Rich Man, Poor Man

Being Rich isn’t the problem. Neither does being Poor make you more godly.

“Don’t you know that your silver and gold are going to rust?”

Why?

Because we are going to rust out, too.

Death separates a rich man from his money.

God gave us wealth to be dispersed, not hoarded.

Rich Man, Poor Man

Being rich isn’t the problem. But neither does being poor make you more godly.

From the Holy Bible, James says the lesson isn’t in the coin; it’s the heart.

In the Roman world of James’ day, there was no middle class.

There were only the filthy rich and the filthy poor. Most of the Christians came from the very poor and slave classes.

James now addresses our wrong relationship to money, how we get it, and what we do with it after we’ve got it.

Rich Man, Poor Man

The Lord Jesus Christ had a great deal to say about money.

He taught three parables which helped illustrate James’ point.

Jesus tells the story of the poor man, Lazarus the beggar, who sat at the rich man’s gate and what happened when they both died.

In another parable, the Lord Jesus told about a rich man who hoarded his money, built big barns, and never thought about eternity.

The Lord called him a fool.

In Jesus’ third parable, the unjust steward teaches us that God holds us responsible for how we make money and spend it.

When James talks about money, he warns the rich to see money properly—a lesson appropriate for every generation.

“Don’t you know that your silver and gold are going to rust?”

Why?

Because we are going to rust out, too.

Death separates a rich man from his money. God gave us wealth to be dispersed, not hoarded.

Rich Man, Poor Man

Throughout Scripture, we are taught we should live in the light of the coming of Christ.

James tells us to get our affairs straightened out before He comes because if we don’t, He will.

Next, James says our prayer life with God should have great passion and enthusiasm.

James was a great man of prayer, even nicknamed “Old Camel Knees.”

“What do you do when someone is sick among you?”

Always practical, James says, “Get some medicine, then get people to pray.”

The prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

We are to confess our sins to God and our faults to each other.

If you have injured someone, you should confess that to them.

But confess your sins only to the Lord (see 1 John 1:9).

Man cannot forgive sins; neither can any clergyman forgive sins—only God can do that.

But the prayer of a person living right with God is powerful.

Another great man of prayer, Elijah, wasn’t a superhero; he was just like us, but he prayed passionately, and God answered him.

Then as a closing thought, James asked them if they knew an unsaved person who had not yet come to the truth.

Don’t write them off. Go after them. It doesn’t matter if they’re blatant, obvious sinners.

When he comes to a saving knowledge of Christ, their sins—though they are great—will be covered by the blood of Christ.

The wonder of justification by faith is that once God has pardoned our sins, they are gone forever—

removed from us as far as the east is from the west.

Also Read: God Speaks Today – Diademng (thediademng.org)

Rich Man, Poor Man

James 5:1-20 KJV
[1] Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

[2] Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.

[3] Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

[4] Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth:

and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.

[5] Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.

[6] Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.

[7] Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.

Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

[8] Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

[9] Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.

[10] Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

[11] Behold, we count them happy which endure.

Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

[12] But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath:

but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

[13] Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

[14] Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

[15] and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

[16] Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

[17] Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.

[18] And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

[19] Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;

[20] let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
https://bible.com/bible/1/jas.5.1-20.KJV 

Being rich isn’t the problem. But neither does being poor make you more godly.