There is in man's fallen nature the consuming desire for this world's riches, and this for the gratification of his natural desires. Paul, in writing to Timothy, spoke of what would mark the last days of Christendom, and among the features named are, "men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money … lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" (2 Tim. 3:1-4). Men desire riches that they might have the pleasures of this world, and that they might be able to gratify the lusts of their flesh.
For the Christian, the desire to be rich brings with it trouble, even as the Apostle wrote to Timothy, "they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in perdition and sorrow" (1 Tim. 6:9).
In spite of the desire of the natural man to be rich, the great majority are poor, though in some of these western lands there are few in need of daily bread. Still, in most lands, there are indeed poor, and there is a special appeal in the Gospel of God to those that are poor. When the Lord Jesus commenced His public ministry, and came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, He read from Isaiah concerning His mission, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor" (Luke 4:16-18). The poor had a special place in the mission of Christ.
How blessed is the contemplation of the Son of God who came down from heaven that men might be blessed. Of Him we read in 2 Corinthians 8:9 that "He was rich." This evidently takes us back before the appearance of the eternal Word in flesh, back into eternity when the Son was "in the form of God." His riches in the Godhead are beyond human computation, for it is beyond the mind of man to apprehend the resources of the Godhead. We can take account of some of the immense riches, material riches, that are within the reach of men, from which the whole human race and the creatures of the earth are nourished from day to day, and behold some of the treasures that have been brought from the depths of the sea and the depths of the earth.
All these things belonged to the Son of God, as also does all that lies unexplored in the myriads of stars and other heavenly bodies upon which the foot of man has never rested. What riches were His where the hosts of angelic beings worshipped before Him, all existing because of Him, all sustained by Him, and all owning Him the "Holy, holy, holy, the Lord of hosts" (Isa. 6:3).
When we see the Son of God as a Babe in this world we see something of His poverty, for He was born in a stable and cradled in a manger. How amazed the angels must have been to see their God in Manhood's form, and especially as an apparently helpless babe in such circumstances. Yet no human heart seemed to be moved at this, for men had no conception of the riches that belonged to Him before He came. Poverty marked the whole life of the Lord Jesus, for when one sought to follow Him He said, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head" (Matt. 8:20).
At another time He could say, "Show me a penny," for the possessor of all things had come into circumstances where He had nothing, so great was His poverty. Though so poor, He was able to meet the needs of others, feeding the thousands, healing the sick and raising the dead. His divine power, used for the alleviation of the needs of others, was never used to relieve His poverty or to mitigate His circumstances.
As the rightful heir to the throne of David, all the resources of the nation of Israel should have been His, but He refused the throne, both from the hand of Satan and from Israel. He was the appointed heir of all things, but all, for the time being, was refused: He had come to be poor in this world, not taking up for Himself all the riches that belonged to Him by right, for He had not His own rights and privileges before Him, but rather the dory of His Father and the blessing of those He came to save.
But there was deeper poverty than the lack of material things. None can enter into what it must have meant for the holy Son of God to he in a world of sin, surrounded by sinners: and to be the object of human malice and scorn, reproached by the people He had come to bless, and rejected in His mission of grace from His God and Father. And who can tell the depths of shame to which He meekly submitted when before the high priest, Pilate and Herod: and the deeper poverty when alone with His Father in Gethsemane, anticipating the cross, where the deepest depths were reached, when He sank in the deep mire where there was no standing? All these things cause the spirits of His own to bow before the Son of God, confessing that the depths of His poverty in suffering and sorrow are beyond the knowledge of man.
How very rich have believers become through the poverty of our Lord Jesus Christ. From the riches of God's grace, and the riches of His glory, God has brought forth the heavenly, spiritual and eternal treasures with which He has enriched those who once were sinners far from Him. Having forgiven us all our sins, through the blood of Jesus, God has brought us near to Himself to share the place of His own Son; for we are now sons of God, and heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ. Though Christ became poor, He is poor no longer, having riches far beyond all human thought.
All the riches that belonged to the Son of God before He became poor are His in the glory into which the Father has received Him as Man in His presence. Moreover, He has riches as Man for the enrichment of His own that never belonged to man before, and of these the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 3, for it was given to him to "preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" (verse 8). How very poor is the richest of men when death comes to him, for he brought nothing into the world, and he can take nothing out; but the Christian has his riches in Christ on the other side of death, and although all is possessed in Christ even now, all is about to be possessed with Christ when He comes to take His own to be with Him, and like Him, for ever.
These words were spoken by the risen Christ of God to "the angel of the church of Smyrna" (Rev. 2:9). Outwardly, there was naught but "tribulation and poverty" belonging to the saints in Smyrna, but "The First and the Last, which was dead, and is alive" knew what their true portion was, for He had died to procure divine riches for them, and He was risen to enter into possession of His unsearchable riches, to sustain them in their poverty on earth, while serving Him, and waiting to enter into the eternal riches that God had given them along with Christ.
Like their Master, they knew what it was to be poor in this world, and they were prepared to suffer with Him who had suffered for them, and they were content to be poor where He was poor, waiting in patience to share all with Him in the day of His glory, and when with Him in the Father's house. It may be that many of them had been rich in this world's goods, but, like the Apostle Paul, had suffered the loss of all things, and counted all but dung to win Christ. The Hebrew Christians knew what this was, for they "took joyfully the spoiling of" their goods, knowing that in heaven they had a better and an enduring substance (Heb. 10:34).
Men may rob the Christian of what he possesses on earth, but they cannot touch the abiding and enduring riches that belong to heaven. How very miserable is the state of those whose hearts are in earthly riches, riches that can readily take wings, or that must be left in this world, and are "not rich toward God" (Luke 12:21). In the light of what the Lord Jesus spoke in Luke 12, we can readily understand the exhortation of Paul in 1 Timothy 6:17, where he says, "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches." Those to whom God has given material riches in stewardship, are to "do good, that they be rich in good works," and so lay up for themselves treasure in heaven.
How marked is the contrast between Smyrna and Laodicea! Smyrna was poor in this world's goods, but rich in faith, rich towards God, and enriched in Christ as sharing all with Him, though waiting to enter into the full possession of all at His coming. Laodicea was rich in all that the men of this world valued, and the envy of the great of this world because it was possessed of what they coveted, but the true riches, the spiritual, heavenly and abiding, they had missed, for they had not the eyes to perceive where the real treasures were.
The unfaithful church boasted in its worldly riches, being proud of having "grown rich" independently of Christ whom she professed to serve, but who was outside her door. Self-satisfied and self-indulgent, and unconcerned with Christ's interests, she was incapable of valuing what was divine, and insensible as to her true condition in His sight, for in His eyes she was "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked" (Rev. 3:17).
In Revelation 18:12-13, we see the things in which her riches consisted, things that the merchants of the world had brought to her. She had her ornate buildings. the work of great craftsmen of the world, richly adorned with the priceless treasures of a world afar from God. With her was the world's sweetest music to charm the hearts of men who knew not Christ, and had no desire for Him, while her philosophy and culture appealed to the natural mind of man from whence it sprung. The whole world of science was at her service, as also the world of commerce, all joining with her to gratify the heart of the natural man with the passing pleasures of the world.
All that the false church will accumulate of this world's treasures will excite the avarice of the kings of the western world, and these will destroy her, and spoil her goods (Rev. 17:16). This is surely the govern-mental judgment of God on the false church that cared not for the true riches. What the kings do not take will go in the consuming judgment of God of which we read in Revelation 18.
While the unfaithful church is undergoing the righteous judgment of God, the worshipping hosts of heaven are heard, saving "Alleluia" and "Amen," and adding, "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give Him honour: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready" (Rev. 19:1-7). Here will be found the display of the true riches so highly valued by the saints of Smyrna, and by all saints who have learned something of the preciousness of Christ.