James 1:9-12

Introduction

Thank you for joining us today for our second study in the book of James. If you found this video and you didn’t watch the first study, you might pause here and go back and find the video, which we’re studied the first eight verses of James chapter one. But today in our second study, we’re going to look at verses 9 through 12 of James chapter 1. The first thing we notice in verse 9 and 10 is that James is addressing two classes of people. He refers to the lowly and the rich.

1. Let the Lowly Brother Glory in His Exaltation

And he’s talking here specifically to lowly Christians. The term lowly set in opposition to the word rich, also leads us to the conclusion that lowly here means poor. So he’s talking to the poor Christians among them. Now, we might try to figure out are these Christians poor simply because, as we read elsewhere in the Gospels and the Epistles, that the gospel will many times have a greater appeal to those who are poor or downtrodden. Or is their poverty a result of their Christianity? We noticed in yesterday’s video that James had told them to count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. Was one of the trials that they were undergoing, the fact that they had been persecuted financially because of their Christian faith.

We know historically that this is often the case, that Christians weren’t only beaten or imprisoned, but they may have lost their jobs, or if they were a vendor in the marketplace, they may have been blackballed because of their faith, and so their poverty may have come as a result of Christian persecution. But either case, he’s addressing the lowly or the poor brethren in their midst. Now, the second class of people he simply identifies as the rich.

Are not Christians. For example, when we get over to chapter 5, and James addresses the rich there, the use of his language and his condemnation of the rich in chapter 5 lead us to the conclusion that those rich people weren’t Christians. In fact, they were ones who were oppressing and persecuting these poor Christians. But in our context this day, in chapter 1, verses 9 and 10, is that who he’s talking about? Is he talking about the rich non Christians or the rich Christians? Well, let’s look how that and determining that will kind of make a difference in how we interpret this verse. And so he says in verse 9, let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation. So here the poor Christian who is being humbled because of his poverty, who does not experience and enjoy the trappings of this life and the power and the position that wealth brings along with it, that they have something to boast about or to glory in, and that is their exaltation, not their physical or financial exaltation, but obviously it would be their exaltation in Christ.

That in Christ Jesus, in their faith and in their Christianity, they have found true wealth.

The savages of time or of thievery, but will last for an eternity. And so though you may be poor, though you may not have the things of this life, if you’re a Christian, you have something to glory in, in the fact that you have been elevated in the true riches that will last for an eternity. And so it might do as well now to just pause and to count our blessings. And today, at least, for this exercise, don’t count your physical blessings, although there are many. But just think about the exaltation that you have in Christ. Think about the spiritual blessings, the blessings of greater value and of greater longevity that you can glory in.

2. But the Rich in His Humiliation

As opposed to, in verse 10, but the rich in his humiliation. Now, if he’s talking about rich Christians, then he may be saying that these rich Christians have come to understand that their physical or financial wealth is not where true value is found. And so by becoming a Christian, they’ve learned the true value of spiritual things. And though they may have in the past trusted in their riches and in their posit position in life, they’ve come to the realization in coming into Christ that they have been brought low and to understand that they shouldn’t put trust in themselves or in the things of this life. But if by rich he means the rich that we’re going to read about in chapter 5, the non-Christians, and actually the oppressors, then he is saying that the rich are being humiliated, or at least will be humiliated.

In the day of judgment, they will learn that the things of this life that they trusted in, that they put power in, that the position and the wealth that they had that they lorded over others and abused others in their position in their wealth means nothing. And they will be humiliated in that judgment. And the poor who are hearing this can take comfort in the fact that though they may be humiliated now in their poverty and in their low position, that their exaltation is coming. But either way, he’s elevating the poor Christian and lowering the rich who may have trusted in his wealth and his position.

3. The Rich Will Pass Away Like the Flower

Illustration, the flower of the field. That this flower that’s growing up and is beautiful to look at and is to be esteemed, isn’t going to last. The prettiest of flowers only last for a short season. I think about giving or receiving roses as a gift, as pretty as that bouquet of dozen roses looks, we all know that at best it’s going to last a few days, and then it’ll wither away and die, and it will be, though it had been exalted, it will be humiliated. And he says, That’s the rich person. Now notice that he doesn’t say that the riches will pass away, but that the rich person will pass away. Now certainly the riches will pass away as well. Jesus said that in his statement on the Sermon on the Mount, where he said, The treasures of this earth, rust and corrupt.

But his emphasis here is not upon the wealth itself, but upon the wealthy person, that he will pass away. So whether his riches continue or not doesn’t matter because the rich man now can enjoy that wealth. No longer holds that position. We can’t help but think here at the story that Jesus told about the rich man and Lazarus, of how the rich man fared sumptuously and enjoyed all the trappings of this life and its wealth and his position, and that beggar Lazarus, who sat on the floor underneath that table to just catch the crumbs that would fall off. But when they both passed away, how their position in life had been exchanged. Lazarus, the poor beggar, was now exalted, and the rich man was now humiliated as he stood there in torture.

And so the rich need to consider that they will pass away. He furthers that illustration in verse 11 by saying, For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat that it withers the grass, its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. Now, while I won’t be dogmatic about it, this verse really leads me to the conclusion that the rich man here is not the Christian. It’s not a Christian who’s obeyed the gospel and understood that his wealth no longer carries with it the importance that it used to. But rather that he’s talking about the ungodly rich. Because first of all, he doesn’t he refers to the lowly brother, but doesn’t reference the rich person as brother.

He speaks of a humiliation. He speaks of the fact that this rich man will pass away. He also refuses the term perishes and fade away. All of these negative terms leads me to the conclusion that probably the rich person here is not a rich Christian, but the rich of the world who are oppressing the lowly brothers. In other words, the same rich that we read about in chapter 5. In fact, I encourage you maybe to pause this video or after the video to take your time and go over to James chapter 5 and read the first six verses.

Again, all of that is negative. And reminding, maybe not even reminding the rich person. Maybe all of this is being said in the ears of the lowly person. And maybe this is a part of this exaltation, is that the poor Christian can remember, though he may not have all of this beauty of this life, like the rich do, that it doesn’t matter because all of this is going to wither, it’s going to fall, it’s going to perish, and it’s going to fade away. That’s the exaltation of the lowly brother when he finally sees things through the eyes of eternity, that the things of this life that he doesn’t have, don’t really matter, that he has the true wealth in his faith and his hope in Jesus Christ.

4. Blessed Is the Man Who Endures Temptation

Now in verse 12, famously he says, Blessed is the man who endures temptation. For when he has been proved, he’ll receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those that love him. Well, let’s first talk about this temptation. This temptation may be the one of the various trials that he talked about in verse 2. Or it may be the result of those various trials. Trials, whether they be persecution or whether they be just looking at the inequity of life, can lead us to temptation, can challenge our faith and maybe even tempt us to give up our faith and our trust in God, because after all, life’s not fair. It’s not fair that I’m living a good godly life and I’m poor and downtrodden.

And here’s this ungodly man who’s enjoying all the wealth of this world. And that might tempt me to lose my faith. And so he says, Blessed is the man who endures temptation. The idea of counting it all joy in our various trials, the idea of being exalted in our lowly status, will cause us to endure the temptations of this life. Blessed is the man who endures temptation. For when he has been proved, now he’s proved when he endures the temptation.

And so temptation, like trials that he had stated earlier in verse 2, maybe have their positive points.

5. The Crown of Life Promised to Those Who Love Him

But temptation, though it is a tool of Satan, the tool of this world to induce us to sin and pull us away from our Heavenly Father, it can be viewed in some way as a positive, because when I have endured that temptation, when I have proved my faith in God, that I’ll receive the crown of life. Now, maybe this crown of life is attached to the idea of the exaltation that he talked about in verse 9. Here is our exhibition. When we receive that crown of life, you may have heard before in Bible studies that there are two types of crown. The one that we think of most may be the crown of royalty, a crown that a queen or a king would wear that would speak to their status as royalty.

But then there was also the crown that was a trophy, a reward given, usually in like an athletic pursuit. If you won the race, you received a crown as your trophy. Well, that’s the crown that’s being talked about here.

You’ll receive the reward or your crown, which in this case is life, that is immortality. And that certainly is an exaltation. Though you didn’t receive the crown in this life, you’ll receive the crown of life, which will exalt you to eternal glory.

It’s first promise to those who endure temptation. But then he goes on to say that that crown has already been promised to those who love God. I don’t think that’s two different classes of people. I think he is by discussing the crown of life, he’s attaching these two concepts and these two groups of people. In other words, the one who endures temptation is the same one who loves God. And they will receive the crown of life. Is this a clue? Is this a hint from James into how to endure temptation? That if we love God more than we love sin, if we love God more than we love this world and the things of this world, that will help us and cause us to endure temptation.

Conclusion

I think that’s what he’s saying. That temptation is always a choice. Do I choose the passing pleasures of sin? Or do I choose God and the way of God? If I love God, I’ll endure temptation. I’ll be proved, and I’ll receive that crown of immortal life. And though I may be a lowly brother in this life, I’ll be exalted with eternal glory. I can’t wait.

God bless you.