James. Riches Part 2
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The Way the Rich Used Their Wealth.
The Way the Rich Used Their Wealth.
It is bad enough to gain wealth in a sinful way, but to use that wealth in sinful ways just makes the sin greater.
They stored it up (v. 3).
They stored it up (v. 3).
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
Of course, there is nothing sinful about saving.
14 Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.
8 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.
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”?
What did Jesus mean by “laying up treasures in heaven”?
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.
They kept others from benefiting from it (v. 4).
They kept others from benefiting from it (v. 4).
4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
By fraudulent means, the rich men robbed the poor.
The rich men were not using their own wealth, but they would not pay their laborers and permit them to use the wealth.
Perhaps they were waiting for salaries to go down.
Since we are stewards of God’s wealth, we have certain responsibilities toward our Master.
We must be faithful to use what He gives us for the good of others and the glory of God.
2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
Joseph was a faithful steward in Potiphar’s house, and Potiphar prospered.
There are ways that we can use God’s wealth to help others.
They lived in luxury (v. 5).
They lived in luxury (v. 5).
5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
“You have lived in high style on the earth!” (James 5:5, literal translation) Luxury is waste, and waste is sin.
Luxury = excess
A magazine advertisement told of the shopping spree of an oil-rich sultan. He purchased nineteen Cadillacs, one for each of his nineteen wives, and paid extra to have the cars lengthened.
He also bought two Porsches, six Mercedes, a $40,000 speedboat and a truck for hauling it. Add to the list sixteen refrigerators, $47,000 worth of women’s luggage, two Florida grapefruit trees, two reclining chairs, and one slot machine. His total bill was $1.5 million, and he had to pay another $194,500 to have everything delivered.
Talk about living in luxury!
All of us are grateful for the good things of life, and we would certainly not want to return to primitive conditions.
But we recognize the fact that there is a point of diminishing returns.
“Tell me what thou dost need,” said the Quaker to his neighbor, “and I will tell thee how to get along without it.”
15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
These rich men James addressed were feeding themselves on their riches and starving to death.
The Greek word pictures cattle being fattened for the slaughter.
There is a great difference between enjoying what God has given us (1 Tim. 6:17) and living extravagantly on what we have withheld from others.
Even if what we have has been earned lawfully and in the will of God, we must not waste it on selfish living.
There are too many needs to be met.
Luxury has a way of ruining character.
Luxury has a way of ruining character.
It is a form of self-indulgence.
If you match character with wealth, you can produce much good; but if you match self-indulgence with wealth, the result is sin.
The rich man Jesus described in Luke 16:19–31 would have felt right at home with the rich men James wrote to!
What Their Riches Will Do
What Their Riches Will Do
The rich thought they had it made because of their wealth, but God thought otherwise.
“Howl for your miseries that shall come upon you” (James 5:1). James described the consequences of misusing riches.
Riches will vanish (vv. 2–3a).
Riches will vanish (vv. 2–3a).
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
Grain will rot (“corrupted” in James 5:2); gold will rust; and garments will become moth-eaten.
Nothing material in this world will last forever.
The seeds of death and decay are found in all of creation.
It is a great mistake to think there is security in wealth.
Paul wrote,
17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
Riches are uncertain.
Riches are uncertain.
The money market fluctuates from hour to hour, and so does the stock market.
Add to this the fact that life is brief, and we cannot take wealth with us, and you can see how foolish it is to live for the things of this world.
God said to the rich man, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” (Luke 12:20)
Misused riches erode character (v. 3).
Misused riches erode character (v. 3).
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
“Their corrosion … will eat your flesh like fire” (James 5:3, niv).
This is a present judgment:
The poison of wealth has infected them and they are being eaten alive.
Of itself, money is not sinful; it is neutral.
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.
“Thou shalt not covet” is the last of the Ten Commandments, but it is the most dangerous. Covetousness will make a person break all the other nine commandments.
Abraham was a rich man, but he maintained his faith and character.
When Lot became rich, it ruined his character and ultimately ruined his family.
It is good to have riches in your hand provided they do not get into your heart.
10 Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.
Judgment is a certainty (vv. 3, 5).
Judgment is a certainty (vv. 3, 5).
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
James not only saw a present judgment (their wealth decaying, their character eroding), but also a future judgment before God.
Jesus Christ will be the Judge (James 5:9), and His judgment will be righteous.
Note the witnesses that God will call on that day of judgment.
Note the witnesses that God will call on that day of judgment.
First, the rich men’s wealth will witness against them (James 5:3).
Their rotten grain, rusted gold and silver, and moth-eaten garments will bear witness of the selfishness of their hearts.
There is a bit of irony here: the rich men saved their wealth to help them, but their hoarded riches will only testify against them.
The wages they held back will also witness against them in court (James 5:4a).
Money talks!
These stolen salaries cry out to God for justice and judgment.
God heard Abel’s blood cry out from the ground (Gen. 4:10), and He hears this stolen money cry out too.
The workers will also testify against them (James 5:4).
There will be no opportunities for the rich to bribe the witnesses or the Judge.
God hears the cries of His oppressed people and He will judge righteously.
The loss of a precious opportunity (v. 3).
The loss of a precious opportunity (v. 3).
“The last days” indicates that James believed that the coming of the Lord was near (see James 5:8–9).
It is good to have the things that money can buy, provided you also have the things that money cannot buy.
What good is a $500,000 house if there is no home?
Or a million-dollar diamond ring if there is no love?
James did not condemn riches or rich people; he condemned the wrong use of riches, and rich people who use their wealth as a weapon and not as a tool with which to build.
It is possible to be “poor in this world” (James 2:5) and yet rich in the next world.
It is also possible to be “rich in this world” (1 Tim. 6:17) and poor in the next world.
The return of Jesus Christ will make some people poor and others rich, depending on the spiritual condition of their hearts.
“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt. 6:21).
What we keep, we lose. What we give to God, we keep, and He adds interest to it.
Yes, money talks.
What will it say to you at the last judgment?