Will you take your Bibles and turn to Second Corinthians chapter eight. We're going to look at verse nine s we continue our verse-by-verse examination of this epistle. We will do so under the heading of "From Riches to Poverty." Before we look at this text, I think it's appropriate for me to kind of put this in the context of where we're living here today. It's obvious to all of us who know and love Christ, that there is an ominous, dark cloud of oppression that is hovering over our nation. We see it not only in this pandemic, but also in the moral freefall of our country. We see it in the wickedness that is now taking over, basically all of the systems including our government systems, and educational systems in our country. To be sure, consistent with Romans chapter one, the wrath of divine abandonment is manifesting itself in our nation where God has given this people over to the consequences of their iniquity. The good news, as Christians, we can be confident that God is still in absolute control. We know that he is sovereign over all of his creation, and that he rules in unassailable majesty. And that ultimately, he is going to accomplish his good purposes, regardless of the wickedness that we see around us. And so our hope, as always, is in Christ. And if we're going to enjoy that reality, we need to spend much of our time focusing on the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what we're going to do here this morning, as we look at this text in Second Corinthians eight. 

So I hope this will be a time of encouragement, I hope you can come and warm yourselves around the fires of divine truth and fellowship, and not be depressed by all of the horrible things going on around us. The context here is Paul collecting a donation from the predominantly Gentile saints in Corinth, for the predominantly Jewish saints in Jerusalem, who were impoverished; those who had come to Pentecost to worship and do all that the Jews would do during that time--all of a sudden, they see what's happening at Pentecost, and 1000s of them are saved, and now they're staying there. And they're depleting the resources, or they've depleted the resources of other saints there in Jerusalem. And so now Paul is making this collection. And we read about this much here in Second Corinthians eight, but then in verse nine, there seems to be a bit of a non sequitur. It's like, where does this verse fit with all of this. And I think you will see it very quickly as we examine it. 

Notice what he says here in verse nine, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. "You see, Paul's reminder of the grace that they had in the Lord Jesus Christ was a powerful motivator for them to worship the Lord through their financial gifts, helping other believers in a time of need. And certainly, it's all of God's grace that we have anything. It is God's grace that has saved us, it is God's grace that is sanctifying us, and it is God's grace that will one day usher us into the bliss of heaven, where we will enjoy the riches of God's presence forevermore. And those who wholeheartedly embrace the magnificent glory of all of this will need no prodding to give financially to the Lord's work, especially to impoverished saints. And frankly, believers who have a shallow, or worse yet, an apathetic understanding, of the riches of God's grace in Christ will never be a cheerful, sacrificial, generous, regular giver. You see our attitude towards money and our habit in generous, sacrificial giving to the Lord, is one of the greatest barometers of our spiritual maturity, and our love for Christ. And it's within this context, that in an economy of words, the apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Spirit, pens one of the most profound statements in all of Scripture, concerning the person and the work of our precious Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. 

And certainly, given the pandemic that we're experiencing in our nation today, combined with the moral freefall of our country, and the corruption of government, and just the frightening wickedness of the new administration and Congress that have now seized power. It's all the more fitting for us to focus on the glory of Christ, and the hope that we have in him. It's for this reason that Paul said in Colossians three and verse one--and by the way, I find myself going to this passage over and over again. He says, "Therefore if,"--or it could be translated "since"--"you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God." Set your mind on the things above, not on the things of this earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory." What a magnificent promise. And this, dear friends, is what must occupy the hearts of the redeemed, especially in times such as this. Rather than having our conversations and our hearts always occupied with the ungodliness of our nation and the ungodly people that are ruling it and all of these things, be reminded that they will only wield the scepter of power for a short time. Then, unless they repent and believe in Christ, they will face their eternal doom. So we need to have hearts of pity on these people. 

I'm always reminded of Psalm two in light of these things. Remember there the psalmist says, "Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, 'Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!'" My if that is not a depiction of the United States, I don't know what is. But notice the next statement, "He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury saying, 'But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.'" And certainly, it is that King, the Lord Jesus Christ, that we exalt here today as we come together. 

Now, as we look at verse nine of Second Corinthians eight, we're going to do so under three very simple headings. We're going to look at riches forsaken, poverty chosen and riches given. And I trust dear friends that you will never be the same for having been here today. And hearing what the Spirit has to say, through his servant. Notice the very first phrase, he says, "For you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ." You Corinthians, you know, you know what he's done. The term "grace" refers to the utterly unmerited, inexhaustible goodness of God that was once animated by his uninfluenced love upon those that he said his love upon even in eternity past. A grace that was then demonstrated supremely through Christ's sacrifice for sinners. And Paul's point here is simply this--folks, given what Christ has done for unworthy sinners like you and me, given what he has done in the humiliation of his incarnation and his sacrifice for sins, surely, you can find it in your heart to give sacrificially to the needs of his people. And of course, the implication exceeds the bounds of that context and extends to all of us as believers, who, as we studied last week, are called upon by the mercies of God to present our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. We need to ask ourselves, is this really an accurate depiction of my heart? Does that really describe who I am? If not, the question is, why not? The answer is quite simple. You have a very high view of self and a very low view of Christ. And this is really indicative of the post Christian culture in which we live. 

There was an article that I read back several months ago. It was entitled, quote, "All People are Holy." Right there you ought to go to be shocked when you read that all people are holy. And then it said, "The theology of Alexandria Ocasio Cortes." And of course, she is a radical leftist US representative for New York's 14th congressional ditrict. She is commonly known as AOC. You're probably familiar with her. And the author of the article is unfortunately a heretic by the name of Morgen Guyton. He is the director of the Nola Wesley Foundation, which is the United Methodist campus ministry at Tulane and Loyola University in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is also the author of "How Jesus Saves the World from Us: 12 antidotes to toxic Christianity." And in his commentary, he showed, or I should say he showered, praise on AOC and really affirmed her theology. And what he said I think really captures the type of blasphemy that is indicative of our post Christian religious culture in the United States. Here's what he said, "Alexandria Ocasio Cortez summarized one of my core religious convictions in a speech given on February 27, 2020. On a hearing about," quote, "religious freedom. She said, quote, I know and it is part of my faith that all people are holy and all people are sacred, unconditionally," end quote. He went on to say "It's the kind of theological declaration that I would have mocked as unserious pedestrian liberalism when I was an Evangelical. But the beauty of her sincere conviction utterly pierced my heart when I watched her speech. To say that all people are holy is the polar opposite of the core evangelical doctrine that all people are totally depraved by nature. And yet, I think it's an absolutely Christian thing to believe." He went on to say, "It's such a different Christianity when the first thing we say is 'all people are holy.' And instead of worrying about correcting other people, we decide to act as though God thinks they're gorgeously, fabulously exactly as they are. Honestly, I think that when I live with that conviction, I do a better job of correcting my own sin along the way. If Alexandria Ocasio Cortez's his faith is the future of American Christianity, then that's a faith worth fighting for." End quote. Well, dear friends, if all people are holy, than there's no need for a Savior, right? There's no need for the Lamb of God to come and to take away the sins of the world; there is no need to be justified and reconciled to a holy God if we're all just fine the way we are. 

As I have written elsewhere, quote, "AOC's theology is appealing to fallen humanity because it confirms what people already believe about themselves. Moreover, it is especially appealing to progressives because it is essential to their social agenda. People must be seen as the deprived, not depraved. For the Marxists, it's society, not a sinful nature, that causes people to do bad things. Therefore, it is society as a whole, not individuals that must change. And since people are inherently good, not evil, if they are given equal resources and opportunities and if all oppressive moral, economic and social constraints are removed, their natural goodness will flourish, and everyone will be happy. No need for a Christian savior. No worries about divine judgment, no need for police or prisons. Once everyone's essential needs are met, and it is universally agreed that whatever a person chooses to be or do is morally acceptable, and practically attainable, we will have utopia. Social justice at last."  Well, obviously, those who hold to those blasphemous beliefs of AOC, and so many others will want nothing to do with the Christ that we adore. And they will never experience the wonders of His saving grace. 

Will you notice again, what Paul says to the saints who redeemed by the blood of the Lamb in Corinth. He said, "For you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ." Oh Child of God, there is no greater privilege in all the world for a believer, than to contemplate the glory of the person and the work of the one mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ. And by His grace, He accomplished our redemption, and made us joint heirs with Christ. And so look at this first from the perspective of the riches forsaken. Again, let me read part of this text, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor." What is he referring to with respect to that term, "riches"? Well, we can never grasp the magnitude of Christ's self-impoverishment, until we grasp the magnanimity of his wealth. And you must understand that the concept of riches here has nothing to do with material or economic wealth. I mean, my goodness, he was the creator. He could create whatever he needed. But folks, it has everything to do with his preexistent eternal glory, as the Son of God. Iit speaks of the ultimate, infinite perfections of his attributes. I mean, the Lord Jesus Christ is the pre-existent, self-existent, uncreated Creator of the universe. According to Colossians, 2:9, "For in Him," referring to Jesus, "all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. "The writer of Hebrews tells us in chapter one, verse three, Jesus is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his nature. That's how wealthy he was. Perhaps a silly little analogy will help. We're all familiar with earthworms. Especially when it rains, we see them coming up out of the ground. We love to dig them up. They're great fishing bait, slimy little creatures that slither around eating decaying plants and decaying animals and animal insect feces, fungi, algae, bacteria, and so forth. Not a very handsome creature. Imagine, if you love that worm so much, you decided to become like one to help it. You get the idea of the kind of riches you would leave to do such a thing. And of course, the disparity between the Lord Jesus Christ and us is infinitely greater than the one just described. In fact, we sang about that a little bit ago and the hymn that Isaac Watts wrote "At the Cross." Remember, he said, "Alas, and did my Savior bleed and did my Sovereign die? Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I."

Let me give you a little glimpse of the Lord Jesus Christ from another passage of scripture for just a moment. Let me take you to Isaiah six. In verse one, it says, "In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple." Here, the veil that separates sinful man from the presence of a holy God, in the Holy of Holies, is suddenly withdrawn, suddenly opened up, so Isaiah could look in, and he was no priest. He was a mere man, and to dare to gaze upon the glory of God, much less enter into the Holy of Holies would have been certain death. But here, he is allowed to do this, and who does he see? He sees the Lord. "Adonai"-- Sovereign One, which is the supreme title of God found in the Old Testament. By the way, when Christ is called "Lord" in the New Testament, it is the equivalent of the Hebrew "Adonai." He is the Sovereign One, he is the Lord of Glory. In fact, John tells us in John 12:41, that the one upon whom Isaiah gazed was the Lord Jesus Christ; Isaiah sees him seated upon the throne. This is the pre-incarnate Son of God, the One who would later come as a babe and die in our stead and reconcile those who are separated from him due to sin; to reconcile us unto God. And then next Isaiah describes the highest of all the angels surrounding the throne, they're hovering like little helicopters, or like these little, I think they call them drones, that they now have, that they can fly all around and take pictures, some of you may own them. 

And as the scene unfolds, we see these magnificent creatures forming two opposite choirs in a semicircle. They're rendering what we would call "antiphonal worship”; they’re answering one another responsively. In verse two, it says, "Seraphim stood above Him."  The seraphim, the term in Hebrew means "the burning ones." We're not told how many, but the burning ones are standing above him. Now, this is not necessarily describing a posture of just standing, but rather it carries with it the idea of a position of perpetual attendance to God. They're hovering over him with these expanded wings. So the scene here, dear friends, is one of constant motion, they're always ready to do the Lord's bidding. And then we read, "...with two he covered his face." Isn't it interesting that even the most exalted of the angels were not allowed to see his face, perhaps to protect them from the unbearable effulgence of the glory of God, we don't know. He goes on to say "...with two he covered his feet. "This is probably symbolic of their unworthiness to serve Him as mere creatures that he has created, and perhaps, a symbolic disavowal of any intention to walk in a direction contrary to his will. "...and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, 'Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.'" Oh child of God, this is the "trihagion"--the song of the thrice Holy God, the three times Holy God. By the way, this kind of repetition is a literary device in Hebrew, used to denote special emphasis. By the way, we do the same thing in English. For example, there are jets that are fast, and they are jets that are really fast. There are jets that are really, really fast. And then there are jets that are really, really, really fast. That's the point here. Nowhere else in Scripture is an attribute of God stated three times in succession, and thus elevated to the degree of the super superlative; only the holiness of God. God has never described as merciful, merciful, merciful; love, love, love; faithful, faithful. Even though he is all of those things. But the ultimate sum of all of his perfections, all of his attributes, is in the term holy. 

And notice the name of this thrice Holy God. He is the "LORD of hosts." You will notice that all caps, the word Lord denotes the sacred name of God, the name by which He revealed Himself to Moses as Yaweh. This is what the old theologians call the ineffable tetragrammaton. Ineffable means too wondrous to even utter from the lips, "tetra"--four, "grammaton"--letters. The two wondrous to utter from the lips, four letters, Yaweh. Y H W H. This is the sacred name of God and Isaiah sees the seraphim, now worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ, celebrating his Holiness, in antiphonal worship. And because of his infinite otherness, we read that "the whole earth is full of His glory." Indeed, we know that the heavens are declaring the glory of the Lord. Beloved, this is the one who became poor, that through his poverty, we might become rich. We read of a similar account, in Revelation four beginning in verse eight, where John witnesses something very, very similar. There we read, "And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night, they do not cease to say, 'Holy, Holy, Holy, IS THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHT, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.' And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders will fall down before Him who sits on the thron, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne saying, 'Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.'" Dear Christian, the ineffable majesty of the perfections of God revealed here in the Lord Jesus Christ. You all know what it's like to contemplate the infinite perfections of the Lord and, and all that he is, and you start asking questions like, where did you come from? How did you come into being? And on and on and on? And isn't it interesting that our ability to conceive of these things, reaches a stopping point. And beloved, when the comprehensible is suddenly confronted with the infinite wonders of the incomprehensible, there is no place else to go, save one. And in a word, that place is worship. Breathless adoration. And that's how we need to view Christ. That's how we need to understand the riches that he forsook on our behalf. 

We move next to the poverty chosen. "...though He was rich, yet for your sake, He became poor." We read of this, for example, in Philippians, two, where the apostle Paul says beginning in verse six, "...although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." I mean, think about this. The eternal, self-existent, uncreated Creator of the universe set aside His glory, and took on the body of the very creature that he created. Worms like you and me, incomprehensible. I can't fathom it. All I can do is worship.

The one who spoke all things into existence, voluntarily set aside the unfathomable splendor and power of his attributes to cling to his mother's breast. The one who rules the universe in unassailable sovereignty and holiness, made himself of no reputation and he dined with sinners. The one before whom the seraphim veil their face, is that same one who girded himself as a slave and went over to the basin and took the towel and washed his disciples’feet...incomprehensible. The Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, consummator of all that exists, became a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. He was despised and forsaken, rejected by men. He was brutally scourged and spat upon. He was mocked and stripped of every article of dignity. A crown of thorns was placed on his head, though he could have called 1000 angels to deliver him. Instead, he voluntarily went to the cross, and bore the sins of all whom the Fatherhad given him in his body. And O, Child of God, we cannot conceive of such agony. Nor can we grasp the infinite depths of such poverty. Let's make this even more personal, if I can put it this way. Think of the excruciating pain that he felt when he saw your face hanging on the cross and suffered in your stead. Think of the heart wrenching horror he experienced when the weight of your iniquities collapsed his sacred lungs; those lungs that had breathed in such hatred but had breathed out such love. Think of the piercing agony that tore through his unblemished flesh when he suffered the eternal hell that you deserve, that I deserve. And think of the dreadful thirst that caused his swollen tongue to say, "I thirst." Think of the cramps in his body that he endured as he thought about your sin. And why did he do all of this? So that we might partake of his eternal glory. Astounding. 

Second Corinthians 5:21, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." And apart from his righteousness, we could never enter into the presence of a holy God. In Ephesians, chapter four, there is another passage, verses eight through 10, that provides another example of the depths of Christ's impoverishment. When between his death and resurrection, He descended into the prison, where the most wicked of all of the fallen angels were imprisoned, and he proclaimed his triumph over the forces of Satan's kingdom. There we read, "Therefore, it says, WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN. (Now this expression, 'He ascended,' what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)" You get a little glimpse of the poverty that he took upon himself? 

The lyrics of another hymn captures the essence of this the title of the hymn is "Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne." And the lyrics go like this, "Thou didst leave Thy throne and thy kingly crown, without comest to Earth for me, but in Bethlehem is home was there found no room for thy holy nativity. Heavens arches rang when the angels saying, proclaiming the royal degree, but of lowly birth, didst thou come to earth, and in greatest humility." Oh beloved, what Christ forsook and endured on our behalf is beyond our ability to fathom. And the point here is simply this:  given that, is it really so hard to at least remotely impoverish yourself, to give financially to those who are in need in the church? 

Well, we've seen the riches forsaken and the poverty chosen. Finally, let's look at the riches given. "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich." Folks, think how poor you would be without Christ. Without Christ, a man has nothing. And we know apart from Christ, we can do nothing. You can have all of the riches in the world, but apart from Christ, you really have nothing. And one day, you will experience the horror of that. Charles Spurgeon put it this way, "If the Lord gives you temporal mercies, take heed that you do not set your heart upon them. Say concerning them, 'They are only toys lent me for a season, and they will have to be given up whenever they are claimed by him who lent them.'" I can hear his booming voice back in the 19th century in London. He went on to say, "Find not your riches, dear friend, in a world where Christ had none. But look for your treasure in the land where moth and rust do not corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal." Beloved again, the riches that we have in Christ exceeds the limits of language to express and the ability of the imagination to conceive. Think about it. 

Let me give you a few passages to remind you of what we have in Christ, Second Corinthians, Peter, I'm sorry, in Second Peter one, three through four. He says this, "...His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. And by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is all in the world by lust." In Romans chapter eight and verse 17, we read that we are "heirs of God" and "fellow heirs with Christ." Amazing. And as believers, we have been blessed with "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ," Ephesians one three. And we know according to Ephesians, two seven that he is "conforming us into the very likeness of Christ." Paul says "so that in the ages to come, He might show the surpassing riches of His grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." And then, of course, our minds always go to First Peter, chapter one beginning of verse four, where we are reminded that we have "an inheritance which is imperishable, and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice. Even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor, at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen Him you love Him, though you do not see Him now but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your soul."

I trust this causes all of you to long for heaven as it does me. In fact, as I was contemplating that passage this week, I was reminded of the testimony of a faithful Puritan pastor that suffered well for Christ, without compromise. A man who longed for heaven's reward, his name was John Bunyan. He's best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory, "The Pilgrims Progress." His testimony reads as follows, quote, "Christ's death for us was so virtuous, that, in the space of three days and nights He reconciled to God in His flesh, every one of God's elect. He presented himself to the justice of the law standing in the stead, place and room of all that He undertook for, and gave His life a ransom for many. Abolishing death, destroying him that had the power of death, taking away the sting of death, obtaining for us the gift of the Holy Spirit, and taking possession of heaven for us. This heaven who knows what it is. This glory, who knows what it is. It is called God's throne, God's house, God's habitation, Paradise, the Kingdom of God, the High and Holy place, Abraham's bosom and the place of heavenly pleasures. And this heaven is to be found the face of God forever. Immortality, the person of Christ, the prophets, angels, the revelation of all mysteries, the knowledge of all the elect and eternity. This heaven we possess already. We are in it; we are set down in it. And we partake already of the benefits through our head, the Lord Jesus. It is fit that we should believe this. Rejoice in this. Talk of this, tell one another of this and live in the expectation of our own personal enjoyment of it. And as we should do all this, so we should bless and praise the name of God, who was put over this house, this kingdom an inheritance into the hand of so faithful a friend, yea, a brother and blessed Savior. All these things are the fruit of His sufferings and His sufferings, the fruit of his love, which passes all knowledge. O, how we should bow the knee before Him and call him tender Father. Yea, how we should love and obey Him and devote ourselves unto this service and be willing to be also sufferers for His sake. To whom be glory and honor forever and ever." 

Oh, dear Christian, given Christ's self-impoverishment, surely, we will all be moved to serve him sacrificially with all that we have, which includes giving out of the abundance of our material wealth to those in need. John MacArthur said it well quote, "How can Christians receive all the riches Christ impoverished himself to give them, yet be unwilling to meet the needs of others? James wrote, 'If a brother or sister is without clothing, and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace be warmed to be filled." And yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body? What use is that?' The apostle John added, 'Whoever has the world's good and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?' Of course, by implication, the answer is, it doesn't." 

So, I would challenge you this morning, dear friends, make it a habit of contemplating the glory of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Allow your mind and your heart to reach the very end of comprehension. And then when the comprehension becomes incomprehensible, you will be left with nothing more than worship. And that's where we need to live. And when that is the attitude and expression of your heart, you will give not out of duty, but out of desire and not just of your material wealth, but you will be a living and holy sacrifice, which is acceptable to God. Let's pray together. 

Father, thank you for the truths that we have reflected upon here today from your word. I pray that you will cause them to deeply impact each of us. May we live them out to the praise of your glory, that we might experience the fullness of the blessings that are ours in Christ this side of heaven, but also that we might give out of our abundance to those who are in need, not just financially, but to give of ourselves to give people the gospel. And to give people our love, that they too might be saved in my worship the lover of our souls. And it's in his name that I pray. Amen.