James series – “The Litmus Test for life”

James 5:1-6

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. ² Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. ³ Your 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. ⁴ Look! 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. ⁵ You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

Not only do hoarding treasures and defrauding measures reveal a heart poisoned by greedy pride but lastly, we see the third example of greedy pride in

• Indulging Pleasures – Vs 5-6

Does God want us to live like monks without any possessions or pleasures? Does He want us to live without nice things? No. As a matter of fact, it doesn’t really have much to do with the things in our lives. It really has to do with our attitude toward the things in our lives. Its here in verse 5 that James reveals and deals with our attitude towards assets. James paints a painful picture of what happens when we live for pleasure instead of living to please the Lord. The picture that he paints is of a beef cow filling its face in a feedlot. Why do we put cows in a feedlot, to limit their exercise and feed them so that they get nice and fat. While fat in cows makes for tasty meat it makes for lousy living in Christians. Remember the story of the couple in Piper’s book? The problem wasn’t that they retired and moved to Florida. The problem wasn’t that they bought a nice boat. The problem wasn’t even that they played softball and collected seashells. The problem was that that had become their entire life. It was their whole reason for living. What is your reason for living? Is it to honor and glorify God? Or is it some other pitiful indulgence. What do you spend your time indulging in? Is it in service to God and others or in service to self? Have you made the goal worry free comfort or worshiping Christ with your wealth? Many of us have replaced witnessing with wantonness. We have made the goal getting instead of giving God the glory. We squander treasure when we invest it in earthly pleasures instead of eternal purposes. Instead of touching people with the truth of God’s Word we live for the things of this world. Ironically as Will Rogers once said: “Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people that they don’t like.” So let me ask you are you feeding your flesh or your faith? How are you nourishing your heart? Is it with worship and God’s Word or with worldly desires? Are you living for pleasure or to please the Lord? Pride can manifest itself in many different ways. Sometimes it shows itself in our selfishness, when we war and fight to get our way and what we want. Or when we elevate our selfish desires above God’s desire. Sometimes pride shows itself in our presumptive planning when we arrogantly pursue our personal plans above God’s as if we are the ones in control. Pride is not only at the heart of all sin, it is the essence of sin because it is the ultimate rebellion against God. Pride, whether it’s selfish pride, presumptive pride or greedy pride is telling God, I don’t need you. Its trusting in self to sustain instead of the Savior. It’s a slap in the face of a loving Father who longs to care for you. So, if pride is such a part of everything we as sinful people do then how do we get rid of it? The only way deal with it is to put it to death. This is more than just acknowledging pride its choosing to starve sin by refusing to make room for it and not feeding it. It means living for God the Father not the flesh. The only way to die to pride is to have the One who died for you alive within you, as 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” Christ is the only cure, but this is more than just trusting Him for salvation, it is surrendering to His supremacy.  Today we want Him to redeem our lives but not to rule them. So instead of Jesus being in control we let pride take His place. All things can become new for you today if you place your trust in Him. It’s time to put your selfish pride, presumptive pride and your greedy pride to death by nailing them to the cross. It’s time to take yourself off the throne of your life and give the rule and reign to Jesus. When you do old things pass away and all things, not somethings, become new. 

James series – “The Litmus Test for life”James 5:1-6

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. ² Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. ³ Your 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. ⁴ Look! 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. ⁵ You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

The first example of Godless greedy is hoarding treasures, the second is: 

• Defrauding Measures – Vs 4

We have all had people try to defraud us out of money. Whether it’s in person, over the phone or by email. There are those who try to make a profit from swindling people. James says that how you treat people is tied to your view of treasure. When our hearts are tied to treasure we tend to trash people instead of treasuring them. Instead of caring for people we con them. Today we have a country that constantly puts profit ahead of people and calls it business, but it’s not God says that its trashing people by taking advantage of them. How we treat people is not based on a political party it’s based on a biblical principle. It’s not something that republicans or democrats dreamed up but something Christ calls us to. Because fraud doesn’t just eat away at an economy it hurts the hearts of people. Identity theft, credit card fraud cost US consumers $16 billion in 2016. Here’s a clue, no matter how authentic the email sounds, you didn’t win the lottery in Nigeria. Some foreign government isn’t holding the estate of some unknown royal relative of yours. You didn’t win a free vacation in the Bahamas. The IRS is not going to call you to ask you to pay your taxes with a debit card or wire transfer over the phone. Anyone on craigslist that sends you a check for more than the item you have listed and asks you to return the over pay just sent you a fake check. Fraud is serious business and it can be a big business as we discovered with money manager Bernard Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme, the largest fraud ever by an individual. The FBI says that fraud costs people over $40 billion annually. So how does God the Father feel about fraud? He detests it because it ruins our relationships. In Leviticus 19:35-36, God reminded the children of Israel who He was and what He had done. That He had redeemed them for relationship not for defrauding riches as he instructed them to, “not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight, or volume.³⁶ Your scales and weights must be accurate. Your containers for measuring dry materials or liquids must be accurate.^[a] I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” In those days, they would balance metal weights against grain to determine how much it cost. If the seller wanted to defraud the buyer, he would lighten his weights or unbalance his scales. But according to Deuteronomy 25:13-16, God sees defrauding as detestible, ¹³ “You must use accurate scales when you weigh out merchandise, ¹⁴ and you must use full and honest measures. ¹⁵ Yes, always use honest weights and measures, so that you may enjoy a long life in the land the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁶ All who cheat with dishonest weights and measures are detestable to the Lord your God.” God’s intolerance of fraud is reiterated three times in Proverbs, including Proverbs 11:1: “A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.” Scripture makes it clear that God hates fraud, but why does He hate it so much? Because of all it entails. Fraud includes lying, stealing, taking advantage of people’s good intentions and trashing their trust. What about you, have you ever defrauded anyone? Have you ever misrepresented something in order to sell it, presenting it as better than it was? Have you ever cheated or lied or misrepresented yourself for your own personal profit? Pretending to be disabled to get the assistance or a parking place? What about with God, have you ever defrauded the Deity by withholding your tithe of time and treasure? Malachi 3:8 says, “⁸ “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me.” Many of us try to cheat Christ by giving Him our leftovers instead of our lives. Do you treasure people or possessions? How many of us spend more time cultivating riches than they do our relationships? Share about the shoe ministry – Company that provides all the shoes for free why because they have a proper perspective, they are not here to make money but to share the love of the Lord. They use their product and profits as a way to connect the church to the community so people can see Christ. What would happen if we would make people not profit the priority?