richer than 
he, none became poorer than he. That's the apostle's argument. Christ was rich, never stopped 
being rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. Now note the 
redemptive benefit here, that you through his poverty might 
become rich. For your sakes and that you through 
his poverty might become rich. This morning we sketched briefly 
why Christ came into the world with reference to the destruction 
of the devil. Again, that is an appropriate 
and obvious response to the question, why did Christ Jesus come into 
this world? There's other answers. Why did 
Christ Jesus come into this world? Because He made a covenant with 
His Father about the salvation of the elect. In other words, 
when he comes into this world, the father sends him, the son 
willingly submits himself to the father in the economy of 
redemption. The son always does what pleases 
the father. That's a great answer. Somebody 
says, why did Jesus come into this world? It is a perfectly 
appropriate answer to say, because the father sent him. And if the 
Father sends you, you do what you're supposed to do. Christ 
evidences that desire in John's Gospel to do what the Father 
sent. But as well, why did Christ come 
into this world? For us. for guilty, helpless, 
vile sinners. That's the emphasis of our passage. Yet for your sakes. He became poor that you through 
his poverty might become rich. One more ancient creed. The nice 
scene, we confess, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, we believe 
in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten 
of the Father before all worlds, God of God, light of light, very 
God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance 
with the Father, by whom all things were made. And then I 
love this next clause, who for us men and for our salvation 
came down from heaven. That's what Paul is saying. He 
was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. He is everlasting 
God, but for your sakes he became man. Who for us men and for our 
salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy 
Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man and was crucified 
also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And 
the third day he rose again according to the scriptures and ascended 
into heaven and sits on the right hand of the Father. And he shall 
come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead. whose 
kingdom shall have no end. It's for us men and for our salvation. That is the conspicuous emphasis 
of Paul in 2 Corinthians 8, verse 9. You know the grace of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich and never ceased 
to be rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. Why, Paul, did 
he become poor? that for you or that through 
His poverty you might become rich. It's a blessed reality. Those riches include the forgiveness 
of sin and the imputed righteousness of Christ, doesn't it? Again, 
think of the psychological appeal of such an appeal, or the psychological 
effect of such an appeal. And it's for us, too. If we are 
ever stingy and tight-fisted and tight-wadded and we don't 
give to the brethren, we don't evidence the compassion that 
our Lord Jesus Christ demonstrates, that our Lord Jesus Christ commands, 
that His apostles command, ponder Christ. Think about Jesus. Think about the riches that you 
have received from his poverty. Think about the fact that as 
it were, he took out his whole wallet and he threw down everything 
he had so that you could become rich. And shall we be tight-fisted? Shall we be misers? Shall we 
hear of the suffering churches in Judea and not send them checks? Shall we send the apostle Paul 
back to Jerusalem empty-handed as far as Corinth is concerned? 
You see this in Acts 21. Paul returns to the church in 
Jerusalem, and Paul has brought fruits of his missionary endeavors. And the fruits specifically are 
believers, Gentile believers. And James hits him up and says, 
Paul, we hear that you're teaching people that they don't need to 
obey the law. You know, when Paul steps foot in Jerusalem, 
he not only comes with that fruit in terms of the spiritual ministry, 
but he comes with money. He and his compadres bring money 
and they give it to James, and James and the elders, the leaders 
of the church in Jerusalem, start to manifest the compassion of 
Christ through his servants to the people in need. Brethren, 
if we are a stingy people, 2 Corinthians 8, 9 is for us, that you through 
his poverty might become rich. The forgiveness of sin, the imputed 
righteousness of Christ, the adoption as sons unto God the 
Father, Again, Pastor Porter read this morning in Ephesians 
1, what's one of the purposes that God has for us in terms 
of redemption? We are adopted as sons. We have 
received the spirit of adoption in Galatians 4, whereby we cry, 
Abba, Father. Do you know what a blessed privilege 
that is that we get to call God Father? I know it's commonplace 
in liberal professing Christianity to stress the universal fatherhood 
of God. Now, if we parse it out and make 
distinctions, we can say that because He's over all, He created 
all things, everybody's subject to Him. But when the Bible uses 
the terminology Abba, when the Bible uses the terminology of 
Father, when it refers to the people of God calling upon God 
as Father, what is assumed is adoption. We are adopted sons 
and daughters of God Most High because of the poverty of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. As well, we have sanctification 
by the Spirit. It's another rich, one of the 
riches that we possess, that you through his poverty might 
become rich. We have the Holy Spirit. Not 
only can we not blame the devil, like I mentioned this morning, 
but we ought to blame ourselves that we don't appeal to those 
things and resources that God has given us. Romans 8, 13, if 
by the Spirit you demortify the deeds of the body, you will live. 
If by the Spirit you stop looking at porn, if by the Spirit you 
stop smoking pot, if by the Spirit you stop doing the foolish things 
that you're engaged in, if by the Spirit If you're not going 
to the Spirit, if you're not asking the Father to send the 
Spirit, if you're not pleading that redemptive benefit that 
Christ has secured for you, not only should you not blame the 
devil, you certainly ought never to call into question God Most 
High. I don't believe He's not helping 
me. Well, the help is there for the taking. You just need to 
pray, you need to read, you may need to fast, you may need to 
cut off limbs, metaphorically speaking. You may need to deal 
radically. That's how the Spirit will guide 
you and lead you and direct you with reference to that holy endeavor. And then we have the glorification 
and the age to come. That Children's Sunday School 
song or that children's song, it is cheesy as all getup, but 
it's true. We are bound for glory. This 
train is bound for glory. There are better days ahead for 
the people of God. Whatever your trial, whatever 
your circumstance, whatever your hardship, whatever your woe, 
There are better days coming. We are going to be in glory with 
God Most High. This is what we were created 
for. In Adam, we died. In Adam, we resisted. In Adam, 
we rejected. In Christ, we've been made alive. 
Now, we want this. We want to be in the presence 
of God. We want to be able to say, when we've been there 10,000 
years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing 
God's praise than when we first begun. Though he was rich, yet 
for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty 
might become rich." Gil says that they through his poverty 
might be rich, not in temporals. That means food and shelter. 
But brethren, we ought to thank God. If God's given you food 
and shelter, thank Him. There's a lot of people in this 
world that don't have food and shelter. that they through his poverty 
might be rich, not in temporals, he highlights in this text, but 
in spirituals. And by his obedience, sufferings, 
and death in his lowest state, he has paid all their debts, 
wrought out a robe of righteousness, rich and adorned with jewels, 
with which he clothed them, and through his blood and sacrifice 
has made them kings and priests unto God. That is a blessed reality 
that our text affords, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became 
poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. Well, brethren, 
in conclusion, we need to know our Christology. We need to understand 
who Jesus is. We need to understand the work 
of Christ with reference to atonement, with reference to the cross. 
We try and provide opportunities for persons to learn. There are 
confessions of faith that are excellent compendiums of truth. 
You can take those, you can study the passages, you can see why 
and where these authors put these doctrinal statements together. 
They're all rooted in the text of Holy Scripture. Paul is able 
to assume that the Corinthians already knew this. He wasn't 
teaching them new doctrine. He doesn't expound each point. 
He doesn't say what it means that Christ was rich. He doesn't 
say what it means that Christ was poor. He assumes they already 
got this. They already know that what they're 
dealing with in Christ is a unique individual. He is indeed the 
God-man. Paul assumes that his audience 
knows Christology, and it's on the heels of that assumption 
that he appeals to them practically. And I want you to appreciate 
that as well. Practical Christian living flows 
out of doctrinal appropriation. There is such a disconnect in 
our day. Well, I don't want to give God 
my head, but I'll give him my heart. I mean, you reformed people. You're so cerebral. Everything's 
up here with you. Just let go and love Jesus. Well, 
if I'm letting go and loving Jesus, if I'm not asking which 
Jesus am I loving, there's going to be a ton of false ones in 
his place. Doctrinal appropriation, understanding 
the truth, is what leads to practical application. I just wish we'd 
get this. Why all this doctrine? Why all 
this theory? So that you'll love your wife 
the way you're supposed to. So that you as a woman will submit 
to your husband the way you're supposed to. So that you as children 
will obey your parents the way you're supposed to. So that you 
fathers and you mothers won't beat your kids, but you'll love 
them and rear them in the training and the admonition of the Lord. 
If we don't understand the doctrine, we're not gonna have the practice. 
If we don't understand who Jesus is, we're gonna be tight-fisted 
misers that won't part with a cent in helping to alleviate the suffering 
of others. But when we ponder that one who 
was rich, who for your sakes became poor, that we through 
his poverty might become rich, there's a great impetus for us 
to open up our wallets and to give. Doctrinal Christianity 
is the foundation and does produce practical application. Listen 
to John Murray again. This is from a sermon, by the 
way, on 2 Corinthians 8-9. He says, the simple logic in 
verse 9, is that the most transcendent mysteries of our holy faith, 
we might call the hypostatic union one of those transcendent 
mysteries, one of those most transcendent. And there's a lot 
of things that are pretty cut and dry. The sixth commandment's 
not hard to understand, is it? You shall not murder. Seventh 
commandment, not hard to understand. Eighth commandment, not hard 
to understand. There's a lot of things in the Bible that when 
you open it and you read, there's no, well, what do you mean is 
there? That's why it always puzzles me when people say, oh, the Bible 
is so confusing, I can't understand anything. What do you mean, you 
can't understand you shall not murder? Praise God you live inconsistently. Praise God that at least in your 
heart of hearts, you've got some appropriation of that truth. 
But with reference to the hypostatic union, looking at Gregory recently 
and he said, to explain eternal generation, The hows? No, you can't do that. The reality 
is taught in Scripture, but the hows? You're dealing with Father 
and Son in eternity, as Pastor Porter reminded us this morning. 
There's no eternity past. You see this addition of past 
to eternity really flies in the face of eternity. Eternity doesn't 
have, you know, points on the line. There's no segments in 
eternity. There's no past, there's no future. 
It's, you can't even do that. It's eternity, right? But here's 
Murray, the simple logic is that the most transcendent mysteries 
of our holy faith are the fountain springs of the most common and 
practical of Christian duties. The streams of Christian liberality 
are fed from the ocean of the mysteries of God. Love that. Brethren, it's this high doctrine. It's what the church has trafficked 
in for 21 centuries that'll get you out of bed tomorrow morning 
and make you a better you. How does Paul say husbands are 
supposed to love their wives? Just as Christ loved the church 
and gave himself for her. Substitutionary curse bearing 
at Calvary ought to move the hearts of God's men to treasure, 
to value, to prize, and to love their wives. Just as Christ loved 
the church and gave himself for her. You see, these most transcendent 
mysteries become the springs from which practical Christianity 
flows. And if you are not a believer 
here this evening, may I encourage you to look at 2 Corinthians 
8, verse 9. Christ is eternal God. Christ 
comes into this world. Christ is born of the Virgin 
Mary. Christ lives a lowly life. Christ is a man of sorrows and 
acquainted with grief. Christ is despised by his own. He comes to his own and his own 
do not receive him. Christ lives in obedience to 
his father's law in terms of a covenant made with his father 
way back when? Again, in eternity. Christ goes 
to the cross. Christ dies on the cross, not 
as an example, not as a moving picture of things that ought 
to warm our hearts, but as a substitute. It is there that the Father punishes 
us in his place. Christ takes the punishment of 
God for sinners. I love the children's version 
of the shorter catechism. It is the, what is atonement? 
It's the satisfaction of divine justice. See, many years ago, 
it wasn't atonement that was the word that was more often 
used. It was satisfaction. God's justice needs to be satisfied, 
and this is what Christ does at Calvary. And then he goes 
into the grave, and on the third day, he rose from the dead. He ascended on high, he sits 
enthroned at the right hand of God Most High, that you through 
his poverty might become rich. All those who by his grace look 
to him in faith will have everlasting life. Don't end the day. I know 
we say this every Sunday. We say it Sunday morning, we 
say it Sunday night, but at some point in your life, whether you're 
young or old, you gotta come to grips with this. This is the 
reality. He that hath the Son hath everlasting 
life. He who does not believe the Son 
shall not see life, but what? The wrath of God abides on him. It's an amazing reality. If you're 
outside Christ right now, the wrath of God abides on you. If 
we had a can of spray paint and it was something tangible, we 
could paint around you and see this cloud. That's what's happened. That's what's going on. You have 
sinned against a holy God. You need Christ. You need the 
one who satisfied divine justice. You need the one who accomplished 
in his own life all obedience to the Father's law. Because 
when you believe, you are forgiven and you are given that perfect 
righteousness. Don't end the day. I would say 
don't leave this place. This is most important, for the 
wrath of God abides. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the riches 
of Christ. We thank you for the poverty 
of Christ. We thank you for this blessed 
union in one person of the divine and the human. And we thank you 
that he ever lives, as Steve reminded us in his prayer, that 
he ever lives to make intercession for us. He is enthroned at the 
right hand of God Most High. He is there for his people, and 
he is there to save those who come. He has said, he has promised, 
that all that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one 
who comes to me I will certainly not cast out. God, provoke in 
the hearts of men, women, boys and girls this night here in 
this place and in other churches in Chilliwack and all over the 
earth, God, we pray that you bring the conviction for sin 
and point sinners to this one who is able to save to the uttermost. 
We ask that you would go with us now. We pray that you would 
watch over us in this coming week. Again, bless our brothers 
and our sisters who are going through trials and difficulties 
and hardships. We just commit them to you and 
to the word of your grace. And we pray through Christ our 
Lord. Amen.