Faith, Trials, and Money
Sanctified Faith: How trials mature our faith in Christ • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 38:46
0 ratings
· 109 viewsFiles
Notes
Transcript
9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 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.
This text, to me, is probably the most needed and hard hitting of all the verses in this text.
Why?
Because it talks about money, possessions, and the fatal mistake of trusting in them over trusting in God.
Interestingly, this topic lines up with the week most of us will receive stimulus checks.
There will be people who received stimulus checks this week who are desperate for them. And perhaps the checks are a provision from God.
While the world is experiencing the sting of a pandemic, it is also experiencing the sting of an economic crisis. I’ve heard from many people in our Church who our out of work right now. Realistically, more people will be negatively effected economically than there will be who contract the Coronavirus. This isn’t meant to downplay the significant pain and loss some will feel because of this virus. I only mean to highlight a reality that most of you listening to this sermon are experiencing.
As US citizens, many of us haven’t experienced the intense poverty that so many experience throughout our world. The reality is, for the most part, when their isn’t a pandemic, we live like kings and queens.
Interestingly, the US is supposed to be the most Christian nation in the world. Two things exist with us. We are traditionally known as a Christian nation and we are also very wealthy as a nation.
Now, in presenting these realities side by side, I’m not saying that there is anything inherently wrong with having money. And I don’t believe the Bible says anything like that. But, if I’m not mistaken, historically, most Christians in the past suffered immensely, both economically and socially. The last few hundred years is sort of a phenomenon in Christian history.
When we come to a text like this, we are face to face with a culture that was very different than ours. We see that our brothers and sisters in Christ during the first century were mostly very very poor. Some had more wealth than others, but most were very very poor.
So, what does God want us to learn from a text like this while we are, by most standards worldwide, very very rich, while also being in the midst of a very severe economic crisis.
I know some of you are very concerned by the economy. Some of you have lost jobs. Some of you don’t know how you will pay all of your bills in May. I know this is true.
But in the midst of all of this, we have an opportunity to remind ourselves of what it truly means to be rich, and truly means to be poor in God’s eyes.
The standard for most regarding these two positions, rich and poor, don’t line up with God’s standard.
Think about what Jesus said about the rich in this world in Matthew 19.
23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, 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.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
So Jesus warned us all about the dangers of riches in this world.
That means we should be mindful about how we view money and possessions.
I want to remind you about the verses just before this that we covered a couple weeks ago...
7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
The double-minded unstable man from verse 8 is the man who trusts more in himself and his riches than he does in God.
He thinks his mind and his wealth will deliver him from trials. And likely, subconsciously, he probably thinks wealth can deliver from death.
The man of faith who asks for wisdom of God and receives it from God is the one who has nothing in himself or this world, that he trusts in for security. The man of faith may not even be lacking money, he’s just not dependent on his money.
Remember that this text immediately follows the verses encouraging us to ask God for wisdom during our trials.
Here, James gives us a preview into an important piece of wisdom that God is using trials to give to us.
Things are not always what they appear to be.
Observation #1
Trials Can Expose the Wealth of the Faithful Poor
9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation,
When James mentions “lowly brother” he is most likely speaking of the humble poor.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Letter of James C. Both Poor and Rich Christians Need to View Themselves as God Does (1:9–11)
The heart of the paragraph is a contrast between a “brother in humble circumstances” and “one who is rich.”
According to James, the humble poor can boast, or rejoice, in their exaltation.
It’s important to remember who James’ audience is - The are poor CHRISTIANS. Not just poor people in general.
Hear this: There are poor people who are also poor in eternity. Why? Because they never have faith in Christ. Because, regardless of the info that is provided to them, they will still believe that the riches of this world will make them truly rich…
James is addressing poor people who have faith in God through Christ...
By the world’s standards, they are very very poor. They are the poorest of the poor.
Not only do they not have money, but they trust in something the world thinks is bankrupt!
In the World’s eyes, they are poorer than the poor nonbelievers.
But, James says, they are exalted!
This exaltation is definitely not an exaltation in this world!
Here’s how this works… During a crisis, a trial, if we, Christians, are confident in God’s goodness and mercy despite what we are enduring and how much we have, we show the world that we are rich with something that is of another world. Its something that this world cannot give us. It’s something eternal.
We may be poor by the world’s standards. But we are rich in eternity’s standards.
While we are poor, we may be suffering in this world. But in the next world, we are co-heirs and inheritors with Jesus. This is something that will never be taken from us.
16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 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.
What an amazing gift of love that God has given us in Christ.
Salvation - a future - A promise
Because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection from the dead, we are now guaranteed that even if we suffer in this world, God has a great future waiting for us.
Here how Paul illustrates this for us.
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
Jesus left the eternal riches of heaven at the Father’s right hand, and put on the poverty, not just of being a human, but also, being a poor human, in order to raise us up with him back to his Eternal riches!
He’s done this because he loves us. And the love of God is worth more than the biggest diamond or an infinite supply of gold.
So that’s my first observation
Trials Can Expose the Wealth of the Faithful Poor
Observation #2
Trials Can Expose the Poverty of the Faithless Rich
10 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.
Commentators ask: which rich people is James talking about. Not all would agree with me, but I think we have to look at other spots in this letter to decide.
6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
These rich, that James is talking about, are not rich Christians.
He’s warning the non believers who have wealth and trust in their wealth instead of in God.
Chasing their false God of wealth is going to leave them dead.
The fact that a rich man’s resources cannot save him from the ultimate destiny that awaits both the rich and the poor reveals how pointless pursuing wealth really is.
Now,
James isn’t saying that having money is evil. Even Paul would agree with Him...
10 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.
Instead, James is saying that those who put their confidence and their hope in their riches and their pursuit of them ahead of pursuing God will be utterly disappointed at the end of their lives.
They can’t take their money or pursuit of it with them to the grave.
21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
In the end, those who have wealth and material goods will end up in the dirt with the rest of creation.
Trials should point the faithless rich towards their ultimate destination: The Grave.
Because,
Trials Can Expose the Poverty of the Faithless Rich
This should make us ask: Which of these two types of people am I most like?
Christians shouldn’t “hoard” riches - they should be generous
Christians shouldn’t defraud others - they should pay whats due to others
Christians shouldn’t pursue self indulgence - they should reflect the attitude of Christ who cared for others more than himself
Christians shouldn’t condemn and murder the righteous - they should do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God
When I say should, I mean, these are what exemplify the two different types of people. Which are we?
Applications
Applications for those who are lacking finances...
Rejoice because you are rich in God.
You can do this by reminding yourself of simple gospel truths.
John 3:16 - God loved me enough to die for me!
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Revelation 22:7 - Jesus is coming to take me home soon!
7 “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
Ephesians 2:3 - God has given me every spiritual blessing available in Him
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Don’t believe that money will solve all your problems.
You can remind yourself that God has promised to give you what you need.
Matthew 7:7 - God will give me what I need when I need it
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Romans 8:28-29 - God may know you need less money now for your own good.
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Ask God for what you need.
Applications for those who have an abundance of finances...
Thank God for what you have.
Focus on God more than focussing on what he has given you.
Don’t get over confident in your wealth.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 - Be confident in the God you intimately know!
23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
Ask God how he wants to help others in need through your wealth