1 00:00:01,400 --> 00:00:02,600 All right, good morning, church family. 2 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:06,120 Once again, as you find your seat, if you would open your 3 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:10,440 Bibles or type in your devices the book of James this morning 4 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:12,560 we're going to be in James chapter 4. 5 00:00:13,120 --> 00:00:15,040 Just looking at the very last verse. 6 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:18,400 I wanted to include this last week, but I just couldn't fit it 7 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,320 in. And so we're going to be James 8 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:25,480 417 and then the bulk of our message will come from James 51 9 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:28,240 to 6:00. So as you guys turn there, type 10 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:34,200 that in, I'm going to open this in a word of prayer and then we 11 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:37,600 will jump into the sermon. So let's read our text first 12 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:42,040 before we pray. James 4 beginning in verse 17. 13 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:51,280 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for 14 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:55,280 him, it is sin. Chapter 5. 15 00:00:56,120 --> 00:01:00,000 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are 16 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,040 coming upon you. Your riches have rotted, and 17 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:06,480 your garments are moth eaten. Your gold and silver have 18 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:09,720 corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you, 19 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:11,960 and will eat your flesh like fire. 20 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:15,080 You have laid up treasure in the last days. 21 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:18,800 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, 22 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:23,120 which you kept back by fraud or crying out against you, and the 23 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:26,560 cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of 24 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:29,400 Host. You have lived on the earth and 25 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:33,880 luxury and in self indulgence you have fattened your hearts in 26 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:37,160 a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered 27 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,720 the righteous person. He does not resist you. 28 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:47,520 You will pray with me, Lord, as we get to a text this morning 29 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:52,040 that deals with money and finances and lifestyles. 30 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:55,360 Lord, I know that this is always maybe a sore spot for many of 31 00:01:55,360 --> 00:02:02,160 us, especially in in such an affluent area, an area not only 32 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:04,680 affluent because we're in America, but even affluent here 33 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:08,440 in Seattle. Lord, I pray that you would help 34 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:12,920 us to to not be defensive this morning, to not be to go into 35 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:16,680 spiritual protection mode, but that you would help us to to be 36 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:19,880 open and transparent and honest with ourselves and, and 37 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:23,560 especially with you, Lord, about where you may be calling us, to 38 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:30,520 consider our finances, consider our wealth and what we do with 39 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:32,440 it. I pray this in the name of 40 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:38,960 Jesus, Amen. Imagine if a man sat down to 41 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:43,040 play the game of Monopoly. I realized that they're probably 42 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:45,160 some here who are young enough. Then you may have never even 43 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:46,880 played Monopoly a a day in your life. 44 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,440 Imagine if someone sat down to play Monopoly and as he began 45 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:54,040 playing this game, everything is going his way. 46 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:57,160 He lands on Boardwalk, he buys it. 47 00:02:57,400 --> 00:02:59,720 He lands on Park Place, he buys it. 48 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:02,200 He now has the two most expensive properties. 49 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:05,640 He puts hotels on these properties and every time 50 00:03:05,640 --> 00:03:08,600 someone lands on them, he cashes in big. 51 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:13,920 He is doing well in the game, so well that he gets this big fat 52 00:03:13,920 --> 00:03:20,280 wad of Monopoly money. Now suppose he goes about his 53 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:27,560 life so happy of how rich he is. But one day somebody comes to 54 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:32,000 him and says, Sir, you do realize that you're not actually 55 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:36,240 rich, right, man? It says, what? 56 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:40,160 What are you talking about? Takes out his his big fat wad of 57 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:42,000 Monopoly money. Says, look, look at this. 58 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:45,640 How can you say I'm not rich? Look, look at how much I have 59 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:47,600 any the man says, yeah, I see that. 60 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:49,840 But you do realize that is Monopoly money. 61 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:54,680 It's not real. How can you tell me it's not 62 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:56,720 real? I I used it to buy all this 63 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:01,280 property. Well, sure, but that only exists 64 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:06,240 in the game. This is real life. 65 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:12,160 That is a game. You are rich in the game, but 66 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:19,680 not real life. How many of us been playing this 67 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:29,360 game called life, earthly life, so long that we forget what is 68 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:37,440 truly life and we forget what it means to be truly rich. 69 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:46,320 The money we have on this earth is is ultimately eternally no 70 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:50,480 better than Monopoly money. If you stop and think about it 71 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:57,200 this morning, we get to a text where James is, is challenging 72 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:04,120 the rich and how they live. And, and I want to to to to come 73 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,440 humbly this morning as we look at this, because I I recognize, 74 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:11,240 you know, on the spectrum, if we look at the world, right, we're 75 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:13,600 fluent. Many of us are homeowners. 76 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:15,920 Many of us have jobs making good money. 77 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,560 I have AI mean I even as a pastor relative to the world, I 78 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:25,920 make good money. So I hope we will all be humble 79 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:27,120 as we come to this text this morning. 80 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:30,400 Let's start with the exhibition of the text and then I'll give 81 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,920 us application. James chapter 4, beginning of 82 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:36,240 verse 17. I want to start by exposing the 83 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:38,040 text and then I'll give us application. 84 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:40,800 Here's what James writes. So whoever knows the right thing 85 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:46,560 to do and fails to do it, for him, it is sin. 86 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:52,320 Now commentators debate over whether verse 17 is connected to 87 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:55,160 verses 13 to 16. One of the reasons I didn't 88 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:57,520 include it is because there is this question of are they 89 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:00,520 connected? If you read verses 13 to 16, 90 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:02,720 verse 17 just seems out of place. 91 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:05,480 It doesn't seem to go with it. And so if they are connected, 92 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:08,800 how are they connected? I'm not going to step into those 93 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:12,560 Muddy Waters, but for the purpose of this sermon, I'm 94 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:17,760 going to assume they are connected because of this word. 95 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:21,240 So you notice verse 17. So. 96 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:27,640 So how are they connected? If you remember last week, there 97 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,320 were some in the church who were making business plans. 98 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:34,200 They were making these plans to go into a town and to sell their 99 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:36,160 their goods and to make a profit. 100 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:38,480 The what's wrong with that? The problem is they were making 101 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,160 their business plans absent of God. 102 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:45,760 And James exhorts them that God should not only factor into 103 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,480 their equation, He is the equation. 104 00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:52,760 He must be the equation. God's will must be the deciding 105 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:57,320 factor in their business plans. And so now James exhorts them, 106 00:06:57,840 --> 00:07:02,360 He says whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, 107 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,880 for him it is sin. Now what is James's point here? 108 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:10,760 I think he's given a specific meaning and a broad meaning. 109 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:13,440 Let me let me give us a specific meaning and a broad meaning. 110 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:19,120 Here's the specific meaning. These merchants now know that 111 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:23,160 the right thing to do is to submit their plans to God. 112 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,360 James just told them they now know that's the right thing to 113 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:30,560 do, that when they make plans for their life, to submit their 114 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:32,840 plans to God. And so knowing that he's telling 115 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:38,240 them now that you know this, if you go ahead and make plans out, 116 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:41,800 consulting God's will, you have sinned. 117 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:46,240 I think that's the connection. That's the specific connection. 118 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:50,880 Now, what is the broad meaning? James is getting at what we 119 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:53,880 commonly call sins of omission, right? 120 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:55,600 We often talk about sins of Commission. 121 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:57,840 That's doing something that you shouldn't do. 122 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:01,520 And then there's sins of omission, not doing something 123 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:05,240 that you should do. It's a broad meeting here is 124 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:10,680 that sin is not just things that we do, but it's also things that 125 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:16,800 we fail to do that we should. And James is saying whoever 126 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:20,960 knows the right thing to do and fails to do it for him, it is 127 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:23,800 sin. Let's look at verse one, chapter 128 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:26,680 5. Come now, you rich, weep and 129 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:29,720 howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 130 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:33,320 Now James is going to change subjects and he's going to turn 131 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:36,760 his attention to a specific category of people in the 132 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:39,240 church. He's going to dress for the next 133 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:43,480 6 verses, a specific category. Here's the category, the rich. 134 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:47,280 Now I want to be clear. I don't think that the rich 135 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:51,200 James is referring to in this passage, not the letter and this 136 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:55,560 passage are Christians. I think the rich previously may 137 00:08:55,560 --> 00:08:56,880 very well have been rich Christians. 138 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:02,240 I think the rich here in this passage are lost people, rich 139 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:03,680 lost people. Which then would raise the 140 00:09:03,680 --> 00:09:08,120 question, why does James address them, right, If he's writing to 141 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:11,000 the churches there, you know, are these rich lost people in 142 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:12,920 the church? Probably not. 143 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:16,440 So why is he addressing them? It may be what's not a 144 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:18,880 rhetorical device known as apostrophe, right? 145 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:21,120 You're like apostrophe and that like the little thing like it 146 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:24,160 is, there's also a rhetorical device called apostrophe. 147 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:26,880 What is that? It is speaking to people who are 148 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:30,400 not present for the purpose of those who are. 149 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:32,600 It's a rhetorical device. It was, it was. 150 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:36,440 It's often used. So he starts with the same 151 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:38,960 harkening that we looked at last week. 152 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:44,640 He says, come now. It's a way of saying, now 153 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:52,640 listen, he calls them you rich, come now, Now listen, you rich. 154 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:56,360 This is the third time in this letter that James has 155 00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:02,600 specifically addressed the rich. Now, when James says rich, don't 156 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:06,080 read that as billionaires or even millionaires don't read it 157 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:10,000 that way. A person who owned a home, ate 158 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:14,480 multiple times a day, had multiple changes of clothes and 159 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:17,880 owned possessions would have been considered rich in those 160 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:20,600 days. That's what made someone rich. 161 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:22,560 Those things made someone rich in those days. 162 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:25,480 And so James gives the rich a command here. 163 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:30,440 He says weep and howl. It's an interesting command. 164 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,840 We saw this idea back in James 49 where he said, be wretched 165 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:39,520 and mourn and weep. There James was exhorting these 166 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:42,760 professing Christians who had made themselves friends with the 167 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:46,480 world, and he said you should mourn over your sin. 168 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:49,240 Here he's exhorting the rich to do the exact same. 169 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:54,000 The word for weep is the same word used in chapter 4-9, But 170 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:57,000 this is the only time that the Greek word for howl is used. 171 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:58,720 What is? We don't use that word, all that 172 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:01,280 howl, right? They have a dog howling. 173 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:05,080 What does it mean to howl? It means to cry out with a loud 174 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:10,280 voice, either in joy or pain. Now here's what's interesting. 175 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:15,000 Normally we think of the poor as weeping and howling. 176 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:19,840 Remember, think of the the poor weeping and howling over their 177 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:23,520 their poverty. But James says that the rich 178 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:30,800 should weep and howl. Why you ever, you ever had a 179 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:33,120 like a you ever seen a rich person? 180 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:34,240 You know where they're like crying? 181 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:35,440 You're like, why are you crying, you bitch? 182 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:40,720 Why would the rich weep and howl? 183 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:45,480 Look what he says for the miseries that are coming upon 184 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:49,920 you. That word for miseries means 185 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:54,120 wretchedness, distress, trouble, misery. 186 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:57,920 Now here's the question. What are these miseries and why 187 00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:02,280 are they coming upon them? James will answer the why in 188 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:03,840 verse 3. We'll get there in a minute. 189 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:06,880 But as far as the what? What are these miseries? 190 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:09,720 Notice these miseries are not present day. 191 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:13,920 James says that are coming upon you. 192 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:18,200 This leads us to believe that James is most likely referring 193 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:23,000 to the day of judgment, or as the Old Testament prophets would 194 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,920 say, the day of the Lord. Look at verses 2 to 3. 195 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:31,480 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth eaten. 196 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:35,120 Your gold and silver have corroded and their corrosion 197 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:39,480 will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. 198 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:44,600 You have laid up treasure in the last days. 199 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:48,320 James here gives 3 descriptions of their wealth. 200 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:52,680 Let's look at them individually #1 Your riches have rotted. 201 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:55,640 Riches can is a very broad term in the Greek. 202 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:58,720 It can refer to any abundance of earthly goods or wealth. 203 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:02,080 And James says that these riches, that they have rotted, 204 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:08,520 they have suffered decay #2 Your garments are moth eaten, right? 205 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:10,760 Why would their garments be moth eaten? 206 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:13,440 Well, ancient clothing was made. They didn't have polyester, 207 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:16,880 right? Ancient clothing was made almost 208 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:22,760 entirely from wool or linen or silk or animal hair. 209 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:28,840 And moth larvae would feed on keratin, a protein that's found 210 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:31,920 in animal fibers. These moth would lay their 211 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:34,760 larvae and then they they would they would eat away at the 212 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:36,880 clothes. And you go take out your, your 213 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:38,720 sweater, whatever you want to wear, and all sudden it's got 214 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:43,120 holes in it. Three, your gold and silver have 215 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:44,360 corroded. What does that mean? 216 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:47,920 They're corroded that, that the Greek word they're for corroded. 217 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:51,720 It means to undergo the process of oxidation of metals, to 218 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:55,160 become rusty, to become tarnished, to corrode. 219 00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:59,400 Now these words of James, they reminds us of Jesus's words, do 220 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:00,600 they not? In the Sermon on the Mount, 221 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:03,120 where when Jesus taught the crowds, he says, do not lay up 222 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:06,880 for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and 223 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:09,120 where thieves break in and steal. 224 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:13,960 Earlier I had asked the question, what are these 225 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:18,160 miseries and why are they coming upon them? 226 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:23,520 And James now tells us what they are. 227 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:30,840 He says these miseries will eat your flesh like fire. 228 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:36,240 It's pretty graphic, isn't it? These miseries will eat your 229 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:39,960 flesh like fire. This again confirms that James 230 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:43,000 is referring to the Day of Judgment. 231 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:48,720 On that day these rich will suffer the same fate as the rich 232 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:50,920 man. And Luke 16, if you remember 233 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:54,440 there the rich man also died and was buried, and being in Hades, 234 00:14:54,440 --> 00:15:01,600 being in torment, he said I am in anguish in this flame. 235 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:07,680 These rich will have the same fate. 236 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:13,040 Why? James writes, their corrosion 237 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:17,440 will be evidence against you. In other words, their corrosion 238 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:21,600 will testify against you. How so? 239 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:25,560 How, how, how will their corrosion testify against you? 240 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:29,960 Well, the they're rotted riches, they're moth eaten garments, 241 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:36,520 they're corroded gold and silver will testify that Jesus was not 242 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:41,760 their treasure. When they get to the judgment 243 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:47,960 and they stand there in in God's courtroom, the witnesses that 244 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:51,800 will come forward to testify in this courtroom will be their 245 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:56,440 rotted riches, their moth eaten garments and their corroded gold 246 00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:00,760 and silver. And it will testify that Jesus 247 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:06,560 was not their treasure. Their riches were their 248 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:11,160 treasure. Notice James writes you have 249 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:14,680 laid up treasure in the last days. 250 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:16,880 Now last days refers to anytime post Christ. 251 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:20,680 I don't read that as like you know, the the literal last days 252 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:24,320 is anytime that's post Christ and this is exactly what Christ 253 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:27,160 said not to do. They're doing the very thing 254 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:30,920 that Jesus said not to do. Do not lay up for yourselves 255 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:34,600 treasures here on earth, but lay up for yourselves treasures in 256 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:37,200 heaven. Look at verse 4. 257 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:42,440 Behold the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you 258 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,760 kept back by fraud or crying out against you, and the cries of 259 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:48,800 the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 260 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,360 Now James gets into the weeds of their business dealings. 261 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:55,960 James says these rich are land owners, right? 262 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:58,880 You know, I mean we, we own land now, but you know, don't 263 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:01,720 necessarily think of us as rich, but in those days if you own 264 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:05,079 land, you were rich. They own, they own these rich 265 00:17:05,079 --> 00:17:08,000 are land owners. They have fields, let's say it 266 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:13,680 was a a wheat field, and they would hire laborers to mow these 267 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:16,720 fields, probably better translate, reap these fields. 268 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:19,280 Laborers would take a sickle and they would go and they would 269 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:21,960 reap and then they gather the grain and the landowner would 270 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:26,040 then be able to sell that grain. These laborers would often work 271 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:33,560 all day in the hot sun, cutting down grain for hours, and then 272 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:35,760 at the end of the day, they would come to the owner for 273 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:40,160 their payment for their wage. But the text says the landowner 274 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:43,440 kept back the wages of the labourers by fraud. 275 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:45,080 What does that mean? Means he didn't pay them. 276 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:50,560 He didn't pay them. Now this was not an uncommon 277 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:53,960 practice in antiquity. God had given multiple warnings 278 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:57,040 in the Old Testament about this. Malachi 35. 279 00:17:57,360 --> 00:17:59,640 Then I will draw near to you for judgment. 280 00:17:59,880 --> 00:18:03,440 I will be a swift witness against those who oppressed the 281 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:08,800 hired worker in his wages. Leviticus 1913. 282 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,280 The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all 283 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:16,960 night until the morning. And here's probably the best 284 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:19,240 one. Deuteronomy 2414 to 15. 285 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:23,920 You shall not oppress A hired worker who is poor and needy, 286 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:26,640 whether he is one of your brothers or one of your 287 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:30,240 sojourners. You shall give him his wages on 288 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:37,120 the same day before the sunsets, for he is poor and he counts on 289 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:40,760 it. See the way that that wages work 290 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:41,800 back then. It's not like today where you 291 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:44,800 get paid, you know, once a month or once a week or quarterly, or, 292 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:47,600 you know, however you get paid today, you typically labour's a 293 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:48,640 day. We got paid daily. 294 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:52,440 They would work all day, they would get their wage and then 295 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:54,560 they would go into the market and they would buy what they 296 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:56,760 needed for food. They would bring that food home 297 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:00,040 and then their family could eat. This is why Jesus says give us 298 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:06,200 this day Our Daily Bread. They lived many laborers lived 299 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:09,200 day by day. And so if you worked all day, 300 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:11,200 you're already exhausted and famished. 301 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:14,200 You go to get your your pay. You don't have savings, you 302 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:16,760 don't have money tucked away in Vanguard to go pull from. 303 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:23,040 You need that money to buy food, and if they hold that back, you 304 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:28,080 don't get to eat that day, he said. 305 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:31,400 Well, then file a report with the Department of Labor. 306 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:37,880 There is no Department of Labor. The poor often had no recourse 307 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:40,760 of action here when their wages were withheld. 308 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:48,560 Their only recourse was to cry out, and this turns out to be a 309 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:53,400 strong recourse because their cries, the cries of the 310 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:58,080 harvesters, reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 311 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:03,040 What's interesting is that the name Lord of Hosts, it's used 312 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:07,480 242 times in the Bible, but only twice in the New Testament. 313 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:12,440 This is one of them. It's as if James wants the rich 314 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:15,960 to know that the cries of these defrauded laborers. 315 00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:20,640 It may not reach the judges ears, it may not reach the 316 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:26,680 governor's ears, it may not reach the King's ears, but it 317 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:28,920 will reach the Lord of host ears. 318 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:34,440 He will hear their cries and he will do something about it. 319 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:41,560 The verse 5 you have lived on the earth and luxury and in self 320 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:44,800 indulgence you have fattened your hearts in a day of 321 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:49,040 slaughter. James now condemns the rich by 322 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:54,560 describing their lifestyle and two phrases #1 you have lived on 323 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:58,760 the earth and luxury and in self indulgence. 324 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:00,280 Now what do these two terms mean? 325 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:04,200 Luxury. What is that? 326 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:07,960 This is the only time it's used in the New Testament. 327 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:11,400 This word, this Greek word, it means to live a life of self 328 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:14,760 indulgence, to live for pleasure, to revel to corrals 329 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:17,560 usually associated with in temperament, feasting and 330 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:20,080 drinking. Self indulgence, What does that 331 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:22,120 mean? This is actually used twice in 332 00:21:22,120 --> 00:21:24,080 the New Testament. The other time is in First 333 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:27,160 Timothy 5-6, where it talks about widows who lived in self 334 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:30,200 indulgence and should not be enrolled in the church's 335 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:33,760 records. Forgiving it means to indulge 336 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:36,960 oneself beyond the bounds of propriety, to live luxuriously 337 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:40,800 or voluptuously. Now you realize that I just, I 338 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:42,600 defined those, but that I didn't really give you a lot of 339 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:46,000 specifics on that. Does it definitely tell us what 340 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:47,880 does it mean to live luxuriously? 341 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:50,560 What does it mean to live in self indulgence? 342 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:52,320 I'll get there in the application. 343 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:54,720 That's the first way. You can then say, here's the 344 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:59,040 second way you have fattened your hearts in a day of 345 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:01,840 slaughter. Now, this is a metaphor. 346 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:04,640 This is clearly a metaphor, but I guess it could also be 347 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:07,520 literal. They may have literally fattened 348 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:13,080 their hearts by eating so well. But James is using a metaphor to 349 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:14,760 illustrate what they are like. What? 350 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:16,240 What is he trying to illustrate what they're like? 351 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:21,240 He's saying you are like calves that are being fattened right 352 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:25,560 before the slaughter. This word slaughter, it again 353 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:26,920 points us to the day of judgment. 354 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:29,800 This again, all the clues are pointing us that this is the day 355 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:31,680 of judgment. Slaughter is the day of 356 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:34,880 judgment. Not only will their corroded 357 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:40,640 riches be a testimony against them, but so will their fattened 358 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:43,120 hearts be a testimony against them. 359 00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:49,720 Look at verse 6. You have condemned and murdered 360 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:52,880 the righteous person. He does not resist you. 361 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:54,840 What does that mean? He does not resist you. 362 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:56,760 The NIV smooths this out a little bit. 363 00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:58,280 Here's how the NIV translates it. 364 00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:02,360 You have condemned and murdered innocent men who were not 365 00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:05,600 opposing you. You've condemned and murdered 366 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:08,400 these innocent men who were not opposing you. 367 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:11,400 Now, does this mean they were literally murdering the poor? 368 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:14,240 I don't think so. I mean it's possible, but I 369 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:17,280 don't think so. I think he means this in an 370 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:20,800 indirect way. They were, they were murdering 371 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:23,040 them indirectly. How so? 372 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:27,360 In the book of Sirach, which is an apocryphal work, the author 373 00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:31,520 writes this. To take away a neighbor's living 374 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:36,080 is to murder him. To deprive an employee of his 375 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:43,960 wages is to shed blood. If if you are poor and you have 376 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:47,080 no money, you have no savings. You depend on your wage, your 377 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:50,560 daily wage, and the person who's hiring you is not paying you. 378 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:55,440 I would imagine maybe some people did die from hunger from 379 00:23:55,440 --> 00:24:00,440 not being able to eat. Or maybe they got certain 380 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,520 sickness and died from the sickness because they couldn't 381 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:07,360 eat. As I mentioned before, people 382 00:24:07,360 --> 00:24:11,160 lived day by day. Most people live day by day. 383 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:15,160 They needed daily wages to be able to buy their daily bread. 384 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:20,680 Now it seems clear to me that from these statements and verses 385 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:25,000 one to six what we just read, these are not the actions of 386 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,920 people who have Christ as their treasure. 387 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:32,680 These are people who have riches as their treasure. 388 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:38,640 Which is why I think here he is not talking about rich 389 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:44,640 Christians, but rich lost. That being said, does that mean 390 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:47,880 that we should be like, don't apply to me? 391 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:57,090 Let's move on to verse 7. There is always things for us to 392 00:24:57,090 --> 00:25:00,330 learn in God's Word. Always. 393 00:25:02,370 --> 00:25:10,970 I have 7 exhortations for US7 exhortations #1 To make plans 394 00:25:11,570 --> 00:25:15,810 without consulting the will of the Lord is sin. 395 00:25:18,370 --> 00:25:24,760 To make plans without consulting the will of the Lord is sin. 396 00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:31,440 How often do we make plans without consulting the will of 397 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:33,880 the Lord? Everything about that. 398 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,240 How often do we make plans without consulting the will of 399 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:42,040 the Lord? What to major in college? 400 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:45,880 What job to take when we finish college? 401 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:55,760 Who to date or how long to date? Who to marry or when to marry or 402 00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:59,520 if you should marry? What house to buy or where we 403 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:02,480 live? How much should we spend on 404 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:06,440 travel or couch or refrigerator or bubble tea? 405 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:12,080 When to have kids or how many kids to have? 406 00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:17,160 When to retire, or whether we should retire at all? 407 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:23,840 I think it's not uncommon, by and large, for Christians to 408 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:28,280 make decisions without consulting the will of the Lord. 409 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:35,000 I do not think it is all that uncommon for Christians to make 410 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:41,480 decisions without consulting the will of the Lord, especially if 411 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:47,080 the decision is not sinful. This is the this is the tricky 412 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:48,480 part. You're like, I don't need to 413 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:49,840 consult. There's nothing simple about 414 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:50,400 this. I don't need. 415 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:53,680 We don't just consult the will of the Lord on things that are 416 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:59,200 right and wrong. As I said last week, there's 417 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:02,760 nothing simple about goods. There's nothing simple about 418 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:05,280 moving to this town. There's nothing simple about 419 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:08,280 selling goods in this town. There's, there's, there's 420 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:10,160 nothing simple about spending a year there. 421 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:12,200 There's nothing simple about making a profit. 422 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:15,080 None of those things are simple. So what was wrong? 423 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:20,800 They didn't consult the will of the Lord in their plans. 424 00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:24,440 Now we might wonder why? Why would they not? 425 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:28,840 Right? Like you know, I imagine, you 426 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,960 know, perhaps it never crossed their mind that they needed to 427 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:34,560 consult the will of the Lord. Everything about that. 428 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:38,880 Perhaps it never crossed their mind that maybe I should check 429 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:40,920 with God and this is what He wants me to do. 430 00:27:44,120 --> 00:27:47,560 But James says, now that I've told you, you need to, to not do 431 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:52,160 so is sin. And the same is true for you and 432 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:55,200 me. Now, I want to be very clear. 433 00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:58,000 I don't want to suggest that if you are torn after after church 434 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,400 today and you want to go eat somewhere right, and you're torn 435 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:08,320 between Chick-fil-A or Popeyes, well, Lord, what is your will? 436 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:12,440 I don't want to suggest that we have to consult the will of the 437 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:14,240 Lord as to where we go eat today. 438 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:20,440 That being said, how often do we make life decisions as though 439 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:22,600 we're choosing between Chick-fil-A and Popeyes? 440 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:31,240 This is so important, especially when decisions seem obvious, 441 00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:35,360 especially when decisions go against conventional wisdom. 442 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:39,920 Because so often the reason that we don't consult God's will is 443 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:41,440 that it's just an obvious decision. 444 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:44,280 It's just conventional wisdom. Of course we would do this. 445 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:50,680 Why would we not do this? It seemed obvious that Peter 446 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:56,080 should pull his sword out and fight, but that was not the will 447 00:28:56,080 --> 00:29:00,720 of the Lord. It seemed obvious that Sarah, 448 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:04,840 because it had been 13 years since God had given the promise, 449 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:07,720 she wasn't getting pregnant, so here's my servant. 450 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:12,400 This must be what God wants to do, but that was not the will of 451 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:16,360 the Lord. It seemed obvious that Saul 452 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:19,480 should go ahead and make the sacrifice because Samuel said 453 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:22,440 wait for me for seven days. Seven days were up. 454 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:25,160 He wasn't there, so I should just go ahead and make the 455 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:28,280 sacrifice. But that was not the will of the 456 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:32,760 Lord. It seemed obvious that when the 457 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:37,240 oxen stumbled and the ark of God, this holy ark of the Lord 458 00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:41,320 was going to hit this dirt, that other should reach out and grab 459 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:43,280 it and keep it from touching the ground. 460 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:47,240 That was not the will of the Lord. 461 00:29:54,680 --> 00:30:00,360 It is so important that we consult the will of the Lord, 462 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:04,320 especially when something seems just obvious or conventional 463 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:09,760 wisdom. Consulting the will of the Lord 464 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:16,120 is not simply good advice. The times I tell people that I 465 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:17,480 don't know what to do, what should I do, and I'm like, you 466 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:19,120 should ask the Lord, that's good advice. 467 00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:25,240 It's not simply good advice. It is obedience. 468 00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:35,040 It is obedience to consult the will of the Lord #2 Sins of 469 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:39,320 omission are often far more deceptive than sins of 470 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:43,440 Commission. Sins of omission are often far 471 00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:45,600 more deceptive than sins of Commission. 472 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:48,560 As I mentioned in the exposition, verse 17 has a 473 00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:50,960 specific application and a broad application. 474 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:55,280 And the broad application is this, to know the right thing to 475 00:30:55,280 --> 00:31:02,240 do and to not do it is sin. In other words, sins of omission 476 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:06,760 are still sins. What are some examples of sins 477 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:11,960 of omission? Ignoring the poor, Not speaking 478 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:15,240 up when we should. Failing to pray or read our 479 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:17,760 Bible. Not correcting error. 480 00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:22,360 Withholding forgiveness. Not sharing the Gospel. 481 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:25,600 Now here's the thing with sins of omission. 482 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:29,120 Here's the problem. They're often far more deceptive 483 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:31,920 than sins of Commission. Why? 484 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:35,680 How so? Because they are more subjective 485 00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:38,320 in their nature and subjective in their extent. 486 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:40,720 Let me give an example from the tongue. 487 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:45,320 Suppose we tell a lie, right? That would be a sin of 488 00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:48,040 Commission breaking one of the 10 commandments. 489 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:51,080 When you tell a lie, you feel the weight of it. 490 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:53,800 You realize you lied. Your conscience testifies I told 491 00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:55,400 a lie. I shouldn't have done that. 492 00:31:55,600 --> 00:32:01,560 You feel the weight of that. Now suppose we hear a lie and we 493 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:06,240 don't speak up to correct it. Did we send? 494 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:13,160 She sends a commissioner. Tricky, aren't they? 495 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:20,880 The nature and extent of sins of omission makes them very 496 00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:27,520 difficult to identify. For example, at what point does 497 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:30,960 a lack of sharing the gospel become a lack of love? 498 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:36,560 At what point? At what point does a lack of 499 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:41,160 prayer and a lack of reading God's word become laziness and 500 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:46,280 indifference? At what point does silence 501 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:52,200 become fear of man? At what point does neglect of 502 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:58,480 the poor become greed? At what point does a lack of 503 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:02,520 forgiveness stop being processing and start being 504 00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:05,600 bitterness? There are people who are having 505 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:07,440 a hard time forgiving. They say I'm processing right 506 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:08,680 now. At what point does that stop 507 00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:10,880 being processing and start being bitterness? 508 00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:21,680 This verse teaches us that when we examine ourselves, we are not 509 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:26,440 just to go down a list and think, where did I lust today? 510 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:32,680 Where was I unkind today? Where did I get angry today? 511 00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:40,160 We are also to ask ourselves where did I know the right thing 512 00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:52,000 to do today? And I didn't do it. #3 On the 513 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:57,840 Day of judgment, those who have poured out their sweat to store 514 00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:03,280 up earthly treasure will pour out their tears for their loss 515 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:07,720 of heavenly treasure. On the Day of judgment, those 516 00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:12,719 who have poured out their sweat to store up earthly treasure, 517 00:34:13,639 --> 00:34:18,560 we'll pour out their tears for their loss of heavenly treasure. 518 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:23,920 James rights, Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the 519 00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:26,080 miseries that are coming upon you. 520 00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:30,280 Now let me give a bad application of this first. 521 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:32,120 This would be a bad application of this. 522 00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:35,840 We should make a lot of money. There are people here. 523 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:38,520 This would be like, we shouldn't make a lot of money. 524 00:34:38,639 --> 00:34:40,840 That's a bad application of this verse. 525 00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:44,080 That's not what James is saying. That is not what the New 526 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:51,760 Testament teaches. The issues are with either a how 527 00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:55,520 the wealth is acquired, B to what purpose the wealth is 528 00:34:55,520 --> 00:34:59,240 acquired, or C the consequences of acquiring this wealth. 529 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:04,720 Now, one commentator, he lists four major sins of the rich 530 00:35:04,720 --> 00:35:09,440 here. Here they are A hoarding B 531 00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:13,360 fraudulence. C indulgence D betrayal. 532 00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:14,920 Let's look at those individually. 533 00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:22,320 A hoarding you have laid up treasure in the last days. 534 00:35:22,720 --> 00:35:26,880 Now, often when we think about hoarders, we typically think 535 00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:30,840 about people who hoard trash or what we call trap. 536 00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:35,200 I mean, to them it's not trash, but we often got people who 537 00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:40,240 hoard. They hoard garbage or papers, 538 00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:43,440 cups and, and I don't know, all kinds of stuff. 539 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:55,140 Some people hoard wealth. If somebody asks you, are you a 540 00:35:55,140 --> 00:35:57,540 hoarder? Oh, no, no, no, not at all. 541 00:35:58,740 --> 00:36:03,800 Some people hoard wealth, Douglas Moo writes. 542 00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:07,120 In the Western world, where amassing material wealth is not 543 00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:11,280 only condoned but admired. We Christians need to come to 544 00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:15,200 grips with this point and James, and ask ourselves seriously this 545 00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:21,200 question, When do we have too much? 546 00:36:29,510 --> 00:36:31,750 See, we often started our starting point often. 547 00:36:31,750 --> 00:36:33,390 I know this because I think this way too. 548 00:36:33,590 --> 00:36:38,920 Do I have enough? I got, I got 4 kids, you know, 549 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:41,640 and man, have you guys seen like a, you know, it's like $80 fill 550 00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:45,160 up my gas caught tank and, and, and college is like $2,000,000 551 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:48,200 and, and, and you know, like health insurance, you know, I'm 552 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:51,480 just like I don't have enough. Do we ever stop and ask the 553 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:58,160 opposite question? When do I have too much B 554 00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:01,520 fraudulence? Behold the wages of the laborers 555 00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:05,520 who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud. 556 00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:08,320 Now I hope and pray that no Christian would ever be guilty 557 00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:09,440 of fraud. Right? 558 00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:15,160 But Judas was so was akin, so was Ananias and Sapphira. 559 00:37:16,240 --> 00:37:18,960 See indulgence. You have lived on the earth in 560 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:22,800 luxury and in self indulgence. I'll talk about this more in 561 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:27,320 point #7 But we're all reminded of the rich man in Luke 17 who 562 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:30,840 was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted 563 00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:35,840 sumptuously every day. And then D betrayal, you have 564 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:38,360 condemned and murdered the righteous person. 565 00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:42,440 These wealthy land owners were turning a blind eye to the to 566 00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:46,680 the needs of the poor and the needy in that same story. 567 00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:51,000 And Luke 16, at the rich man's gate was a poor man named 568 00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:53,720 Lazarus who was laid there daily at his gate. 569 00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:58,280 He was covered with sores and he desired to be fed just with the 570 00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:01,280 crumbs that fell from this man's table. 571 00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:05,960 Now, here's why this point is so difficult. 572 00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:09,080 Douglas Moo, what I read just a minute ago hit the nail on the 573 00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:11,920 head, except I would take out one word because he said in the 574 00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:14,640 Western world, and I want to say it's not just the Western world. 575 00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:19,840 China loves wealth too. So does Korea. 576 00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:26,760 So does Japan. In the world where amassing 577 00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:33,360 material wealth is not only condoned but admired. 578 00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:41,200 We admire the rich. We envy them. 579 00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:48,760 We praise their hard work, their savvy investing, their luxurious 580 00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:52,440 lifestyle, their comfort and their convenience. 581 00:38:57,040 --> 00:38:59,000 And yet it appears that James pities them. 582 00:39:01,960 --> 00:39:03,240 He pities them. Why? 583 00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:07,680 Because they have poured out their sweat to get all these 584 00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:22,000 riches, only to pour out their tears to lose it all. 4 The only 585 00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:27,560 way to be truly rich is to be rich towards God and rich in 586 00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:32,720 good works. The only way to be truly rich is 587 00:39:32,720 --> 00:39:35,600 to be rich towards God and rich and good works. 588 00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:40,320 These rich are wealthy, they have riches, they have garments, 589 00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:44,000 they have gold, they have silver, and on the day of 590 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:49,040 judgement they have nothing. They have nothing. 591 00:39:51,040 --> 00:39:55,040 Brothers and sisters, the only currency in heaven is blood. 592 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:01,960 I read that Elon Musk is currently worth around 600 593 00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:09,120 billion dollars, $600 billion. That is the number we can't 594 00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:15,600 comprehend at age 54. If he lived to be to to 94, so 595 00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:19,040 he lived another 40 years. Do you realize he could spend 596 00:40:19,040 --> 00:40:26,760 $41 million every single day for 40 years and not run out of 597 00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:34,000 money? He makes more in a single day 598 00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:41,040 that I will make in my whole entire life, and on the day of 599 00:40:41,040 --> 00:40:47,360 judgment all of us in Christ will be infinitely richer than 600 00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:55,030 Him, The Lord said in Ezekiel 719. 601 00:40:55,030 --> 00:40:58,710 They cast their silver into the streets and their gold, like it 602 00:40:58,710 --> 00:41:02,480 is an unclean thing. Their silver and gold are not 603 00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:05,720 able to deliver them the day of the wrath of the Lord. 604 00:41:05,880 --> 00:41:09,160 They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it, 605 00:41:09,280 --> 00:41:11,960 for it was the stumbling block of their iniquity. 606 00:41:13,840 --> 00:41:17,560 James writes that these rich, their their riches and their 607 00:41:17,560 --> 00:41:21,080 garments, and their silver and their gold will be a testimony 608 00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:26,160 against them. So, John Calvin writes, God has 609 00:41:26,160 --> 00:41:31,280 not appointed gold for rust nor garments for moths, but On the 610 00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:34,880 contrary, he has designed them as aids and helps to human life. 611 00:41:37,120 --> 00:41:42,000 In other words, there's only two ways to be truly rich, to be 612 00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:45,400 rich toward God and to be rich in good works. 613 00:41:47,240 --> 00:41:49,160 Where do I get this from? Remember the parable, The Rich 614 00:41:49,160 --> 00:41:55,480 Fool, this parable, there's this man who who has a he has land 615 00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:57,000 and he has a harvest. And he's, I mean, he's like, 616 00:41:57,000 --> 00:42:00,280 it's like the blockbuster harvest, the biggest harvest he 617 00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:03,720 had ever had. And he's like, oh, no, I've got 618 00:42:03,720 --> 00:42:07,440 so much I can't fit in my barn. What am I going to go to waste? 619 00:42:07,680 --> 00:42:09,200 What do I do with all this extra? 620 00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:12,040 He's just like, he's like man, he's just contemplating. 621 00:42:12,040 --> 00:42:13,680 All of a sudden he's like, I got it. 622 00:42:14,280 --> 00:42:18,800 I will build bigger barns and then I'll be able to store all 623 00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:19,920 this. He does it. 624 00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:21,400 He builds all these bigger barns. 625 00:42:21,560 --> 00:42:23,480 He harvests, puts it all in there. 626 00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:27,280 He goes to his front porch, gets him a glass of sweet tea, sits 627 00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:34,000 down and says, so you have laid up goods for many years. 628 00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:41,440 Eat, drink, relax. And God comes to him and says, 629 00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:46,160 you fool, you're going to die tonight. 630 00:42:51,240 --> 00:42:55,240 Jesus says so is the one who lays up treasure for himself and 631 00:42:55,240 --> 00:43:02,160 is not rich toward God. In Paul's exhortation of 632 00:43:02,160 --> 00:43:05,000 Timothy, he writes As for the rich in this present age, they 633 00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:09,680 are to do good, to be rich and good works, to be generous and 634 00:43:09,680 --> 00:43:14,520 ready to share the story of treasure for themselves. 635 00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:21,600 There's only one way to be truly rich, and that's to be rich 636 00:43:21,720 --> 00:43:24,400 toward God and rich in good works. 637 00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:37,940 Everything else is Monopoly money, Five money, savings, 638 00:43:38,220 --> 00:43:43,540 possessions, investments, lifestyle all have a way of 639 00:43:43,540 --> 00:43:45,780 revealing where our treasure lies. 640 00:43:47,960 --> 00:43:53,360 Money, savings, possessions, investments, lifestyle, they all 641 00:43:53,360 --> 00:43:55,120 have a way of revealing where our treasure lies. 642 00:43:55,760 --> 00:43:58,080 The problem is not with laying up treasure. 643 00:43:58,640 --> 00:44:00,520 There's nothing wrong with laying up treasure. 644 00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:06,800 The problem is the brokerage account that we use, James 645 00:44:06,800 --> 00:44:09,040 writes. You have laid up treasure in 646 00:44:09,040 --> 00:44:11,280 these last days. Now that sounds good, doesn't 647 00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:13,120 it? It's good to lay up treasure. 648 00:44:13,480 --> 00:44:16,360 We are the lay up treasure. The problem comes with the 649 00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:20,880 brokerage account they chose. They chose to bank with this 650 00:44:20,880 --> 00:44:24,920 world rather than to bank with heaven. 651 00:44:27,440 --> 00:44:31,680 What makes someone a Christian is determined by where their 652 00:44:31,680 --> 00:44:35,200 treasure lies. This is one of the greatest 653 00:44:35,200 --> 00:44:37,960 misnomers about Christianity, especially here in America. 654 00:44:39,520 --> 00:44:43,600 It is not simply whether you have made a profession of faith. 655 00:44:46,000 --> 00:44:48,160 I can get Naomi to make a profession of faith. 656 00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:57,560 The question is, where is your treasure? 657 00:44:58,760 --> 00:45:05,800 What is your treasure? You say, how do I know? 658 00:45:05,800 --> 00:45:12,520 Well, it's not the only way, but it often reveals money, savings, 659 00:45:12,720 --> 00:45:15,960 possessions, investment, lifestyle. 660 00:45:16,800 --> 00:45:19,160 They all have a way of revealing where your treasure is. 661 00:45:21,800 --> 00:45:23,640 I was thinking about this over the past few weeks. 662 00:45:24,240 --> 00:45:30,360 What if every cent was public? Like like, like, like for you or 663 00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:31,800 for me? I'll just use myself, right? 664 00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:35,200 What if every single cent in my life was public? 665 00:45:35,560 --> 00:45:37,880 So my credit card statements were public, Meaning you could 666 00:45:37,880 --> 00:45:41,640 view all my credit card statements, my bank statements, 667 00:45:42,480 --> 00:45:46,960 my brokerage accounts, checking accounts, savings accounts, 668 00:45:47,480 --> 00:45:52,840 cash, PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, Apple Cash, Google Pay. 669 00:45:53,080 --> 00:45:58,280 All of it was public. You could see every single cent 670 00:45:58,280 --> 00:46:00,360 that flowed in and out of my life. 671 00:46:01,560 --> 00:46:10,720 What if all of it was public? One day it will be. 672 00:46:14,800 --> 00:46:24,480 One day it will be. It'll all be made public and all 673 00:46:24,480 --> 00:46:28,640 of these financial statements will serve as evidence. 674 00:46:30,320 --> 00:46:35,080 Where was our treasure? They will testify. 675 00:46:35,240 --> 00:46:46,560 Where was our treasure? 6 The Lord of hosts hears our 676 00:46:46,560 --> 00:46:49,600 cries when we have been treated unfairly. 677 00:46:50,480 --> 00:46:53,800 The Lord of hosts hears our cries when we have been treated 678 00:46:53,800 --> 00:46:55,240 unfairly. I don't want to spend too long 679 00:46:55,240 --> 00:46:58,120 on this point because but I want to include it because many 680 00:46:58,120 --> 00:46:59,840 commentators think the context here. 681 00:46:59,840 --> 00:47:03,400 I think this is probably true, that these rich land owners are 682 00:47:03,400 --> 00:47:07,320 the lost world and the laborers in the passage are the 683 00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:09,840 Christians. Many commentators think that's 684 00:47:09,840 --> 00:47:11,840 what's going on. Why James includes it is that 685 00:47:12,080 --> 00:47:14,920 there are rich land owners who are the lost world. 686 00:47:15,080 --> 00:47:17,400 The Christians are the laborers. They're the ones who are getting 687 00:47:17,400 --> 00:47:19,160 defrauded. I think it's a good theory. 688 00:47:19,840 --> 00:47:22,880 We do know that in the 1st century, not many Christians 689 00:47:22,880 --> 00:47:25,280 were wealthy. Some were, but not many. 690 00:47:25,880 --> 00:47:28,240 And we do know as well that many of them got it taken advantage 691 00:47:28,240 --> 00:47:31,320 of by the world. And James wants to assure that 692 00:47:31,320 --> 00:47:36,040 them that they're crying out have reached the ears of the 693 00:47:36,040 --> 00:47:40,280 Lord of Hosts. I have heard stories of 694 00:47:40,280 --> 00:47:43,240 Christians being treated unfairly even in 21st century 695 00:47:43,240 --> 00:47:47,040 America. Brothers and sisters, the Lord 696 00:47:47,040 --> 00:47:52,040 of Hosts hears our cries every time we are treated. 697 00:47:52,040 --> 00:47:54,600 And some of you, I've heard you're treated unfairly, maybe 698 00:47:54,600 --> 00:47:57,360 by your parents, maybe by your boss, maybe by the government, 699 00:47:57,360 --> 00:48:00,520 maybe by society. Every time we are treated 700 00:48:00,560 --> 00:48:04,960 unfairly, whether it is a boss, Co workers, schools, the 701 00:48:04,960 --> 00:48:10,240 government, communities, the Lord of Hosts hears our cries 702 00:48:11,600 --> 00:48:13,200 and he will do something about it. 703 00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:24,120 He will seven last point. Luxury and self indulgence are 704 00:48:24,120 --> 00:48:29,080 difficult to define but not impossible to identify. 705 00:48:31,160 --> 00:48:36,880 Luxury and self indulgence are difficult to define but not 706 00:48:36,880 --> 00:48:42,480 impossible to identify. James tells these rich you have 707 00:48:42,480 --> 00:48:46,000 lived on the earth and luxury and self indulgence. 708 00:48:48,120 --> 00:48:51,800 How do we define luxury? How do we define self 709 00:48:51,800 --> 00:48:55,040 indulgence? The other day I sat down for 710 00:48:55,040 --> 00:48:56,240 lunch and I asked my wife this question. 711 00:48:56,240 --> 00:48:57,360 I said let me ask you. She didn't know any. 712 00:48:57,360 --> 00:48:58,320 She didn't know I was doing this. 713 00:48:58,360 --> 00:49:00,320 They had no idea. I just sat down with no context. 714 00:49:00,320 --> 00:49:01,440 I asked her. I said, let me ask you a 715 00:49:01,440 --> 00:49:05,360 question. Would you say that we live, we 716 00:49:05,360 --> 00:49:08,320 mean a zwit family, that we live in luxury and self indulgence. 717 00:49:10,120 --> 00:49:14,000 She said, well, it depends on how you define them exactly. 718 00:49:17,080 --> 00:49:21,800 They become difficult to define because they're relative. 719 00:49:22,240 --> 00:49:27,000 They're relative. I So I thought about it. 720 00:49:27,000 --> 00:49:32,960 I was like, well, I'm curious. I asked ChatGPT, what are some 721 00:49:32,960 --> 00:49:40,000 things that the third world countries consider luxuries but 722 00:49:40,000 --> 00:49:43,640 we consider basic? What are some things that third 723 00:49:43,640 --> 00:49:47,840 world countries consider luxuries, but we consider basic? 724 00:49:48,800 --> 00:49:53,000 Here's what I got Clean, drinkable tap water in your 725 00:49:53,000 --> 00:49:55,680 home. Hot water on demand. 726 00:49:56,400 --> 00:50:01,440 Indoor plumbing, Sewage systems that work reliably 24/7 727 00:50:01,440 --> 00:50:06,000 Electricity, Air conditioning, central heating, Reliable 728 00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:09,720 Internet access, Refrigerators, 3 meals a day. 729 00:50:10,320 --> 00:50:13,840 Refrigerated or frozen. Food wide food variety. 730 00:50:14,240 --> 00:50:19,200 Eating meat regularly, Dining out, private bedrooms, Large 731 00:50:19,200 --> 00:50:23,200 living spaces, Multiple bathrooms, safe, solid 732 00:50:23,200 --> 00:50:28,600 construction, personal vehicles, Paved roads, Reliable public 733 00:50:28,600 --> 00:50:33,640 transportation, affordable fuel, Smartphones, personal computers, 734 00:50:33,920 --> 00:50:38,640 streaming services, washing machines and dryers, Microwaves 735 00:50:38,760 --> 00:50:41,680 and dishwashers. Access to nearby hospitals, 736 00:50:41,960 --> 00:50:46,680 emergency services, prescription medications, vaccines, health 737 00:50:46,680 --> 00:50:49,240 insurance, public education and college. 738 00:50:49,240 --> 00:50:53,720 Access libraries, toilet paper, soap and shampoo. 739 00:50:53,960 --> 00:50:57,520 Clean clothing, beds and mattresses. 740 00:50:57,520 --> 00:51:02,960 You know what's interesting is when I read through that list, 741 00:51:02,960 --> 00:51:05,920 when I book an Airbnb, I expect all those to be there. 742 00:51:13,840 --> 00:51:21,440 Luxury and self indulgence are difficult to define, but they're 743 00:51:21,440 --> 00:51:28,200 not impossible to identify. So how do we identify them? 744 00:51:30,440 --> 00:51:34,240 That's a question I will pose to you in worship and community. 745 00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:35,840 Let's pray.