Come now, you rich. Weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you, and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you. And the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also be patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged. Behold, the judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed. who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purposes of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. But above all, brothers, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. The word of the Lord. Amen, you may be seated. Let’s go to the Lord once more and ask his blessing upon the preaching and the hearing of that word now. Our eternal Father, you’re the one who has spoken in various times and in various ways to your people in the past, but in these last days, we praise you, dear Lord, that you have spoken in your Son, the incarnate word, and we pray that at this time now, you would open the mouth of your servant to proclaim that word in the power of the Spirit, And we pray that that same spirit would open the hearts of its hearers here to receive your holy gospel and to write on their hearts your holy law, your will, Lord, even as you have promised to do so. And so we grant, dear Father, that we may hear and learn and inwardly digest this word, that through the comfort of this word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior, Jesus Christ. And it’s his name that we pray, and all God’s people said, amen, amen. Well, it’s been said that the world will be destroyed, not by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything about it. Or it’s also been said that the great enemy of morality is indifference. You can, of course, pull up a list of hundreds of quotes in regard to this topic of indifference. And I suppose there’s some truth to some of that, as far as they go, on an earthly horizontal level. But we find in our text this morning here in James 5, a warning against indifference that is far, far greater than any secular comment on indifference or apathy. You see, James is warning his audience here about indifference, particularly what this passage, what we have here in our passage, is God’s warning against eschatological indifference, right, or apathy for the ultimate. I know there’s some who like their fancy words so much that they can’t keep themselves from using it in every sentence. I’ve known those kind of people throughout my life. I once knew a pastor who overused this particular word, eschatology, so much that there were people in the congregation that week in and week out would keep a tally mark on their liturgy to count how many times he would use the word. And that can be less than helpful, right? When somebody uses a word that people aren’t familiar with. And it’s even more unhelpful when they never ever take the time to define what the word means for the people, what this pet word means. But that doesn’t mean that it’s a bad word. The word is not bad. It’s definitely not a bad word. Eschatology is a good word. though some use it with a rather anemic definition. But what does it mean, right? I think most of us have some sense of what we mean by eschatology, and I’ve talked about this in the past, of course. In one way, I like to start the definition of eschatology as, well, it’s the opposite of protology. And of course, that’s not very helpful once you know what protology is, right? But protology is the study of first things, right, things in Genesis, root things, beginning things. Eschatology, on the other hand, is the study of last things, last things. But eschatology is not only the study of last things, as it merely was the end of the timeline, right? We look at a timeline, it’s not just merely the end of that timeline. It is that, but it’s more. When we talk about eschatology, we’re talking about end things, but also ultimate things, final things, consummate, graduated, the greatest, accomplished, absolute things, right? So we think of this trajectory not just as the final point, but the trajectory up, right? Ultimate things. And we should remember that. It’s not just end times, but it’s ultimate things that we’re talking about. And James here is warning these people to whom he is writing about indifference regarding last, ultimate, final things. Eschatological indifference, if you will humor me, allow me to use that word for it. Eschatological indifference, right? So James gives us a warning. And he does so in two ways. First, he gives, in verses one to six, a rebuke to the rich, judgment-bound unbelievers. First in a rebuke, and then in verses seven to 12, in an encouragement to suffering believers. So he gives a rebuke to the unbelievers, and then encouragement to believers. James 5, chapter one, begins, as our last passage did, if you recall, in verse 13 of chapter four, It says, come now, come now. And this paragraph is addressed to unbelievers, where the previous one was addressed to believers. But the overall tone of verses 1-6 is prophetic pronouncement of doom, as on the pagan nations. There’s a very prophet-like heat to this passage, what James is doing. And unlike verses 13 and 17 of chapter four, there’s not even a whisper of exhortation. It’s all heat, right? There’s not a hint in 5.1-6 of James calling his audience to take on a different attitude or action. The rich here, to whom he’s addressing, are simply doomed to destruction. It’s very strong language, right? It’s heat. And so, where verses, chapter four, verses 13 to 17, and verses five, one to six, in these two sections, last week and this week, James has castigated both believers and unbelievers for what? For their arrogant attitudes related to the abuse of wealth, okay? That’s the common theme. And then in the next section, in chapter five, verses seven to 12, he turns to the suffering people of God, right, the poor of the earth. He turns to those who needed to be encouraged to take on an attitude of humility and patience, even under the suffering and oppression of the rich. These are qualities, humility, patience, that are in glaring contrast with the earthly-minded perspective of the ungodly rich. And actually, we can see the entire section here from chapter four, verse 13, to the end of the book as a solemn warning against eschatological indifference. apathy towards the eternal, indifference about the ultimate things. The busy merchants, as we saw last week, are tempted to eschatological indifference, right? They need to remember that they are but a vapor, they are not sovereign. And the wicked rich, in verses 1 to 6 of chapter 5, obviously suffer from acute, even damnable, and a damnable case of eschatological indifference. And he says in verse 3, notice, they have hoarded their wealth in the last days. In the last days. And then in verses 7 to 12 of chapter 5, we have the poor believers who are suffering at the hands of the wicked rich. And they also are tempted towards eschatological indifference. Either by wanting to take revenge upon the rich who are oppressing them, or by grumbling against their brothers. Instead they need to, what James says, be patient. Be patient until the coming of the Lord. And that’s how this passage unfolds, this closing window of James, how it’s closing. But let’s look first and more closely at this first point, right? How James warns against eschatological indifference. And as I said, we have there a rebuke to the rich judgment-bound unbeliever, right? Rich judgment-bound unbelievers, verses one to six, there’s a rebuke that James gives. And James has warned the covenant community against the temptation towards this indifference, right, last week. And then he reminds all of us that we are the Lord’s servants, and all of our plans are at the Lord’s disposal, right? At the Lord’s disposal. We are unsovereign, remember. God is God and we are not. Now he takes, in verses one to six, he takes aim at those outside the covenant community, which are the wicked rich. And he says, I’m gonna read it again, these several verses, and fill the weight and the heat of this passage. He says, come now you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last day. Wow. And then verse four, behold the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, who you kept back by fraud are crying out against you. And the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. And you read that and it’s whoa, right? This is a heavy condemnation, rebuke against these individuals. and really this sentiment, this attitude of life. And what is the ground, right? What is the ground by which James so strongly condemns the wicked? What is the basis of this? Well, there are two really basic reasons stated in various ways in the text, right? Again, first they have hoarded, he says, hoarded their wealth for self-indulgent motives, right? Self-indulgent motives are the grounding and the basis, firstly, of why he condemns them. We see this in verses 2 and 3 and then 5, really 3, where it says, you have laid up your treasure in the last days. You have lived on the earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter. Self-indulgency we see here on high example. And then secondly, What does he say? He says they have defrauded and oppressed the innocent. Verses 4 and 6. The wages, he talks about, which you have kept back by fraud are crying out against you. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. So we have this self-indulgency and the frauding and oppressing of the poor and the innocent. And these two indictments are so intertwined in the text that they really, they suggest a close relationship. The self-centered attitude of the rich seeking their own pleasure and indulgence is expressed by oppressing others. And why is that? It’s because their wealth rests upon what? On their exploitation of the poor. They got rich precisely by not paying the wages of the higher laborers, he says in verse four. And by condemning the innocent to death, right, in verse six. In verses two and three, James describes the wealth of the wicked as, in these very stark, bold terms, the wealth of the wicked as being rotted and moth-eaten and rusted. And this is certainly not what they think about their riches and about their wealth. In their eyes, the riches and garments and gold and silver, what they possess, are still new and shiny, and they satisfy. It’s all that they need. But from an eschatological perspective, from the perspective of eternity, the view of eternity, They’re already rotten. They’re already moldy and rusty and fading away. And it’s only a matter of time, you see, before that inherent rottenness of these material things that are idols are revealed. It’s only a matter of time before their riches will be burnt up in the fires of divine judgment. James is trying to get us to see the filthy rich, as it were, with prophetic eyes, to see through the outer facade that wows our fleshly vision, and to see through that facade into the reality as God sees it, as it really is. A friend of mine put it like this. He said, eschatology is like a black light. You guys all remember black light, right? Maybe not so popular these days, but remember those who have these crazy posters and you turn the black light on and it would just look bizarre and like neon lights flashing at you and they make you look funny as well and your teeth were like neon bright green glowing your teeth. Or we see the black light used maybe most currently in our modern application in like a crime scene where they can turn the lights off, turn the black light on and they see things that they couldn’t see before. And my friend said that eschatology is like a black light, right? It’s a very good illustration because seeing things from an internal perspective with eschatological glasses, with vision, it brings out things that we would not normally see in ordinary light, right? With earthly eyes. And James wants us to analyze the wealth of the wicked under that black light of eternity. But there’s more. Not only does that eschatological blacklight bring out the true nature of their wealth and show it to be already rusty and rotten and moth-eaten and worthless, but that perspective also powerfully reveals just how wicked that kind of earthly-mindedness is. It reveals the wickedness of this earthly-minded posture. And remember the words of our Lord, right? What did Jesus himself say? He said about your treasures, where your treasures are, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also, right? And their hearts, to whom he’s addressing and rebuking here, are set on earthly treasures and ultimately on themselves rather than on God who gave them. and they’re worshiping and serving themselves rather than the creator. And we’re right back at Romans chapter one, right? They worship the creature rather than the creator. and they bear the condemnation of that for doing so. And then we see the end of verse three, it says, it is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure. And then at the end of verse chapter five, I’m sorry, verse five, you have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter. What’s James doing here? What’s he saying by this? He paints this ironic picture of a man counting his pile of money while he’s riding in a hijacked airplane headed for the mountain. Right, not only is he going to lose his money, he’s gonna lose his life. And that money has no value to him now. You can’t save him from death that is certain to come. And the longer he lingers and obsesses over his pile of money, the more likely he’ll perish in the pursuit of that worthless treasure. And we think about this and we might have some pity on this man, right? Because we see how foolish the wicked are in storing up treasures in the last day and the madness of that. But our pity can turn to indignation because we recognize that they’re so full of idolatrous self-love that they would prefer death with a bag of gold than repentance with service to the living God. And it’s altogether terrible. It’s terrible and terrifying. And that black light of eschatology therefore exposes the true nature of their idolatry. And it’s an idolatry, you see, that it so grips their hearts that they’re enslaved to their self-indulgence in the luxury-seeking life that they live. And they would rather die in their gross and obscene rebellion against the Almighty God than turn and be saved from the wrath to come. Again, it’s terrifying. In verse 4, we read, Behold the wages of the laborers who mow the fields, right? And in Palestine at this time, it was very common for peasant families to be forced off of their land due to things like foreclosures of their property. And what would happen is the young sons of the family would be forced to sell themselves to be slaves for a day or a period of time as a hired hand to pay off that debt. And each day’s wage would be just enough food for the next day. And so you get the idea of this terrible situation. If a laborer was not paid at the end of the day, what? He and his family would be forced to go hungry. And these poor day laborers were often treated terribly by those who hired them. And this is not unlike what happens even in our day, in the wealthy West, the United States. And if the laborers quit, they’d get mad and say, you’re a terrible boss, you’re not paying me, and they quit. They would lose everything that was owed to them. It’s not as if they got a severance check or the back wages. They were gone, they gave it up. And so James paints this vivid imagery here, this image, and he says that the money that should have gone to pay those wages is simply sitting in the safe. And as the back pay sits there, what does it say? It uses very Old Testament language. It says it is crying out to the Lord. This wickedness against you is crying out to the Lord. And not just the Lord, but notice what it says in the text. It’s the Lord Sabaoth, right? Just like Abel’s blood, right? Think of Genesis, the beginning. Just as Abel’s blood cried out to God for justice against his brother Cain. And again, this phrase, the Lord Sabaoth, is an Old Testament title for God that means what? It means what it’s translated there in our Bibles. It’s the Lord of hosts. The Lord of hosts, the Lord of the armies of Israel is what it is. This one who comes in judgment to administer justice for the oppressed and to mete out vengeance upon the wicked who oppress them. The Lord Sabaoth is in heaven listening to the cries of the oppressed as they reach his ears. Remember the Israelites in Exodus. They cried out at the oppression of the Egyptians, and the Lord heard, and the Lord responds. The Lord of hosts is in heaven, and he will bring justice for his elect who cry out to him day and night. Brothers and sisters, may we indeed have this eternal perspective, this eschatological perspective, in which we see all things, right? This is not our true home. These are just things that will fade away, that will go away. May we guard our hearts and minds against the savage onslaught of the world to rip our attention and our hearts away from the Lord and the radical, concrete, certain truth that we are living in the time between the times. And that what is waiting for us in glory is so far beyond our ability to imagine or think, it is simply incomprehensible. The promise that we have waiting for us, that is ours for certain. And that final reality, when the not yet becomes the now, that then needs to guide us here and now, right? And all the shiny things of this world will grow dim in light of eternity. And how foolish we are. We so easily fall into just foolish, sinful behaviors and attitudes. The indifference that we have and that it grows in us. And how foolish we are to be bedazzled and ultimately befogged and hypnotized by the phone in our hands or the computer that we spend so much time on. And lured into finding our value from those things. Or deriving worth from what it tells me. or the falling, to be informed by entities and forces and worldviews that hate Jesus, that care nothing but that you are indifferent to your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and King, distracted, indifferent, and then destroyed. Away with it, right? Away with it, we must say. Away with it all, all of it. Anything that competes with Christ for my love, for my heart, for my affection, for my time, any and everything that does that, that challenges my love for the Lord, that leads me to diminished commitments and resolve against sin, it must be cut out. It must be killed from my life. Jesus must be everything. He must be everything. And you who are young would do well to listen and heed this right now at your young age. It must be cut out. Resolve to set in your heart a commitment to serve the Lord, to be open to His leading in all that you do. He must be everything, everything. And we must learn with new eyes to be aware of and sensitive to our lives and all things with a view from eternity, with a view of ultimate, final things. Oh, that we would grow in our passion and love and holy zeal for Jesus. And when that’s true, the opposite will be true as well. We’ll grow in our despising of sin. We’ll despise and abhor insults and attacks upon Jesus, challenges to Jesus, being resolved by the sin. against the sin that we are revolted by. We will grow in our revulsion against the sin that I used to love and that I used to far too comfortably dwell in. Let us never be, brothers and sisters, eschatologically indifferent. Rather, let us in all things see who we are. See who you are in Christ, new creations, united to Jesus, set free from sin, free from the addictions that once ruled your lives so powerfully. You’re united to the true and the living God, living for Jesus. See who you are, that’s who you are. And seeing who we are, let us be who we are. Children of the King, sons and daughters of our heavenly Father, with Jesus, our elder brother, praying for us, loving us, caring for us, carrying us, free to follow the will and way of our Heavenly Father. It’s amazing. Oh, how I pray that we would all grow in these things, myself included. And brothers and sisters, as we close, and we’ll pick up the second paragraph here in this chapter next week, but as we close, and as we go back into the world, as we leave here a little later, Go with a renewed burst of conviction and with corrected perspective. Go and love someone. Point them to the King, the one who died to give you life. And may He be glorified in all, in everything. May He be glorified in all of our living for Him. Amen. Let’s pray. Our great God and heavenly Father, we are so awed by your love and the wonder of that love for us. Who are we that you are even mindful of us? Father, we thank you that you have merely out of your good love set that love upon us. Father, help that to humble us every moment of our life and help us to be overwhelmed again and again and anew at the love that you’ve shown us in Jesus and the freedom that he’s won for us. and the change that he continues to make in our lives. Father, we pray, grant that your word, which we have heard may be inscribed inwardly on our hearts. Scratch deep in the hard drive of our thinking, Lord. And as we receive your word, meekly and with affection, we pray may our hearts be filled with the love and reverence that you are worthy of. Lord, cause us to bear the fruit of Spirit, through the Spirit, and to live in holiness, diligently following your commandments, your will, Lord, as we receive them from Jesus. May it please you to use us to lead those who are lost and wandering and confused into the way of truth. Father, we pray that we would indeed be submissive to the Spirit and is leading our lives. Lord, we humbly pray on behalf of all the people that you would be pleased to make your ways known to them in your saving grace to all nations. And Father, we do pray for our missionaries in the missions that they have undertaken, Lord, to spread the gospel, the good news of life in Christ for sinners. We pray for even the home missionaries, the church plants and church planters, Even in our country, Lord, we pray that you would have your way in the world, and we know that you will, Lord. We pray that you would strengthen, encourage, and protect those who labor in the mission field, home and away. More especially, Lord, we pray for the church universal, that it may be so guided and governed by your Spirit that all who profess to be and call themselves Christian may be led into the way of truth and embrace the faith and the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace and in a righteous life. Father, be with us and help us. And we, Lord, as well at this time, we commend to your fatherly goodness all those who are in any way afflicted or in distress in mind or body or any other way in this body. Lord, we thank you for the love that you’ve shown to us and the unity you’ve shown to us. Lord, we pray continue to give us peace and love towards one another, encouraging one another, Lord, that you would be glorified. May it please you, we pray, to comfort and to relieve those who are afflicted according to their particular needs, giving them patience in their suffering and a blessed deliverance out of all of those afflictions, whether at this time or father, certainly, when we go home to be with the Lord. Father, we pray, strengthen us through your means of grace that we may worship you, not only with our words and our actions, but with our lives, our living. And build us up, we pray, into one body, a city in the world whose light cannot be hidden. Oh Lord, we pray, have your way with us. Make each of us, we pray, a living sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, pleasing to you. For this is our reasonable service, as your word says, in view of the sacrifice which alone has reconciled us finally and forever to you, the Jesus Christ, our King and Redeemer. Lord, we bring to your throne these prayers on behalf of each other through that intercession of our elder brother at your right hand, Jesus Christ, your eternal Son. It’s in his name that we pray, amen.