I KNOW YOUR WORKS, AND TRIBULATION, AND POVERTY (BUT YOU ARE RICH)

   Tribulation and poverty are not desirable to anyone. People, and sadly a lot of Christians, will flock to messages that teach the opposite, not wanting to face the reality that the evil present age is opposed to the things of God. When you are going through a struggle that seems to be in conflict with what's right and wrong, you should not think it is strange. Jesus, after explaining to His disciples how He came from the Father and must return, said this, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but [take courage] be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) The clear point is that He gives Peace in the midst of tribulation! What is this Peace? And how did He overcome the world? He defeated the forces of evil that separated us from God. His atonement restores us, reunites us, to The Creator of life. Peter, quoting Isaiah, declares: "By whose stripes you were healed. For you were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls." (1 Peter 2: 24-25) This is why Jesus took our sins upon Himself and was afflicted, wounded, and bruised: our chastisement, which He took, brought us peace with God. (See Isaiah 53:3-6) Don't succumb to the temptations to trade this eternal healing for a temporal creature comfort.

   The things of this world and the things of God are in direct conflict with one another; they are at war. Don't think that it is a strange thing when you have conflict. Paul writes of this conflict in the terms of spirit and flesh, being carnally minded versus spiritually minded. "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity [at war] against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." (Romans 8:6-7) That "death" is the separation from God that we inherited from Adam. The (reconciled) "life and peace" is what we inherit from Jesus Christ! Why is the carnal mind not subject to the law of God? Because it chooses not to submit to God, it rebels, as in the Garden of Eden, and follows the leading of the devil that takes us captive to do his will. The temptations of the flesh are enticements that appeal to our corrupt desires to rule our own lives, to be little gods. Back in Romans 7, Paul wrote, concerning this contrast of spiritually minded life and carnally minded death, "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin.... So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." (Romans 7:22-23, 25) Paul is not dealing with specific sins here; he is declaring his ever-present need for Christ, as he desires to do the whole will of God, but finds something within him resisting that godly desire. He recognizes his total inability to satisfy the requirements of the Law, which is the purpose of the Law (to show you your need), and it leads him to total dependence upon Jesus Christ and the substitutionary work that Christ performed on our behalf! It is one of the many ways that Paul teaches us to have confidence in Christ, and not to have confidence in ANY flesh. This is the Liberty in which we stand, free from accusation!

   "And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the Body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight: If you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel...." (Col. 1: 21-23) Who would want to move us from this hope, and how would they move us? Back in the Garden, Adam became alienated from God through the sin and guilt that caused him to cover up. He thought that was a good thing to do because of the sin. Our inheritance of that sin/guilt that alienates from God, can never be atoned for by our works, and we know it, so we cover up our shame with different forms of Fig-Leaf Religion, that appears to protect us, but serves to bind us and keep us from God, just as it did Adam. So in our flesh, or carnal reasoning, we know that we deserve God's wrath; but in our faith, deeply rooted and grounded in Christ, we see that we have been reconciled to God, unblameable and unreproveable in His sight! We are still to resist sin, but it is "Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame.... For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds. You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." (Hebrews 12: 2-4) As we deal with our sin, it is with the Blessed Assurance of Salvation, acceptance of God through the efforts of Jesus Christ our Lord. This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

   So when we hear messages that oppose the Truth of the Gospel, we should know that they are presented by "false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed at the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works." (2 Cor. 11:13-15) These are not demons; they are men and women used in the same way that Peter was used when he tried to detour Jesus from going to the Cross. They can be you and me when our flesh seeks creature comforts rather than God's will. When we see this happening, we are to pray "that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will." (2 Tim. 2:26) That is what happened to Adam and Eve, as well as Peter. These "ministers of righteousness" are teaching a false righteousness that exalts the flesh efforts of man and leads to a position of self-righteousness that boasts in its accomplishments. That is, it denies or rejects the substitutionary work of God, and replaces it with something else that looks good. It is a carnal reasoning that is actually at war with God that blinds us to what is acceptable to God. A good analogy would be Abram, receiving the Provision of the Ram in the thicket, but leaving it there and plunging his knife into Isaac.

   God sees our struggles, our battles against sin. The comfort of knowing that God so loved the world that He sent His Son to purify it, brings me peace. He knows our every need, and provides for us according to His riches in glory. He speaks assurance to the church at Philadelphia with some of the same things He told the church at Smyrna, concerning their struggles with those that say they are Jews, but are of the Synagogue of Satan. "I know your works ... you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have not denied My Name.... Because you have kept the word of My patience, I also will keep you from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." (Rev. 3: 8-10) It seems they had less struggle with the world than they have had with the world being in the church -- but God sees this all.

   He doesn't turn His back, as some falsely report that He did with Jesus. It grieves Him when even the least of the brethren is abused by evil. He wept over Jerusalem, who would not receive their deliverance. In Jesus' case, Isaiah continues on past the oft-quoted and misused "by His stripes" and says this: "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief: when you shall make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He [God] shall see of the travail of His [Jesus'] soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My Righteous Servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities." (Isaiah 53: 10-11) For those who believe that God had to turn His back on Jesus, this "travail" that God sees, is Jesus on the cross!

   James writes: "You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts. [This is the same subject that Paul addresses in 2 Timothy 2.] You adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that the friendship of the world is enmity [at war/hostility/to be the enemy of] with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" (James 4:3-4) Peter writes: "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy." (1 Peter 4:12-13) This joy is a result of your obedience to the Truth. Paul writes: "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18) Both Peter and Paul are referring to Christ's return! Will you be wise or foolish? There are those who flow freely with the Gospel and those who sell it, or a form of it. Freely you have received, freely give.

   Continuing with what James wrote: "Do you think that the scripture says in vain, The spirit that dwells in us lusteth to envy? But He gives more grace. Wherefore he says, GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE UNTO THE HUMBLE. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:5-7) How do you resist the devil? I believe that it is by submitting ourselves to God, seeking Him as Lord of our lives, and resisting the temptation to rule our own lives. Jesus, Who died on a tree, could have saved Himself (as our self-preserving human nature would have done). He did so by faith, faith in His Father, as He "committed Himself to Him that judges righteously." (1 Peter 2:23) So for doing good, the greatest good, seeking the welfare of others, Jesus Christ was abused and killed! Where does any of this present day prosperity theology come from? And how does it attract us to it? This enticing Gospel, which is no Gospel at all, appeals to our flesh. When we give in to it we becomes slaves to it, bowing down to the idols, giving in to the temptations, which are designed to cause us to lose sight of the true riches in Christ.

   "I know your works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but you are rich)...." (Rev. 2:9) Isn't this a contradiction of words? An oxymoron? I know that it's not a contradiction, because I know that His Word is True, and that it surpasses all knowledge as we see it from our human points of view. I want to focus on the true riches; yet it would be negligent to disregard the warnings of deception that are designed to lead us away from the Truth. The same verse goes on, " ... and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan." (Rev. 2:9) These Jews, regardless of who they are, do not think they are serving Satan. They believe they are the true followers of God. Jesus said their father was the devil, yet they didn't think so. Even though we may have a zeal for God, if our focus is wrong, that very zeal can lead us away from God. Paul, (as Saul of Tarsus) was going in the wrong direction. The Jews Paul later addresses and prays for "have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge." (Romans 10:2) When we turn our eyes from Jesus, onto the things of this world, the things of God grow increasingly dim. Even when we are doing "good" things, in the Name of Jesus, when our focus becomes the things, He no longer reigns as Lord in our lives, the things do! By the Spirit, God made Saul of Tarsus whole. God brought balance into his life and directed him in the way he should go. On his own (with his own sight) Paul would be just as overzealous in many wrong directions. And the devil didn't blind Paul, God did! God did it for Paul's good, and He does similar things for us for our good, which is to conform us to the image of Christ. What a great value (true riches) we have, in that God the Creator has us in His hands and works all things together for our good. (See Romans 8:28-29.) Left to our own devices we would fashion ourselves into religious zealots, caricatures of Christ, whitewashed sepulchers.

   When we trust ourselves to Him Who began this work in us, and we resist the temptation to take ourselves out of His (the Potter's) hands, only then do we enter the rest that teaches us to be content, regardless of the conditions. Why? Because we know Whose hands we are in. The word "content," not to be confused with complacency, is a safeguard that wards off fear. "And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves ... but our sufficiency is of God...." (2 Cor. 3:4-5) The temptation to fashion ourselves into the image we think God wants for us, is ever present. It is only when we come to the end of ourselves, that is, give up on the futility trying to fulfil the law of works, that wars against the power of God. Paul recognized that though he wanted to do the whole will of God, he found something within him fighting against it, and his only hope was Christ! (See Romans seven.) Trusting in anything other than the Blood of Jesus Christ is a false security, and it's easy to do. We are exhorted to be content with our wages (Luke 3:14), with food and clothing (1 Tim. 6:8), and "with such things as you have: for He has said, I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU." (Hebrews: 13:5) When we turn our eyes upon Jesus, the things of this world grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace; these true riches reveal the love of God toward us, that drives out the fear that has to do with judgment and condemnation. (See 1 John 4: 17-18)

   When we trust in the uncertainty of riches, what do we obtain? Simply, temporary relief from some of the pressures of this life, which will soon perish. What is everlasting? What does not perish? Our souls! Jesus tells us, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul...." (Matt. 10:28) The drive to preserve this life on earth, is strong in all of us. Until our final breath we will fight to endure, yet it should not be our prime focus. Wages, money, food, and clothing, these are things that we need in this life. When we focus on them, and lust after them, they become the gods of our hearts. We end up serving the things of this life, which causes us to lose sight of the true "riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." (Eph. 1: 18, read 17-20.) This birthright is often set aside by some enticing doctrine promoting the riches of this life, teaching "that gain is godliness: from such withdraw yourself. But godliness with contentment is great gain.... For the love of money is the root of all evil.... But you, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on [deliberately seek] eternal life." (1 Tim. 6:5-6, 10-12) Each of these good things we are to follow after are gifts from God. This "good fight of faith," not to be confused with the modern witchcraft kind of faith, imparts hope, in your times of need. It does not demand of God the things of our corrupt desires; it receives the blessings of God as He wills for our good.

   "What have you that you did not receive?" (1 Cor. 4:7) "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." (1 Cor. 2:12) Along with the "faith, love, patience, meekness" listed above, some of the things we have been given are: Scripture, grace, wisdom, the ministry of reconciliation, eternal life, and an everlasting consolation, to name a few (all listed in Scripture). Peter writes "...to them that have obtained like precious faith ...: His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." (2 Peter 1:1, 3-4) These provisions of God are riches indeed! What are we to do with these true riches?

   Before I go on with what Peter writes, I want to look at what Jesus said about the provision of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30). The parable begins with a man who called his servants and "delivered unto them his goods." (Matt. 25:14) He gave the talents as he desired, as the Spirit distributes gifts as He desires. The good and faithful servants invested their talents and were rewarded by their master. The unprofitable (or foolish virgin) servant did not invest his talent, but buried it, and was rejected because of his own judgments of the character of his master, who, he believed, was unjust. This wrong attitude and his mishandling of the riches of the world led to his destruction. Jesus says, in another parable, "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon [riches], who will commit to your trust the true riches?" (Luke 16:10-11) So we are warned to take heed how we build, how we invest, and how we judge.

   This brings me back to some of the free gifts we are given as partakers of the divine nature that Peter is pointing out. This divine nature that comes from His divine power is His investment in us. As we are to bear the fruit of this root, we are exhorted to give diligence to our growth, not to stifle or hinder it with the corruptions of the world. I believe that it is critical that we understand that we are His workmanship; He is The Potter, and The Author and Finisher of our Faith! From this secure position (genuine faith), we are to be "confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Phil. 1:6) So with this faith/confidence we are told to "add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:5-8) All these "add to" things are reasonable results that He can expect from His investments in us. (I've purposely underlined only the words "day of Jesus Christ" and "in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" because of the many warnings in Scripture to be diligent concerning our salvation.)

   When our treasure is Jesus, the Pearl of Great Price, our focus will not be on the fact that our Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills, but that we are members of the family of God, "meet [fit] to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." (Col. 1:12) Through negligence, this great Salvation is obscured by the things of this world, the lusts of our flesh, as we go about carnally seeking creature comforts. When Peter, speaking carnally, tried to keep Jesus from going to die in Jerusalem, Jesus said this to him: "Get you behind me Satan, you are an offence unto Me: for you savour not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." (Matt. 16:23) The Scriptures, which are written for our instruction in righteousness, are perverted by our human desire to make ourselves presentable to God so that we can stand before Him and boast of our accomplishments. This might not be our intent, but it is the very nature of man, apart from faith in Jesus Christ, which is laid aside when we substitute the works of our hands. Though subtle, this unconscious rejection of Christ leads us away from genuine faith into another Gospel, which is no Gospel at all. Do you think Peter thought Satan was using him? Not at all.

   So I find it very important that our approach to Scripture be based upon the secure position of knowing Who provides for this salvation, and what we are to do about it. From this perspective we are to discern the Word of God. Try this one: what does it mean to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling"? (Phil. 2:12) Well, it's not a work of our flesh, in which we can boast on the day of judgment! The entire chapter points us to Christ Jesus, Who humbled Himself, and sought our welfare, not His own. It didn't make sense, it was foolishness to the world, God's provision for the atonement for the sins of the world. He "worked out our Salvation" and we are to be very clear about what that entails: work out and clarify just what it means to be "saved." As "heirs of salvation ... we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation...?" (Hebrews 1:14 and 2:1-3) The things we are to do, work out, add to, heed, and many others like them must come from a faith in God, Who "works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Phil. 1:13) On that Day of Judgment we will not be judged for our sins, since Jesus took them to the Cross; we will be judged for our Faith. Out of our own mouths our boasting will declare where we have placed that faith: in our efforts or in Christ!

   I find it odd that the Lord has me working on things "to do." I see the emphasis in the churches that focus on the congregation "doing for God." Most of the doing is based upon fear of the wrath of God, rather than faith in the Lovingkindness of God. Earlier I quoted 2 Peter 1:1-8 that reveals God's divine power at work in us that enables us to be partakers of the divine nature. As abiding in the Vine, bearing fruit of that nature, we are told to "give diligence to make your calling and election sure." 2 Peter 2: 10) Is this verse telling us to earn or establish our own election? Obviously not, or the end result would be our boasting in what we have done to obtain this great salvation. Again: I believe it is clarifying what it means to be saved; being diligent about the things that can choke off the Word of God, namely the works of the flesh and the desires of the world. These works and desires often come camouflaged as good deeds, as in the case of Peter being used by Satan mentioned above. Without seeing the Lovingkindness of God, David could never confess to seeing that his sin was ever before him, as he wrote of both in the Psalms. David was a Shepherd who became a king, and like a sheep that desperately needs his shepherd, David knew his need for God.

   Knowing your need is a Blessed place to be, one of the true riches. It is a humbling place that keeps you thankful and protects you from pride. Jesus said, "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." (Matt. 5:4. Most of the Beatitudes sound like contradictions to our human reasoning.) Who mourns? Those that grieve over a loss which they cannot restore, because they are inadequate to do so. I've heard it interpreted, "Blessed are the bankrupt in spirit." Again, Jesus says in Revelation, "I know your works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but you are rich)..." (Rev. 2:9) This poverty, when we accept it, allows us to receive the true riches of His comfort spoken of in Matt. 5:4. So much peace we often forfeit, when we struggle to measure up to standards (good, holy standards) that rightly cause us to mourn over our failings to fulfill them. "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.... (Touch not; taste not; handle not....) Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh." (Col. 2:16, 21-23) Many of those things were first century issues, some remain and others have now taken their place. Whatever they may be, when the focus is on them, it is off of Christ. I'm not saying we should disregard battling the negative things, or omit the good things. On the contrary, I am saying that the only way to deal with them is to recognize our desperate need for Christ's intervention. We are to die to, or count as worthless, the confidence we have in our abilities to accomplish the work of sanctification that is taking place in our lives. It is only with the knowledge of our bankruptcy, that we cry out for mercy, like the affluent publican (Tax Collector) in Jesus' parable (in Luke 18:9-14). That man was justified!

   I am fully persuaded that our God will supply all our needs according to His riches in Glory. Those true riches are for each of us to pursue, as He deals with us individually. If we would only mine the Bible as we would pan for gold, He would trickle it down to us, but if we go chasing after the fool's gold that is being marketed to us, we will forsake the true riches. Seek Him for those true riches, and He will reveal them to you, for He desires to give you good things.

   I'm going to close with something I rarely do, and that is, quote from other versions of the Bible. It has to do with the end of Colossians chapter 2, quoted above. I love the King James version of the Bible because it causes me to examine the Word, but in this instance, what Paul is saying is clouded in our English understanding. In regard to the do's and don'ts, (very much like the Romans 7 understanding) Col. 2: 23 reads: Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence." (NIV version) "These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting rigor of devotion and self-abasement and severity to the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh." (RSV Version) The Phillips version, starting with verse 20 reads: "So if, through your faith in Christ, you are dead to the principles of this world's life, why, as if you were still part and parcel of this world-wide system, do you take the slightest notice of these purely human prohibitions -- Don't touch this, Don't taste that and Don't handle the other? This, that and the other will all pass away after use! I know that these regulations look wise with their self-inspired efforts at worship, their policy of self-humbling, and their studied neglect of the body. But in actual practice they do honor, not to God, but to man's own pride." (Col. 2: 20-23)

   O wretched man that I am, I thank God through Jesus Christ my Lord that He sees everything about me, my failures and my frustrations, and my inability (poverty) to do the whole will of God -- yet He had Paul pray for the Ephesians, and us, by extension, to have imparted unto us "the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places...." (Eph. 1: 17-20)

With much love, Joe (with Mercy)