We can know that the presence or absence of money is not the way we measure God’s blessing. They are not “good” or “evil.” They are just twenty-dollar bills. Warning to the Rich.               in luxury and in self-indulgence. 3 Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. James 5 New Living Translation (NLT) Warning to the Rich. That poor man is as good as dead. This text reminds us that the problem is not in the money. Mr. D — , one day asked him to dine with him.               that are coming upon you. Wicked men plotted against him and suborned perjury against him.              who mowed your fields, A finely dressed man? The Bible does not condemn wealth and neither should we. You could grow crops, or you could sell fabric, or you could store up gold and silver. As we head into this last chapter of the Book of James, we notice that the tone of voice changes. If God Allowed His Only Son To Be Crucified, How Much Worse Punishment. That the original audience of the epistle of James must have developed an infatuation with the wealthy is clear from the many passages that offer warnings to the rich or criticize the church for giving deference to those with great means (1:9–11; 2:1–13; 4:13–17). Knowing all this, James issues a stern warning. and the cries of the harvesters have Whereas James has given us many practical examples of how to live out our faith, he now gives a stern warning in a different type of language. Your garments are moth-eaten. The rich know how to use their cash to bend the legal system in their direction. But Jesus had all the power in the world, yet he chose not to use it. Are those five bills evil in themselves? After all, if you’ve got enough money, you can create your own “heaven on earth.” It’s not real, and it won’t last, but money has tremendous power to feed our delusions. 5 Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. The rich man of Luke 12:16-21 was not called a fool because his ground brought forth plentifully. In the end we come back to a familiar theme. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. From these Scriptures we can behold some of the “pits,” “snares,” and “lusts” connected with riches “which drown men in destruction and perdition.” How wholesome, therefore, are those things which protect us from such disaster. Money makes us think we can get away with anything. You have laid up treasure in the last days. James' Stern Warning. Suppose I hold up five twenty-dollar bills in my hand. The Bible says so very much about the deceptive nature of riches. Unfortunately for those who think like that, a day of slaughter is coming, and God will start with the rich pigs. May we who are rich in this world’s goods be as generous to others as God has been generous to us. You have fattened your hearts Does James 5:1-6 apply to them? When bystanders spat at him, he didn’t spit back. So the laborer gathers up what money he has and tries to bring the wealthy man to court. He sees what the rich man does, and he knows how he uses his wealth to crush the poor. 4:28). 5 Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. “Come now, you rich, Money makes us think we’re safe. ( Log Out /  1 Timothy 6:17 "Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy" (1 Tim 6:17) What comes to mind when you think of rich people? Without it, you are in big trouble. Warnings And Promises. Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. If you’ve got food in your pantry and clean water to drink, you’re doing better than millions of people around the world. The very wealth you were counting on … It was his desire to hoard “all my fruits and my goods” for the purpose of eating, drinking, and being merry, without giving any credit to God or having even one thought for the less fortunate that caused God to say, “You Fool.” The sudden ending of his life, with the question-” Whose shall those things be?”-shows the folly of selfish, godless plans. Don’t be a fool! This video is unavailable. I could use the money to buy a hungry man a meal, or I could use the money to buy illegal drugs. That’s the real test of your faith. The New Testament is equally concerned about the dangers of wealth. The rich have all the advantages. One day we will give back everything to the Lord, even the life he gave us in the beginning. Meanwhile the rich man laughs about it with his buddies on the golf course. He sees what the rich man does, and he knows how he uses his wealth to crush the poor. Jewelry? The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. They can turn the truth upside down so the poor man has no chance. He uses our money to turn us away from generosity toward the poor. In the broadest sense, you can find something about money (or the things money can buy) on almost every page of the Bible. They twisted his words, they stirred up the crowd, and they backed Pilate into a corner so he would send Jesus to be crucified. The rich can pay off the judge to make sure they get the verdict they want. You can buy your own plane to take you wherever you need to go. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Rich people can hire a PR firm to manipulate the news in their favor. This obviously varies greatly by region and by population group, but we can use it as a starting point. Ecclesiastes 10:19 even says, “Money is the answer for everything.” That’s true. In the evening when he should be paid, the owner says, “I’m sorry. WARNING TO THE RICH. When you stand before the Lord, your money will be a witness for or against you. That puts you in the upper 4%. So here we have a rich man with a vast estate. “Living in pleasure on earth” “nourishing your hearts,” “eating, drinking, and making merry” “are expressions which depict a life that has no trust in God. “Behold, the wages of the laborers If you complain, he says, “You’re fired!” What do you do then? 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. In a real sense, money is like bait on a hook. The system is rigged against him. The term “middle class” is a recent phenomenon. In ancient Israel, you had very rich people at the top of the ladder, and a whole lot of poor people at the bottom, and not very many in-between. James 5 English Standard Version (ESV) Warning to the Rich. If you live in the United States, you should be glad because you’re in the upper 1% of world income. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. The word translated “condemned” comes from the courtroom. James 5:1-6, Matthew 5:38-42, Hebrews 10:35-39, Revelation 20:11-15. Car. His failure shows that he was “high-minded” and had no trust in the living God, the source of his “good things.” No wonder he cries on the other side of death, “I am tormented in this flame!”, The rich men who are told to “weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you” (Jam 5:1-6) were men who had gained, hoarded, and lived delicately at the expense of the poor laborers. 5:1) suggests there are dangers connected with being rich in this world. Abraham, Solomon, Job) but not one of them sought to be rich. He’s angry and worried and desperate to care for his wife and children. This is an area of my life that I struggle with the most. We can’t squirm out from under the biting impact of what James writes. In fact, compared to him most of us are dirt poor. A Warning to the Rich. If we want to be assured always of “a correct fit,” let us first put our trust in the living God, and center our interests upon being “rich toward God” and having “treasures in heaven.” Remember this rich man, “Of much given is much required!” (Lk 12:48). You make more than 84% of the people in the world. It is a scathing indictment of the rich. You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. In the first century, many farm workers were essentially day laborers. They can plant articles to make themselves look good. Now James asks us to consider an evil abuse of power. Money is the currency of life. They murdered the Son of God to satisfy their bloodlust. By Bob Cowles • 20 Jan, 2018 • James 5.1-6 . Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. We should note one other thing before jumping into the text. Ye have heaped treasure together … Continue reading Warning to the Rich We all deserve hell, and apart from Jesus, that’s where we will all end up. Build treasures in heaven and not treasures upon this earth, for where your treasure is there will your heart be also (Mt 6:19-21). 5 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.              which you kept back by fraud, In this way, the poor as well as the rich can be guilty of the same evil. A four-week series Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty. It should be clear from what I have written that I feel the pinch of this text. The Bible does not uphold poverty as the pathway to righteousness, nor should we. Naked we will leave. Compared to Bill Gates, most of us are not rich. How can we as believers live in such a way that the ethics and lifestyle of the kingdom pervade our lives? Those men worked from sunrise to sundown, depending on the owner to keep his word and pay them at the end of each day. Well, yes, James is certainly thinking about the richest of the rich. A Warning to Rich People Like Us. When they swore at him, he didn’t swear back. It’s what we do with money that matters. When they drove the nails in his hands and feet, he didn’t threaten them. 2 Your riches have rotted If you have enough money, you can gain entrance to the highest levels of society. Because he has many fields that need harvesting, he must hire many men to work for him. When the Gallup organization surveyed world income, they discovered that 22% of the world population lives on less than $1.25 per day and 34% lives on less than $2 per day. Notice, the rich are told not to trust in “uncertain” riches. You never really “owned” them anyway. The question is not, “Do we have money?” but rather “What is our money doing to us?”. Be thankful for the grace of God that has saved you, and then pray that grace may reach all the way to your pocketbook. "But woe to you that are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Warnings to the Rich. 3 Your silver and gold are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. Come back and work for me tomorrow.” Same thing happens on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It’s a really good question from an anonymous woman. I saw an internet meme showing a mansion next to a hovel. You can find out how you compare with the rest of the world by consulting the Global Rich List. Bed, Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Garments are much better on the backs of the destitute than to become food for moths. 54 Bible Verses about Riches, ... “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. An enormous, extravagant house? 1 Timothy 6:8-9. 6:17 f; Jam. Let me go back to the example I gave earlier. Note one other fact. When I write it out I am able to process it better in my mind.. and since I lose papers and notebooks so easily, what better place is the We must not think this couldn’t happen to us. Large staff of servants? Just what warnings are given to the rich? “She invested in the Great Commission.”              and your garments are moth-eaten. This sort of thing happens all the time, with the details slightly changed. Warning to the Rich James 5. 2 Your wealth is ruined and your clothes are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire.              the righteous person. When he confronts the owner, the rich man laughs and says, “Don’t mess with me or you’ll never get your money.” So the worker goes home to his family with nothing to show for a week of hard work. "Equipping and encouraging people to keep believing in Jesus", Copyright © 2020 Keep Believing Ministries. “He built a great empire.” Change ). James 5:1-6 Go to now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come on you.… A nobleman who lived in the neighbourhood of the Rev. It means to pass a guilty verdict in a very personal way. 5 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion … The Bible talks about money a lot. Answer: The Bible does not use the phrase “one-world government” or “one-world currency” in referring to the end times. And there were a lot more poor people. King James Bible He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want. The problem lies in the human heart. But in absolute terms, we’re rich. Money does weird things to the brain. Here’s the message in one sentence: The man who cheats the poor will be dealt with by a God who is big enough to do something about it. If you make $60,000 a year, you are in the upper .2% of everyone in the world. The motives for making money assigned in the scriptures are to supply our own needs, those who are dependent upon us, and “that we may have to give to him that have not.” (1 Tim. When the soldiers put the crown of thorns on his head, he didn’t curse at them. ( Log Out /  The poor man doesn’t resist because he can’t resist. The answer is no. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 2 Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. How often they want to limit how much health care they can obtain. As we have seen, the Old Testament speaks to this constantly. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 ESV / 15 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful. All of life is on loan from God. Home, Knowing all this, James issues a stern warning. Material riches are never certain. This image may be the … They have no moral value. You were rich or you were poor. Rusted money is not needed by the possessor, but would be put to good use by one in need. Ill gotten gains at the expense of the poor will bring damnation to your soul (Jer 17:11). That means you make more than 96% of the people in the world. ( Log Out /  The heart of the problem is always the problem of the heart. 5:1) suggests there are dangers connected with being rich in this world. My desire is to study the Bible Daily. Because of this, riches often come to take the place of God in people’s lives. Sign up to join over 20,000 subscribers receiving our weekly sermon email. You needn’t feel guilty about having money or being blessed beyond what you deserve. Share. We all need money to survive. It couldn’t be clearer. The Bible says if your riches increase, don’t set your heart upon them. are crying out against you, He had the ability of helping Lazarus with his sores and satisfying his gnawing pangs of hunger, but he did not exercise his privilege. But what can he do? We all know how this story ends. Suppose we drop the figure down to $20,000 a year. Mark 10:17-27 is the […] Weep and cry aloud over the miseries that are coming on you. 2. Thanks for your interest! Righteousness doesn’t depend on the size of your bank account. Money buys influence, power, and protection from prosecution. Truly, it may be said, “their belly is their God” and “their glory is their shame.”. We might call them migrant workers in today’s terminology. James says that this “innocent man” does not resist his accusers. That puts you in the upper 16%. Abraham, Solomon, Job) but not one of them sought to be rich. 5:4,8 f; Eph. This is what I meant earlier when I mentioned “the one who has the gold makes the rules.” Money buys influence, power, and protection from prosecution. Anyway, it’s not my problem.”. Hold lightly what you value greatly because it isn’t yours anyway. “You have lived on the earth You may wonder why I am typing things out word for word. There is no need to feel ashamed and no need to dance around the truth. ( Log Out /  Open your bibles to James 5:1-4. We need to hear this because we live in a world that values money above everything else. Bible verses about Being Rich. Yes, God made rich certain men in the scripture (e.g. 5) can look no where else. Fraudulently withholding the hire of the laborer reveals a covetous spirit and unconcern for (or unbelief in) the day of judgment. You find out what you believe when others mistreat you. Weep and wail over the miseries that are coming on you. 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