"THE EPISTLE OF JAMES"
Trials Of Poverty & Wealth (1:9-11)
INTRODUCTION
- James has already discussed how we can turn trials into triumph,
dealing with trials in general (1:2-8)
- In verses 9-11, he discusses specifically the trials of being poor
and being rich, and the attitudes we should have
- In this lesson, we shall concentrate our attention on verses 9-11
and passages elsewhere which deal with the subject of poverty and
wealth
[Let's begin by noticing that both wealth and poverty can be a
problem...]
- THE TRIALS OF POVERTY AND WEALTH (cf. Prov 30:7-9)
- IN "POVERTY", WE MAY BE TEMPTED TO CURSE GOD...
- Like Job's wife wanted her husband to do, when they had lost
everything - Job 2:9
- And as many do today when things don't go well
- IN "WEALTH", WE MAY BE TEMPTED TO FORGET GOD...
- As God warned Israel that it might happen to them - Deut 8:10-14,17
- And as it did in fact happen to them - Hos 13:5-6
[Having seen that both poverty and wealth have their own potential for
causing problems, let's now consider...]
- THE REASONS FOR JOY IN POVERTY OR WEALTH (Jm 1:9-11)
- IF WE ARE "POOR", THEN WE CAN REJOICE THAT WE HAVE BEEN "EXALTED"!
- God has chosen the "poor" to be rich in faith - Is 66:1-2;
Jm 2:5
- It is the poor who first had the gospel preached to them
- Lk 4:18
- It is the poor slave who becomes Christ's "freedman" - 1
Col 7:21-22
- So even if poor, we can still be "spiritually rich" and on
equal par with all Christians - cf. Re 2:8-9
- IF WE ARE "RICH", THEN WE CAN REJOICE THAT WE HAVE BEEN "HUMBLED"!
- The rich are "humbled" by their:
- Becoming Christ's "slave" - 1Co 7:21-22
- Being placed on an equal par with all Christians...in which
riches mean nothing - cf. Re 3:11-19
- Why it is good that the rich be so "humbled"...
- Riches are temporary - Jm 1:10-11; Prov 23:1-5; 1Ti 6:17
- Riches are unable to redeem our souls - Ps 49:6-9,13-20
- The love of money is a "quagmire" and a source of "self-
inflicted injuries" - 1Ti 6:9-10
- In other words, it is good that in coming to Jesus Christ we
find these things out...
- Or we might have made the same mistake many make today
- Thinking that money provides true security (remember the
rich fool? - Lk 12:13-21)
CONCLUSION
- Even in the trials of poverty or wealth, there can be a cause for
rejoicing!
- For Jesus is "The Great Equalizer"
- Exalting the poor who are rich in faith
- Humbling the wealthy by basing their salvation not on wealth, but
on that which cannot be bought: the blood of Jesus and the
obedience of a humble and contrite spirit
- Keeping these thoughts in mind will help us learn to be content in
whatever financial conditions we may find ourselves; as Paul wrote:
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in
whatsoever state I am, [therewith] to be content. I know both
how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all
things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to
abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me. (Phil 4:11-13)
The important question is not "How rich are you?" but "How rich IN FAITH
are you?"