James 5:1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
6 Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
There was another tragedy in the news just this week. A Saudi Arabian doctor plowed into a large group of shoppers in Germany. The left wing media claimed the man was a former Muslim who had become a “far right” activist. Some even claimed he had turned to support Israel. There is a much more reliable report that states that the man was a Muslim who went out to kill people. In 2016 a similar event happened in Berlin. There have been other such attacks in the past.
What the world ignores is that Muslims are taught they can lie for the cause of Islam. What the world also ignores is that Islam is a philosophy that is built on hatred of God and of Jews and true Christians. After the death of Mohammed, there was disagreement as to who should succeed him. A strong division developed and there are two major factions within Islam. They cannot get along with each other unless they agree on their common hatred of Jews and Christians. It is important to note how quick the media is to blame an event like this on the “far right”. It is also important to note that there are elections coming up in Germany soon and the “far right” is expected to gain ground in that election. The “far right” includes anyone who does not agree with the anti-God majority that want to see a world where man is crippled by lies such as “climate change” and deadly “pandemics”. Restrictions of freedoms are the order of the day.
What better way to try to stop conservatively minded people from gaining power than to paint them as leaning toward terrorism. This event is another illustration of the corruption of the media and of the manipulation of governments to bring in a dictatorship worse than that of Hitler. Canada is in a similar situation. We have a dictator now and we are anxiously pushing for the arrival of the antichrist. He will come at God’s appointed time. He will be a ruthless dictator who will shock the world after he tricks them with lying signs and wonders. God will send strong delusion upon the world at that time, because they have demonstrated their absolute hatred of Him. We are in that state now. The hatred for the truth is growing and it is only the grace and longsuffering of the Lord that is withholding this “man of sin” from being revealed. Prior to that major event, will be the removal of all born again Christians from this world in a moment of time. That will be a major event that will not be of great concern to the world. The true Christian population of the world is quite small. The world will be much more focussed on this man of sin whom God will bring in at that time.
In our text, James was directed to address the issue of money. God does not condemn riches. What He condemns is those who trust in their riches and reject the true God. History shows us that wealthy people can lose all they have in short order. The economy can fail and rich people may last a little longer but the government knows how to steal from the citizens.
God demonstrated the insecurity of wealth with the nation of Israel. Israel was a very wealthy nation at the time of king Solomon. God blessed them with that wealth. Solomon squandered that blessing by following his lusts and marrying many strange women. They turned his heart away from God and into idolatry. God split the nation of Israel into two parts after the death of king Solomon. He still blessed both parts with wealth for a number of years. The “north” never had a good king and eventually God sent the Assyrians in to destroy the north and take captives and pollute the land further with the Assyrian culture.
Judah, the south, did not learn the important lessons from the fall of the north and God eventually sent the Babylonians in to destroy the south including the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the destruction of the wall around Jerusalem. Jerusalem lay in ruins for 70 years prior to God causing king Cyrus of the Persian Empire to make a decree that the Jews could go back to their homeland.
Israel had made materialism their god and adopted the pagan ways of the nations around them and that was their downfall. They still do not realize the darkness they are living in.
Psalm 49:6 They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;
7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:
8 (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)
9 That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.
Psalm 62:10 Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.
Money cannot buy happiness. It cannot grant security. From verse 2 it sounds like the riches acquired were not all gained properly. It is also a reminder that inflation can eat up the value of money. We read as well that their fancy clothing was moth-eaten. Moths do not discriminate when it comes to high class clothing or more simple clothing. We need clothing, but we need to be careful how we present ourselves with materialism.
In verse 3 even their gold and silver was corrupted. Gold and silver can become tarnished and lose its value. God stated that the rust that was found in these precious metals were a picture of the sins that the rich were guilty of. Those who trust in riches will become obsessed with it and will steal their health through worry.
In verse 4 we see that God addressed those saints who received their wealth through unfair treatment of those who worked for them. We know that unions are poison. It is also poison for bosses to mismanage their employees. Workers need to learn to be content with their wages. Bosses also need to treat their employees with respect. The boss would not get as far as he gets without the help of the employees. God is warning against the greed that robs the person of the blessings God wants us to know.
God also reminds us here that He hears the cry of those who are mistreated. The Christian worker can take comfort in the fact that even if their boss does not treat them properly, God will look after things.
In verse 5 God reminds the rich that they had pleasure on earth. They had lived in luxury and given themselves to pleasure. They had lived in a manner that people lived when they would slaughter of animals. There was usually a fire and there would be fresh meat roasted and it was a good day. We have been involved in slaughtering animals with family and neighbours. It is a good time to work together with others on these things. There were things for me to learn and it was good to taste those fresh spare ribs as the lard was being rendered. It was a busy day, but it was a good day.
God pointed out that some of the rich saints were enjoying the blessings of riches, but they had mistreated their employees on the way. That is not good.
In verse 6 God continued to expose the corruption among the rich. The just person does not fight back. We see here that Godly people do not fight against their boss. They are human and they want to be treated properly, but fighting against the boss does not fix things.
We see here again why sound Biblical preaching is so important. God addresses every situation we will face in life. God’s Word gives us all that we need. Pastors are to be under-shepherds. Pastors need to be under the Chief Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to teach the people and not play politics. The love of God will motivate us to love the people enough to speak the truth. God directed James to write these things because He wants His children to know His peace and blessings in our hearts. We can know His peace and we can be blessed in serving Him whether He blesses us with wealth or with a lack of wealth.
Keep in mind the context here is to Christians. Christians can become careless. We need the fellowship of true saints that is found through the local church. Biblically sound online teaching can be helpful but you cannot know the fellowship of the saints that God wants His people to know. God is good and He is providing that fellowship through Biblically sound local churches today.
It is the Lord’s Day today. God wants all people to find a good local church to attend and to grow in Him. The lost need to be exposed to the truth and see the value of knowing the true God. The saints need the blessings of the local church in their lives. Our prayer is that more and more people would get saved and allow God to direct them to a Biblical true church. The lost still need a clear, bright light shining before them.
Pastor Bartel
