The Book of James: Putting Faith to Work! (Chapter 5:1-6)

Hello Friends!

Welcome Back! Let’s continue our journey through “The Book of James: Putting Faith to Work!”

The Book of James: Putting Faith to Work! (Chapter 5:1-6)

This week we will continue our reading of verses 1-6 in beginning chapter 5 as we consider Judgment Upon the Wealthy Wicked…

All the way through this excellent epistle, James writes to a group of Jewish “brethren” in a local “assembly” and he instructs them to evaluate the validity of their “faith” in Jesus Christ through a series of tests and this passage is certainly of no exception! And such are those professing “Christians” that James wants to call to self-examination. Therefore, here we will further “learn” and “discern” that how a person handles “wealth” is a test of their – True loyalty to the Lord!

By the way, James is merely echoing this same test of the “heart” regarding earthly temporary “treasures” that our Lord Jesus originated in His Sermon on Mount discourse:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also – Matthew 6:19-21

Here too Jesus instructs “us” to “lay up” our “treasures in heaven” from an eternal perspective – Halleluiah!

With that said, let’s begin to dig in to these wonderful commands and their associated “promises” to both encourage and edify our “hearts” and “minds” in Jesus Christ – With the Word of God!

Judgment Upon the Wealthy Wicked

How “we” view money and material possessions will “reveal” the spiritual state of our “heart’s” condition. And as we’ve discussed, “wealth” in and of itself is not “sinful” nor is it to possess “money” as a blessing from God. It is simply another test of “stewardship” given by God. All of “us” have some measure of “wealth” to manage and it varies from person to person by God's design. In fact, God can “bless” His people in many different ways, “giving” some of “us” more and some of “us” less in terms of monetary “money” or tangible “treasure.” And as we will “learn” here, it's not wrong to possess “wealth” – But it is wrong if wealth possesses you!

Therefore, here in this section of Scripture James is addressing the “rich” people within the “assembly” who though on the outside they may affirm a “faith” in Jesus Christ and “love” for God. However, it is quite obvious they actually have an unholy “love” for “money” rather than for God Himself. And their “life” is totally controlled and governed by their incessant “love” for the “treasures” of the world. And so their spiritual state is revealed in their – Relationship to riches…

James begins this poignant passage with a warning to the “wealthy” people as another test of the true state of their “heart” by issuing them a very strong announcement of “judgment” to come:

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! – James 5:1

This stern “Come now” is a call to attention given by James to point out the inescapable doom that is “coming” upon these unbelieving “rich” and their “miseries” will manifest through much “weeping” and “howling” to come – God’s judgment!

By the way, the more we “have” the greater potential for prostituting its proper use. And when our “heart” is perverted the “love of money” will control us, leading to “all sorts of evil” just as the Apostle Paul warned the young pastor Timothy:

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs – 1 Timothy 6:9-10

QUIZZING QUESTIONS: Who are the “wealthy” people Paul speaks of here to Timothy? These are the “believers” within the “assembly” who have more than they “need” to “live” their lives. And if an ungodly “desire” to be “rich” is present, they too face the danger of “falling” into “temptation and a snare” as well as many “foolish and harmful lusts” of which lead many “men” into “destruction and perdition” of the soul. Why? Because the “longing” for “riches” is a “snare” of the “heart” causing “many griefs” in life. Conversely, who are the “wicked wealthy” to whom James speaks? These are the “unbelievers” within the “assembly” who misuse and abuse the “stewardship” of their discretionary “money” given to them by God. Therefore, James is directing his attention to exposing the “rich” people whose lying “lives” display a continual abuse of their “earthly” resources – Gifts from God!

And to further build upon his opening statement, James provides for us THREE “sins” of the “unbelieving” and financially “rich” people within the “assembly”:

FIRST “sin” of the “rich” is HORDING!

SECOND “sin” of the “rich” is ROBBERY!

THIRD “sin” of the “rich” is SELF-INDULGENCE!

Therefore, let’s unpack these very important sobering “words” of warning concerning the “sin” of an ungodly life of “wealth” presented by pastor James…

Three Sins of the Rich

This section begins with James expressing the most condemning denunciation given in his entire epistle. It is aimed against those “wicked” wealthy “rich” people who have prostituted the “goodness,” “generosity” and “blessing” of the Lord – They forgot God!

The FIRST “sin” of these “rich” people was HORDING! Here James says they have “heaped up treasure” in the stock piling of “worldly” wealth:

Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days – James 5:2-3

You might ask: "Is it wrong to store up treasure?" In this context, yes it is! Why? Because with these “rich” it's to the exclusion of its proper use according to the “will” of God. Therefore, their “riches are corrupted,” their “garments are moth-eaten” and their “gold and silver are corroded” of which will be a final “witness against” them in the “last days” as an eternal damning “fire” – Of God’s judgment!

THEOLOGICAL THOUGHTS: The Greek word "riches" that James uses here is ploutos and comes from the name of an ancient Greek god of mythology named Ploutos meaning the ”abundant yielding of the earth.” This false god Ploutos was said to have been the son of Demetra the goddess of the earth. Therefore, the word ploutos has a connection through Greek mythology with what the earth produces and thereby refers to the food such as, vegetables, grain and meats of which are “stored up” as a result of the products of the earth. This is nothing less than the idolatrous pagan Gaia worship of today’s pantheistic “all-is-one” Mother Earth goddess of which is touting the “wicked” environmentalism movement – Mythological madness!

The SECOND “sin” of these “rich” people was ROBBERY! Not only were the “riches” of their wealth hoarded, they also unjustly robbed the income from those who had rightly earned it:

Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth – James 5:4

“Indeed” rather than being generous with the poor’s “wages,” the wicked “rich” exploited them. Instead of giving the “laborers” in the “fields” their proper daily pay on time for hard work well rendered, these shrewd men “kept back by fraud” in refusing to pay what was rightly due! What is the result? The “reapers” hard-earned “wages” will “cry out” on their behalf to the “Lord of Sabaoth” as promised and prophesied in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy:

You shall give him his wages on his day before the sun sets, for he is poor and sets his heart on it; so that he will not cry against you to the Lord and it become sin in you – Deuteronomy 24:15

This cursing “cry” from the defrauded “wages” of the “poor” on “his day” who “sets his heart” on these much needed daily funds have reached the ears of God the “Lord of Hosts” and they continue to echo in His “righteous” mind – Until He makes it right! 

The THIRD “sin” of these “rich” people was SELF-INDULGENCE! Not only were these “wicked” men’s “riches” unrighteously hoarded and unjustly robbed, they also selfishly lavished their “treasures” on themselves:

You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter – James 5:5

After increasing their “wealth” through “robbery” and then “hoarding” it all away, the “rich” now use it for their own indulgence and extravagant comfort leading to a “fattened heart” for a “day of slaughter” in God’s righteous judgment. Incidentally, a “life” without self-denial is one that soon runs out of control in every area. People who are completely concerned and consumed with “pleasure” and “luxury” cannot restrain themselves. An “unbeliever” with an abundance of “riches” often closes his eyes to the “needs” of other people as well as to the “works” of God. However, his eyes are wide open to his own “sinful” narcissistic and hedonistic self-gratification – He only lives to gratify himself!

Lastly, James culminates this passage with a denunciation of the “rich” for ruthlessly acquiring their “riches” in such a “wicked” manner:

You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you – James 5:6

Here James says the “rich” have condemned and killed the “just” people of God. This is how it happened: Their HORDING led to ROBBERY which led to SELF-INDULGENCE. And this “sinful” process becomes so consuming that these ravaging “rich” will literally do anything to sustain their “wicked” life style. The implication here is that these wretched “rich” have “condemned” and “murdered” God’s people through the unrighteous use of the “world’s” legal court system – To get what they want!

However, James also says “he does not resist you” at all. What does this mean? The “he” James mentions here is the true “believer” living in the “grace” and “meekness” of Jesus Christ of whom will not fight back against this great “injustice” bestowed upon them by these ungodly “rich” men – God will vindicate for His glory!

POINTS TO PONDER: This poignant passage is reminiscent of James’ similar indictment drawn earlier in chapter 2 when he addressed the “sin” of “dishonoring” the economically weak “poor man” of God:

But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? – James 2:6-7

In other words, these “rich” people “oppress” and drag the “poor” before the civil and religious “courts” of man. Not only did these “rich” men depreciate human value, they also despised true “faith” in Jesus Christ. Incidentally, world history proves to “us” that the godless “rich” of this wicked “world” have always oppressed the “just” people of God – Civil, financial and religious persecution!

In closing:

The sixteenth chapter of Luke provides for “us” yet another occasion in which our Lord Jesus Himself spoke to a similar “sinful” issue of “corrupted riches” and “unrighteous mammon” in His powerful parable of the unjust steward:

Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?  And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own? – Luke 16:11-12

In other words, Jesus says: “Do you think God will trust you with the true riches of His eternal Kingdom if you have not demonstrated a proper handling of worldly wealth?” Will God “give” you what is truly valuable if you don’t properly “steward” that which is not? If you haven’t been “faithful” in that which “belongs” to “another man” who shall “give” you that which “is” your “own?” And if you are not “faithful” with the earthly “riches” that is of your “stewardship” from God, then why would He “give” you the heavenly “riches” of His blessing? – He will NOT!

Then Jesus sums up His questions with this matter of fact truth:

No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon – Luke 16:13

The Pharisees Jesus addressed here were very “covetous” and when hearing these definite words from the Lord, they despised Him even more! These pious men were indeed quite “religious” but the state of their “heart” was revealed in their cancerous “covetousness” for the “mammon” of man – Money madness!

REAL REFLECTIONS: Beloved, how do YOU relate to the “riches” of this present “wicked” world? You have been “given” much “wealth” by God. Use it to care for the people God has “given” to you. Use it for His service. Use it to win the lost. Use it to support those in ministry. But don't HOARD it! How we relate to worldly “wealth” is another – Spiritual test from God!

Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!

We are not guaranteed tomorrow – tomorrow may be too late! If you haven't yet made that most important decision of your life, won't you make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today - before it's too late? Today is the day of Salvation!

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Blessings!
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