Well, let us turn once more to
the Word of God in the Old Testament portion that we read, Proverbs.
Proverbs chapter 13. And I want to direct your attention
this morning to the words that we find here in verses 7 and
8. Proverbs 13, 7 and 8. There is a maker himself rich,
yet hath nothing There is that maketh himself poor, yet hath
great riches. The ransom of a man's life are
his riches, but the poor heareth not rebuke. There is that maketh himself
rich, yet hath nothing. There is that maketh himself
poor, yet hath great riches. The ransom of a man's life are
his riches, but the poor heareth not rebuke. This is part of the wisdom literature
of the Old Testament, the Proverbs of Solomon, who was granted from
God's great wisdom and understanding. It's an unusual book in the sense
that it's not narrative, which is what we're accustomed to in
so much of the Scripture. We have these various statements. It's a book full of moral virtues,
we might say, and those are set in contrast with the vices of
men. Each verse so often seems to
be a little unit all of its own. You'll see that time and again
in the middle of the verse we have that little conjunction,
but on the one hand we have the virtue And then after the buts
we have the contrasting vice, righteousness on the one side,
sin on the other side. And in the verses that I've read,
verses 7 and 8, the two things that are being contrasted are
poverty and riches. And I simply want to divide what
I'm going to say into those two parts to say something with regards
to that poverty that is being spoken of and then to look at
the riches. There is that maketh himself
rich and yet hath nothing. There is that maketh himself
poor yet hath great riches. The ransom of a man's life are
his riches but the poor heareth not rebuke What is the poverty
that Solomon is speaking of? There is of course, and we have
to recognize this, a literal and a natural meaning to what
he said before us in these various wise statements of Solomon. And that is the case here. The The rich man is that man who
has all that he could ever wish for. But what of those who are
poor? Those who are poor with regards
to their worldly possessions. Well, what he is saying here
that they're in a sense is an advantage even to that person
who possesses very little. When we think of the rich man,
The rich man is more liable to suffer the loss of the possessions
that he has because he has so many of them. The rich man may
be robbed. And so it says here at the beginning
of verse 8, the ransom of a man's life are his riches. Or as we have it in another part
of the wisdom literature there in Ecclesiastes chapter 7 verse
12, money is a defense. It's the same truth really that
is being declared in the book of Ecclesiastes as we find here
in the book of Proverbs. A ransom of the rich man's life
is to be found in his possessions, his riches. His money, in that
sense, is a defense. The rich man can afford to make
a provision and protection for himself. He can fortify he is
home, he can set up his alarms and so on and so forth, but in
that sense the poor man is one who is below notice. He has so
little, so he needs not the sort of defenses that the rich man
must have. The rich then are those who are
at the disadvantage in that they might well be robbed of their
possessions. But then also, with regards to
the rich, we see how they are exposed to many temptations. How the apostle Paul, when he
writes to Timothy, declares that truth. There in 1 Timothy chapter
6, Verse 9 he says, They that will be rich fall into temptation
and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown
men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the
root of all evil. which while some coveted after,
they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through
with many sorrows." So there is that sin of covetousness in
a man's heart, and the more he has, it seems, the more he desires
to have. And he is vulnerable, he is left
open, the Apostle says, to temptations, to a snare. He reaches, therefore, are not any real advantage to
him. They are a great disadvantage.
The poor man is much better off. What do we read here in verse
7? There is that maketh himself rich and yet hath nothing. He has no spiritual good at all. The Lord Jesus says, What is
a man profited if he shall gain the whole world? and lose his
own soul. Well what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul? All this man has is his wealth
and that only brings a snare, a trap to him. Though again earlier
in this book in chapter 1 and verse 32 it says the prosperity
of fools shall destroy them. the prosperity of fools it brings
destruction and we read that passage in the gospel where the
Lord Jesus speaks the parable concerning the rich man, the
rich fool in Luke chapter 12 verse 15 the Lord says unto his
disciples take heed, beware of covetousness For a man's life
consisted not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain
rich man brought forth plentiful. And he thought within himself,
saying, What shall I do? Because I have no room where
to bestow my fruits. And he said, This will I do.
I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will
I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul,
Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine
ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool,
this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then who shall
those things be which thou hast provided? So he that layeth up
treasure for himself is not rich toward God. For there is a vital
thing to be rich toward God. Though money might be a defense,
though the riches that a rich man possesses might be a ransom
for his soul, he might be able to protect himself because he
has the wherewithal. But if he is not rich toward
God, it is the worst poverty of all. But it is interesting
when we read through this book and come to the end, we see that
absolute poverty, of course, is not a great blessing. We shouldn't
desire great possessions and riches, but nor should we think
that poverty of itself is a blessed condition to be in. Look at the
language that we find later in chapter 13. The wise man says at verse 7,
two things have I required of thee, speaking to the Lord God. Deny me them not before I die. Remove far from me vanity and
lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient
for me. lest I be full, and deny thee,
and say, Who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and still,
and take the name of my God in vain." Well, there is the wisdom
of Solomon. There is then, in that sense,
this, what we might say, quite natural interpretation a literal
meaning that must be applied to the words that we have in
our text. But turning secondly to the spiritual
significance of these words, the gospel meaning of these words,
the Lord Jesus himself said to the Jews, search the Scriptures.
In them ye think that ye have life, and these are they that
testify of night. And that is true of the Proverbs
as of any other part of Holy Scripture. We're not just to look at the
verse and seek to understand them in a natural sense. We need
to dig into the text, as it were, and to see what the spiritual
interpretation is. Here we read at the end of verse
7, "...there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches and we think immediately of the
ministry of Christ and the words that he spoke in the course of
his preaching, think of the Sermon on the Mount think of the language
there at the beginning in what we call the Beatitudes and amongst
those sayings Christ says blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. The poor in spirit. There is that maketh himself
poor yet hath great riches. That's the poor in spirit. He is really not spiritually
poor, he is a man who is spiritually rich. When the Lord speaks of that
man in the Beatitudes, the blessed man, the poor man, the word that
he uses literally means to couch and to cower. He's referring
to a man who has nothing at all in the way of worldly possessions.
This man is a beggar. And is that not a blessed thing
to be a spiritual beggar? To recognize constantly our dependence
upon God for everything, and that we have to plead with Him
and pray to Him, and come as beggars before Him? Or we're
told here in verse 8, the poor heareth not rebuke. And I was struck in one of his
letters William Huntington makes the statement that there is not
one word against the impoverished soul in all the book of God. In all the Bible there's not
one word that God ever speaks against that person who is impoverished,
who in a sense has nothing at all, who must come constantly
to beg of the Lord. Or does not the Lord say to this
man, will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite
spirit, and trembleth at my worth." These who are in that condition
then are a favoured people, much more so than that man who has
great possessions and much riches. Hearken my beloved brethren,
James says, hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in
faith, and heirs to the kingdom that he has promised them. For
there is that maketh himself rich and hath nothing and there
is that maketh himself poor and hath great riches and this is
the man that he is being spoken of here at the end of this seventh
verse he is a man who really has great possessions how God
takes account of him. How the Lord Jesus Christ was
sent for such a character as this when John the Baptist was
in prison. And there it seems he was beset
by Satan, he has doubted Jesus of Nazareth, really that one
who is the promised Messiah. and remember how we are told
that he sends his own disciples to the Lord to ask that question
again in Matthew's account and there this time in the 11th chapter of Matthew we find these disciples
coming to the Lord and they ask as John had told them Art thou
he that should come, or do we look for another? And the Lord
answers and said to them, Go and show John again those things
which ye do hear and see. The blind receive their sight,
and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear,
the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached
to them. and blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended in me." Well, here is the mark. The mark of
him who is the true Messiah, the true Christ of God, and amongst
these things that the Lord draws the attention of John's disciples
to is the fact of his ministry. Who is it that he comes to preach
to? The poor have the gospel preached
to them. That is, those who are spiritually poor. How God's Word
time and again is addressed to case and condition. Oh yes, there's
a general call in the Gospel. It goes out to all who are present,
all who would hear the Word of God when the preacher raises
his voice and proclaims his message. But how discriminating God's
Word is. We see it time and again in the
ministry of the Lord. There's a division amongst the
people because of it. It is the poet to whom he really
is addressing the gospel. And it's this man that he's spoken
of here in our text today. That man who knows spiritual
poverty, who has nothing of himself, who must look to the Lord for
all things. But let's, in the second place,
consider the riches. And in particular I want to think
of the riches, the spiritual riches, that belong to this particular
character. What does it say there at the
end of verse 7? There is that maketh himself
poor, yet hath great riches. All the riches of this poverty.
Now look at what he said later in the chapter. In verse 23 we
read that much food is in the tillage of the poor but there
is that is destroyed for want of judgment. It's an interesting
statement. Much food is in the tillage of
the poor. What does it mean? Well, the
rich of course would have great possessions, they
would have lands, and they would have their parkland, and they
would have their gardens, and they could have their flower
beds and their ornaments. But here we have to think of
that man, that man who is so poor that he has just a little
plot to cultivate. and such is his poverty that
he can't really afford to give any of his land over simply to
his pleasures, he must till the ground in order to feed himself
and to feed his family. That's the figure, the imagery
that we have in this particular statement. Much food is in the
tillage of the poor. That's all he has to do with
his land. That's all he wants to do with
his land. But think of the spiritual application
there. That person who is a mere professor
of religion is one who is time and again satisfied with a fair
show in the flesh. Or like the rich man you see.
His flower beds, his ornaments, something to be seen, something
to delight the eye. And so too with the mere professor
of religion. All he wants is to make a show. But when we think of that spiritual
beggar, that poor man, all he wants to find in his tillage
of the ground is real food. He wants something to feed himself.
And what is that food that is in the tillage of the poor man? Well, two things we can speak
of here. he has a knowledge of his spiritual
needs and that's a blessed fruit to know something of what our
real needs are but he doesn't just know himself he also has
a very real present knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ I want
just for a while to think of those two aspects of his fruit
as it were that knowledge that he has of himself. And think again of the words
of the Lord Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount when he speaks of
the blessed. Those opening verses in Matthew
chapter 5. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
he says. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And you're probably aware that
the word blessed is really in the plural. Literally, he speaks
of the blessednesses. The blessednesses. There are
many multitudes of blessings that belong to that man who is
poor in spirit. He's making a sort of exclamation,
the Lord. All the blessednesses of the
poor in spirit. for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. All are those who are blessed
and they are blessed in the highest degree. And what is it that they
have? They see their need and they
feel their need. That's the truth with regards
to their condition. These who are spiritually poor
We know that all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. But how few have any consciousness
of their state as sinners before God. Sin, truly, is of man. In no way is God the author of
sin. The very thought is blasphemy. No God is of eyes too pure to
behold iniquity. God cannot look upon sin. God
hates sin, abhors sin. Sin is of man. Adam, there in
the garden of Eden, he sins so willfully. He had received the
commandment from God that he was not to partake of that fruit
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and yet he
willfully partakes of it. Yes, Eve is tempted. of Satan,
and she partakes of the forbidden fruit first of all, but then
she gives to her husband, she gives to her husband, and he
willfully takes it. All sin is so clearly of man,
but not the sense of sin. That sense of sin comes from
God. Though all are sinners in God's
sight, There are but few so in their own." We often sing those
words. A sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so,
the hymn writer says. And that's a strange thing really.
It can be easily misunderstood. How is a sinner sacred? Well,
the hymn writer is Joseph Hart, there in the hymn. He's speaking
of that sinner who has been awakened, who has a sense of his need.
It's the work of the Holy Ghost that has taken place in the soul
of that sinner. And that is a blessed condition,
I say. To have that knowledge of ourselves
and what we are. To know ourselves. and to be
brought to see ourselves in the mirror of the Word of God. James
speaks of that man who comes to the Word of God but then he
doesn't really see himself, he goes his way and forgets what
manner of man he is. He's looking into a mirror, that's
what God's Word is, it's a mirror. Man was made and created in the
image and likeness of God. And what do we have in scripture?
We have the revelation of God. It's the book of God. The Lord
Jesus is that one of whom all the scriptures speak, and He
is the image of the invisible God. And we come to the Word
of God, and what should we expect to see? We should expect to see
ourselves reflected in that Word, those who were made in that image
and likeness. But now we're so full, and when
we measure ourselves by the Word of God, why we see how ugly we
are, how sinful we are. But that man, that foolish man
that James speaks of, he goes his way and forgets what manner
of man he is. Or to have our eyes opened, and
to really see ourselves, to have that knowledge of what our spiritual
needs are before God. And you know, It's not just when the Lord begins
with us, when he works conviction in our souls and teaches us the
truth of our need of the grace of God. Even professed believers
might come to that point where they think that they have something
in them that would commend them in some measure to God. Think
of that church of the Laodiceans. Those letters that the Lord,
the risen, exalted Christ sends to the seven churches. In the
opening part of the book of Revelation, there in chapters two and three,
we have the letters that John is instructed to take to the
seven churches in Asia Minor. And to the Laodiceans, there
at the end of chapter 3, what does the Lord say? Verse 15, I know thy works, that
thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that thou wert cold or
hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor
hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth, because thou sayest,
I am rich. and increase with goods, and
have need of nothing. This is the attitude of those
who are rich, you see. And knowest not that thou art
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked? I counsel thee to buy of me gold
tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment,
that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness
do not appear, and deny thine eyes with thyself that thou mayest
see as many as I love I rebuke and chasten be zealous therefore
and repent the Lord is addressing here the angel of the church
of the Laodiceans and see how he exposes their
condition they imagine that they that they're rich or they have
goods they have need of nothing God deliver us from such a spirit
as that and see how the Lord goes on those familiar words
at the end of the chapter behold I stand at the door and knock
if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come into
him and will sup with him and he with me how often that scripture
is so much abused It's used as a text that's addressed to the
unconverted as if the Lord Jesus is standing at the door and knocking
and waiting for man to permit him to enter in. It's not addressed
to the world. It's addressed to the Church
of the Laodiceans. It's addressed to those who are
making a profession of faith. But those who have been brought
to imagine that they have no real need. or that we might be
those who are brought constantly then to see ourselves, to feel
our poverty, and increasingly recognize our complete and utter
dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ. This tillage of the poor
man then, he wants to find food. And what is the food that he
finds? Well, God brings him to that knowledge of his spiritual
name, his conscience. that of himself he is nothing
and does nothing he's never anything more than a sinner, yes a sinner
saved by the grace of God but one who constantly needs fresh
experiences of that mercy and that grace he wants a present
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ this is the second thing I wanted
to speak of with regards to the fruits the knowledge of his own
personal spiritual needs, yes, but also that present knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, we mustn't come short. It's
not enough to know ourselves and to know that we're that poor
man, that poor woman. We must also know the Lord Jesus
Christ. What does the Lord say? in that
beatitude concerning the poor in spirit he says theirs is the
kingdom of heaven and you will observe that that promise is
for the present he doesn't say theirs shall be the kingdom of
heaven no he says theirs is theirs is the kingdom of heaven it's
a present possession. It's to the poor that the gospel
is preached. Remember those words of the Lord
Jesus to the disciples of John the Baptist when they inquire
if he really is that one who is the promised Messiah. All
the Lord has come and he comes to preach the gospel to those
who are the poor. Why the Lord himself says as
much when he begins his ministry? after his baptizing when he's
led of the Spirit into the wilderness tempted of Satan forty days,
forty nights and then coming out of the wilderness in all
the fullness of the Spirit how he has resisted Satan how he
has dismissed Satan and the devil has left him for a season and
he comes into Nazareth and he goes into the synagogue as was
his custom on the Sabbath day and he reads there The words
of the Prophet Isaiah in chapter 61, The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me, because He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the
poor. He reads on in that passage and
then he passes the book, the scroll, back to the minister
there in the synagogue and he says, this day is the scripture
fulfilled in your ears. The poor have the gospel preached
unto them. It is to poor souls that the
Lord Jesus Christ comes and makes known the good news. the glad
tidings of that salvation that is found only in Him. All Christ is that One who is
all and in all to these poor souls, who of God is made unto
us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. You see these souls have nothing
Nothing of themselves that they can present unto God. So unlike the rich man. So unlike
the rich man. It says the ransom of a man's
life are his riches. This rich man can pay for his
own protection, pay for his own ransom. He has the means, he
has the wherewithal. But no, the poor are those who
have to beg for everything. They have to live that life of
complete dependence, they're ever always looking to God. But what does God say concerning
these? We have those words in Job 33,
deliver him from going down to the pit, it says. I have found a ransom. Oh, you see, there is that that
is demanded by the holy law of God because all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God, the rich as well as the poor,
all are born dead in trespasses and sins, all are debtors to
that holy law of God. But God himself is that one who
must supply the ransom. The sinner is brought to the
complete and utter end of himself. And that's the wonder of those
words that we have in Job 33. Deliver him from going down to
the pit. It's the language of God. I have found a ransom. Or
the Lord has found a ransom. Why the Lord has provided that
ransom Himself, He's provided it in the person and the work
of His only begotten Son. the Lord Jesus Christ who as
we read there in Philippians chapter 2 has come and coming
what has He done? He has served God He has fulfilled
all the law of God He has obeyed every commandment of God and
He has been obedient unto death it says Even the death of the
cross. There's the extent of his obedience. Oh, he has satisfied the law
in respect not only to its precepts, living a life of obedience to
every commandment of God, but he is also one of that law in
respect to all his terrible penalties and punishments. He has borne
the punishment that the sinner deserved. He has died in the
sinner's room and stands. He has paid the ransom price.
The law says the soul that sinneth it shall die and he has died.
Oh, he has made that great sacrifice for the sins of his people. And so God says concerning that
poor sinner deliver him from going down to the pit I have
found a ransom. And how God brings that ransom
home into the soul of the sinner. Paul says we also join God through
our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have received the atonement. Oh, are we those friends who
have received it, received the atonement, received the ransom,
received the reconciliation that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
How was he paid that price? He's paid it by his own precious
blood. Again, see the language of Peter. There, writing in the opening
chapter of his first general epistle, he says to these believers,
for as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers? Or the rich man, as we have him
in our text, he might imagine, you see, that he can pay his
own ransom. The ransom of a man's life are his riches. That's the
folly of those who imagine they have much, they have something
to give. No, says Peter, not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your father's, but with the precious blood of
Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Ought to be
that poor man then, this poor man that's spoken of here in
the text. There is that maketh himself
poor yet hath great riches. These paradoxes that we see with
regards to those who are truly the Lord's people. How God is
that one who giveth power to the faint, and to them that have
no might he increaseth strength. Remember how Paul can speak of
his experiences. He says he's sorrowful yet always
rejoicing. He says he's poor yet making
many rich. He says he has nothing and yet
he possesses all things. these strange paradoxical statements
that we find with regards to those who are truly the Lord's
people. And here we have it. The man
that maketh himself poor and yet this man has great riches. Oh, are we those then who can
come in any measure into this particular text that lies before
us this morning. We don't look to ourselves, we
look to nothing of ourselves. We are nothing, we have nothing. We want to come as those who
are but beggars, that we might find all our salvation, all our
desire, only in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is that maketh
himself rich, yet hath nothing. There is that maketh himself
poor, yet hath great riches. The ransom of a man's life are
his riches, but the poor heareth not rebuke. No word of rebuke
to that poor soul in the Word of God. This is the one that
the Lord Jesus comes to call. The whole have no need of the
physician, but they that are sick, Christ says, I came not
to call the righteous, but sinners. to repentance. Oh the Lord be
pleased then to to bless his word to us for his name's sake. Let us conclude our worship this
morning as we sing our final praise 257. The tune is Arizona
284. Ye humble souls complain no more Let faith survey your future
store, how happy, how divinely blessed the sacred words of truth
attest. In vain the sons of wealth and
pride despise your lot, your hope deride. In vain they boast
their little stores. Trifles are theirs, the kingdom
yours. For hymn 257.