This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us for today's program. At Connect with Skip, we're all about helping you connect with God's Word in a deeper way. That's why we make messages like today's available to you and others across the globe. And right now, when you sign up for Skip's weekly devotional emails, you'll receive a free download of chapter one from Skip's book, The Biography of God.
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Now let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. We're in James chapter 1. We are going through this book verse by verse. We are going to be looking at the next little chunk of verses, beginning in verse 9 down to verse 12. I'm calling this message the trials of the rich.
And Four. We live In a wealthy country. And because we live in a wealthy country, often called a first world country. problems that we face Though legitimate and real When you compare those problems with The kinds of problems that exist in, say, the third world, when you compare the first world with the third world. They're very, very different.
First world problems are things like the Wi-Fi going out. the wrong coffee order at Starbucks. The T V remote not working. Misplacing your AirPods. Getting a bad haircut.
or your phone battery dying. Those are huge trials for us. And that's why it has been noted that First world problems are often third world luxuries.
So, for an example, you go to the grocery store and you're hunting down the cereal aisle. You're looking for your favorite cereal among the hundreds of boxes of different cereal, and they don't have it, and you complain and you say, This store is always out of my favorite cereal.
Meanwhile, in a different place, a third world country.
Soldiers just stole the last bag of rice from a humanitarian food truck. And the whole village has no cereal. or food. And they are starving. Or there's a thunderstorm in your neighborhood, and the cable and the internet go out.
Oh no. Oh no. You know what this means. I can't binge watch. That series on Netflix.
It's catastrophic.
Meanwhile, in the third world, There is an artillery storm by insurgent soldiers who knock out the power and the water. etc.
So being in the first world, Versus being in the third world, yes, we still have our problems. They're legitimate problems, they're the problems we face. But when you compare them with other people, other places. There sometimes is a disparity.
Now, I do want to say that living in the first world comes with its problems as well. We have privileges, but there are some setbacks because we are in a nation like ours. One of them is. There are more unhappy people. in wealthier countries than in poor countries.
There are more people in countries like America that don't have a sense of purpose. Don't have joy. It's much higher the lack of joy and peace and satisfaction in countries like ours than in Poland. Poverty-stricken countries. I got a letter this week, an email from India.
And this gentleman said, I have accidentally found your channel on YouTube a couple of months ago, and now I'm totally dedicated to your messages. I'm particularly happy that you are teaching the word with such confidence, courage and conviction from the United States, a country that was built on the Bible but now is in such a state of depravity, sin and evil. The world needs more people like you, especially in the U.S. My son was in California almost 14 years, and I visited him several times, and I've seen the decadence. And the pitiful state.
That the country is in, with all of the outward prosperity, gloss, and beauty. I believe the country is totally rotten on the inside. Pardon my use of such hard words. It comes from my love for your country. God has blessed your country abundantly with all of its natural beauty, resources, and wealth.
It is a country which has known our Lord and yet at this current time in history is so far away from Him, ruled and led by the devil. Yet I see hope. Hope in pastors like you and in churches like yours. If there is a revival in America, I'm sure there will be a revival in the world and hope for the world.
Now with that as a heavy background, we get into our study. And as you read through the book of James, if you have already done that and you're familiar with this book, it would almost seem like the verses we're about to read just got dropped in there by James. They just sort of seem out of place for some. Like he just decided to speak about the poor and the rich and the destiny of those who hold on to riches. It doesn't even seem to connect with what he has just written about counter all joy when you fall into various trials.
But that's where you'd be wrong if you thought that. It's actually following the same line of thinking. He's dealing with the same subject matter of trials. Because It's something we all face. Whether you are rich Or if you're poor.
There's something you have in common. And that is hardship. That is trial. Even if you're in the first world, Or you're in the third world. You all face trials.
So, no matter how wealthy a person is, or how wealthy a country might be. Wealth will not protect you from the hardships of life.
So, what I want to do in these four verses is give you some obvious and not-so-obvious truths about trials. We began that. Topic last week beginning in verse 2, but now we look at verse 9. Here's the first one: Our world is divided. Our world is divided.
And you'll notice that James even notices the division and displays that division in mentioning the lowly. versus the wealthy. Look in verse 12. Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich. in his humiliation.
Because as a flower of the field, he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat Then it withers the grass, its flower falls. and its beautiful appearance perishes.
So, the rich man will also fade away in his pursuits. Blessed is the man who endures temptation. Temptation. That's unfortunately, and I'll explain why in a minute, a bad translation. It should be testing or trial or the test.
Oh, blessed is the man who endures the test. For when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who are who love him.
So, the first thing we notice is that James divides everyone up into two separate groups: rich and poor.
Now, these two groups. Never Typically mingled together. in ancient times especially because they were so different. They had different incomes. They had different social circles.
They had a whole different set of friends. They had different activities. They had different housing conditions. They had different styles of clothing. But though they have all those differences, they share something in common.
And that is, there are times in life, rich or poor, where you face a struggle, a hardship. A trial. A difficulty.
So let's begin with the first category, the lowly brother. Verse 9: let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation.
Now, when it says lowly, It refers to low degree. Let the brother of low degree or low economic status, in other words, a poor person.
Somebody who has lowly circumstances is lowly on the status or prestige scale. And because of that, It is. Produces a lowly outlook for him. He might walk around with his head hung low. Looking down at the ground instead of shoulders.
square and head high. Because he feels a sense of shame. He knows that he is ill-esteemed by those in his culture.
Now, with that as a background, understand that is the bulk of the audience that James is writing to when he mentions the 12th. 12 tribes of Israel scattered, the diaspora we talked about a few weeks ago. He has in mind the fact that most of the people reading this. are going to be poor people. There will be some wealthy people there addressed as well, but for the most part, these scattered Christians that he is writing to are very, very poor.
But then he also addresses The rich. In verse 10, but the rich in his humiliation. These people are obviously different from the poor. They are well off materially. They are often considered to be blessed by God, especially in ancient times, especially among Jewish people.
If you had wealth, it was just a sign that God's favor was on you, and the proof of his favor was the wealth that you enjoy. You are blessed by God. That's how it was seen. But Some of these wealthy people that James is writing to are beginning to lose their property. It's being confiscated, they're being persecuted.
They're being defrauded. And here was their dilemma. They're Jewish believers, they're in different parts of the Roman Empire, they're scattered around Asia Minor, principally, and up north in Syria, and because of that, They're not accepted by the Jewish community because they name the name of Christ. And they're not accepted by the secular pagan community because they're seen as Jewish in their background.
So they're like a man without a country. And they're sandwiched in between two sources of persecution, and many of them are losing what they had. They're suffering because of it. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzik. Before we return to today's message, what does real spiritual maturity actually look like and how can you achieve it?
In his new series, Adulting: A Study Through the Book of James, Pastor Skip gives a straight talk from scripture on how to grow up in your faith through trials, temptations, and daily life. This eye-opening 21-message series is our thanks for your generous gift of $50 or more to help reach more people with God's Word through Connect with Skip. Request your CD package or digital download of adulting when you give at connectwithskip.com/slash offer or call 800-922-1888.
Now, let's get back to today's teaching from Pastor Skip.
So two categories, rich and poor, and The world always does this. We included, we categorize people. by a number of different categories. Different ways we categorize people by age. By gender, by nationality, by ethnicity, by religion, by education, by IQ, by political ideology, and also by economic.
Category. Rich? and poor. All of that to say we live in a divided world. We always have.
It's how people look at life. They size others up and they make categorical judgments. And there has always been wealthy and poor. The very categories I mentioned in opening up this message about the first world versus the third world, these are socioeconomic terms.
Now they didn't start out that way. They were actually political terms. Nations were called first, second, or third world, depending on the fact that they aligned with NATO, the North Atlantic organization. If they aligned or didn't align, they were given these categories. It was a political category.
So the United States, Canada. And allies were in the category of First World. The Soviet Union. China, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam were considered second world, and the third world were the poor, non-industrialized, still developing. Nations.
A political designation that has become an economic term. These days.
Now, these categories of rich and poor that James even mentions, these are categories that are still with us today and The disparity between rich and poor is growing. That is, in most places, the middle class is shrinking. And the poor are getting poorer, and the rich are getting richer. According to the World Economic Forum, and I quote: the poorest half of the global population owns just 2% of the global total, while the richest 10% own 76% of all wealth.
Well, that's a whole series of messages in and of itself. And the Bible has a lot to say about riches, and the Bible has a lot to say about poverty. And we're not going to look at that now because that is not the context here. The context is if you're rich or poor. No matter who you are, You're going to face hardship.
You're going to be in the challenging situation of a trial from time to time.
Something else about these two. categories, these two people. Both of them are Christian brothers. In this context. Notice in verse 9, let the lowly brother So he's a brother in Christ.
Glory in his exaltation, but the rich, and the inference is back to the brother. The rich brother in his humiliation.
So, rich and poor. that James is writing to are Both Part of God's family, both in James' mind, he's referring to our God's kids.
Now what What James was facing when he wrote this. 2,000 years ago is the same thing that we face today. Every single church has some who are rich and some who are poor.
Now, some parts of the country and some churches are wealthier than others, some are poorer than others, but every church has people in it that have more disposable income, they're more well-to-do, and some who have less, but Both? Groups go through trials. And by the way. The church is the place That breaks down the division. between rich and poor, and calls both of them brothers.
That's a very important distinction.
So, for a rich person who may just want to hang around rich people, if he's a believer, he's going to be hanging around not many mighty, not many noble, not many wise of this world. He's going to be hanging around the The Riffrav, us.
So that's a good thing because that commingling. Brings a leveling, and we'll see something else that brings a leveling in just a moment.
So, our world is divided. That's the first thing. Second. Our Outlook is delightful. James Tells both of them to do something that is unexpected.
Before I get into that, I just want to clear up an issue. It is not wrong to be poor. It is not wrong to be rich. And both of those statements need to be said and heard. It is not wrong to be poor.
It's not a sign of God's disfavor. It's not wrong to be rich. It's not a sign necessarily of God's spiritual blessing on your life. All can be a gift from God, but not necessarily equaling.
So Money is not evil. Money is neutral. Money is what we would say is Amoral, not immoral, amoral. It has no morality, it's neither right nor wrong. What is right or wrong is how you approach it.
What you do with it, if you hoard it, if you're not generous with it, etc. The issue isn't having it, the issue is what you do with it once you have it. Or if you are scheming always to get it.
Some people say, well, the Bible says the money is the root of all evil. The Bible never says that once, ever. What the Bible does say is this, for the love of money. And you can have that if you're dirt poor. The love of money is a root.
Not the root, a root of all. Kinds of evil.
Well, that's a very different meaning than money is the root of all evil.
So When it comes to rich and poor, there were some people in the Bible that were very wealthy. Abraham was very wealthy, he could mount up his own militia. Armed on par with the kings of Canaan and go fight battles. Job was wealthy. He lost everything, but God restored more at the end than at the beginning.
Joseph in the Old Testament, we noted last week, was the second most powerful man in the world. That would also make him probably the second richest man in the world next to Pharaoh.
So he was godly and wealthy. In the New Testament, there were Jews like Joseph. of Arimathea, who followed Jesus. There was Matthew who followed Jesus, a tax collector. Zacchaeus, a tax collector.
In fact, Zacchaeus had so much bank, he had so much money that he was able to restore. People he cheated four times.
So he had a pretty hefty bank account.
So I just wanted to clear that up. Our world is divided. It's not wrong to be poor. It's not wrong to be rich. It just is.
What you do with it and how you approach it is the issue. But to our second point. Our world is divided, but our outlook is delightful.
Now If you go back to verse 9 and 10. James is telling both the lowly, the poor. And the rich to do something unexpected. He's telling them to glory. Which is another word for rejoice or be glad.
Look at it. Let the lowly brother glory. In his exaltation. But the rich, and again inferred, the rich brother glory in his humiliation because, as the flower of the field. He will pass away.
The word glory could be translated boast. Or rejoice. Both rich and poor are told to rejoice. but for very different reasons. Very different reasons.
The lowly brother is to rejoice or boast or glory in his exaltation. The rich is to glory or boast or brag in his humiliation. One is honored, one is humbled.
Now watch this. The lowly brother is brought high. The one who is high. is brought low. By what?
Trials. Have you noticed the trials? Are the great loveler The great equalizer. Whether you are poor or whether you are rich, they have the capacity to bring equality. You know, we often say that It's always level at the foot of the cross.
What we mean by that is all men are sinners, all have to come the same way.
So none are higher, none are lower. At the foot of the cross, all can be forgiven.
So the ground is level. At the foot of the cross, I would also say. that the ground is level in the field of suffering. It's, you might have different trials than other people, but they're trials nonetheless. They're common to all.
So he tells both of them to glory.
Now, let's go to the poor, brother, and ask the question: why should the poor rejoice? What does he have to rejoice in?
Well, very simple, and you can answer this. You already know the answer to this. The poor believer rejoices. Because no matter how poor he is, he's still a believer.
So he's a child of God. That means he will inherit the birthright of a child of God. That means he will rule and reign with Christ. Romans 8, 16 and 17, Paul says, if we are children, then heirs. Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we also may be glorified.
together. Then in the very next verse He says, For I consider. That the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory. That will be revealed in us.
So you may be poor. Right now, you may be suffering a period of extreme poverty. I just want to say that you're Poverty is a short-lived trial. It will only last during this life. Hopefully, it won't even last your whole life.
Hopefully, you'll be able to get out of it. But if you stay poor your whole life, it's still, when you compare that to eternity, a very short-lived trial. In eternity, you will rule and reign.
Now, something else about Poverty, James is writing to a group who mostly are poor. There's a few rich, but mostly poor.
Okay. Jesus also. Most of the people he ministered to were. Poor people. common people.
He said, I have come, and he read Isaiah, he said, to preach the gospel to the poor. And he said in the Beatitudes, Blessed are the poor in spirit. And Luke's rendition is just, blessed are the poor. And there were many poor people that Hung on every word when he was in the synagogue in the Gospel of Mark. And people were around, and Jesus was there, and he spoke.
It says, and the common people. Heard him gladly. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before you go, don't forget to request this month's featured resource, Adulting, a study through the book of James, Pastor Skip's 21 Message Series that gives you straight talk from Scripture about how to grow in spiritual maturity and live out your faith in the real world. Adulting is our thanks for your generous gift of fifty dollars or more to help share God's Word with more people.
Call 800-922-8888 or visit connectwithskift.com/slash offer. And while you're there, sign up for Skip's weekly devotional emails and get a free download of a chapter of Skip's The Biography of God. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection! Make a connection, never fool.
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