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Well, please turn in your Bibles 
to James chapter 5, James chapter 5. Our focus 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 have lived 
on the earth in pleasure and luxury. You have fattened your 
hearts as 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 seen 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 your no, no, lest you fall into judgment. Is anyone among you suffering? 
Let him pray. Is 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 the 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 the potential covetousness and wickedness in 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 brings 
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 are 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 are addressed, we'll 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 balked 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, in 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, 
oppressive 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' 
words would have the calming effect upon them or the encouraging 
effect upon them that 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 profess 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 the 
come-now pattern. that was used in 4.13, it's also 
employed here in 5.1. That's a consistency that we 
ought to appreciate. Secondly, the repetition of weep, 
he already mentioned that in chapter 4, verse 9, 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, realize that all these things 
are going to transpire to those who have oppressed you. Also, 
the fact that the other sections detail 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 
has 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 written 
in James anywhere? Or how could the Corinthian church, 
for instance, actually be arrogant and not deal with a man who had 
had his father's wife in the context of the local church? 
Not 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 they're necessarily 
genuine believers, but they were those within the context of the 
local church that had money and they used that money in an improper 
fashion. We also need to appreciate that 
James is basically putting on the Old Testament prophet's mantle. In 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, 
Amoz, 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. 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 upbraid 
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 condemnation of the righteous. So back to Gil, 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 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 Gil has the stronger position in this particular situation. If you end up siding with Calvin 
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 were oppressing them. I will not argue with you. 
I simply want to present to you my reasons for taking Gill'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 2 and 3. You just get that word, hoard, 
and it 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 2 and 3. 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 like fire. You have heaped up treasure in 
the last days." Now, I think the obvious import of these three 
things, your riches are 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 
a whole 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 as corroded. I think the underlying theme 
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, affect some positive good 
among the people with whom you come into contact. The riches, 
instead of being put to good use, are corrupted. The garments 
are moth-eating, moth-eating 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 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 inerrant. 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 Sirach was basically the man 
that was writing or giving these nuggets of wisdom. Listen to 
what Sirach 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 rust 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 aids and helps to human life. 
So you see, this whole idea of hoarding, setting it aside, putting 
it in your living room, counting 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 4. He says, you have 
heaped up treasure, I'm sorry, at the end of verse 3, and their 
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 High. 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 it at the end of verse 3. There's 
some question concerning the last days there. 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 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 general welfare 
of man, they're hoarding it. They're counting it. They're 
piling it up. They are not using it for the glory of God Most 
High. So they first hoarded wealth. 
Secondly, they defraud workers. Verse 4, "'Indeed, the wages 
of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by 
fraud, cry out.'" It's the wages that cry out. You've heard that 
old adage, money talks. Right? Everybody's heard that, 
money talks. It most certainly does. And in 
verse 4 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, as I've already mentioned, of fields is not condemned. You 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 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 poor. 
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 owned, 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 the defraud workers. Leviticus 19, 13. You shall not cheat your neighbor 
nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired 
shall not remain with you all night until morning. Pay the 
guy. Pay him. The context is 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 and the ones who started late received 
the same denarius. 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 
31,000 plus verses in Scripture that tell us not to do certain 
heinous, wicked, despising, 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. It's just that simple. Employees shouldn't have to bang 
on the door of the boss's office. Are we going to 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 he is 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 Sabaoth, the Lord 
of hosts, God Most High. 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, perjurers, 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 more passage. Go back to Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 
5. You see a similar convention 
there. Isaiah chapter 5. Parable of the vineyard in verses 
1 to 7, and then the application in verses 8 and following. But 
notice in verse 7 in 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 vineyard of God. He hires workers and He 
sends His servants to them, and the workers abuse them and reject 
them. The vineyard owner says, I know, I'll send my son, and 
certainly they'll receive him. And then 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 7, 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 ten acres of 
vineyard shall yield one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield 
one ephah." You see, this whole concept, when there is this 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 High 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." That 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 go, man, it's just not fair. 
You spend money, or you buy something, and then you drive it away, and 
it falls apart, and you go, why? 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. But brethren, 
those who cheat others, those who deceive others, those who 
defraud others will give an account to the Lord of hosts one day. I think that's an encouraging 
sort of application there for the people of God. Now, notice 
thirdly, they engage in self-indulgence. Verse 5, 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? We're 
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 
fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. Now, this can be 
taken in one of two ways. You have fattened your hearts 
as in a day of slaughter. Not 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 know the Hebrew or the Greek. That's what it 
meant. You see, brethren, we need to appreciate that at those 
feast 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 isn't the issue. This isn't a, 
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. 
This is the way you conduct yourself. This is every day. This is Monday 
through, you know, Saturday and Sunday too. This is every, you 
know, defining moment that you're alive. It's all spent in gratifying 
your own flesh. It's that attitude that's condemned. 
The other option may be that they are 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 there, 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 go to Costco. You always have to shop 
at Walmart, or garage sales, or Value Village. 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? 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 convinced 
that watching out for my heart is a full-time job all in and 
of itself. But 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 
in sin. 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 it, these preferences, and we begin to wonder, well, 
if I drive an old beat-up Pinto from 1976, then all of God's 
people should. There's legitimately excellent 
reasons why you shouldn't drive a 1976 Pinto. They are traveling 
bombs. They were designed so that if 
they were rear-ended, they'd blow up. So if you think you're 
godly and virtuous because you're driving a 1976 Pinto, I will 
argue with you, you are just the opposite. That has got to 
be the most foolish acquisition in 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 going to tend to these particular things. 
If it happens to be the case that somebody comes to you and 
says, man, I am just a, you know, I'm 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 just. 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 just, 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. Now again, go back 
to chapter 4. Verse 2, you lust 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, weed out the people of God. Murder doesn't always 
mean the actual cessation of a human life. We saw in that 
context that if you hate your brother, then you are a murderer. Well, here I think the connection 
is this, you have condemned, you have 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, O 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? 
Now, 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 then verse three, 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 cauldron. It may be the 
case that within this context of social oppression, This is 
the end result. You are destroying them. You 
are brutalizing them. You are ripping the very skin 
off of their bones. Notice that verse 4, crying out 
to God again. Then they will cry to the Lord, 
but He will not hear them. He will 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 and rulers 
of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and pervert all equity, 
who build up Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with iniquity. 
Her heads judge for a bribe, her priests teach for pay, and 
her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the Lord and 
say, is 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, but as well as their abandonment 
of one another, vis-a-vis one particular is in social oppression, 
exploiting people, treating them like garbage and dirt, and thus 
ultimately killing them. rendering them dead. Moose 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. Sirach, 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 they're professing people of God within 
the context of the church or 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 possessing them. And then we see at the 
end of verse 6, he does not resist you. He's powerless to you. What 
typically comes with money? the ability to dominate others, 
the ability to 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 are both 
condemned and murdered by the lawlessness of these wicked oppressors 
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 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 whole issue, liberation theology, Roman Catholicism, 
and the good old-fashioned Protestant work ethic. You know why there 
is this debate? Because people don't read their 
Bibles. Now, I realize that 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, 1 Timothy 6, 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. Again, 
it's not money. Money isn't evil. It's the love 
of it that is the problem. 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 1 Timothy 6, 17 and 19. In fact, turn there 
because you're going to 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. 
You see, I don't think James is condemning riches. That's 
not the issue. He's condemning those who hoard 
it and don't use it properly, those who defraud others, those 
who live like self-indulgent cows of Bashan, and he condemns 
those who condemn and murder others. Notice in 1 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 going to have any money? Because if 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, to 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 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 men entering the kingdom 
of heaven, because Jesus said that, but not the impossibility. 
This idea that, you know, liberation theology is right, and how dare 
anybody have any extra money? That's Marxism. That's not biblical 
Christianity. Brethren, if your 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 Jesus says 
it will be easier, it's easier for a camel to pass through the 
eye of a needle than for a 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 in Luke 18. Guess what happens in Luke 19? 
The very first thing in Luke chapter 19 is the camel passing 
through the eye of the 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 1 
Timothy 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 whatnot, then we have issues. We need to receive 
the positive instruction by Paul that I just read there in 1 Timothy 
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, prize them less. When you possess them, let them 
not possess you. Secondly, do them 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 abound and how to be abased. Most commentators say it was 
probably more difficult for him to abound than to be abased. 
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, 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 wise folk and as diligent folk. 
Proverbs 6, we are told, go to the end, you sluggard. I mean, 
Solomon 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 going to 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 
a 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 going to 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 at 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 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 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 preparation 
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 commends the reality or the idea that we don't lay up any 
provisions for the future and we drop dead because of our own 
indolence or laziness. I think Alec Motier gives us 
a good perspective. He says, following the teaching 
in verses 2 and 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, 
though 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 improvidence or imprudence. James's fire seems to be reserved 
for possessions left to 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 
so using our resources as to heap up treasure in heaven, Luke 
12, 32 to 34. 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 Pharisaism and judgmentalism. Well, you 
haven't saved, you've saved more than me, so therefore you're, 
you know, just not trusting God. Well, not necessarily. 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. Do we just not 
plan? Is it trusting God to say, you 
know, he's gonna provide for our daily bread? Yes, 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 in our strength, when we are in our vigor, is there 
a balance that is to be struck? I would suggest, brethren, that 
there is. Motier 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 placed. 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 prove that our trust is 
in the living God? So it's an issue ultimately of 
the heart. And to just 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. Well, 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 them, but he also says birds. I've heard, 
I think that, you know, 75% of a bird's day consists of him 
finding his own food. Give us this day our daily bread, 
doesn't mean I get to lay on the couch and go 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 of our dereliction of duty. We're 
certainly not to defraud employees. We are not to not pay somebody 
who has worked for us. We're not to be indulgent cows 
of Bashan. The reference comes from Amos 
4 when the prophet condemns the cows of Bashan, women in Israel 
that were 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 to guard against pharisaism 
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 or 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 riches acquired? 
If it was theft or fraud or extortion, that's wicked, it's bad. If you've 
shown yourself a hard worker and you've gotten raises and 
promotions, praise God Almighty. And isn't that what we ought 
to be about? Isn't this what Solomon would say in the Proverbs? 
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 or, you know, in arm 
and 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, fad pastor? There's a piece in 
Spurgeon where he deals with the emaciated skeleton man, and 
it's just a hoot. But somehow, that's held up as 
a holier standard? You're godly because you've taken 
this vow of poverty? The Bible doesn't tell you that. 
In fact, just the opposite. Let the elders who rule well 
be worthy of double honor. Honor in that passage isn't right 
reverend sir, here's your parking lot. Honor there is do re mi. You honor the widows who are 
widows indeed. That means you give them money 
to buy stuff at Walmart. So when it says give double honor 
to the elders, especially those who labor in the Word and Doctrine, 
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 a 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 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'm not making a ploy for money. I'm 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? Giving, I'm saving. John Wesley, any theological 
hero of mine, what was his ethic? Make all you can, give all you 
can, save all you can. 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, save all you 
can, but that was the emphasis with John Wesley. You see, this 
whole idea of just laying on the couch and holding out our 
hands is not necessarily biblical. And how are the riches affecting 
the heart of the possessor? Self-indulgence, pleasure-seeking, 
pampering, lying around, cows of Bashan, 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 an attempt to get 
at the meaning of the text. 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've got to get along 
with your God, you've got to get along 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. Their corrosion will not only 
corrode the metals, but it will also corrode your flesh. It will 
eat your flesh. So 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 
in a word of 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 does inform and instruct 
us in all these matters. Give us wisdom, give us help 
from on high, and give us the grace to genuinely consider James's 
instruction here in James 5, one to six. 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 and 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 
blessing 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.