BS: James 7
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RICH MAN, POOR MAN
RICH MAN, POOR MAN
RICH MAN, POOR MAN
Not only is the mature Christian patient in testing (), but he also practices the truth. This is the theme of .
This is the theme of .
Immature people talk about their beliefs, but the mature person lives his faith. Hearing God’s Word and talking about God’s Word can never substitute for doing God’s Word.
Hearing God’s Word () and talking about God’s Word can never substitute for doing God’s Word.
Every believer has some statement of faith or personal expression of what he believes.
Most churches have such statements and members are asked to subscribe to the statement and practice it.
Most churches also have a “creed” that they read publicly, often when they observe the Lord’s Supper.
Statements of faith and church creeds are good and useful, but they are not substitutes for doing God’s will.
As a pastor, I have heard believers read the church creed and then come to a business meeting and act in ways completely contrary to the covenant.
James wanted to help us practice God’s Word, so he gave us a simple test. He sent two visitors to a church service, a rich man and a poor man; and he watched to see how they were treated.
The way we behave toward people indicates what we really believe about God!
We cannot—and dare not—separate human relationships from divine fellowship.
20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
“If a man say, ‘I love God,’ and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not see)
In this section, James examines four basic Christian doctrines in the light of the way we treat other people.
In this section, James examines four basic Christian doctrines in the light of the way we treat other people.
1: The Deity of Christ.
1: The Deity of Christ.
1 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.
2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes,
3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,”
4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
Jewish people in that day coveted recognition and honor, and vied with one another for praise.
“My brothers, don’t hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, by showing favoritism” (literal translation).
Jewish people in that day coveted recognition and honor, and vied with one another for praise.
Our Lord’s parables in deal with the problem, and also His denunciation of the Pharisees in .
We have this same problem with us today.
Pyramid climbers are among us, not only in politics, industry, and society, but also in the church.
Almost every church has its cliques, and often, new Christians find it difficult to get in.
Some church members use their offices to enhance their own images of importance.
Many of the believers James wrote to were trying to seize spiritual offices, and James had to warn them.
1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
Jesus did not respect persons.
Jesus did not respect persons.
Jesus did not respect persons.
Even His enemies admitted:
16 And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.
, “You aren’t swayed by men, because You pay no attention to who they are” (, niv).
Our Lord did not look at the outward appearance; He looked at the heart.
Our Lord did not look at the outward appearance; He looked at the heart.
He was not impressed with riches or social status.
The poor widow who gave her mite was greater in His eyes than the rich Pharisee who boastfully gave his large donation.
Furthermore, He saw the potential in the lives of sinners.
In Simon, He saw a rock.
In Matthew, the publican, He saw a faithful disciple who would one day write one of the four Gospels.
The disciples were amazed to see Jesus talking with the sinful woman at the well of Sychar, but Jesus saw in her an instrument for reaping a great harvest.
We are prone to judge people by their past, not their future.
When Saul of Tarsus was converted, the church in Jerusalem was afraid to receive him!
It took Barnabas, who believed in Saul’s conversion, to break down the walls.
We are also prone to judge by outward appearance rather than by the inner attitude of the heart.
We do not enjoy sitting with certain people in church because they “are not our kind of people.”
Jesus was the Friend of sinners, though He disapproved of their sins.
It was not compromise, but compassion, that caused Him to welcome them, and when they trusted Him, forgive them.
Jesus was despised and rejected.
Jesus was despised and rejected.
This fact was prophesied in
1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
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He was “the poor man” who was rejected by the self-righteous nation.
He was “the poor man” who was rejected by the self-righteous nation.
Unlike the foxes and the birds, He had no home.
He grew up in the despised city of Nazareth in a home that knew the feeling of poverty.
Had you and I met Him while He was ministering on earth, we would have seen nothing physically or materially that would attract us.
He was not ritch, handsome, nice hair - nothing physically or materlly attractive.
The religious experts in Christ’s day judged Him by their human standards, and they rejected Him.
The religious experts in Christ’s day judged Him by their human standards, and they rejected Him.
He came from the wrong city, Nazareth of Galilee.
He was not a graduate of their accepted schools.
He did not have the official approval of the people in power.
He had no wealth.
His followers were a nondescript mob and included publicans and sinners.
Yet He was the very glory of God!
No wonder Jesus warned the religious leaders:
24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
, “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment” (, niv).
Sad to say, we often make the same mistakes.
When visitors come into our churches, we tend to judge them on what we see outwardly rather than what they are inwardly.
Dress, color of skin, fashion, and other superficial things carry more weight than the fruit of the Spirit that may be manifest in their lives.
We cater to the rich because we hope to get something out of them, and we avoid the poor because they embarrass us.
Jesus did not do this, and He cannot approve of it.
How do we practice the deity of Christ in our human relationships?
It is really quite simple: look at everyone through the eyes of Christ.
If the visitor is a Christian, we can accept him because Christ lives in him.
If he is not a Christian, we can receive him because Christ died for him.
It is Christ who is the link between us and others, and He is a link of love. The basis for relationship with others is the person and work of Jesus Christ. Any other basis is not going to work.
Furthermore, God can use even the most unlikely person to bring glory to His name. He used Peter and Zaccheus and John Mark, and He can use that poor man whom we might reject.
2: The Grace of God
2: The Grace of God
5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?
7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?
The emphasis here is on God’s choosing, and this involves the grace of God. If salvation were on the basis of merit, it would not be by grace.
The emphasis here is on God’s choosing, and this involves the grace of God. If salvation were on the basis of merit, it would not be by grace.
Grace implies God’s sovereign choice of those who cannot earn and do not deserve His salvation
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
; ).
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
eph ).
God saves us completely on the basis of the work of Christ on the cross and not because of anything that we are or have.
God saves us completely on the basis of the work of Christ on the cross and not because of anything that we are or have.
God ignores national differences.
34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.
The Jewish believers were shocked when Peter went to the Gentile household of Cornelius, preached to the Gentiles, and even ate with them. The topic of the first church council was, “Must a Gentile become a Jew to become a Christian?” ()
The Jewish believers were shocked when Peter went to the Gentile household of Cornelius, preached to the Gentiles, and even ate with them. The topic of the first church council was, “Must a Gentile become a Jew to become a Christian?” ()
The answer the Holy Spirit gave them was, “No!”
In the sight of God, there is no difference between Jew and Gentile when it comes to condemnation () or salvation ().
God also ignores social differences.
Masters and slaves () and rich and poor are alike to Him.
James teaches us that the grace of God makes the rich man poor, because he cannot depend on his wealth; and it makes the poor man rich, because he inherits the riches of grace in Christ. (Review .)
7 The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up.
8 He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. “For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, And He has set the world upon them.
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From the human point of view, God chooses the poor instead of the rich.
From the human point of view, God chooses the poor instead of the rich. “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” ().
26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” ().
The poor of this world become rich in faith; as sons of God, they inherit the wealth of the kingdom.
It is possible to be poor in this world and rich in the next, or rich in this world and poor in the next.
Or, you could be poor both in this world and the next, or rich in this world and the next.
It all depends on what you do with Christ and the material wealth He has given you.
God promises the kingdom to “those that love Him” (), not to those who love this world and its riches.
This is why the poor are often more likey to be saved than the rich.
17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
18 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share,
James gave a stern rebuke in
James gave a stern rebuke in . “When you despise the poor man, you are behaving like the unsaved rich people.”
6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?
7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?
. “When you despise the poor man, you are behaving like the unsaved rich people.”
. “When you despise the poor man, you are behaving like the unsaved rich people.”
In that day, it was easy for rich persons to exploit the poor, influence decisions at court, and make themselves richer.
Unfortunately, we have the same sins being committed today; and these sins blaspheme the very name of Christ.
Our Lord was poor, and He too was the victim of injustice perpetrated by the wealthy leaders of His day.
The doctrine of God’s grace, if we really believe it, forces us to relate to people on the basis of God’s plan and not on the basis of human merit or social status.
A “class church” is not a church that magnifies the grace of God. When He died, Jesus broke down the wall that separated Jews and Gentiles ().
But in His birth and life, Jesus broke down the walls between rich and poor, young and old, educated and uneducated.
It is wrong for us to build those walls again; we cannot rebuild them if we believe in the grace of God.