Come now, you rich, weep
and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 2 Your riches
are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 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. 4
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. 5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you
have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. 6 You
have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.
The minister, which all Christians are, should speak
to both sinners and saints. Not only in an echo chamber to like-minded
believers.
James speaks to beloved brothers... and others;
adulterers and adulteresses, sinners, double minded. (James 4:4,8).
Jesus said we are to go into all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mark 16:15.
So, here James speaks to the filthy rich, emphasis on filthy.
Those wealthy by ill-gotten gain.
James had undoubtedly
heard Jesus’ words to the wicked wealthy:
Matthew
23:15-24
15 “Woe
to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea
to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son
of hell as yourselves.
16 “Woe to
you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it
is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is
obliged to perform it.’ 17 Fools and blind!
For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the
gold? 18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is
nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is
obliged to perform it.’ 19 Fools and blind!
For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the
gift?
They weren’t exactly His favorite people.
He went on to call them.
Whitewashed sepulchers full
of hypocrisy and lawlessness, serpents, brood of vipers! How can you
escape the condemnation of hell?
Rather than viewing the provision of God to further
the work of God, they saw it as a means of gain, to consume upon their lusts.
Jesus condemns them without so much as a call to
repentance.
James does the same. Notice he says, weep and howl,
not weep and repent. Weep and howl for the miseries that are
coming upon you, where there will be weeping and howling and gnashing of
teeth.
Their relationship toward God was revealed by their
relationship to money.
Where I put my money, paints a picture of my
heart.
Good or bad.
It justifies or condemns.
It condemned the filthy rich, the greedy scribes and
pharisees, but it justified the woman who put in her two cents worth.
Mark
12:41-44
Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple
and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large
amounts. 42 Then a poor widow came and dropped in
two small coins.
43 Jesus
called his disciples to him and said, “I tell
you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are
making contributions. 44 For they gave a tiny part
of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live
on.”
Then, she walks outside, bumps into the rich young
ruler, it’s love at first sight, they get married and live happily ever after 😉.
The rich young ruler is the one that asked Jesus what
good thing he must do to have eternal life.
Jesus told him to obey the commandments.
He said, “I’ve done that since my youth.”
Jesus looked at him, loved him, told him to sell what
he had, give to the poor, and follow Him.
The man went away sad because he had great riches.
Then, Jesus told His disciples, it’s easier for
a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the
kingdom of God.
Matthew 19:16-24, Mark 10:17-27
My money trail, paints a picture of my
heart.
What does it look like?
Does it show that I love God?
Or...? Fill in the blank.
I love... Food? Clothes? Family? Fun? Travel? Reading?
Hobbies? Gardening? Golf? Fishing? Smoking? Drinking? Drugs? ...? Puzzles?
What if entrance through the Pearly Gates required an
audit of my discretionary spending to verify my relationship with Jesus.
Would I pass the audit?
Doug, hold on! Get real. You can’t see a heart by
looking at a checkbook.
Oh really?
Let’s ask Jesus.
Where your treasure is there
your heart will be also. Matt. 6:21.
Well, that settles it.
My relationship toward God is revealed by my
relationship to money.
Where I put my money, paints a picture of my heart.
The numbers don’t lie.
Just in case you’re wondering. No, we can’t have both.
We can’t love the world and the Lord.
There’s no two-timing God.
Jesus says it like this:
No one 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 money.
Matt. 6:24.
Now, just to be clear. It’s a heart issue, not a money
issue.
Money is not the root of all evil. The love
of money is the root of all evil. 1 Tim. 6:10.
The love of money is why we have overwhelming debt nationally and individually.
The love of money is why we have fraud, waste and
abuse, in our nation.
If we could eliminate the love of money we’d fix the
dept crisis.
Fraud waste and abuse
was also in our text (James 5:4-6), did you see it?
4 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.
The Lord of Sabaoth, is not the Lord of
Sabbath, but literally the Lord of Hosts. God is Commander in Chief of Heavens
Armies.
He hears the cry of those frauded by the filthy
rich, lawless, brood of vipers.
Today every tax paying American citizen is being:
Frauded out of free and fair elections.
Frauded out of multiplied billions upon billions of
dollars.
Our children are being frauded out of the Truth of a
Godly education including:
· America’s
Godly Foundation built on Biblical Judea Christian Principles
· Biblical
Truths regarding marriage, gender, life, liberty.
Fraud is deception.
Deception is of the devil, the father of lies. John 8:44.
The Lord of Hosts knows it and hears our cry.
5 You have
lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts
as in a day of slaughter.
We’ll follow James and Jesus’ example and speak
directly to the fraudsters, wasters, abusers.
You know who you are.
You had opportunity to do good, to make a difference, instead
you wasted it, on the passing pleasures of sin for a season.
The corrupt treasures you’ve heaped will rise in
witness against you.
Your wasted position and wasted life will haunt your
wasted soul with the pain of fire eating your flesh, forever.
Such a waste.
6 You have condemned,
you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.
To cover your own corruption, you abuse,
you condemn, you murder, you assassinate, the innocent, and he does not
resist you.
But make no mistake, don’t think you got away with
your fraud, waste and abuse, your stealing, killing, destroying.
Don’t think he does not resist you out of
weakness.
Tremble knowing it’s because you’ve been handed over
to the Lord of Sabaoth.
Your filthy riches, your putrid power, will not help you
when you stand before the Judge of the wicked and the dead.
Jesus puts it like this:
Revelation
3:14-22
“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans
write,
‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True
Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 “I
know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold
or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and
neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because
you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do
not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—
This is where my flesh thinks the story should end
with the filthy rich being vomited into hell.
But the depth of God’s love is beyond understanding,
and He’s not done.
18 I counsel
you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich;
and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of
your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that
you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke
and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I
stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the
door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To
him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also
overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
22 “He who has
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Lord Jesus, thank You for telling us this
life is but a vapor, this world is passing away. Thank You for giving all
things that pertain to Life and Godliness. Please help keep our priorities
straight, with Eternity in view, pressing ever onward closer to You. So that of
all those You’ve given us, none are lost.
Thank You.
We love You, forever.
Amen.
Prayer Requests:
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5:1-6
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James 5:1-6
This was feed for you to read. Now it’s
Seed for you to sow.
Thank you for sharing.
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