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doesn't happen often but once in a while that Sun right right there in the eye so welcome to everyone if you would like to join with me and I'll call to worship you can turn in your Bibles to Psalm eight Psalm 8 for our call to worship Psalm 8 I'll begin reading in verse 1 to the chief musician on the instrument of Gath a psalm of David O Lord our Lord how excellent is your name in all the earth who have set your glory above the heavens out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants you have ordained strength because of your enemies that you may silence the enemy and the Avenger when I consider your heavens the work of your fingers the moon and the stars which you have ordained what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you visit him for you have made him a little lower than the angels and you have crowned him with glory and honor you've made him to have dominion over the works of your hands you have put all things under his feet all sheep and oxen even the beasts of the field the birds of the air and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the Seas Oh Lord our Lord how excellent is your name in all the earth amen will please turn in your Trinity Psalter to Psalm 134 Psalm 134 will stand as we sing together [Music] well let us pray our blessed God and holy father it's a joy and a privilege to gather again in your name and the house of the living and true God we thank you for this beautiful day we thank you for the sunshine we thank you for the fact that the created order magnifies the Creator and demonstrates your glory and your majesty and your excellence in your power certainly you are the God who made all things by the word of his power in the space of six days and all very good you are the God who governs all your creatures and all their actions according to your wisdom into your purpose and plan and you are the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ we praise you for so great a salvation we praise you for Sovereign Grace and predestination and election we praise you for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary his death his sacrifice is his atonement for the people that you had given unto Him we praise you for the resurrection on the third day in his current session at your right hand God how we give glory and honor to you for so great a salvation and how we thank you for the work in the Ministry of the Holy Spirit was taken that work of Christ and applied it unto the hearts of your people we ask tonight that you would be exalted that you would be enthroned upon the praises of your people gathered together here that God would be all in all in this place that we would come to the Father through the son in the power of the Holy Spirit and we pray that you would just bless and encourage and strengthen our hearts and may we know that truth set forth by our confession rightly reflecting the the totality of Scripture that this doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation for our communion with God and our comfortable dependence upon him we ask that you would look with favor upon those who are unable to be with us tonight we know there are several in our myths that are struggling with physical illness and we would commit them to you praying that you would bless she would encourage their hearts and strengthen them with might in the so that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith father we pray for your blessing upon each and every one in this congregation that we would grow in the Grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus that we would be a faithful people that we would be obedient to your law not because we think we're going to be saved by it but because by your grace through faith in Jesus Christ we have been saved help us father to love the commandments of Christ help us not to treat them as a burdensome thing but help us to say what the psalmist how we love the law that it's our meditation day and night and to that end we pray for the preaching of your word tonight that you'd give us ears to hear and hearts to receive that word help us Lord God to be doers of it and help us to have the wisdom and the power of the Holy Spirit to put truth into practice in our own hearts and lives we ask that you would look with favor upon this community in terms of other churches we thank you that we're not alone here we pray for other churches that are preaching the truth of the gospel she would bless these places and use the word of God to affect positive change in this community we would pray our God that you would give us a burden and a compassion for Souls like Jesus in Matthew 9 when he looked upon the people and and had compassion for them because they were like sheep having no Shepherd our Father give us such a mindset and give us a boldness and a courage and a desire to set forth the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord we pray our Father for other churches we thank you for art on all of our sister churches commonly bond bound together by a by a confession of faith that does reflect the teaching of Holy Scripture we pray for the Lindblad Xin Kirkland we pray for Tom Lyon and in SeaTac we pray our Father for those churches near to us that you would bless and uphold and encourage them we also think of the saints and the Antelope Valley and we thank you for our brother Richard barcelos may you give grace to these men and help to these men to faithfully minister the Word of God and may these congregations be faithful and well-established and in earnest to reach their communities for the cause of Jesus Christ and Lord we pray for the missionary enterprise we thank you that that the gospel is going forth that Christ will have dominion from sea to sea we would pray for those in China who we know and love and ask God that you would protect them that you would bless them that you would use them to proclaim your truth in that land we also pray our Father for the Dominican Republic in Haiti and thank you for the good solid works there and pray that you would prosper them and for the many Reformed Baptist churches in Cuba how we thank you for that encouraging thing that that there is a good witness a good testimony in that land and we pray that your word would run swiftly and be glorified we would ask our Father that you'd have mercy upon the governing authorities in our own nation we know father it is a difficult task and it does require a great deal of wisdom and certainly a great deal of submission to God Most High we pray that these men would heed the reseed the the the language of David in Psalm 2 that these judges and these kings would kiss the son that they would bow the knee to the Lord Christ that they would confess him as Savior and that they would rule and govern according to righteousness and equity and and justice thought if they will not repent if they will not believe we pray for your powerful mighty right arm to restrain them from engaging in further acts of lawlessness and wickedness certainly and increasingly we see it our day looks like what Isaiah prophesied in his own day that men call evil good and good evil we pray father that there would be a day when abortion would be criminalized and euthanasia would be criminalized when the sorts of things that are sanctioned by the federal government and even subsidized we pray for a reversal we pray God that sinners would be saved by grace and sinners saved by grace would start to cry out against such abominations we pray now that you would continue with us do forgive us for our sins and our transgressions cleanse us in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and it's in his name that we pray amen well you can turn in your Trinity hymnal - number 77 hymn number 77 will use the first tune and will stand together [Music] well you can turn to the Prophet Amos we're in chapter 3 tonight for our scripture reading Amos chapter 3 Amos 3 beginning in verse 1 here this word that the Lord has spoken against you O children of Israel against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt saying you only have I known of all the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities can two walk together unless they are agreed will a lion roar and the forest when he has no prey will a young lion cry out of his den if he has caught nothing well the bird fall into a snare on the earth where there is no trap for it will a snare spring up from the earth if it has caught nothing at all if a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people be afraid if there is calamity in a city will not the Lord have done it surely the Lord God does nothing unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets a lion has roared who will not fear the Lord God has spoken who can but prophesy proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod and in the palaces in the land of Egypt and say assemble on the mountains of Samaria see great tumult in her midst and the oppressed within her for they do not know to do right says the Lord who store up violence and robbery in their palaces therefore thus says the Lord God an adversary shall be all around the land he shall SAP your strength from you and your palaces shall be plundered thus says the Lord as a shepherd takes from the mouth of a lion to lay two legs or a piece of an ear so shall the children of Israel be taken out who dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed and on the edge of a couch here and testify against the house of Jacob says the Lord God the God hosts that in the day I punish Israel for their transgressions i will also visit destruction on the altars of Bethel and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground I will destroy the winter house along with the summer house the houses of ivory Shall Perish and the Great Houses shall have an end says the Lord amen will let us pray father we thank you for the written word and we thank you for the history of Israel and their collapse under your judgment your chastisement we pray father that we would learn the lessons from such things that we would hear our Lord Jesus in the book of Revelation threatening judgment and chastening against churches that are unfruitful father I pray that you would not withdraw our lampstand that you would cause us to burn bright in this community caused us to honor and to glorify you and to be a testimony to the saving grace of God Most High in and through the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and we pray in his most blessed name amen well for our final hymn excuse me you can turn to 4 4 6 hymn number 446 will stand as we sing together [Music] well please turn in your Bibles to James chapter 5 James chapter 5 or focus the SMAW this evening will be James 5 verses 1 to 6 but I do want to read the entirety of the chapter James 5 beginning in verse 1 come now you rich weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you 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 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 you've lived on the earth and pleasure and luxury you have fat in your hearts is in a day of slaughter you have condemned you have murdered the just he does not resist you therefore be patient brethren until the coming of the Lord see how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain you also be patient establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand do not grumble against one another brethren lest you be condemned behold the judge is standing at the door my brethren take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering and patience indeed we count them blessed to endure you have heard of the perseverance of job and seeing the end intended by the Lord that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful but above all my brethren do not swear either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath but let your yes be yes and you know know lest you fall into judgment is anyone among you suffering let him pray does anyone cheerful let him sing psalms is anyone among you sick let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord and the prayer of faith will save the sick and Lord will raise him up and if he has committed sins he will be forgiven confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months and he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth produced its fruit brethren if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins amen let's pray father we thank you for the written word we pray again for the Ministry of the Holy Spirit and we pray that you would give us wisdom and understanding into this passage of Scripture it's hard to talk about riches it's hard to talk about money it's hard father to come to grips with potential covetousness and wickedness and our own hearts give us grace to receive these things to meditate upon these things give us grace as well not to participate in judgment of others help us to be a faithful people seeking to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling and may you cause us Lord God to see that Scripture is in fact comprehensive that it speaks not only to our interpersonal relationships it speaks to our possession of money and all things and we just ask now forgive us for our sins fill us with the spirit guide us in our thinking and we pray through Jesus Christ the Lord amen now James chapter 5 verses 1 to 6 is another very powerful and hard-hitting section in this particular book now the specific target of denunciation or condemnation is a bit difficult to determine because as we read verses 1 to 6 I think we probably all come away with the idea how in the world could a Christian ever do the sorts of things that James is condemning here so the target of condemnation is a bit difficult to determine but the teaching of the passage is crystal clear the possession of riches along with it certain temptations and those who succumb to those temptations give evidence of the fact that they are not possessors of riches but rather riches or possessors of them and that is the underlying principle we need to take away from this particular passage of Scripture we're going to speak to several things tonight connected to riches and I hope that the Lord God will give us wisdom as we approach this particular subject the structure of the passage is quite simple in the first place there is a condemnation of what we'll call wealthy oppressors those who had a lot of money and who oppressed others so the condemnation is in verse 1 and then the conduct described in verses 2 to 6 so not only does he tell us that they stand condemned but he describes for us the sorts of practices they engaged in that brought such condemnation upon them but let's look first at the condemnation of wealthy oppressors in verse 1 he says come now you rich weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you so the rich our address will take up the question in just a moment who these people are but the weeping and the howling are the result of having these miseries coming upon them in other words the judgment of God is not a pleasant thing the judgment of God produces weeping and howling the judgment of God is not something to be booked at or treated lightly but rather to understand that it's a severe thing and so James tells these people to weep and to howl and the specific reason in view as I said verses 2 to 6 is their use of riches so the riches that the rich possess that were designed to bring happiness and joy and pleasure is the very vehicle that will bring misery to them because they have not handled these things properly now in terms of who these people are there's basically two positions one championed by John Calvin that I think is very good and very consistent and very legitimate says that this is a description of wealthy Oh massive unbelievers and the reason why it finds itself in James epistle is to first caution the people of God that they don't envy those types of people and as well to encourage or comfort the people of God that they will be dealt with in other words some of James hearers James audience may have been those who were so oppressed by ungodly men and so James's words would have the calming effect upon them or the encouraging effect upon them that the the oppressor would in fact be dealt with they would get what was coming to them by way of God's judgment some suggest that there's no possible way that this description could in fact be true of any professing Christian now the other option is it's a description of wealthy oppressive professing believers in other words these are persons that professed faith in Jesus Christ now this is the position that I adopt one championed by John Gill but there are several reasons for this in the first place note that come now pattern that was used in 413 it's also employed here in 5:1 that's a consistency that we ought to appreciate secondly the repetition of wheat he already mentioned that in chapter four verse nine may indicate that this is a call to repentance it is a warning to these professing believers that are not employed with the use of their riches in a proper way Calvin says it's not at all a call to repentance rather it is only denunciation or condemnation but why couldn't it be a call to repentance when he utilizes the same sort of language there thirdly the fact that he is not addressing brethren he will in verse 7 but nevertheless addresses the rich this would assume that the rich were present when the Epistle was read in the context of the local church why address the rich if they were the wealthy oppressive unbelievers that were oppressing the believers he could have just as easily said come now you brethren realized that all these things are going to transpire to those who have oppressed you also the fact that the other sections details some pretty miserable sins that Christians shouldn't commit remember we're in the book of James here brethren I'm not suggesting that what we find here in 5 1 to 6 is good but neither is the rest of the stuff that he is arguing against he is dealt with partiality against the poor in chapter 2 verses 1 to 13 the destruction of others by tongue in chapter 3 verse 9 operating according to demonic wisdom in chapter 3 verses 13 to 16 conflicts with brethren chapter 4 verses 1 and 2 enmity with God chapter 4 verses 3 to 6 and practical atheism already or closely related here in chapter 4 verses 13 to 17 so we can't say how in the world could any professing believer do the sorts of things that are in view here well how in the world could any professing believer do the sorts of things that are that are written in James anywhere or how could the Corinthian church for instance actually be arrogant not deal with a man who'd have had his father's wife in the context of the local church I in the context but the church knew that this man had had relations with his father's wife they not only didn't discipline him but they were arrogant about it so we need to understand that the problem is is that the professing people of God more often than not are marked by some varied and sundry inconsistencies I'm not suggesting there necessarily genuine believers but they were those within the context of the local church that had money and they use that money in an improper fashion we also need to appreciate that James is basically putting on the Old Testament prophets mantel fact there are similarities with James to Isaiah the prophet Amos the prophet Micah the Prophet Zephaniah the Prophet and when those men went to prophesy they prophesied within the confines of the covenant community so it was a problem in Israel it was a problem in Judah so Isaiah aim Zephaniah and micah come to prosecute the lord's covenant against those within the community that were engaged in the sorts of lawlessness that is right here in James 5 verses 1 to 6 you will we've only need to read a little bit back and a little bit forward in the reading tonight in the Book of Amos to see the sorts of sins that were rampant in Israel at that particular time so John Gill says all rich men are not here designed there are some rich men who are good men and we need to understand that what we find in this passage is not a condemnation of the possession of riches in verse 4 he doesn't braid these people for owning fields he upbraids them for ripping off the laborers who mowed the fields if the passage was anti possession of riches there's about a thousand other ways that James could have approached this situation to make that clear the problem wasn't the possession of riches the problem was the abuse the problem was the misuse the problem was the hoarding the defrauding the pleasure seeking and the the condemnation of the righteous so back to Gill all rich men are not here designed there are some rich men who are good men and make a good use of their riches and do not abuse them as these here are represented and yet wicked ret rich men or those that were the openly profane are not here intended neither for the Apostle only writes to such who were within the church and not without who were professors of religion and such rich men are addressed here who notwithstanding their profession were not rich towards God but laid up treasure for themselves and trusted in their riches and boasted of the multitude of their wealth and did not trust in God and make use of their substance to his glory and the good of his interest as they should have done again sometimes difficult to nail down James to see specifically who he is referring to but I think that Gill has the stronger position in this particular situation if you end up siding with Galvin and say there's just no way any believer could ever do such a thing it had to be written to encourage believers with reference to those who are oppressing them I will not argue with you I simply want to present to you my reasons for taking Gil's position now let's look secondly and in more detail at the conduct of wealthy professors and there are four problems that James cites first they hoard wealth verses two and three you just get that word hoard and it you know conjures up in my mind a living room filled with newspapers and old magazines and stuff that nobody ever threw out that's what hoarding is and in this particular instance the rich are hoarding their riches secondly they defraud workers thirdly they engage in self-indulgence and fourthly they oppress the righteous so those are the reasons for James stricter severe condemnation for those who possess riches and do not use them in a manner that is consistent with the will and word of God notice first they hoard wealth verses two and three your riches are corrupted 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 light fire you have heaped up treasure in the last days now I think the obvious import of these three things your riches are corroded I've corrupted your garments are moth eaten your gold and silver are corroded tells us that riches don't endure forever and I think primarily what's in view is their uselessness the fact that they are decaying now some will say well gold and silver don't rust there's all you know Wow a raft of stuff written on why James would have said that gold and silver rust suffice it to say the term that he uses also has the idea that is translated properly here in the New King James asked corrode it I think the underlying theme is is that you hoard this stuff and it's therefore useless you have not put it to good use it is as good as useless or decayed when you don't take your riches when you don't use your garments when you don't take your silver and gold and do good things with them again you can't ameliorate all the downtrodden and the poor in the world but you can certainly with the amount of riches you have effect some positive good among the people with it with whom you come into contact the riches instead of being put to good use are corrupted the garments are moth eating moth eaten the gold and silver rust the hoarding of riches is a failure to use these riches properly now there's a book contained in the Roman Catholic version or a Catholic Bible it's a book called ecclesiasticus and it's what's called an apocryphal book now it's not on par with Scripture it's not inspired it's not infallible it's not an arrant that's a fundamental difference Protestants have with reference to Catholics in terms of what books are canonical but that doesn't mean that these books are without any merit whatsoever and this book ecclesiasticus was written in about 200 to 175 BC it's also referred to as the wisdom of Sirach because Zurich was basically the man that was writing or giving this these nuggets of wisdom listen to what sirak says in chapter 29 verses 9 to 11 in obedience to the commandment help the poor do not turn the poor away empty-handed in their need spend your money on your brother or your friend do not leave it under a stone to rest away use your wealth as the most high has decreed you will find that more profitable than gold the idea is is allowing these vital resources to corrupt to corrode to be moth-eaten instead of using them to help the people of God or to help your contemporaries john calvin says for God has not appointed gold for rust nor garments for moths but on the contrary he has designed them as aides and helps to human life so you see this whole idea of hoarding setting it aside putting it in your living room owning it as you walk by it's not doing any good it might as well rust away it might as well absolutely corrode the moths might as well destroy absolutely the very garments that you take pride in because they're not profitable they're not doing any good and look at what James says there specifically in verse four he says you have heaped up treasure I'm sorry at the end of verse three and there corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire the corrosion itself will witness against the ungodly rich and it not only eats that which it corrodes but it also eats the rich themselves James uses that vivid imagery in this instance the corrosion witnesses to them of their ineptitude to follow out God's will for their lives having been entrusted with these riches and not utilizing them for his glory in the next section he's going to use the very wages of those who mowed your fields they cry out they are witnesses against you in other words the way that you don't properly use your money witnesses against you that your heart is not right with God most I that's the point that's the purpose and what he is denouncing is this idea of hoarding the hoarding of treasure in the last days is what he says there in verse 4 now there's some question concerning them so at the end of verse 3 there's some question concerning the last days then we don't have time to investigate all that perhaps it's most simple to take it as that time between the first and second advent of our Lord Jesus we're living in that that time when at any time the Lord Jesus could return and what these men are doing instead of using their gold using their garments and using their riches to go out and promote the debt the general welfare of man they're hoarding it they're counting it they're piling it up they're not using it for the glory of God most high so they first ported wealth secondly they defraud workers verse four indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields which you cut back by fraud cry out it's the wages cry out you've heard that old adage money talks right everybody's heard that money talks it most certainly does and in verse four of James chapter 5 it's a very terrifying proposition because what it is saying to God Almighty is that this man is a deceit this man is a defrauder this man is wicked he has kept back money promised to a man that had mowed his fields so this is the condemnation that James issues here the corrosion of riches witness against them so do the wages they have stolen from workers the possession has I've already mentioned of fields is not condemned need to get that out of your head there's something called liberation theology and basically liberation theology is a marriage of Scripture with Marxism to find an oppressed people group and tailor the message of the Bible in a Marxist way to be a message of redemption and liberation for an oppressed people in the social of social and economic sphere not the idea that Jesus comes to save his people from their sins but a Marxist interpretation to try to bring this amelioration of the downtrodden and for some promote that James Amos and other prophets in the Old Testament were liberation theologians they absolutely positively were not they never condemned money as in and of itself a wicked thing it's not the fields that these men own but it's rather the fact that they defrauded these workers who came to them there is a rich amount of biblical background with reference to this statement notice in Leviticus 19 Leviticus chapter 19 we've seen they hoard wealth we're looking at they defraud workers Leviticus 19 13 you shall not cheat your neighbor nor rob him the wages of him who has hired shall not remain with you all night until morning pay the guy pay him the context day laborers Jesus uses this in Matthew chapter 20 to teach a particular lesson concerning what is fair on the part of the Lord to give to those who work for him on a daily basis the ones who started early the ones who started late received the same Denarius but this is the background notice in Deuteronomy chapter 24 Deuteronomy chapter 24 the very fact that God has to address such things tells us there is a potential for it to arise among the professing people of God in other words in the 31 thousand plus verses in scripture that tell us not to do certain heinous wicked despising the destructive things the reason why those prohibitions are in there is because God knows our hearts and he knows the willingness and the tendency to pursue all manner of wickedness and evil notice in Deuteronomy 24 at verse 14 excuse me you shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates each day you shall give him his wages and not let the Sun go down on it for he is poor and has set his heart on it that is gonna die if you don't pay him pay pay pay what you owe it's just that simple employees shouldn't have to bang on the door of the you know boss's office are we gonna get our checks today this is just a fundamental principle consistent with natural law that you pay people who work for you now before we say well how in the world could any professing believer do that I bet they're out there I really bet they're there somewhere each day you shall give him his wages and not let the Sun go down on it for his poor and he has set his heart on it now notice lest he cry out against you to the Lord and it be sin to you the wages of those who mowed your fields they cry out to the Lord of sabe off the Lord Oh God most I the same idea here notice in Malachi 3 announcing arrival of Messiah and one of the things that Messiah is going to do is he is going to bring judgment and in Malachi chapter 3 at verse 5 we read and I will come near you for judgment I will be a swift witness against sorcerers against adulterers against perjurers against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans and against those who turn away an alien why because they do not fear me says Yahweh of hosts so we see against sorcerers adulterers / jurors and those who exploit wage earners you're not supposed to do that and so James is speaking consistently with the prophetic word of the Old Testament and it is an encouragement when he mentions in verse 4 that the cries of the Reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth one one more passage go back to Isaiah Isaiah chapter 5 you see a similar convention there Isaiah chapter 5 parable of the vineyard and verses 1 to 7 and then the application in verses 8 and following but notice in verse 7 and Isaiah 5 for the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah are his pleasant plant remember in Matthew's Gospel Jesus uses the metaphor that Israel is a is a vineyard of God he hires workers and and he sends his servants to them and workers abused them and reject them and then the vineyard owner says I know I'll send my son and certainly they'll receive him and then they they reject him they deliver him up and they ultimately kill him well the vineyard there is Israel but again I mentioned that Jesus was not novel he was not innovative he was not new he is simply reflecting the biblical tradition that we find here in Isaiah the prophet Israel was a vineyard that the Lord God had tended to it was supposed to produce fruit it was supposed to be bountiful it was supposed to be a good thing notice in verse seven the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah are his pleasant plant he looked for justice but behold oppression for righteousness but behold a cry for help verse 8 woe to those who join house to house they add field to field till there is no place where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land in my hearing the Lord of hosts said truly many houses shall be desolate great and beautiful ones without inhabitant for 10 acres of vineyard will shall yield one bath and a Homer of seed shall yield one Eva you see this whole concept when there is the social oppression there is crying out on the part of those oppressed and those cries reach the ears of the Lord of Hosts or the Lord of Sabaoth so this is what James has in mind here in verse 4 they defraud workers the same way the blood of righteous abel cried out from the ground to the ears of god most i is the same way these wages cry out to testify that these wretches not only hoard their wealth but they also cheat those who mow their fields and this is in fact a comfort for the people of God notice what he says in verse 4 the cries of the Reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth I should encourage all of us living in a godless world that we often get ripped off in have you ever just gotten ripped off you come hence just not fair you spend money or you buy something and then you drive it away and it falls apart and you go high that's just terrible I'm not suggesting we pray down the wrath of God upon them but I would suggest that God doesn't forget such things we may not get a refund we may not get a replacement we may not get you know made square in this life the brethren those who cheat others those who deceive others those who defraud others will give an account to the Lord of Hosts one day that's an couraging sort of application there for the people of God now notice thirdly they engage in self-indulgence verse five you have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury or self-indulgence you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter now the two terms are synonymous and the emphasis is upon self-indulgence you hoard the riches you defraud the workers and all you do is seek to gratify your own flesh all you do is indulge your own desires all you do is want to spend the money on you that's wrong I'm not suggesting we have to eat gruel or you know put ashes in our soup or wear hair shirts and always be miserable I'm not suggesting that at all I don't think the Bible calls us to that but at the same time we're not to live lives of pampered luxury while others around us stand in need doesn't James deal with this doesn't John say this doesn't the New Testament emphasis fall in this direction were not to be the types of people that just sit around and pamper our flesh when there are those who have genuine need so he says you have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury you have fatten your hearts as in a day of slaughter now this can be taken in one of two ways you have fatten your hearts as in a day of slaughter similar to the Old Covenant feasts when it was a time to slaughter the animals it was a time of great feasting it was a time of great rejoicing and again let me qualify this the Bible says more about feasting positively than it does fasting I'm not saying don't ever fast and always feast but realize that feasting is not condemned by God Israel's calendar was marked by feasts and feasts brethren meant a lot of food and a lot of drink that's what feasts meant you don't need to need know the Hebrew the Greek that's what it meant you see brethren we need to appreciate that at those feasts times they would engage in this kind of pampering this kind of luxury this kind of self-indulgence but James is saying to the people here this this isn't the issue this isn't uh you know once in a while feast day this wasn't you know one of the marks of Israel's calendar but this is your life on earth it's the way you can doubt yourself this is everyday this is Monday through you know Saturday and and Sunday too this is every you know defining moment that you're alive it's all spent and gratifying your own flesh it's that attitude that's good dad the other option may be that they're fattening themselves up for the day of slaughter all of this self-indulgence all of this pampering all of this pleasure seeking is simply presenting a larger target to the Lord for destruction on the day of judgment again two options they're difficult to nail down with certainty which is correct but the point is obvious you're in trouble if you're living this way please don't misunderstand me I'm not saying you can't you know go to Costco you always have to shop at Walmart or garage sales or you know Value Village you you need to be responsible and I think that when it comes to riches possession of wealth we need to all watch our hearts it's very easy to get judgmental of others how can they afford this right that's not our business the wisdom of Solomon ought to be remembered in every single instance of our lives keep your heart with all diligence for out of it spring the issues of life that's your job not to keep your neighbor's heart sometimes people say what's the hardest part about pastoral ministry well looking after God's people but you still have to look after your own family and then your own heart and I'm always you know convinced that watching out from my heart is a full-time job all in all enough in and of itself the brethren that's the emphasis that Solomon presents just because somebody spends money in a way that you don't doesn't necessarily mean they're incent so I think a passage like this is difficult to preach and to deal with because we all have these ideas and we all have these commitments and we all have dare I say these preferences and we begin to wonder well if I Drive an old beat-up Pinto from the nineteen seventy-six then all of God's people should theirs legitimately excellent reasons why you shouldn't drive in 1976 Pinto they are traveling bombs they were designed so that if they were rear-ended they blow up so if you think you're godly and virtuous because you're driving in 1976 Pinto I will argue with you you are just the opposite that has got to be the most foolish acquisition an automobile that anybody could ever make but we do that don't we how can they afford that how can they brethren worry about your budget worry about your expenditures worry about how you're gonna tend to these particular things if it happens to be the case that somebody comes to you and says man I am just aid you know I'm that that that horrible person that pastor Butler preached from James 5 the other night then pray with them encourage them exhort them help them do whatever it is that you can do to try and be of service but be careful of being the finance police to look into everybody else's business and to see how they spend their money now notice finally they oppress the righteous again just about every verse in James has some controversy attached to it or not controversy but some difficulty in terms of interpretation there is a stream of thought in verse 6 that the just here is Jesus that the just here is Jesus you have condemned you have murdered the just that's the Lord Jesus Christ he does not resist you that's really what happened with Jesus Jesus didn't resist Jesus went as a lamb to the slaughter Jesus was the jost he is called that in many many places James himself though was also referred to as James the just and he was ultimately thrown off the temple so some have perhaps seen him you know making an allusion to himself here is it an individual it's a singular statement you have murdered the jost singular but it could also be a collective noun all those who fit into this particular class or category of persons I think that at least for my own part right now is the way that I will proceed the condemnation and murder of the just again go back chapter 4 verse 2 you lost and do not have you murder and covet and cannot obtain we saw there that murder didn't necessarily mean that you bring a 38 to church and you know we doubt the people of God murder doesn't always mean the actual cessation of a human life we saw in that context and if you hate your brother then you are a murderer well here I think the connection is this you have condemned you've murdered the just the idea is when you keep back by fraud wages that are due to another human being you are in essence murdering him why because he can't go to Walmart that night he can't buy food for his family that night he can't provide warmth for himself or his people that night it is in effect to murder the man and again the Old Testament prophets certainly take this line notice in Micah the prophet in Micah chapter 3 Micah chapter 3 a passage dealing with social oppression and the hindrance of or the hurting of the people within the covenant community notice in Micah 3:1 and I said here now Oh heads of Jacob and you rulers of the house of Israel is it not for you to know justice you who hate good and love evil who strip the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones brethren I don't know of any particular instance where this was the case there were some heinous things going on in Israel but in terms of a group of people going about stripping skin off of others and the flesh from their bones and in verse 3 who also eat the flesh of my people Flay their skin from them break their bones and chop them in pieces like meat for the pot like flesh in the caldron it may be the case that with in this context of social oppression this is the end result you are destroying them your brutalizing them you are ripping the very skin off of their bones notice that verse for crying out to God again then they will cry to the Lord but he will not hear that he will he even hide his face from them at that time because they have been evil in their deeds this is the oppressor crying out to God notice in verse 9 now hear this you heads of the house of Jacob rulers of the house of Israel who abhorred justice and pervert all equity who build up Zion with bloodshed in Jerusalem with iniquity her heads judge for a bribe a priest pay a teach for pay and her prophets divine for money yet they lean on the Lord and say it's not the Lord among us no harm can come upon us therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed like a field Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins and the mountains of the temple like the bare hills of the forest that's precisely what took place the destruction of Jerusalem via the Babylonians as a result yes of their abandonment of God that as well as their as their abandonment of one another visa vie one particular is in social oppression exploiting people treating them like garbage and dirt and thus ultimately killing them rendering them dead Moo says he probably has in mind the practical outcome of the actions that the rich take against the poor to cheat them of their land and take away their gainful employment the poor starve to death pretty simple isn't it you condemned and murdered the just they starve to death if you don't pay them see route for instance again a reference to ecclesiasticus makes just this connection to take away a neighbor's living is to murder him to deprive an employee of his wages is to shed blood you see James is dealing the way the Old Testament prophets dealt with a particular problem of the rich again whether the professing people of God within the context of the church are the unbelieving oppressors that are outside the church I think it's those within the context of the local church who are not possessing their money properly but their money is proper or as possessing them and then we see at the end of verse 6 he does not resist you he's powerless to what typically comes with money the ability to dominate others the ability exercise power and control over others the poor don't have that the poor aren't in a position to have like power and so they can't resist they don't resist and as a result they're both condemned and murdered by the lawlessness of these wicked Oh sirs of God's people thus the exposition will summarize with a few thoughts and then we'll close first the targets of the condemnation the idea that James is promoting Liberation Theology or condemning riches is them is in themselves wrong it's just not a condemnation of riches I sometimes hear that you know this idea that liberation theology is right or sort of the Roman Catholic ideal is right that there's somehow something more inherently good in being poor you know there's a big debate concerning that all issue liberation theology Roman Catholicism and the good old fashioned Protestant work ethic well you know why there is this debate because people don't read their Bibles now I realize that you know some crackpot preacher in Chilliwack saying that probably doesn't hold a lot of sway but you can't isolate texts for every condemnation that looks like it's against riches you've got positive commendation of those who work hard and make out in this world again first Timothy chapter six in two spots Paul deals with money in verses 9 and 10 he tells us the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil against out money money isn't evil it's the love of it that it is the problem it's it's our approach to it it's how we use it how we manage it or how it rather manages us then he tells Timothy very specifically in first Timothy chapter 6 17 and 19 in fact turn there because you're gonna need to understand this any condemnation of riches in one tax needs to be brought into alignment with or in comparison with these positive statements concerning riches CC I don't think James is condemning riches that's not the issue he's condemning those who hoard it don't use it properly those who defraud others those who live like self-indulgent cows of bation and he condemns those who condemn and murder others notice in first Timothy 6:17 command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the Living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy let them do good that they be rich in good works ready to give willing to share storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life he doesn't say tell them to get rid of their money do you realize if the rich get rid of their money then nobody's gonna have any money because it's the rich who buy stuff and put money into the economy we should be thankful there's rich people we should be thankful that they're taxpayers - sound like a social democrat here for a moment you see we ought to be thankful brethren for that reality not condemn them outright because they're successful the song are the Proverbs of Solomon are filled with injunctions to work hard the specific violations indicate the type of people under condemnation it's not the possession of riches it is the being possessed by those riches that is the problem now in terms of some responsibilities associated with riches I would suggest first of all the need to recognize the difficulty of rich man entering the kingdom of heaven because Jesus said that but not the impossibility this idea that you know liberation theology is Ryan how dare anybody have any extra money that's Marxism that's not biblical Christianity brethren with your feel theological alignment is with Karl Marx you're not reading the Bible properly I'm just here to tell you that if your view of Bible results in communism you are not reading the Bible properly you need some instruction in hermeneutics leave Marx embrace Paul and Jesus and enjoy the blessed liberty of the sons of God you see it's very intriguing to me that in Luke's not version it's the same account with reference to the rich young ruler we have that statement with reference to the Apostles when when Jesus says it will be easier it's easier for us for a a for camel to pass through the eye of a needle then for rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven and they say well then who could be saved he says with men it is impossible but with God all things are possible we have that Luke 18 guess what happens in Luke 19 the very first thing in Luke chapter 19 is the camel passing through the eye of a needle Zacchaeus gets converted Zacchaeus was a wee little man but he was loaded he was rich and what does Jesus do Jesus saves him to show us that with God all things are possible while it may be a difficulty for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven it's not an impossibility for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven and may I just say it's a difficulty for the poor to enter the kingdom of heaven as well and praise God Almighty that with him all things are possible secondly we need to heed the warning by Paul in 1st Timothy chapter 6 verses 9 and 10 if we love money we've got problems if we no longer look at it as a tool to help us to sustain life and to help our families and engage in what not then we have issues we need to receive the positive instruction by Paul that I just read there in 1st Timothy chapter 6 verses 17 to 19 Thomas Manton encounters the question what shall we do then shall we throw away our estates here's what Manton counsels first of all price them less when you possess them let them not possess you secondly do the more good that's always an option sure it is you could take some of that gold out of your basement and actually go do nice things for people thirdly seek God the more earnestly for grace in a full estate you need it much you know Paul says I know how to be how to abound and how to be a base most commentators say it was probably more difficult for him to abound than to be based you know give me neither poverty nor riches because if I'm poor I'm going to go out and steal and dishonor the Lord but if I'm rich I'm going to forget God is what the Proverbs tell us fourthly we need to prep the need for prudent preparation without neglecting the necessity of doing good now this is a bit of a difficulty here can a Christian ever save money can a Christian have a bank account can a Christian lay up for winter well the answer held out to us in the book of Proverbs as in wise folk and as diligent folk proverbs 6 we are told go to the ant you sluggard I mean Sullivan didn't pull any punches either he and James must have went to the same school the school of the Holy Spirit we're not going to play games with you if you're gonna lay in bed all day you need to look at the ants the ants are diligent the ants prepare in the summer why because they can't do it in the winter there's no food to go out in the mass if you're an ant in the wintertime there's no ant Costco there's no ant Walmart there's no ant place in the winter where you can buy ant food so if you are not busy and diligent to prepare in the summer you're gonna die in the winter same thing in proverbs chapter 30 ants are part of the wise folk feeble creatures but wise folk and what marks their wisdom they prepare in the summer brethren what James mentions about living in the last days that ought to affect us because on the one hand Christ could come in any moment and if we're sitting on a billion dollars Wow what good will that have been but Christ may not come at any moment Christ may delay the you know the the second coming so we may like ants need to heap up a little bit for the future as you start to get older this becomes more of a reality used to be you'd work your last day at age 65 and drop dead the next day now you live another 20 years and you somehow have to finance that without a steady income so is it responsible to give everything away prior to age 65 not necessarily because now you're you're keeping your loved ones from what they desperately need and that's food you see there needs to be some balance with reference to this whole issue of prudent prepper without neglecting the necessity of doing good we've got big problems if we die at the end sitting on a billion dollars that we never did a good thing with but I'm not certain that God commands the reality or the idea that we don't lay up any provisions for the future and we drop dead because of our in our own indolence or laziness I think Alec Moe tier gives us a good perspective he says following the teaching in verses 2 & 3 we must strike the right balance between prudent saving and sinful hoarding we know that we live in the last days and that the Lord may return at any time when he does the wealth we have amassed will be meaningless but we also know that we live in the last days his coming may not be yet we do not know the day or hour of this and the Scriptures put no premium on improvidence that means a failure to plan or a lack of foresight the Scriptures put no premium on in Providence or imprudence James's fire seems to be reserved for possessions left or rot in idleness and this is a practical pointer for us we should always put a priority on the use of possessions following our lord's own teaching about suit so using our resources as to heap up treasure in heaven Luke 12:32 234 and as regards what may legitimately be put aside to shelter us in the earthly rainy day we must ask the question where our trust is being placed again I'm not sure I have the answer you can save up that much and no more you know approaching biblical ethics that way leads to Pharisee ISM and judgmentalism well you haven't saved you saved more than me so therefore you're you know just not trusting God well not necessarily [Music] some of this stuff is quite scary if you don't drop dead and I'm not saying there's something commendable about dropping dead at 66 but the prospect of living from 65 to 85 without a daily sort of source of income that is terrifying he was just not planned is it trusting God to say you know he's going to provide for our daily bread to be sure I agree with that and I affirm that wholeheartedly but does he not call us to be ant-like when we are in our youth when we are on our strength when we are on our vigor is there a balance that is to be struck I would suggest brethren that there is mote ear says as regards what may legitimately be put aside to shelter us in the earthly rainy day we must ask the question where our trust is being plays are we keeping our reserve of earthly riches at such a level as indicates that they are our security or does the level of earthly security represented by stored wealth proof that our trust is in the Living God so it's an issue ultimately of the heart and did you say wow if you have that much money stored up you can't be a Christian brethren be cautious of entering into those particular Pharisaic waters be cautious of entering into those that judge others for being very benevolent and very generous and giving away a whole host of good things and be very cautious about saying you're not trusting God what we're told to pray for our daily bread but Jesus uses the example of the lilies of the field they don't garner they don't toil and God clothes that but he also says birds I've heard I think that you know certainly 5% of a birds day consists of him finding his own food that give us this day our daily bread doesn't mean I get to lay on the couch and he'll wander over to the fridge and it'll be filled with tacos and burritos we have to work we have to prepare we have to be ant-like at what point is the threshold I don't know this is all stuff to grapple with however this is the teach them to observe all things that I have commanded we're not supposed to hoard riches absolutely positively 100% no we're not to let them rise up as witnesses against us if our dereliction of duty we're certainly not to defraud employees we are not to not pay somebody who has worked for us were not to be indulgent cows of bation the reference come from comes from Amos 4 when the Prophet condemns the cows of baisha in Israel that we're living self-indulgent lives and then we are not to condemn and murder the just those are absolutely positively straightforward but is the Bible telling us that the gathering of any wealth whatsoever is wicked wrong and criminal and bad no it isn't Paul does not tell Timothy command those who are rich in this present age to get rid of their money to divest themselves of all their interests and to go walk around on the streets of Palestine no no he doesn't do that there are particular rules in place I only offer this as hopefully some help and direction I'm not trying to bind anybody's conscience other than to say we got a guard against Pharisee ISM and guard against a mindset that judges others who may live a little better than we do or judges others because they you know do this or do that and they bought this or they bought that mind our own business and seek to be faithful under the Lord God Almighty I think some helpful questions with reference to riches how are the rich rich is acquired if it was staffed or fraud or extortion that's wicked it's bad if you shown yourself a hard worker and you've gotten raises and promotions praise God Almighty then isn't that what we ought to be about isn't this what Solomon would say in the proverb do you see a man who excels in his work he shall stand before kings what's the implication this is a good thing it's not bad to excel in your work it's not bad to be a good diligent employee that's good and commendable the Protestant work ethic is there because of the Bible the Bible pressures us to make these conclusions that Protestant work ethic trumps liberation theology certainly that is enjoined err and you know in an arm in arm with Marxism and a Roman Catholic vow of poverty you know think about that you as a priest you got to take a vow of poverty why why is that holy why is emaciated skeleton man somehow more holy than the happy fed pastor there's a piece and Spurgeon he deals with the emaciated skeleton man and it's just a boot but somehow that's held up as a whole your standard your godly because you've taken this vow of poverty the Bible doesn't tell you that fact just the opposite let the rule elders who rule well be worthy of double honor honor and that passage isn't right Reverend sir here's your parking lot ref honor there is doremi you honor the widow's who are widows indeed that means you give them money to buy stuff at Walmart so when it says honor give double honor to the elders especially those who labor in the Word of God I'm not here asking for money I'm not saying that I'm just simply highlighting the very opposite of the Roman Catholic vow of poverty is taught by the Apostle he says identify men in the church that labor hard in the word and doctrine and pay them double honor them double give them more let them be in a place or position where they're not emaciated skeleton man and they're able to preach and teach without dropping dead because they didn't get a you know a meal recently brethren food is necessary to energize pastors so that they can't proclaim truth remember pastors are not disembodied spirits they're not angelic beings they have to eat and wear shoes and all those sorts of things again I am NOT making a ploy for money I am simply trying to illustrate that this whole idea that money is bad is not necessarily correct how are the riches being used that's always a good thing what are you doing with your money you know giving I'm saving you know John Wesley I mean John Wesley not you know any theological hero of mine what was his ethic make all you can give all you can save all you can't I don't know how that all works out but it's good advice make all you can give all you can and save all you can again that second and third I'm not sure how we jive that give all you can't say well you can but that was the emphasis with John Wesley you see this whole idea of you know just laying on the couch and holding out our hands is not necessarily biblical and how are the riches affecting the heart of possessor self-indulgence pleasure seeking pampering lying around cows of bation condon condemned by the Prophet Amos by the New Testament prophet at least functioning in a functional sense James these are some certain questions or some questions that we can ask ourselves with reference to this whole issue of finances well there's a an attempt to get at the meaning of the tax I think the clarity is obvious I think the condemnation is certain some of the particular application not so easy and when it comes down to this whole idea of how much you know brethren you got to get alone with your God you got to get alone with your wife or your husband and talk through these things never forget however we will ultimately be condemned by a misuse of our riches this is what James says they will come there corrosion will not only produce also corrode your flesh will eat your flesh we want to make sure that we are mindful of these biblical paradigms and we ought to seek by the grace of God to be responsible and careful and righteous people in the use of the resources God gives us well let us close an order prayer father we thank you for your word we thank you that it speaks to these areas God we know that at times it's difficult to navigate but we know that your word is sufficient and efficient and it doesn't form and instruct us in all these matters give us wisdom ulis help from on high and give us the grace to genuinely consider James's instruction here in James 5 1 to 6 help us not to be possessed by our riches help us not to be mastered by our wealth but help us to be faithful servants to the Lord God Most High help us to be faithful servants to one another and help us to have in mind that great Commission of having persons go and make disciples of all the nations and baptizing them and teaching them may our interests be Kingdom interests and may our desires be a furtherance in the progress in the advance of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ here on this earth we ask that you would go with us now watch over us and protect us in this coming week thank you that you do bless us with an abundance you give us not only every spiritual in the heavenly places in Christ but as the psalmist says you load us daily with benefits you bless us with food with clothes with shelter you bless us with vehicles and just so many good things God and we don't want to take these things for granted and we want to use them for your glory go with us we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen