13 Mar 2012

James 5:1-8

Posted by joncooper

James 5:1: “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
6 Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”

I just had to quote the entrie passage. There is something about these verses that is immensely comforting. I have seen in the news countless terrible things, where some people have oppressed millions and caused wars simply so they could grow even more wealthy and powerful. There are dictators who have ruthlessly oppressed the people that they govern. So many people have died and so much has been stolen, and yet they continue to prosper.

But a day of judgment is coming. The Lord is well aware of what is going on. He sees what these wealthy, cruel people are doing, and He knows exactly how they obtained their ill-gotten wealth. The cries of the millions of oppressed people “are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.” Utter destruction is in their future; endless misery awaits them if they do not repent and beg for mercy. “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.” They have taken great pains to “heap treasure together for the last days,” but it will all be for naught. Their wealth “shall eat your flesh as it were fire.” Their very wealth will be a witness against them!

The Lord knows that they have “condemned and killed the just.” He knows and sees everything that they have done, and judgment is coming. That is the key thing to remember: judgment is coming. It may seem like they have won and that there is simply no hope left. However, judgment is coming.

There are two parts to this. All those who are guilty and did not repent will be judged after death; they will stand before their Maker and give an account of what they have done, and it will not be pretty. But there is another part to it too. This world itself will be judged, along with those who are in it. God is going to destroy this world as He pours out His wrath upon it during the Tribulation. He will bring it to an end – and not a peaceable end, either. He will then return and put an end to all of these things, and then the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord. He will rule over the nations with a rod of iron, and the old system and the old corrupt ways will be gone, never to return.

Verse 8 charges us with our task: “Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord drawth nigh.” The Lord’s coming is rapidly approaching; it is nearer now than when we first believed. We are to be patient and wait for it. We are to establish our hearts and hold fast to the faith. Although there is evil all around us and the love of many has grown cold, we must overcome evil with good. We must pursue God with a single-minded purpose and passion. We cannot allow ourselves to be swayed by the lusts of the world. We must die to ourselves and live to God; we must put our treasure in heavenly things. Be patient: the coming of the Lord draws near. What we must do is wait for it, as the prophets of old did:

James 5:10: “Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.”

The prophets often prophesied about things that did not come to pass until they were long dead – in some cases, until centuries after they were dead. They were patient, and we must be also.

Because judgment is coming. It has been long delayed, but it will not be delayed forever.

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