1146 - The Faith of Christ Makes You Rich#
1146 - The Faith of Christ Makes You Rich
(JP Text Group - Shalom Compilation)
Dear family, peace in the Lord, and welcome to your arrival.
The topic of sharing is: The Faith of Christ Makes You Rich
Let us pray together first.
Loving Heavenly Father, we thank and praise You, for Your love has gathered us together to worship and praise You. We believe that You have prepared a rich spiritual feast to meet our needs, for we are Your children, and You know our needs. Please provide us with bread in due time. Many come with questions, and in the truth, we find the answers we need; let us find strength in Your word. We believe that those who seek will surely find. May the Holy Spirit keep us during this time, guarding each one of us, as our hearts are willing to open to You and receive the words that come from You. We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Deuteronomy 28:1-14:
1 If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: 3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. 4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. 5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. 6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
7 The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. 8 The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. 9 If you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him, he will set you in praise, fame, and honor high above all the nations he has made. You will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he has promised.
10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you.
11 The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock, and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you. 12 The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13 The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.
Deuteronomy 28:1-14 records many blessings. In fact, under the Old Testament law, we can see these blessings, but they are hard to attain. The Israelites knew of such blessings, but there was a condition to receive them, which is what God initially told them: If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands. Do you see? It is conditional. If you want to receive such blessings, you must obey all His commands.
Brothers and sisters, it is not enough to obey just one command; you must obey all the commandments. We use the Ten Commandments as an example. If you want to receive God's blessings, you must keep all ten commandments to obtain the blessings mentioned afterward. If you violate even one, the many calamities recorded afterward will come upon you.
Many Christians read this and say, "Look, God has conditions with us; as long as we are disobedient, God will curse us; as long as we are disobedient, God will punish us. Only when we strive to do good and live well will God hear our prayers and bless us."
Many believe that although there are many blessings in the Bible, they are not easily obtained; poverty is a characteristic of humility, and if one wants to be humble, one must be poor. It is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Do you see? Many people completely misunderstand God's words. Jesus did say that it is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, but He did not say that it is easy for a poor man to enter the kingdom of heaven; Jesus did not say that.
In fact, when it comes to entering the kingdom of heaven, if we want to enter by keeping the law, the poor and the rich are the same; similarly, if you want to receive God's blessings through the law, the poor and the rich are the same. What is the difference between us and the Old Testament? The many blessings we just read are what many people desire to receive; why? Because they are written so well. He says: these blessings will follow you. It is not that we chase after blessings or wealth; these blessings will chase after you and come upon you. It does not matter where you are; they will come after you. If you are in the city, you can receive this blessing; if you do not want to stay in the city and go to the field, this blessing will follow you there as well.
Everything you touch will be blessed because this blessing continually comes upon you. You will be blessed when you go out and when you come in. The blessings commanded by the Lord will come upon everything you do. Thank the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, we who attract Jesus should have this hope. You must first understand one thing: God indeed wants to bestow these blessings upon you. God is not painting an empty picture saying, "There is such a blessing; you can have it if you work hard." No, this blessing is indeed here, and God truly wants to give it to us.
The text says that when people in the world see you called by the name of the Lord, they will fear you. But do many people see us believers in Jesus and fear us? No, they laugh at us.
And it says: the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock, and the crops of your land. Let me explain: it refers to your children, your livestock at home, or the produce of your land, or your company, or your business, all of which will be in abundance.
The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. If you are a businessman, God wants to bless you, making everything you do successful; if you are working, then because you went to that company, that company will begin to undergo transformative changes, and God will greatly bless that company. You educate children, and that child is very obedient and learns very well. This is how God blesses you in everything you do, and He also grants you much wealth.
Verse 12 says: You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.
First, we must establish one thing: in your mind, you must know that this is what God wants to give you. There is another blessing.
Verse 14 says: The Lord will make you the head, not the tail; you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.
This means that you are not looked down upon and living a miserable life in front of others; you are at the top, not at the bottom. Thank God. People will want to be with you. This is a blessing that can come upon Christians. How can one receive this blessing in the Old Testament? It is only after you have obeyed all of God's laws and commandments that such blessings can come upon you. We study God's words, listen to God's words, and share God's words, first confirming that God especially desires His children to prosper in all things.
Although we just read verse 14, it includes all the blessings in life. All these are what God wants to give you to make you rich—in your home, financially, in interpersonal relationships, in family relationships, and in all these matters, God wants to make you rich. Therefore, many people do not understand God's intentions and think that Christians cannot be rich, believing that money is the root of all evil, but the Bible never says that money is the root of all evil.
In 1 Timothy 6, the Bible only tells us that the love of money is the root of all evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Money and the love of money are completely different matters. Today, money is our tool; if used well, it can bring you great joy and help others, showcasing God's glory. But if it is the love of money, it becomes the root of all evil, and in the end, we will be tempted by the devil because of money, falling into the devil's snare.
This greed is not just for money; greed for power or lust is the same. As long as there is greed, there will definitely be problems. What kind of promise has God given us? Proverbs 10:22 tells us: The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it.
So we must establish one thing: God truly wants you to live a prosperous life, and He does not want you to have worries. God especially desires you to prosper. If you need financial expansion, you should boldly pray before God, asking Him to grant you wisdom to acquire wealth; God is willing to make you rich.
Sharing the first point: Faith Makes Abraham Rich
God blessed Abraham in three areas. The first is material blessings; the second is physical blessings; the third is spiritual blessings.
When God saw Abraham, He first said to him, "Leave this place, and I will bless you." Do not think that Abraham had great faith from the beginning and could see himself becoming the father of many nations. At that time, he truly remembered God's promise to him: You will bless me, and all the nations on earth will be blessed through me. I will become a blessing to others; the God who blesses me will bless him, and the God who curses me will curse him. This is what Abraham understood at that time.
As children of God, we must also be assured that God bestowed these three blessings upon Abraham, and He will also give them to us. Let us look at these three blessings of Abraham. First, the material blessings.
Genesis 13:2 tells us that Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold. Thank God, this is the blessing God gave him. In terms of finances and material wealth, he had a lot of gold, silver, and livestock, which we can see.
Second, the physical blessings. Genesis 25:8: Abraham lived a long life and died at a good old age, and he was gathered to his people.
He lived a total of 175 years. The Bible tells us he lived a long life and does not say that when Abraham was old, he was bedridden and died of illness; the Bible says he lived a long life and died at a good old age.
Third, the spiritual blessings. Genesis 22:17, how numerous would Abraham's descendants be? At that time, God promised him: Your descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Galatians 3:29: If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.
All who believe in Jesus Christ are Abraham's descendants, so this spiritual blessing that Abraham saw, we also inherit according to this promise. This is related to us; otherwise, we would always ask what relationship Abraham has with us.
Here it has already explained a relationship to us, saying that we are all Abraham's descendants, and we are also heirs according to the promise. Whose inheritance do we inherit? We inherit the inheritance like Abraham. The blessings God promised to Abraham are also given to all his descendants, and all of us who believe in Jesus Christ today are Abraham's descendants.
So be assured of one thing: since God could bless Abraham that way, He is also willing to bless you. Today's Jews were once called Judah; the term "Jew" is a Hebrew word for Judah, which is the same as in Latin. After the tribes of Israel split, the Israelites were called Jews; all their tribes inherited blessings from their ancestor Abraham. They are merely inheritors. Why does God bless the twelve tribes of Israel? Why does God bless the Israelites? It is because God made a covenant with Abraham, saying, "I will bless your descendants." This blessing is not only given to today's Jews but also to the Gentiles.
In Galatians 3:13-14:
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole." 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
Thank the Lord, this lets us know one thing: we were once called Gentiles, but today we can receive Abraham's blessings because Christ has become a curse for us, and He has redeemed us from the curse of the law. This is what we just read in the latter part of Deuteronomy 28, from verse 15 onward, which contains the words of curses.
When Jesus was on the cross, He bore that curse for us. So although we know there are many curses afterward, such as curses that will pursue you and come upon you, even in the city, because you believe in Jesus Christ, Christ has borne the curse of the law for us, redeeming us from the curse of the law.
But God did not say, "I saved you from the law." He only saved you from the curse of the law. What about the original blessings of the law? God still allows them to come upon us. This means that today, Jesus Christ has fulfilled the law for us, so all the blessings we read in verse 14 will come upon you because you no longer need to rely on your efforts to receive blessings. Previously, you needed to fulfill all the commandments to receive such blessings, but Jesus has already completed everything required by the law, allowing you to receive the many blessings recorded in the law, and the blessings we receive are even more.
We are now children of God, saved from the curse of the law, inheriting Abraham's blessings, and receiving the promised Spirit by faith. This is something the Israelites in the Old Testament did not receive, but today we have received it. The Holy Spirit is actually God's best gift; when you have the Holy Spirit, you can have everything in Christ. If Jesus had not saved us from the curse of the law, we would still have no hope, living in condemnation and fear.
Let me give a few examples. The Old Testament mentions much of the history of the Israelites, where because of one person's sin, the entire tribe would be punished. For example, in Joshua 7, it records Achan's sin because God said that the things in Jericho, whether clothing or silver, should not be taken. But Achan thought these things were good and secretly hid them in his tent. He privately hid the enemy's silver, causing the entire tribe of Israel to fall under God's punishment, and God became angry with the Israelites and did not remain with them.
In the history of Israel, many kings, because of one person's sin, God would punish the entire nation. For example, there was a very wicked king named Ahab, and because of King Ahab, God struck the Israelites. We see that under the law, God's law is just and holy. If one wants to receive blessings from the law, one must obey all the laws, and not just one. If a person violates one, they have violated all the commandments, and God's punishment will come upon them.
But no one can keep all the laws. None of us is holy; under Moses' law, there is no way out for man. But God allows us to believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus has obeyed all of God's laws, and He has given these blessings as gifts to us. When you believe in Jesus, believing that Jesus has completed the law for you and has borne the consequences of the law that we cannot fulfill, Jesus died for us on the cross, and the righteousness of the law was fulfilled.
What we receive are blessings from Jesus. Because of this, you can boldly pray to God: "Lord, because Jesus has fulfilled the law for me, You will bless me because of Jesus." This is the true reason we can receive abundance from God. And all this only requires us to believe and receive it by faith.
Romans 5:19 tells us: For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Because of the transgression of one man, Adam gave the dominion over all things to the devil, and the earth was cursed. From that time on, people have to toil for their food. This has been a mindset for thousands of years: no labor, no harvest; there is no free lunch.
But they forget another thing: through the obedience of one man, the many will be made righteous. Because of the victory of one man, Jesus Christ, He has rescued us from the power and dominion of the devil, so today all this has returned. You can rely on Jesus Christ, and God will give all this to you as a gift. Hallelujah. Many people desperately pursue wealth and health, but in the end, life is still lost. In fact, you only need to follow Jesus, and these wealth and health will follow you.
The verse we just read, Deuteronomy 28:2, says: If you fully obey the Lord your God.
This sentence can be understood as: because Jesus Christ has fulfilled all the conditions required by the law for us, Christ has obeyed God's words. Because Jesus has been obedient, the following blessings will surely follow me and come upon me. You should read the Old Testament this way: Jesus Christ has obeyed all of God's words for me, so the following blessings will chase after me and come upon me. Hallelujah! Health, wealth, life—these are not things you chase after; they chase after you.
Many people pursue wealth desperately, but in the end, they cannot catch it, especially when the whole world is facing an economic crisis. But if you know that Jesus has fulfilled the law for you, you should believe that it is not you chasing it, but it is chasing you. The first part of Deuteronomy lists many ways and methods for God to bless His people; you need to act according to God's words, believe in God's words, and draw from them by faith. We do not receive these blessings by good deeds but by the obedience of Jesus Christ. We receive such blessings, and all this is drawn by faith. You must first understand God's intentions; God has bestowed these blessings upon you through Jesus.
Matthew 7:11 tells us: If you, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
No parent wants their children to go hungry while enjoying good food themselves; our God is even more willing to give the best blessings to His children. So it is also prepared for you.
Isaiah 1:19 tells us: If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land.
In the past, we listened to God's words and obeyed God's words; today, we willingly listen to Christ's words, believing that Jesus has prepared and completed all these blessings for us. Hallelujah.
Sharing the second point: Without Faith, You Are Poor Before God.
If Christians lack faith, although God has many blessings, they still cannot obtain them. In Revelation, during the process of the Holy Spirit speaking to the seven churches, one of them is the church of Laodicea. Laodicea had three very famous industries: one was banking, the second was textiles, and the third was eye medicine. These three were well-known locally, so the local people were not short of money because of these three.
But what does the Holy Spirit say to the church of Laodicea in His letter?
Revelation 3:17 says: You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
The local believers said, "We are already very wealthy; we have acquired wealth and lack nothing!" But God says, "Although you have material blessings, you are poor and pitiful in my eyes." They said, "I have become wealthy; I do not feel pitiful." But God says, "You are very poor; although you have a lot of silver, you are still poor."
Blind. Because we mentioned that Laodicea sold eye medicine, they first dealt with eyes, but God says, "You are blind; although you can provide eye medicine to others, you cannot heal your own eyes because your spiritual eyes are not opened, and you have not seen the heavenly blessings."
He says they are naked. Laodicea also had something to boast about, which was its textiles. Textiles are for making clothes, and at that time, Laodicea already had a very developed textile industry. Their clothes were beautiful, and they had a lot of money, but God says, "You are poor, blind, and naked. Although you wear expensive clothes, you are naked before God."
So what is God's counsel to the church of Laodicea? I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
What is the first thing? I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire. They said, "We already have money." God says, "You need to come to me to buy gold refined in the fire." What does this refer to? Faith. You need to ask God for faith because you are lacking in faith. This will make you rich; if today Christians lack faith, they are indeed poor before God.
The second is to buy white clothes. They prospered through the textile industry, but God says, "You need to come to me to buy white clothes to cover your shameful nakedness." But they said, "Lord, we are already dressed beautifully; look, my clothes are made of silk and knitted; how can you say we are shameful?" What do these white clothes refer to?
Revelation 19:8 says: Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
It turns out that although the believers of the church of Laodicea were very wealthy and dressed beautifully, they did not act according to God's words, and righteousness was not manifested. So God says, "You need to buy fine linen to wear, so your shameful nakedness will not be exposed."
The third is that you need to buy eye salve to put on your eyes. You used to sell eye medicine to others, but now you need to buy God's eye salve to put on your eyes so you can see. What does this eye salve refer to? The anointing of the Holy Spirit. So the church of Laodicea lost three things: one is faith; the second is the righteousness they did not manifest; the third is the anointing of the Holy Spirit. If Christians lack these three things, they truly have nothing before God.
After we become Christians, we should be examples to the world, manifesting the love of Jesus Christ; the church of Laodicea only cared for themselves and not for others. Although they became rich in the flesh, they were pitiful and poor in the spirit. God says, "You need to buy that gold refined in the fire; you need faith to truly become rich."
1 Peter 1:7 tells us: These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
This tells us that faith is what we refer to as that gold refined in the fire. Once we have such faith, we can receive praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Having faith will not only allow you to possess Abraham's material blessings in this world but also grant you praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Hallelujah.
So if one has that gold refined in the fire, they will naturally become rich. Unfortunately, many believers are still poor and lack faith, so God says, "You need to have that gold refined in the fire to buy what you lack." Once you have faith, you can buy everything you need from God. With faith, whatever you lack, you can receive from God. This is the function and value of faith.
Do you lack patience? When you have faith, you can receive God's blessings; do you lack wisdom? When you have faith, you can receive His wisdom from God. Today, do you feel that your temper is terrible? Then you need to receive His gentleness from Jesus Christ by faith. Thank the Lord, you can obtain all this through faith.
Sharing the third point: God Fills Us According to Our Faith
Ephesians 3:20 tells us: Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.
Things are accomplished according to the faith we receive. How much you receive from God is determined by your faith. It is not that you ask God for something He cannot give you; rather, you do not have that much faith. Your faith is so small that God can only fill you to that extent; the more you know God's grace, the more you can receive.
In 2 Kings 4, there is a story: a widow of a prophet's disciple came to the prophet Elisha and said, "Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves."
Perhaps the family owed debts, maybe it was her husband's debts; in any case, the creditor came to collect. The creditor said, "Since there is no money, let your two sons come to work for me as slaves to repay the debt." This situation had come upon this family, and the prophet's wife pleaded with Elisha, "Please help me."
How did Elisha respond to her? Elisha asked her, "What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?" She said, "Your servant has nothing there at all, except a small jar of olive oil."
This point is very important. Jesus also asked several people, "What do you want me to do for you?" The first time He met Andrew and his brother, Jesus said, "What do you want me to do for you?" The two brothers said, "Rabbi, where are you staying?" As a result, they followed Jesus. When He met Bartimaeus, who was blind, Jesus asked, "What do you want me to do for you?" Bartimaeus said, "Rabbi, I want to see." This point is very important, brothers and sisters: What do you want the Lord Jesus to do for you?
The prophet Elisha asked the widow, "What do you have in your house?" She said, "I have nothing except a small jar of oil." Elisha said, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few."
This passage is very important. If you lack faith, the jars you borrow from those around you may be very few. If you pray without faith, you can pray with someone who has faith; that is also acceptable, but you need to enlarge your vessel. If your vessel is small now, the first thing you need to do is enlarge your vessel to receive God's blessings. God's blessings will surely fill your current vessel.
After the prophet's disciple's wife returned home, she told her two sons, "Go borrow jars from all your neighbors." The two sons heard this and began to borrow jars, bottles, and all kinds of containers. After borrowing, the prophet's disciple's wife took the little oil she had at home and started pouring it into the jars, pouring continuously. During this process, did you notice that God's blessings were flowing continuously? The oil kept pouring until the last jar was full. The woman said, "Son, is there any more jar?" Her son said, "There is no more; we have borrowed all the jars." As soon as he finished speaking, the oil stopped flowing.
Brothers and sisters, if your vessel is just a small cup, and God fills it, then God's blessings will stop there; if you are a large jar, God can fill you up as well. It is not that God's blessings are less for you today; it is that your vessel is not prepared enough. So we need to see the abundant blessings from God. What you need to do now is to strive to know the grace of Jesus Christ. If you do not know His grace, you might say, "Lord, no matter how much I believe in You, You only give me this one cup; can You give me a little more?" Because your heart is that one cup, God has already filled you, and no matter how much He pours, it cannot stay there; it will all spill out.
So we need to know that faith can make you rich. You must first enlarge your vessel and come to know God's blessings. You must first recognize what is in Jesus. How do you know Him? How can you bring today's blessings upon you? There are the words of the Bible; this is our promise, this is our guarantee.
I hope those who are willing to listen to the word will first see the abundant supply of Christ. The size of your faith is related to the degree of your knowledge of the Lord Jesus. The people of Nazareth did not recognize the Son of God; they only recognized a carpenter named Jesus. Therefore, when they saw Jesus as an ordinary person, He could not perform any miracles there.
Brothers and sisters, do not diminish Jesus' power with our thoughts. You must know He is the King of Kings, and He can accomplish all things for you. So brothers and sisters, strive to know the grace of Jesus Christ; do not focus on the law. You need to know the grace of Jesus Christ and how much grace He has because the more you know His grace, the greater your faith will be, knowing that Jesus is willing to bless you.
Therefore, Deuteronomy 28 includes all the blessings of the earth and all the blessings of heaven. These blessings we need to receive by faith today. When you believe these words, these words will come to pass in your life. This is faith. Do not say, "Lord, when will I have faith?" You should look to God's promises, knowing that God is willing to bestow this blessing upon you, and Jesus Christ has legally fought for this opportunity for you to receive this blessing. Just know that it is not by our good deeds, nor by our performance, that we obtain it; it is that Jesus has already completed it for us. When you know this legality, you will have faith.
So every day, I hope you will come to know the grace of Christ through God's words. Your faith will naturally increase. Ultimately, what will God do? According to the power that is at work within us, which is our faith, the extent of our knowledge of God determines how much we can receive. You know how great His power is, how great His ability is, and how effective He is; at this point, God can abundantly accomplish all this for you. And He gives us a promise: "What God accomplishes for us will certainly exceed what we ask or imagine."
We can also explain this with the example of the widow. If her two sons had borrowed all the jars in their village, and they went to borrow jars from the neighboring village, do you believe God's oil could fill her house? Yes, it could. This is how God can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.
If you can believe, all things are possible for those who believe. This faith is not our faith, but the faith of Jesus Christ. The original meaning of that sentence is: If you believe I can accomplish this for you, I can accomplish it for you.
Mark 9:23, many times we misunderstand this verse, thinking that if I have faith, all things are possible for those who believe. But we do not rely on our faith; we rely on Christ's faith. That is the faith of Jesus Christ. If you believe Jesus can accomplish this for you, He will let you see this result; believing in Him is enough. Do not believe in your own faith; where do we have faith? When we look at ourselves, we are completely disappointed and despairing, seeing flaws everywhere; but when you look at Jesus, He is your faith.
Brothers and sisters, because there is no failure in Him, there is no weakness in Him, and He is always victorious. Hallelujah! When you look at Him, you will have faith. So you must believe that the blessings we just read will come to pass in your life. For example, there is a saying that you will be blessed when you go out and blessed when you come in. Do you believe that because you go out of your door and into a certain store, that store will prosper because you entered?
Do you believe that when you go to a place, you bring God's blessings to that place? If you believe this, God will let you see it. Because Abraham's blessings have come upon you, God will abundantly accomplish what you believe because of Jesus Christ. When God accomplishes all this, you will find that what God has given us truly exceeds what we ask or imagine, because He gives us not only earthly blessings but also heavenly blessings, the crowns and rewards of the kingdom of heaven in the future. Hallelujah!
Finally, let us look at 2 Corinthians 8:9: 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.
Brothers and sisters, why can we receive all kinds of blessings from God? Because this is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; He was originally very rich, and He gave these blessings to us. This is a topic we should meditate on. After we finish preaching, you need to meditate on a verse: What is Jesus Christ? How was He rich? What does He have? This is what we need to think about.
He was originally rich but became poor for your sake. Why did He become poor? Because He gave His riches to us; He bore our poverty. So do not think, "I am in a difficult situation now; I am very poor; my life is hard." You should think that the riches of Jesus Christ are upon you.
You need to tell yourself and your family by faith that God's blessings and the riches of Jesus Christ are already in my home because the Bible has told us the grace of Jesus Christ—that He was originally rich but became poor for you.
You can replace "you" with "me": Jesus was originally rich but became poor for me; He bore my poverty so that I might become rich through His poverty! Today, because of Jesus Christ, I am rich, and I have already become rich. Hallelujah, thank the Lord!
Let us pray together.
Loving Heavenly Father, we thank and praise You for the blessings You have given us. You desire for us to be rich, not only in finances but also in our interpersonal relationships, family relationships, and in every aspect of our lives. Bless the work of our hands, let us be rich, and also become a blessing to others. We are willing to know You more and experience more of Your presence and power in our lives, drawing from You all that we need through faith, and recognizing You more in our lives. Lord, I am willing for You to expand the boundaries of my heart, enlarge our vessels, and let us know You more deeply in the grace of Jesus Christ. We are willing to be a blessing to many and a channel of the gospel. Thank and praise the Lord; all glory belongs to You, especially bless every brother and sister who has come to listen to the word today. We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.