Can a Rich Person be saved

Matthew 19:23-29

Matthew 19:23-29, Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Then Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?” 28 So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.

This is the teaching from our Lord that follows the incident with the rich young ruler.

The rich young ruler had come to the Lord, and he said, “What do I need to do to obtain eternal life?” He came with the right attitude. He came running. He came kneeling. He came to the right person. He asked the right question.

His heart was eager, anxious, and unembarrassed. The Lord effectively said to him that he is not ready to be saved until two things occur. Number one, you recognize your sin. He listed the commandments. The young man had the self-deception. All these things have I kept. What do I still lack? He wouldn’t recognize his sin.

The second thing the Lord did was tell him to sell everything he had, give it to the poor, come and follow Him. He wouldn’t do that either. Jesus demanded that the man submit himself to His lordship.

• You must acknowledge your sin, and
• You must acknowledge that Jesus is lord of your life.

He wouldn’t do either. He went away sad. Mark says he even went away with his face gloomy.

He really wanted eternal life, but the terms of our Lord were an impassable barrier to him. From that experience, the Lord teaches about true riches and poverty.

Proverbs 13:7, There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches. Paradoxical. Bible has a lot to say about riches, and poverty.

The young man was a tragedy.

Luke 14:33, So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. He could not come to the point of repentance for his sin. He could not come to the point where he would affirm the lordship of Jesus Christ and submit himself to that no matter what it cost. He wanted eternal life.

But he wanted his self-righteousness more. He wanted eternal life, but he wanted his riches more. He had to forfeit salvation.

It would have cost him the admission that he was a sinner, and it would have cost him the subjection of everything he owned to Jesus Christ – too high. He wouldn’t pay the price. Jesus could have succumbed to his terms. Making disciples on their own terms is quite easy.

They are easily won, and they are easily lost. He could have gained that man on his own terms. Perhaps Jesus would have created a temporarily enthusiastic follower who would have turned out to be a second Judas. Now out of that incident with that rich young man comes some profound teaching about true riches.

We have seen the term “kingdom of heaven” repeatedly. It is synonymous with the term “kingdom of God.” They are used interchangeably. They simply mean the sphere of God’s gracious rule. They are synonyms with eternal life.

They are synonyms with everlasting life, synonyms with salvation. V 16, Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”

Jesus calls that eternal life “entering into the kingdom of heaven.” A term referring to salvation. Jesus said that it is very difficult for rich people to be saved. The young man was not willing to forsake all and follow.

Jesus had said this many times.

Matthew 10:38, And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

Matthew 16:24-25, Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Take up your cross meaning be willing to die. You have got to abandon everything, even your own life. You come bare and naked through the narrow gate.

The man was not willing to admit his sinfulness, and he was not willing to say no to all that he possessed. The price was too high. So, Jesus draws this conclusion. V 23, Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven

“Truly” Greek word ‘Duskolōs’ is only used three times in the New Testament. In Matthew, Mark and Luke.

How difficult for the rich man to enter? V 24, And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” It is greater difficulty than to push a camel through the eye of a needle.

How difficult is it to stick a camel through the eye of a needle? It is impossible. You can’t put a camel through the eye of a needle.

Why does Jesus use this phrase?

Where did it come from? We found in the Talmud a saying that was used in Persia, “It is it is easier to put an elephant through the eye of a needle.” It was just a colloquial phrase used to express something that was impossible.

Of course, since there were no elephants in Palestine and the camel was the largest animal, the Lord simply uses the

colloquialism, only He substitutes a camel for an elephant. It was just the way of saying something is impossible. How difficult is it for rich people to get saved? Impossible. Jesus said that it is impossible for rich people to be saved.

Just as impossible as sticking a camel through the eye of a needle. People try to interpret simply when it talks about the needle, it’s referring to a gate. There was in the wall of Jerusalem a needle gate, a little small gate. It was so small that when you wanted to put your camel through there, you had to take the load off the camel’s back. You had to take the saddle off the camel’s back, and you had to get the camel down on all fours and sort of shove them through this needle gate.

The problem with that view is it doesn’t say needle gate, it says needle. We also know that it was a colloquialism that was extant at the time our Lord used it. We also know there’s no needle gate. We also know that Jews aren’t stupid. They are not going to jam camels through needle gates when fifty feet down the road is a huge gate.

We also know that if the gate’s too small, they are going to make it bigger. There is no needle gate. It is not difficult to enter the kingdom, it is impossible. The message of our Lord is on the impossibility of salvation. It is impossible to be saved.

It is exactly what our Lord had in mind in Matthew chapter 7.

Matthew 7:14, Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

The rich young ruler wanted to get into the kingdom. He came running, and kneeling and violently wanting to get in, but it was impossible. It’s impossible to be saved when you come for salvation on your own human terms. It isn’t difficult in the sense of just hard, it is impossible.

Jesus is saying that, “I demand the impossible.” Nobody can get saved on their own terms! Jesus eliminates all works/righteousness systems. He eliminates all man-made salvation.

Jeremiah 13:23, Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil. Man can’t be saved by himself. No amount of works, no amount of religion, no amount of activity, no amount of desire, no amount of willfulness. It’s impossible! That impossibility of salvation is sort of crystalized in the case of rich people for three reasons. 1. Rich people have false security. That is the reason they can’t save themselves.

They are obviously unable to do it. What is the barrier to them is the false sense of security. Rich people don’t need God because they have got all their resources. They can buy anything they need. No sense in depending on God.

The city of Laodicea in Asia Minor was the wealthiest of all the cities in Asia Minor. In 60 A.D. there was an earthquake, and the city was literally flattened. The Roman government commissioned some emissaries to go to Laodicea. The government will give you money to rebuild

your city. They refused and said that we don’t want any money from the government. We will rebuild it ourselves. The pride of Laodicea was that they raised their entire city out of the ashes without taking a dime from the Roman government.

That attitude spilled over to the church which was the dead Laodicean church.

Revelation 3:17, Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— Rich people who have all the resources in and of themselves tend to feel haughtily complacent. Paul, writing to Timothy under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, tells him how to discharge his ministry.

1 Timothy 6:17, Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Rich people to trust in their uncertain riches, because they don’t need God. They can buy anything they need. The rich are satisfied to trust in their riches.

1 Timothy 6:18-19, Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, 19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. Why do you tell a rich man that? Because if he is not willing to do that, then the rest of the gospel doesn’t matter. Because if he is not willing to submit everything to the lordship of Christ, they don’t need to tell him the rest of it. If a person comes to you and he is very rich, you don’t say to him, wouldn’t you like to ask Jesus in your heart, and just accept Him, and then we will worry about all that other stuff later? That isn’t the way the Bible approaches it. If a rich man comes to you, the best question you can ask him is, “If the Lord Jesus wants every penny you have, will you give it to Him? If he won’t, that’s the end of the discussion. Paul tells the rich people do rich in good works, ready to distribute, give it to people, and willing to share it.

If they do that then they will lay up in store for themselves a good foundation against a time to come. Because life does not consist in the abundance of the things a man possesses,

Luke 12:15, And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

But these people think real life is in money. You tell them if they will give it away and distribute it, they will lay hold on a foundation against a time to come. They will get a hold of eternal life. So that’s very much like the story of the rich young ruler. It isn’t that you get saved by giving away your money, it’s just that you demonstrate if you have a lot of it that you are concerned more with the lordship of Christ than you are with holding on to your own resources.

When you come to Christ, you come on His terms, and the terms are abandonment to Him, forsaking all, and following Him. It doesn’t mean that He will take it all away from you. Jesus may give you back like He did Abraham, way more than you can handle. Or like Job, give you back far more than He ever took from you.

But the only issue is not whether He will or won’t, it’s whether you are willing to let Him do what He will by submitting to His lordship. It is so difficult for rich people to be saved because they trust in their riches.

2. Rich people are bound to this world.

1 Timothy 6:6-7, Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. Have you ever met a Totally contented person?

Most people in our materialistic society aren’t content because they want something else that they don’t have. We brought nothing into the world, and it’s certain we can carry nothing out. No pockets in a corpse. Nobody is going anywhere with anything.

1 Timothy 6:8-10, And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have

strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.. Food and clothing and be content. If you are not satisfied with that and all you want to do is be rich, you are just going to fall into temptation, foolish hurtful lust which drown men in destruction and perdition.

What happens to rich people if they get all tied down to this world? Everything revolves around this world.

How much they have got in the bank?

How many possessions they have got?

How many cars they have got? Jesus said in very clear terms.

Matthew 6:21, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. If all a man cares about is here in this world, he has no thought for the heavenly realm.

When the Word was thrown out like seed on soil, and it was sewn among the thorns.

Mark 4:19, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

There are some people they hear it, “Oh, isn’t that wonderful.” They respond to it. But it isn’t very long until they are deceived by the substantial riches that they have, until they are bound up in caring for the things of this world and the lust of possessions.

They abandon the gospel. You must deal with that first, otherwise you are going to get sham converts. It is very difficult for rich people to be saved. It is impossible because in their humanness, they are bound to this world, and they live and die for the possessions of this world, and they trust in those as their security.

Luke 12:16-21, Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This

night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” He can’t find a poor man with no food. He can’t find all these people over here who have nothing.

What do rich people want? Easy life. Eat, drink, and be merry. Rich man lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. Don’t stockpile stuff for some unknown future. You are a steward of whatever God’s given you.

Use it for the advance of His kingdom, the glory of His name. Layup eternal treasure right now. Rich people are bound to the world, and their only hope is in their money, and so they must stash and store. They have got to do that to accumulate it, so they can live a life of ease.

They have got to have enough to support their ease. So, the rich trust in their riches, and are bound to this world.

3. Rich are selfish. Rich are selfish. They are consumptive. They indulge themselves.

Luke 12:19, And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”

Remember the Parable of Rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16? Probably a real story. The rich man fared sumptuously every day, and Lazarus is laying in the gutter with the dogs licking his sore, just begging for some crumbs.

What kind of a rich guy is that? He got a guy laying out there, the dogs licking his sores, and he’s leaving him the gutter, and won’t even give him a few crumbs to eat.

What kind of a person is that? That’s not a Christlike person.

The rich person ends up in hell, and the beggar winds up in Abraham’s bosom being comforted. The world is full of people who indulge themselves. When Jesus said this, this was a shocking teaching, not only to the rich young ruler, but to the disciples.

Do you know what the rich young ruler had been taught? He was involved in rabbinical Judaism, no question, because he was probably the ruler of a synagogue. The rabbis taught that never give away more than 20% of what you possess. To do so is unlawful and sinful.

They had to make a law about that, so they could be holy, and still be selfish. They believed that the richer you were the larger your little fifth was and you gave away, the more you purchased unto yourself salvation. Alms will atone for sin. According to the Talmud.

“Alms giving is more excellent than all offerings, and is equal to the whole law, and will deliver from the condemnation of hell and make one perfectly righteous.” Talmud. The more money you had, the more you could give.

The more you gave, the more you purchased for yourself salvation. The more salvation you were able to purchase, the higher your status went up in the kingdom. So, they believed the richer you were, the more readily you were able to enter the kingdom.

Jesus comes and teaches that the richer you are, the harder to get into the kingdom. A shocking statement! Because they assumed that rich people got in rather easily. V 25, When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”

They were dumbfounded. They were blown away.

What are You saying? This was contrary to everything they had been taught, everything they knew in their tradition. Rich people could buy all the sacrificial lambs in sight. They could atone for everything.

They could give their money and drop it in those thirteen trumpet-shaped receptacles that lined the court of the women in the temple. They could pay their alms. But Jesus says the very opposite. It is impossible.

James 5:1-3, Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.

They were amazed and they asked this question, “Who then can be saved? Poor people can’t give away alms so they can’t buy forgiveness. Poor people can’t even buy sacrifices that are very significant. If rich people can’t be saved, who can be saved?

How hard is it for rich people to be saved? Impossible. It’s impossible for everybody else too.

V 26, But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” It is impossible to be saved on human terms. You can’t overcome your own sinful nature. Rich people can’t get over the dependency on riches, the love of the things of this world, and the consumptive selfishness that characterizes that kind of life.

“But with God all things are possible.” Even rich people can get saved. They are tough, humanly speaking, tougher than others. But with God, all things are possible. Good news.

Why does it have to be God? Because only God can change the heart. Only God can do that. That rich young ruler came to Christ to be saved, and he was asking for something that was impossible. When he went away unsaved, it just confirmed the impossibility of it.

It is the demonstration of the impossibility of being saved on your own terms short of repenting for your sin and affirming

that you subject everything in your life to the lordship of Jesus Christ. This is not a doctrine of salvation that’s being taught today but needs to be. But with God, all things are possible. Even God can overcome that, and only God.

Can overcome the love of money, selfishness, the earth-bound mentality. Only God can change the heart.

John 1:12, But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in

His name

Not by the will of man, but by God.

John 1:13, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

God must do it.

2 Timothy 2:24-25, And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,

We don’t fight. We don’t intimidate. We don’t harass people. We don’t try to dramatically drag them into some place of repentance or whatever. We teach them gently, patiently, meekly and then we recognize that only God can give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.

Do all of that, if God perhaps will give them repentance. We don’t know if He will or not. But it’s something only God can give.

John 6:44, No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. So, evangelism is gentle, patient, meek teaching to those oppose and at the same time, it recognizes that that’s all it can do.

It can’t manipulate legitimately. It can’t set its own terms. It can only ask God that He would grant repentance. V 27, Then Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?”

Peter is acknowledging to Jesus that we came on Your terms. We came on your terms. The rich young ruler did not. The rich man went away sorrowing. He wouldn’t forsake all and follow.

• We dropped our nets,
• We left our tax tables,
• We said goodbye to our employment, and
• We left our families and all these.
• We left everything and followed You.
• We have taken up our cross.
• We have denied ourselves.

Peter’s definition of salvation. Lord, we have forsaken all and followed You. Peter hadn’t seen the cross and the resurrection yet. On this side of the cross, he is seeing salvation as the Lord presented it. It is a forsaking of sin and following Christ. It is submitting to His control, direction, and lordship.

Peter sees himself and the disciples. Peter didn’t know at that time that Judas was not legitimately a follower. Judas never abandoned the love of money.

In fact, when he knew, he wasn’t going to get the money he thought by being involved in this new political entity called the kingdom which he was hoping for, he tried to get as much money as he could by selling the Savior to those who would take His life. He was going to grab his money and run. The guilt was overwhelming, and he killed himself.

But at this point, Peter’s not aware of that, and he just says on behalf of all of them. We have forsaken all and followed You. It looked like that even in Judas’ case on the outside.

Hebrews 11:24-26, By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. V 27, Therefore what shall we have?”

The rich person kept all his riches, and he loses eternally. We have abandoned everything in life, what do we gain? Fair question to ask. A natural question. They followed Christ anticipating the kingdom.

They followed Christ with hope in their hearts that He would sort of right the nation, that He would throw off the Roman yoke, that He would bring in the glorious kingdom prophets had talked about. I don’t think that Peter was totally frustrated.

I think he got excited about what he anticipates, and he wants to hear from the mouth of the Lord Himself what it is that God has prepared for them that love Him. V 28, So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

What is regeneration? Referring to the millennial kingdom, the rebirth. Now that term is only used one other time in the New Testament.

Titus 3:5, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, Personal new birth. We have been born again.

It is not a personal one but the rebirth of the earth.

It is paradise regained. It is the millennial kingdom. So, in that rebirth of the earth, we are reborn, we have a new birth. We are born again in Christ. We are born again right now, but we haven’t yet entered the final state.

The earth will be reborn in its millennial definition, and still be awaiting the new heaven and the new earth, which is the eternal state. So, the analogy is consistent. Our Lord is talking about the millennial kingdom, when the Son of Man will sit on the throne of His glory.

Psalm 2 says that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is going to rule the nations with a rod of iron. They are going to be under His feet. Revelation 19, He is going to be the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus is coming to rule the earth for a thousand years.

The saints are going to come and reign with Him.

1 Corinthians 6:2, Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

The apostles are going to be there. So, all the redeemed of all the ages are going to be reigning in that time when the Lord sits on the throne of His glory. He comes after the tribulation,

Matthew 24:29-30, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. He comes in power and glory after the tribulation, sets up a kingdom of glory, and rules as the King of glory for a thousand years. While Jesus is doing that, Israel is restored, and the apostles will rule over, guide, lead, and judge the nations of Israel. Just think of it in the rebirth. Acts chapter 3, Peter called it the times of refreshing, or the times of rest when the earth rests from the curse.

He called it, in verse 21, the times of restitution, when the earth is restored to the place that it was before the fall.

Matthew 12:32, Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. it’s called the age to come, as opposed to this age, when Christ returns. According to the prophets, when the Messiah will rule on the earth, when Israel will be converted and restored to the land, righteousness will flourish, peace will prevail, joy will abound.

The Holy Spirit’s power will be demonstrated, Satan will be bound, Jerusalem be exalted, health and healing will dominate, someone who dies at a hundred years of age dies as a baby. The earth will produce food like never before.

The lion will lie down with the lamb. The desert will blossom like a rose. Life will be long. The curse will be lifted. It is the great millennial kingdom.

• a) You will rule over Israel.

Jesus says, “In that kingdom, you twelve will sit on twelve thrones, you will be given places of rulership and judgeship over the twelve tribes of Israel.” The Son of Man is going to sit on the throne of His glory, and the apostles are going to be there ruling over the twelve tribes of Israel.

So, the first thing that comes to the poor is that the poor are going to share in the triumph of Christ. Those that are poor in this life are going to share in the triumph of Christ. We are going to reign and rule with Christ.

1 Peter 2:9, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light;

We are going to judge angels even or rule them, lead in terms of directing them to the bidding of God.

• b) They receive more than they gave up.

V 29, And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.

Mark 10:29, for My sake and the gospel’s,

When you came to Jesus Christ, you may have had to turn your back on a relationship. You may have realized that you are becoming a Christian separate and alienates you from your spouse. Even though it doesn’t mean you divorce them, and you end the marriage, you know there’s a division and a gulf there.

Maybe it happened in your family, between your parents and you, or brothers and sisters and you. Or maybe when you came to Christ, you were kicked out of your family, you lost the inheritance of the home, you lost the right to the family heirlooms or whatever.

There was a price to pay. But anybody has forsaken any of that for My namesake going to get back a hundredfold. Luke says manifold. When you gave that up, you inherited all the body of Christ.

You have got mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, uncles aunts, husbands, wives, houses, and lands worldwide. A fellowship of those who love the Lord Jesus Christ embrace you. You didn’t give up anything!

Mark 10:30, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. ³¹ But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Right now. Whenever and wherever you travel and meet a Christian whom you have never met instantly there is a bond connected you to a fellowship. A hundredfold is just a way of speaking hyperbolically, it’s just manifold. Far more is gained than ever is lost. Whatever you gave up, look what you gained.

When you abandoned it to Christ, you just found out you could go anywhere in the world, and somebody there would meet your needs. Somebody who belongs to Jesus Christ would care for you, would love you.

• c) Will inherit everlasting life.

You will be rewarded for eternity.

You will enter into the fullness of what God has planned in eternity. We will have blessing now, We will have blessing in the kingdom, and Ultimately, we will have the fullness of all that God has prepared for us in eternity.

Romans 8:23, Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

1 Corinthians 15:53-54, For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” That’s in the future. All that eternity can present! If you are poor in this life for the sake of Christ is to be rich in eternity with all that God could ever imagine giving to His beloved children.

Take your choice

Rich now, poor forever! Poor now, rich forever!!

If you are willing to be poor, God may make you rich anyway, even in this life. We all have a lot. We are all the rich. Compared to the rest of the world, we are rich. The Lord just keeps depositing it with me to see how I manage it. It doesn’t belong to me.

You don’t own anything. None of the money that I receive is mine. None of the things that I have are mine. They are all His. I gave up everything when I came to Christ. I abandoned it all to Him. We got to manage it for His glory in the advance of His kingdom.