“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
(1). An Assumption: “For you know”:
• Now in contrast to Paul:
• I want to start my talk by telling you some things that you don’t know;
• But when you leave this place latter on you will know,
• And you can astound or bore your family & friends with this information.
Ill:
• On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year.
• A duck’s quack doesn’t echo, and no one knows why.
• The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.
• Pound for pound, hamburgers cost more than new cars.
• An ostrich’s eye is bigger that it’s brain.
• "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
• The longest recorded flight of a chicken is thirteen seconds.
• Cat’s urine glows under a black light.
• The cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth II,
• Moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.
• The name Wendy was made up for the book "Peter Pan."
• There are an average of 178 sesame seeds on a McDonald’s Big Mac bun.
• The 3 most valuable brand names on earth:
• Marlboro, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser, in that order.
• It’s possible to lead a cow upstairs...but not downstairs.
• The Bible has been translated into Klingon.
• Elephants can’t jump. Every other mammal can.
• Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history.
• Spades - King David, Clubs - Alexander the Great,
• Hearts - Charlemagne, and Diamonds - Julius Caesar.
Now when the Apostle Paul said to his readers: “For you know”:
• He was not talking about trivia, just information.
• He was referring to a specific experience that they had had.
• Note that he was not talking generally;
• But specifically.
• e.g. Generally we all know Tony Blair;
• But in truth we only know about him!
• e.g. Specifically we all know what chocolate tastes like;
• We know by experience! There is a big difference.
When the apostle Paul wrote this letter of the Bible:
• He knew who he was writing too;
• He is writing to Christians;
• Those who had been converted from a pagan religion to faith in the risen Christ.
• They had swapped their religion for a relationship;
Ill:
• A London business man told the story of a warehouse property he was selling.
• The building had been empty for months and needed repairs.
• Vandals had damaged the doors and smashed the windows,
• And strewn trash around the interior.
• As he showed a prospective buyer the property,
• He took great pains to say that he would replace the broken windows & doors.
• He would bring in a crew to correct any structural damage;
• And clean out all the litter and rubbish.
• The buyer said to him: “Forget about the repairs;
• When I buy this place, I’m going to build something completely different;
• I don’t want the building, I want the site!”
When a person is converted like these Corinthian Christians were:
• They were not merely swapping religions (from paganism to Christianity);
• They were swapping ownership – from now on Jesus Christ was to be their Lord.
• The living Christ was not interesting in patching up their old life;
• He gave them and every Christian new life! He acquired the site and started to rebuild!
In this verse Paul is referring them of several facts:
• (1). They were converted (ill: chapter 5 verse 17 ‘Aroma of Christ’).
• ill: Sat next to someone with B.O. or aftershave etc.
• (2). Christ was at work in their lives “Ministers of the New Covenant” (ch 3).
• ill: Servants of a new special promise.
All this is a gift from God:
• It is unearned and undeserved;
• The word the Bible uses for that is GRACE
(2). A Quality: “The Grace”:
Ill:
• When his uncle gave him the guitar, he was not too impressed,
• Yet the next time he saw him after his birthday he was full of enthusiasm.
“Thanks for the electric guitar you gave me for Christmas,
it’s the best present I ever got."
• “That’s great," said his uncle. "What made the difference, did you learn how to play it?"
• "Oh, I don’t play it and that’s why it’s so great," replied the boy.
• The uncle puzzled asked him “What do you mean?”
• The boy answered:
"Well, My mom gives me a 50p not to play it during the daytime
and my dad gives me £1 a week not to play it at night”.
• Grace in the Bible is often described as a gift.
• A gift that is free to any recipient willing to receive it!
ill:
• In a small cemetery of a parish churchyard in Olney, in Buckinghamshire, England,
• Stands a granite tombstone with this inscription:
• “John Newton, clerk [pastor], once an infidel & Libertine,
• A servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord & Savoir Jesus Christ,
• Preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Faith;
• He had long laboured to destroy.”
• For the last 43 years of his life he preached the gospel in Olney and London.
• At 82, he said,
• "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things,
• That I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour."
• You may not remember his name,
• But all of us know the song he wrote as a testimony of his life: “Amazing Grace.”
Ill:
• Shop window in the 70’s when the song was No 1 in the charts;
• “Amazing Grace sold out!
Quote:
• When a person works an eight-hour day and receives a fair day’s pay for his time,
• That is a wage.
• When a person competes with an opponent and receives a trophy for his performance,
• That is a prize.
• When a person receives appropriate recognition for his long service or high achievements,
• That is an award.
• But when a person is not capable of earning a wage, can win no prize,
• And deserves no award - yet receives such a gift anyway – that’s grace!
Ill:
Prodigal Son
Ill:
• I saw this advertisement on the side of a plumber’s van:
• There is no place too deep, too dark or too dirty for us to handle.
• What a wonderful explanation of the GRACE!
• There is no ONE who has gone too deep, too dark or is too dirty for God to handle.
(3). An Example: “Though he was rich…but became poor”
Ill:
According to the Sunday Times Rich List:
• Bill Gates is no longer the richest man on the planet.
• He had lead the world for three years thanks to his huge share holding in Microsoft;
• But now the new king of the castle is publicity-shy head of Wal-Mart S Robson Walton;
• Worth a staggering £45.3 billion.
Quote:
• John D. Rockefeller’s three simple rules for anyone who wants to become rich:
• (1). Go to work early.
• (2). Stay at work late.
• (3). Find oil.
Ill:
• We often hear stories of people suddenly acquiring great wealth;
• Maybe a lottery win or an unexpected inheritance.
Question: Let me ask you a question; when was Jesus rich?
• He was born in a borrowed manger (ill: lay in a feeding troth, cobwebs for curtains etc)
• In the gospels he borrowed a boys food to feed 5,000.
• He borrowed a place to sleep;
• “Foxes have holes, birds nest…Son of Man NOWHERE to lay his head”.
• He borrowed a coin for an illustration
• He borrowed a donkey to ride into Jerusalem.
• He borrowed an upper room for the last supper;
• On the cross He borrowed OUR sin (he none of his own!)
• Even in death he borrowed a tomb!
• From Joseph of Arimathea.
Question: Let me ask you a question; when was Jesus rich?
• Remember the context for this verse is money.
• The apostle Paul wants the Christians to give some money towards famine relief.
• He wants the Corinthians to use their money wisely;
• If God has blessed you financially, then you should bless someone else!
Answer:
• To the question; when was Jesus rich?
• Is before he entered our world!
• As part of the Godhead (trinity) Father, Son & Holy Spirit;
• He was rich beyond comparison;
• He was rich in glory, rich in power and rich in wealth – he had the whole of heaven!
• Yet, Jesus who was the richest, actually became the poorest.
Quote:
• C. S. Lewis used this illustration:
• Lying at your feet is your dog.
• Imagine, for the moment, that your dog and every dog is in deep distress.
• Some of us love dogs very much.
• If it would help all the dogs in the world to become like men,
• Would you be willing to become a dog?
• Would you put down your human nature,
• Leave your loved ones, your job, hobbies, your art and literature and music,
• And choose instead of the intimate communion with your beloved,
• The poor substitute of looking into the beloved’s face and wagging your tail,
• Unable to smile or speak?
• Christ by becoming man
• Limited the thing which to Him was the most precious thing in the world;
• His unhampered, unhindered communion with the Father.
Quote: Marv and Marbeth Rosenthal
• Mary had the little Lamb, who lived before His birth;
• Self-existent Son of God, from Heaven He came to Earth.
• Micah 5:2
• Mary had the little Lamb; see Him in yonder stall —
• Virgin-born Son of God, to save man from the Fall.
• Isaiah 7:14
• Mary had the little Lamb, obedient Son of God;
• Everywhere the Father led, His feet were sure to trod.
• John 6:38
• Mary had the little Lamb, crucified on the tree
• The rejected Son of God, He died to set men free.
• 1 Peter 1:18
• Mary had the little Lamb—men placed Him in the grave,
• Thinking they were done with Him; to death He was no slave!
• Matthew 28:6
• Mary had the little Lamb, ascended now is He;
• All work on Earth is ended, our Advocate to be.
• Hebrews 4:14-16
• Mary had the little Lame—mystery to behold!
• From the Lamb of Calvary, a Lion will unfold.
• Revelation 5: 5,6
• When the Day Star comes again, of this be very sure:
• It won’t be Lamb-like silence, but with the Lion’s roar.
• Psalm 2:12 & Revelation 19:11-16
(4). A blessing: “That you might be rich”.
ill:
• Being born in the U.K. means that we are all materially rich!
• Don’t believe me….here is something to ponder:
• If you woke up this morning with more health than illness...
• You are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.
• If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation - You are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
• If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death...
• You are more blessed than three billion people in the world..
• If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead & a place to sleep - You are richer than 75% of this world.
• If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace ...
• You are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.
• If your parents are still alive and still married ...
• You are very rare.
• If you can read a Bible you are more blessed than the 80% of the world’s people.
• & you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.
In fact to be like most people in the world you would need to:
• Take out all the furniture in your home except for one table and a couple of chairs.
• Use only blanket and pads for beds.
• Take away all of your clothing except for your oldest dress or suit, shirt or blouse.
• Leave only one pair of shoes.
• Empty the pantry and the refrigerator except for a small bag of flour,
• Some sugar and salt, a few potatoes, some onions, and a dish of dried beans.
• Dismantle the bathroom, shut off the running water,
• And remove all the electrical wiring in your house.
• In fact take away the house itself and move the family into the tool shed.
• Or place your "house” in a shantytown.
• Cancel all subscriptions to newspapers, magazines, and book clubs.
• This is no great loss because now none of you can read anyway.
• Leave only one radio for the whole shantytown.
• Throw away your bankbooks, stock certificates, pension plans, and insurance policies.
• Move the nearest hospital or clinic ten miles away;
• And put a midwife in charge instead of a doctor.
• Give the head of the family a few acres to cultivate on which he can raise some crops,
• Of which one third will go to the landlord and one tenth to the money lenders.
• And finally:
• Lop off twenty-five or more years in life expectancy.
Now I am not trying to make you feel guilty:
• Just reminding you that you are already blessed, you are already rich!
• And yet we know that material things alone are not enough!
Quote: BILLY GRAHAM who said regarding raising children:
“Children will invariably talk, eat, walk, think, respond, and act like their parents.
Give them a target to shoot at. Give them a goal to work toward. Give them a pattern that they can see clearly, and you give them something that gold and silver cannot buy”.
• Jesus gives us something that gold and silver cannot buy.
• Forgiveness from past, help in the present, and hope for the future.
Ill:
Song – he made a way in a manger!
Final Question: How do we get spiritually rich?
Answer: Is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ!
Question: What does it mean to believe ?
Answer:
• In the Bible the word believe is always active, never passive.
• It is a doing word not a knowing word!
Ill:
• Charles Blondin was born in France in 1790.
• He was one of the greatest fun-am-bul-ists (aerialists/tightrope-walkers) of all time
• June 30, 1859
• A large crowd of 100,000 people watched him walk on a single three-inch hemp cord,
• He walked 1,100 feet across;
• And 160 feet above the falls at one side and 270 feet at the other.
• When the Prince of Wales visited in September,
• 1860, Blondin carried his assistant, Romain Mouton, across.
• The prince, like other spectators,
• Was left breathless and asked Blondin never to do it again.
• Imagine the Prince’s reaction when;
• Blondin offered to carry him across on his back or in a wheelbarrow!
The word "Believe" in the Bible conveys two thoughts:
• Belief is active not passive.
• ill: Bus stop
• You can be at the stop.
• You can believe the timetable.
• You can believe the bus will stop where you are.
• But until you actually commit yourself to that bus.
• By placing your feet of the pavement and on to the bus
• You have not truly believed.
Ill:
• Michelangelo on one occasion turned to his fellow artists;
• And said with frustration in his voice:
“Why do you keep filling gallery after gallery with endless pictures of Christ in weakness, Christ on the cross, and most of all, Christ hanging dead?
Why do you concentrate on the passing episode as if it were the last work, as if the curtain dropped down there on disaster and defeat?
That dreadful scene only lasted a few hours.
But to the unending eternity Christ is alive, Christ rules and reigns and triumphs!”
Ill:
• For every prophecy in the Bible concerning Christ’s first advent,
• There are 8 which look forward to His second!
