Turn back to James chapter 5. We are about to come to the close
of this epistle. Lord willing, next Wednesday
we will probably finish out the chapter, and the title of that message
will probably be, The Effectual Forever Righteous Man of El's
That's had my attention, but I didn't want to skip these other
verses. You know, we have a tendency to jump to the ones that are
more pleasing, I guess you could say, to the ear. But we need
to look at these other verses here. I titled the message, Be Patient. Be Patient. Mike called me today and he said,
what are you preaching on the night? And I told him, and I
said, the title of it is Be Patient. He said, I can't wait to hear
it. I said, you've been around Debbie
way too long. But I thought that was a good one. If there's anything
we can't wait to hear, let it be the gospel. Let it be the
word of God. Now James here in these first
six verses, he is addressing unbelievers, rich unbelievers,
men of the world who have great riches and they use them and
abuse them for themselves. And we know now that the word
of God is chiefly written to believers, but here he gives
some warnings to the unconverted. And as I read this last night,
and I've been reading this for a week, just reading the verses
over and over, and this thought came to me last night as I read
these verses. I thought, we must always apply
the Word of God to ourselves first. Every time we read it,
every time we hear it preached, it's God's Word. And we must
first apply it to ourselves. I must see if the shoe fits me
first before I try to shoe anyone else with it. I must see if it
fits me first. The disciples said, when the
Lord said, one of you is going to betray me, every one of them
said, is it I? They applied it to themselves
first. And that thought hit me as I was reading these verses.
But he is speaking here chiefly in these first six verses to
unbelievers, unbelievers. And then in verse seven through
11, he writes to the brethren. He calls them, you notice in
verses one through six, he doesn't call them brethren. Then when
he gets to verse seven, he calls them brethren and he exhorts
them to be patient, patient under trial. You know, it's tough to be patient
waiting on something that you want. But it's really difficult
to be patient under something that's really hurting. Under
trials. To wait on God to deliver. To wait on God to bring it to
a good end. And that's what he's teaching
here. And the word patient there that he uses, he says be patient.
He's saying be long-suffering. Long patience, because the trial
may be a long time. It may be for a long time. And
he's exhorting them to have long patience. So let's look at this. Here he pronounces judgment on
the rich. Everyone looks at rich people
and they envy them, don't they? The rich are envied by the world
all over. They see them living in luxury. You see what they have, the homes
they live in. You know, look at those mansions.
You know, I've watched the History Channel. They show the Biltmore
mansions and things like that and all that woodwork and all
that stuff. That was built at the expense
of their laborers. And we'll see this as we go down
through here. Now he says, go to now, ye rich men, weep and
howl. They're not weeping and howling
right now, not the ones that are still alive. But he said,
go and weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon
you. You might as well get started
now. He said, you might as well start now weeping and howling
because misery, eternal misery, eternal judgment, eternal condemnation,
eternal suffering is coming. It's coming, he says, upon you.
Now, this does not include all rich people, but let me make
this clear. This does not include all rich
men and women. There were and are some rich
men who know God. God has made them rich. He makes
rich and He makes poor. And there are some whom God has
saved that are rich. And He's given them grace. He's
given them the heart to use that wealth for the furtherance of
the gospel and to relieve suffering of people that are in need. There's
a couple of people come to my mind over the years that I've
known that have done this. They've just used what God gave
them. They were just a channel. That's all they were, just a
channel. They came in one way and went out the other and helped
people with it. This is not just a blanket statement
of rich men. God has saved some men that are
rich. Abraham. Job. Look over in Job chapter
29. Over here in Job chapter 29. What Job says about himself here. In Job chapter 29, look in verse
10. The nobles held their peace and
their tongue clave to the roof of their mouth. When the ear
heard me, then it blessed me. And when the eye saw me, it gave
witness to me, because I delivered the poor that cried. I used what
God gave me to help the poor. And the fatherless and him that
had none to help him, I helped him. Job said, I helped him. The blessing of him that was
ready to perish came upon me. Now we know that that applies
to the Lord Jesus Christ. We know this. But this also applies
to Job. Job used what God gave him to
be a blessing. And I caused the widow's heart
to sing for joy. I put on righteousness and it
clothed me. My judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes
to the blind and feet was eye to the lame. I was a father to
the poor and a cause which I knew not, I searched out. Job used
what God gave him to be a blessing. He was a channel. That's what
he was. He was a channel. But the rich men spoken of here
are the rich of this world. And I tell you what, we've really
seen some rich people in our time. I forget how many billionaires
there are now just in the United States. It's amazing the explosion
of riches here. But this is who he's talking
about, the rich of this world who have abused their wealth
and power. Power comes with wealth. And
they've abused it, and they've abused it in using it for themselves. But I know this, and this is
what James is saying here. James is saying this, the rich
may look like they're above everybody else. They may look like they
can't be touched. But they have to answer to God
just like everyone else. They are going to answer to God.
James is saying they are going to answer to God for every penny
that has gone through their hands. The earth is the Lord's, the
fullness thereof, and they who dwell therein. It all belongs
to Him. All must give an account. All of them. And he says here,
weep and howl. Weep and howl for the miseries,
the eternal miseries are coming. It's coming. It may not look
like it. It may not seem like it. I bet
that rich man whose gate Lazarus laid at, I bet he never thought
his end was going to be so bad. I bet you he was one of the most
envied persons in town. But you don't envy him, do you?
You don't envy him. Not at all. Everyone's going
to give an account for their possessions. Don't envy. Don't
envy the rich. He said, your riches are corrupted.
They're corrupted. That is, the fruit that the laborer
has gathered out of your fields is poison. It's corrupted, he
said. It's corrupted. And your garments
are moth-eaten. Like the manna. Like the manna
that was kept until the next day. Those who did that did not
trust God to provide. God said, Take what you need
for that day. I'll supply tomorrow. I'll do
that. But some of them try to keep
it till the next day. And it bred worms. And it stunk
the place up. And that's what they do here.
They hoard up. They hoard up what they've got.
And they keep it at the expense of their employees. That's how
they've got it. At the expense of their employees.
God has never given us anything Now think about this, I thought
about these things as I was writing them down. God has never given
us anything to hoard up. Never. Never. James says here,
you have so many, here's what he's saying, you have so many
garments in your closets that they have
become moth eaten from lack of use. So many. I felt somewhat guilty when I
read this. The other day, I gave away three
garbage bags of just shirts. We're so rich. We are. We're
so rich. So rich. But he's speaking here
to those who have kept all this that God has given for their
own use and did not help or be a blessing to those whom they
could have helped or been a blessing to. They just pushed them aside. Unused riches are corrupted riches. That's what they are. He says they're corrupted riches.
They're like the Dead Sea. It's like the Dead Sea. It has
an inlet, but it has no outlet. And that's why they call it the
Dead Sea. And that's what happens here. It comes in. And they keep
it in. He said, you keep it in. You're
not you're not using it to be a blessing. You don't believe
God. You don't believe God will provide the next day. You don't
believe God will take care of you. You know, the Lord said,
fret not of tomorrow. You don't believe that. He said,
you don't believe it. You don't believe God. And no doubt some
of these men were in the church because he's writing to the twelve
tribes of Israel here. Some of them was in the church
and made a profession, no doubt. But they just didn't trust the
Lord to provide, and so they hoarded up and they kept it.
Riches are to be used as blessings, not kept for a rainy day. I know what my natural tendency
is. I know what it is, because when I read these things, you
feel a twinge, because you have a natural tendency to want to
keep it. I know that old nature that's
still in us, it wants to keep it. I know it. But he says here
also, in verse 3, to these unbelievers. You see, believers use it. Now,
those who believe God, they do use what God has given them.
They use it to spread the gospel. They use it to help. They use
it to relieve. They use it. I know they do. But here, he says here, your
gold and silver is cankered. It's gangrene. It's called gangrene. And the rest of them shall be
a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it
were fire. You have heaped treasure together,
he says, for the last days." You know what he's saying here?
Everybody I've read said this. You have heaped treasure together
for your old age. Who took care of you in your
young age? The same one that's going to take care of us in our
old age. Same God. Same God. But he says here, rust. Rust happens when? When you don't
use it. There was a man out of work a
few weeks ago. We were back working on one of
the big lathes. And he looked at the ways on
that lathe. He said, how do you keep the
ways on this lathe from rusting? I said, well, I use it. I just
use it. And that's what he's saying here.
The rust of them. He said you've hoarded it up,
you've kept it, and the rusting, and the rust of it is going to
be a witness against you. It's going to be a witness. A man's possessions will be a
witness against him in the day of judgment. That's what He's
saying. And listen, it's going to eat
your flesh. It's going to eat your flesh as it were fire. Turn over to Luke 16. Let me show
you this in the Scriptures. Luke 16. In Luke 16, look in verse 19. There was a certain rich man
which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and he fared sumptuously
every day. And there was a certain beggar
named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores, and
desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's
table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. Now it
came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels
into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was
buried, and in hell. Here we get a glimpse, this is
one of the few times we actually get a glimpse of what happened
after a lost man dies. And in hell he lifted up his
eyes, being in torment, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus,
that one that laid at his gate, that poor beggar that God laid
at his gates. Lazarus wasn't there by accident. And he saw Abraham afar off,
and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father
Abraham, Have mercy on me and send Lazarus, that beggar that
I would have nothing to do with, that I would not feed. Oh, send
that beggar that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and
cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame." But Abraham said,
and I believe this is probably going to be one of the great
torments of hell. Son, remember, Son, remember,
that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things." He fared sumptuously
every day, it said, every day. And Lazarus, what would it have
cost him to have been a blessing to Lazarus? What would it have
cost him to have helped Lazarus? He's a rich man, a very rich
man. And one of God's children was laying at his gates. And
he said here, you received your good things. You fared sumptuously. You lived luxuriously. You were dressed in purple and
fine linen. That was your lifestyle. It was
short. Now it's over. Now it's over. And Lazarus, likewise Lazarus,
evil things. He was treated evil by you. You looked on him as though he
were trash. But now he's comforted us. Now
who would you rather be? Now who's rich? Now come on,
who's rich now? Lazarus. He has the true riches
now. And now thou art tormented. A judgment. Our Lord said judgment. He's speaking here through James.
Judgment is coming. And then He says here, Behold,
the hire of the laborers. Here's how you got your riches.
This is what He's condemning here. Here is how you received
your riches. The hire of the laborers who
have reaped down your fields. God takes notice of this. The
Lord of hosts. That's who He is. He takes notice
of this. which is of you kept back by fraud." They've been
crying, crying out of poverty, injustice. They cry. And the cries of them which have
reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, the Lord
of Hosts, the Lord of Armies. All are under him. This is the
one who has heard his cry. Here is one of the ways they
have become rich at the expense of their employees. That's what
he's condemning here, at the expense of their employees. Kept
back, he said, their wages. Men who have worked hard in the
heat of the day, he said, you've kept their wages. And now the Lord's going to bring
you into judgment for it. Their cries have been heard by
the Lord of hosts. And He's going to deal with you.
He said the Lord's going to deal with all these rich men who have
defrauded all their employees. He said He's going to deal with
them. They're not going to escape this. You have lived, He said,
in pleasure. You have lived luxuriously, that's
what that means, on the earth and been wanton. And that means
this, feel your sensual appetites. You've taken all your money, all your riches,
and you have just fulfilled the desires and the lust of your
flesh. And you've nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter. Plenty. You've lived like kings
while your servants have lived like slaves. Those old southern slave owners. They would rather depart from
the United States than give up their slaves who made them rich. Now where are they? Now where
are they? And know who they care for, themselves. You have lived in pleasure on
the earth in what you have nourished your own heart. That's who you
care for, yourselves. Look over in Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12. In Luke chapter 12. Let me see if I wrote the right one
down here. In Luke chapter 12 verse 15.
And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness. And
this is exactly what James is condemning here in these first
six verses. He's condemning covetousness. And he said unto them, Take heed,
and beware of covetousness. For a man's life consists not
in the abundance of the things which he possesses. And he spake
a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich
man brought forth plentifully. God blessed him. If the ground
brings forth plentifully, who brought it forth? Who gave the
rain? Who gave the sunshine? Who gave
the ground its fertility? God did. God did. And he thought within himself,
saying, what shall I do? What shall I do? Because I have
no room where to bestow my fruits. Here's what he said, here's what
I'll do. I'll be a blessing to others. I'll help send the gospel out. I'll support the gospel more
fully. No, he said, this is what I'll do. And this is what riches
do to men who have not grace. Who have not grace. I will pull
down my barns. I will pull down my barns and
build bigger barns. And there will I bestow all my
fruits and my goods. And then here's what I will say.
I'm going to bless myself. Not bless God for it. No, thank
God for it. I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods. Laid up for what? Many years. How do you know that? He said he didn't think anything
would happen. He thought he was just foolproof
here. I'll say to my soul, soul, thou
hast much good laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat,
drink, and be merry. That's the natural man that's rich. That's what he does
with it. That's his natural tendency to
do with riches. But God said, you see, God has
the last word. God always has the last word.
But God said unto him, thou fool, thou fool. He didn't commend
him. He said, you're a fool. You're
an absolute fool. The ground brought forth plenty
and you didn't give recognition to the one who brought it forth,
God. Thou fool, this night, this very
night, he said, this is going to last for many years. Thou
hast much goods laid up for many years. He said, well, tonight
you're going to die. God said, tonight you're going
to die. This night thy soul shall be
required of thee. Then whose shall those things
be which thou hast provided? Where are you going to leave
when you die? Where are you going to leave all of it? You're going to leave all of
it. He said, thou for tonight you're going to die. Now, who
are they? Who are they going to belong to? Whose shall those things be which
thou hast provided? And he says, so is he that layeth
up treasure for himself. Now, listen, here's the here's
the key here. He lays up treasure for himself
and is not rich toward God. A man who is rich toward God
can handle the riches that God gives him. And he uses it in
a good manner. And then he says here, see this
progressively gets where you get back the higher the labors.
He says you live sumptuously. And now you've condemned and
you've killed the just. You've killed the just. You have
to remember, especially in the early church, there were a lot
of martyrs. There were a lot of them put
to death. And rich men put them to death. Rich men brought them
before judgment. And he says, they didn't resist
you. They didn't go to trial and hire a lawyer and try to
get out of it. They went on and died. They went ahead and died. But now he turns here and he
speaks to the believer, to those who believe. And there was a
lot of suffering. The church was suffering hard,
especially at this time. He says, be patient. Be long-suffering,
brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Keep your eye on Him
who is the true riches. Keep your eye on Him. Behold,
the husbandman waited for the precious fruit of the earth and
had long patience for it until he received the early and latter
rain." Be patient. Long suffering. Looking. Expecting, he says, the coming
of the Lord. That's what we look for. We look
for the coming of our Lord. There's an end to all trials.
There's an end to all heartaches. There's an end to all suffering.
There's an end to poverty to the believer. There's an end
to it. When the Lord comes, he will wipe away all tears and
he will vindicate his elect. He says, be long-suffering, be
patient, be patient. And he gives the example here
of this farmer. He said the farmer plants the seed and he wastes
his allotted time for it. He plants it, then he goes and
does his other work and he wastes. for the early and latter rain. He waits for the Lord to bless
and finally the crop grows up and then finally there's a harvest. He says here, harvest time is
coming. Wait. Wait for it. Wait for it. The farmer waits for the corn.
You wait for glory. If he waits for the corn just
to feed his stomach, You're waiting for the crown. You're waiting
for glory. You're waiting for the Lord.
That's what you're waiting for. Look. Think upon these things. That's what Paul said. Think
upon these things. Things that are pure and honest and good
report. Things that concern the Lord
Jesus Christ. Think upon these things. And be ye also patient, long-suffering. He repeats it. Establish your
hearts. How do you do that in a world
that we live in, in this world? And you see people faring sumptuously,
very rich, and here you are under trials or going through heartaches,
whatever it is. How do you establish your heart
from fretting and worrying? How do you do that? I think here's the first thing.
You do it in the Word of God. You saturate yourself with the
Word of God. I wrote this out last night.
Those who are weak in the Word will be weak in faith. They will
be weak in prayer. They will be weak in patience.
They will be weak in every grace of the Spirit if you're weak
in the Word. Establish your heart, and the
best way to do it is in the Word of God. God can be taken at His Word.
He'll do just as He said He would. And I promise you, He'll do everything
that He said. He'll do everything that He said. And then prayer. Prayer. He says over here in
verse 16, The effectual prayer of a righteous man, it avails
much. He said Elias was a man subject
to like passions. He's just like us. Now think
about this. I'm kind of getting off my subject
here, but think about this. He's just like me and you. A
man of like passions. Same nature. Born in the same
God, same spirit. He prayed and asked the Lord
that it not rain. He prayed earnestly that it might
not rain. It rained not on the earth but for three years and
a half. Do you think you could pray like
that? Could you pray like that? He's a man of like passion. God's the same God. Prayer. Establish your heart.
He said, establish it in the Word, in prayer, listen, and
in fellowship with one another. I tell you, this past weekend
has just been, it truly made me want to preach more. When
I went home, it made me want to preach more. It made me want
to be a better preacher. It truly did. It made me want
to be a better preacher. I thought, It's going to be hard. I did. I thought it's going to
be hard to come back here tonight and follow that. But fellowship with one another
is encouraging. This is how we build one another
up. Take the Word of God. We preach. We fellowship. We
talk about Christ. We just, you know, with each
other. Encourage one another. The Lord's coming. He said the
Lord Listen, for the coming of the Lord draws nigh. He's on
His way. That's what He's saying. He is
on His way. He's on His way. And we need
to encourage one another with this. We need to speak often
with one another about this. He draws nigh. It won't be long. It won't be long. Be patient,
He said. Be patient. Be patient under
trial. Be long-suffering under trials, even trials that affect
your pocketbook. Those seem to be tough ones.
They seem to be the tough ones. Our Lord knows all things. He
knows all things. He knows every situation we're
in, whether it be a heartache or a financial ache. He knows
it. He knows it. He's over all of
this. All of it. Grudge not, he says here, verse
9. I've got to get along here. Grudge not one another. Again,
grudge not one against another, brethren, lest you be judged
or condemned. Behold, the judge stands at the
door. He's near. He's always near. He's always
near. But here's what this means. Do
not make one another uneasy by continually groaning. I read that as a man. Slap, slap. That's what that means. Do not
make one another uneasy by your continual groaning. Whiners. Whiners. What did God say to Job? Job,
stand up like a man. The man I made you, stand up. Quit your whining and stand up.
It's going to be alright. I'm God. And don't grudge. He says here,
don't whine. Don't moan and groan and carry
on unless God bring you into judgment or chastening. Unless
you be chastened. I didn't get time to go over
and look at the scripture, but Moses said, the Lord heareth
your murmurings. Remember this, the judge is always
near at the door, always. Now, he says here, take my brethren,
the prophets. He uses an example here. Take
my brethren, the prophets. who have spoken in the name of
the Lord. These are honorable men. These are men of God. For
example, are suffering, affliction and patience. Look what they
suffered who preached in Christ's name. Are we better than they? No. But look what they suffered. They suffered unto death. You
know, Paul said that he was a pattern for suffering. When you suffer, I thought about
this last night. When you suffer, don't think
how bad you have it. Think of the company you are
now joined to, the prophets, God's prophets. James said in the beginning of
this epistle, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations. Count it a joy. God's weaning
you from this world. God's dealing with you. Thank
God He doesn't leave you alone lest you just become rich. Thank God He doesn't do that.
Behold, we count them happy which endure. Now listen to this. They
have suffered affliction. They hurt. They were beaten,
torn asunder. They were tormented. He said, we count them happy
which endure. Where are they now? They've endured
these things. They endured these afflictions.
They endured these hardships. Where are they now? They're happy. They're with the Lord. They are
with the Lord. They're happy. And you heard
of Job? Aren't you glad for the book
of Job? I'm always reading over there in the book of Job some
chapter or something all the time. I'm glad. I'm glad that that happened. I'm glad it happened. I know
the hard exit he went through, it would be hard to say that,
but I thought today when I read that, he said, you heard the
patience of Job. If he hadn't went through it,
we wouldn't have heard of it. And you heard that the Lord is very
pitiful and tender mercy. Well, if he was like that with
Job, will he not be like that with me? Will he not be like
that with you? If he is, was it the end? Wasn't the end good? Did not
Job receive double of all that he had? Oh, he's happy now. Job is happy
now. Look how merciful God was to
him in the end. Who knows what will happen? Who
knows what blessing will come out of it? Who knows? Who knows? Who knows? I tell you this, when
I read the book of Job, I find comfort, I find encouragement,
and I find some peace, because God was in control of every bit
of that, and He turned it to Job's good. Job needed that. He needed everything he got,
and God blessed him. But above all, he said, above
all things, my brethren, I won't promise. Swear not. Under trials, I tell you what,
when things go bad, it's easy to get a bad temper. It's easy to swear or just get
mad at somebody or if a boss is not treating you right, it's
easy to lash out. But he says here, swear not.
You can't make it happen. I swear I'll get you. Yeah, you
reckon? You may, you may not. If it's
the Lord's will, you will. If not, you won't. You can't make anything you swear
come to pass. So don't swear by heaven. It's
not your place. You didn't create it, in other
words. It's God's throne. Heaven is God's throne. And don't
swear by the earth. That's God's footstool. You didn't
create it either. It's God's. The earth is the
Lord's and the fullness thereof and they who dwell therein. Psalm
24. It all belongs to Him. He says here, don't swear by
an oath by these things. They belong to God. And you can't
make any of them come to pass. Here's what you do. Let your
yes be yes and your no be no. In other words, just keep your
answer simple. Just keep it simple. Don't swear. Just say, yes. Just keep the answer simple is
what he's saying. Yes or no. You don't have to swear you're
going to do anything. I'll tell you what we do if the Lord will.
If the Lord will. But I think James, the two points
that James dealt with here is that judgment is coming on rich
men who believe not God, and they've used those riches for their own pleasures. And
they will answer for it. He says they will answer for
it. But you, brethren, he says, be patient. You just be patient. They were really suffering. At
the time James wrote this, remember, they were scattered abroad. They
were under heavy, heavy burden. We've never seen anything like
what they've seen. They were under heavy, and he
said, just be patient. Be patient. The coming of the
Lord draws nigh. That's been 2,000 years ago.
Well, just think how close it is now. It's 2,000 years closer
than it was when he wrote this. All right, Mike.