James 5
Hi ! Today’s Bible Study is James, chapter 5. It begins warning the rich who trust in riches to save them instead of God.
“1. Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
4. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
5. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
6. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.”
I think “the rich” that James was referring to were noblemen, government officials, religious officials, the wealthy landowners and slave holders of his day. They who had power to affect many lives through their edicts and behaviors. They who believed that they didn’t need God because their wealth would protect them from any harm.
Their modern day counterparts run multinational corporations, are government and religious officials, own hotel chains and apartment buildings, oil companies, drug companies or cartels,etc. Many of the individuals who make up these entities still believe that they will always be protected by their wealth. They still, by law and precept, routinely mistreat and abuse wage earners, home buyers, voters, consumers, children, and any one they can with lies, deceit, fraud and murder. They’re heaping up treasure for the last days. I wonder who will get it?
God hears and answers the cries of the oppressed.
“7. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
8. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
9. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
10. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
11. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.”
We live in a world with instant food, instant communication, and instant gratification. Patience seems hard, but farmers still wait months for crops to mature, and prophets of old often waited years for God’s promises to them to be fulfilled. They remained faithful to God through adversity, and so can we. When we endure, and see the end of the Lord, we’re gonna be well blessed.
“12. But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.
13. Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
14. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”
We tend to take our very foul mouths lightly, even thinking it’s cool to be profane. Never swear or curse because we’ll condemn ourselves. That literally means we send ourselves to hell. We are to pray when we’re down, and sing psalms when we’re happy. And call for the elders of the church to pray and anoint us in Jesus’ name when we’re sick. The Lord will raise us up and forgive our sins. Cursing in our troubles will kill us eternally.
“16. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
17. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
18. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
19. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
20. Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”
Be righteous people, and pray fervently for the people whose lives you touch everyday. Convert sinners to Christ, and change the world one soul at a time.
_________________________________________________
Karon D. Webster is a caregiver and affiliate marketer.
_______________
Sex, 13 Common Lies, and The Truth from God's Word now available on Amazon!
Hi ! Today’s Bible Study is James, chapter 5. It begins warning the rich who trust in riches to save them instead of God.
“1. Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
4. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
5. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
6. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.”
I think “the rich” that James was referring to were noblemen, government officials, religious officials, the wealthy landowners and slave holders of his day. They who had power to affect many lives through their edicts and behaviors. They who believed that they didn’t need God because their wealth would protect them from any harm.
Their modern day counterparts run multinational corporations, are government and religious officials, own hotel chains and apartment buildings, oil companies, drug companies or cartels,etc. Many of the individuals who make up these entities still believe that they will always be protected by their wealth. They still, by law and precept, routinely mistreat and abuse wage earners, home buyers, voters, consumers, children, and any one they can with lies, deceit, fraud and murder. They’re heaping up treasure for the last days. I wonder who will get it?
God hears and answers the cries of the oppressed.
“7. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
8. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
9. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
10. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
11. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.”
We live in a world with instant food, instant communication, and instant gratification. Patience seems hard, but farmers still wait months for crops to mature, and prophets of old often waited years for God’s promises to them to be fulfilled. They remained faithful to God through adversity, and so can we. When we endure, and see the end of the Lord, we’re gonna be well blessed.
“12. But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.
13. Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
14. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”
We tend to take our very foul mouths lightly, even thinking it’s cool to be profane. Never swear or curse because we’ll condemn ourselves. That literally means we send ourselves to hell. We are to pray when we’re down, and sing psalms when we’re happy. And call for the elders of the church to pray and anoint us in Jesus’ name when we’re sick. The Lord will raise us up and forgive our sins. Cursing in our troubles will kill us eternally.
“16. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
17. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
18. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
19. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
20. Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”
Be righteous people, and pray fervently for the people whose lives you touch everyday. Convert sinners to Christ, and change the world one soul at a time.
_________________________________________________
Karon D. Webster is a caregiver and affiliate marketer.
_______________
Sex, 13 Common Lies, and The Truth from God's Word now available on Amazon!
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