Open up your Bibles to James chapter 5. We’ll be looking at James chapter 5 verses 1 through 6 this evening. I have somewhat of a confession. Last week I said that my plan was to hopefully finish James by next Sunday. You know, as working through the text this week, I realized it might be a little longer, but that’s okay. Sometimes it’s okay to take your time going through the text to make sure we can understand it the best we can. So, got an amen from Pastor Ryan, so there we go. James chapter five, verses one through six is what we’re looking at this evening. Please follow along as I read. James writes, as inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Come now, you rich! Weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted, and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted, and their rust will be a witness against you, and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure. Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields and which has been withheld by you cries out against you. And the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabbath. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and put to death the righteous man. He does not resist you.

Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this evening. We thank you for this time where we can open up your word and see how we are to live our lives and submit our lives to what your word says. I pray that you open up all our hearts this evening. We receive this word in submission and that the Holy Spirit works through me as I preach. In Jesus’ name, amen. The summer before my eighth grade year, my family and I, we took a road trip to Pennsylvania, to Lancaster area. I had family that lived up there when we were visiting some aunt and uncles. And my aunt and uncle had just moved into a new home. And they were renovating things, and they were tearing up the floor. And they had torn up the carpet. And on the floor, on the wood, there was a bunch of nails.

And my uncle thought to himself, he’s like, I’m going to get some people to help me. So he had a bunch of people come help him pull up the nails. And I happened to be there, so I was one of the people that got asked. And he said, he’s like, for every nail you pull up, I’ll give you a penny. So I was like, all right. I want to make a little money. I want some walking around money. And I was determined to make a little money. So I got down on my hands and knees.

I had this red Solo cup next to me where I would put the nails. And I worked for several hours just taking the nails out and putting them in the cup. Made a little over seven bucks, which means I pulled up a little over 700 nails. My uncle probably thought to himself, not many people would take it seriously, but he didn’t know his annoying little nephew was going to take it seriously.

But I was determined. I was like, I want to make some money. And I was determined. I’m going to work hard. I’m going to get this money. And like I said, I got me over seven bucks. And I had a goal, and I was dedicated to it. And when it comes to making a living, we need to be determined to work hard and make some money. We need money. It’s important. We need it.

It’s always encouraging when we see people working hard and doing well in their work. But we also need to remember that we cannot begin to love money, making an idol of it. And history is full of examples of people loving money or chasing it no matter the cost.

Bernie Madoff and his associates committed what some call the largest Ponzi scheme in history. I was actually researching it this week. And once the FBI discovered what they were doing and made the arrests and started going through Bernie Madoff’s files, they discovered that he and his associates had defrauded their investors of billions of dollars. I mean, they just stole all that money.

And that’s just one example of what happens when you chase that desire and that love for money. And when we come to this passage today, or this evening, in James chapter 5 verses 1 through 6, we see that Christians must reject a love of money, that making money an idol.

But very quickly, let’s review. James just finished up chapter 4 by showing how pride can manifest itself in our judgment and our planning. And this is a reminder that we are to humbly submit to God. Humbly submit all things we do in life to God. And he’s telling these Christians how to live godly lives. We’ve seen that up to this point. Telling these Christians, hey, this is how you should live. And in this passage he addresses things in a different way and we’ll look at that.

But there’s one thing before we get into the meat of the text I want to note. is that when we come to this passage, and like I said, we see that James is telling these Christians to reject a love of money, not to make money an idol, it would be wrong to walk away from this text and say that James is condemning those who have money, or condemning the wealthy for just being wealthy.

That’s not what’s happening here. He’s not condemning successful businessmen. He’s not condemning those who are successful in commerce. He’s not condemning those who have a bunch of money. That’s not what’s happening here, and that’s what some say. Some look at this passage and say, people, especially Christians, should not be wealthy or rich.

And that’s a wrong conclusion to draw from this passage. What James is saying here, he’s like, hey, the problem that’s going on is these people have a love of money. They don’t have a love of God, they have a love of money. So we need to emphasize that before we get into the meat of the text. James is not condemning the wealthy people just for being wealthy. We see that Christians are to reject a love of money. And I just have one heading this evening which covers all six verses, and it’s simply a love of money.

And as I said, as we come to verse one, James is doing something a little different in these six verses. And they’re a little different than what has come before it. And so far, and even in this passage, he’s been talking to Christians. And even in these six verses, he’s still talking to Christians. But in these six verses, he’s talking to these Christians about unbelievers. Which, like I said, is a little different than what he’s done so far. Scholars point out several reasons why this seems to be the case. And we’re going to look at some of these things real quickly to help us understand why he’s, in this passage, he’s talking about unbelievers.

For starters, we see no use of the word brothers or sisters or any other language that indicates he’s talking to Christians. I’ve noted it throughout the letter, but several times throughout the letter, James will say, my brothers, to emphasize he’s talking to believers.

And what’s interesting is we see none of that in these six verses, but when you get to verse seven, he says, therefore be patient, brethren. So in verse seven, he actually picks up that sort of, if we want to call it brotherly language again. So there’s really no language that indicates he’s talking to Christians. We also see something interesting that there’s no mention of repentance here.

What he does in these six verses, one of the things he’s done, one of the things he does is he’s kind of pronouncing judgment on these unbelievers for their wickedness. He’s announcing condemnation, saying they will be judged. And we see no repentance for them in these six verses. And as we look back throughout the rest of the letter, we see James telling these Christians to turn from their sin. We see different passages where he’s saying, hey, this is what you’re doing, you need to stop doing this. Stop living the way you are. But we actually don’t see that in these six verses.

We see him just kind of pronouncing this judgment. And this judgment upon these unbelievers he’s talking about. Now this is not James saying that repentance is not possible for these individuals. He’s just focusing on the judgment. And another reason is that the judgment James speaks of seems to be their final judgment. That they’ll meet at the end of days.

But all of this, and as I was studying this, it all kind of begs the question of why does James sort of shift the discussion where so far he’s been talking to believers about their lives, saying, hey, you’re doing this, you’re doing wrong, you need to do this, you need to be doers of the word, don’t show partiality, don’t judge, be wise with what you say. Why does he shift in these six verses to not focusing on them as much, but talking about these wicked unbelievers who are loving money? And for starters, this was obviously, and what we’re gonna look at as we go on, but this was a serious problem that was affecting these believers. So he’s still, it’s interesting, he’s still talking about these believers.

He’s saying, hey, this is what’s going on in your life. These are the trials and the issues you’re facing. But he’s just addressing it in a different way. He’s talking about the people causing the oppression. So he’s talking to these oppressors, saying, this is what’s going on in your life. So he needs to address it, because it’s a serious problem. He cares for these people.

But also, as New Testament scholar Rob Plummer points out, and this is a really helpful quote when we look at this passage and this understanding of why is James focusing on condemning these unbelievers. Rob Plummer says this, he says, James probably follows an Old Testament prophetic pattern in which the wicked outsider is condemned. This is done both to give hope to the righteous and to warn any who might be tempted to follow the same rebellious path. So James seems to be following this Old Testament prophetic pattern where you’re condemning the wicked outsiders. We see that all throughout the prophetic books. Condemning the Canaanites, the Amorites, all those people. We see the prophets always condemning them for their wickedness. And they condemned Israel too, but they also condemned those wicked nations.

But also, he’s giving these six verses, he’s showing, he’s giving hope to the righteous, and we’re gonna look at this more and more, but these people who are being oppressed, he’s giving them hope. He’s giving them comfort. So in them they’re not alone, but he’s also warning those who might be tempted, those Christians who are tempted to follow this love of money. Saying, hey, don’t do that.

Amos chapter 4 verses 1 through 3 is an example of this Old Testament pattern. In it Amos writes, and as we go on you’ll see some similarities between this passage and what we have here in James. But Amos writes, For behold, the days are coming upon you when they will take you away with meat hooks, and the last of you with fish hooks. You will go out through holes in the walls, one in front of the other, and you will be hurled to Harman, declares the Lord.

So we see there some of the wealthy rich exploiting the poor and the needy. We see self-indulgent living and we see God pronouncing judgment upon them for their wickedness. Similar to how the wealthy and James are oppressors and will be judged. So James is trying to provide comfort to those who are being oppressed and also giving a warning to these Christians as well so they are not tempted to act like these wealthy oppressors.

He’s saying, don’t idolize money, because idolizing money will lead you to the self-indulgent and oppressive lifestyle of these unbelievers that he is condemning. As a reminder, he’s not condemning wealth. He’s not condemning money. He’s not condemning successful business people. He’s condemning those who are having this self-indulgent love for money.

And this is all helpful context for our passage as we get into it. Helpful to understand what he’s talking about and why he’s talking about it. As we get into verse one, he starts off with, in a similar way, we saw this in chapter four, in verse 13 of chapter four, he does the same thing in verse one of chapter five. He says, come now, grabs their attention.

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Like I said, he’s speaking to his Christian audience about these wealthy unbelievers. And he wants them to hear these words of comfort and warning. And he’s announcing judgment on these individuals, these wealthy individuals.

Weep and howl, it says in my version, weep and howl. That conjures up Old Testament imagery of judgment. Amos chapter 8 verse 3 says this, the songs of the palace will turn to wailing on that day, declares the Lord God. The corpses will be many, and every place they will throw them out. Hush. So this idea of weeping and howling, sort of screaming and torment, that brings up the imagery of judgment that we see in the Old Testament.

And that’s what James is talking about there. He’s bringing that up. And remember, he’s writing to what are most likely Jewish Christians, so they would have been familiar with this imagery. They would have been probably familiar with what he’s talking about. When he says, weep and howl, that imagery probably would have been brought up in their mind like, oh, I know what James is talking about. That resonates with us.

And he’s talking about these unbelieving wealthy individuals and saying that they should be scared of the judgment that is coming. God will judge them and it is no laughing matter. These people love their money and it is where their security is. 1 Timothy 6, verses 9 and 10. It’s a passage I’ll come back to several times throughout the evening. But it’s a great passage, and Paul says this in 1 Timothy 6, verses 9 and 10.

He says, but those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. That’s such a great summary, really, of what we’re talking about this evening. And we see that these unbelieving, wealthy individuals have idolized money, wealth, and luxury. It’s their focus, it’s what they love, it’s what they’re chasing after.

And as we go into verse 2, we see James introduce more clearly, and really verses 2 and 3, we see him introducing more clearly how they’re misusing their wealth. And we see it in verse 2 and verse 3, but one of the things we see is that they’re hoarding it.

They’re keeping it all for themselves. They are not generous and only using their wealth for themselves. Not seeking to help the needy, not seeking to help anybody else. Their wealth and their money is only for them. They’re getting it for themselves and they’re keeping it for themselves.

And one thing to remember about generosity is it’s not dependent on your net worth. It’s not dependent on how much you have. We’re commanded to be generous. Proverbs 22 verse 9, one who is generous will be blessed because he gives some of his food to the poor.

And we see these individuals are not even doing it. Verse 2, your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Rotted can refer to wealth not being used properly. It’s lost some of its worth. It’s being misused. It’s being used for selfish reasons, which means it has no eternal value.

It’s useless. and all the wealth these people have and the fine clothes they parade around will mean nothing when they stand before Christ. James is saying like, hey, these people pressing you, they’ve got all this money, they have all this prestige, they maybe parade around in these nice clothes, but when they stand before Christ, it doesn’t save them. When they’re judged before Christ, it doesn’t save them.

And James really in this passage seems to be echoing Jesus here, when Jesus speaks in Matthew 6, verses 19-21, and I’ve talked about this already, but James really seems to echo a lot of what Jesus says on the Sermon on the Mount. We see a lot in here of James echoing Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount.

In Matthew 6, verses 19-21, Jesus says this, He says, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in or steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So we see in verses 2 and 3 of this passage in James, James talks about in verse 2, your garments have become moth-eaten. In verse 3, he talks about how you’ve stored up these earthly treasures for yourself.

He talks about gold and silver and how it’s rusted. So we see him echoing a lot of what Jesus says in this passage from Matthew chapter 6. And James is saying a lot of what Jesus is saying here. He’s like, hey, don’t store up for yourself these treasures on earth. Jesus is telling his followers to not be consumed with earthly treasures that are easily destroyed. Instead, their treasure should be God. And James is saying something similar.

This wealth will go away, and James continues this thought, like I said, into verse 3. Verse 3 he says, Your gold and your silver have rusted, and the rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure.

The wealth and possessions these people have, they have no real value and they will one day be gone. Now gold and silver are listed in order of their value. Gold is more valuable than silver. So James takes these two most prized metals and shows how one day they will be gone. It’s interesting though, he says, your gold and your silver have rusted. Because gold cannot tarnish or it cannot rust.

So when his audience would have read this, they would have maybe thought to themselves, well, what is James talking about? But he’s emphasizing to them the point that this wealth will go away, and these people will not have it forever. So by him saying, hey, the gold will rust, this thing that actually can’t rust, he’s saying, hey, it will be gone. This is some powerful imagery he’s using, saying it will be gone one day.

And their wealth, the wealth that these people have, it cannot save them. They have their security in it, their satisfaction in it, but it cannot save. And their lack of generosity to those in need, along with their selfish hoarding of their wealth, will be evidence against them.

It says, and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. They may claim they were generous and kind when they stand before Jesus. They may say, I did this, I did this. But Jesus will point to their deeds and say, your actions say something else. You were not generous. And ultimately, when they stand before Jesus, He’ll say, I never knew you because they did not have a relationship with Him. They did not give their life to Him. And this desire for money will consume them more and more. And this is a principle beyond just this love of money. It’s the love of anything relating to sin.

That desire for, when we feed that desire, it just keeps growing. I think sometimes we think when we sin, we’re like, I’ll just scratch the itch. I’ll scratch the itch and the itch will be gone. Well, the itch just grows more and more. It doesn’t go away. It’s the same thing with this. The desire for money will consume them more and more. They’ll want it more and more. And as the passage goes on, we’ll see the lengths they’ll go to for it.

And their continued sin will bring judgment. In the last part of verse three, James comes right and says what he has alluded to, and it’s that they are holding their wealth for themselves. He says at the end of verse three, it is in the last day that you have stored up your treasures. He’s like, you’re storing it up for yourself, you’re hoarding it for yourself.

That’s not the point of money. Money, like everything else in life, should be used for the glory of God. Being generous, giving to the church, caring for your family, and caring for those in need, and those are just a few things, but money, like everything else in life, is for the glory of God. Money, like everything else in life, ultimately isn’t ours. It belongs to God. It’s some of the gifts that He gives us. But using it only on us and our pleasures is wrong.

And as we move into verse 4, we see that these individuals’ love of money has led them to defrauding people. So I talked about how that love of money will consume them more and more. And as we get into verse 4, we see the lengths they go to to hold on to that money.

Verse four, behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields and which has been withheld by you cries out against you. And the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabbath. They’re not paying their employees. These wealthy individuals, some of them must have been landowners who had workers in the fields, and they weren’t paying them. They were withholding their money from them. Now, these workers would have most likely worked in the fields, and they would have been involved with cutting the grain or something of that nature. But these landowners are so selfish that they are not giving the people who work their land the money they have earned.

They’re withholding the money. And we also see from this that they’re not giving them their money. They’re not giving to their workers what’s due to the workers. We see from this that they don’t care about the well-being of their employees. Workers need money. So the fact that these landowners will not provide for this basic need is very revealing. It’s easy to focus on like, oh, they’re not paying them. That’s awful. But it goes beyond that.

By not paying them, it shows that they don’t care for the general well-being of their employees because they need money. They need money to care for themselves, for their families, to provide for themselves. employers, these wealthy landowners, these wealthy unbelieving individuals are revealing by their actions that they don’t care about anybody else. They don’t care about the basic needs of the ones working their fields. And this injustice cries out despite the fact that these landowners refuse to hear it.

It says in verse 4, cries out against you. So this injustice cries out. It’s apparent what’s happening. And these people, these workers who are being cheated, who are having this injustice against them, who are being oppressed, this is demoralizing, this is awful, this is a terrible experience.

But James is telling them, and it says at the end of verse 4, “…and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabbath.” He says, hey, those cries you’re having, you Christians who are being oppressed, you’re crying out, you’re struggling, Your need of salvation, God hears you. Some versions translate the Lord of Sabbath as maybe the Lord of hosts or the Lord of armies. So that language indicates that it’s the God of power. It talks about the mighty power of God. So he’s saying, hey, the mighty God, the powerful God who judges these individuals, who’s judged the wicked since all time, he hears you and justice will be given out.

So James is comforting these individuals. God hears the cries of the hurting and oppressed. And this, like I said, would have provided great comfort to these Christians. James is reminding them that God has not forgotten them. And they are to persevere through this difficult trial like James tells them to do in chapter 1. It goes back to what he talked about in the very first part of the letter.

Endure through those difficult trials. Persevere through them always looking to God. And it’s hard sometimes when we are being oppressed, whether it’s an economic oppression or whatever it is. Whenever we face some sort of oppression in life, it’s hard sometimes to continue to hope in God. But we need to remember to hope in God and remember that God is not ignoring us. Our hope must always remain in God. And as we move into verse 5, we see that James condemns the wealthy for their lives of self-indulgence. Verse 5.

You have lived luxuriously on the earth and have led a life of wanton pleasure. You have fattened your hearts on a day of slaughter.” So he’s pronounced the judgment. He’s talked about how they’re hoarding this wealth. They’re not paying their workers. They’re cheating them out of their money.

In verse 5, when we get to it, we see that they are living for themselves. Self-indulgent living. And this goes back to even what James talked about in chapter 4, verses 1 through 5. They’re chasing worldly pleasures. Gratifying the flesh. And the language that James uses in this verse really seems to convey the idea of a self-indulgent lifestyle. Indulging themselves and themselves only.

I like how it says, he says, you have lived luxuriously on the earth. Which, once again, he’s not saying to live luxuriously is bad. He’s not saying luxury is bad. What he’s talking about is self-indulgent luxury. Let’s focus only on yourself. They’re doing what they want with their wealth and with no thought to anyone else. As I was working on this sermon, a particular celebrity from the past came to my mind.

I enjoy cinema, I enjoy movies. And there’s a famous actor from the 1930s and 40s. His name was Errol Flynn. And he really, in the 1930s and 40s, was kind of probably one of the biggest actors in Hollywood at the time. Started in some very big movies. But he was also someone whose life was dedicated to one sole purpose, and that was self-indulgent living. One article had this to say about Errol Flynn, the actor. He’s a brawler, hedonist, world-class carouser, indiscriminate lover, drunkard, and drug addict. Errol Flynn was all these things. He was known as just someone who lived totally for himself.

Failed marriages. He had failed marriages because he beat his wives. He had affairs. Even when he wasn’t married, he was sleeping around. He was a drunkard. He did drugs. He was an awful person to work with. He just only cared about himself. That was all he cared about. His wealth was solely dedicated to buying and creating sinful pleasures. And he led a tragic life. It was a miserable life. As I was reading about him, I was like, this guy has a terrible life. Didn’t care for his children.

We also have to be aware, even as we look at this within our own lives, this idea of self-indulgent living in our own lives, we need to be aware of when the Holy Spirit is convicting us of our self-indulgence. Now, you may not be doing it the same way as this actor Errol Flynn, but it’s something we all still struggle with, self-indulgent living, whatever that looks like. And listen to the Holy Spirit as he convicts us of it, because we need to be convicted of it.

As we go on, verse five, he says at the end of it, you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. Fatten your hearts in a day of slaughter. And these wealthy people have fattened their hearts for the day of judgment. Fattened their hearts. Remember in the Bible, heart, when it talks about that, it’s kind of talking about the center of who a person is. Who is this person? That’s what the heart refers to. He’s saying you’ve fattened your hearts. You’ve fattened your hearts on this wealth and this self-indulgent living.

And they’ve done it for the day of judgment. For the day when Jesus will look at them and say, depart from me, for I never knew you, and then cast them into the lake of fire. Because their hearts have not been turned to him, their hearts have not been cleansed, their hearts have been focused on themselves.

So far, James has been very blunt regarding these rich individuals, but in verse six, he doubles down. And as we read these first five verses, he doesn’t hold back, he doesn’t hold his punches, he tells them exactly what’s going on. He says, these wealthy unbelievers They’re wicked, they’re doing bad, but in verse six, he adds another layer to it, as it were.

He says, you have condemned and put to death the righteous man. He does not resist you. Some versions may say even murder, murdered the righteous man. Says they have condemned and murdered, which is interesting, and he’s used this word in the letter already, this idea of murder, which is interesting, because you look at it and you think, okay, had these wealthy landowners actually murdered someone?

But I don’t think, that doesn’t seem to be what James is talking about. Remember, these wealthy individuals have deprived people of money, which means they have deprived them of the means by which they can live. I talked about how people need money. You need money to live, to buy things, to provide. Basic provisions come from money. So these wealthy individuals are depriving them of their money, which is depriving them of a means to live.

And one scholar noted how in Second Temple Judaism, Second Temple Judaism being the era of when the Second Temple was built, it’s also known as the intertestamental era. But down in Second Temple Judaism, it was believed that to take a neighbor’s living was murder.

That’s what these individuals were doing. They’re literally taking a living. They’re saying, hey, you work, but we’re not going to pay you. So that’s what James means when he says they’re condemning and murdering. And they’re doing it without opposition. These Christians, despite the oppression they’re facing, they’re still being godly.

James says, you have condemned and put to death the man, the nice guy. No, you have condemned and put to death the righteous man. That’s not a word that’s just thrown around in the Bible. The righteous man is the man who’s seeking righteousness, who’s seeking God, who’s seeking to do what is right. So James is saying, hey, you guys are being oppressed.

You’re facing all these things, but you’re still being godly. And we should remember that we need to respond the same way in opposition, whatever it might be. And it’s hard. I know it’s hard sometimes, whatever it is we’re facing, but we’re commanded to always remain godly, no matter the situation.

And it doesn’t also mean that these Christians that James is writing to can’t seek justice. It may be that they were not in a position to seek justice. And we see that what these wealthy individuals are doing is they’re depriving people of their pay, which means they’re depriving them of their means to live. And that these oppressed are still being godly.

And we need to remember that we are to reject a love of money. As we look at these six verses and think about our own lives, we want to first remember that if you’re being oppressed, and like I said, whether that’s economic oppression or whatever it might be, God has not forgotten you. God has not abandoned you. God knows you and hears you if you’re his child. He hears you when you cry out, so cry out to him. Cry out to him in prayer. I talk about this a lot, but we need to say often, I need you, God. If we are in a situation like these Christians, seek help from other brothers and sisters, from people in your church.

We also need to remember that we are not to love money. It should not be an idol in our life. We should not chase after it and make all of our life about it. In fact, oftentimes, when we look at white-collar criminals, like I mentioned Bernie Madoff at the beginning of the sermon, they go down that path because they’ve made money in idle, because they’ve just chased after it all their days. They want the money no matter what.

We should not envy the wealth of others. And this is an interesting one, because I think it’s easy sometimes for us to think, like, oh, I’m not going to envy the wealthy. I’m not going to envy the rich people. I don’t want that lifestyle. But then we see maybe something we really like that someone has. Maybe it’s on TV or whatever, and think, oh, man, I’d really like to have that. Whatever it is. It’s easy to envy what we don’t have. It’s envy to look at a life of luxury and want it. But we’re not to envy. We’re not to put our security in money. Investments in retirement are very important. They are. You should have a plan for the future. You should have a plan for retirement. But they are not more important than God.

And it’s so easy to become focused on having that right amount of money in whatever account it is, or whatever investment portfolio it is. And like I said, investment portfolios, retirement, it’s not bad, it’s good. But if we’re always focused on, I gotta have this right amount of number, this number in here, and everything else comes second to this number, then that’s a problem. Especially if it means we’re not being generous. And if you are an employer who has people working under you, Treat your employees well. Treat those who work under you well. And even if you don’t have those who work under you, treat your coworkers well. We also need to remember that instead of storing up treasures here on earth, we should store up treasures in heaven.

Love God. Instead of putting our satisfaction and security into wealth, let’s put our satisfaction and security in Jesus Christ, who’s the only one who can provide true satisfaction and security. So in those moments where we’re like, I want to put my satisfaction and security in this, it’s this number, or it’s this thing, whatever it is, we need to remember that only Christ can provide that true satisfaction and security. Only He can offer salvation. And even once we’re saved, we have to remind ourselves of that. I don’t know how often we think of that, but we still need to remind ourselves, I’m saved, I belong to Christ, he’s my security, he’s my satisfaction, not this.

It’s a constant reminder we have to do. Salvation in Christ is the greatest treasure. What’s the greatest treasure in life? That we are children of God. And we may say that to unbelievers and they’re gonna look at us like we’re crazy, they’re not gonna know what we’re saying, they’re gonna be like whatever, but it’s true. It’s the greatest treasure, belonging to God.

We also need to remember that we should be generous. We shouldn’t just hoard our money for ourselves. And we can give to whomever and whatever we want. I think sometimes as Christians, it’s easy for us to look at others and be like, I can’t believe they’re giving their money to that. I would give my money to this. And you can give your money to whomever, whatever you want, as long as it’s not sin, not a sinful organization. And there are some organizations out there that we should not give our money to.

There’s an organization called the Human Rights Campaign. Actually, you’ve probably seen their bumper stickers. It’s a little square bumper sticker with a blue background and two horizontal lines. It’s a nice name, the Human Rights Campaign. Sounds like they fight for human rights. But when you go on their website and you read what they stand for, they really just fight for the rights of the LGBTQIA plus people. In fact, you can find articles on there on how you can be gay and be a Christian.

So that would just be an organization where it’s like, okay, we shouldn’t give our money to that. But there’s a lot of great organizations out there and even people that we can be generous to. We should give to the church. We should give regularly to the church, all of us. And we should also be generous with our time and other things. It’s not just about money. Generosity doesn’t just end with money. Generosity goes with our time and whatever else it might be. Are we generous with our time, spending time with others?

That’s one thing I appreciate about Pastor Ryan and Pastor Pi is they’re always very generous with their time with me, answering my questions and talking with me. Pastor Ryan might get annoyed about how often I come into his office, but he’s very patient and nice about it.

And finally, as a final word of application before we conclude, I want to invite everyone to actually turn to 2 Timothy 6, looking at verses 17 through 19. I read from 2 Timothy 6 earlier, and 2 Timothy 6 is really, Just a great passage that has to do with really talking about wealth and money. And I actually may have told you, 1 Timothy, okay, all right. I caught myself, and I also heard someone, but yeah, 1 Timothy chapter six, verses 17 through 19. I apologize. 1 Timothy six, 17 through 19. You all would have been looking at me like I’m crazy. So yeah, 1 Timothy chapter six.

Paul has a lot in here to say about wealth, and it’s very helpful. And he says this in chapter 6 of 2 Timothy, verses 17 through 19. And he explains how those who have been blessed financially can use their money. So if we ever wonder, like, God’s given me a lot, or just even, what should I do with my money? What are ways I can be generous? Paul lays out a helpful sort of principle here. He says, instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God. And that’s something James has talked about. He says, hey, there’s gold and silver. It’ll rust. It’s uncertain. Cannot save you.

But on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy, all things come from God. They do. Verse 18, instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. So if you’ve been blessed financially, what should you do with your money? Well, he lays out here. Be generous, be ready to share. Be generous and ready to share.

And as we close, we need to remember that Christians must reject the love of money. Instead of chasing money, we should chase Christ. Instead of hoarding our wealth, we should give generously. Our treasure is in knowing God and having an eternal rest. It is not in money. You’re already in 1 Timothy chapter 6. I want you to just go back up to verses 10 and 11. I want to close by reading verses 10 and 11.

Paul says this, For the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. And some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. Those who chase after it make it their idol, make it their priority. They have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Pierced themselves with many griefs. That love of money, that chasing after it, gives griefs. But in verse 11, Paul says this.

But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. When we have that desire to chase after money or just chase after sin, we need to chase after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

We need to flee from a love of money and pursue God. Please stand as I close this in prayer. Heavenly Fathers, we prepare to leave here this evening as we’re about to sing our final song. I pray that we think about what we just talked about. That when we have those desires to get so fixated on things of a financial nature, money, wealth, whatever it is, that we remember we must reject that love and focus on a love for you. And bless the rest of our time this evening, in Jesus’ name, amen.