HOFC Sermon Archive: August 2024

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SERMON TIMELINE

1. Introduction to the Book of James

2. Trials and Temptation

3. Gaining Wisdom

4. Poverty & Wealth

5. Dealing with Temptation

6. Slow to Anger

7. The Implanted Word

8. Pure & Undefiled Religion

9. Sin of Partiality

10. Three Kinds of Faith

11. A Warning about Teaching

12. Heavenly & Earthly Wisdom

13. How to End Wars

14. Our Plans & God's Will

15. When God Gets Angry at the Rich

INTRODUCTION

Today is Sunday. August 25^th, 2024

Over the last few weeks we spoken about heavenly and earthly wisdom, how to end wars and strife, and the difference between our plans and God's will.

This week, we begin James 5, and we will examine the verses about God and His anger toward some of the rich, why He is angry, and how we can ensure we don't get added to that mix.

Firstly, we need to stress a few things about being rich. God does not condemn the rich for being rich. Some of the godliest people in scripture were rich. Job, Abraham, Joseph, David, Solomon, Apphia (shared her wealth with the Philemon), and Lydia in Acts, who was a benefactress of the church. A patron of Paul.

However, scripture is clear that it is far more difficult for the rich to be saved.

"And Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 25 And when the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, "Then who can be saved?" 26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:23-26

Some prosperity preachers teaching false doctrine will try and weasel around the meaning of this verse to justify themselves and their ill-gotten riches, stolen from godly men and women seeking the Lord or healing.

However, Jesus is quite plain in His speech, and when the disciples ask, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus answered because they understood what He said, "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."

To say Jesus meant anything else is calling Jesus a liar.

So, there are times when God gets angry at the rich. (not all of them.)

We will examine the text and see who specifically He is angry with. Who James is addressing, what is in store for these rich people, why God is angry and what we can learn from this passage.

Dave Ramsey, a Christian author and financial genius, has many money-related books and podcasts. He said that we in America are a mess when it comes to wealth. I know people who make $100,000 per year and are always broke and those who make less than $20,000 yearly and have savings, investments, and no debt.

"Rich" is a relative term depending on the country. However, having or not having savings or money in your bank or wallet is not what determines whether or not you are rich. What you have coming IN as your INCOME determines that.

What YOU do with it from that point on is all on you.

A young man came to me years ago, stressed and upset because he was broke, in debt, bad credit, and never had money in his wallet. He asked me to pray he could find a better job.

I said, how about I pray you learn how to handle your finances?

This man literally made nearly 4-times the minimum wage. He didn't need MORE MONEY; he needed discipline.

He sought counsel, followed financial advice, and within 1 ½ years was out of debt, raised his credit rating, built savings, and now lives comfortably.

So what is rich if it is relative?

Country	Yearly Wage	Weekly Wage	Hourly Wage
USA (Michigan)	$21,486.40	$413.20	Minimum $10.33
			Fast food $14.00+
Nigeria	$874.08	$16.80	$0.42
Sierra Leone (West Africa)	$374.88	$6.44	$0.16

Bangladesh	$168.12	$3.23	$0.08

Based on 40/hr. per week, 52 weeks per year.

Being rich is relative to where you live. You would be rich if you made $500 per year in Bangladesh. If you made $3,000 annually in Nigeria, you would be rich.

In America,

Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, owns a 15,700-square-foot mansion in Houston valued at $14 million. He owns another one in Newport Coast, California, valued at $7.3 million.

Texas televangelist Kenneth Copeland's mansion is worth $7 million. Also owns land worth $1.3 million.

Others, such as Jesse Duplantis, Benny Hinn, and many others (mostly prosperity preachers), own multiple mansions worth millions and millions of dollars.

I would consider them rich by American standards.

Let's see what James has to say, who he is saying it to, and how we can be sure that we don't get included in God's anger for how we handle our finances.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE

James 5:1-5

"Come now, you rich, cry, howling over your miseries which are coming upon you.

2 Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and your silver have rusted, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire.

You have stored up such treasure in the last days!

4 Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields—that which has been withheld by you—cries out against you; and the outcries of those who did the harvesting have reached the ears of the Yahweh of Hosts.

5 You have lived luxuriously on the earth and lived in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous man; he does not resist you."

I. WHO IS JAMES ADDRESSING?

a. Are they Christians?

i. Are these wealthy Christians oppressing other Christians?

1. Possibly, but unlikely

ii. They are not addressed as "brother" but "you rich"

iii. Also, there is no call to repentance in these verses

1. Nothing but condemnation in these verses

iv. Brothers are addressed once more in verse 7 when they are told to be patient in light of what was just said.

b. These are rich unbelievers (though principles still apply to us)

i. They had been oppressing the Christians

1. James 2:6

ii. This judgment upon them serves as a comfort to the brothers being oppressed (James 5:7)

1. The Lord heard their cries (James 5:4)

2. Judgment is coming therefore they are told to be patient

Even though this passage does not directly reference wealthy Christians, we still need to be mindful because if what they do angers God, it will anger God if you do it too!

II. WHAT IS AWAITING THESE RICH OPPRESSORS?

a. Miseries that will cause them to "weep and howl"! (James 5:1-3a)

i. Riches are corrupted

ii. Garments are moth-eaten

iii. Gold and silver corroded

iv. And when this takes place, it will serve as a witness against them

1. It will eat their flesh like fire

2. The anguish and misery of poverty usually affect those who were once rich the hardest!

3. Thus, when poverty strikes, it will make them "weep and howl" as though they were on fire!

v. Why does James speak as if the judgment will take place soon?

b. Some of what was spoken took place in 70 AD

i. Remember, there were many rich who oppressed Christians

1. The Jews who did not accept Jesus

a. Sanhedrin

b. Crooked land owners

c. Shopkeepers, etc.

d. Jewish politicians

ii. Not long after James wrote this letter, Jerusalem was destroyed

iii. Many of the wealthy Jews who oppressed their Christian brothers literally "weep and howl"

1. For nearly 2,000 years now, they weep and wail at The Wailing Wall, which was all that remained after the destruction in 70 AD.

2. It was renamed after the Six-day War in 1967 to "Western Wall."

3. But they still go there to weep and wail.

iv. What they failed to realize was that they had "heaped up treasure in the last days" (James 5:3)

1. Like the man in the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:16-21, they thought they were laying up riches for their latter days.

2. In fact, IT WAS THE LAST DAYS of the Jewish economy when they were so busy storing up wealth.

v. Like some today, who store up wealth for retirement and then die before they retire.

The miseries that came upon these rich people were terrible indeed (as described by Flavius Josephus, an eyewitness of the destruction of Jerusalem)

Even if it does not fall upon the rich as it did with the destruction of Jerusalem, it will still fall upon them when they die, as Jesus explains with the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31.

There is no escaping judgment. We all face Judgment Day, and some will face judgment here on earth as well.

So, why is God so angry with certain rich people?

III. WHY IS GOD ANGRY WITH THESE RICH PEOPLE?

a. God is angry with the rich because of HOW they got their wealth

i. Through wicked means

ii. Withholding wages from those who had worked for them

1. "The elders who lead well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor at preaching the word and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, "You shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing," and "The laborer is worthy of his wages." 1 Timothy 5:17-18

2. Yes, preachers are supposed to get paid. However, those who teach false doctrines (prosperity preaching) to get rich are using wicked means to gain wealth from God's people. We are told to beware of the wolves and false teachers.

a. Luke 20:46-47 "Beware of the scribes, who want to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces, and best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, 47 who devour widows' houses, and for appearance's sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation."

iii. It angers God to gain wealth through dishonest means, or taking advantage of His people for financial gain.

b. AND God is angry with rich Because of HOW they use it

i. Who "needs" a 15,000-square-foot mansion purchased with God's people's money?

1. Private jets, limousines, gold jewelry, expensive clothes.

ii. They hoard their wealth for themselves (James 5:3)

iii. They spend it on themselves for pleasure and luxury (fattening themselves like cows for the slaughtering James 5:5)

iv. They used the power that comes with wealth to oppress "the just" (James 5:6)

The manner in which they got their wealth and used it caused those who were oppressed to cry out, and the Lord heard their prayers (James 5:4). Now, God, who is just, is about to bring judgment upon these rich oppressors!

IV. APPLICATION

a. We need to be careful how we OBTAIN wealth

i. To gain wealth at the expense of others will bring God's wrath upon us!

1. "You shall not oppress a hired person who is afflicted and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of your sojourners who is in your land within your gates. 15 You shall give him his wages on his day before the sun goes down, for he is afflicted and sets his soul on it, so that he will not cry against you to Yahweh and it become sin in you." Deuteronomy 24:14-15

ii. REMEMBER 1 TIMOTHY 6:9-10

1. It is the desire to be rich that is wrought with many dangers.

2. Riches should be the by-product of our endeavors, NOT THE GOAL

a. i.e. I want to be a DR to; help the sick | get rich?

God is pleased if we gain riches honestly through compensation for a job well done!

But if we do it by hurting others and by making wealth our primary object, then we are in danger of God's wrath!

b. We also need to be careful how we USE our wealth

i. To spend it on luxurious living when others are suffering...

1. This is exactly what James has described in this passage

2. Is an indication of the lack of the love of God

1 John 3:17 "But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

ii. According to the New Testament, the purpose of working is not to obtain wealth for our own gratification but to help those less fortunate!

1. As commanded by Paul

a. Ephesians 4:28

b. 1Timothy 6:17-19

2. As exemplified by Paul

a. Acts 20:34-35 "You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to those who were with me. 35 In everything I showed you that by laboring in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'”

CONCLUSION

Living in the country and society in which we live, we have much to be thankful for!

But we also have much to beware:

We live in a society where it is quite easy to become wealthy

We live in a society where covetousness or the desire to be rich are not considered sins.

We live in a society where heaping up treasures for our own gratification is considered an inalienable right!

-- It is easy to be influenced by these values!

We need to ask ourselves constantly: Are we laying up treasure in heaven, or on earth?

Those who lay up treasure in heaven are those who use their wealth to do good and help the poor and less fortunate - Matthew 19:21; 1Timothy 6:18-19

Those who lay up treasure on earth are actually storing up for themselves miseries and wrath!

Miseries...when their wealth fails them in their time of true need

Wrath...from God in the Day of wrath that is yet to come

These are thoughts worthy of careful consideration...

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