Sermon Brief
Date Written: October 22, 2002
Date Preached: October 23, 2002
Church: Barataria BC [PM]
FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS:
Series: A Study in 1 Corinthians
Title: We Are Rich!
Text: 1 Corinthians 1:5
INTRODUCTION:
The other day I was driving and I saw a billboard on the highway. It was a billboard for the PowerBall lottery. The billboard advertised that the current lottery grand prize was 51 million dollars.
Now that is not the first really large amount I have seen on that board. Just a short time ago the grand prize for this lottery was 286 million. 13 people won and split that 1st prize.
Now, I would be lying to you if I told you that I have never thought about stopping and buying a lottery ticket on the extremely remote chance that I would win.
I mean I have even discussed this with God. I told him that I could do SO much for our church and my family (All my family) would be debt free and we would be able to more serve Him in our mission efforts and our giving to good causes.
I have thought about what the tithe check would look like if I won that kind of money. But as I thought and talked to God about this and tried so hard to rationalize why it would be a good thing…God began to speak to me!
God said, yes the money could be used for missions and yes that tithe could be used for great ministry efforts here in Lafitte and around the world. But God informed me that the money WAS NOT the problem.
God informed me that my heart and the selfish desire I harbored for worldly riches was the problem. I cringed and began to shrink in His presence. God revealed to me that much money given to any church would reduce their dependence on God and it would destroy the act of worship we refer to as the offering.
Can you imagine the church members saying, “We don’t need to give because that person won the lottery and our budget is taken care of…” God revealed to me that NO amount of money can replace what a church could lose in commitment and dedication!
God shared with me that wealth is NOT the evil that it is made out to be. Wealth has NEVER been the problem with God. What we do with that wealth, and how our heart reacts to that wealth is what God is concerned about.
So I began to seek God’s face about this subject and once again He chastised me and told me I was looking in the wrong place. He shared with me that material wealth has never and will NEVER be a priority with God, and therefore it should NOT be a priority with us.
God began to reveal to me that when we become a Christian we inherit wealth that is unimaginable and we become rich beyond our wildest imagination!
Now those of you here tonight, if you know Jesus Christ as your lord and Savior…you are rich! Tonight, I want to share with you a particular passage of Scripture from the book of 1st Corinthian.
I want us to look at 1 Cor 1:1-9 and see how that the source of our riches is found in our relationship with Jesus Christ. Second we will look at the promise of these ‘heavenly’ riches, and finally tonight we are going look and see that to be enriched there are certain conditions that have to be met.
1st let’s look at the source of our riches…Jesus Christ! Looking in v.5 we find that Paul says, “…that in everything you were enriched in Him…” [NASB]
We are enriched beyond our wildest imagination, but only when we are ‘in Him.’ This indicates several things that I can see. First I see that this indicates God’s riches are for His children and not for all of creation. If you are not part of His family, then you are not entitled to His riches.
Now we know that Paul was writing this letter to believers so our first observation is sort of an assumption that Paul is making when he wrote this letter.
But in our world today, we find people saying things like “We are ALL God’s children” and wanting all of God’s promises to be poured out on ALL people, regardless of their relationship with Christ! People we cannot claim the promises and riches of God unless we are part of His family.
But when we DO become part of God’s family, God desires His very best for us! He wants the best for His children. In looking at this entire verse it says, “…that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge…”
God’s knowledge is such that it covers all of one’s life and all lives that each one touches. His power and presence are such that when His conditions are met whatever happens…it will ultimately always be for the best of His own! [Rom 8:28]
God not only desires the best for His children, but God promises ARE the riches we ALL can claim and proclaim! In his letter to the Philippian church Paul said, “…my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus…” [4:19]
I have heard story after story where people serving God were seemingly at their ropes end and then through what we would call a miracle…they are completely and totally delivered. But their deliverance FAR exceeded what they had been praying for!
In Christ we can and DO have His exceeding riches. That is first a spiritual wealth in that we are heirs to heaven itself, but it is also a physical state as well. We may not have what the world determines as wealth, but we have a peace of mind and our God has promised that He would meet all our needs.
But not only are our riches found in Jesus Christ, I can see that the promise of these riches is that a believer is enriched in EVERYTHING.
We can see when we come to know Jesus Christ that our lives are changed and that Jesus Christ can and will make a difference in EVERY facet of our lives.
In that same letter to the Philippian church the apostle Paul wrote, “…not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need…” [Phil 4:11-12]
Christ brings us to the point where His desires become our desires and that when we are blessed with material blessings…we know what we are to do with those blessings. Christ makes ALL the difference in every aspect of the Christian life.
In v.5 Paul refers to “all speech and knowledge” Speech is all that flows outward from us in our lives, and knowledge is all we obtain and store internally!
This enrichment Paul speaks about here is not specifically a material wealth… Paul shares with us that this enrichment expands to our minds and attitudes as well.
The term ‘all utterance’ represents the outward expression of humanity and the phrase ‘all knowledge’ represents the inward desire of all humanity. These 2 phrases apply to such areas as husband-wife, parent-child relationships, relationships between friends and acquaintances.
They also apply to one’s physical well being, such as the blessings and privileges of health and the sufferings and sorrows of illness.
We often think of enrichment as applying to one’s economic realm, but as Paul reveals here… God is enriching us FAR beyond mere economics… we have a great spiritual enrichment as well.
Now we have seen that the source of our enrichment is in the person of Jesus Christ and that the enrichment He brings into our lives is not limited…but enriches us in ALL things. But for one to have this enrichment, certain conditions MUST be met.
The first step is a total and complete surrender of one’s life to the Lord Jesus Christ. We would call this salvation if the person has not been saved…but we call it obedience when we know that the person has been saved.
The first step leads one to the 2nd step in that this person (for them to receive these great riches in Christ) must have a very strong and abiding faith in Jesus Christ and His promises as they are set forth in God’s Word. In other words, we must truly believe that what God said He would do…it will happen and come to be.
Finally, I see for the one who has surrendered their whole heart and soul to Christ and they have placed their faith and trust in the promises of God’s word… they must seek after God’s will for them… and then they must be obedient to that will.
There is NO way we can fully appreciate the great riches that Christ brings to the table of our lives, if we do not focus our ENTIRE attention on God’s promises and His will. When we focus on OUR selfish desires… we can and will NEVER know the fullness of His riches, because we have not surrendered totally to Him.
Only total surrender to Christ will bring about the fullness of Christ’s riches for us… Have you surrendered today? Do you seek His will for your life? Do believe that what God promised is true and faithful? Do you believe God will do what He has promised He would do?
PRAY!
