A CHRISTIAN'S WEALTH

'By virtue of the believer's union with Christ, he does in fact possess all things. But it may be asked, how does he possess all things? What is he the better for it? How is a true Christian so much richer than other people?

To answer this, I'll tell you what I mean by "possessing all things." I mean that God three in one, all that he is, and all that he as, and all that he does, all that he has made or done - the whole universe, bodies and spirits, earth and heaven, angels, humans and devils, sun, moon and stars, land and sea, fish and fowls, all silver and gold, kings and potentates - are as much the Christian's as the money in his pocket, the clothes he wears, the house he dwells in, or the victuals he eats; yes, properly his, advantageously his, by virtue of union with Christ; because Christ, who certainly does possess all things, is entirely his; so that the Christian possesses it all, more than a wife the share of the best ad dearest husband, more than the hand possesses what the head does. It is all his.

Every atom of the universe is managed by Christ so as to be most to the advantage of the Christian, every particle of air or every ray of the sun; so that he in the other world, when he comes to see it, shall sit and enjoy all this vast inheritance with surprising, amazing joy.'

Jonathan Edwards in Dane C Ortlund, Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners, p.64.

BETTER AFFLICTION THAN PROSPERITY?

'You do not find one godly man who came out of affliction worse than he went into it; though for a while he was shaken, yet at last he was better for the affliction. But a great many godly men, you find, have been worse for their prosperity.' 

Jeremiah Burroughs, A Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, p.50. 

WEALTH & DEPRESSION

'According to a global survey by the World Health Organization, people in wealthy countries suffer depression as much as eight times the rate they do in poor countries, and people in countries with income disparities - like the United Sates - run a much higher lifelong risk of developing severe mood disorders. A 2006 study comparing depression rates in Nigeria to depression rates in North America found that across the board, women in rural areas were less likely to get depressed than their urban counterparts. And urban North American women - the most affluent demographic in the study - were the most likely to experience depression.' 

Sebastian Jurgen, Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, p.20. 

POVERTY & RICHES

'...consolation is to be offered to those who are tried by the "furnace of poverty," while fear is to be instilled in those who exalt in the consolation of temporal glory. The first are to learn that they possess riches that they do not see, and the latter are to know that they cannot truly possess the riches that they behold.' 

Gregory the Great, The Book of Pastoral Rule, p.91. 

SUFFERING

'...the most fertile quadrant in the north-west part of the land of the Bible - the Jezreel valley and surrounding territory - was the location of the worst apostasy, unfaithfulness, and rejection of God anywhere in the land. Where conditions were most ripe and most hospitable, people tended to forget God, to wander from God, even to outright reject him. But correspondingly, the opposite quadrant - the most arid, dry, hostile, and forsaken part of the land - is where God met people in the quiet desolation of their souls.

This is a strong metaphor for us. When the circumstances of life are comfortable, we are more likely to drift from God. We are in danger of believing that we can be self-sufficient, and faith in God can become merely an intellectual exercise. But when we find ourselves in the desolation of loneliness and pain, doubt and desertion, deprivation and despair, there God meets us - even when we can't hear his voice. This is the way God works.'

Michael S Beates, Disability & The Gospel, p.51.

RICHES

'Only in the past half-century, first in the United States and then more recently in Western Europe and the old "white Commonwealth", have prosperity and security been so entrenched and widespread as to make the pursuit of an interesting life available, not just to the artist and the aristocrat, but to the overwhelming majority of the upper and middle classes.'

Ferdinand Mount, Mind the Gap: The New Class Divide in Britain, p.97.

RICHES

'...for a rich man to get to Heaven is about as easy as for a Cadillac to get through a revolving door.'

Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking, p.81.

MONEY

'We need not covet money, for we shall always have our God and God is better than gold, his favour is better than fortune.'

Charles Spurgeon in Brian Rosner, How to get really rich, p.141.

PROSPERITY

'The Christian far oftener disgraces his profession in prosperity than in adversity. It is a dangerous thing to be prosperous. The crucible of adversity is a less severe trial for the Christian than the firing-pot of prosperity.'

Charles Spurgeon in Randy Alcorn, Money, Possessions & Eternity, p.420.

GIVING

'Giving is the safety valve that releases the excess pressure of wealth.'

Randy Alcorn, Money, Possessions & Eternity, p.293.

MATERIALISM

'Prosperity hath been a stumbling-block, at which millions have stumbled and fallen, and broke the neck of their souls forever.'

Thomas Brooks, Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices, p.73.