You are Wretched, Pitiable, Poor, Blind, and Naked

 The Wretched

Before God. Before Jesus. Before your conversion, you ARE wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Yeah I know, Hey hi, I love you too. It is the truth though. It may not be something that is nice to hear. It may even offend some people. But it is the truth. Look here.

“For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” Revelation 3:17

God is talking to you. Yes, you. Why is God insulting you like this? He is not. He is telling you the truth. “Wait for a second, I’m not rich. He is not talking to me.” First, if you live in America you are amongst the richest people to ever walk God’s green earth. Most of the poor around the world have nothing. They die of the elements and starvation all the time. They are sold into slavery and abused all the time. American poor? A roof over your head. A car sometimes two, in the driveway. Electric, running water, TVs, Computers in your hand, and food whenever you want it. Even our homeless make more money begging than most of the poor around the world. If you cannot work here? The Government will pay bills and buy your food. So yeah, you are rich. 

You also may think of yourself as a good person in no need of forgiveness. I always thought of myself as a good person. If you ask, most will look at the question in an earthly, world sense. They would reason it out. "Let's see, I haven't been arrested. I love my spouse and kids. I give to charity, go to church on Sunday, and try never to speak ill of anyone. Yes. I would say I was a good person."

In a sense, if looking at it strictly in a world sense, you would be right. However, remember how Jesus answered the man who called Him “good master.” For this, we will use the KJV.

“And He said unto him, “Why callest thou Me good? There is none good but One, that is, God. But if thou wilt enter into Life, keep the commandments.” Matthew 19:17

Some translations say Jesus asked, “Why do you ask me about what is good?” That is not what He said. He was responding directly to someone calling Him good. While He was here with us in the flesh, He was one of us. We are far from good. If Jesus did not consider himself worthy to be called good. Then are you better than he? You see, Jesus was in the flesh, the same as we all are. Therefore the temptations of the flesh were the same for him. The fruits of the flesh would have had the same result for him if he had given in, as they would and do for all of us.

Without God, we live in the flesh. We cannot live any other way. We simply exist as we are, in the flesh. The things we do produce can only be gotten by the flesh. In other words, the fruit of the flesh, or what the works of the flesh produce are these.

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21

Does that sound good to you? But you say, “I do not do any of those things.” But you do. Jesus even told us what we call sin, is even greater than we think. He said things like this.

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” Matthew 5:21-22

And this,

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:27-28

Look at this one.

“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” Matthew 5:31-32

Look what He calls the religious leaders of His day. If anyone was “good” it would have to be them right? The Holier than thou club?

“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44

We will be spending some time on this passage to fully understand, or at least more fully, understand the way we truly are, as opposed to the way we see ourselves. And the good news is this. God is telling us who we are, in the hope, that we come to Him and allow Him to change us into who He wants us to be. Trust me, that is FAR better.

Today we are dealing with the first one. The Wretched. Even though we may see ourselves as good, rich, well-off, wise even, God calls us, minus Jesus, The Wretched. Just because you may not have murdered anyone, did you assassinate their character by gossiping and bearing false witness? We just got done an in-depth study of the Ten Commandments. Did you pass? Do you lie? Steal? Covet? If you are walking in the flesh, you are guaranteed to do all these things and worse. Look here in Romans 8

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:5-8

If we turn back to Galatians 5:16-17

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”

Does any of this sound good? Faithful Husbands, I ask you, did you check out that pretty little thing walking in the Mall the other day? Do you look at things you should not? Is it harmless? Not according to Jesus. Do you see divorce as no big deal? Not according to Jesus.

You can claim to be as good as you want to claim to be. However, are you accepting of sin? Even in the name of compassion? Do you call people “They / Them”? A He a She and the rest of the nonsense? Do you believe there is any other way to heaven than through Jesus? Do you really think you can earn your way into heaven?

Do you want to know what good truly is? Look here at what God calls the Fruit of the Spirit. Or what you produce in your life with the Holy Spirit in you.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentlenesses, self-control; against such things, there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Galatians 5:22-24

Desire these things. Seek out these things. Hunger and thirst for these things. Paul, perhaps one of the greatest evangelists to ever walk the earth said this about himself

“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”Romans 7:24

And this,

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” 1 Timothy 1:15

There is only one way to erase the wretchedness of our existence. To seek out Jesus. He said this.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Matthew 5:6

Learn to walk in the Spirit. Produce the fruit of the Spirit. Forget the works of the flesh. They will never satisfy you, and you will never lose your wretchedness without Jesus. Jesus IS the Lord of Lords and the King of kings. Do you know Him? Have you accepted Him? Say this Prayer. Right now. Wherever you may be. Say it in your own words, and do not doubt in your heart. God will hear you. He will send the Spirit of Life to you. Let us Pray.

"Oh heavenly Father, Lord God. I am a sinner. I know this. I know there is nothing I can do to change that. But I know you can. I accept Jesus's sacrifice for me. I believed He rose from the dead. I repent my sins. Please send the Spirit of Adoption into my life. Help me to get to know the real you. Save me. Please. In the name of Jesus, Amen!"

That's it. It really is that simple. Now go tell someone what you have just done. "That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, You shall be saved." Romans 10:9. You need to find a Church that God leads you to and be Baptized the way Jesus said to be. You are now a Child of God. A New Creature. You "have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him."Colossians 3:10

May the comfort of the Holy Ghost, and the peace of our Lord Jesus, be with you all. May God bless and be with you, always.

Until next time, be blessed, be a blessing, and Jesus is Lord!