Wretched, Miserable, Poor, Blind, and Naked

“And do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked . . . .” Rev. 3:17.

The truth sets me free, even though it opposes me. We need to know that we are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. It is apparent that this knowledge is grossly lacking today. On the contrary, people are quite convinced that they are rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing. People compete in making that known, and they strive to outdo one another in declaring their wealth and glory. It is impossible for me, in the Holy Spirit, to grasp how they are able to attain all these riches and glory without fellowship in the sufferings of Christ. However, by taking a closer look at this folly, I am able to understand it.

Take grace away for a moment, and nakedness, poverty, and blindness will appear in all their ugliness. If God has never been able to reveal your own nakedness to you, it is because you haven’t been able to bear it. The fact that you can’t bear to see it doesn’t mean that you are any better. On the contrary, it only means that you are still oblivious. When there is an abundance of grace, a person thinks they are rich and mighty, but they are ignorant when it comes to their own poverty. As a result, they lack the blessedness that is given in a special way to those who are poor in spirit. Grace is fleeting; God imparts it and withdraws it according to His will. It is not our rightful possession. That is why a person can believe that they are rich, and yet they do not know about their own poverty.

During great revivals, where grace works mightily, people believe they are eternally secure and ready to enter the eternal dwellings and join the spirits of just men made perfect. What a deception. When God withdraws His grace after a revival, people split up into countless factions and speak evil of each other, seeking their own honor and glory, and it ends in utter wretchedness. If they had been aware of their own poverty in the midst of the glory of grace, they would have used the grace to obtain the glory of righteousness, which far exceeds the glory of grace, just as something that a person owns is much better than something that is only borrowed.

Therefore, blessed are those who are aware of their poverty, their wretchedness, their blindness and nakedness. They do not boast of their abundance, of what they think they have. Love of the truth is more precious to them than riches, even though this truth involves poverty, wretchedness, blindness, and nakedness.

Those who love the truth would much rather become aware of their hidden sins than hear a multitude of words aimed at covering up their corruption.

It is up to us to become acquainted with our nakedness and blindness, and it is up to God to impart His glory. Yet when God does impart this glory, it will become a loss for us if we become exalted by it and forget our nakedness, blindness, and poverty.

A miserly man seeks riches, but a generous man seeks poverty.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.