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JAMES 1:9-119Believers in humble
circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. 10 But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower.
JAMES 1:9-1111 For the sun rises with
scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.
JAMES 1:16-1816 Don’t be deceived, my dear
brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
JAMES 1:16-1818 He chose to give us
birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.
RICH RICH JESUS,JESUS,POOR POOR JESUSJESUS
DID THEY DID THEY GREW UPGREW UPRICH OR RICH OR
POOR?POOR?
Should Christians be rich or should Christians be poor?
This is a question of economical and political but it is not biblical.
Here is a better question: Should Christians be godly or
ungodly?
Christians should be by the grace of God, godly. It doesn’t matter
whether you are rich or poor. The question is how are you living your life, particularly in regards to your
wealth? Is it godly or ungodly.
NOT RICH NOT RICH OR OR POOR,POOR,
GODLY ORGODLY OR UNGODLYUNGODLY
FOURFOUR CATECATEGORIESGORIES OF PEOPOF PEOPLE WE LE WE
SEE IN THE SEE IN THE BIBLEBIBLE
(1) (1) THE GODLY POORTHE GODLY POOR
LUKE 21:2 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.
Godliness regarding your wealth is, how do you get it, how do you invest
it, how do you tithe it, how do you save it, how do you spend it?
(2) (2) THE GODLY RICHTHE GODLY RICH
(3) (3) THE UNGODLY THE UNGODLY
POORPOOR
PROVERBS 6:6 6 Go to the ant, you
sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
PROVERBS 20:4 4 Sluggards do not plow in season; so at harvest time they look but find nothing.
(4) (4) THE UNGODLY THE UNGODLY
RICHRICH
Maybe the most legendary example is a guy who comes to Jesus. He’s
called the rich, young ruler, and he basically asks Jesus, “How do I
inherit eternal life?”
MAT 19:16-24 16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
MAT 19:16-2418 “Which ones?” he inquired.Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”
MAT 19:16-2420 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
MAT 19:16-2422 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.
MAT 19:16-2424 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
IT DOESN’T MATTER IF YOU’RE RICH OR POOR,
IT MATTERS IF YOU’RE IT MATTERS IF YOU’RE GODLY OR UNGODLYGODLY OR UNGODLY
2 CORINTHIANS 8:9
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 through his poverty might become rich.
THE THE GOGODLY DLY POORPOOR
WILL BEWILL BE EXALTEDEXALTED
JAMES 1:9-119Believers in humble
circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. 10 But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower.
Some religions are really about the rich, the affluent, and the powerful. And the more money you give, the
more access you have.
In certain religions, you actually buy your seats like you would for a
sporting event, and the more you have, the closer you sit up front, and
the less you have, you stand up in the back.
In some religions, it’s all about a caste system where, well—how much do you make? And that’s where you are on the order of
priority.
WHAT BEING LOWLY FEELS LIKE
The truth is, the culture we live in today is not trending favorably
toward Christians.
And for the most part, those who follow and love Jesus are seen as lowly—not that smart, not that
gifted, not that competent, not that capable, not that valuable.
Their net worth has established their self-worth.
BOAST IN THE LORD!
G. K. Chesterton, the great British writer, says, “A paradox is truth
standing on its head, shouting for attention.”
He says, here’s something to be excited about: “In his, in your, in our exaltation.” God says, “Boast because I see you up here and I’m
bringing you up here.
You’re starting down there, but you’re going to follow the Lord
Jesus as the Lord Jesus has been exalted into heaven so you too will be exalted with the Lord Jesus in
heaven.”
That’s how the Lord sees you. He sees you not where you are, but
where you will be when he’s done with you. And that’s to give you an identity along the way, an identity that’s received from the Lord, not
achieved by you.
DON’T GET YOUR IDENTITY FROM THE CULTURE
AROUND YOU
And this is good boasting. This is not boasting in yourself; this is boasting
in the Lord. Any of you have a problem with boasting, the solution is
boasting in the Lord. That’s the corrective.
Your identity cannot be received from the culture around you and the way
that others see you, it has to be received from the Lord and how
much he values you.
Aren’t you glad you don’t have to buy eternal life? Today, you are lowly, but one day you’ll be exalted with Jesus
forever.
The only rich and powerful person that may ever choose you is Jesus
Christ, and his choice is truly the only one that really matters. Today you
are poor, but one day you will receive a rich inheritance from Jesus.
And today, you may not have any treasure, but you are rich if Jesus is
your treasure. That’s what he’s saying.
Take the Word of God and present it to you so that you see yourselves
through the eyes of God.
SEE YOURSELF AS THE
FATHER SEES YOU
I’M NOT GREAT, BUT HE IS
This is where our identity is
received from our Father; it’s not achieved by us. Our identity is
received by our Father; it is not achieved by others’ perceptions of us. It’s being honest about where
someone is.
BOAST IN YOUR EXALTATION
If you belong to the Lord Jesus, the seat in the kingdom alongside Him
is already reserved for you and fully guaranteed. And the Father sees
where you’re going, and the Father is going to take your hand and walk
with you,
and He is going to help you, mature you, love you, and grow you. And then one day, He is going to call
you forth from your grave, and you will be absolutely perfect as he
always intended.
THE THE UNGUNGODLY ODLY RICHRICH
WILL BE WILL BE HHUMILIATEDUMILIATED
There’s only two options: God’s plan A is humility. God’s plan B is humiliation. If you don’t take plan
A, you get plan B.
IDENTITIDENTITY WE Y WE CANCAN
PURCHASEPURCHASE
You need to know that when it comes to riches, much of the reason that we treasure our
treasure is because the identity we can purchase. You say, “I’m not smart. I’m not powerful. I’m not
popular.
I’m not beautiful.” If you get enough money, you can fix that. You could pay to correct almost
anything, physically, socially speaking, not spiritually speaking.
And then you can reestablish yourself and represent yourself
with a new identity so you’re not lowly anymore. You’re not one of
those people over there, out there, down there. You’re one of the people in here, up here, right
there.
This is why we treasure our treasure, because of the identity it can provide. We can go from lowly
to exalted, from nobody to somebody, from unpopular to popular, from unattractive to
beautiful,
from someone no one knows to someone everyone knows.
(1) (1) GETTING OUR IDENTITY
THROUGH CLOTHINGCLOTHING
(2) (2) GETTING OUR IDENTITY THROUGH
THE TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY WE OWN
(3) (3) GETTING OUR IDENTITY
THROUGH OUR APPEARANCEAPPEARANCE
YOUR IDENTITY: BELOVED OF THE FATHERBELOVED OF THE FATHER
JAMES 1:9-119Believers in humble
circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. 10 But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower.
Here’s the big idea: always live with the end
in mind.
We’re all like a carton of milk in the refrigerator. We’ve all got an
expiration date. We’re all going to die. It’s all going to come to an end. All that we have, all that we do, all that we are comes to an end, and
we stand before God.
And so much of what we’ve done just burns. And he’s inferring and
referring here to eternal judgment, where, for some of you, this life is
as close as you’ll ever get to heaven, and hell awaits you.
And for some of you, this is as close to hell as you’ll ever get, and
heaven awaits you.
JAMES 1:16-1816 Don’t be deceived, my dear
brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
JAMES 1:16-1818 He chose to give us
birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.
He’s going to say God’s a Father and you’re beloved. God loves you. God
adores you. God is committed to you. God has affection for you. God does with a perfect, never-ending
love.
You can be a Bible-believing, Spirit-filled, Jesus-following
Christian and still be susceptible to deception. You can believe
things that are not true.
You can receive an identity that’s not from the Lord. You can live in
light of things that are not connected to God’s reality.
To avoid deception, you need to familiarize yourself with the truth.
If you want to combat lies, you need to know the truth, and the
truth is found, he says, in the word of truth, the Word of God.
Read your Bible, study your Bible, pray over your Bible, memorize your Bible, get in a community
group, discuss your Bible.
THREE THREE THINGS JAMTHINGS JAMES ES
WANTSWANTS US TO US TO REREMEMBER MEMBER
(1) (1) HE DOESN’T CHANGE
He’s a Dad who doesn’t walk out on his kids, doesn’t give up on his kids. He
always loves, pursues, and invests in his kids, and that’s really good news. God the Father does not, will not, cannot
change.
And in a world filled with so much change, the one thing that will never
change is the Father heart of God toward his people.
(2) (2) WHAT YOU HAVE IS WHAT
HE’S GRANTED
Everything that we have is a gift—salvation, eternal life, the Holy
Spirit, the saving power of Jesus, the Scriptures. And those are all gifts that He has given you because he
loves you.
And as you meditate on those things, you’re able to have joy and to
boast in your exaltation.
(3) (3) HIS GREATEST GIFT IS
PEOPLE
The greatest gift that God gives is people. All the gifts come down
from above. Ultimately, the greatest gift that comes down from above is Jesus, and the greatest gift
that God gives is people.
Proverbs 3:9-10 9 Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops;10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
His resurrection is the beginning of our eternal life. He’s the firstfruits,
the first and the best. God sees you as his firstfruits. He loves you, he sees you as first and best, and
he sees you as a gift.
We want you to know that the people in your life are a gift. And
we want you to know that those of you who call Faithworks Christian Church home are a gift. You’re the greatest gift that God has given.
The greatest gift that God has given other than, of course, God giving us
himself is giving us his people.
All the glory goes to God, but gratitude can go to his faithful
servant.
We glorify God for the book of James, and we’re grateful that
James wrote it down. God brought us his word through his servant.
This is who my God is. This is what my God does. This is where my God is taking me.
And everything I have comes from a Father who loves me, knows me, sees me, adores me, is aware of my imperfections but has overcome that with Jesus’ perfection, and
is bringing me eternally into his presence to be with, like, for, through, to Jesus
forever.”
The result is, you can boast in your exaltation as you have an attitude of
gratitude, and that’s where he wants us to be as God’s people, to get our eyes off of
how people see us and to understand how the Father sees us and why he lavishes
such good gifts upon us.
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