The Treasuring Of God For A Life Of Godliness (James 5:1-12)

We are going through the book of James.

We've gotten now to James chapter 5.

James 5 · chapter mention

! I'll be going through James 5, 1-12.

Before I start, I'd just love to pray for us.

Father, we pray for your spirit to move, Lord.

We pray that you would be glorified

as I preach your word, Lord.

Help us to revel more in who you are, Lord,

and less of our situations, circumstances,

and how we feel about ourselves, Lord.

Help us to know how big and glorious

and grandiose you are, Lord,

and how small we are in comparison.

Help us to treasure you, Father, above all things.

Pray for clarity of words as I preach.

Pray for conviction of the body, Lord.

Conviction of sin and conviction to love you more

than we love ourselves,

than we love our lives,

than we even love our own families.

families, Lord.

Lord, we pray that you would

save us from our sins,

from ourselves, Lord.

And if there's any who's not saved

that is here, Lord,

you save them.

In Christ's name I pray.

Amen.

Alright, I'm going to read

James 5, 1-12.

You guys can follow along

in your Bible if you'd like as well.

Come now, you rich people.

Weep and wail over the miseries

that are coming on you.

Your wealth has rotted,

and your clothes 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 stored up treasure in the last days.

Look, the pay that you withheld from the workers

who mowed your fields cries out.

And the outcry of the harvesters

have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

You have lived luxuriously on the earth

and indulged yourselves.

You have fattened your hearts

in a day of slaughter.

You have condemned,

you have murdered the righteous,

who does not resist you.

Therefore, brothers and sisters,

be patient until the Lord's coming.

See how the farmer waits

for the precious fruit of the earth

and is patient with it

until it receives the early and late rains.

You also must be patient.

Strengthen your hearts

because the Lord's coming is near.

Brothers and sisters,

do not complain about one another

so that you will not be judged.

Look, the judge stands at the door.

Brothers and sisters,

take the prophets who spoke the Lord's name

as an example of suffering and patience.

See, we count as blessed those who have endured.

You have heard of Job's endurance

and you have seen the outcome

that the Lord brought about.

The Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Above all, my brothers and sisters,

do not swear,

either by heaven or by earth with an oath,

but let your yes mean yes

and your no mean no

so that you won't fall under judgment.

Amen.

Amen.

What a lovely text.

I felt so much fellowship with the Lord

as I was studying it

and I hope to bring you into that study as well.

And to start,

what I want us to consider

is treasuring God.

And a specific verse for this is

Matthew 13, 44,

which is,

the kingdom of God

is like treasure hidden in a field,

which a man found and covered up.

Then in his joy,

he goes and sell all that he has

to buy that field.

And he buys that field

because he knows that the treasure itself

is worth even more than that field

and worth even more than he has.

Bonhoeffer says about this,

talks about costly grace,

grace,

which is Christ crucified,

right?

Grace is not something that's cheap.

We throw around the word grace often,

but it's not,

we cheapen it in so many ways,

but the Son of God came and died

for our sins.

That's costly grace.

Costly grace is the treasure

hidden in the field.

For the sake of it,

a man will go and sell all that he has.

It is the pearl of great price to buy,

which the merchant will sell all his goods.

It is the kingly rule of Christ,

for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye

which causes him to stumble.

It is the call of Jesus Christ

at which the disciple leaves his nets

and follow him.

And in that,

well,

what I really want us to consider

is what is the cost of the treasure to us

in following Christ,

right?

Bonhoeffer hits on a lot of different things there,

which I'd love to explore more

as we go through the text.

This is a really long text,

so keep your Bible open,

keep your app open.

I'm going to try to go verse by verse

and then we'll hit some application points

to conclude.

So the first section to hit

would be James 5,

1 through 6.

And in this section,

really first,

I just want to go through

a definition of rich, right?

What does it mean to be rich?

rich,

and

a dictionary definition of it

is having a great deal of money,

wealth,

or assets,

right?

But in some eyes,

like whenever I was really,

really poor growing up,

not that I'm rich,

truly,

but whenever I was growing up,

I saw those who were rich

as those who had more

than they needed to live,

right?

So really,

anyone who had any excess

was rich to me.

And that is the case

for a lot of people

in this world

who are not as fortunate.

And the Bible has a lot to say

about the rich.

It has a lot to say about wealth.

It has a lot to say about our finances.

And some questions

that I want to put to the test

and I want you guys to consider

as we go through this

is,

is it a sin to be rich?

Is it a sin to be wealthy?

Right?

There's condemnation

here given to the rich.

Weep and wail

over the miseries.

Talking of the rich.

Is it a sin to be rich?

And then of that,

should our daily bread,

right,

our needs

be of constant

not knowing

where it'll come from?

So constant strain,

constant striving,

right?

Is it wrong to save

your excess

when there's so many people

who don't have?

Right?

What about your 401ks?

Why are you saving up

a 401k?

Try to answer these

to the best of my abilities

based on what the

Bible has to say,

but

start with verse 1.

Come now,

you rich people.

Weep and wail

over the miseries

that are coming

on you.

Right?

There's

a progression

that James

will talk about

in those who are rich,

right?

But here,

he's saying

what

those who are rich

need to do

is weep and wail

over the miseries

that are coming on them,

meaning that there's

judgment coming

for them.

but that is because

of how they view wealth,

how they view money,

right?

1 Timothy 6,

1 Timothy 6:17–19

verse 17 through 19,

Paul is talking about

those who are wealthy,

and he says

to Timothy,

instruct those who are rich

in the present age

not to be arrogant

or to set their hope

on the uncertainty

of wealth,

but on God,

who richly

provides us

with all things

to enjoy.

Instruct

them to do

what is good,

to be rich

in good works,

to be generous

and willing to share,

storing up treasure

for themselves

as a good foundation

for the coming age

so that they may

take hold

what is truly life.

Right?

These people

that James

is talking of

is the opposite

of this.

they are rich

in this present age,

but they're arrogant.

They're arrogant

in their wealth.

Right?

And that arrogance

comes from

not needing

to depend

on anyone,

not needing

to depend

on anything,

not having

any uncertainty.

Right?

But

that's not

what Paul says.

Paul says that

the uncertainty

of wealth,

wealth is

uncertain.

it's here

one minute

and gone

the next.

God

is the only

one who is

certain.

He's the only

one who is

immovable.

Right?

And those

who are rich,

he instructs them

are to do

good works,

be generous,

be willing

to share.

Right?

That is the

instruction

that is given

to those

who are rich.

But in here,

those who are

arrogant

and trusting

in their wealth,

there's a weep.

It's a wail

because there is

a coming judgment.

To continue,

verse 2 and 3,

your wealth

has rotted

and your clothes

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.

Right?

In this,

we are living

in a time

of the last

days.

Right?

where it

says,

in these

last days,

it is between

Jesus'

first coming

and Jesus'

second coming.

And we are

in these

last days

now.

There's a

theme in

this text

that James

references

often,

which is

Jesus is

returning

soon.

Right?

I think

different people

hold different

conviction as to

when Jesus

will come

back,

what needs

to take

place before

he comes

back.

But the

theme that

James gives

here is

that he

is coming

soon.

Right?

And I

want us to

consider that

in this.

That Jesus'

return is

imminent.

He will

come like a

thief in the

night.

That is not

just a verse

that's out

there.

Oh,

he'll come

like a

thief in the

night,

but all

these need

to happen

first.

No.

That's

true.

And so

Jesus'

return is

soon.

And all

these things

in here

that these

people trust

in,

these wealthy

trust in,

will fail.

Right?

What?

Your wealth

has rotted.

Right?

Any food or

abundance that

you store up

will rot.

there's

nothing that

you can

store up

in food

in abundance

or anything

like that

that will

not rot.

Your silver

and gold

are corroded.

Right?

You trust

in your

silver and

your gold,

your Bitcoin,

your Ethereum.

It's corroded.

Your dog

go to the

moon,

Michael.

And their

corrosion,

their corrosion

will be a

witness against

you.

There's

this verse

of God

being able

to raise

up the

sorry,

different verse

that if we

didn't praise

God,

the stones

would cry

out.

Right?

And in

worship of

God.

And in

the same

way,

these gold

and these

silver will

be a

witness

against

these

people.

Why?

Because this

gold and

this silver

is truly

the idol

that they

are worshiping.

You don't

have to go

to a

Hindu

temple

to see

an idol.

Just look

at your

bank account

that you're

worshiping.

And that

brings us

to what

Jesus says

in Matthew

6,

19 to

21,

don't store

up for

yourselves

treasures

on earth

where moth

and rust

destroy and

where thieves

break in

and steal.

Right?

Which is what

they're doing.

Storing up

for themselves

treasures

on earth.

But store

up for

yourselves

treasures

in heaven.

And that

is working

with what

Paul said

that the

rich need

to do,

which is

to be rich

in good

works.

Be

generous.

Right?

Willing to

share.

Store up

for yourselves

treasures

in heaven

where neither

moth nor

rust

destroy and

where thieves

don't break

in and steal.

for where

your treasure

is,

there your

heart will

be also.

Right?

Where is

your heart?

Right?

Is it in

your bank

account?

Is it in

the abundance

of food

that you

can have?

Or even

the delicacies

of food

that you

can have?

I love

the imagery

that

James writes.

he says

not only

that there

will be

a witness

against

them,

but they

will eat

their flesh

like fire.

It's kind

of gross.

But

that is

just the

wrath

that is to

come upon

them.

Right?

The imagery

that what

you trust

in will be

turned against

you.

Not only

will it be

turned against

you, it

will consume

you.

As a

judgment

that what

you needed

to trust

in was

the all

consuming

fire of

God.

Onward

we go.

Verse 4.

Look,

the pay

that you

withheld

from the

workers who

mowed your

fields,

cry out.

And the

outcry of

the harvesters

have reached

the ears of

the Lord

of the

hosts.

Lord of

hosts.

The one

James talks

about,

right?

Those rich

are greedy.

They're selfish.

They are

withholding.

And they

do this so

that they

might be

richer.

They

withhold

what is

due their

workers,

right?

It says

who mowed

your fields,

but really

it's someone

who's harvesting.

So,

someone who

takes a

sickle

to the

grain and

brings it

into the

barn,

right?

They didn't

have

lawnmowers

then.

See,

you know?

But it's

someone who's

out in the

heat of the

day and

working,

working like a

dog to take

care of their

family,

and yet the

rich would

withhold

their pay.

But in

their

arrogance

and

pride,

they had

set

themselves

up against

the Lord

of hosts.

An ancient

name that

James invokes,

the Lord

of hosts,

also the

Lord of

armies,

the

commander,

right?

And this

goes back to

what James

is saying

in chapter

four,

which is

God

resists

the proud,

but gives

grace to

the humble.

God is in

opposition to

anyone.

who would

do this

because

they're

arrogant.

There's

injustice

there,

and God

is a

God of

vengeance.

And so

I come to

the question

when I was

studying of

wanting to

ask yourself,

are you a

withholding

person?

Do you

withhold

what is

due to

other

people?

Right?

I don't

have any

workers.

awesome.

Let's

read the

story of

Ananias

and

Sapphira.

But a

man named

Ananias and

his wife

Sapphira sold

a piece

of property.

However,

he kept

back part

of the

proceeds

with his

wife's

knowledge

and brought

a portion

of it

and laid

it at

the

apostles'

feet.

Ananias

asked,

why has

Satan

filled

your

heart

to

lie

to

the

Holy

Spirit

and

keep

back

part

of the

proceeds

of the

land?

Wasn't it

yours while

you possessed

it?

And after

it was

sold,

wasn't it

at your

disposal?

Why is it

that you

planned this

thing in

your heart?

You have

lied not

to people

but to

God.

And when

he heard

these words,

Ananias

dropped dead

and great

fear came

over all

who heard.

The young

man got

up,

wrapped his

body,

carried him

out and

buried him.

To

continue,

Peter asked

his wife,

did you sell

the land

for this

price?

And she

said,

yes,

for that

price.

And Peter

said to

her,

then why

did you

agree to

test the

Holy Spirit?

Let the

feet of

those who

buried your

husband

are at

the door

and they

will

carry you

out.

And

instantly

she

dropped

dead

at his

feet.

In

this,

not only

of who

works for

you,

but do

you withhold

what truly

belongs to

the Lord?

Whether

it be

tithing,

whether it

be God

calling you

to give

to a

certain

person,

whether

it be

God

saying to

do such

and such

with such

and such

money,

are you

withholding?

For you

have set

yourself up

against the

Lord.

Do not

be arrogant

from this.

Do not

be like

Ananias and

Sapphira.

And even,

I think

everyone can

relate to

this,

waiters.

There's a

really bad

stigma

that Christians

have

with waiters

that

Christians

are

really

bad

tippers.

I

remember

I was

with my

buddy,

Sam,

in New

York,

and

I was

like,

yeah,

I don't

really tip.

I don't

really do

that.

He's like,

oh,

nice.

Nice way

to love

your neighbor,

right?

That should

not be the

stigma that

outsiders have

with Christians.

It should

be that we

are generous

people.

It should

be that we

are loving,

not only in

our money,

but in

talking to

these waiters

and loving

them and

preaching the

gospel to

them, dare

I say it.

That should

not be how

we act

with anyone

our attitudes

towards our

brothers and

sisters,

towards those

on the

outside,

should not

be one

of withholding

because our

Father did

not withhold

his own

Son from

us.

But he

poured out

his blood

generously

for you.

Onwards to

verse 5.

You have

lived luxuriously

on the earth

and have

indulged

yourselves.

You have

fattened

your hearts

in a

day of

slaughter.

Pleasure

and luxury

are what

these people

are seeking.

It's

ultimately

what

these

desires,

any sinful

desire,

will lead

you to,

is being

pleasurable,

being luxurious.

I mean,

if you consider

the story of

the prodigal

son,

what does he

run to?

He runs

to prostitutes,

to spending

all the money

on fleeting

things.

That's what

they desire.

And some

people,

unlike the

prodigal,

will never

get saved,

will never

hit rock

bottom,

but will

continue

living this

way.

There's a

day of

slaughter

coming.

there's

the

example

of

Jesus

telling

the

story

of

when

a

nobleman

goes off

to a

far

country

to receive

a letter

to become

king,

and his

servants

send a

delegation

after him

saying,

we don't

want this

man to

be king.

This is

the parable

of the

ten

talents,

ten

meneas.

And when

the

nobleman

returns

with the

letter

to be

a

king,

what does

he do

with those

wicked

servants?

He

slaughters

them

before him.

There is

a day

of slaughter

coming,

when the

king of

kings will

return and

judge these

types of

people who

are setting

themselves up

against the

Lord,

not trusting

in him,

but trusting

in the

world,

in their

own power,

in their

own wealth,

God's

God's

And that's

an encouragement

to strengthen

your hearts

with Christ.

Verse 6,

you have

condemned,

you have

murdered the

righteous who

does not

resist you.

I think the

NIV has a

better reading,

which is,

you have

condemned

and murdered

the innocent

one who

is not

opposing

you.

NIV for

you,

so.

There's a

progression in

the love of

money,

right,

that is

being laid

out here.

They're

withholding,

right,

they,

okay,

they've

gotten this

idol of

money,

right,

they've

desired it,

I love

it.

And then

it starts

off with

them hoarding,

right,

hoarding more

and more

silver,

more and more

grains,

more and more

stuff.

And they're

like, oh,

I want even

more.

Let me start

withholding from

my workers.

I'll get even

more that way.

Aggression.

Let's keep

going.

And with all

that, I can

live luxuriously.

I can live

such comfort.

Oh, man,

there's some

people who are

opposing me.

They're opposing

what I'm doing.

They don't like

it.

I'm going to

murder them.

I hate that

they oppose

me.

I hate that

they come

after me.

I'm going to

murder them

and condemn

them.

That is

what's

happening.

These are

innocent ones.

Sorry, it

says, who

is not

even

opposing.

Right?

It reminds

me of

John the

Baptist and

Herod.

When

John the

Baptist

goes and

confronts

Herod and

says, you

need to

repent.

I believe

it was

his brother

sister that

he was

married to.

Says, like

this, like

you need to

be divorced

from her.

And what

did she ask

for at that

dance?

For John

the Baptist's

head.

Because she

wanted to

continue in

her sensuality.

I would

encourage you

brothers and

sisters to

continue to

oppose.

Do not

fear death.

Do not

fear opposition.

Do not

fear persecution.

Your God

is backing

you.

And he

is the

rock.

And

I

consider

in this

verse even

Lazarus and

the rich

man.

Right?

There is a

rich man

who is

dressed in

purple and

fine linen,

feasting

lavishly every

day.

But a

poor man

named

Lazarus,

covered with

sores,

who is

lying at

his gate.

He

longed to

be filled

with what

fell from

the rich

man's

table.

But instead

the dogs

would come

and lick

his sores.

One day

the poor

man died

and was

carried away

by the

angels to

Abraham's

side.

The rich

man also

died and

was buried.

And being

in torment

in Hades,

he looked

up and

saw Abraham

a long

way off

at

Lazarus'

side.

Father

Abraham,

he cried,

have mercy

on me and

send Lazarus

to dip

the tip of

his finger

in water

and cool

my tongue

because I

am in

agony in

these

flames.

son,

Abraham

said,

remember

that during

your life

you received

your good

things just

as Lazarus

received his

bad things.

But now

he is

comforted

here while

you are

in agony.

Besides

all this,

a great

chasm has

been fixed

between us

and you

so that

those who

want to

pass over

from here

to you

cannot,

neither can

those from

here cross

over to

there.

father,

he said,

then I

beg you,

send him

Lazarus

to my

father's

house

because I

have five

brothers

and I

want to

warn them

so that

they won't

come to

this place

of torment.

But Abraham

said,

they have

Moses and

the prophets,

they should

listen to

them.

No,

father Abraham,

but if

someone from

the dead

goes to

them,

they will

repent.

But he

told them,

if you

don't

listen to

Moses and

the prophets,

then you

won't be

persuaded if

someone raised

from the

dead.

There's

revelation in

this,

truly,

that only

God can

save someone.

Right?

If they

won't listen to

Moses and

the prophets,

and they

won't listen to

someone who's

raised from

the dead,

only God

can save

a truly

dead person

whom we

all are.

We are

all dead

in our

trespasses

and in

our sins,

and if

you don't

believe that,

then you

believe in

a lie.

Of this

text right

here,

I've had

great comfort

in this

text at

one point

in my

life.

I think I

was about

15 when

I watched

this documentary

called

Hypernormalization.

Great

documentary.

It's about

four hours

long.

If you're

committed to

Lord of the

Rings,

you'd be

committed to

this.

But it

shares of

the downfall

of the

Soviet Union,

and from

there progresses

to how

the banks

came to

take control

of a lot

of the

world,

and how

a lot

of the

world was

controlled

by money

and power

the rich

and the

wealthy.

And it

shows all

of the

wars that

are funded

by so

many rich

people.

And what

the documentary

really does

is it

presents to

you all

these things,

but doesn't

give a

conclusion.

It doesn't

say what

should happen,

what you

should do,

what you

should think.

It just

says,

this is

happening.

And my

heart was

so fearful

because I

considered how

rich these

people are,

how powerful

they are,

and how I

have no

control over

any of these

things that

they could

do.

Yet this

text was so

comforting because

yet these

realities are

still true

to this

day,

that the

rich do

murder the

innocent.

Right?

to stay

rich and

wealthy.

But,

God has

the final

say in

all of

these

things.

He is

in control

of all

of these

things.

He's the

one who

ordains

them,

and He's

the one

who will

bring

judgment

upon those

who are

wicked in

the misuse

of money,

in the

misuse of

power,

in the

misuse

of authority.

And He

will slaughter

them.

Note of a

new section,

moving on to

verses 7

through 11.

To me,

as I was

reading this,

it seems like

a culmination

of multiple

themes and

things that

have been

represented

throughout the

book of

James.

that are

now in

kind of

these

verses,

right?

So,

in my

Bible,

in CSB,

I know a

lot of you

guys read

ESV,

in mine,

one thing

that I

noted was

it starts

off each

section

almost with

therefore

brothers and

sisters,

in verse

7,

then verse

9,

brothers and

sisters,

do not

complain,

and then

verse 10,

brothers and

sisters,

take the

prophet.

And then

verse 12,

above all,

my brothers

and sisters.

The CSB,

NIV should

have something,

or KJV,

something like

brethren,

or ESV,

maybe even

brothers and

sisters.

It's kind of

a crescendo,

a drumbeat.

Therefore,

brothers and

sisters,

therefore,

brothers and

sisters,

these are the

things that I

want you to

do.

Right?

And just

together,

verse 7 and

8,

therefore,

brothers and

sisters,

be patient

until the

Lord's coming.

See how the

farmer waits

for the

precious fruit

of the earth

and is patient

with it until

it receives

the early

and late

rains.

You also

must be

patient.

Strengthen

your hearts

because the

Lord's coming

is near.

That theme

that I

mentioned of

the Lord's

coming and

the Lord's

coming being

near is

evident here.

Right?

We are in

this waiting

period,

waiting for

the Lord.

Come,

Lord Jesus,

come.

And what

does this

type of

patience look

like that

James is

writing about?

And for

this,

I want to

highlight

Romans 8,

25,

which says,

now if we

have hope

for what we

do not see,

we eagerly

wait for it

with patience.

Right?

We eagerly

wait for it

with patience.

Right?

There's a lot

of things that

I eagerly

wait for.

such as

my chicken

nuggets in

the toaster

oven.

I eagerly

wait for it

and I eagerly

wait for it

with patience

because if I

took it out,

it would

still be

frozen.

A new

movie release.

I'm forced

to be patient

for that,

but I eagerly

wait for it.

I'll watch

the trailer

time and

time again,

eagerly

waiting for it,

but I have

to be patient

because it'll

come.

It'll come

soon.

Man,

for that

monster buck

to come

around before

I could

pop it.

It's a

nine-pointer.

Hunting.

You guys

didn't get

that?

Whatever.

But if 20

years from

now, the

Lord tarries,

I wonder

if based

on the

pattern of

your life

now, you

would be

eagerly

waiting for

the Lord.

Would you

be eager?

Do you

eagerly wait

now?

Do you

consider daily

the Lord's

coming?

God's

coming?

As Paul

says, I

have fought

the good

fight, right?

Will you

say 20

years from

now, I

have fought

the good

fight.

I'm

fighting the

good fight.

I have

never stopped

fighting.

I have

not ceased

for a minute

to stop