The general impression that comes to us from the early Church is that many of the Christians were poor (I Corinthians 1:26-28) but there must have been some who were better off, as I: 9-11 indicates. James returns later in the letter to the subject of those who are well off, but gives warnings in this passage which remind us of the warnings of Jesus about trusting wealth, Luke 12:13-21, Mark 10:17-23, Matthew 6:19-21 and 24. I: 9-11 refers to the impermanent nature of wealth and implies that all worldly wealth will be destroyed, along with those who trust in it, when the present age is brought to its expected end, when the Lord returns. The language of 1:10-11 echoes that of Isaiah 40:6-8. There is no permanent security in wealth (although it was regarded as a blessing from God in the Old Testament, as we see in the story of Job) and the man whose wealth is taken from him should accept this as God's will for him, 1:10.