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“Rich and poor; the crown of life� BibleClass.com.au Teaching Series Series: Faith that Works: Studies in the Book of James Part: #4 Main Scripture: James 1:9-12 Teacher: Dr Paul Iles Date: 24.02.2013
Inline, direct scripture quotes are italicised. Block quotes are indented. The New King James Version is used unless otherwise stated. This transcript has undergone minor editing to ensure readability.
The MP3 audio of the study upon which this transcript is based and a learning guide are available from http://bibleclass.com.au/
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Introduction James 1:1-18 is a section that deals with the testing of a Christian’s faith. The rationale for this testing is that it both strengthens and purifies our faith. Verses 2-12 deal with those trials which are either permitted by or caused by God Himself. Having examined verses 1-8 in previous studies, this study will deal with verses 9-12. James has lead us through a discussion concerning how we ought to deal with these trials - firstly with joy, knowing that they are perfecting our faith and producing endurance, then asking God for wisdom to face them in a single-minded way – but now he suddenly turns to speak about the rich and the poor.
Rich or Poor James 1 9 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, 10 but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. 11 For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.
James is telling us this: it doesn’t matter who you are – whether slave, ruler poorest or richest in the church – these principles apply to all people in all situations of life. The contrast
James chooses two people at opposite ends of the social scale to make his point. He might well have chosen educated versus uneducated, healthy verses sickly, employed verses unemployed, popular verses lonely or any other such measure. Rich and poor is the most powerful comparison and indeed is a very practical comparison in this context. Remember that there were slaves in the church at this time. Many were only able to come, poorly dressed in rags due to their poverty. These people were from the very lowest class on the social scale. But there were also those who were rich. Humanly speaking you can imagine the contrast: one feels down and out, whilst the other feels up and privileged. And the one that’s up could look down on the other whilst the one that’s down could equally despise the other. It works both ways – there are pitfalls in poverty as there are in riches. The Bible does not say that it is wrong to be poor nor rich. Poverty is not wrong provided that a person isn’t poor by way of laziness or lack of wisdom. Riches are not wrong, provided that a person isn’t rich through the oppression of others or with dirty money. It also becomes a problem when the poor person falls into the trap of thinking that they are less important in the sight and value of God. Similarly, riches are a problem when the rich person thinks that they have superiority and influence in the presence of God. The equality The fact is this: what you can afford is irrelevant. What you own is irrelevant. Your social standing is irrelevant. When it comes to the matter of trials and facing real troubles, every one of us is brought down to the same level. We are all given a common denominator!
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A rich man who loses his health copes no better than the poor man who loses his health. In any such situation, we are reduced to the realisation that we are all mere creatures, dependent on the goodness of our God who is ready to give generously to all. That is James’ point. Getting too comfortable There is no pleasure in being poor, but it is true that the poor person is more likely to actively depend upon the Lord than the rich person. Due to our affluent society [Australia], none of us are destitute – we all manage to live in varying degrees of comfort – which means that we are buffered to some extent from life’s worries. Our danger is that we depend on what we have for our comfort and we rejoice in our possessions, thereby mitigating our dependence on God. Life is much easier from one point of view when you are not poor. Many worries disappear with money. But once life gets easy, you find yourself taking an easy approach to your spiritual life if you’re not careful. You get used to enjoying comfort, so you don’t put yourself out or suffer deprivation for the sake of others or for the things of the Lord. That is a terrible scourge.
God’s fairness in trials The Lord looks upon the rich person and He determines to teach them something, so that they might know that what they’ve got means nothing when trouble finally comes. The rich person will have to depend on Him. The faith of the rich person will be strengthened. Equally, the Lord looks upon the poor person and teaches them that their spiritual welfare is of immensely greater importance than their wealth – in fact, He lifts them up by strengthening their faith and giving to them something of great value. Perhaps a faith that is stronger and purer than the faith of the richest of men. Both people are tried on the same level and both have but one thing of spiritual value: their faith. When the Lord puts his hand on you, you’ll learn that there is more to life than what you have and how you feel about yourself. You start to learn your value to the Lord and His value to you. Therefore, in verse 9, if I am a lowly brother I can rejoice because I have been exalted! God has looked on me, loved me, saved me and now He wants me to grow. He wants me to shine as much as anybody else with respect to my testimony and my faith. But if I am a rich brother I have to learn the serious lesson that absolutely everything I have got in this life doesn’t last. That is the message of Ecclesiastes. Solomon says that all things are vanity and grasping at wind. He wasn’t a depressed man when he wrote that. He was quite seriously writing down the lesson that his life had taught him: when it’s all over, everything that you’ve got will pass away and be of no value to you.
Strengthening what matters When it’s all said and done we all fit into the same size box and go into the same size hole in the ground. What goes with you? Only the faith that you have got before God, that is purified and refined, and the crown of life that he’ll give to you in the life hereafter. In all your deeds, what matters will be what you did for others and what you did for God. In all
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your testimony, what matters will be the way you shined God’s grace through your life in His service. Therefore, if you’re going to leave this life counting piles of money, make sure you’re doing it for the glory of God. You won’t be rewarded in Heaven for the money that you kept, but for what you did with it. Did you use it to make friends with the mammon of unrighteousness, so that they greet you when you go into everlasting habitation?1 Did you horde money? How will the money you’re hoarding be measured against the money that you gave away? Remember the poor widow who came to the temple and gave two mites.2 You can hear them saying, “Silly old fool coming here and adding mere mites. What’s the use of that to keep our synagogues on the go? To build our fabulous temple?” But the Lord says that she cast in more than anyone else. That woman had a bigger reward in Heaven for her gift than the rich man who poured out barrels of cash. Maybe it’s not just pure money that you have. Maybe you have influence, reputation or standing. Whatever is in your possession, how are you using it? Always remember the grass and the flowers which whither and fade in a short time, leaving nothing. That is the final end of all that you have and keep for yourself. If the Lord trusted you with riches, you will answer for every penny. If He trusted you with authority, you will answer for your use of it. Did He trust you with knowledge and intellect? You will be called to give account for it. Maybe He left you in a position without money, influence or intellect. He will ask you how you handled that too. He will watch you live out your humble circumstances, seeing whether you are showing the grace of the Lord Jesus in your life. You can take your situation, whatever it is, and use it for the service of God. There is nothing in life that is not temporary except that which is spiritual and eternal: your faith. It is therefore exceedingly important that you have it tested, purified and built up than anything else. That is what this section is about. James is not being random, nor is he speaking about something unrelated to the issue of trials. This is very much in the same vein. The purification and testing of our faith which occurs through trials is something that happens to every human being, irrespective of wealth or circumstance, and it stands in direct contrast with both of those things as the only thing we have that matters in an eternal context. Therefore the lowly brother can rejoice that God exalts Him with respect to this valuable asset and the rich brother can recognise his need to be brought low for the testing of his faith. The rich man can think that his riches are his blessing, as it warns in Proverbs – they become his strong fortress; his security – but really he needs to rejoice with the poor man that God wants to bless him through the testing of his faith.
The Crown of Life Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 12
Ultimately the person who endures trials is blessed because of the outcome of it. When it’s all 1 2
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Refer to Luke 16:9. Luke 21:1-4.
over, the person receives: 1. 2. 3.
The crown of life Which the Lord has promised To them that love Him
This applies to every person, from every walk of life as has just been established. God is equally interested in blessing anybody who is His child and He wants to grow them into maturity, with a faith that can face the realities of life. The idea of a crown crops up in several places in the Bible. The one we are probably most familiar with is the victor’s crown. Of course that was popular in the New Testament because they had great athletic games in the days of Herod the Great. Paul uses that when he says that there is a crown laid up for him because he has fought the fight, finished the race and kept the faith.3 It is a reward. A crown is also used in scripture to denote special honour and happiness for a person. In Proverbs, the woman of worth is said to be a crown to her husband because He rejoices in her and she brings him special happiness.4 The full idea, therefore, includes favour, honour, happiness and reward. One of the things that has puzzled me through life is the way in which some people really have a lot more to endure than others. That is something I cannot work out - it’s God’s business - but I want you to think about it. It’s important because when people are intolerant of the weaknesses of others or unsympathetic toward their burdens, it can be because they haven’t really had a whole lot of trouble in their own lives. But every Christian does undergo a minimum amount of trouble. If you don’t, then you are not a Christian at all because the Bible says that the Lord chastens every son whom He receives.5 If you have known trouble, have you realised that it is a blessing from God? That is so upsidedown to the way that we think. It would never even occur to some of us but for the explanation of scripture. We look for personal happiness and satisfaction here in this world, in terms of what we can find and what we can have in a temporal and material sense. But here we read that the blessed person is the one who has gone through trials, for when they are tried they will receive the crown of life. The crown is the emblem of spiritual success, honour and happiness given by the king of the universe to those who use their faith in the midst of suffering, temptation and trial. Promised God who cannot lie has made this promise. He promises that, at the end of all of life’s trials there will be recognition and blessing. To those that love Him As I think about this statement, I think it is one of the most perfect descriptions of a Christian. 3 4 5
Refer to 2 Timothy 4:7. Proverbs 12:4. Hebrews 12:6; Proverbs 3:11-12.
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When it is all said and done, how do you describe yourself? And what keeps you going in life? Ultimately it comes down to the fact that you love Him. Peter spoke for all of us when he said, “Lord you know all things. You know that I love you.”6 At another time, when the trials were beginning and things weren’t so easy, many so-called disciples were walking away. The Lord turned to the twelve and asked if they would also leave. Peter again spoke for all of us when he said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the word of eternal life!”7 This was the Christ, the Son of the Living God and the love they had for Him kept them with Him. So we experience that same thing today. The Christian is bound to obedience to the Lord, not because he is trying to serve for wages and get a reward, but through devotion. Through love for Him.
A day of reward Romans 2 5 ...in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”
This tells us that there is a day of reckoning and reward up ahead.
eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality 7
These are the very people we’re talking about in James 1. They endure trials in patient continuance, despite everything and therefore receive eternal life. They are recipients of the crown of life because they sought honour and immortality from above in all things.
In the next study we will look at James 1:13-18. This will tell us about trials that are not intended to build us up, but rather are intended to pull us down. These are trials that are not orchestrated by God for our blessing, but those that are attacks from Satan. See you in the next study.
http://bibleclass.com.au/ 6 7
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John 21:17. John 6:68.