Practical Christianity: Rich Man, Poor Man

• Second, When you take those items out to the garage, you discover that only four of the five items will fit in the car, and so you have to choose to leave an item behind. What four items to you take to the bank?

• OK, Have you chosen those four items?

• Third, When you get to the facility you find the storage locker will only hold one item. OK ... so it’s a small storage locker.

• What one item will you keep?

I know that this is not a perfect illustration, but it gives us a perspective on what is of value to us.

Test and trials come upon us as James has told us, and in many sizes, shapes and colors. James moves into an area that is so common to life — the test of plenty verses poverty. There's no getting around this test. We live in a culture that actively promotes materialism and it is a very strong appeal.

We live in a world where happiness is all too frequently equated with prosperity. James says, "count it all joy when you face various trials." The world says, "count it all joy when you win the lottery ... otherwise shut up and keep playing!"

What do we value in our lives? Money? Fame? Fortune? Poverty? Bills? Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul.

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.” (Philippians 4:11–12, ESV)

James also has much to teach the Church about plenty vs. poverty.

I. THE POOR MAN TEST

“Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation,” (James 1:9, ESV)

1. many of the Christians in days of James were either slaves or people of the lowest economic levels — NOT among the rich and the famous and the powerful

a. most 1st century Christians would have been among the powerless

b. James knew that, too often, the test of poverty could cause a person to become bitter toward life and envious of those around them — especially those around them who have more of the stuff of life than they do

ILLUS. Some years ago, a pastor friend of mine was telling of a church member who had won a $100,000 in the Missouri State Lottery. He said some in the church became envious toward him for having so much money. A few even became bitter because they thought he should have shared his prosperity a little more with his friends.

c. our own poverty — when compared to the riches of those around us — has the ability to make us bitter toward life in general — as if we’re not getting our fair share

2. so what is James talking about when He tells the brother of low degree to glory in his exaltation?

a. the phrase low degree means to be of a low estate and can refer to poverty, but also to a low social status

1) obviously, the two often go together

b. the word glory refers to the boasting of a privilege or possession

3. material things should not be our primary objective in life nor the object of our boasting

ILLUS. In the mid-1980s, Malcolm Forbes, one of the richest men in the world at the time, coined the phrase “He who dies with the most toys wins.” That was the wisdom of Malcolm Forbes. In fact, that was his ambition. That’s why he collected scores of motorcycles. That’s why he would pay over a million dollars for a Faberge egg. That’s why he owned castles, hot air balloons, yachts, aircraft, art, and countless other toys that he can no longer access since his death in 1990.

a. Jesus plainly asserts that it is the poor in spirit who are blessed

b. poor people are not to lament their poverty, but are to rejoice at God’s bounty

“For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.” (Luke 12:23, ESV)

c. although having nothing in this world, the poor believer can rejoice in his or her high spiritual standing before God because of His grace and the hope which that brings

“and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” (Romans 8:17, ESV)

d. while the Apostle doesn’t deal with it here, the Church needs to keep several things in mind when it comes to poverty

1) 1st, poverty is a relative term ... poverty in America is not the poverty of India

a) many of those who are classified as impoverished in America would be solidly middle class throughout Europe, and among the wealthy in most third-world nations

2) 2nd, poverty is not necessarily a permanent situation — many work their way out of it

4. still, if the Christian is looking at hard times of poverty, they should trust God and glory in the truth that He will never leave us

a. no matter how poor we are in the material things of this world, we are rich in Christ

“Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?” (James 2:5, ESV)

b. we need to learn the lesson that our God is "bigger and better" than any earthly possession we might desire

II. THE RICH MAN TEST

“and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.” (James 1:10–11, ESV)

1. Jesus regularly talked about the dangers of riches and prosperity in this life

“ “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (Matthew 6:24, ESV)

“For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”” (Luke 18:25, ESV)

a. the riches of this world have the uncanny ability to not only gain our attention, they become our focus

b. in Luke’s gospel, Jesus told a parable about a man who looked at his life situation and said to himself, “Ya know, I’ve got so much that I think I’ll tear down the barns that I have an build bigger ones to store all of my stuff.”

c. what was God’s response?

“But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”” (Luke 12:20–21, ESV)

2. the love of money and possessions can easily interfere with our walk with God

a. rich people must not delight in their wealth, but must find joy in humility

b. James reminds us that we need to learn to be rich toward God

3. James shows us two possibilities in the test of riches

A. 1st, THE CHRISTIAN WHO IS HUMBLE IS BLESSED BY THE HAND OF GOD

1. money is not their focus, nor is it their hope for happiness in this life

a. they understand that as quickly they have gained the riches of this life, they can be gone like the flowers of the field

2. this persons joy is found in Christ, not their possessions

ILLUS. John Wesley considered wealth and the failure to give the most serious threats to the Methodist movement in particular and Christianity in general. In 1789, Wesley noted that the Methodists we ignoring biblical principles of stewardship. Thirty years earlier, Wesley laid down three rules of biblical stewardship — Earn all you can, Save all you can, and Give all you can. Toward the end of his life he wrote ...

"Of the three rules which are laid down ... you may find many that observe the first rule, namely, 'Gain all you can.' You may find a few that observe the second, 'Save all you can.' But, how many have you found that observe the third rule, 'Give all you can'? Have you reason to believe that 500 of these are to be found among 50,000 Methodists? And yet nothing can be more plain than that all who observe the first rules without the third will be twofold more the children of hell than ever they were before."

Wesley's own commitment to giving was consistent throughout his life. As a student at Oxford, he lived on 28 pounds a year. As his earnings increased to 30 and eventually to 120 pounds annually, he continued to live on the same 28 pounds. He told people that if at his death he had more than 10 pounds in his possession, they could call him a robber.

B. 2nd, THE RICH MAN WHO IS RELYING UPON HIS MONEY MAY SUDDENLY FIND HIMSELF WITHOUT ANY

1. Jesus warned the rich young ruler that his riches blocking him from having a true saving relationship with God

a. if the pursuits of our lives are the riches of this life be assured the rich pass away in the pursuit

“Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12, ESV)

III. CHRISTIANS NEED TO LEARN TO BE CONTENT

ILLUS. Years ago it was reported that someone asked John D. Rockefeller how much money a man need in order to be really happy. The great industrialist thought for a moment and then replied, “Just a little bit more.”

1. next to the redemption of men, the Bible has more to say about money and material possessions and their uses than any other subject

a. God is concerned about how our faith is manifested in the making of, use of and disposal of, our incomes — principally because it reveals how deeply the gospel has affected our life

1) the Bible tells us the right way to earn money ...

2) that we ought to invest it ...

3) how to be good stewards of it ...

4) and most importantly, how to glorify God with it ...

A. BELIEVERS NEED TO KEEP THEIR LIVES FREE FROM THE LOVE OF MONEY & STUFF

1. this is what James is talking about in his ‘rich-man/poor-man’ test

2. the world, the flesh and the devil are very subtle in their approach

a. they very seldom overwhelm the Christian or the church, yet their power is persuasive

b. the desire to have, the love of money, has very subtlety invaded the lifestyle and practice of the church

ILLUS. GVBA church that had $100,000 in CDs and only a handful of people knew of it, and they weren’t telling anyone else. They considered it “rainy-day” money. And this was a church were every time it rained the roof and basement both leaked!

3. the love of money has actually become spiritually fashionable in the Body of Christ today

4. it’s called the Health and Wealth Gospel

a. it preaches that if we somehow manage to get God on ‘our side’ that we can have anything we want

b. it teaches that God rewards our faith with pennies and dimes, nickels and dollars

ILLUS. One of the absolute worst offenders was a TV evangelist name Robert Tilton. He would put his face right in the camera and say that for your miracle to occur you needed to send him a ‘vow of faith.’ What was a ‘vow of faith’? Why, it was money, and the more ‘faith money’ you sent him, the bigger your miracle would be! At his ministry's peak in 1991, Tilton's program brought in nearly $80 million per year.

d. very subtly, God’s people are being taught to love money and to expect material blessings as a reward for their faith

5. the apostle Paul gives a dire warning to those believers who would seek things other than the Kingdom of God first

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Timothy 6:10, ESV)

a. the problem is undeniable – the church has bought a bill of goods that the world has offered

6. how do we keep our lives free from the love of money and stuff?

B. LEARN TO BE CONTENT WITH WHAT YOU HAVE

1. we live in a society that encourage us to be discontent with whatever it is we have

a. that’s what commercials are all about

2. the Bible tells us something different

“But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” (1 Timothy 6:6–9, ESV)

3. one of the most important Christian virtues we can develop is that of satisfaction with what we have

a. the Apostle Paul is an excellent example of one who learned to be content with whatever life brought his way or refused to give him

4. the secret of contentment is developing a vital, dynamic faith in God

a. God has told us, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.

b. many times our desire for material possession is based on our anxiety that one day the storm of life is going to het and we’d better have ‘things’ to fall back on

1) what a testimony to faithlessness

5. if we truly believe in God as our faithful provider none of us would ever be anxious again

“I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.” (Psalm 37:25, ESV)

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