4.4 Wealth Will Disappear. God Will Help Those Who Trust In Him

(Psalm 49)

Hear this, everyone!
Listen, all people everywhere,
Great and small alike,
rich and poor together.
My thoughts will be deep;
I will speak words of wisdom.
I will turn my attention to proverbs
and explain their meaning as I play the harp.

I am not afraid in times of danger
when I am surrounded by enemies,
by evil men who trust in their riches
and boast of their great wealth.
A person can never redeem himself;
he cannot pay God the price for his life,
because the payment for a human life is too great.
What he could pay would never be enough
to keep him from the grave,
to let him live forever.

Anyone can see that even wise men die,
as well as foolish and stupid men.
They all leave their riches to their descendants.
Their graves are their homes forever;
there they stay for all time,
though they once had lands of their own.
A man’s greatness cannot keep him from death;
he will still die like the animals.

See what happens to those trust in themselves,
the fate of those who are satisfied
with their wealth-
they are doomed to die like sheep,
and death will be their shepherd.
The righteous will triumph over them,
As their bodies quickly decay
in the world of the dead far from their homes.
But God will rescue me;
He will save me from the power of death

Don’t be upset when a man becomes rich,
when his wealth grows even greater;
he cannot take it with him when he dies;
his wealth will not go with him
to the grave.
Even if a man is satisfied with this life
and is praised because he is successful,
he will join all his ancestors in death,
where the darkness lasts forever.
A man’s greatness cannot keep him from death;
He will still die like the animals.

4.3 The Ambition Of James And John - Jesus Told Us We Should Serve

(Mark 10:35-45)

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus. “Teacher,” they said, “there is something we want you to do for us.”
“What is it?” Jesus asked them.
They answered, “When you sit on your throne in your glorious Kingdom, we want you to let us sit with you, one at your right and one at your left.”
Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking for. Can you drink the cup of suffering that I must drink? Can you be baptized in the way I must e baptizes?”
“We can,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink the cup I must drink? Can you be baptized. But I do not have the right to choose who will sit at my right and my left side. It is God who will give these places to those for whom he has prepared them.”

When the other ten disciples heard about it, they became angry with James and John. So Jesus called them all together to him and said, “You know that the men who are considered rulers of the heathen have power over them, and the leaders have complete authority. This, however, is not the way it is among you. If one of you wants to be great, he must be the servant of the rest; and if one of you wants to be the first, he must be the slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served; he came to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.”

4.2 The First Must Be The Servant

(Mark 9:33-37)

They came to Capernaum, and after going indoors Jesus asked him disciples, “What were you arguing about on the road?”

But they would not answer him, because on the road they had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest. Jesus sat down, called the twelve disciples, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all.” Then he took a child and had him stand in front of them. He put his arms around him and said to them, “Whoever welcomes in my name one of these children, welcome me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomed not only me but also the one who sent me.”

4.1 Temptation of Jesus: Our Task Is To Worship God

(Matthew 4:1-11)

Then the spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the Devil. After spending forty days and nights without food, Jesus was hungry. Then the Devil came to him and said, “If you are God’s Son, order these stones to turn into bread.”

But Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Man cannot live on bread alone, but needs every word that God speaks.'”

Then the Devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, the Holy City, set him on the highest point of the Temple, and said to him, “If you are God’s Son, throw yourself down, for the scripture says, ‘God will give orders to his angels about you; they will hold you up with their hands, so that not even your feet will be hurt on stones.’”

Jesus answered, “But scripture also says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Then the Devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness. “All this I will give you,” the Devil said, “if you kneel down and worship me.”

Then Jesus answered, “Go away, Satan! The scripture says, “Worship the Lord your God and Serve only him!’”

Then the Devil left Jesus; and angels came and helped him.