JAMES 5:1-6

WARNINGS FOR THE WEALTHY, OR FAITH WORKS FINANCIALLY PM 5/7/06

FAITH WORKS #14

 

Over the past 15 years, a New Jersey businessman has anonymously given away more than $600 million to universities, medical centers, and other beneficiaries. When a legal complication forced him to reveal his identity, he explained his generosity by saying, “Nobody can wear two pairs of shoes at one time. I simply decided I had enough money.”

 

A friend of the donor described him as a man who doesn’t own a house or a car, flies economy class, wears a $15 watch, and “didn’t want his money to crush him.”

Our Daily Bread, November 16, 1998 http://www.bible.org/illus.asp?topic_id=1674

 

Dear Lord, I have been re-reading the record of the Rich Young Ruler and his obviously wrong choice. But it has set me thinking.

No matter how much wealth he had, he could not—
ride in a car.
have any surgery,
turn on a light,
buy penicillin,
hear a pipe organ,
watch TV,
wash dishes in running water,
type a letter,
mow a lawn,
fly in an airplane,
sleep on an innerspring mattress,
or talk on the phone,
If he was rich, then what am I?

Source unknown, http://www.bible.org/illus.asp?topic_id=1674

 

Most of us would like to be richer than when we are.

Most of us don’t want to be filthy rich, but most of you wouldn’t mind winning the lottery or the Publisher’s House Sweepstakes.  Some of us, like myself, don’t play the lottery, but wouldn’t mind winning the money.

 

What are the advantages to being wealthy?

What are the disadvantages to being wealthy?

 

In James 5:1-6 we find James attacking the rich with the zeal of an Old Testament prophet.  In fact he seems to use a technique that some of the Old Testament prophets.  He was probably talking to people who couldn’t hear him.

 

The Old Testament prophets would sometimes address nations and pronounce judgments on them.  It wasn’t likely that these nations were even going to hear these pronouncements, but they were written for the benefit of God’s people, so God’s people would understand what was going to happen to these ungodly nations.

 

The people James addressed in James 5:1-6 were probably unsaved wealthy Jewish landowners, most of which, were not involved at all with the church.  The chances of them hearing this pronouncement against them were unlikely.

 

So why did God have James include these verses in his letter?  I think that there are at least two reasons.

 

First of all, many Christians might have secret desires towards becoming wealthy.  It is possible to love money without being wealthy.

 

1 Timothy 6:10 - For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

 

Matthew 6:24 - No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

 

By addressing the rich, James was also giving warning to those in the church who wanted to be rich or had the love of money.

   

Secondly there were many in the congregation who were poor and suffering under the hand of the rich.  These words would have encouraged them that the rich would be judged and were really in bad shape.

 

So, as you and I approach this passage, it should serve as both as warning for us if we happen to love money and lifestyles of the rich and famous.  It should also be an encouragement for us if we feel oppressed or intimidated by the rich people that are around us.

 

In these warnings for the wealthy I find James giving us five specific problems that the rich have.

 

FUTURE MISERIES - Vs. 1

FALSE SECURITY - Vss. 2-3

FAULTY BUSINESS PRACTICES - Vs. 4

FOOLISH PLEASURES - Vs. 5

FRAMING THE INNOCENT - Vs. 6

 

FUTURE MISERIES - Vs. 1

 

The interesting thing here is that this is not a call to repentance.  James is simply telling the rich that they should “weep” or “cry aloud” and howl because of the impending judgment that they would receive.

 

Remember that they will not be punished for being rich. They will be punished because their riches kept them from God and because they trusted their riches and not God.

 

Luke 12:16-21 - And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: [17] And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? [18] And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. [19] And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. [20] But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? [21] So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

 

The unsaved rich man will be miserable.  Although the rich often suffer misery in this life, it is nothing compared to the life that is to come.   

 

Luke 16:19-31 - There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: [20] And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, [21] And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. [22] And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; [23] And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. [24] And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.  [25] But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. [26] And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. [27] Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: [28] For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. [29] Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. [30] And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. [31] And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

 

Revelation 20:15 - And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

 

The future is miserable for the unsaved rich and any person who is not a born again Christian.

 

FUTURE MISERIES - Vs. 1

FALSE SECURITY - Vss. 2-3

   

There are three kinds of wealth alluded to here in these two verses. These were ways of measuring wealth in the ancient world.

 

Vs. 2 – It is possible that food stuffs is alluded to here. A standard of wealth would be how much grain one would have laid up in store.  But James says that their riches were corrupted or “rotted”.  Food eventually rots.

 

Vs. 3 – Another standard for wealth was clothing. Fancy and ornate clothing was a sign of wealth.  But when these garments were in storage they were susceptible to moths.

When the garments were moth eaten they became worthless.  

 

Gold and silver are mentioned next.  They literally don’t rust.  But they do in a figurative way.  If they are not used for the right reasons in this life, they, in a sense rust. 

 

Matthew 6:19-21 - Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: [20] But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: [21] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

 

The rust of horded or misspent wealth will be a witness against them and eats at them as if it were fire. Fire often represents judgment.  

 

It is the last days.  Jesus could come at any time. Instead of investing in God’s kingdom because time is short, they were hording.

 

I think that this is a good reminder for us as Christians.  We need to ask the question, “Am I investing in Christ’s work because it is the last days, or am I hording?”

 

FUTURE MISERIES - Vs. 1

FALSE SECURITY - Vss. 2-3

FAULTY BUSINESS PRACTICES - Vs. 4

 

Not only were the rich hording, but they were abusing the poor.  They were keeping back wages that belonged to the poor.

There were day laborers who worked by the day and got paid by the day.  They were probably already poor.

In the time of harvest when there would have been plenty of food and wine available, the poor were being cheated of their rightfully earned income. This was clearly a violation of the Old Testament Law.

 

Leviticus 19:13 - Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.

 

Deuteronomy 24:14-15 - Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: [15] At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee.

 

Malachi 3:5 - And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.

 

James says that the cries of those who have been oppressed are heard by the Lord of sabaoth, the Lord of hosts. God will be their judge.

 

This is a good reminder to all of us.  We are not to cheat, or hold back funds from another when it is rightfully theirs, whether it be salary, or money that you have borrowed, or an inheritance that is rightfully theirs.

 

Proverbs 3:27 - Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

 

FUTURE MISERIES - Vs. 1

FALSE SECURITY - Vss. 2-3

FAULTY BUSINESS PRACTICES - Vs. 4

FOOLISH PLEASURES - Vs. 5

   

The rich lived in the lap of luxury, and made this their lifestyle, what they lived for.  There was no concern for the well being of others.

 

   One of the world's richest men is (was) King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. He has built for himself the world's largest luxury yacht. It is 482 feet long, and sleeps sixty guests. Each of the cabins has a marble bathroom with gold plated fixtures. There are two swimming pools, a gym, sauna, theater, ballroom, and a fully equipped hospital. It cost about two million dollars. One wonders how many starving people could be fed with two million dollars! -- Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997). Bible Illustrator 3.1

   

“Luxury is more deadly than any foe.”

 

1 John 3:17 - But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

 

I don’t think it wrong to have nice things, especially once in awhile.  But I do think that it is wrong to live for these things and make them the goal of our lives.   

 

And notice what the person who lives for luxury accomplishes.  He fattens his heart, just like as you might fatten a pig or an ox before slaughtering it.

 

The slaughter that the heart is being fattened for is the slaughter of judgment.

 

Solomon called the self indulgent life “vanity” or empty.

 

Ecclesiastes 2:4-11 - I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: [5] I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: [6] I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: [7] I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: [8] I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. [9] So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. [10] And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. [11] Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

 

FUTURE MISERIES - Vs. 1

FALSE SECURITY - Vss. 2-3

FAULTY BUSINESS PRACTICES - Vs. 4

FOOLISH PLEASURES - Vs. 5

FRAMING THE INNOCENT - Vs. 6

 

As it is today, the rich often have the advantage in the courts.  Only it was worse in those days.

 

The rich could condemn and kill the righteous or just and the righteous or just would not oppose them.

 

That might be because the righteous had no way of fighting back. The odds were stacked against them.

 

But James might also have the Christian poor in view here.

When they were abused by the wicked, they were instructed not to fight back.

 

Matthew 5:39 - But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

 

Before we abuse anyone, it is good that we remember that the Lord sees everything and doesn’t miss any abuse that we dish out in any way.

 

Proverbs 5:21 - For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.

 

Proverbs 15:3 - The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

 

The ways of unsaved rich people can certainly be wrong.

We should not want to imitate them, nor should we set our heart on being rich.   

 

FUTURE MISERIES - Vs. 1

FALSE SECURITY - Vss. 2-3

FAULTY BUSINESS PRACTICES - Vs. 4

FOOLISH PLEASURES - Vs. 5

FRAMING THE INNOCENT - Vs. 6