Lesson 10

KEY TEXT

“For where your

treasure is,

there will your

heart be also”Matthew 6:21

• James 5:1

THEY WILL BRING

MISERIES

• James 5:2-3THEY WILL

DEVOUR THEIR OWNER

• James 5:4THE CRY OF THE LABORERS

• James 5:5FATTENED FOR THE

SLAUGHTER

• James 5:6KILLING THE

JUST

“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!” (James 5:1)

We see the wicked amass great fortunes many times, and that may seem unfair to us: “Behold, these are the ungodly, who are always at ease; they increase in riches. Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence.” (Psalm 73:12-13).

God commanded Habakkuk to wait when he asked about that (Hab. 2:3). They will be given their do in the right moment. The unjust rich men will weep and howl that day.

Spiritual wealth is more long-lasting and more worthy than those material possessions. Our possessions may vanish anytime, but the “treasures in heaven” (Mt. 6:20) will last forever.

“Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.” (James 5:2-3)

James understood the wealth of the ungodly from a spiritual point of view.

Farm products

are rotten

WEALTH

Expensive garments are moth-

eaten

CLOTHES

Gold and silver are corroded

MONEY

Riches corrupt he who “lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:21)The way we use our money is meaningful.

WHAT WE SEE

WHAT GOD SEES

“Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.” (James 5:4)

The salary must be paid according to the agreement: after a day, a week, a month… The cry of those who are not paid on time goes up to God.

Holding back the salary of the employees is SIN:

“You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning.” (Leviticus 19:13)

“The Lord Almighty” will not hold anyone guiltless who hold back the salaries for his own profit.

“You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.” (James 5:5)

What can we learn from the parable of the rich man and Lazarus on this (Luke 16:19-31)?

“God had made the rich man a steward of His means,

and it was his duty to attend to just such cases as that

of the beggar… Everything with which he was

surrounded, his round of amusements, the praise and

flattery of his friends, ministered to his selfish

enjoyment. So engrossed was he in the society of his

friends that he lost all sense of his responsibility to co-

operate with God in His ministry of mercy. He had

opportunity to understand the word of God, and to

practice its teachings; but the pleasure-loving society

he chose so occupied his time that he forgot the God of

eternity.”E.G.W. (Christ’s Object Lessons, cp. 21, pg. 261)

Is it worthy to “live on the earth in pleasure and luxury” for some years, but to lose the chance to enjoy heavenly riches for eternity?

“You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.” (James 5:6)

Selfish oppressors have inflicted pain and killed many innocents since the murder of Abel (Gen. 4:8).

“The testimony of these ‘condemned’ and mistreated righteous will rise up in awful condemnation of all oppressors in the day of judgment. The oppressed righteous are not able to resist the tyrannous rich in this life, and will secure justice only when God arises to avenge their cause. Then their cause will be vindicated, they will be compensated, and their ungodly oppressors will be destroyed.”(SDA Bible Commentary, on James 5:6)

The riches of the powerful corrupt justice on earth many times.

“The talents which the Lord gives to

His servants are varied, but all are to

blend in a perfect whole. God desires

us to regard money as His gift, and to

use it accordingly. To abuse any of His

gifts is a betrayal of sacred trust. And

in misusing his Lord’s entrusted

capital the steward does harm to his

own soul and blocks the way so that

truth cannot do its appointed work.”

E.G.W. (Manuscript Releases, vol. 21, No. 1575, pg. 352)

JAMES, THE BROTHER OF JESUS

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