INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT

Well, with all that said let's come to James chapter 5, verses 1 to 6. A robber was pointing his gun at a very well-dressed man and said to him, “Give me all your money.” The man then replied, “Do you know who I am? I'm a politician. I'm a congressman.” The robber then said, “Well, in that case, give me back all my money.”  People today do all kinds of things to get money. They cheat, they lie, they steal, they rob. And when I was away in Tokyo and I was there for holiday for a week, I still kept up with the news in the major channels here, and I read about how people would cheat. They would sell you fake cheese. So “Who faked my cheese? Paneer that’s merely veneer shocks many Indians” in India. They sell fake cheese. Here in Singapore, we read about salon chain “HairFun” admitting to unfair practices targeting elderly customers, charging them $1,000 for some packages that they never signed up for, or maybe even last night, I read about how there is this blessing, scam, spiritual blessing scam, cheating people of their money in the name of blessings.

Well, people cheat, and a lot of times, the poor will want to cheat the rich to get their money. But in the story, or in the text that we're going to study today, in James chapter five, we're going to read of church people cheating and abusing one another, but this time, it's not the poor cheating the rich, but the rich defrauding the poor. So, we're going to look at when church people cheat and abuse from James chapter five. We're going to look at what these rich people do and what will happen to them. Let's look at them in five different ways.

WANTONNESS OF THE RICH: SEEKING LUXURY AND PLEASURE

Number one, let's consider their wantonness. Now when I use the word wantonness, I know everybody here in Singapore think about “wanton mee.” But the reason why I use this word is because when I was growing up as a Christian, I use the King James Bible, and in King James, chapter five, verse five, reads, “You have lived in pleasure on the earth and been wanton.” That's where I get this word, wantonness. The word here in English, means extravagance, luxury, excess, and this same word in the Greek is translated in ESV as self-indulgence. It has the idea of seeking for pleasure. So the rich that the author, James is writing to, are a people who have cheated and abused to fuel their search for luxury and pleasure. James says that they have fattened their hearts in a day of slaughter. They have filled their hearts with the love for pleasure. This is why they do what they do. They love their fun, their luxuries, their indulgence and pleasurable lifestyle. Now I just want to take a step back and remind you of something we have established a few weeks ago in James. We asked the question, is it wrong to enjoy things in this world? And when you read James, you might think that, “Oh, we should never enjoy anything.” Well, that's not quite balanced and biblical, because we do read in First Timothy that God is the one who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. Just look at your life. There are many things you enjoy. You enjoy beauty, nature, colour, beautiful little animals, family. You enjoy good food. We enjoy many things, and God is the source of everything good that we get to enjoy today. So, I don't think it is necessarily wrong to enjoy the things in the world. But I think it is important to draw a line. Whilst it is not wrong to enjoy things in the world, it is everything wrong to be enslaved or to be engrossed by the things of the world.

As I mentioned, I was away for holidays with my family a week in Tokyo. And of course, when you go to Tokyo, you get to enjoy great food, wonderful food. Now, when I go to Tokyo, is it wrong for me to enjoy good food? Yes ah? I knew someone would say that. Well, I did enjoy a lot of good food, and I don't feel too guilty about it. Of course, there's a line when it's excessive, but when you're there, you do what the Romans do, right? That's what they eat. We kind of eat what they eat, and we enjoyed the food. We had a great time. But I always knew that whilst it's a great thing to enjoy the good food there, that's not what my life is all about. I enjoyed it, but I was also clear this is not what my life is all about. I don't want this life. I don't want this life that God has given that is meant for something eternal, to be spent all on the pleasures that will not last for eternity anyway, I get to enjoy it. I'm thankful, I'm grateful, but I don't want to be enslaved by them or to be engrossed by them. There's a balance. But you see the people that James is writing to, they have gone full steam ahead. This is what they live for. They want to fatten their hearts. They want to live for pleasure. They want to live in luxury, and so they would unscrupulously rob and steal from others to fuel and to fund their pleasures.

I hope today that as God's people we will be very clear why we live and do what we do? What do you live for? Do you live for the pleasures of this world? Do you live for a nicer house? Do you live for a better meal? Do you live for a higher standard of living? I'm not saying that these things are necessarily bad, but if that is what you live for, then there's a big problem. If God gives them to you, that's fine. It's like money. Money is not evil, it's not bad, but the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. There are some today who have a bucket list. I don't, I do not know what's a bucket list for myself. I mean, if God calls me home today or tomorrow, I go, I'm happy, I'm satisfied. There may be some wishes I have, but it's not for my own pleasures. But why do Christians feel like you always have to fulfill the bucket list of this world? I don't think you should reduce your life from a lofty ambition to live for the glory of God, to live for the pleasures of this world. You cheapen your life that way. I'm sorry to say that, but you do cheapen your life that way because you're made and you're saved for something of greater, infinite worth than just this temporal, earthly pleasures. I hope I am not coming across as if we are to live such stoic, ascetic lives that we cannot enjoy anything. No, that's not what I'm saying. Thank God for all that he richly provides you to enjoy, but don't let them be your life. You're made for something far greater.

WICKEDNESS OF THE RICH: EXPLOITING THE POOR

So, James writes to a group of people who choose to live in wantonness. But that's not all, because what's worse is secondly, we see their wickedness. In order to live this lifestyle, in order to be wealthy and to be wanton, they have to be wicked. What do they do? Behold the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud. So apparently, these rich people, who James is writing to, are land owners, and they hire people to work the fields. After they work the fields, you are supposed to pay the workers on every day before the sun sets, but these rich land owners, they play cheat. They do not honor the end of the deal. They kind of maybe make excuses for themselves. “Oh, you came late”, or “You didn't mow so well”, or “I'll pay you tomorrow”, but you never get to pay them. So, you keep back their money by fraud.

And in those days, these people who work for the fields, they live in a hand to mouth existence. In other words, they don't save up like Singaporeans do. If they do not have money for the day, they do not get to buy food for the family. And so, the Bible goes on to say, “You have condemned and murdered the righteous person.” The word “condemn” here is not the usual Greek word “krino” which we are familiar with, but it's a word that has a judicial connotation to it. In other words, they either sue or counter-sue the poor. They condemn the poor in the courts of law, and they murder the righteous person. Now it could be that because they do not pay the workers the wages, they do not get to buy the food, and some die. Maybe the children die for being most vulnerable. And the worst part about it all is that the poor does not resist you. They have no capacity to do so. I mean, in Singapore, you have labour unions, you have NTUC, you can put on social media. People may plead your case, but in those days, you're on your own.

And God hates this. God hates this wickedness. In fact, God explicitly said in Deuteronomy, which we're going to in a month's time, you shall give him his wages on the same day before the sun sets, for he is poor and counts on it. We read even in the Parable of the Vineyard, how the owner would pay in the last hour, after everyone has worked, you pay him his worth so you are supposed to pay the poor depends on your pay to survive, lest he cry against you to the Lord and you be guilty of sin. It's the same problem in the days of great apostasy during Jeremiah's time. Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and who makes his neighbors serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages. And maybe most importantly, to be mindful of Leviticus 19. Why I say be particularly mindful? Because, as we have learned in the journey through James, James does point to Leviticus quite a bit. He talks about the royal law. He talks about not slandering, and now he talks about not owing or robbing or oppressing your neighbor by not giving him his wages. It's all part of what it means to love your neighbor as yourself. So, we are looking today at James chapter 5, when church people cheat and abuse. And it's shocking, don’t you think that within the church, there are people who look like Christians, but actually they cheat and abuse the poor. Maybe things have not changed very much after 2000 years. In the church this morning, in this group that I'm looking at, there may be those who say they are Christians, but secretly, you cheat and abuse. Maybe you cheat and abuse your helper, your family, your business partners, or your customers or your boss or your company,

That's sad, but that's what we need to be cognizant about, that in the gathered community, there may be people who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, but whose lives do not match that at all.

WITNESSES AGAINST THE RICH: WEALTH AS EVIDENCE OF SIN

Let's look further. What will happen to these people. Well, we have looked at their wantonness, their wickedness. Number three, let's look at the witnesses, because James says your riches have rotted and your garments are moth eaten, your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you. It's kind of a witness against their wicked deeds. They think that they are rich, they think that they are superior to others, maybe with their riches, but the reality is that they will be shamed, that all the wealth they have gathered will be evidenced against them. What are the things they gather?

Well, number one, we kind of get a hint that they gather grain and food. Your riches have rotted, probably referring to stored grain. Not only do they have grains, they also have garments. In those days, clothing is expensive stuff. And then, thirdly, they have gold and silver. But James says they will rot. They will be moth eaten. They will be corroded, just like Jesus saying, “Do not lay-up treasures on earth where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.” Jesus is saying all the things you try to store up in this life for yourself, they will be taken away from you slowly or suddenly, but they will be taken away from you surely. And so, all this wealth that you have cheated people of, they will be taken away from you. And on that final day of judgment, they will stand against you. And then you will have your flesh eaten like fire. So, these things will perish, and you will perish together with them, and in great agony.

I've never been to Vienna, but my wife has. I read about this statue called “The statue of the monument of Karl Lueger” in Vienna itself. it was to celebrate this man called “Karl Lueger”, who was said by Hitler to be one of the best mayors of Germany. They wanted to honor him. But in recent times, people have gone to the monument and vandalized it. They pour red paint or pink paint over it. They write graffiti such as “Shande”, which is translated to mean shame, and they even put toilet seats around the monument. Say why? Why do they do this to Carl Lugar's monument? Because Carl Luegar was deeply antisemitic. In other words, he hated the Jews. And it was said that Hitler's Nazism and antisemitism was inspired by Karl Lueger. So, this monument of glory has now become a monument of shame that people would mock and vandalize and shame this monument as a result.

And maybe all the wealth you think you have accumulated for your glory, all your big fat bank accounts that you are proud of. One day, James says they will stand as evidence against you. Live it up now, but one day it will all come crashing down.

WRETCHEDNESS OF THE RICH: WEEPING AND HOWLING

And from there, we move on to point number four, where James now warns them about their wretchedness. He says, that's verse 1, “Come now.” Now, the word “Come now” means listen up, pay attention. It's the second time, and the last time we read of it in James. The first time was in James 4:13, the second time here in James 5:1. I think this is a literary device that connects these two portions together, remember? One is about self-reliance in James 4:13 – “Oh, you who say, I'll do this, I'll do that, but you didn't say, God willing.” And now in James five, it's about someone who is self-indulgent. So, whether you're self-reliant or self-indulgent, you're self-centered. And so, James is saying to these groups of people, come now, listen up, you rich. Weep. That is to wail, to lament, Howl, that is to shriek and to shout loudly for the miseries, the calamities, the disasters that are coming upon you like an attack. You live it up now, but you should really weep and howl, because that's all that you're going to get. One day, God is going to come in mighty judgment, as seen in verse four, “Behold the cry of the harvesters have reached the ears of the LORD of hosts.” The people you have cheated, they are crying to God. You do not hear their cries, but God hears their cries. And the God who hears their cries is the Lord of hosts. Now, modern day Singaporean, we read a lot of hosts, not bad, what? A lot of hotels, a lot of homes. That's what hosts means, right? No, that's not the meaning of the word “hosts” here mean. It means armies. So, the Lord of angelic armies will come and judge you, and James is invoking a very strong, fearsome picture to wake these rich people up from their sinful slumber.

FALSE RELIGION vs. TRUE RELIGION: SELF-CENTEREDNESS

I want to remind you that James is not a scatterbrain. Many people read James and think that James is an assortment of different topics, loosely packed together, but he really is not. We have been on this thematic approach in the book of James. I remind you that the key verse, or verses in James is James 1:26,27 where James wrote about true religion and really also about true wisdom, true faith, true love. He says, true religion and undefiled is this, that you bridle your tongue and that you will visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and that you will keep yourself unstained from the world. In other words, he's saying throughout the book, well, at least here in these two verses, true Christianity, true faith in God, is seen in your speech, in your service to others, and in your sanctification, keeping yourself unstained from the world. Let's put these three words closer to that main idea. That's what James is talking about. And so, the rest of the book of James from Chapter 2 to 5, which we are reading now, James displays what this looks like. So, he writes in a chiastic structure, a chiasm is where you have a mirror image on both sides. So, you go up the mountain and you come back down the mountain, you see both sides as quite symmetrical views. So, there's a central focus.

And so, we read that James starts off with suffering, and then he moves on to self-centeredness, and then he talks about speech, and then strife. He arrives at chapter 3, verses 17 and 18, speaking about spiritual wisdom. And then he comes back down the mountain again in chapter 4, verses 1 to 10, about strife, 4, 12, and 13, about speech and today we look at self-centeredness before we end off with suffering again in the end of James. So, in chapter 4, we read about “Come now”, chapter five, we read again about “Come now.” They are about self-reliance and self-indulgence. But overall, he's been talking about self-centeredness.

Putting all this together, James tells us false religion can be distinguished by these four marks. You can call yourself a Christian, but it is all false, worthless and empty if you are living a life filled with strife. Your speech is full of cursing. You are self-centered in that you're self-reliant and self-indulgent. That's what you live for. And you blame and curse God for your sufferings. On the other hand, James is saying true religion, as he said in James 1: 26 and 27 is marked by the complete opposite - sanctification, speech, service and steadfastness through trials. In particular, we are looking at self-centeredness, today. So, you can be in church, in a community, but you may not be in Christ. That is the stunner. So many people assume that just because you come for the church community, you are in Christ, you may not be in Christ.

Today we have phone apps that help you locate your phone, or at least locate yourself where you are. How do you locate your soul? Let me suggest to you the James app. The James app consists of four things. As you can see, “Are you in Christ?” or “Are you out of Christ?” The reality is not everyone in church is in Christ. I have never assumed that. When I look at a crowd this morning and every Sunday, I deeply recognize there are many who may still need the gospel of Jesus. Christ. You may be in church. I'm grateful you are here, but we are praying and laboring toward the end that you are not just in this community, but you will be in conversion. You will be in Christ. You will be saved. You truly belong to him. And I know, and you know, if you truly belong to him, when you see sanctification, speech, service and steadfastness, not perfectly but progressively manifested in your life.

But if you today are living a life of self-reliance and self-indulgence, that is a very scary thought. It should not be a surprise to us, because Jesus himself said that there are people today who hears God's word, but they never eventually become fruitful. Why? Because their lives are choked up by the cares and the riches and the pleasures of life. There are many reasons why people won't come to Christ. They are happy to be in church, but they won't want to come to Christ. Why? Because they love the world too much. They love the cares and the riches and the pleasures of life too much. They can't let them go, and they rather, choose to risk their soul. And so it may be that you are here this morning with us, but you are not here today with Christ. And a warning is a severe one. God will come in judgment, and the only right response, if you really know this is to weep and howl because disaster is coming soon.

WARNING TO THE RICH: JUDGMENT AND REPENTANCE

Finally, I want to end off with the warning. Now this is somewhat controversial for scholars, because when they look at James 5, 1 to 6, they think that this is not written to the people gathered in the church community. They say the language is too harsh, too strong, to be written to fellow Christians. But I think that's where the problem lies. Why do we assume that everyone who is reading there is a Christian? I don't think James assumes that. James does not assume that, and that's why he wrote the book of James. He's seeing all these problems in the church. He's seeing some blaming God, cursing God, some strife, some who are cursing with bad speech, some who are today, living a self-indulgent lifestyle. And so, James writes and warns them that if you continue like this, you should weep and howl. You will not get the crown of life, but you will have your soul damned. You will die a spiritual death.

I think this is not written to people outside church because if you look at just this passage, there are too many. I mean, it's too obvious, right? All the second person pronouns are used, “you”, “your”, “you”, “your.” Now, again scholars say, “Oh, he uses this ‘you’, ‘your’ in an imaginary speech pattern. He's actually talking about the rich, but he's writing to the poor in the church to comfort the poor in the church that they will not need to suffer too long because God will judge them.” But I think that's too contrived. It's probably simpler to understand that James is indeed writing to the rich in the gathered community, warning them that if they continue in their same trajectory, they will not be saved. They are not saved. After all, James has already written to the rich before, in James 1, and don't forget the overall idea I think of James is highlighting false versus true religion, as seen in these four marks, and that one would ultimately result in death and the other will result in the crown of life. So, I think throughout James, he gives exhortations to the people to forsake sin and to hear God's word, to cling on to the Gospel, for them to submit themselves to God and to humble themselves before God. The ten steps we looked at in our previous sermon.  After all, pure religion and undefiled before God is this.

CONCLUSION: CALL TO REPENTANCE AND SALVATION

That's what real faith looks like James is saying. He's warning them. So, this is not just a word of condemnation about the rich outside. I think this is a gracious warning for the people inside, and it is a gracious warning to you today. I don't know how the people during James' time would respond to his letter, but I think you can know how you will respond to James words in this letter. My goal of speaking so strongly, I think, to reflect the tone of the text is not because I hate you or because I want to laugh at you or because I want to put you down, not at all. But that you may be warned of your ways and not play the game of pretending anymore, but that you will repent.

I end with this last statement, “Better weep here, where there are wiping handkerchiefs in the hand of Christ, than to have your eyes whipped out in hell. Better howl with men than yell with devils.” Today, you can still weep over your sin, submit and humble yourselves before God, because there will come a day it will be too late to do so. May God grant you the wisdom to turn and to look to Jesus to be saved.

CLOSING PRAYER

Let's bow for a word of prayer together.

Just because you are in church doesn't mean you are necessarily in Christ. To locate yourself in church is easy, but to locate yourself in Christ would require an understanding of what James has been writing about, isn’t it? That real relationship with God and His Son Jesus, that real faith, real love, real wisdom, real religion is going to be marked by life change, that you will be a man or woman who is committed to service to others, a man or woman whose speech patterns have changed, a man or woman who will remain steadfast even as you go through hardship and trials, a man or a woman who would keep himself or herself unstained from the world in sanctification.

Again, I'm not saying that we can all do this perfectly. None will. But surely, if God has changed your heart, these things will be demonstrated progressively. It's not about sinless perfection, but all about sincere progression. So, my dear friends, are you really in Christ? I believe that if your heart has been changed by God, and you have a life changing relationship with Jesus. As you hear these words, instead of being rocked in your faith, you actually get a greater assurance of your faith, because you can see these evidences in your life over the years. And I encourage you this morning to give thanks to God, because He has done that amazing, miraculous salvation work in your life, all by grace.

But if today you see none of these evidences, then quit playing the game. The solution is not to do these things to be saved, but the solution is simply humble yourself, submit yourself to God, come to the foot of the cross, see that Jesus indeed has died for your sins, and then lay down your pride, lay down your sins, and look to him alone. Be warned, the Lord of Armies will judge. But today, Jesus offers the handkerchief of comfort and salvation. Would you weep over your sin and believe? Believe Jesus is the Savior, the Chosen One, the Lamb, who is slain to take away your sins.

Lastly, can I say to my friends, here. You are cheating, you are defrauding, you are wicked and you are wanton. God still wants to save you. I am a cheat. I am a sinner. I am wicked, if you only know my heart, you know I am thoroughly wicked. But God reached out to an unworthy man like me. God wants to save you too. This is God's love. For while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. You can turn. Indeed, he commands you to turn, he commands you to turn and to come back home to him. Will you do that?

Father, we thank you today for your word. Draw souls, sinners, precious people to Jesus, your Son today. May they find that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Grant repentance and faith for your own glory and honor. We ask all this in Jesus’ name, Amen.