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Published: April 4, 2023, 7 a.m.

Welcome to Day 2129 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom James \u2013 Wisdom is Faith in Action 11 \u2013 Warnings To The Wealthy \u2013 Daily Wisdom Putnam Church message \u2013 11/21/2021 James: Wisdom is Faith In Action \u2013 Warnings To The Wealthy We are continuing our series today on the Proverbs of the New Testament, better known as the letter of James. \xa0Last week we focused on The Perils of Playing God, covering Warnings against Judging Others and Warnings About Self-Confidence. Today while we are focused on Thanksgiving, we will explore Warnings to the Wealthy and learn why wealth should not be our primary source of Thankfulness. \xa0So join me on pages 1884-5 in the pew bibles as I read the Scripture for today. I would recommend keeping this passage open as we go throughout the message today: James 5:1-6 Now listen,\xa0you rich people,\xa0weep and wail\xa0because of the misery that is coming on you.\xa0Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.\xa0Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.\xa0 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers\xa0who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries\xa0of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.\xa0 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves\xa0in the day of slaughter. \xa0You have condemned and murdered\xa0the innocent one,\xa0who was not opposing you. \xa0 \xa0 Let me take you back about 100 years.\xa0 In 1923, an elite group of businessmen met at the luxurious Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. The roster included some of the early twentieth century's most influential, famous, and wealthy moguls. These men were among them:

• Charles M. Schwab\u2014president of Bethlehem Steel Corporation
• Richard Whitney\u2014president of the New York Stock Exchange
• Albert Fall\u2014Secretary of the Interior under President Harding
• Jesse Livermore\u2014Wall Street tycoon
• Ivar Kreuger\u2014head of a global monopoly of match manufacturers

\xa0 These heavy hitters controlled more wealth than the total assets of the United States Treasury at the time. Indeed these men would become models of the entrepreneurial spirit and stellar examples of financial success. But fast-forward about twenty-five years or so and look back on the courses of their lives:

• Schwab\u2014died $300,000 in debt in 1939 (nearly 6 million in today\u2019s money)
• Whitney\u2014served time at Sing Sing prison for embezzlement
• Fall\u2014served time for misconduct in office, leaving behind a ruined reputation
• Livermore\u2014committed suicide in 1940, describing himself as \u201ca failure.\u201d
• Kreuger\u2014shot himself in 1932 after his global monopoly collapsed!

\xa0 Buried beneath the rubble of humiliation, defeat, crime, sickness, and financial collapse, these men\u2014along with a number of their colleagues\u2014died in a painful, pathetic condition. Their wealth, power, and prestige did nothing to soothe the personal anxiety and guilt they suffered in life. The reality is that great intelligence and hard work can make a person wealthy. But it takes God-given wisdom and supernatural humility to manage wealth and influence. \xa0 Last week James warned us against playing God instead of submitting to God\u2019s sovereignty...