Faithful Character In Crisis: Boasting & Wealth
Tim Rice
November 4, 2020

James 4:13-5:6 (ESV)

4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. … 5:1 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.

Intro: Why is it so difficult to consider the dangers of greed?

GOD’S TOTAL OWNERSHIP
How is the LORD unique? Only He can say of everything, “That’s mine.”

PRIDEFUL DELUSION
What is a delusion?

HOPEFUL REDEMPTION
Why can we be hopeful in who Jesus is and what He’s done?

YOU CAN PRAY WITH US …
1 - Worship the LORD, for His holiness as Owner of all people and all things, including us. Praise Him, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that He is willing to claim us as His own children, and that He gives Himself for us.

2 - How do you live indifferent to the needs of people in your life while you chase more for yourself? Confess your lovelessness to Jesus, asking Him to forgive you and heal your heart – not only to love Him but to love His people as well.

3 - Give thanks to Jesus for enduring miseries and murder, to save us. Thank Him for being the Treasure that we can’t afford, yet worth all we have and more – and that indwelling us, He is the Treasure in the jar of clay.

4 - Who do you know that is isolated and greedy (and it may be you)? Pray for them asking the Lord to break through their selfishness and the foolishness that comes with not opening your heart to anyone else.

5 - Ask the Holy Spirit to grow you in generosity, and to enlarge your faith in His power to transform you. Pray for discernment and perspective to see God for Who He is, earthly things for what they are, and people for who they are.