James (28)
James • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Chapter 5 Part 2
Chapter 5 Part 2
James has nothing against making plans, but he does condemn the arrogance of those who think they can make their plans without reference to God.
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.
2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.
4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
We must understand the dangers of wealth is place ones trust in it!
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.
These rich people will suffer condemnation on that day for four specific sins.
Moo, Douglas. 1995. “James.” In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, 3:1160. Baker Reference Library. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.
First, they have hoarded their wealth and failed to use it to help the poor. James pictures their wealth rotting and corroding—evidence that it has neither done them any good nor has it benefited the needy.
Moo, Douglas. 1995. “James.” In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, 3:1160. Baker Reference Library. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
The second reason for the condemnation of these rich people is their failure to pay their laborers what is owed them
Moo, Douglas. 1995. “James.” In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, 3:1160–61. Baker Reference Library. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
James assures the rich that God, “the Lord Almighty,” the Judge, is well aware of their sin against those who depend on them for daily bread. A luxurious, self-indulgent life-style is the third basis for God’s judgment
Moo, Douglas. 1995. “James.” In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, 3:1161. Baker Reference Library. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
14 “You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. 15 You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the Lord, and you be guilty of sin.
A luxurious, self-indulgent life-style is the third basis for God’s judgment
Moo, Douglas. 1995. “James.” In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, 3:1161. Baker Reference Library. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
The forth reason James condemns the rich is for using their influential social and political positions to condemn and murder innocent men
Moo, Douglas. 1995. “James.” In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, 3:1161. Baker Reference Library. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
Read Psalms 37 as reading assignment.
