Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 8 for our meditation before we participate in the Lord's Supper. 2 Corinthians chapter 8. I'll read the chapter and our focus this evening will be on verse 9. Beginning in 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 Excuse me, I lost my place.
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 urge 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 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. 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 into 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 was also chosen by the churches to travel with us 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, thank you for the Word of God and thank you for this opportunity to worship the God of the Word. We ask that your Spirit would be at work in our hearts and minds. We pray that we would see the glory of Christ as so clearly displayed in verse 9.
We thank you that though He was rich, He became poor for us, that we through His poverty might become rich. We thank you for the riches that we possess in Him. We thank you for every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. We thank you for the power of your Spirit and we pray that He would be with us now and guide us and lead us and direct us into all truth.
As well, Father, forgive us for our sins and unrighteousness. Cleanse us in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. For those, God, who do not have ears to hear, we pray that you would be at work in their minds and in their hearts, and open hearts to receive the word of the living and true God. And we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Introduction
Well, specifically what Paul is doing is he's appealing to the Corinthian church in this section to give, to engage in Christian charity, and to do so very liberally. He urges them to persevere in what they had begun. Notice in verses 10 and 11. He says, 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." It's good to want to give, but it's better to persevere and actually give. That's what the Apostle emphasizes. He urges two specific examples upon the Corinthians to stimulate this charity among them. He cites first the churches of Macedonia.
Notice in verse 1. Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. Philippi, the church in Philippi, was one of those particulars. And we know from reading That letter that Paul wrote to the Philippians, they were benevolent.
They were very charitable. They were very gracious to the Apostle Paul. In fact, that's how they had correspondence with him. They had a man in their church named Epaphroditus, and they sent Epaphroditus to visit the Apostle Paul while he was in prison to bring him specific goods to help him while he was in his imprisonment.
So the churches of Macedonia were very liberal, very charitable, very gracious. And notice that they did so from a posture of poverty. It's not like they had an abundance, but rather from what little they had, they were very willing to share that. He says in verse 2 that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality.
So while they did not have much in terms of physical resources, what they did have, they wanted to give. And the emphasis of the specific target in terms of giving was famine relief in Judea. And so the Apostle says, for I bear witness that according to their ability, verse 3, And 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. So he appeals to the Corinthians to follow the lead of the Macedonian churches.
Theology Driving Practical Charity
But secondly, he appeals to the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that's what we find in verse 9. John Murray makes a wonderful observation in this particular context, and it's one that I think we ought to visit a few times as we consider this particular text. Notice the impetus behind practical Christianity. If you look at Christianity, there's doctrinal study, there's things like the Trinity, covenant theology, predestination, election, sovereignty, all those things that the Christian pursues.
And then we have this category of practical theology. How do we become better husbands, or better wives, or better fathers, or better children? Well, in this particular instance, I think we would all agree that Christian charity or liberality or giving to relieve the sufferings of others is a very practical doctrine. It's a very practical application in terms of Christianity.
Notice how the apostle uses theology, specifically Christology, the doctrine of Christ, to make this appeal to them that they would indeed dig deep and give to the churches of Judea. In other words, the best way to promote a robust, practical Christianity is to understand doctrine. It is to understand theology. It is to understand the Word of God and the truth, because that moves the Christian.
Paul does not guilt manipulate. Paul does not show pictures of the suffering ones in Judea, but rather he sets before them the glory of Christ. When the true saint of God ponders the majesty of Jesus, who, though he was rich, became poor, that Christian, having received those benefits as the result of Christ's finished work, wants to give to others. He wants to be a godly man.
He wants to be a godly woman. He wants to do those things that are pleasing to his Lord. Sound doctrinal theology is the best thing that drives practical Christian ethics. Murray says it this way, the simple logic of this verse is that the most transcendent mysteries of our holy faith are the fountain springs of the most common and practical of Christian duties.
He says, the streams of Christian liberality are fed from the ocean of the mysteries of God. Now, I don't know if you've ever met those Christians who say, you know, I don't want all that doctrine. I don't want all that heady theology. I don't want to spend time poring over the Bible and big books on theology or confessions.
I just want to love Jesus. I just want to do good things for Jesus. It's admirable to just want to love Jesus. It's very admirable to want to do good things for Jesus.
But the Bible links orthopraxy, which is doing good things for Jesus, with orthodoxy. That means sound doctrine concerning Jesus. So the apostle here appeals to them concerning things that they already know concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Riches of Christ
So as we look at verse 8, we'll look at it in two sections. First, the riches of Christ, and secondly, the poverty of Christ. Note first, with reference to the riches of Christ, Paul's assumption. He says, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He appeals to something they already understood. He appeals to something they already were conscious of. He appeals to something that they, in their Christian experience, had come to grips with. Christology, the doctrine of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Charles Hodge says specifically here, 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. Now I'm not asking for everybody to be able to recite the paragraph in our confession that deals with the union of the natures in the one person of the Lord Jesus. But to have some sort of a conceptual understanding, you must have that. You must know certain things about Christ and about the glory of the gospel.
And Paul assumes that these people in Corinth will have known these particulars. It is very important for you to study the Bible. It is important for you to be under-preaching. It is important for you to be taught good, sound Christology and good theology, so that practically you can serve the Lord God Most High with all your heart, your soul, your mind and strength.
Christ's Pre-Existent Glory
Notice the content of the knowledge that they had. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, This is a reference to the deity, or the divinity, or the godhood of our Lord Jesus. It doesn't have to refer, it doesn't refer specifically to what is Christ's in terms of his exaltation. After Christ died, he rose again, he was exalted to the right hand of the majesty on high.
No, Paul is looking before that. He's speaking of the fact that Jesus was rich, yet he became poor. The emphasis here is that the God of heaven and earth left that throne, God the Son, and came into this world. Paul says that though he was rich, and it's interesting the way that he speaks of this.
He was rich. This describes him essentially. This describes what he always was. It describes what he will always be.
But then it says he became poor. was rich, became poor. John does this in John 1.1 and John 1.14. John 1.1, he says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He didn't become God.
He has eternally existed as God. John 1.14, the Word, that same Word in John 1.1, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory. So when the Apostle appeals to the Corinthians with the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, It is different than when he appeals to the Macedonians. The Macedonians gave from their poverty.
The Lord Christ gave from His riches. And specifically, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor. As I've said, the riches of Christ here do not point to what are His by virtue of His exaltation to the right hand of the Father, but points to the divine nature, His very being, what He is essentially. The reference is to His pre-existence and the poverty is seen in the incarnation.
Christ in His pre-existent glory was praised by the angels. That's riches, isn't it? Christ in his pre-existent glory was praised by the host of Evan. Isaiah chapter 6, the prophet gets a view of the throne room of God in the year that King Uzziah died.
I saw the Lord high and lofty, the train of his robe filled the temple and the angels cried, holy, Holy, holy. Those angels that had six wings, with two they cover their feet, with two they fly. I was going to make a flying motion, but perhaps that's not appropriate. And with two they covered their face.
Why? Because the glory and the majesty and the burning holiness of the Lord Christ in His preexistent glory is too much for those holy angels to even behold. The Apostle is highlighting the preexistent glory of Christ as God. John does this, as I've already said.
John 1.1, we've alluded to that. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Notice as well in John 17 in our Lord's High Priestly Prayer. John 17, specifically in verse 5.
Jesus says, and now, O Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though He was rich, the riches are seen in the glory that He possessed with the Father before the world was. Pastor Kim read a very appropriate section at the outset of worship. In Philippians 2.5, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation." So this one who is God made himself of no reputation.
It's parallel to what we find in 2 Corinthians 8 and verse 9, "...though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor." As our confession describes the Lord Jesus Christ, with reference to the triune God, it says, in this divine and infinite being, God, there are three subsistences, the Father, the Word or Son, and the Holy Spirit, of one substance, power and eternity, each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father. You see, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, it points to His essential deity. It points to His identity as God Most High.
All the attributes of God, all the things that the Bible predicates concerning God are true of our Lord Jesus Christ. But not only His essence and being, His works. The New Testament documents ascribe to our Lord Jesus the work of creation. He was rich.
He made this world and everything in it. John 1.3, Colossians 1.15, Hebrews chapter 1. Everything. Everything is owned by Christ.
He is sovereign. He is supreme. He is rich. He owns it.
But not only in creation, in terms of providence. He governs all His creatures and all their actions. The Lord Christ holds everything together by the word of His power. Hebrews 1.3.
Paul says in Colossians 1.17 that in Him all things consist. The idea being is if there was no Jesus, there'd be nothing. Christ Almighty is the one who is sovereign in creation and providence. This is what Paul the Apostle is highlighting here in the first part in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich.
The Poverty of Christ
Now notice the movement. Notice the pre-existent state of the Lord Jesus, the glory that He shared with the Father and the Spirit. He nevertheless left that place and He was born of a woman. He was born under the law.
He came to save His people from their sins. And the Apostle describes this as becoming poor. Now it's essential to understand Jesus never stopped being God. Jesus never emptied himself of divinity.
Jesus never gave up divine privilege or divine prerogative.
The Hypostatic Union
What we have in the Lord Jesus Christ becoming poor is what is called the hypostatic union. There will be a quiz tonight after you leave, so make sure you're paying close attention. Just kidding. Now everybody awake?
The hypostatic union refers to the one person of our Lord Jesus Christ who is two natures. There are two natures that make up the one person of Christ. Make up is probably not even the best word. He is Christ, the person, but he is divine and he is human.
Here I will appeal to our confession. I said earlier that I don't expect you to know this word for word or dot for dot, but it certainly wouldn't kill you. The Son of God, the second person in the Holy Trinity, being very and eternal God, 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, 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, so that two whole perfect and distinct natures were inseparably joined together in one person without conversion, composition, or confusion.
Which person is very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man? When we talk about Christ, it's not that He's composite. He's not a little bit God and a little bit man. He's not 60-40 or 50-50 or 99.9 and a .1.
The Lord Christ, as the Confession specifies, as the Bible clearly asserts throughout, that He is very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man. This is what Paul is highlighting in 2 Corinthians 8-9. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. that though he was rich, though he was praised by angels, he had glory with the Father and the Spirit, he is the maker of things seen and unseen, he is the one who upholds all things by the word of his power, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. John Murray makes this observation.
He says, when Jesus became man, he did not cease to be rich in his divine being, relations, and possession. He did not become poor by ceasing to be what he was. Very important. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.
As I said, he didn't become poor by giving up deity. He didn't become poor by throwing off sovereignty. He didn't become poor by stopping being what he had always eternally been. Listen again to what Murray says.
He did not become poor by ceasing to be what he was, but he became poor by becoming what he was not. He became poor in taking on flesh. He became poor in identifying with us. He became poor in the incarnation.
Not that He gave up prerogative, not that He gave up deity, but as we just sang, veiled in flesh, the Godhead see, hail the incarnate deity. If you were walking down the road and you saw the Lord Jesus Christ at that particular time, you didn't see Him in His glory, you didn't see Him in His majesty. If you walked into His Father's carpentry shop, You'd see him banging nails into a piece of wood. You would see him conducting himself as a man.
Not divested or devoid of deity, because he has essential deity, but he's become poor by addition. Murray says he became poor by addition, not by subtraction. He added manhood to his immutable and eternal godhood. Some of this, this is the area where we just say, praise God for such a glorious Savior.
Praise God for such a wonderful Son. Praise God for such love that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. That you through his poverty might become rich. It's interesting, we appear in the first part of each of the clauses.
The emphasis is upon the redemptive benefit that he secures for us. Again, I think the logic is thus, that if he being rich became poor for your sakes so that you could be rich, cough up. Paul doesn't say it like that, but that's how you should exit the chapter. Of course we should give to the churches of Judea.
Of course we should practice benevolence. Of course we should be a charitable people. Of course we should abound liberally. We ought not to be tight-fisted in the reality that is Christ, in the reality that is the Incarnation, that though He was rich, He became poor for my sake?
Am I going to clutch onto my money and not help a brother in need? That's the basis of the argument. This is what he's talking about. Again, as Hodge says elsewhere, self-sacrifice is the proper test of love.
If Jesus does this, and he has, and you are the benefactors of it, As you are, then certainly when those churches in Judea are in need, you ought to come to their aid. You ought to seek to benefit them. You ought to be engaged in the sorts of liberality that you see first in Christ and you also see modeled in the churches of Macedonia. So this refers to the hypostatic union, the two natures in the one person, inseparable, without confusion, without conversion, without composition, which person is very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man.
Incarnation and Lowly Life
The Incarnation. The Lord Jesus took on flesh and was born of the Virgin. Matthew chapters 1 and 2. He was born under the law.
We heard a very good exposition of this last week in Galatians 4. In the fullness of the times, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law. The humanity of Christ did not diminish or demolish or eradicate his deity. Rather, he never ceased to be God.
As Paul says in Philippians 2, but he made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. John Gill describes it this way, 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. They were hid, they were covered from the view of man when he walked upon the earth, as I've already alluded to, that hymn we just sang. Probably one of my favorite lines at this time of the year to sing.
Veiled in flesh that God had seen, Hail the incarnate deity, pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel." What is Emmanuel? It is God with us. He never ceased to be God. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.
We see this incarnation lead to a lowly life. How did Jesus live when he was a man? Did he have the big mansion? Did he have a wife with big hair?
I know that comes up in the news recently, that there's documents that show that Jesus of Nazareth was married and whatnot. If you need any debunking material, go to Michael Kruger. The website is called Canon Fodder. Any of these new things that come out, he deals with it.
Canon Fodder. Great, great pun there for Isaac. Canon, referring to the canon of scripture. Mrs.
Fodder, for your dealings on the canon issues. Jesus wasn't like what we see today. Remember, Peter did not like the messianic scheme. Peter didn't like the idea that Christ must go to Jerusalem, that Christ must suffer at the hands of the elders and the scribes and the chief priests.
He didn't like the reality that Jesus must die. Peter didn't hear that he must be raised on the third day, but that messianic agenda, as far as Peter was concerned, was simply not acceptable. That was the messianic agenda. The prophet Isaiah said concerning Christ specifically, in His incarnation, in His lowly life, He is despised and rejected by men.
He's 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. The same Isaiah who wrote Isaiah 6.
The same Isaiah who speaks about seeing the pre-incarnate Christ. You say, how do you know that? Because John the Apostle tells us in John 12, 41 that Isaiah wrote these things when he saw His glory, talking about Christ. Isaiah 6, he sees the glory of the Savior King.
And in Isaiah 53, he's telling us He is despised and rejected by men. You see where in the poverty comes. Poverty is His coming into this world, identifying with man, coming in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet without sin. The experience of our Lord Jesus in His earthly ministry.
Remember when He calls that man to discipleship in Matthew chapter 8, and the man starts to hymn and to hawk, Jesus says, Birds of the air have their nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. Here's the one who was rich, who was praised by angels, the one who is worshipped by the holy elect angels, who comes into this world and he doesn't have a place to lay his head. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. The Creator and the Sovereign was despised by men and he had no place to lay his head.
Sufferings and Death
But this poverty is most distinctly seen in his sufferings and death. The Apostle Peter, as I said, could not conceive of the Messiah's suffering and dying. Lord, this isn't going to be. This is not going to happen.
There's no way you're going to suffer and die and be raised the third day. That's just not going to happen. Get behind me, Satan. The Jews, after the resurrection, continued to see the concept of a suffering Messiah as a stumbling block.
The Jews seek after a sign, the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ and Him crucified. To the Jews, a stumbling block, and to the Greeks, foolishness. But to those who are being saved, Christ, the wisdom and the power of God. The Apostle traces the trajectory of Christ's humiliation in Philippians chapter 2 in verse 8.
And he says, "...in being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor." Philip Hughes said, "...from highest heaven This is one of those excellent quotes that I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. It's nice and short. From highest heaven he descended to Calvary in the grave.
None was richer than he. None became poorer than he. That's beautiful. That's what the Apostle is highlighting.
Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.
The Redemptive Riches We Receive
Now notice the redemptive benefit in view. Why did Jesus do this, we might ask? Why would one who's rich be impoverished? Why is one who's glorious come and be rejected by men?
Why is one who created the world and governs it come into this world and he doesn't have a place to lay his head? Why would somebody who is rich become poor? Paul says that you through his poverty might become rich. There's a statement in the Nicene Creed that's been running through my head over the last several days that I love.
It says, and 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 it's the next few words that just make me happy. says 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. who for us men and for our salvation. Why did the rich son of God be impoverished?
Why did he who was rich become poor for us men and for our salvation? This is essentially what the Apostle says, that you through his poverty might become rich. This isn't a health, wealth, prosperity text. This doesn't mean as soon as you come to Jesus, your pockets swell, and cars pop up in your driveway, your wife's hair grows, and you get summer houses, and you have all sorts of accouterments.
The riches here are spiritual. The riches here are Ephesians 1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. And then it details election by the Father, redemption by the Son, sealing and guaranteeing by the Spirit.
Justification and Imputed Righteousness
This is the riches that we possess in our Lord Jesus Christ. We have the forgiveness of sins. We have the imputation of righteousness. Do you understand that we're cleansed, we're washed, we're purified?
Do you know how many people out in the world are suffering under guilt and under bondage because they have sinned and they have no one to go to, because they do not listen to gospel preaching, they will not flee to Messiah, they will not go to the Christ. He is the one in whom we find cleansing. There is a fountain open for sin and uncleanness. The hymn writer says, and sinners plunge beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains.
Do you understand the riches you possess in Christ? You're washed. You're purified. You're sanctified.
You're fit for heaven. You're fit for glory. The Lord Jesus in His poverty has rescued you. The Lord Jesus in His doing and dying and rising has brought justification, the forgiveness of sins.
But as Machen says, if we're forgiven without an imputed righteousness, we're back at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and it becomes ours. then to secure ourselves in that particular state. But the doctrine of justification answers not only forgiveness, but the giving of a righteousness. We are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. We are clothed in the righteousness of Christ so that we'll stand before God on that day when we should hear, depart from me, I never knew you, into the fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels.
We're going to actually hear with our ears, well done, good and faithful servant. Not because of our goodness, but because of our union with Christ. Because we're in communion with the living God.
Adoption and Sanctification
We have adoption as sons unto God the Father. You see the riches that Christ secured in His poverty for us? Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. We are adopted sons and daughters of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's been my privilege to live in Chilliwack and to minister in this church for these past 17 years. For the most part, not everybody, but for the most part, they're people that have come from Christian backgrounds and people that have come, at least to some degree, you know, relatively normalized families. Well, that's not the case in a lot of other churches. It's not the case in a lot of other places.
There is a lot of dysfunctionality out there and some persons have never had Father. Some persons don't know what it is to relate to someone who's actually kind and gracious and merciful and one who protects and provides, one who secures and stabilizes, one who is there with them. This is what we have in the Father. We can cry, Abba, Father, because of the spirit of adoption that has been given to us because our rich Lord for our sakes became poor that we, through His poverty, might become rich.
What could be more rich than living in communion with the Father in heaven? We have sanctification by the Spirit. I love Paul's prayer in Ephesians chapter 3, for those brethren. Let's just look there for just a moment.
Learning as I get older, I need to start bringing my reading glasses into the pulpit and I need to start doing memory exercises. It's the way it is, I guess, as you get older. And I know I'm still young, relatively, but seems like the faculties aren't what they once were. Notice what the Apostle prays in Ephesians 3.14, "...For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." And then he prays for three things.
Note this first petition, "...that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. This is what we have as Christians. This is what is available to us as God's people, that God would grant you according to the riches of His glory. You see, God doesn't just chip a few flakes off of this, you know, pile of gold and dole it out in some miserly fashion.
Paul attaches Prayer petition to the abundance of what God has. He says to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man. Brethren, if Paul prayed that for the Ephesians, you can certainly pray that for yourself. God strengthened me with might in the inner man.
We have the sanctifying power and influence of the Holy Spirit. We've been justified freely by His grace. We now have the Spirit. It ought not to be the case that we say, well, I just can't fight this sin.
I just can't stop this sin. I just can't resist this sin. You've got the Spirit. You've got God the Spirit resident in your life, in your heart.
The Apostle says, I want you to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. The second petition, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height to know the love of Christ would pass as knowledge. That petition isn't. I want you to consider how much you love Jesus.
I want you to reflect upon the amount of love that you have for Jesus. That's not what Paul's praying. I want you to reflect upon the amount of love Jesus has for you. I want you to be scholars in Christ's school of love.
I want you to understand what it is the Son of God has for you. I want you to know the riches that you possess. You see, the problem with the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel is that they want too little. Who cares about gold?
Who cares about houses? Who cares about cars? Who cares about summer homes? When we are justified freely by His grace, when we are adopted sons and daughters of the Lord God Most High, when we have the Spirit of God in us, that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith, and we know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, the third petition is found at the end, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
I've often thought that's a passage that can only be read and not explained. What does it mean to be filled with all the fullness of God? Glorious!
The Fullness of Riches in Christ
Do not doubt your riches, brethren. Do not doubt what you possess in Jesus Christ. Paul makes this statement in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. You see, through his poverty we have become rich. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 30, But of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and Or it could be explicative.
It could be, that is. This indicates what the wisdom from God looks like. Either way, it doesn't make a lot of difference. Who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
You see, if you have those things, why would you pray for a summer home? I'm not saying summer homes and cars are necessarily evil. And I'm certainly not saying go out and get rid of all yours. Paul is not telling the church in Corinth to get rid of all their riches.
He's not telling them to become monks. He's not telling them to get rid of every possession that they own. That's not the point of the narrative or the section. He wants them to give liberally.
He wants them to give cheerfully. He wants them to give beneficially to those who have need. He wants the churches to share this. He wants them to be equal in terms of what they're doing to try and help those who are suffering.
But brethren, this is what we have in our Lord Jesus Christ. We are rich men. We are rich women. We are rich boys and girls if we are in Christ.
We have a righteousness that avails with God. We have sanctification. We have redemption. It follows in verse 31, that as it is written, he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.
You know if you're parents have ever given you a nice gift, what do you do? You thank them. You praise them. You delight in them.
You express your thanksgiving. That's the point. We have these things in our Lord Jesus that he who glories, let him glory in the Lord. One other text.
Romans chapter 8, just to sort of flash out or view from another vantage point the riches that are ours in the Lord Jesus. Verse 28, this is a rich, one of the riches that we can certainly enjoy. Verse 28, we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. That's good, isn't it?
Isn't it wonderful to know that whatever happens in your life, God has it under control? Now I'm of the mind that Paul is talking about bad things here when he says all things work together for good. I think we all agree that good things work for good. We don't need to be told that good things work for good.
Do we? Here, I'm handing you these wonderful things. Wow, this is amazing. No, we need to be told that bad things work for good.
We need to be told that trials work for good. We need to be told that suffering works for good. We need to be told that persecution works for good. And this is the context.
We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Now notice, for whom He foreknew. He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called, whom He called, these He also justified, and whom He justified, these He also glorified." We are justified freely by His grace.
We are adopted as sons and daughters to our God and Father through Jesus Christ. We are sanctified by the Spirit, and we are on the way to glory. Glorification is our future. You know, there's that Sunday school song, this train is bound for glory, and they go, choo choo.
I know that's cheesy, but it's true. This train is bound for glory. We're heading heavenward. We're going to Emmanuel's land.
We will see him as he is. We will be secure, world without end. 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. We can't even begin to imagine what eternity looks like.
But if we are in Christ, we will experience it, because the one who was rich became poor, that we, through his poverty, might become rich. Gil says that they through his poverty might be rich, not in temporals, 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 clothes them, and through his blood and sacrifice has made them kings and priests unto God. Amen.
Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, thank you for the glory of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that this One came into this world, sinners to save, and He has accomplished this perfectly. He finished the task that you gave Him to carry out. We thank you, God, that in Him we have redemption through His blood, that in Him we have all the benefits associated with the Gospel, that in Him we have a future in glory with God the Father and the Lamb who sits upon the throne. and the Holy Spirit, and the Church of all ages.
What a glorious thought that we will be in the presence of God, and we will worship you day and night, ceaselessly, and give all glory and honor unto you. For God certainly you are worthy, you are altogether lovely, you are chief among 10,000. We thank you for this time that we can gather together for worship. We thank you for this ordinance of the Lord's Supper, We thank you for the bread and the wine that reminds us of our beloved Savior.
And we pray in his blessed name. Amen.