Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev19990509.htm

JAMES: OVERCOMING DEAD RELIGIOSITY IN OUR BACKGROUNDS
Part II: Overcoming A False Spirituality's HEARTLESS Errors In Relating To Other Believers
G. Overcoming The Fallout From HEARTLESS BUSINESS ABUSES
(James 5:1-12)
  1. Introduction
    1. Knowing how to relate in the marketplace so as to start out "fresh" is much easier than knowing what to do following either having wronged or having been wronged in the competitive operations at hand.
    2. James 5:1-12 addresses what to do after the fact so we can overcome past heartless business abuses.
  2. Overcoming The Fallout From HEARTLESS BUSINESS ABUSES, James 5:1-12.
    1. James called on those who had performed abuses in business to repent to avoid God's judgment, 5:1-6:
      1. James identified a wrong in the business world in which wealthy professing Christians take advantage of hired laborers by withholding their wages for job services rendered, James 5:4.
      2. James then ordered the rich employers to repent as they were accountable to God, James 5:1-3, 5-6:
        1. James told these abusive rich employers that the wealth gained by their wrong was ultimately going to be worthless to them, James 5:1-3.
        2. He employed colorful allusions from Haggai 1:3-11 to make his point: (a) James told his wealthy, abusive readers that their riches were corrupted, their garments were motheaten, their gold and silver moneys were deteriorating and their rust would witness against their sin, James 5:1-3. (b) This kind of language hearkens to the well-known claims of the post-exilic prophet Haggai: upon complaining that the returned exiles were materialistically pouring riches into developing their new homes in place of rebuilding the temple for worship, Haggai warned of low crop yields (1:6), monetary inflation (1:9) and low crop yields caused by drought (1:10-11).
        3. Thus, these rich believers were just as sinfully materialistic as were the post-exilic Jews who refused to use their funds to rebuild God's temple for worship in their withholding payment to workers!
        4. Accordingly, James pronounced judgment on these wrongdoers for their fraud and added sin of using the money gained by defrauding their laborers by living in sinful pleasure on top of it all, Jas. 5:5.
        5. Yet, beyond this, they had taken poor laborers to and had possibly even put some to death, or had robbed them of more goods, James 5:6 (Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, p. 833).
    2. For those who were wronged, James encouraged leaving their lot with God to handle, James 5:7-12:
      1. James called those who were wronged and oppressed to be patient for God's justice to arise, Jas. 5:7a.
      2. He then illustrated the validity of this call to patience by speaking of the patience a farmer must exercise in waiting many months for the rains to bear fruit from his toil on the land, James 5:7b-8.
        1. The early rains came in October-November, and the latter ones in April-May, Ryrie Study Bib., KJV footnote to James 5:7. Thus, a farmer had to wait many months to see his work bear a harvest.
        2. Similarly, the oppressed must wait even a long time for God to handle the score of business wrongs.
      3. James then called the oppressed to avoid bearing grudges in response to their being wronged, waiting rather for God to take vengeance, James 5:9a,b.
      4. He illustrated the value of waiting for God when wronged by way of Old Testament prophet examples:
        1. The Old Testament prophets generally suffered affliction and waited for God's deliverance, 5:10.
        2. Yet, the generation of believers in James' day considered these formerly beleagured prophets as blessed for enduring their afflictions, James 5:11a.
        3. In particular, James referred to the example of Job to show the compassion of God in the end, v. 11b
      5. In any event, the abused were not to take vengeance or adopt abusive business habits in order to compete by making false oaths in contracts, Jas. 5:12 with Mtt. 5:34 cf. Bib. Know. Com., N.T., p. 31.
Lesson: When abuses have occurred in business dealings in the marketplace, (a) the abusive party must see his vulnerability to divine judgment, and repent. (b) Similarly, the afflicted one must ALSO see his OWN accountability to God so as not to t ake vengeance, but WAIT on GOD for justice!

Application: Even in the secular marketplace, GOD is SOVEREIGN, and recalling that fact should control all we say and do in our business dealings so that we function with a priority on righteousness!