Cork Free Presbyterian Church, 10 Briarscourt
(Annex) Shanakiel, Cork, Ireland
Pastor: Colin Maxwell. Email: colin.maxwell@fpcmission.org
READING: JAMES 5:1-20 TEXT: vs1-6
These words are but a continuation of the previous chapter (An unfortunate chapter division)
James still certain folk in sight as he pens these words
These are those businessmen in 4:13-17 who felt that they were in
control of their own destinies - that they could write things in their
diaries as if they were writing in concrete
They declared plainly that they ARE going to go to a CERTAIN
place, stay a CERTAIN time and make a CERTAIN amount/money from
CERTAIN customers - they had it all planned out
James says in v14…Next year? You can't even forecast (never mind arrange) what will happen 24 hours from now
You are not the strong man, you think you are!
You are not one of the movers/shakers at all!
There is nothing wrong with making plans (necessary) but we ought to do
so with God in mind (4:15) i.e. in accordance with God's revealed will
(Bible) and His providence (His intervention in every day affairs)
Otherwise (4:16) we are just boasting with that with an evil boast
James isn't finished yet!
He rounds on these rich men yet again
Such is the depravity of the human heart that one warning is not enough
No preacher should merely hint at sin or assume that a brief warning is sufficient to arouse men to forsake that which is wrong
Sin does not give up its hold that easy and the wise preacher knows
that he must pound and pound the citadels of sin to make them fall
4:13-17 is only James warming up - a little skirmish before this great
assault upon the sins that waged their venom against God's people
3 things we need to see:
1) NO MAN IS CONDEMNED MERELY BECAUSE HE IS RICH:
We can say this on a number of accounts:
A/ God Himself is a Rich God and reveals Himself as such:
For every beast of the forest is
mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the
mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry,
I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
(Psalm 50:10-12)
O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. (Psalm 104:24)
We might think too of other expressions used of God which express the idea of plenty:
The riches/His grace (Ephesians 1:7)
the exceeding riches/His grace (Ephesians 2:7)
Abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:7) etc.,
God Himself is a rich God - lacking nothing but having all things at His immediate disposal with no let nor hindrance
Is said of the Lord Jesus:
Though He were rich (2 Corinthians 8:9)
B/ God imparts riches to His creatures:
Apart from the arguments that basic provisions like health/food etc.,
are riches beyond compare, yet even the riches mentioned in passage
(material riches) have come from God's bountiful hand:
Even rich atheists have got their money/wealth from God
A shallow argument to say that sheer hard work brought these riches
Who gave the physical health/strength and brains and opportunities to make this money? Answer: God
Nothing in this world is left to chance or mere human industry (4:15)
The poor man needs the rich man's money while the rich man needs the poor man's labour and both are made by God
The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all. (Proverbs 22:2)
And the rich man is only such ( and not the poor labourer) because God ordained that this should be the case
C/ Riches are not evil/themselves because God gives us instructions as
to what we should do with them - he never orders us to give them up
Must forsake every sin, even to the lengths of 1 Thessalonians 5:22
But we are never commanded to give up any riches we may possess
OBJECT: What about the Rich Young Ruler? (Luke 18:22)
ANSWER: Unique to him - Nowhere else are we so commanded
In Luke 3:14 the regenerate soldiers were advised to be content with their wages - not give them away and embrace poverty
(There is no virtue in poverty for poverty's sake)
Sapphira was told that her riches were in her own power i.e. she was not required to automatically give them up (Acts 5:4)
Sapphira perished because she try to cheat God by making a false claim
She was not in the wrong for having great possessions
D/ Many of God's people were/are rich people
Abraham/Job/David/Solomon etc.,
Not money that is the root/all evil but its love (1 Timothy 6:10)
The Lord Jesus was buried in a rich man's tomb (Isaiah 53:9)
So there is nothing evil in riches per se
This is not what James is fighting here about
2) A RICH MAN CAN USE HIS RICHES TO HIS OWN DESTRUCTION:
A/ The riches themselves have no intrinsic evil attached to them
Not what enters into a man that corrupts, but that which comes out
It is the attitude of the heart towards these riches that counts
And what this attitude leads that man to do
In this passage (5:1-6) these men who thought that they were in control
of their destinies (because of their riches) used their wealth
and power to further their own ends - they forgot about God altogether
B/ They lived wanton (sinful) lives in great wickedness/pleasure
Word for wanton is used of the young widow in 1 Timothy 5:4 who was to
be rejected (if impenitent) by the congregation for living in pleasure
Word for lived/pleasure is unique to this verse, but carries the
thought of living in great luxury - as suggested in Luke 7:25 about
folk living in king's palaces with soft raiment etc.,
Fault here is that these people simply lived for these things
One thing to dress well etc., and often the more expensive things can
be the best value in the long run - so we're not knocking riches
But if money becomes your god (as it was here) then it is wrong
(BTW:- Money can become the god of the poor as well)
C/ Also, not content simply to worship their own money, these folk also
commandeered/worshipped the money which rightly belonged to others
The labourer is worthy of his hire (Luke 10:7) but these folk were
robbing the working men of their wages - defrauding them - so much so
that they were compelled to cry out into the ears/God
God on the side/oppressed - arising away above party politics etc., -
where a wrong is done, God is on the side of the wronged one
Last thing, anyone wants is to have God settle a score with them
If God be against us…who can be for us?
Pharaoh tried that one away back in Egypt and paid the awful price
Ahab defrauded Naboth of his vineyard (and ult. his life)
When Zacchaeus got converted, he carefully ensured: full restitution
was made, (plus generous compensation) lest he endure the anger/God
D/ Furthermore…they were guilty also of murder against a
helpless people (v6) so great had this sin/covetousness laid hold upon
them
Might think of the great crimes that have always attached themselves to greed: Various gold rushes/Gangsterism in the US etc.,
Sin always sin takes us further than we want to go
E/ It was this that made their money to rot etc.,
Money in itself (although a passing thing) is not always rotten
You can invest your money on earth to bring you riches in Heaven
God's accountancy methods differ from ours on earth (Isaiah 55:9)
He looks to see how much you have left - not how much you give
Cp Poor Widow with her 2 mites in the Temple (Luke 21:1-3)
F/ All these wicked men were doing, was not laying up for a pension
fund (no harm in that) but laying up for themselves wrath for when they
would meet God - the mighty sovereign God (identified here by His OT
title: LORD Sabaoth i.e. the Lord of Hosts)
Their wicked deeds in robbing the poor, honest labourers, and in living
for this world as if/no other, would rise up in witness against them
Was it worth it? Is it worth it?
The Day of Judgement will expose the utter loss of such a course
3) HOW RICHES ARE TO BE GOTTEN AND USED TO GOD'S GLORY:
A/ James himself does not begin to give us a what-to-do list to enable us to be more godly with our finances
Indeed his pastoral application (v7ff) is for the Christian workforce who are under the heel of these greedy tyrants
Almost as if James (in his burning anger) has given these boys up
B/ But we have effectively taken the subject of riches in this message
and it will finish off our thoughts to see what the Lord wants us
to do
C/ In James 4:15 there is a reference to the will/God
Obviously a reference to His Providential will - What He ordains should
and will come about - We are not to plan as if we are in control
There is also implicit in our planning a ref. to His revealed will (Bible)
We are not to contemplate our wallets without a reference to God's will
D/ God is not interested in emptying your wallet to fill His
Already considered just how rich/powerful God is
When God asks for your money, He is not asking to enrich Himself or His cause - He is asking you to worship Him with your money
(Yet reminding ourselves that we cannot buy worship neither do those
who give the most cash worship Him more than those who give less)
Our dedication to God and His cause is measured by so many things:
We emphasise the word measured … i.e. not based, but measured
By the trust of our soul (ult.) …our attitude to the
things/God…the time we give for Divine things…our money
and the way we are willing/give
E/ God has ordained: if a man does not work, then neither should he eat
and so we work for money with which we buy bread and pay our costs
As already seen, God is happy to give us power over our money
Obviously we are not to squander money, but we are not to think
that every last penny should be dedicated to religious causes - Not so!
We are free to use our money for current needs and leisure pursuits
We are free to use our money to secure our future:
But if any provide not for his own,
and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and
is worse than an infidel. (1 Timothy 5:8)
But God asks (as an act/worship to Him) that we bring our tithes and offerings into His house on His day:
Upon the first day of the week let
every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that
there be no gatherings when I come. (1 Corinthians 16:2)
We use it to support the work/God in its many varied needs i.e.
supporting the work in our own congregation and around the world
F/ It is a tremendous testimony in a greed driven world to have
little interest/money beyond what is strictly necessary:
For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
(Hebrews 11:14)
This declaration denotes the greatest wealth ever - May we ever seek it
THE END