What did Jesus say about Spiritual Poverty?

¹⁴ “To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write: “The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of God’s creation, says these things:

¹⁵ “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot.

¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth.

¹⁷ Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing,’ and don’t know that you are the wretched one, miserable, poor, blind, and naked;

¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.

¹⁹ As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent.

²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with me.

²¹ He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.

²² He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.”

¹ “And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: “He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars says these things: “I know your works, that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

² Wake up and strengthen the things that remain, which you were about to throw away, for I have found no works of yours perfected before my God.

³ Remember therefore how you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If therefore you won’t watch, I will come as a thief, and you won’t know what hour I will come upon you.

⁴ Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that didn’t defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

⁵ He who overcomes will be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no way blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

⁶ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.

¹⁵ “Take heed: beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”

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Narration or other speakers' words are omitted to show Jesus' words. Read in context for the full passage.

¹⁷ “Why do you reason that it’s because you have no bread? Don’t you perceive yet or understand? Is your heart still hardened?

¹⁸ Having eyes, don’t you see? Having ears, don’t you hear? Don’t you remember?

¹⁹ When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?”

²⁰ “When the seven loaves fed the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?”

²¹ “Don’t you understand yet?”

¹⁴ “Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?”

¹⁵ “Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man’s life doesn’t consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses.”

¹⁶ “The ground of a certain rich man produced abundantly.

¹⁷ He reasoned within himself, saying, ‘What will I do, because I don’t have room to store my crops?’

¹⁸ He said, ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

¹⁹ I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.”’

²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’

²¹ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

¹¹ “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.

¹² For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he has.

¹³ Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and hearing, they don’t hear, neither do they understand.

¹⁴ In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, ‘By hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, and will in no way perceive;

¹⁵ for this people’s heart has grown callous, their ears are dull of hearing, and they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again, and I would heal them.’

¹⁶ “But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.

¹⁷ For most certainly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and didn’t see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and didn’t hear them.

⁴¹ I don’t receive glory from men.

⁴² But I know you, that you don’t have God’s love in yourselves.

⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name, and you don’t receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.

⁴⁴ How can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and you don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God?

⁴⁵ “Don’t think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, even Moses, on whom you have set your hope.

⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me.

⁴⁷ But if you don’t believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

¹³ “Every plant which my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted.

¹⁴ Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

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Narration or other speakers' words are omitted to show Jesus' words. Read in context for the full passage.

¹⁶ “Do you also still not understand?

¹⁷ Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly and then out of the body?

¹⁸ But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man.

¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies.

²⁰ These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands doesn’t defile the man.”

⁶ “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

⁷ They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

⁸ “For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.”

⁹ “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.

¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother;’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’

¹¹ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban,”’”

¹² “then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother,

¹³ making void the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down. You do many things like this.”

³ “Why do you also disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition?

⁴ For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’

⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever may tell his father or his mother, “Whatever help you might otherwise have gotten from me is a gift devoted to God,”

⁶ he shall not honor his father or mother.’ You have made the commandment of God void because of your tradition.

⁷ You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,

⁸ ‘These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

⁹ And they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrine rules made by men.’”

³¹ “If I testify about myself, my witness is not valid.

³² It is another who testifies about me. I know that the testimony which he testifies about me is true.

³³ You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth.

³⁴ But the testimony which I receive is not from man. However, I say these things that you may be saved.

³⁵ He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

³⁶ But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father gave me to accomplish, the very works that I do, testify about me, that the Father has sent me.

³⁷ The Father himself, who sent me, has testified about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form.

³⁸ You don’t have his word living in you, because you don’t believe him whom he sent.

³⁹ “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me.

⁴⁰ Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life.

² “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a wedding feast for his son,

³ and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.

⁴ Again he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner. My cattle and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding feast!”’

⁵ But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise;

⁶ and the rest grabbed his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.

⁷ When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.

⁸ “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren’t worthy.

⁹ Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the wedding feast.’

¹⁰ Those servants went out into the highways and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn’t have on wedding clothing,

¹² and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?’ He was speechless.

¹³ Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness. That is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.’

¹⁴ For many are called, but few chosen.”