A Catalogue of Coffin Nails

Luke 6:24-26

24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets."

There is nothing inherently wrong with wealth, plenty and merriment. The problem is not with the phenomena themselves, but with what men’s fallen hearts make of them. Evil hearts will corrupt God’s good blessings. Since all men start out from the womb with corrupt natures it follows that those who are wealthy and full and happy with life apart from faith in Him corrupt such things by their attitudes and actions.

In this sense, wealth and plenty are woes. Unless God couteracts the natural tendency of fallen minds to find their security, satisfaction and fulfillment in such things then they are mere nails in their eternal coffin. They will tend to harden and confirm people in unbelief and a false sense of self-reliance.

To be found satisfied with these things apart from God is to have settled for dung when diamonds were to be had. Nothing can compare to the knowledge of God. It is worth all the riches and comforts in the world. They are but a mirage when God is the true oasis. For God to leave and unbeliever in a place of contentment with wealth and plenty is a terrible woe. Not that He cannot save even the richest of men (and He has) - for nothing is impossible with God - but that unless He intervenes to alter their affections then they will remain enslaved to the world and its values. And the more they have, the stronger will be the bond.

Nevertheless, it is hard to conceive of a thing more glorifying to God that a wealthy person, holding that wealth lightly and ready for it to be removed at any moment by the sovereign purposes of God - rejoicing in His attributes just the same, when and if He does. A man who can live in the midst of plenty ready to declare in truth, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away - blessed be the Name of the Lord" is a jewel in Christ’s crown and a glorious testimony to His redeeming and sustaining power.

Of course there will always be the apparent exceptions. Some unsaved and wealthy people are generous and kind by human standards. Some are even sacrificial in their giving. This cannot be denied and I do not seek to avoid it. But whatever is not wrought in Christ, the Bible says, is of no avail. Though it may seem clean to our depraved eyes it is seen for what it is in God’s pure and holy gaze. The standard is absolute perfection. No taint of self or self-righteousness inside or out will be tolerated by God.

The most righteous man who ever lived is abominable to God when that man comes in his own righteousness. God has made it easy for us to be un-self-righteous. He has shown us Himself in Christ and has called upon men to come to Him and be justified by His righteousness. Not only do we not need to make ourselves righteous (as if we could anyway) but we have it imputed to us - perfect righteousness - free gratis and for nothing. For nothing of ours, I mean - though it cost plenty.

And another quagmire for the unwary is the pride of life, or reputation with the world. Our fallen nature craves attention, recognition, applause, validation and - yes - worship. It is not wrong to be spoken well of - when it is Christ that people see; and when it is Christ that we want to be seen in us. Men can sometimes see Him and glorify our Father in heaven on account of that - for when they appreciate Christ they glorify the Father that sent Him.

The sort of "speaking well" to which Christ is referring here is the sort that is encouraged and craved by ourselves for ourselves. The man whom God is pleased to leave in this natural state is indeed woebegone. He is bereft, adrift, lost, perishing and in eternal peril. He is a legend in his own mind - the centre of meaning for himself and the focus of his own attention while, at the same time, trying to make himself, rather than God, the focus of the attention of others.

Natural men love natural men. Sure, they sometimes hate and maim and kill each other - but when the veneer of civilization is working (due usually to the grace of God at work in His people) then those who imagine themselves civilized find ways to make alliances. Flattery is one such way. And the Bible is at great pains to warn about such things. Flattery is evil because it is deceitful; deceitful to both flatterer and flatteree. It blinds. It seduces and it corrupts. And it finds a ready home in the sons of men.

But God’s people know that they have nothing that they did not first receive. As such, they understand that all good things, all truly valuable and worthwhile things manifested in them come from God, who alone is good. People with such a mindset are (so long as they abide in it) immune to the seductions of flattery.

However, there is nothing that has more fury than a flatterer scorned. Honeyed words will turn to slander and malice quicker than a trice - as our Lord’s life testifies. The flatterer comes pretending to build up but in his heart he wants to build up only himself. If this is taken away then the underlying selfish hatred often comes to the fore.

We must be gracious to those who say nice things to us, but we must never believe them. As I said, if someone comes and compliments me on my intelligence or fairness or wisdom I would be as much a fool as they are to take that unto myself as if I was intelligent or fair or wise of myself. All of that died with Christ for those who believe, and they arose in Him to newness of life - His life both imputed and imparted to them by grace. We have nothing of true value that we did not first receive.