James 5:1-6

1-3 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire.

-If you are reading this, you are rich compared to the rest of the world.
-rich= ”Those who have more than they need” McArthur
-Proverbs 11:21 Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf
-1 Timothy 6:9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
-Job 21:13 They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol. (Hell)

Questions for Application: Do I now see myself as rich?
                                                             Have my riches caused me to fall into any kind of sin?

3b You have laid up treasure in the last days.

-Matthew 6:19-20 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
-”Money is not the problem. Christians need money to live and support their families. Missionaries need money to spread the good news. Churches need money to do their work effectively. It is the love of money that leads to evil.” Life App Bible
- 1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
-Message version verse 3: Your greedy luxuries are a cancer in your gut, destroying your life from within. You thought you were piling up wealth. What you've piled up is judgment.

?: Have I “laid up anything” that I am not willing to give to God if He asked me to?

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.

-gaining wealth or status by defrauding workers or neighbors
-example: using gossip to get ahead

?: Have I sinned against anyone because of my treasure?
Do I need to make things right between us?


5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

-We must be careful not to live as if Jesus is never coming back. We must live every day as if He is coming back with balance. We must not use this as an excuse to be lazy. We must still work diligently as though we will need food for tomorrow.
-1 Timothy 5:6 but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.
- Jeremiah 12:3 But you, O LORD, know me; you see me, and test my heart toward you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter.
-Message version of verse 5: You've looted the earth and lived it up. But all you'll have to show for it is a fatter than usual corpse.

?: Ask God, “Know me, test my heart toward you” reveal any sin in my life.
In what ways am I self indulgent?

 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

-Romans 2:5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
-James 4:2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.

-Sin’s downward spiral in this passage: Hoarding up treasure led to fraud then over indulgence and then to murder. Sin will always drag a person into more and more sin. Sin someone thgouht they would never commit becomes easy for them because they have allowed Satan to have a stronghold in their heart. The good news is that Jesus is always ready and willing to “take back” and forgive the repentant believer.

-”Sin always takes us farther than we want to go and keeps us longer than we want to stay.” -Bob Pitman
-”Verses 1-6 are a good reminder to all Christians who are temped to adopt worldly standards instead of godly ones.”LAB
Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

?: Has any sin in my life in the past taken me on a downward spiral to more sin? What happened? and Why do you not want to go back to that place?
Am I conformed in any way to the world’s standards instead of God’s?




I am just trying to gather my thoughts for bible study tomorrow night and thought I would post some of what I am learning. If you made it this far: Have a good day!! (: