READ: PROVERBS 22:2
The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all
By the term rich and poor the wise man doubtless includes all ranks and degrees of men - educated/illiterate etc.,
By the term meeting together he means that they meet on common ground as equals
No matter how unequal, they may be on this earth...yet in great/important matters, they are placed on the same level
They all meet together, because the Lord is the Maker of them all
1) WE MUST SEE WHEREIN WE ARE MEET TOGETHER:
A/ In the sameness of our origin:
Descendants from Adam and Eve - the same first parents
And hath made of one blood all
nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath
determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; Acts 17:26)
There is no such thing as noble and ignoble blood or superiority of descent - we all come from Adam and Eve
Through Adam/Eve, we all come from the dust/ground
Abraham: Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: (Genesis 18:27)
B/ We are the same in the construction of our beings:
While we may differ as to stature, size, weight and even to the why we think - yet we share one common nature
Union of the body and the soul is just the same
We share the same faculties - we all have a conscience that smites us when we do wrong (Enough to damn the soul: Romans 2:15)
C/ We meet together in the same calamitous consequences of the Fall:
Our common Father Adam was the federal head of the whole human race
His actions affected his offspring and constituents - who we are
We all carry Adam's guilt. common depravity and condemnation (Romans 5:12ff)
If you go to foreign jails - you find murderers, thieves, rapists, fraudsters - just as you do at home
Not only is crime all over the earth - but the same crimes are over the earth
Same crimes are over the whole earth from one passing generation to another
D/ We meet together in the gracious arrangements of the redeeming mercy of God:
Jesus Christ took upon Him our nature and he was tempted with our temptations, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15)
He came into the world not to condemn the world (John 3:17)
He has tasted death for every man (Hebrews 2:9)
No limit in the merit of the blood which He shed - sufficient (if called upon) to redeem the whole human race without exception
Only thing that excludes men from the advantages of the Blood/Jesus is their own unbelief (John 3:19/Acts 13:46)
Not without significance: And
they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to
open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to
God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and
nation; (Revelation 5:9)
E) We all meet in the field of mutual dependence:
Not only upon God in whose hand our breath is, but upon one another
Not one of us can go it alone and be happy
The rich need the poor to labour for them
The poor need the rich to share their wealth
Those master/servant portions of the NT (Ephesians 6 etc.,) are promote harmony in the field/service
F/ We are meet together in the infirmities and miseries to which our race is liable:
No level/society is free from disease of body or mind
Man that is born of a woman is born unto trouble
Tears are the universal language
We all know sorrows and disappointments - the mixed ingredients of each/every cup
The rich cannot buy themselves out of every trial
The poor find that such trials are not mean tested
G/ We are meet within the precincts of the cold and silent tomb:
Death roams the entire earth and enters in at every single window
The death angel visited every firstborn in Egypt - from the palace to the dungeon
Effects are the same upon all, no matter how expensive the coffin and how garnished the tomb:
Purification and the worms:
Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols:
the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. (Isaiah 14:11)
H/ Around the Judgment Seat of Christ: Hebrews 9:27
Every man's bonds will be loosed in the Resurrection Morning (John 5:28-29)
All will hear the trumpet's loud and solemn blast - all shall stand to hear their sentence and receive their fate:
And I saw a great white throne, and
him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away;
and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book
was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged
out of those things which were written in the books, according to their
works. (Revelation 20:11-12)
2) THESE THINGS BEING SO - WE MUST RESPOND APPROPRIATELY TO THE SITUATION:
A/ Whatever station the Lord has placed us (according to His all wise providence) we are to fill up that station
Do so to His glory
Do so for the good of others
(Love God with all our heart etc., and our neighbour as ourselves)
Cultivate a spirit of contentment: 1 Timothy 4:6 Godliness with contentment is great gain
The Lord Jesus has sanctified honest poverty: 2 Corinthians 8:9
The rich have a responsibility to use their riches liberally for others: Matthew 25:34 etc.,
We are to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ:
B/ Let's meet together with fervent love and compassion around the throne of grace
There we meet as equals
There we pray for one another: 1 Timothy 2:1
There we pray for the lost souls of whatever social standing
C/ Let's all be solicitous to meet together in the heavenly world
Let no man's social status induce us to forget about them
The rich do not have enough wealth to compensate the losing of their soul
The poor have something that money cannot buy - the redemption of their soul is precious
If we cannot win all, then let us endeavour to win some
We have more than a common humanity to drive us on
We have the clear authority of the word of God
THE END