Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: JAMES #6 - 4:13-5:6)
III. 4:13-5:6 CONDEMNATION FOR THE SELF-WILLED AND RICH
1. 4:13-17 HEAVY CENSURE UPON THE SELF-WILLED
a. 4:13-14a MAN’S PLANS APART FROM GOD: CONDEMNED
Age nun, hoi LEgon-tes, SEme-ron e AUri-on po-reuSOme-tha eis TENde ten POlin,
Come now, youthat say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into this :city,
kai poiEso-men eKEI e-ni-auTON, kai em-po-reuSOme-tha [1710], kai kerDEso-men [2770]:
and spend a year there, and trade, and getgain:
HOIti-nes ouk ePIstas-the tes AUri-on POIa hezo-E huMON.
14 whereas you know not what is your :life on the morrow.
b. 4:14b For you are a vapor that appears for a little, and then disappears.
atMIS GAR es-te pros oLIgon phai-noMEne[5316], Epei-ta kai a-pha-ni-zoMEne[853].
c. 4:15 Instead of your saying, If the Lord will, we shall both live, and do this or that.
anTI tou LEgein huMAS, E-AN ho KUri-os THEle, kai ZEso-men, kai poiEso-men TOUto eeKEIno.
d. 4:16 But now you glory in your :vauntings: all such glorying is evil.
nun de kauCHASthe en tais a-la-zoNIais huMON: PAsa KAUche-sis toiAUtepo-neRA es-tin.
e. 4:17 To him therefore that knows to do good, and does not, to him it is sin.
eiDOti oun kaLON poiEIN, kai mepoiOUNti,ha-marTIa [266]auTOes-tin.
2. 5:1-6 HEAVY CENSURE ON THE LUXURIOUS-RICH
a. 5:1 Come now, the rich, weep andhowl for your :miseries that are coming on.
Age nun, hoi PLOUsi-oi, KLAUsa-te o-loLUzon-tesePI tais ta-lai-poRIais huMON tais e-per-choMEnais.
b. 5:2 Your :riches are corrupted, and your :garments are moth-eaten.
ho PLOUtos huMON SEse-pen [4595], kai ta hiMAti-a huMON seTObro-ta GEgo-nen.
c. 5:3a CORRUPTED AND USELESS RICHES WILL BURN ONE’S CONSCIENCE
ho chruSOS huMON kai ho ARgu-ros kaTIo-tai [2728];
Your :gold and your :silver is rusted;
kai ho iOS auTON eis marTUri-on huMIN EStai, kai PHAge-tai tas SARkas huMON hos pur.
and their :rust shall be for a testimony against you, and shall eat your :flesh as fire.
d. 5:3b You have laid up treasure in thelast days.
e-the-sauRIsa-te [2343]en esCHAtais heMErais.
e. 5:4 GOD HEARS THE CRY OF RICHES WITHHELD FROM RIGHTFUL OWNERS
iDOU, ho misTHOS ton er-gaTON ton a-meSANton [270]tas CHOras huMON,
Lo, the hire of the laborers who mowed your lands,
ho a-pe-ste-reMEnos [650]aph’ huMON, KRAzei [2896]: kai hai boAI [994]ton the-riSANton
which is of you kept back, cries out: and the cries of them that reaped
eis ta Ota KuRIou Sa-baOTH [4519]ei-se-leLUthan.
have entered into the ears of theLord of Sabaoth.
f. 5:5 THE RICH CONSUME RICHES ON LUXURIOUS LUSTS
e-truPHEsa-te [5171]ePI tes ges kai es-pa-taLEsa-te [4684];
You have lived delicately on the earth and have taken pleasure;
ethREpsa-te [5142]tas karDIas huMON en heMEra sphaGES [4967].
you have nourished your :hearts in a day of slaughter.
g. 5:6 You have condemned, have killed the righteous One; he does not resist you.
ka-te-diKAsa-te [2613], e-phoNEUsa-te [5407]ton DIkai-on; ouk an-tiTASse-tai [498]huMIN.
NOTE: There are two sins that the Holy Spirit through James takes special note of: -- the self-willed and the illegitimate rich! In various ways and illustrations James makes his point abundantly clear.
Jesus makes use of one of his parables to make the same point – the foolish rich man who built more and bigger barns in which to hoard his riches. Jesus called him a Fool!
And those who refuse to surrender their will to Jesus and make Him their Supreme Lord! – they too put this life and self-pleasure above the value of eternity. Our present life is so short – and eternity is so long. Howcan individuals be so foolish not to see this? Why is it they refuse to live with “Eternity’s Values in View”?
So James in this short letter takes the opportunity to emphasize the foolishness of these two short-sighted views.
See people like George Muller, Oswald Chambers, Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur, Mother Basilea Schlink of Darmstadt, Germany, Rees Howells of Wales – and many others – who are examples for us of the wiseand rightway.
And – thisis the way that JesusHimself has laid out for us in His 33 years of earthly life.
May then this part of the letter of James bear much fruit in many lives. J.A.W.