A Daily Walk

Guest (Male): Today, on A Daily Walk from Pastor John Randall.

John Randall: It was John Wesley, that famous preacher, he had a principle that he lived by concerning financial matters. And he said, "Gain all you can, save all you can, and give all you can."

Yet these to whom James condemns, they had a completely different philosophy. And their philosophy was "Get all you can, can all you get, poison the lid and sit on the rest." That was their mentality.

Guest (Male): Calvary South OC presents A Daily Walk with our pastor and teacher, John Randall. It's not hard to see many in our world have a love and thirst for wealth. They'll do just about anything under the sun to obtain it.

But today, we'll observe the real danger in that sort of living. In the passage before us, James confronts those who were hoarding what they had, not paying their laborers for the work they did, and their indulgence. It would be a good time for us to look in the mirror and consider our relationship to what we've been given. We'll be held accountable by God for that.

John Randall: James chapter 5, beginning in verse 1 this evening. "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."

The fifth chapter of James opens with a scathing rebuke that sounded very similar to that of an Old Testament prophet. James is calling out what appears to be the unbelieving, worldly wealthy who had taken advantage of poor believers through exploitation. And he warns them sternly of the judgment and retribution that they would one day receive from God.

If you've been studying with us through the book of James, you may recall that James had spoken of this group before. In fact, this is the third time that James mentions the wealthy here. In chapter 1, he pointed out that they lacked a perspective on the temporary nature of their materialistic possessions.

In chapter 2, he cited that they were given preferential treatment because of their status to the exclusion of others in the congregation. And then, in chapter 3, he condemned their behavior. But keep in mind that James was not condemning the possessions of riches. There were many of God's servants throughout scripture who were blessed monetarily: Abraham, David, Solomon, and others.

It wasn't the possession of money, but the love of money that was the root of all kinds of evil. There are certain dangers that attach themselves to the possession of great wealth that the Bible clearly warns against. For example, in 1 Timothy chapter 6 verses 9 and 10, Paul reminded Timothy when he said, "Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and it is certain that we will carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content."

And then he went a little bit further and he warned Timothy when he said, "Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."

Paul warned Timothy of the importance of godliness with contentment is great gain. You can't take anything with you. You didn't bring anything in, you're not taking anything out. As Job said, "Naked I came into the world and naked I'm leaving this world." I'm not taking anything with me.

And he went on to say that those that pursue this and those that their driving passion is all that is temporal, they fall into many harmful lusts. And they get tripped up and even turn away from the Lord. Jesus also talked about the dangers of loving and serving wealth in the parable of the sower. You remember that.

He mentioned the seed that was sown among the thorns. Matthew and Mark's gospel pointed out that the thorns or the weeds are the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desire for other things which grow up and they choke out the actual fruit that could be produced. And nothing ever comes to maturity. It's unfruitful because it's consistently distracted, never truly effective.

On one occasion, the Bible mentions when Jesus had a personal appointment with a rich young ruler who professed that he wanted to follow Jesus. However, he was held captive by his wealth and he refused when Jesus gave him the opportunity to follow him. Jesus then said to his disciples on that occasion, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom."

One of the wealthiest men that ever lived, his name was King Solomon. He said it so clearly. He said, "Don't overwork to be rich because of your own understanding." He said in Proverbs 23, "Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches will certainly make themselves wings and they will fly away like an eagle toward heaven."

The individuals that James was addressing were in a very spiritually dark place. That was clearly demonstrated by their ruthless behavior that gained their wealth through ungodly means. And so he opens up in verse 1 with this warning of judgment to come. He says, "Come now." It demands immediate attention for those who were indifferent, for those who were completely distracted by all things monetarily speaking. He said, "Hey, listen up!"

They had no thought nor concern of their eternal future. And so James says you need to be awake, you need to listen to what I'm about to say. And then what he says next is rather interesting. He says, "weep and howl," which are words that mean to sob out loud. It's the kind of weeping that the Bible describes at the tomb of Lazarus when he was in the grave.

It's a verbalized sorrow with strong emotional outburst from those who see the inescapable judgment that they're going to be facing. You remember that Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6 in verse 24, "No man can serve two masters: for either he's going to hate the one and love the other; or else he's going to be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon, or God and money."

You can't have two gods to worship. In Luke chapter 12, Jesus said, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things that he possesses." Sometimes we think that our life consists in the abundance of what we possess, but it really doesn't.

And so James gives this warning to those that were living for themselves, all that was temporal, their possessions possessed them. He said, "Listen, you need to wake up right now or you're going to miss the boat. You're going to miss eternity in heaven. You're amassing all of these things, but they can't take you to heaven. You might want to think about this. Listen up," is what he's saying.

And so James begins to warn them of several things. First of all, he cites their selfishness that was demonstrated in the hoarding of what they had. Look at verse 2. "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 they will eat up your flesh like fire." And here he says, "You've heaped up treasure." The word is hoarded up treasure in the last days.

When James uses this word heaped, it implies that they had stockpiled, hoarded their wealth. And James isn't condemning here, again, being a wise steward with what God has entrusted to you or financially planning. He's not saying that. On the contrary, he's writing to those who had acquired as much wealth as they could and stored it away and did not use it, did not share it.

They simply hoarded it for themselves, yet they never used it for themselves or for others. They just laid it up. And yet James says the riches that they hoarded, they're corrupted. And the garments that you've collected, so many garments, they're moth-eaten. The silver and gold that you've amassed, it's corroded.

Jesus, knowing that earthly treasure was temporal, he said in the Sermon on the Mount to his disciples in Matthew chapter 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." Do not stockpile and hoard up these things that can be taxed, corroded, taken, but rather send your treasures ahead where nothing can touch them.

It's been rightly said you cannot take it with you, but you can send it ahead. It was John Wesley, that famous preacher, he had a principle that he lived by concerning financial matters. And he said, "Gain all you can, save all you can, and give all you can." Yet these to whom James condemns, they had a completely different philosophy. And their philosophy was "Get all you can, can all you get, poison the lid and sit on the rest." That was their mentality.

How do you view your material possessions? Do you realize that they are a gift from God? Do you realize that ultimately they are because of the grace of God and his mercy in your life? Do you see them as a gift to use for his glory or an idol to worship? How many of us have thought if I could just get that one thing, I'll probably never ask for anything else?

If I could just order that one thing on Amazon, I'm sure that I'll never want another package at my door until I want the next one? It just never ends. And it's all vanity and it all passes away. What is our philosophy on these matters? What is our thinking process concerning these things? But not only would the wealthy wicked be judged for their selfishness in hoarding what they had, but secondly, they were condemned for the fraudulence that was demonstrated by not paying their employees.

Oh, it says here in verse 4, "Indeed the wages of the laborers who have mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, they're crying out and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." Apparently, the rich landowners who hired laborers for their fields, they contracted them for their services, but they never paid them for what they asked them to do. They refused to pay them. They lacked integrity and honesty.

And the laborers were so poor that they had no way to bring the wealthy landowners to justice, no way of gaining any kind of representation, no human resources to plead their case or hold them accountable. They couldn't go to a judicial system. They'd been taken advantage of and they'd been left with nothing. And the people are so wealthy, do something about it. What are you going to do? They couldn't do anything except cry out to God.

And James says God's listening. He's hearing and he's seeing what you're doing. He's mindful of the way in which you're treating them. Throughout the scriptures, there were laws and precepts that God put in place in order to compensate the laborer within the field. Furthermore, the Lord warned that a failure to compensate the worker would not go unpunished.

For example, Deuteronomy chapter 24, Old Testament, it says, "You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates. Each day give him his wages. Don't let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and he has set his heart on it, lest he cry out against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you."

A warning God's giving in Deuteronomy. Listen, if you're supposed to pay that person and you're not and you're saying, "Hey, I'll get around to it. Hey, sorry I haven't done it yet," you better take care of it. God's going to hold you accountable, especially if you claim to be a Christian. In Leviticus chapter 19, it says, "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."

Take care of business. In Jeremiah 22 verse 13, it says, "Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness and his chambers by injustice, who uses his neighbor's service without wages and gives him nothing for his work." We also find the same principle is found within the New Testament. For example, in the epistle of Paul writing to the Colossians in chapter 4 verse 1, he said, "Masters, employers, give your employees or your bondservants what is just and what is fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven."

The fact that these landowners were unwilling to pay after the laborers had worked and harvested their fields revealed they lacked integrity in their business. Yet these reapers had cried, but the landowners refused to listen. But the Lord heard the cries of the laborers and he was going to judge the landowners for their injustice. Maybe today or at some point in your career or in your work experience, you suffered some injustice and you're crying out, but it seems that no one is listening.

The Lord hears the cries of his people. The psalmist declared that the Lord does not forget the cry of the humble. But I want to say to you, if you are a business owner or someone who has people who are employed by you, are you a person of your word in business? Do you mean what you say? Do you perform what you promise? Do you have a Christian symbol on your business card or your favorite Bible verse or a Calvary sticker on your work truck?

Do you live according to that? If you don't, remove the sticker. Change your card. Scratch out the fish. I'm saying it only to say or change your business principles because it's a poor representation of Christ. And people come around, "This Christian guy ripped me off, man. I know he's got a John 3:16 Bible zone on his card and he ripped me off and now I can't get a hold of him." Please, don't make cards like that if you're going to be unethical in your business. Or, repent and live by what you say.

James condemns the wealthy wicked for their selfishness in hoarding what they had, the fraudulence in not paying their laborers for the work they did, but thirdly, for their indulgence in the way they live their life. It says in verse 5, "You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You've condemned, you've murdered the just; and he does not resist you." James says this is how you live.

This is how you've lived, this is how you've been living, this is the way that you live. You've enjoyed your temporary pleasure here on earth. You've lived a soft life of luxury taking advantage of others in your business dealings. And as a result, he says you've actually been able to fatten yourself up pretty good. James declares they were fattening themselves up with pleasure and luxury, and it's liken to an animal that is fattened up before it's slaughtered.

That's the picture that's given here. When a farmer fattens up the pig before he makes bacon, he's getting him ready. He's fattening him up. The cattle rancher feeds his cows properly before he makes steaks and burgers. Chickens are well-fed before they become nuggets. Are they really nuggets? I don't know. It's questionable.

But he's saying those who have lived with their wealth and their possessions as their gods, they have many temporary advantages. But all of those advantages and treasures that were selfishly and underhandedly gained and then hoarded are coming to an end. You're going to be held accountable for that. You might hide it from whoever you need to hide it from or it's under the table. It's under the table, it's under the table.

Do you know God sees under the table? Can I just tell you that? God's not like, "Hey, did you see that?" "No, I didn't see anything. I think it was under the table." "Oh, wow. Wow, that's amazing." The under the table. Do you know that's unethical, under the table? It is. "I don't need to report this. It's under the table." Okay. Well, let's see what God says about that.

God's not into it. I'm just going to tell you he's not about that. It suddenly got a little bit warmer in here. This is a reality, people do this all the time. And James is driving home a point. There was judgment that was going to come upon these individuals, and particularly the wealthy wicked. The Lord is going to set things right. One day the judge of all the earth will come and the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord, and this is the warning that James is giving.

Hey, you're going to be held accountable for the life that you've lived. And you say, "Well, Pastor John, I'm not wealthy." Okay. We're still going to be held accountable for the life that we live and what we've been stewards of and what God's given to us. Some don't believe that God would judge the earth. They've created a false god in their own image that doesn't possess the attributes of justice or righteousness and holiness.

But the Bible gives an accurate and clear composite and description of the living God who loves the world, who provided salvation for the world, but will one day come and judge the world that rejects the salvation that he provided. The psalmist said it this way in Psalm 96. He said, "For he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth. And he shall judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with his truth."

There will be a day of reckoning, a day when the sheep are divided from the goats, when the wicked and the righteous are separated from one another. And so tonight you might say again, "Great word, but I'm not wealthy. I live paycheck to paycheck. I don't have employees. I'm not cradled in the lap of luxury." I have dreams of winning the lottery. I have even had visions of perhaps inheriting an estate from a relative I didn't know was a king, but it's just not reality.

I've seen Hallmark movies that I hope will be my story, but they are fake. And so we need to be content with what we have and rejoice in what God has provided. There's a great balance. Again, I think Solomon said it very well in Proverbs when he said this, "Remove falsehood and lies far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food allotted to me." And why would he say that? "Lest I be full and deny you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God."

Lord, just give me, even as we sang tonight, what you know that I need. Help me to be a good steward of what it is that you have entrusted to me. I think some of the most generous people in the world are people who understand that all that they have is a gift from God. Some of the most generous people that I have ever met in my entire life were people that didn't have a lot of money, but they would give you the shirt off their back because that's just who they were. Whether you have money or you don't, it's something that has to do with godly character. And James is citing that here and the lack thereof in those who were taking advantage of other people. And he says one day they're going to be held accountable when they stand before God.

Guest (Male): Well, thanks for joining us today for A Daily Walk. To catch a replay of today's message from Pastor John Randall, simply go online to adailywalk.org. You can also listen to studies from John on our free mobile app. Do a search for Calvary South OC in the App Store or Google Play.

You know, we light up around here when a listener shares what God is doing in their life and how they're helped through the teaching of God's word. This would be a great time to hear from you as we're beginning a new year. If you feel led to write, here is our email address: adailywalk@gmail.com. That's adailywalk@gmail.com.

As we have just begun a new year, we'd like to encourage you to go through the Bible in a year. And to help you, we have a special resource. It's The One Year Chronological Bible, New King James softcover. It's arranged in bite-sized daily readings, making it super easy to stay on track. We're offering it today for the special price of $10. Just call us and request The One Year Chronological Bible at 877-242-0828, or go online to adailywalk.org. That's 877-242-0828.

And please remember, it is your faithful contribution to the Lord's work at A Daily Walk that allows us to bring Pastor John's studies to the radio every day. It takes a team to bring these shows to the airwaves, and that includes you, our listener. Now let's finish up today's message from Pastor John, Warning to the Wealthy.

John Randall: And as we move on, there were many in the congregation that James was writing to that had suffered at the hands of the wicked wealthy. And yet there's one thing that he will remind the believers that would put all things into perspective. In verse 7, here's what he says, "Therefore, or in light of everything that I've just said to you in the first six verses, 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 he receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand."

Wow, that puts it all in perspective. James would say get your eyes off all things that are temporal and remind yourself of this fact: the Lord is coming. He is coming, and that changes everything. When the Lord shows up, everything changes. All of these things that are going on in the world at the present time change in a second, in a twinkling of an eye, the Bible says it's all going to change. I don't know when it is, I just know it's going to happen because the Bible says so.

And so I'm reminding myself, listen, this is the most of hell I'm ever going to see. This is going to change in a second, in an instant, when the trumpet sounds and the Lord descends and the dead in Christ rise first and we're caught up to be with the Lord. Everything changes. Live with that perspective, live with that mindset. And then you realize, hey, this isn't that big of a deal. This is going to burn. This is going to be gone. This isn't going to matter any longer because I've got my perspective in the right place. It is eternal instead of temporal.

Guest (Male): We'll have the rest of this message for you tomorrow on A Daily Walk as Pastor John Randall returns to James chapter 5. This program is brought to you by Calvary South OC and made possible through your generous support.