Boast in Christ

Here's an excerpt from a sermon I preached recently on James 1:9-11. If you aren't a Christian consider how a person could possibly boast if he or she is poor. If you are a Christian meditate on the riches that are found in Christ alone, and try to look into your life and see the ways that you boast about Him.

Christian if you are poor you have riches in Christ. Consider the fact that before God created the world He had a purpose. The gospel was the secret wisdom of God which He decreed before the ages for our glory (1 Cor 2:7). This isn’t to say that you will not face any trials in this life, and James lays out that poverty is one of those trials, but one day the Lord will raise us up in the twinkling of an eye, and we will be glorified along with Christ. We have inherited much, even if we do not have the material riches of a monarchy here in this life. Take heart if you are struggling with poverty and delight in the glory of Christ, your rich inheritance. This is how a poor brother or sister is to boast, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Gal 6:14).” So if we are in need it is to serve a purpose, to help us see our riches in our dependence on Christ. As the hymn Come Ye Sinners Poor and Needy states, “Let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream, all the fitness he requireth is to feel your need of Him.”