Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
“CONDEMNATION FOR THE SELF-WILLED AND RICH”
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,
Come now, you that say,
SEme-ron e AUri-on po-reuSOme-tha eis TENde ten POlin,
To-day or to-morrow we will go into this :city,
kai poiEso-men eKEI e-ni-auTON, kai em-po-reuSOme-tha [1710],
and spend a year there, and trade,
kai kerDEso-men [2770]:
and get gain:
HOIti-nes ouk ePIstas-the tes AUri-on POIa he zoE huMON.
14 whereas you know not what is your :life on the morrow.
b. 4:14b REASON: MAN’S LIFE BUT A VAPOR
atMIS gar es-te pros oLIgon phai-noMEne [5316],
For you are a vapor that appears for a little,
Epei-ta kai a-pha-ni-zoMEne [853].
and then disappears.
c. 4:15 PROPER RESPONSE: GIVE GOD AN OPPORTUNITY TO OVERRULE!
anTI tou LEgein huMAS, E-AN ho KUri-os THEle [2309],
Instead of your saying, If the Lord will,
kai ZEso-men, kai poiEso-men TOUto e eKEIno.
we shall both live, and do this or that.
d. 4:16 SELF-WILL IS EVIL
nun de kauCHASthe [2744] en tais a-la-zoNIais [212] huMON:
But now you glory in your :vauntings:
PAsa KAUche-sis toiAUte po-neRA [4190] es-tin.
all such glorying is evil.
e. 4:17 STUBBORN REJECTION OF THE GOOD WAY IS SIN!
eiDOti oun kaLON poiEIN, kai me poiOUNti,
To him therefore that knows to do good, and does not,
ha-marTIa [266] auTO es-tin.
to him it is sin.
2. 5:1-6 HEAVY CENSURE ON THE LUXURIOUS-RICH
a. 5:1 LET THE RICH SEE THE END OF THEIR RICHES
Age nun, hoi PLOUsi-oi, KLAUsa-te [2799] o-loLUzon-tes [3649]
Come now, the rich, weep and howl
ePI tais ta-lai-poRIais [5004] huMON tais e-per-choMEnais.
for your :miseries that are coming on.
b. 5:2 RICHES AND GARMENTS DISINTEGRATE
ho PLOUtos huMON SEse-pen [4595],
Your :riches are corrupted,
kai ta hiMAti-a huMON seTObro-ta GEgo-nen.
and your :garments are moth-eaten.
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 [2447] auTON eis marTUri-on huMIN EStai,
and their :rust shall be for a testimony against you,
kai PHAge-tai [5315] tas SARkas huMON hos pur [4442].
and shall eat your :flesh as fire.
d. 5:3b THE RICH LAY UP TREASURES
e-the-sauRIsa-te [2343] en esCHAtais heMErais.
You have laid up treasure in the last days.
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]:
which is of you kept back, cries out:
kai hai boAI [994] ton the-riSANton
and the cries of them that reaped
eis ta Ota KuRIou Sa-baOTH [4519] ei-se-leLUthan.
have entered into the ears of the Lord 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 THE RICH EVEN MURDERED THE UNRESISTING SON OF GOD
ka-te-diKAsa-te [2613], e-phoNEUsa-te [5407] ton DIkai-on;
You have condemned, have killed the righteous One;
ouk an-tiTASse-tai [498] huMIN.
he does not resist you.
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. HOW can 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 WISE and RIGHT way.
And – THIS is the way that JESUS Himself 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.