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The Danger of Wealth and Self-Indulgence

James warns against the arrogance and sinfulness of boasting about future plans and living a life of luxury and self-indulgence. He condemns the unjust treatment of the poor and the hoarding of wealth. The passage serves as a reminder to prioritize the will of the Lord and to use our resources for good.

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The Danger of Wealth and Self-Indulgence

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  1. James 4:13-5:6 13Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”

  2. 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:13-5:6

  3. 15Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. James 4:13-5:6

  4. 1Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. 2Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. James 4:13-5:6

  5. 3Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. James 4:13-5:6

  6. 4Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. James 4:13-5:6

  7. James 4:13-5:6 5You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.6You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

  8. Rich Man, Poor Man Larry Cline - Hardin Valley Church of Christ - 3/30/2014

  9. A prevalent blindness… We need to pray for the vision of Elisha instead of the eyes of Gehazi. In spite of walking in the dust of Jesus’ sandals for a couple of years, Judah the son of Simon was blind.

  10. Are We?

  11. 1. A Biblical Perspective On Wealth & Poverty

  12. The first human couple was given the whole world to enjoy making it obvious that possessions are not wrong in themselves. The Bible nowherecondemns wealth. “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (I Timothy 6:10)

  13. 2. James’ Charges Against The Unjust Rich

  14. Insensitivity(v. 2-3) Wealth in those days consisted of food, garments and money. 2Your riches have rotted and your garments havebecome moth-eaten. 3Your gold and your silverhave rusted; and their rust will be a witnessagainst you and will consume your flesh like fire. (James 5:2-3a)

  15. ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ (Luke 12:19) “FOOL!” Don’t hoard wealth, use it! Time and disuse cause rotting, rusting and ruin.

  16. Injustice(v. 4a, 6) Deuteronomy 24:12, 15 12“If he is a poor man, you shall not sleep with his pledge.”15“You shall give him his wages on his day before the sun sets, for he is poor and sets his heart on it; so that he will not cry against you to the LORD and it become sin in you.”

  17. The Jewish writings say… He that takes away his neighbor's living slays him; and he that defrauds the laborer of his hire is a murderer. (Ecclesiasticus 34:22)

  18. Injustice was something Jesusunderstood. The preacher never stopped talking about money. The congregation clutched their billfolds and squirmed. He told them not to worry so much about stuff that’ll rot. He told them that the folding stuff was not the currency to buy meaning and happiness.

  19. He singled out one man and told him to sell everything and then give the proceeds to the poor. He had them shaking their heads when he said, ‘Happy are the poor.’ Some of the best-dressed stomped out, their noses in the air. A few of the wealthy and powerful slipped quietly into a backroom and had a contract put out on the young preacher’s life.

  20. And it only cost them thirty pieces of silver

  21. Indulgence(v. 5) Character + Wealth = Great Good SelfIndulgence + Wealth = Sin Those James addressed fed themselves on their riches while they starved to death. They were like pigs that eat themselves into the slaughterhouse. They were not aware of the hands of the hopeless except to step on them.

  22. 3. The Poverty Of Unjust Wealth (vs. 3b-5)

  23. “Weepand wail” The greatest poverty is not empty pockets but empty souls. A lack of judgment today does not mean a lack of judgment tomorrow.

  24. Witnesses against the unjust: Rotten grain Tarnished money Moth-eaten garments Unpaid wages Mistreated workmen

  25. Within ten years of James’ letter the Roman General Titus had destroyed Jerusalem. God never judges by a bank account or statement of worth. He probes the heart where no surgeon can reach looking for righteousness and where it is lacking His judgment follows.

  26. One Final Story Revelations 3:17b “You do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.” WHY? Revelations 3:17a ‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have becomewealthy, and have need of nothing.”’

  27. We need to take a cue from Bartimaeus “Son of David have mercy on me!” “Rabbi, I want to see” (Mark 10:47-51)

  28. With His grace, we can have the vision of Elisha instead of the eyes of Gehazi.

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