Hello Friends!
Welcome back to our Monday morning Daily Devotions
summer series titled
“The Book of James: Putting Faith to Work!”
The Book of James: Putting Faith to Work!
This week we will continue our reading
of verses 1-6 in beginning chapter 5 as
we consider Judgment Upon the Wealthy Wicked…
All the way through this excellent
epistle, James writes to a group of Jewish “brethren”
in a local “assembly” and he instructs
them to evaluate the validity of their “faith” in Jesus Christ through a series of
tests and this passage is certainly of no
exception! And such are those professing “Christians” that James wants to call to self-examination.
Therefore, here we will further “learn”
and “discern” that how a person
handles “wealth” is a test of their – True
loyalty to the Lord!
By the way, James is merely echoing
this same test of the “heart” regarding earthly temporary
“treasures” that our
Lord Jesus originated in His Sermon on Mount
discourse:
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. For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also – Matthew 6:19-21
Here too Jesus instructs “us” to “lay up” our “treasures in heaven” from an eternal
perspective – Halleluiah!
With that said, let’s begin to dig in
to these wonderful commands and their associated “promises”
to both encourage and edify our “hearts”
and “minds” in Jesus Christ – With the Word of God!
Judgment
Upon the Wealthy Wicked
How “we”
view money
and material
possessions will “reveal”
the spiritual
state of our “heart’s”
condition. And as we’ve discussed, “wealth”
in and of itself is not “sinful”
nor
is it to possess “money” as a blessing from God. It is simply another test of “stewardship”
given by God. All of “us”
have some measure of “wealth”
to manage and it varies from person to person by God's design.
In fact, God can “bless” His people in many different
ways, “giving” some of “us” more
and some of “us” less
in terms of monetary “money”
or tangible “treasure.”
And as we will “learn” here, it's not wrong
to possess “wealth” – But it is wrong if wealth possesses you!
Therefore, here in this section of
Scripture James is addressing the “rich”
people within the “assembly” who though on the outside
they may affirm a “faith” in Jesus Christ
and “love” for God. However, it is quite
obvious
they actually have an unholy “love”
for
“money” rather than for God Himself.
And their “life” is totally controlled
and governed
by their incessant “love” for the “treasures” of the
world. And so their spiritual state is revealed in their – Relationship to riches…
James begins this poignant passage with
a warning to the “wealthy” people as another test of the true state of
their “heart” by issuing them a
very strong
announcement of “judgment” to come:
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! – James
5:1
This stern “Come now” is a call to attention
given by James to point out the inescapable doom that is “coming” upon these unbelieving “rich” and their “miseries” will manifest through
much “weeping” and “howling” to come – God’s
judgment!
By the way, the more we “have” the greater potential
for prostituting its proper use. And when our “heart” is perverted the “love of money” will control us,
leading to “all sorts of evil” just as the Apostle Paul warned
the young pastor Timothy:
But those who desire to be rich
fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which
drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some
by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with
many griefs – 1 Timothy 6:9-10
QUIZZING QUESTIONS: Who are the “wealthy”
people Paul speaks of here to Timothy? These are the “believers”
within the “assembly” who have more
than they “need” to “live” their lives. And if an ungodly “desire” to be “rich”
is present, they too face the danger of “falling” into “temptation and a snare” as well as many “foolish and harmful lusts” of which lead many “men”
into “destruction and perdition” of the soul. Why?
Because the “longing” for “riches” is a “snare”
of the “heart” causing “many griefs” in life. Conversely, who are
the “wicked wealthy” to whom James speaks?
These are the “unbelievers” within
the “assembly” who misuse and abuse
the “stewardship” of their discretionary “money” given to them by God. Therefore,
James is directing his attention to exposing the “rich” people whose lying “lives” display a continual abuse of
their “earthly” resources – Gifts from God!
And to further build upon his opening
statement, James provides for us THREE “sins”
of the “unbelieving” and financially
“rich” people within the “assembly”:
FIRST “sin” of the “rich”
is HORDING!
SECOND “sin” of the “rich”
is ROBBERY!
THIRD “sin” of the “rich”
is SELF-INDULGENCE!
Therefore, let’s unpack these very
important sobering “words”
of warning
concerning the “sin” of an ungodly
life of “wealth” presented by pastor
James…
Three
Sins of the Rich
This section begins with James
expressing the most condemning denunciation given in his entire epistle. It
is aimed against those “wicked”
wealthy “rich” people who have prostituted
the “goodness,” “generosity”
and “blessing” of the Lord – They forgot God!
The FIRST “sin”
of these “rich” people was HORDING! Here James says they have “heaped up treasure” in the stock
piling of “worldly” wealth:
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments
are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be
a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up
treasure in the last days – James
5:2-3
You might ask: "Is
it wrong to store up treasure?" In this context, yes
it is! Why? Because with these “rich” it's to the exclusion of its proper
use according to the “will”
of God. Therefore, their “riches are
corrupted,” their “garments
are moth-eaten” and their “gold and silver are corroded” of
which will be a final “witness against”
them in the “last days”
as an eternal damning “fire”
– Of God’s judgment!
THEOLOGICAL THOUGHTS: The
Greek word "riches" that James uses
here is ploutos and comes from the name of an ancient Greek god of
mythology named Ploutos meaning the ”abundant yielding of the earth.”
This false god Ploutos was said to have been the son of Demetra the goddess of
the earth.
Therefore, the word ploutos has a connection through Greek mythology with what the earth
produces and thereby refers to the food such as, vegetables, grain and meats of
which are “stored up” as a result of
the products of the earth. This is nothing less than the idolatrous pagan Gaia
worship of today’s pantheistic “all-is-one” Mother Earth goddess of
which is touting the “wicked”
environmentalism movement – Mythological
madness!
The SECOND “sin”
of these “rich” people was ROBBERY! Not
only were the “riches” of their wealth hoarded,
they also unjustly robbed the income from those who had rightly earned
it:
Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed
your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the
reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth – James 5:4
“Indeed”
rather than being generous with the poor’s “wages,”
the wicked “rich” exploited them.
Instead of giving the “laborers”
in the “fields”
their proper daily pay on time for hard work well
rendered, these shrewd men “kept
back by fraud” in refusing to pay what was
rightly due! What is the result? The “reapers” hard-earned
“wages” will “cry out” on their
behalf to the “Lord of Sabaoth”
as promised
and prophesied in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy:
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 – Deuteronomy 24:15
This cursing “cry”
from the defrauded “wages” of the “poor” on “his
day” who “sets his heart”
on these much needed daily funds have reached the ears of God the “Lord of Hosts” and they continue to echo
in His “righteous” mind – Until He makes it right!
The THIRD “sin”
of these “rich” people was SELF-INDULGENCE! Not
only were these “wicked” men’s “riches” unrighteously hoarded and
unjustly robbed, they also selfishly lavished their “treasures” on themselves:
You have lived on the earth in pleasure and
luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter – James
5:5
After increasing their “wealth” through “robbery”
and then “hoarding” it all away, the “rich” now use it for their own
indulgence and extravagant comfort leading
to a “fattened heart”
for a “day of slaughter”
in God’s righteous judgment. Incidentally, a “life”
without self-denial is one that soon runs out of control in every
area. People who are completely concerned and consumed
with “pleasure”
and “luxury”
cannot restrain themselves. An “unbeliever”
with an abundance of “riches”
often closes his eyes to the “needs”
of other people as well as to the “works”
of God. However, his eyes are wide open to his own
“sinful” narcissistic and hedonistic
self-gratification – He only lives to
gratify himself!
Lastly, James culminates this passage
with a denunciation of the “rich”
for ruthlessly
acquiring their “riches” in such a “wicked” manner:
You have condemned, you have murdered the
just; he does not resist you – James
5:6
Here James says the “rich” have condemned and killed
the “just” people of God. This is how it
happened: Their HORDING led to ROBBERY which
led to SELF-INDULGENCE. And
this “sinful” process becomes so consuming
that these ravaging “rich”
will literally do anything to sustain their “wicked” life style. The implication here
is that these wretched “rich”
have “condemned”
and “murdered”
God’s people through the unrighteous use of the “world’s” legal court system
– To get what they want!
However, James also says “he does not resist you”
at all. What does this mean? The “he” James mentions here is the true “believer” living in the “grace” and “meekness”
of Jesus Christ of whom will not fight back against
this great “injustice” bestowed upon
them by these ungodly “rich”
men – God will vindicate for His glory!
POINTS TO PONDER: This
poignant passage is reminiscent of James’ similar indictment drawn earlier
in chapter 2 when he addressed the “sin” of “dishonoring”
the economically weak “poor man” of God:
But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not
the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? Do they not blaspheme that
noble name by which you are called? – James 2:6-7
In other words, these “rich” people “oppress” and drag the “poor” before the civil
and religious “courts”
of man. Not only did these “rich”
men depreciate
human value, they also despised true “faith” in Jesus Christ. Incidentally,
world history proves to “us”
that the godless “rich”
of this wicked “world”
have always oppressed the “just”
people of God – Civil, financial and religious
persecution!
In closing:
The sixteenth
chapter of Luke provides for “us”
yet another occasion in which our Lord Jesus Himself spoke to a similar “sinful” issue of “corrupted riches” and “unrighteous mammon”
in His powerful parable of the unjust
steward:
Therefore if you have not been faithful in the
unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have not been
faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own? – Luke 16:11-12
In other words, Jesus says: “Do you think God will trust you with the true riches of His
eternal Kingdom if you have not demonstrated a proper handling of worldly
wealth?” Will God “give”
you what is truly valuable if you don’t properly “steward” that which is not?
If you haven’t been “faithful”
in that which “belongs” to “another man” who
shall “give” you that which “is” your “own?”
And if you are not “faithful” with the earthly
“riches” that is of your “stewardship” from God, then why would He “give” you the heavenly “riches” of His blessing? – He will NOT!
Then Jesus sums up His questions with
this matter
of fact truth:
No servant can serve two masters; for either
he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one
and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon – Luke 16:13
The Pharisees Jesus addressed here were
very “covetous” and when hearing
these definite words from the Lord,
they despised
Him even more! These pious men were indeed quite “religious”
but the state of their “heart”
was revealed
in their cancerous “covetousness” for the “mammon” of man – Money madness!
REAL REFLECTIONS: Beloved,
how do YOU relate to the “riches”
of this
present “wicked” world? You have been
“given” much “wealth” by God. Use
it to care for the people God has “given”
to you. Use it for His service.
Use it to win the lost. Use it to support those in ministry.
But don't HOARD it!
How we relate to worldly
“wealth” is another – Spiritual
test from God!
Thank you for reading! Don’t miss next week’s continued study of The
Book of James: Putting Faith to Work!…
May the Lord Jesus Christ continue to bless you with His perfect
love, mercy and grace!
Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah
and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!
Blessings!
Shane <><
