Once again, please turn with me to Benjamin Keech's Catechism. We're in question number 31 this morning. We've spent weeks and weeks now considering the work of Christ as it relates to God's decrees. And in particular, we've seen the consistent focus of his work being to gather all things together in one in Christ. It's actually been the focus of our attention for the past 20 questions now. Everything that God does, and especially everything we see that Christ did in his earthly ministry, was to save lost sinners and bring them to eternal life. His purpose is to gather a people to himself. Everything that's promised in the New Covenant is first accomplished by Jesus Christ in His righteous works, and everything that's been cursed by the broken covenant of works is overcome and satisfied when Jesus Christ became a curse for us. And so we see that the decrees of God, the will of God, which is to bring many sons and daughters to glory, is impossible without the work of Christ, both in His living and in his dying, as well as in his sufferings and his glory. And so we've spent a lot of our time in the past few months in the study of his sufferings. Most of his active and passive work was accomplished in his suffering. Both his meriting of righteousness and the payment of death for sin were accomplished in his suffering. And Jesus lived in a cursed world. And Jesus was treated like a peasant. That's a form of suffering. And he was called a blasphemer and sentenced to death at the cross for that slanderous accusation. These were his sufferings also. His bloody and bruised body was laid in the earth like a common man. And so the creator of all things was brought low and humbled alongside the lowest of mankind. It's more than we can really even understand, right? His sufferings. Our minds aren't really able to exalt Him high enough to understand the profoundness of His humiliation. That's exactly what we have. We have one who is infinitely glorious, living in the lowly estate of fallen mankind. The sinless Son of God was treated like any other sinner ought to be treated. You might remember I mentioned last time how we feel when people believe things about us that aren't true. It's pretty bothersome, right? When someone slanders us and tells lies about us, and whether it's about our character or our behavior, when it paints us in a bad light, especially wrongfully, it's an absolutely awful feeling to be mischaracterized, to be brought lower than we think we ought to be. Part of that is our pride, of course. But we know as Christians that our identity is to be found in Christ alone and not in our reputation among men. That's something our suffering teaches us. That's something Jesus' suffering teaches us. We learn that it doesn't matter what the world thinks of us. Because to be brought low by men means nothing to those who know they will inherit the earth with Christ, right? That's part of what we'll look into this morning. We will exchange our sufferings for glory. But that doesn't change the fact that it's really hard to be accused of something evil or bad that we never did. And that in a real way was the experience of Christ's entire life. That was his suffering. Even being born in humble conditions was what sinners deserved, not the sinless son of God. Suffering a simple illness or a cold is a condition of sin, and yet Christ suffered the just for the unjust. Persecution is the result of sin, and yet Christ suffered at the hands of men in order to silence him as if he were a common liar who was a plague on the earth. That's suffering. Think especially of the death of Christ. He suffered alongside criminals. Both his reputation and his body and his spirit were tormented. And all of it was done to him as if he was such a stain on this earth that he needed to be gotten rid of. I'm sure we've all seen the judgmental stares of disapproving people as they look down upon us. people who have no interest at all in learning the truth or hearing our sides of the story. To them, we're just filth. It's an awful feeling. We've all felt that, I'm sure. It's a really hard thing to experience, isn't it? And that was the sufferings of Christ's entire life. The glorious Son of God was made one of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant. And worse, he was made to be scorned and laughed at and mocked and eventually killed. The sinless one suffered in ways only sinners were meant to suffer. He did that for us. And what makes this the more profound, as we saw in our last message, is the infinite distance between the sin of mankind and the curse and the righteousness and holiness of Christ. He was infinitely good, and infinitely righteous, and infinitely holy. And yet, once again, he was suffering as if he was an evil plague upon the earth. Much of Christ's work was done in the midst of suffering. And that work, that suffering, was for what purpose? To pay our debt. Jesus would gather all things together in one, in himself, by suffering in our place. This is the wisdom of the Lord, that God would become a man in order to accomplish everything that was required of man, and then he would gift that goodness to man and bring them into his presence on the basis of that goodness. That's a mind-blowing thought. Christ would suffer so that his elect would not suffer. But there was more to be accomplished than the Son taking on flesh and suffering. And that's the topic of our study this morning. Suffering and humility give way, in Christ's work, to glory and exaltation. Christ came and suffered as a poor peasant, but he would be raised up as a king and set upon an eternal throne. He died as a lamb and was raised as a lion. Philippians 2 says Christ made himself of no reputation taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So Christ has received glory in exchange for his sufferings. Question 31 asks, wherein consists Christ's exaltation? Where do we see Christ's suffering subside and his glory emerge? Where do we see his humiliation give way to exaltation? And the answer is, Christ's exaltation consists in his rising again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in coming to judge the world at the last day. That's our question this morning. Our summary for today's message can be found in your bulletins. It says, in accomplishing or executing the decrees of God, Christ must first suffer. The suffering servant, upon completing that humbling work, must then reclaim his position as king over the world and heir of all things. In doing so, we see him able to gather all things together in one, in himself. And now with that as our introduction, let's just pray as we begin. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you once again for the opportunity to gather together as a body here today. We gather together in Christ just as Ephesians 1 10 has told us that is your will and you have accomplished that through the work of Christ. It's our intention today that with your spirit's help we would consider your work and we would consider your will for this world and for us personally and as a body. that you would guide us in all that we do, that your spirit would be our teacher and our guide. And Lord, we just ask that even upon our study this morning. Be our teacher, we pray. We pray, Lord, for the power of the spirit to overcome our flesh and our distractions. We ask you, Lord, to lead us in the way of righteousness and truth and light. And we ask these things even now as we study the exaltation of our Savior. We see that our Father has accepted him in heaven and placed him higher than all others. And that is a glory, Lord, that we long to sit beside you in such a place of honor, and that's the promise that we have. And so I pray, Lord, that you lay these things upon our hearts. and that they would be some of the wonderful and profound things that we can set our mind's eye upon as we gaze into the promise of the celestial city that awaits us. So we pray, Lord, that you bless us. We pray that you would be lifted up and exalted and glorified and honored in all that we do today. And we pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Okay, so we now consider the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we often do, I'd like to begin by thinking about these words that we don't use very often in today's context. First is glory. What do we mean by the word glory when it comes to Jesus as our Redeemer? It's a word that refers to honor or prestige. A king has glory. A powerful nation has And of course, God has a glory which is above all other glories by an infinite amount. So Jesus has honor and prestige and renown. His accomplishments and his sufferings have earned him a great glory. Exaltation is another word we see used to depict this part of Christ's redeeming work. To be exalted is to be elevated, to be lifted up and put in a place of honor. It's really just a synonym for glory. That's why the Bible and biblical commentators use these words interchangeably when talking about the redeeming work of the Savior. After his humiliation, Christ is honored. After suffering, he is honored with a name which is above every other name. He receives exaltation and glory in exchange for sufferings and humiliation. So that's what we're talking about with this question. Now we've moved from the work of the suffering servant to that of the exalted and glorified king. And once again the catechism says, Christ's exaltation consists in his rising again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Father and in coming to judge the world at the last day. So starting with his resurrection, this is one of the most amazing things to ever happen to the human race and it's something that had never happened before Christ and will never happen again until he It really reveals something about his new status after his suffering. God raised him up in glory or in honor. That's what we're seeing in the resurrection. Hebrews 2 and verse 9 says, but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels, that's humiliation, for the suffering of death crowned with glory. and honor, there's exaltation, and he, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For the suffering, he was crowned with glory and honor. And the apostles' words here demonstrate Christ's royalty. He is crowned for his sufferings. Kings are crowned, and Christ was crowned in the resurrection. God the Father had accepted his obedience and had accepted his sufferings and had accepted his death and the resurrection proves that. There is an exchange happening. Sufferings are being exchanged for glory. 1 Peter 1 and verse 21 says, God raised Christ from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God. Interesting, right? Christ receives glory and honor in the resurrection so that our faith and hope would be in God. Why is this needed? Because we, naturally speaking, put our faith and hope in the wrong things, right? We put our faith and hope in ourselves, in our governments, in our works, in our parents, in idols. That's what people do. But true hope is found in the resurrection of Christ alone. He is the only way and the only truth and the only light. He is the only hope for future glory for his saints. And he accomplished that by exchanging his sufferings for glory. In 1 Corinthians 15, I'd like you to turn there with me actually. We're going to spend some time in 1 Corinthians 15 off and on in the next few minutes. 1 Corinthians 15 verses 3 and 4, Paul writes, For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. So there's an imagery in both the cross and the resurrection. And we see that even in Christ's suffering, he was raised up, even on the cross. And he was called King of the Jews, even on the cross. And in his death, he was buried in the tomb of a rich man, only to be raised up again in the resurrection. It's a wonderful thought, isn't it? He was receiving glory, even in the midst of mocking and his own sufferings. Even in suffering, he literally received honor and glory for himself and for everyone who would be gathered in him. This is the entire reason God created man, to be raised up and honored in Christ, so that Christ would be glorified. Jesus came, as Hebrews 2 says, to bring many sons to glory, to bring the elect to honor, to bring them to heaven. to gather together all things in one in Christ. This is the end of Christ's sufferings, and this is the purpose of God's decrees, to shower his people with a glory and an honor that was won by Christ, to then be given by grace to his elect. Now let's just think about this once again in reference to the concept of the first and last Adams. We talk about this often. Something happened at the resurrection too. The first Adam in the garden had a certain glory he was created with. But Romans 3 in verse 23 tells us that there was a higher, greater glory waiting for Adam. And something happened regarding this glory when Adam sinned. Romans 3 23, it's a well-known verse, says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So there's the idea here that a greater glory was to be earned by Adam. Adam had an honor and a glory among creation, sure, but it wasn't the honor and glory that God had in mind for him. God wanted a greater honor and a greater glory for Adam and for all of us. But when Adam was in the garden living his life, he had work to do, as we know, and that work was to obey the commandments of God. He was to keep the law, and if he kept the law perfectly and perpetually, what was promised? God would give Adam a greater glory. That's what's meant, implicitly, when we read Romans 3.23. Adam, as the first of us who are considered all here, all fell short of the glory of God. Adam was the first. Adam, as the first of the all, fell short of the glory of God. He fell short of earning something. He fell short of accomplishing glory and securing glory and tasting glory. So he was working towards something that he fell short of. And that's the glory that Jesus earns for us in his redemptive work. And that's the glory that we see given to him at the resurrection. And this greater glory, as we see looking in other passages, would be something like a perpetual sinlessness, a body that doesn't grow old, and a life without suffering. Adam would have been, like the angels, kind of locked into his righteous estate. That would have been an elevated glory, a better and more honorable position. But he had to earn that glory through his obedience, which he failed to do. In fact, it was his disobedience, it was his sin, which caused him to fall short of the glory of God. So from the beginning, we see a need to earn righteousness and in turn to earn this elevated or this exalted state of glory. Adam failed to do that. That's why Christ comes to serve as the last Adam. And now notice the contrasting that Paul does in the rest of 1 Corinthians 15, if you're still there. And notice with me the sufferings and glory, or the humiliation and exaltation that we see so clearly repeated over and over again in 1 Corinthians 15, starting in verse 21. It says, for since by man, Adam, came death, which is suffering, by man, Christ, also came the resurrection of the dead. That's glory. For as in Adam all die, that's suffering, even so in Christ all shall be made alive, that's glory. But each one in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's that is coming. Which means, by the way, that the glory we see in Christ is also going to be ours. His glory is our glory and his resurrection is our resurrection. We will be exalted with him and in him. It's a wonderful thought. Then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the father when he puts an end to all rule and authority and power. There's glory for he must reign. There's glory again. till he has put all enemies under his feet. There's exaltation. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death, which of course is suffering. Pretty remarkable when you think about it. Picking back up in verse 35, Paul continues, and again notice this contrasting of the earthly and the heavenly and in turn sufferings and glory in the light of Adam and Christ. This illustrates the fact that God's purpose is to glorify his people. Notice again, humiliation and exaltation. Paul writes, but someone will say, how are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come? Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive, that's glory, unless it dies, that's suffering. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be the humble body, but mere grain, perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as he pleases, a celestial body, and to each seed its own body. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, humility, another flesh of animals, another fish, and another of birds, There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies, but the glory of the celestial is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. For one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, That's humiliation. It is raised in incorruption. That's exaltation. It is sown in dishonor. That's humiliation. It is raised in glory. Exaltation. It is sown in weakness. Humiliation. It is raised in power. Exaltation. It has sown a natural body, humiliation. It has raised a spiritual body, exaltation. Then Paul says, there is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living being. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. We could say the same about humiliation precedes exaltation. I'll get into that more in a few minutes. The first man was of the earth made of dust, that's humiliation. The second man is the Lord from heaven, exaltation. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust, humiliation. And as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are heavenly, we share in his exaltation. And Paul finishes by saying, and as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man. And that's the promise we have of glory. We will exchange our sufferings for glory alongside Christ. The resurrection is literally our only reason for hope. And we find our hope knowing that Christ's suffering was for the purpose of bringing us, many sons and daughters, to glory, earning glory, making the way for the earthly to become spiritual. And so in heaven, also sometimes called in glory, we can actually look forward to an estate that is much better than the condition that Adam and Eve experienced in the garden. It's amazing to think about because we usually think of the garden as a perfect paradise, right? But Adam and Eve were actually in a terribly unstable estate there in the garden. After all, the garden contained deceiving spirits, right? And a serpent. And of course, the ability to fall short of the glory of God. In contrast to that, when Christ brings us to glory, we will be in a perfectly secure and perfectly stable state, in a state that can never perish, and in a state where deceiving spirits can never tempt us again, and we will never fall short of the glory of God again. A little encouragement for us. In Isaiah 65 and verses 17 through 19, God says, For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. I think the same could be said for sufferings. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create. For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing and her people a joy. Now listen to this, I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people. The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. So weeping and crying were first experienced in the fall in paradise. This happened when Adam fell short of the glory of God. But there is no weeping and crying in the new heavens and the new earth. Why? because perfect, perpetual glory will be received in exchange for our sufferings. There will be no sin there, no temptations, no falling short, and no shame. And that hope of glory is found in the resurrection. Next we see the Catechism says Christ's exaltation consists in ascending up into heaven. Even that word ascending points to something more than Jesus' glorified body going up to heaven, doesn't it? He is being raised up in honor by God. He's being exalted. Mark 16 and verse 19 says, so then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God. This again is exaltation. This is honor and prestige and glory. The Lord of Heaven has been restored to His heavenly place. He has been restored to honor and glory. He has been exalted by His Father. This is a level of honor that no other human has ever received, right? No other person has been resurrected and then ascended up into heaven to sit at the right hand of God. This is a special place for the Son of God. Something supernatural is happening here, too. The earthly body has become a spiritual body, just as Paul told us in 1 Corinthians 15. Once again, we see the father accepting his son back with honor, but only after his humiliation and his suffering. Natural men don't travel from the physical to the spiritual realms like that. Only Jesus, exalted and escorted by clouds and angels, receives this kind of honor, and that's what we see here. The suffering servant is now finally receiving the honor that he deserves. The honor he suffered and died for. And it's this honor that he will now share with his elect. He came, as we read in Hebrews, to bring many sons to glory. And that's what he will do. He will bring us with him into a place of honor and glory. And the reason is because his objective, his will, all along, was to gather together all things in one in himself. He's gathering us to glory and honor in heavenly places, and as the first fruits of the resurrection, we see him leading the way and revealing the hope that we have in him. One element of his glory and honor and exaltation that we just touched on, and I don't want to breeze by this, is that he now sits also at the right hand of God, the Father. Sitting at the right hand of the Father, It points to the power and honor and glory that the father shares with the son. This is more exaltation. The father has the son sitting with him at the throne. The right hand means the side of God's power. There's no higher place in the kingdom than the right hand of the king and that's where the son now sits. He is exalted once again. Ephesians 1 and verse 20 is our proof text and it says, worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places." Again, we see this is an honor that is given to the Son of God by the Father. Christ is being blessed by the Father and honored by the Father and given glory by the Father. The Father is glorifying the Son here. Now listen to this passage in Ephesians 1, starting in verse 15. And notice this glory. Verse 15 begins by saying, Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. Now listen to this. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened. Why? That you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. I want to stop there. Notice this glory. It is possessed by the father. It is gifted to the saints and it is gifted in Christ. That's how we obtain glory and honor. We find it in Christ. Our righteousness, our holiness, our good works, all good things are found in Christ. And what is this glory? Is it crowns and gold and silver? No, Paul says the gifts of the glory of God are a spirit of wisdom and a revelation in the knowledge of Him. It's the greatest gift we could ever receive. And it says these things have a purpose, in verse 18, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. What Christ has inherited in His glory will be shared with us. That's our hope. We will share in His inheritance and we share in His exaltation. When the son ascends into heaven, the father is accepting him and he's once again saying, this is my son in whom I am well pleased. And that is our hope as well. Without his acceptance, we have no hope. Without his resurrection, we have no hope. Without his ascension, we have no hope. And because the Father accepted Christ, God will welcome us into heaven and he will honor us with rings and robes and a fatted calf and he will say to us, well done, good and faithful servant. That's honor and prestige and glory that we don't deserve. And we receive that glory because of our Redeemer. That's the only reason we will receive honor. We must be in Christ. And it is the gift of wisdom and knowledge and understanding, that gift from God, as Paul says, that leads us to know what is the hope of his calling and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. It's really amazing. The exaltation of Christ is just as crucial to our faith as the sufferings of Christ. He had to live and suffer and die as a man on this earth That is true. But he also had to rise from the dead and ascend into heaven and sit at the right hand of God if we're to have any hope at all. We need an exalted Savior as well as a suffering one. But the glory of Christ doesn't end there either. Christ is also given power, we saw, according to our catechism question. There is mighty power given to the Son just as we saw in his placement at the right hand of the Father. This also illustrates his glory and his dominion over the world. Christ, once again, is king. He is exalted. He is honored. Adam, the king, was brought low in sin and by sin. Christ, the suffering servant, came as a peasant, is brought high in glory after his work. He has restored the kingdom of God to his father, And he is now seated at the right hand of God. This is his power as a king. Listen to this in Ephesians 1 and verse 19. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of God's mighty power, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion. and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. There's a lot going on there, but again, this is the suffering servant. It was treated as a peasant and a criminal in his life and in his death, and now he is restored to the highest place of honor in all of creation. He is set over creation as head over all things. This is a description of his power and his glory. This is what he has now received. He has now received his glory. But it doesn't end there either. As king, as the exalted one, he will also come back to judge and rule over the earth, won't he? So right now, Jesus sits at the right hand of God, but one day in the future, in the last days, he will come back to earth as a conquering king and he will rule over all things and he will judge the world. Again, the contrast between the humiliation and the glory. Adam was created in glory. and sunk into humility as a slave to Satan, Christ comes in humiliation, serves and dies in humiliation, only to be raised up in glory. He fixes everything that was messed up by sin. Jesus' sufferings were for a purpose, and that purpose was so that he might receive glory for himself and for us. And I think there's something we can learn from that even in this life. Jesus says, if they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. This means that the suffering we endure on this earth comes with the hope of a future glory. Even for us, just as we read in Ephesians 1. Part of our inheritance is the glory and honor that we will receive in Christ. All the suffering in this life, whether that's persecution, or aches and pains, or cancer, or just the struggles with thorns and thistles that make this life a constant struggle, all of those things are temporary and all of those things will one day be exchanged for glory. Those who tried to destroy us in this life will be judged by Christ, our King and our Judge. He will settle every injustice. And just like Christ, our sufferings will be exchanged with glory and honor as we sit beside him in his place of honor. That's quite a picture of his love for the saints, isn't it? And all of our suffering is to bring us to that place. All things work out for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. And what is that purpose again? To gather. And where does he gather us to? to a place of honor, to a place of exaltation, to a place of glory, and in the presence of God, who is the Father of glory. That's the love of God for His saints. Everything we deal with in this life, every hardship, has a purpose, and that is to ultimately prepare us for glory. We must be utterly changed and molded, we know that, into His image before we're ready for glory. And so that's why James says we should consider it all joy when we suffer. Because suffering is what changes us into his image. This is God's decrees. So we see that the work of Christ isn't done yet. This man of honor will return to judge the ungodly and to bring his saints into heavenly places with him. There is work ahead for our Redeemer in the last days. Acts 1 in verse 11 says, Men of Galilee, Why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven at the ascension, will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven. The man who was raised up in glory will come back in the same glory, in like manner, it says. He will return just as he left, in glory for everybody to see. We know his assumption was a spectacular thing. He was received into the clouds as a king received into heaven. With all the glory of God, he will come back in like manner. Acts 17 and verse 31 says, because he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead. Again, he is exalted. He is raised from the dead. He is set as judge over the world. And this all points to the glory he's been given by God. God raised him up and he exalted him. And he is exalted so that he might rule the world and judge the world in righteousness. Only because of the resurrection can we have hope that he will return. And when he does, it will be just as he promised to judge the world in righteousness. The future of this world and for us as his saints is the promise of glory and righteousness and living in a place of perfect order and holiness and without sin or evil or suffering. That's the promise we have and it's important for us to remember that our hope comes because God raised Jesus from the dead. That's a critical aspect of our faith. Paul says, if there is no resurrection, we are among those without hope. I'd like to close by considering James chapter 1 this morning. In James chapter 1 in verse 9, James reminds us, let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation. There's something for all of us in the humiliation and exaltation of Jesus Christ. We share in both, and both of these things are for our good and our benefit. James is giving us instruction here, and he's really applying the humiliation and exaltation of Christ to us. He's making application for this doctrine, and that's where I'd like to finish this morning, with a little application. Let the lowly brother, he says, glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation. This, I think, really applies to a sense of spiritual lowliness and humility, regardless of our financial situation, but I think it does speak about both. James is teaching us the real application of the sufferings and glories of Christ. He's applying these things to our salvation. And the point is that the exaltation of Christ is our hope. And if you are financially poor or suffering persecution or hardship, or you're in prison for the gospel's sake, know that in Christ you are exalted. This life is not forever and your standing in heaven is not one of poverty. He's offering perspective in a hard world for those suffering physical and earthly poverty. But I think James is also telling us that you must first become lowly in your own eyes. If our sufferings and sins and humiliations cause us to feel defeated and worthless, that's actually okay. That's the purpose of suffering, to bring us low in ourselves so that we might be exalted in Christ. glory in your exaltation. And so if we are in Christ, we can find joy in the midst of suffering, knowing that we are seated in heavenly places of honor with him. And by the way, that's the case right now if you're a believer. If you are his, spiritually speaking, you are sitting with him in heaven, a place of honor and glory like we can't even comprehend. That is already our position, no matter how poor. No matter how much suffering we endure in this world. No matter how much we are scorned and mocked. And it's only the poor in spirit who can glory in their exaltation. Only a repentant sinner finds their exaltation in Christ. So this is as much spiritual as it is physical poverty. Maybe more so. But those who are rich, James says, should glory in their humiliation. The poor in suffering need to set their sights upon glory. The rich need to remember their true poverty. The riches of this life will fade away in a moment. And again, it's the poor who inherit the kingdom. And so the brother who is wealthy in this life needs to be reminded that Christ died because of his sins and his moral poverty. I think we probably all swing from poor to rich in our lives in different seasons, right? And for the saint, When we're flying high and life is going well and we're experiencing some sort of worldly power or wealth or even successes over sin, we need to be reminded of our poverty. We need to be reminded that we are weak and poor in terms of God's holy standards. And so our glory really must first be in our poverty before it can ever be in our exaltation. In Christ, we must be reminded of our lowliest state, knowing that his humility was a demonstration of our condition. He suffered because of us. We deserve to be brought very low. We're neither powerful or truly rich, not without Christ. And so in those moments or seasons, if we're experiencing richness, if we're experiencing pride or self-righteousness or worldly influence or power, we need to be reminded that we must first glory in our humiliation before we can ever have a part in his exaltation. And so it really is humiliation that prepares us for exaltation. Just like Paul says, the earthly body is first and then the spiritual. Humiliation comes before exaltation. But for those who are beat down already or impoverished, those living in a prison persecuted for their faiths, or those poor in spirit beating their chests with the publican and praying for undeserved grace and mercy, those people who are brought as low as they can be brought in this life physically and spiritually, those people can glory in their promised exaltation. And that hope of glory is what allows us to suffer well for Christ. We must be brought low. James says, just as the flower of the field, the rich will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass. Its flower falls and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. It is only the poor in spirit who will receive the kingdom of God, the humble, the meek, no matter what our paycheck looks like. I pray that all of us might be brought low in this life so that we might be taught of the exaltation of Christ that we have waiting for us. That's something we must experience. Humiliation comes before exaltation and Jesus accomplished both for us. and he now sits at the right hand of God, and we have a wonderful promise that one day we will sit there alongside him. That is the promise of the resurrection, and that is the promise of the ascension, and that is the promise of inheritance for all who put their trust in Jesus Christ. The suffering of this life will be exchanged for glory, and humiliation will be exchanged for exaltation, and all because our Savior has exchanged his sufferings and his humiliation for his glory and his exaltation. And he's done all of that for us. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this wonderful Savior that we can call our own. We thank you that you call us yours. And Lord, it is beyond our understanding that you have crouched so low to offer us such grace and such mercy. And Lord, we just thank you that we have a Savior so wonderful, a Savior so loving, so merciful, to gift us all that we need and all that you've required of us in the new covenant. And we thank you that as a good husband, you have said to us that you'd never forsake us or leave us. The covenant we have with you is unbreakable. And we can take that all the way to eternity and know that our hope is sure. So we thank you for who you are. We thank you for the topic of this study today. And we ask you, Lord, that your spirit would exalt the son in our minds and in our hearts more and more every day as we lay hold of him and his work and his person. And we pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.