James 5:1-6 June 7, 2014 A Warning to Ungodly Rich Oppressors

James 5:1-6 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth- eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self- indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Where have we been? James 4:11-12 – In relation to other people and what we say about them. James 4:13-17 – In making plans James 5:1-6 – The wise use of God given resources Unifying Themes: Humility before God Exposing false faith, pride and arrogance. It is not wealth that is sinful, it is the misuse and abuse of it that James is addressing.

Outline 1. Listen up, rich people (v. 1) 2. Rich indicted for hoarding (vv. 2,3) 3. Rich indicted for fraud (v. 4) 4. Rich indicted for Self-Indulgence (v.5) 5. Rich Indicted for Murder (v.6)

1. Listen up, rich people (v. 1) v. 1 - Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. The focus James has is on those who gain their wealth in an ungodly manner, make it the center of their lives and don’t use it to benefit others. Wealth is not always an advantage, sometimes it is a spiritual handicap. Matt. 6:24 – No one can serve two masters…cannot serve both God and money. Lk. 12:15 – A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Lk. 12:34 – Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Mark 10:22-27 – The rich young ruler was told to sell all to inherit eternal life.

2. Rich indicted for hoarding (2,3) vv. 2,3 - Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. While God’s needy children were all around them, the unrighteous were heartlessly stockpiling to preserve their wealth. Their soul was spiritually rotting as they piled up stuff.

Jesus on wealth and hoarding it: Matthew 6: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

3. Rich indicted for fraud (v.4) 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. Deuteronomy 24: "You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it, lest he cry against you to the Lord, and you be guilty of sin.

Proverbs 3:27, 28 - Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it"—when you have it with you. Jeremiah 22:13 - "Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages, 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

4. Rich indicted for Self-Indulgence (v.5) 5. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self- indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. Choosing this path of pursuing an indulgent lifestyle is a rejection of God’s grace and has disastrous consequences. The prohibition is not to have a nice meal, to throw a huge family party, to never take a vacation, but to live a life of conspicuous consumption with no regard for the needy, the poor, or the Kingdom.

5. Rich Indicted for Murder (v.6) 6 You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. An ungodly fixation on wealth leads to: Hoarding, fraud, self-indulgence and murder. The key to a healthy Christian life as we approach the subject of wealth is am I submitted to the searchlight of God’s Word? Am I allowing the Word of God to shape my heart as it relates to wealth?

1 Timothy 6:17-19 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.