Sunday PM Bible Class

James 5

2 Illustrations on pride and arrogance = worldliness - business men and the rich

None but the lonely Heart - Cary Grant plays Ernie Mott = if money talks, all it ever says to me is good-bye!

The people James talks about here in chapter 5 money did not say goodbye but instead they became rich through unhealthy means and ultimately it backfired on them.

they reaped what they sowed.

James 5:1 NASB95

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

he did not say it was a sin to be rich

James 1:9–11 NASB95

But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.

It is what and how you use those riches is what he condemns them for.

It matters how you get your wealth - Amos thundered a message against the wealthy upper crust who robbed the poor and used their stolen wealth for selfish luxuries.

How did they come by their wealth?

held back wages (v4) - Matt. 20:1-16, gives us an idea of th system

Deuteronomy 24:14–15 NASB95

“You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your countrymen or one of your aliens who is in your land in your towns. “You shall give him his wages on his day before the sun sets, for he is poor and sets his heart on it; so that he will not cry against you to the Lord and it become sin in you.

Leviticus 19:13 NASB95

‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning.

Jeremiah 22:13 NASB95

“Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness And his upper rooms without justice, Who uses his neighbor’s services without pay And does not give him his wages,

THOU SHALL NOT STEAL

controlling the courts v. 6

God’s court system

Deuteronomy 17:8–13 NASB95

“If any case is too difficult for you to decide, between one kind of homicide or another, between one kind of lawsuit or another, and between one kind of assault or another, being cases of dispute in your courts, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the Lord your God chooses. “So you shall come to the Levitical priest or the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall inquire of them and they will declare to you the verdict in the case. “You shall do according to the terms of the verdict which they declare to you from that place which the Lord chooses; and you shall be careful to observe according to all that they teach you. “According to the terms of the law which they teach you, and according to the verdict which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the word which they declare to you, to the right or the left. “The man who acts presumptuously by not listening to the priest who stands there to serve the Lord your God, nor to the judge, that man shall die; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel. “Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and will not act presumptuously again.

Exodus 18:21 NASB95

“Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens.

Leviticus 19:15 NASB95

‘You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.

Deuteronomy 19:16–21 NASB95

“If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. “The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. “The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you. “Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Isaiah 33:15 NASB95

He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, He who rejects unjust gain And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe; He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed And shuts his eyes from looking upon evil;

Micah 3:11 NASB95

Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, Her priests instruct for a price And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the Lord saying, “Is not the Lord in our midst? Calamity will not come upon us.”

Micah 7:3 NASB95

Concerning evil, both hands do it well. The prince asks, also the judge, for a bribe, And a great man speaks the desire of his soul; So they weave it together.

condemned

Amos 5:12–15 NASB95

For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great, You who distress the righteous and accept bribes And turn aside the poor in the gate. Therefore at such a time the prudent person keeps silent, for it is an evil time. Seek good and not evil, that you may live; And thus may the Lord God of hosts be with you, Just as you have said! Hate evil, love good, And establish justice in the gate! Perhaps the Lord God of hosts May be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Malachi 3:8–10 NASB95

“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.

They stored it up

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Eleven: Money Talks (James 5:1–6)

They stored it up (v. 3). Of course, there is nothing sinful about saving. “For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children” (2 Cor. 12:14). “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel” (1 Tim. 5:8). “Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest” (Matt. 25:27, NASB).

But it is wrong to store up wealth when you owe money to your employees. These rich men were hoarding grain, gold, and garments. They thought that they were rich because they had these possessions. Instead of laying up treasures in heaven by using their wealth for God’s glory (Matt. 6:19ff), they were selfishly guarding it for their own security and pleasure. Not more than ten years after James wrote this letter, Jerusalem fell to the Romans, and all this accumulated wealth was taken.

What did Jesus mean by “laying up treasures in heaven”? Did He mean we should “sell everything and give to the poor” as He instructed the rich young ruler? I think not. He spoke that way to the rich ruler because covetousness was the young man’s besetting sin, and Jesus wanted to expose it. To lay up treasures in heaven means to use all that we have as stewards of God’s wealth. You and I may possess many things, but we do not own them. God is the Owner of everything, and we are His stewards.

What we possess and use are merely things, apart from the will of God. When we yield to His will and use what He gives us to serve Him, then things become treasures and we are investing in eternity. What we do on earth is recorded in heaven, and God keeps the books and pays the interest.

What a tragedy it is to see people “heap up treasures for the last days” instead of “laying up treasures in heaven.” The Bible does not discourage saving, or even investing; but it does condemn hoarding.

kept others from benefiting from it

they lived in luxury v. 5

Luke 12:15 NASB95

Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”

1 Timothy 6:17 NASB95

Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.

their riches will vanish

Luke 12:20 NASB95

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’

riches erode character v. 3 eaten from the inside

they will be judged accordingly

think of all they good they could have done with their wealth

Where is your treasure stored heaven or wealth...