Back to James chapter 5. James chapter 5. I titled this
message, So You Want to Be Rich. I don't know anybody that at
one time or another, and most of the time, want to be rich. Now, I'm just going to be honest
about it, and I've thought about it myself. I was on the road. I'll be honest. I was on the
road to that direction at one time. And the Lord stopped it. He just stopped it. Let's just
say it that way. He stopped it. But, you know,
you can do a lot of things. But there's a lot of trouble
that comes with it, a lot of deceitfulness that comes with
it, traps, a lot of traps that you can get into. Riches, let
me make this clear, riches in themselves are not being condemned. It's not being condemned. Riches of themselves do not have
sin in them, no more than a bottle of wine has sin in it. Or drugs,
they don't have sin. There's no sin in drugs. It's
in the ones who use them. It's the misuse of things where
the sin comes from. The sin comes from us. It doesn't
come from objects. It comes from us. It's the misuse
of these that's condemned. In fact, listen, in fact, Riches
reveal more about who we are than poverty does. It does. Poverty doesn't allow you to
cover up much, does it? It doesn't allow you to cover...
it doesn't give you much to cover with. But riches will. Now some
have been rich, and I've known in my lifetime, who believed
the gospel. They used their riches for the
furtherance of the gospel, and I've watched this. You know,
when Henry was at 13th Street, it cost $1,500, I think it was,
$1,500 plus a week for that television program. Now somebody's going
to have to pay for that. That's not cheap. It's not cheap.
And I've watched men whom God has blessed and given them riches,
and they've taken it, and they've used it to further the gospel,
to help missionaries, to relieve the poor and afflicted, I've
seen this. But what James is speaking of
here, he's speaking to the rich, not only of this world, but I
believe he's speaking to the rich who claim to know God. They
gather with God's people, but they've proved by their use of
what God's given to them and their treatment of others that
they don't know God at all. I believe that's what James is
addressing. You know, in reading the Scriptures, when you read
the Scriptures and the epistles, you realize, like Paul and James
and Peter, they're writing to a people. And they're addressing
a problem that's going on at that time. And God lets these
things go on. He allowed many things to happen
in the early church for our learning, for our education, as examples
to us to learn from. And I think that's what's happened
here. There's rich men among God's people that were just squandering
away what God had given them, and it wasn't a benefit to the
gospel or anybody else. It was just a benefit to themselves. And James is saying, God didn't
give us these things for that purpose at all. And he has a very strong, a very
strong statement here right in the first verse of chapter 5.
And let us remember this. He's writing under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. This is not James' opinion. This
is the Holy Spirit writing through James. "'Go to now, or come now,
and weep,' he says. And weep aloud,' is what he's
saying. Weep well. Weep aloud and lament over what's
coming your way. Judgment, he's saying, judgments
come of terrible judgment. You know, they are living in
luxury. They are living at ease. They have no idea what's coming
down the road. No idea. Torment, he says, is
headed your way. Their riches is like the calm
before the storm. You know, when the hurricane
comes, you have this calm, it just looks like a nice day, but
there's a terrible storm coming behind it. And that's what he's
saying to these rich men. Riches do not protect in the
day of judgment. Eternal miseries, he's telling
them, are coming. God cannot be bought with riches. He cannot be bought off. He cannot
be impressed. Listen to Proverbs 11, chapter
11, verse 4. Riches profit not in the day
of wrath. It doesn't matter if you're Bill
Gates. Not one penny of that will profit.
It profits not in the day of wrath, but righteousness. Here's
what profits in the day of wrath, righteousness. The righteous
Lord loveth righteousness, it says. Righteousness delivereth
from death, from dying, that second death. God is not impressed
with the rich like we are. I wrote this down because I speak
to myself first before I speak to you. When I sit down and do
these notes, I'm looking at myself. And this hits me first. I wake
up Many times, two or three, four o'clock in the morning,
and this is on my mind, and it's to me first. You sure? I thought, John, you
sure? You sure you want to be rich? You sure? You might want
to think about that. Riches come with great responsibility. I mean great responsibility.
The Lord said, to whom much is given, much is required. Everyone is a steward of what
God has given to them, every penny of it. I mean, to every
penny. Let me give you a few words about riches. First of all, the Scriptures
teach us they are deceitful. They are deceitful. They make
you think more highly of yourselves than you ought to. It gives a
distorted view of oneself. I know, I've been there. I had
a man say, well he actually said it to his son. I know the man
was telling me about it. He said, you think I got all this by being
stupid? Well, if that applied, then the
Mafia would be the smartest ones around. No, I know how he got
most of it. I know the man. He's a crook. I know how he got most of it. They give you a distorted view
of yourself. King Nebuchadnezzar walked out
on that balcony, popped his suspenders and said, look what I've done.
Look what my hands have done. Look what I've done. And God
said, you're going to go out to pasture for seven years. And
then He gave God the glory. At the end of seven years, He
gave God the glory and God the praise for everything. Everything. And then they make you think
that you have God's favor. I think this is one of the greatest
dangers of riches, is that they make you think you have God's
favor. That's not so. That's not so. Look over Psalm 73.12. I've got
these written down, but you need to look at some of them. Psalm 73.12. For the most part, David is saying
this, for the most part, in verse 12 of Psalm 73, These are the ungodly who prosper
in the world. They increase in riches. Now,
for the most part, they are the ones who prosper. I heard a pastor
say, and I believe it's so, he says, usually, for the most part, God doesn't make His children
rich. He's usually made them rich before He's ever saved them. But rarely does He make them
rich afterwards. It's usually before. And I think it's so from
what I have observed over the years. That's what I've observed. Let me tell you where God's favor
is. God's favor is shown in giving faith and repentance. Not what I possess, but who possesses
me. Who possesses me? What possesses
me? What am I possessed of? Something's
got me. I'm telling you, where your heart is, your treasure
is. If Christ is your treasure, If
Jesus Christ is our treasure, that's where our heart will be.
Our heart will be set on Him. Set your heart, it says, your
mind, your heart, on things above where Christ sits at God's right
hand, not on the things of this earth. Our Lord said that where
your treasure is, your heart is. And if Jesus Christ is my
treasure, that's where my heart is. And the evidence of God's
favor is faith and repentance. That's the evidence of God's
favor. It's not what I own. If it was the evidence of God's
favor, then poor Lazarus would be in hell and the rich man would
be in heaven. Wouldn't he? But it wasn't. It didn't work
out like that. And then they gave me a false sense of security.
I had a man tell me. I think I've told you this. I'm
sure I've told you a lot of things more than once. But I know you don't remember,
so that's why I do it. Because I don't remember it.
But I had a man who claimed to believe the gospel. And he had
a lot of money in the bank. And he told me, he said, if I
didn't have a lot of money in the bank, John, I don't know if I could handle
it. He said, I'd worry myself to death. I'd worry myself to
death. They give you a thought. Well,
he doesn't have any idea how telling that was when he said
that to me. But they give you a false sense
of security. It's written in 1 Timothy 6.17,
"...Charge them," Paul says to Timothy, "...Charge them that
are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, that
they don't think of themselves more highly than they ought to
think, nor trust in uncertain riches." Riches of this world have no
certainty of being there tomorrow. They have no certainty. But listen,
trust in the Living God. Whether I'm rich today or poor
tomorrow, if my confidence and my trust is in God, I'm going
to have a good day. Really, I'm going to have a good
day. It's going to be alright. My
trust is in God, in the living God, not a God, the living God,
who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. What God has given
you, He has given to you to enjoy. Don't feel bad about it. Don't
let somebody else make you feel bad about it either. I hate it
when somebody tries to put their convictions on me. It's different
when it comes from the Word of God. Now, that's different. But
if somebody else is having a bad day, don't make my day bad. who giveth us richly all things
to enjoy." It says over in Proverbs 23, 5, riches have wings and
fly away. I've watched them do that. I've watched them fly and just
take off. There you go. So long. See you later. During the Great Depression,
There were many, and I've heard this, there were many that went
bankrupt. They were rich and they went
totally bankrupt overnight. And it has been said that some
of them jumped out of their top floor windows. You never hear of a poor person
doing that, do you? When you're on the bottom floor,
your windows aren't high enough to jump out of. Be glad if God keeps you down
there. Even if He gives you some riches, be glad if He keeps you
down. Be glad if He sends along some adversity that makes you
realize your frailty and who's doing the blessing and in whose
hand you really are. And then riches give us a false
sense. Riches give others a false sense of us. and make them think that you're
smarter than they thought you were when you were in school."
They said, well, he's not as dumb as I thought. No, God just
blessed. Paul said in one place, he said,
one waters another plants, but God gives the increase. If God
doesn't give the increase, it's not going to happen. Satan said
to God over concerning Job, he said, you put a hedge about him,
and you have blessed the work of his hands." That's how Job
got rich. God made him a rich man. And
Job and Abraham, David, Solomon, they used him. They used those
riches for the glory of God. I'm sure they squandered some
of it. I don't doubt my mind they did. But they used it for the glory
of God. And God made them rich. He blessed the work of their
hands. And then they make entering the kingdom of God difficult
at best. Riches make entering the kingdom
of God very, very difficult. It's easier for a camel to go
through Ivanito than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
Listen to Mark 10, verse 24. And the disciples were astonished
at his words. But Jesus answered again and
said unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust
in riches to enter into the kingdom of God? They trust in riches, material
wealth, material gain, and they don't need God. Why is it so
sad? It's always when we are hit the
hardest that we go to prayer, and when you're having a fine
day and everything's going your way, it's so hard to pray. Here's the problem in James 5
too. He said, your riches are corrupted. You've corrupted them. You've
corrupted them. You've poisoned them. And here's
what's happened. How'd they get that way? He said,
your riches are corrupted. They're corrupted by the way
they were used or not used. not used. Your garments are moth-eaten."
You know what he said to the men of that day? And it's even
more so that day. Your garments are moth-eaten.
You have unworn clothes in your closet. They've been there for
so long that the moths have eaten them. You feed the moths while
a brother goes threadbare. I went through a closet, this
had been several years ago, someone had gone and so I had to go help
move somebody and I went through a closet, there was a whole closet,
I mean a whole closet, full of clothes with the tags on them.
They had the tags, a whole closet full of clothes with tags on
them. You know, Achan over in the book
of Joshua destroyed his whole family because he saw a Babylonian
garment and coveted it, took it, put it in his tent, and hid
it. His whole family was killed. Achan and that whole family because
of that garment. He wanted a beautiful garment. Someone said, unused riches are
like the Dead Sea when there's no outlet. It's absolutely useless. Someone said, I think it was
Thomas Jefferson, not Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Edison. Thomas
Edison said, the advantage of money is the use of it. I thought that was a good statement.
Not the splurging of it, not the waste of it, but the use
of it. The use of it. And he says here in James 5.3,
your gold and silver is cankered. It's rusted. Rust happens when
we don't use it. Someone asked me about it at
my machine shop, how do you keep your machines? They asked me,
how do you keep your machines from rusting? I said, I use them.
That's it. I use them. And by using them,
it keeps the rust off of it. You kept back, he said, you kept
back when it ought to have been used. And it just piled up, piled
up, and it's just rusted. And he said, it's going to come
back on you now. I've seen people, now listen,
people think that if they lay up for retirement, that's a good
thing. That's not, I mean, I understand retirement. I understand that.
I'm not going to go through all the excuses we go through to
justify these things, because James doesn't give it to us.
But we live for retirement. We live for old age. We're going
to have it fine. We're going to have it good.
And then God sends along, and I've got two men in mind that
I saw this happen to, God sends along an illness and wipes it
out. And they had money too. They had money. And God sent along an illness
and they both had to go back to work in their older age. Just
cleared out their savings. Hundreds of thousands. He's not talking here about the
foolish use of money. He's not talking about throwing
it away or just giving it away just so you don't have it, just
so you can feel good about yourself. But it's the wise, wise use of
what God gives us. That's what He's talking about.
and the rest of them shall be a witness against you." James
is saying riches hoarded up will rise up in judgment as a witness
against those who kept it back instead of using it. God has
never, and I've thought about this for the last few days, God
has never given me anything to hoard up and not use it. He's never given me anything
to take it and put it in my pocket and say, I'll just put this up. It might rain. I'm going to put
this up for a rainy day. Abraham said, the Lord will provide. You reckon we'll ever learn that
before we die? You reckon we'll ever learn to trust God before
we give it up? Before He takes us out of here?
I'd like one time, I'd like one time before I die to truly trust
the Lord. to trust Him. He'll take care. It'll be alright. It'll be alright. God fed Elijah with a raven. Tommy, you mentioned that woman
at that cruise of oil. You know, she only had a little
bit of oil there, and she said, well, she went ahead and used
it, and that thing kept filling up every day, taking care of
Elijah. Every day! We have the same God, don't we?
we have the same God. Riches hoarded up will rise up
in judgment as a witness against those who kept it back instead
of using it." Listen to this. Luke 16.25. This is that story
of that rich man who went to hell. He's speaking to Abraham. And Abraham said, Abraham answered
him, said, Remember, remember that thou
in thy lifetime received thy good things, your comfort, luxurious
living, you received good things. Likewise, Lazarus, evil things,
hard things, tough life. But now he's comforted, and you're
tormented, and that ain't gonna change. God gives us nothing to be buried
but to be used. I mentioned this to you, I think
it was last week, that parable of the talent. And he took that
one talent and he buried it. Buried it. And God called him
a wicked servant. A wicked servant. You think God
can't bless one talent and turn it into two? If He can bless
five and turn it into ten, why can't He bless one and turn it
into two? You know what that servant said? He said, I knew you were an austere,
stern, hard man. Well, if that's the way you want
to deal with God, that's the God you're going to deal with. But
that is not God in Christ. We deal with a merciful God.
We deal with a God who takes care of His sheep, takes care
of His own. Trust Him for it. Trust Him for
it. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall
not want." I just wish I could believe it,
like it ought to be believed, as it ought to be believed. And
He says here, "...and the rest of them shall be a witness against
you, and shall eat your flesh, as it were fire." He's speaking
here of torment. They don't They have no clue
the torment is coming because of what they've done with what
God's given them. I don't care if they believe
or not believe. Everything we have, God's given. Psalm 24, verse
1, "...the earth is the Lord's, the fullness thereof, and they
who dwell therein." You know what one of the great
torments of hell is going to be? You know what it is? Rolf Barnard called it the hounds
of hell. He's got a sermon on it, the hounds of hell. Here's
one of the great torments of hell. Son, remember. Remember. Remember Lazarus laying
at your gate? You passed him every day. Passed
him every day. That's going to be one of the
great torments of hell. In heaven, these things won't even come
into mind. Scripture says, for the former things will not be
remembered. But in hell, that can't be forgotten.
And it'll be torment. It'll just be torment. Scripture
says it's where there worm, the conscience never dies. And you've heaped up treasure.
You've heaped treasure together for the last days. You've kept
it for the last days, your old age. You've kept treasure. You've kept building it up, building
it up, because, you know, you don't want to lose your standard
of living. I mean, who wants to do that? I've got an example in my mind,
I'm just deciding whether I ought to use it or not. I'd have to
have it edited, but I'll leave it out. What you thought was good to
do for yourself will prove to be the worst thing you ever did. The worst. There's a scripture,
and I didn't write this down, but there's a scripture, and
I won't quote it verbatim, but there's a scripture in Proverbs
that says, There are those that make themselves rich, but end
up poor. And there are those who give. There are those who keep back
the riches, and they make themselves poor. They're spiritually poor. Then there are those who give,
and they just give, and they give. It's like sowing, like
sowing a seed. And they make themselves rich. James gives us here how rich
people become rich. Most of them, a lot of them,
a lot of this goes on. A lot of this goes on. Not everywhere,
but a lot of it does. "...Behold the hire of the laborers,
who have reaped you down your fields, which is of you, kept
back by fraud." He's saying here, you got that way by withholding
wages from those who work for you. That you kept the wages
instead of paying it. Here's an example of those coal
barons and those steel barons. You know, I watched a program,
it was a miniseries on the making of America. I don't know if they
watched any of that or not, but it was the Carnegies and all
those people, the Rockefellers and all them. They lived in luxury. while their employees lived in
shacks. Someone tried to get Henry one time to go to the Biltmore. That's down here, isn't it? The
Biltmore, he absolutely wouldn't do it. He said, I am not going
to go and visit that place where they built that. He built that
on the backs of those coal miners, paid them beggars wages, and
took it out of their blood and sweat. He said, I am not going
to go there. He said, I know how that man built that mansion. Back in the day, now here's what
James is addressing. Here's what James is addressing.
Listen. Back in that day, the laborer would be paid at the
end of each day. That's how they did it back in that day. They
paid everyone at the end of the day. But some of the employers
would just keep the money and not give it to them. Not give
it to them. And that guy would have to go
home at night and not be able to feed his family. He wouldn't
be able to do it. Because that guy robbed him.
He wouldn't even pay him for the day's work he gave him. That's
what James is addressing. This was happening in that day.
And he's saying this, you know this, God hears the cry of the
poor. He says here, He cries out of
being wronged, out of hunger, out of having to feed His family
and He can't. He said, that's coming. That's
coming. God hears. He hears the cry of
the poor. and the cries of them which have reaped are entered
into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, or the Lord of hosts."
He hears the cry of the oppressed, he says. And He'll deal with it. And here's
the indictment. You have lived in pleasure on
the earth and been won. You've given yourself
to the Amplified version said this, given yourself to soft
prodigal living, like a prodigal son. Soft prodigal living. And
indulge yourself in gratifying your flesh. You take what God
has blessed you with, and you use it for yourself, and you
just left the others alone. left them alone. You have nourished
your hearts as in a day of slaughter." It's like the old cow. She loves
that grain that the old farmer's feeding her. She had no idea
what she'd been fattened up for. And the rich of this world have
no idea what they've been fattened up for. A day of slaughter. He says, "...your lifestyle is
coming home to roost." It's coming home to roost. You've
condemned and you've killed the just and He doesn't resist you.
It was the rich who condemned our Lord, wasn't it? They were
the ones who put Him on trial. They were the ones who got Him
arrested. Took out 30 pieces of silver
and threw it over there to Judas. It's the rich, He said, who draw
you before the judgment seat. They take you to court over nothing.
They know you can't beat them. They'll just outspend you. They
know that. They know that. This is the end of all lost rich
men and women. That's the end of them. That's
the end of riches. But I want to close on a good
note. I want to close on a good note. I want to close on the
true riches. There are true riches that we need. What are these true riches? The
true riches are what we have given to us in Jesus Christ.
I can't lose them. Rust and moth can't touch them. A thief can't break through and
steal what I have in Christ. The Scripture says your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Satan wanted to touch Job,
God gave him permission to touch everything. He gave him permission
to touch everything. But what did he say? You can't touch his
life, because then you're going to have to touch me. You're going
to have to take me off the throne. You're going to have to dethrone
God to take my life. The life that we have in Jesus
Christ as that commercial says, priceless.
Can't put a price on it. If God gives me riches to enjoy
and to share and to use, be thankful and pray for wisdom on how to
use it, and a heart to use it with. But if He takes it, you've
lost nothing. I had a lost man. I mean, I'll
tell you this. I had a lost man say this to me one time, and
I told him after he said it, I said, I said, you don't even understand
what you just said. But he said to me, he said, you haven't lost
anything until you've lost your life. I said, Randy, you have
no clue what you just said. That was one of the most powerful
statements that anybody ever said. You haven't lost anything
until you've lost your life. Your life is hid with Christ
and God. That's true riches right there.
It says in Proverbs 8, 18, "...riches and honor are with me, yea, durable
riches..." Durable riches are spiritual riches. Durable riches and righteousness. Riches without righteousness
is a curse. I'm telling you, it's a curse
without righteousness. What about the riches of His
grace? For by grace are you saved. You're
no better than the drunk down the street, the dope addict,
the prostitute. You and I are not one ounce better.
But by the grace of God, He came and fetched us. Like a brand
plucked from the fire, He just pulled us out. Lifted us out
of the pit. In Ephesians 1.18, you read down
through there, that first chapter, it's spiritual blessings. He
said, He's blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. How about rich in faith? Which
would you choose? The lottery, or to be rich in
faith? James 2.5 says, "...Hearken,
my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world,
rich in faith and heirs?" I'm an heir of God. You're an heir of God. You're
an heir of the Lord Jesus Christ. "...which He hath promised them
that love Him." Rich in joy, rich in love, Rich in hope. Rich in the fruit of the Spirit.
I'll tell you one of the things I'd love to be rich in, along
with what I've just mentioned. I would love to be rich in contentment
in Christ. If I have it, fine. If I don't
have it, fine. And just let everything go on
by. Just like seeing a log float down a river. Just watching a
log float down a river. I'm not envying that log. Just
let it float on down the river. I'm on dry land." Oh, to have that kind of attitude,
to have a real joy, love, hope, faith, repentance, and a real
genuine contentment in Jesus Christ. To be able to say, I'm
going to close here, to be able to say, and mean this, I have
enough. That's what Jacob said to Esau.
You know, when Esau was going to give him a bunch of stuff,
he thought Esau was going to kill him. And I think Esau would have if
God hadn't intervened and changed everything, changed the heart.
But Esau was going to give him all this stuff and Jacob said,
I have enough. Have you ever heard anybody say
that? Have you? You won't hear anybody in this
world say that. Not in this world. I know a man that's very wealthy.
He's got a lot, a lot, a lot of stuff. And someone said to
me, talking about him and what he owned, he said, you wonder
if he'll ever have enough? I said, no. No, he never will. He never will. Is the ocean ever
full? Are the eyes, Job said, full
of seeing? Is the ear ever full of hearing?
Is the ocean ever full of water? Will the ocean ever overflow?
Is your appetite ever gone? No. He'll never have enough. But God's child, as he grows
and matures in the Lord Jesus Christ, someday, as he grows
up, he can say, she can say, I have enough. is written in 1 Corinthians 3,
21 through 23. I'm just going to quote this.
All things are yours in Christ. It's all mine. It's all mine
anyway. Now when this is over and we
stand before Him and we stand on that new heaven and new earth,
it's going to shock us. This is ours. It's ours. If we belong to Christ, we are
the richest people in this world.