Bible Study - Pressure Points - Retaliation - James 5:1-11 - October 6, 2013
Bible Study – Pressure Points – Retaliation –
October 6, 2013
This is lesson six and the final lesson in our
series entitled “Pressure Points.”
Our scripture is James 5:1-11.
We have covered a lot of territory exploring the
measure of Spiritual maturity based upon how we encounter and respond to
various life issues as we live in this world as Christians. The only way to grow
and become more Spiritually mature as a Christian is to yield your will to
CHRIST. Christians have control of their lives and choose whether or not to allow
the Holy Spirit to lead, guide and direct them.
Spiritually mature Christians deal openly and honestly
with GOD as they encounter various issues in their lives. They seek HIS wisdom
and help as they journey through life. GOD desires for every Christian to have
a personal, intimate relationship with HIM through his or her relationship with
CHRIST. HE is our Savior but HIS desire is to be our very best friend. That
requires another level of commitment and submission and involves the will.
Life is not easy and neither is walking in the light
of HIS presence on a daily basis. It is not an easy journey but it is an
awesome journey. GOD through CHRIST takes every step with us. HE will never
leave us or forsake us because we are HIS children. Just as any loving and
caring Father, HE disciplines HIS children.
The Level Of Our Christian Maturity Is Revealed When
And How We, As Christians, Respond To The Issues Of Life:
-
Trials
-
Temptations
-
Partiality
-
Tongue/Words
-
Conflict
-
Retaliation
These
are some of the issues in the lives of Christians which GOD uses to reveal and
measure our Spiritual maturity. Who do we rely upon when we encounter the
issues of life, ourselves or do we seek wisdom from GOD? Who is the source of
wisdom? Do we trust GOD to take care of the issues and trust HIS counsel when
HE leads us to take action or no action?
We
need to keep in mind that the Jews thought that those who had wealth were being
blessed by GOD. James addressed envy and coveting in our earlier study and it
is likely those without material wealth believed that GOD was punishing them. James
reminded them that they are rich in the Lord and their heavenly reward was
secure. In the meantime, the Christians, who envied or coveted, were to look to
CHRIST as their hope and, as stated in James 1:2-4:
2
Consider it a great joy, my • brothers, whenever you experience various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 But endurance
must do its complete work, so that you
may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
When
Christians can naturally “consider it great joy” when they experience various
trials, it reveals Spiritual maturity. Christians must be careful not to fake
it because they are only fooling themselves. Keep in mind GOD knows our hearts.
Spiritual maturity does not happen overnight. It is a journey.
James
admonished Christians to look to their hope in CHRIST and not to material
wealth because material wealth often blocked the path to Spiritual maturity.
Having wealth is not the problem, it is how we use or don’t use our wealth.
Let’s
explore!
Let’s read James 5:1-6: GOD’S Rebuke of Oppression.
Warning to the Rich
1 Come now, you rich people! Weep and wail over the
miseries that are coming on you. 2 Your wealth is ruined and your clothes are
moth-eaten. 3 Your silver and gold are corroded, and their corrosion will be a
witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You stored up treasure
in the last days! 4 Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who reaped
your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of
the Lord of • Hosts. 5 You have lived luxuriously on the land and have indulged
yourselves. You have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter. 6 You have
condemned—you have murdered —the righteous man; he does not resist you.
Some Bible scholars believe James was addressing his
remarks to the rich non-Christians. I tend to include the rich Christians but
quickly add that I know and have known many materially wealthy Christians who
used the resources which GOD had provided to quietly and obediently use them
for HIS glory. They were humble servants of the LORD. Unless you were in a
position to know what these people did for others, you would not know because they
did not let their left hand know what their right hand was doing. They were
humble and obedient servants.
As we study what James wrote, it does not mean that
because Christians are rich that bad things are going to happen to them. It
does mean that when the rich, Christian or non-Christian, rely upon their
riches and fail to trust GOD, there is a major problem with their spiritual
hearts. The Christian needs to be obedient and trust the Lord and the
non-Christian needs to receive CHRIST as his/her Savior.
JESUS said it best in Mark 8:34-38:
34 Summoning the crowd along with His disciples, He
said to them, “If anyone wants to be My follower, he must deny himself, take up
his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever wants to save his • life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life because of Me and the gospel will save it. 36 For what does it benefit a man to gain
the whole world yet lose his life? 37 What can a man give in exchange for
his life? 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous
and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes
in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
The rich need to consider their material wealth in comparison to their Spiritual wealth. Is their Spiritual wealth ruined, their clothes moth-eaten, their silver and gold corroded? Hoarding and relying upon physical wealth for themselves will be a witness against them when GOD hands out the rewards in heaven. Materially rich Christians are to use their wealth as GOD leads them by the indwelling Holy Spirit. The blessings of GOD are not to be hoarded but used as the Holy Spirit leads them.
Where is our heart? Our actions reveal the attitude
of our hearts toward GOD. Here we have to be careful. Do we do good works as a
natural out flow of being led by the Holy Spirit or to show our Spirituality?
Do we do what we do because GOD leads us or our ego has led us?
The rich try every scheme to cheat others so they
can have more. They forget that GOD is observing all that goes on upon earth
and that HE also sees the attitude of the heart. Yes, the rich are powerful but
in the end, GOD is more powerful and the rich are accountable to HIM. There
will be payday someday. The righteous common person cannot stand against the
power of the rich but one day there will be an accounting by GOD.
The materially poor righteous people can become
discouraged when they consider their needs and those having material wealth
seemingly getting away with unscrupulous practices. James gives them hope
through CHRIST.
Who should be the best, most honest and productive
worker? It should be the Christian. When the honest, hard working, faithful
Christian does his/her job as it should be done but the rich cheat him/her it
murders his/her will. Look at our world and those who are or were depending
upon a certain retirement only to discover that it has been misused or
pilfered. Yet the CEO gets a fat bonus for being a crook or inept in running
the business.
I grew up in the day, when a person’s word was
his/her bond. Today, it is all about me and what can I accumulate for myself
and not being accountable. Keep in mind there will be payday some day. We are all
accountable to GOD. GOD is being relegated to a myth or lumped in with other
gods. Keep in mind there will be payday some day and that day is but a
heartbeat away.
Let’s read James 5:7-8: Endure Oppression.
Waiting for the Lord
7 Therefore, • brothers, be patient until the Lord’s
coming. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is
patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also must
be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
James reminded his Christian brothers and sisters to
be patient. The Greek word used for “patient” means for a person to maintain
his/her feelings and delay taking action in anger. Do not take matters into
your hands in anger but pray about it, seek wisdom from GOD and be patient
because the Lord’s coming. HE is the final judge.
James used an example of the patience of the farmer
who has planted his seeds or seedlings and must wait until the proper
conditions take place e.g. soil temperature, water, fertilizer, etc. and allow
the seeds to sprout or the seedlings to grow and bear fruit. There is an
orderly process, which produces a product.
So James, in essence, was saying, “Likewise,
Christians, live your lives as unto the Lord and be patient and do not become
discouraged because the Lord’s coming is near.” Those who have been steadfast
and faithful unto the Lord, their reward has been deposited into the heavenly
treasury because we do not retaliate in anger. Again, James used the word
“patient”, which means a person is to keep his/her focus upon GOD and delay
taking action or retaliating in anger.
There
are circumstances which arise in our lives which require our immediate response
and we all need wisdom from GOD in these situations. James is not addressing
these circumstances.
Let’s read James 5:9-11: Avoid Retaliation.
9 Brothers, do not complain about one another, so
that you will not be judged. Look, the judge stands at the door! 10 Brothers,
take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name as an example of suffering and
patience. 11 See, we count as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of
Job’s endurance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is very
compassionate and merciful.
James admonished his Christian brothers and sisters,
while they were waiting, not to complain. GOD will be the just judge because HE
judges the heart. Complaining is not trusting GOD. James encouraged them to
keep their eyes, hearts and minds focused upon CHRIST and HIS second coming.
This life upon earth will pass away but heaven is for eternity.
Complaining is a form of judgment and the person
complaining may not know all the facts. It is often easy to complain or have a
bad attitude toward those who have material wealth because they seem not to
reflect GOD in their lives or business practices. James reminds us all that JESUS
is already standing at the door poised to return to earth and HE will judge all.
HE will not judge Christians regarding their salvation but HE will judge their
obedience to GOD. CHRIST’S judgment will be to reward those who have been
faithful and obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
James reminded his brothers and sisters in CHRIST to
keep in mind how the prophets waited for GOD to take action to fulfill certain
prophecy or for the coming of the Messiah. Things around them seemingly did not
change. People went about their usual business failing to heed the message from
GOD but in due time judgment came and the Messiah came. The prophets endured
and so do Christians need to endure while waiting for CHRIST to return.
The word used for “endure” means to “to stand firm”,
“to persevere” or to “to be steadfast.” In the context, which James used the
word “endure”, was for Christians to remain steadfast in their hope and
assurance of CHRIST’S second coming.
Hebrews 10:30-31:
30 For we know the One who has said, Vengeance
belongs to Me, I will repay, and again, The Lord will judge His people. 31 It
is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!
Christians are not to get caught up in judging
others but to know that there will be “payday one day.” If they take their eyes
off of JESUS and get caught up judging others, they will not be obedient to the
leadership of the Holy Spirit in their lives and lose the rewards which could
be accrued to them.
James stated, “You have heard of Job’s endurance and
have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is very compassionate and
merciful.”
Job remained faithful during his period of being
tested. We often hear the statement “the patience of Job” but Job was not
patient but Job remained faithful. In the end GOD restored what Job lost.
The statement that follows is awesome. “The Lord is
very compassionate and merciful.” These words give us an opportunity to see the
heart of GOD. The unchanging nature and character of GOD is revealed in HIS
love, patience, compassion and mercy.
We see in Exodus 34:5-6: (GOD revealed HIS nature to
Moses.)
5 The Lord came down in a cloud, stood with him
there, and proclaimed His name • Yahweh. 6 Then the Lord passed in front of him
and proclaimed: Yahweh —Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to
anger and rich in faithful love and truth,
What is compassion? Compassion is an attitude and
characteristic coming from within a person. Compassion is sourced in the
“heart” or very core of a person. It reflects the composite true nature of the
person. The beauty of GOD is that HE not only has compassion but HE is full of compassion.
Having compassion is one thing but the critical
point is what do we do with it? Compassion is internal and at the very core of
a person but mercy is compassion in action. Mercy is reaching out to put
compassion to work. That is the character and nature of GOD. HE is full of
compassion and reaches out to all with HIS mercy. HE reaches out to every
person that is lost or in need. HE reaches out to all who seek a personal
relationship with HIM through CHRIST.
I think John 3:16-17 captures the heart of GOD
toward mankind:
16 “For God loved the world •in this way: He gave
His •One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but
have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world that He might
condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
Have you asked CHRIST to forgive you for your sins
and to come into your heart? If not, now is your opportunity to receive CHRIST
as your Savior and to receive eternal life, the miracle of rebirth as a child
of GOD, the indwelling Holy Spirit and citizenship in heaven and much more.
If you are a Christian, are you a Spiritually mature
Christian? Have you been sitting on the fence of indecision? JESUS said it best
in Revelation 3:15-21:
15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor
hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and
neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you
say, ‘I’m rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,’ and you don’t know
that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, 18 I advise you to buy
from Me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich, white clothes so that
you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed, and ointment to
spread on your eyes so that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline.
So be committed and repent. 20 Listen! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone
hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and have dinner with
him, and he with Me. 21 The victor: I will give him the right to sit with Me on
My throne, just as I also won the victory and sat down with My Father on His
throne.
There will be payday some day. Blessings!!!
posted by Bible Study | 3:36 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home