The Recognition of Spiritual Poverty

Dear Weekly Readers!

This week I am short on time since I am leaving tomorrow on a trip to a congregation in the USA for the purpose of sharing with them, and learning from them for the advancement of the Lord’s Work around the world!   Please pray for a safe journey.

Due to my schedule, I am unable to write an article this week, so we will continue our sharing the Principles of the Doctrine of Jesus Christ as taught by the ALCA. 

Please enjoy and comment back as you see fit.

May God Bless your week!    John R.

The Recognition of Spiritual Poverty

A person is thus able to hear the Gospel of Christ and understand with the heart, as stated in the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:15,16:

...and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. - Matthew 13:15,16

Jesus explains the parable:

But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty - Matthew 13:23

Such a person has found himself to be spiritually poor,

... and the poor have the gospel preached to them (Matthew 11:5).

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3)

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall befitted (Matthew 5:6).

He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich He hath sent empty away (Luke 1. 53).

The Gospel is the Power of God Unto Salvation

Even though the Gospel is recorded in a written language in the scriptures, it has been commanded by Christ to be preached by His servants, in His name, among all nations. This Gospel is to be heard and believed because it is the Word of the Lord.

But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you (I Peter 1:25).

God gives faith into the heart of one who hears and believes His Word.

...The word is nigh thee. even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach (Romans 10:8).

The gospel… is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth ... (Romans 1:16).

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8,9).

It is the power of God to remove unbelief and give faith through the hearing of the Word, as expounded in all the scriptures that concern Christ. An example of this is where Jesus preached to the two sad disciples as they walked toward Emmaus. The disciples had seen Jesus condemned to death and crucified. They could not believe Jesus had been raised from the dead. Jesus said to them:

...O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself (Luke 24:25-27).

A most wonderful change took place in the hearts of the two disciples while hearing the Word, even though at the time they did not know that this stranger was Jesus.

And they said one to another, Did not our hearts burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the scriptures? (Luke 24:32).

The two disciples, along with the other disciples, had witnessed the events that took place in Gethsemane and on the cross at Golgotha. However, since they had not as yet been regenerated, they were not able to understand these events with their carnal reasoning. They still did not know that the suffering and death of Jesus was the sacrifice required in order to reconcile the world to God.

And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned... (Luke 24:15).

Natural man's attempts to comprehend spiritual things through reasoning and carnal intellect must come to naught.

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know, because they are spiritually discerned (I Corinthians 2:14).

The next time we refer back to these writings, we will begin with Spiritual New Birth.    In fact, since that is such an important follow-up to this, we will do that for next week, Lord willing!