Adult Bible Study Guide

Oct Nov Dec 2014

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Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Gu

An Appeal

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For honest Christians, it is not
necessary for anothers creation to be

Carlos Steger, Principal Contributor

The Book of James

Contents
1 James, the Lords Brother
2 The Perfection of Our Faith
3 Enduring Temptation
4 Being and Doing
5 Love and the Law
6 Faith That Works
7 Taming the Tongue
8 The Humanity of Heavenly
Wisdom
9 One Lawgiver and Judge
10 Weep and Howl!
11 Getting Ready for the Harvest
12 Prayer, Healing and Restoration

The Book of James

Our Goal

Our journey this quarter

spans the entire Christian

era, as it includes some of
the earliest preaching, as
well as special insights for
these last days.
Let us not miss these
insights.

The Book of James

Lesson 10, Dec 6

Weep and

Howl!

Weep and Howl!

Key Text

Matthew 6:21

For where your treasure

is, there will your heart be
also.

Weep and Howl!

Initial Words

Many people vicariously

enjoy the rags-to-riches

fantasy and probably hope it
could happen to them
someday.
But wealth isnt all that many
believe it to be. Increasing
income follows the law of
diminishing returns: beyond

Weep and Howl!

Quick Look

1. The Wealthys
Wretchedness
(James 5:1)
2. The Wealths
Worthlessness
(James 5:2, 3)
3. The Wealthys
Wickedness

Weep and Howl!

1. The Wealthys Wretchedness

James 5:1 NKJV

Come now,
you rich,
weep and
howl for your
miseries that
are coming
upon you!.

1. The Wealthys Wretchedness

Justice Will Be Done!

James 1:10, 11, reminded the

rich of the impermanence of

wealth. Chapter 5, urges those
who stubbornly hold on to it
to weep and howl. The vivid
description continues
throughout our passage
bringing to mind the divine
retribution for the wicked

1. The Wealthys Wretchedness

Justice Will Be Done!

A similar attitude permeates

Gods last-day church (Rev.
3:17).
Interestingly, the Greek word
translated as miseries in
James 5:1 comes from the
same root used to describe
Laodicea as wretched in
Revelation 3:17.

1. The Wealthys Wretchedness

Justice Will Be Done!

There is so much injustice in

the world, especially economic
injustice. Sometimes it is so
hard to understand why some
people get rich exploiting the
poor and seem to get away
with it!
We should do what we can to
alleviate injustice, while resting

Weep and Howl!

2. The Wealths Worthlessness

James 5:2, 3 NKJV

Your riches are corrupted,

and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver
are corroded, and their
corrosion will be a witness
against you and will eat your
flesh like fire.

2. The Wealths Worthlessness

Wrong Use

The worlds economic

situation always seems to be

going from one crisis to
another; even the good
times, when they come,
rarely last and are always
followed by a downturn.
Discontent and instability
grows as the disparity

2. The Wealths Worthlessness

Wrong Use

Money has its place;

the problem is when people put
it
in the wrong place.
Money will be a witness
against those who misuse it
(James 5:3). Though given in an
end-time context, the point
should be clear: how we use

2. The Wealths Worthlessness

Wrong Use

The image of flesh-consuming

fire is meant to wake us up to
the seriousness of the choices
we are making with our money.
Are we heaping up treasure
that
will ultimately be burned up,
or are we saving for eternity?
(See Luke 12:33, 34.)

Weep and Howl!

3. The Wealthys Wickedness

James 5:4-6 NKJV

Indeed the wages of the

laborers...
which you kept back by
fraud, cry out.... You have
lived on earth in pleasure and
luxury; you have fattened
your hearts as in a day of
slaughter.

3. The Wealthys Wickedness

Cries of the Poor

In Bible times, as soon as

wages were paid, many, if not

most, of the workers used
these earnings to buy food to
feed their families.
Withholding wages often
meant the family had to go
hungry.
For someone already rich to

3. The Wealthys Wickedness

Cries of the Poor

Riches bring with them great

responsibilities. To obtain
wealth by unjust dealing, by
overreaching in trade, by
oppressing the widow and the
fatherless, or by hoarding up
riches and neglecting the
wants of the needy, will
eventually bring the just

3. The Wealthys Wickedness

Fat and Happy (for Now)

In the ancient world, the

notion prevailed that there
was a fixed amount of wealth.
The rich can get richer only by
making the poor poorer. The
issue of wealth inequality still
rages today.
In the parable of the rich man
and Lazarus, the real focus is

3. The Wealthys Wickedness

Blame the Victim

When someone has done

wrong, the natural tendency is
to try to escape responsibility.
Often people try to do this by
transferring the responsibility
to someone elseincluding
the person who has been
wronged.

3. The Wealthys Wickedness

Blame the Victim

James never condemns the

rich simply because they are
rich. It is their attitudes and
actions that matter to God.
Similarly, the bare fact of
being economically poor does
not in itself endear a person to
God.
It is the poor in spirit and

Weep and Howl!

Final Words

Hoarded wealth is not merely

useless,
it is a curse. In this life it is a
snare to the soul, drawing the
affections away from the
heavenly treasure....
He who realizes that his
money is a talent from God
will use it eco- nomically, and