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Life Tabernacle Church Podcast
Biblical preaching and passionate teaching from Life Tabernacle Church in Vinton, Virginia.
Pastor Dallas Herndon and guest ministers teach verse-by-verse through Scripture, exploring the teachings of Jesus Christ and applying them to everyday Christian life.
Topics include:
• Prayer
• Discipleship
• Faith and doubt
• Spiritual formation
• Biblical theology
• Living the Gospel
New sermons recorded live each week from Life Tabernacle Church.
You're hoarding your wealth. That shows me where your heart is. You're abusing your wealth and your money and your possession. That's showing where your heart is. You're indulging in yourself.
Speaker 1:That's show me showing Jesus where your heart is. Saying, look, don't don't store up these things. Don't hoard it. Don't abuse others. Don't indulge in it.
Speaker 1:Store up your real treasures in heaven.
Speaker 2:Hello, friends. Welcome to the Life Tabernacle Church podcast. It's an honor to be with you today. This podcast serves as our church's weekly sermon archive. Tune in each week to hear what God is speaking in our community.
Speaker 2:Be sure to follow and share with a friend. We hope you enjoy today's message. In
Speaker 1:the name of Jesus, would you just say amen. Amen. Amen. If have you your Bibles today, we're gonna be in James chapter five verses one through six. James five one through six.
Speaker 1:We're almost through the book of James. We're made it to the final chapter. We have one, two, three, four, five weeks left in the book of James. And I don't know about you, but it's been a sucker punch to my spirit. I'm reminded of how far I've come in the Lord and how much further I need to go in the Lord.
Speaker 1:Amen? I've been reminded of how good I do this one thing and how poorly I do this other thing. And that's a good thing. We all need a reality check. Right?
Speaker 1:If if my breath stinks, I sure hope someone would tell me and not let me go throughout my whole life with stinky breath. And that's what James is really doing. He's like, hey, your spirit stinks. You're just hearers of the word. You'd love to hear what God's doing and hear God's word, but he wants us to actually be doers of the word.
Speaker 1:Amen? Look at your neighbor and say, doers. I hope you're ready for today. It's gonna this is probably the toughest, maybe the toughest words James brings. There is no comfort in these words today, so prepare your hearts.
Speaker 1:Whoo. Welcome to church, Ray. Amen. James five one through six. My friends, this is the word of the Lord.
Speaker 1:Now listen. You rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire.
Speaker 1:You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look, the wages you failed to pay, the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.
Speaker 1:You have condemned and murdered the innocent one who was not opposing you. My friends, this is the word of the Lord. Amen? Amen. This might be the harshest words that James presented to us yet.
Speaker 1:There's not one hint of encouragement in those six passages. And obviously, if you could if you paid attention, he's talking about money, wealth, and possessions. Look at your neighbor and say money. Money. Tough subject.
Speaker 1:Touchy subject. People will share their hearts with you and share what they've been through. Hey, I've been depressed and God brought me out of this. But yes, what's in their bank account? And they get real quiet.
Speaker 1:People don't talk about it. It's very personal to us because we've given money and wealth and possessions a god like status in our lives. And unfortunately, almost any time you bring this up, you can think of negatives. And the bible brings it up a lot. Almost two thirds or o close to two thirds, not two thirds, close to one third of what Jesus has to say in the gospels has to do with money.
Speaker 1:The majority of what Jesus talks about is about money, wealth, and possessions. Meaning, he wants us to take very seriously what he says about it. And while finding people who squander their money is quite easy, raise your hand if you've ever wasted money. Not being wise with it, right? All of us have squandered money.
Speaker 1:We've heard stories of people winning the, you know, the power ball, winning millions of dollars and then they don't have any money just a few years later, right? All these stories of people just not spending their money wisely is well documented. However, it's really cool when you find a story of someone who stewards money well. Right? Or a story of when someone is very wealthy, very rich, and they're able to use that money for kingdom purposes.
Speaker 1:This is more than philanthropy and just being good for society. We're talking about Christians who just let go of their riches. There's something about those people, and there's something about them that I want to be around. However, there's not many Christians like that, because we love our wealth, our money, and possessions. But there is one guy in church history amongst many who was exceptional with his money.
Speaker 1:He was the founder of what is known as Methodism, grow grew to be the Methodist Church and in his name was John Wesley. Regent, if you've heard of John Wesley before. John Wesley, a famous preacher. He's known for many things. He's known for revival.
Speaker 1:He's known for writing hymns. He's known for the Methodist Church and being one of the best preachers maybe of all time. But another thing he was known for was his radical generosity. Later, towards the end of his life, he grew quite famous in England. And his writings, his documentations, his hymns, his sermons, his books, they began to grow and began to really influence people around him to the point where this guy who'd lived very humbly for all his life was was making about £1,400 a year.
Speaker 1:And we're, you know, we're Americans, we're not Europeans. And so that doesn't make any sense. £1,400 just feels like a lot here. That's not what we're talking. We're talking about money.
Speaker 1:And the equivalent of the equivalent of that to us would probably be around $500,000 a year. That's good money. Real good money. Right? And most of us, if we started making $500,000 a year, we'd probably just store it up and just spend it for a rainy day.
Speaker 1:But John said no. John said to himself, him and his wife, even though they were making tons of money, that he was going to try to live on 30 pounds a year. He found out in his life he needed only around 30 pounds to live a good life. And this was just basic stuff. Know, basic shelter, basic food, some clothes, Maybe, you know, getting a special treat, whatever a treat was back then.
Speaker 1:And so the equivalent of 30 pounds would be $10,000 in today's money, about. And so today, I wanted to just make sure you understand what $10,000 looks like. It's right here. $10,000. This is what he lived on.
Speaker 1:He lived on $10,000 and he gave away $490,000 a year. He gave away 90% 98 percent of his income and lived on just that. And when you saw this just a minute ago, when you see that, because a lot of you are thinking, is that real money right now? What's that look like to you? Looks like real money.
Speaker 1:Right? How did your heart feel when you saw this? Did you get excited? Did you say, oh wow, where'd he get that? I thought he was broke.
Speaker 1:Seen his van? Someone told me I can't hide money. You can't hide money, right? Right? $10,000.
Speaker 1:You see this growing up, I thought this is what life was all about. Just getting this. Because this would make me happy. And I've heard the stories, if you have a little bit more of this, I mean, a little bit of money fixes some stuff. Right?
Speaker 1:But a lot of people, this is what they pursue their whole lives. And John said, no, no, no, I'll just live on this my whole year. This is all I'll live on, and I'll give away 90% 98% of the other. John Wesley famously said that you should gain all you can, save all you can, and give all you can. A man who earned much, who had become rich, had no desire to keep it for himself.
Speaker 1:John Wesley, yes, was rich earthly, but more so eternally. You give away that much money every single year. That displays your heart's posture. And this is what Jesus commands us in Luke six sixteen nine. Jesus famously says, I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
Speaker 1:Jesus, in other words, says, hey, we need money, right, to live and and people are poor and people who are poor need money given to them, need food given to them, shelter, etcetera. So we we ought to use this as a tool. Not so we can please ourselves, but so that we can make sure our friends and ourselves are storing up treasures in heaven. That's what money and wealth and possessions is really supposed to be used for. And and if I'm certain, almost a 100% certain that James, in this passage that we just read, would not be addressing this to brother John Wesley.
Speaker 1:No. No no problem there. I think he got the message of the gospel and Jesus' teachings on money. But that brings up a good question though. Who is James talking about in this passage?
Speaker 1:Because as soon I guarantee some of some of you all here, as soon as I said, hey, you rich people, you said, oh, this ain't for me. He said, I'm not rich. You can see my bank account. I got none I I I'm actually quite poor. And you checked out.
Speaker 1:Commentators actually disagree on the subject. Some think James is speaking to rich people in general. In our day, he would be talking to Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, anybody else on the Forbes 500 list. But here's the thing. Out through throughout this whole book, brother Lewis, he's been speaking to Christians harshly.
Speaker 1:Even just the passage before this. He says, now listen you who say today or tomorrow we will go to this city and that city. He's talking about Christian merchants who are not taking into consideration what God wants to do in their life. They think they're just gonna go make a bunch of money and just do whatever they want. He's speaking to Christians.
Speaker 1:And the fact that he gives such a stark, dark rebuke to Christians should cause us to pay attention. So when you saw rich people, this is for you in some way or another. It's for all of us. And I know, look, we live in America, which is touted as the wealthiest nation to have ever ever lived. Woo hoo.
Speaker 1:How great. That's awesome. Woo hoo. You know, Rome fell too. And so, look, I don't I don't really take pride that we've been the wealthiest nation in the world.
Speaker 1:It's great that that capitalism in some ways has helped a lot of people make more money and distribute it a little bit more. But my friends, all of us know here that the money flows one way and it flows up. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. But even with that said, we Americans are very rich. Very rich.
Speaker 1:So we have to pay attention to what he says. So he's talking to rich Christians. But why would he be talking to these believers in such a manner? Let's look back at verse one. He says, now listen you rich people.
Speaker 1:Weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. My friends, those are not words of comfort. Those are not words that just make me feel better. Oh, Jesus is coming back. You're good.
Speaker 1:No problem. These are words of rebuke. They're stark. He's saying, you should weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. So why is he calling them to weep and wail?
Speaker 1:It's because these Christians are hoarding, abusing, and indulging in their wealth as if they only have today to live for. They're living and giving god like service to their materials and to their things, and they are forgetting who saved their souls from eternal damnation. James, along with Jesus and all the other prophets alike in the scripture, were able to give such a stark warning to those who are rich. Jesus said, it is very hard for a rich man to enter into heaven. That's what that means.
Speaker 1:There's no other way to, like, actually interpret that. If you are rich, you have a bigger barrier to entry into heaven because riches and wealth and money exalt itself above God. Because a lot of people pursue this right here. A lot of people pursue this money because we think it can actually save us. We feel a little better when we get a little bit more of this around us, when it's in the bank account, when it looks good.
Speaker 1:And we actually begin to put our salvation in this. Because we think to ourselves, well, if something goes wrong, I got a little money to fall back onto. I'll I'll be I'll be fine. And we begin to place our trust in this instead of the God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. This is nothing to him.
Speaker 1:This is this is nothing to him. And so James is just telling these Christians, you have gotten it all wrong. You have missed it. I love how actually Timothy Keller, the late Timothy Keller, pastor from New York City, said it. He's speaking to these Christians with this stark warning.
Speaker 1:It says, you rich people weep and wail because of the misery. He's calling this the danger of fruitlessness. He's taking away their comfort. Meaning, the simple idea is that if we who are Christians, no matter how long we've been serving God for, we must be aware of the danger of fruitlessness. It is when we properly love the Lord and are obeying his commands out of our love for him and our devotion to him that we have no fear and no need to lose the comfort that we have in Christ and our position with him eternally.
Speaker 1:What I mean by that is, there's a lot of Christians who said they came to know Christ a long time ago, but where's the fruit? James is looking at these rich Christians and says, guys, girls, where's the fruit? Jesus died for your sins thirty some years ago. You say that you love him, you say you wanna obey him, yet you're doing this. You are so fruitless.
Speaker 1:And when we live fruitless lives, that should take away our comfort. Now that shouldn't scare us. Am I gonna lose my salvation or not? That's not the point of it. God does say in a scripture, the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.
Speaker 1:And we live in this manner. We have lost the fear of the Lord. When we spend money, we're reckless with our money, we just use it for ourselves, and we are fruitless, no longer growing in Christ likeness, especially in the area of money. It takes away our comfort. It should.
Speaker 1:It should sober us to the reality that we serve a a holy, beautiful God who has given us way more than we deserve, and then we disrespect him with our actions, especially with our money. Jesus says, you cannot serve God and money. And so many Christians serve money, including myself sometimes. I'm guilty too. This passage is for me.
Speaker 1:And so with that, he rebukes them for a few things, and I wanna give a word on each. Number one, they hoarded their wealth. Look at your neighbor and say hoarded. Hoarded. James one five one through three again.
Speaker 1:Listen with your hearts. Now listen, you rich people. Weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted and moss have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded.
Speaker 1:Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Hold on to that. These rich Christians, these Christians have grown rich from probably three from the main thing of agriculture and trade.
Speaker 1:Right? There's some people that are maybe business owners that have done really well for themselves. Perhaps they have these big fields and they own a bunch of land they make a bunch of money and they got a bunch of slaves or low, you know, low lying servants who are working in their fields and they're accumulating all the money. And this wealth that James is saying they have is really based in agriculture, clothes, and actual money. And he's saying, your wealth has rotted.
Speaker 1:Moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. God's not real concerned that you have money. Okay?
Speaker 1:Because everywhere in the scriptures Let's just get this out of the air now. Everywhere in the scriptures, we are encouraged to be prudent and save this. Right? A righteous man stores up an inheritance for his children's and his children's children. That's not just a spiritual inheritance, but that is some type of financial or material inheritance.
Speaker 1:Right? I I When I die, I hope I can pass down something of financial gain to my kids so that that you can use for kingdom purposes. And God's not against you saving money. And if you don't have a savings account, then I encourage you, you should get one. If you don't have an emergency fund that you can fall back on on a rainy day, I would encourage you build one if you can.
Speaker 1:There's nothing wrong with saving money, having a little money in the bank. As you can see, James didn't say that. He didn't say you you have saved your wealth in the last days. He says, you have hoarded your wealth in the last days. You got all this money, and you're just keeping it for yourself.
Speaker 1:Because it makes you feel better. And he's saying, look. It's already rotted. It's corroded. Here's the funny thing about gold.
Speaker 1:Because people make fun of James like he didn't know what he was talking about because gold, like this, pure gold, it can't really corrode. I've gotten so many different chemicals on this pressure washing, and it hasn't turned at all because this is pure gold. It doesn't really corrode. And that's the ironic thing he's saying. He's saying your gold and silver that can't corrode is literally corroding in the eyes of God.
Speaker 1:Your clothes, your beautiful clothes of velvet and purple, your cute dress that you got along to, that cute jacket you got, moths have already have eaten them. You stink. Y'all know what mothball you know what moth smell like in your car. Right? You stink.
Speaker 1:It's already corroded. It's already rotten because you have hoarded your wealth in the last days. And that's the point. He's saying, in the last days. Look at your neighbor and say, in the last days.
Speaker 1:If you didn't know what that mean, it very simply means this, that the end of the age which we live in is coming to an end very soon. In the age which Jesus returns to make all things right and to restore things in the rightful place that we may live with him for eternity forever in a perfect created world, recreated world is coming soon. And the last days really began to transpire when Jesus arrived on the scene in that little place in Bethlehem. And this especially is true on the day of Pentecost. In the last days, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.
Speaker 1:We've been in the last days for a while. Jesus is coming soon. Watch the news. Don't know when it is. He is coming soon.
Speaker 1:And that's what James is saying. He's coming soon. And in the last days, instead of using this for kingdom purposes, instead of feeding the poor and building relationships with the community, and doing the things to make earthly friends for yourself so that they can be saved with you, instead of doing that, you're hoarding it for yourself. How selfish. You've hoarded it, keeping it to yourself.
Speaker 1:You ever seen the movie, The Hobbit? I'm a big Lord of the Rings fan. If you've never seen The Hobbit, I'd briefly tell you, basically, there's all these little dwarves with beards. I joke that Keaton kinda looks like a dwarf. Okay?
Speaker 1:Short, orange beard. Literally looks like the dwarves in the movie. So, love you dog. It's true. And in this movie, the dwarves are wanting to go back to their homeland.
Speaker 1:Because in their homeland, in this mountain where their people used to live, there's gold. And I'm not talking about a little bit of gold. I'm talking like, in like, take all the wealth of our world and then, like, 10 times it. That's what was in this mountain. And this guy named Thorin, who's their leader, he was a very generous, very selfless leader, would lay down his life from everybody.
Speaker 1:As soon as they as soon as they regain the mountain in the book and in the movie, he gets this thing called dragon sickness. He goes from being this selfless person that would've give away everything to help everybody in the region. He sees the gold. He sees the wealth, and he begins to hoard it for himself. And it makes him sick.
Speaker 1:He literally has these hallucinations, and all his people are turning against him in the movie, in the book, because he's not himself, because he's hoarded this, and it has blinded him. It is not until he gets sober towards the end of the movie that he begins to just unleash the money to do the purposes it needs to do. But it almost is his downfall. My friends, in the last days, we cannot hoard money. The Lord's return is near.
Speaker 1:And we must try to use the resources God has given us to complete the work of gospel proclamation now. Look at your neighbor and say, hoarded. The other thing that James is concerned with is this, is that these rich folks have abused others. Look at James five four with me. Look, the wages you fail to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you.
Speaker 1:The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. Billions or trillions of dollars each year are flying around in America. And a lot of these dollars don't flow to us. They flow to some billionaire that has some beautiful yacht that we don't have. The money flows up.
Speaker 1:And the reason why most rich people are able to accumulate so much wealth is because they build it on the backs of others. This sounds random, but I don't really go to this restaurant. Does anybody go to Burger King? I know brother Tino does. Sandy's it's not a bad thing.
Speaker 1:They got new chicken nuggets. I wanna go try them. Like, you're not gonna get rebuked. It's okay, Louis. You can raise your hand real proud next time.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Alright? I don't know how much money Burger Kings make Burger King makes. Right? But I know they're probably the person who's, like, you know, running the window and cooking all at the same time because fast food restaurants hate their employees, except Chick fil A.
Speaker 1:Praise God. Right? They're making maybe what? $15.18 dollars an hour if they're lucky? And the CEO is racking in millions, perhaps billions a year.
Speaker 1:And look, I've heard the argument. Hey, you know, they're the one who started the idea. They should get all the money. Sure. But are you serious?
Speaker 1:Are are you serious? The reason why your company exists, the reason why companies all over this world exist is because we build it on the backs of what is really just slave labor. And you know what God says? He says, the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You know that injustice you feel in the world, things don't feel right.
Speaker 1:It's exactly what the Lord feels and hears. He looks at the earth to those Now, what we'll look at next, who are indulging in their hoarded riches, and he has heard the cries of those people who have made all the money for these folks. What's even more sad in this scripture is that the rich Christians are doing this to other Christians and other people. You see, if there's anybody here who should be blessing and distributing the wealth in an orderly fashion and not hoarding it up for themselves. It's you all.
Speaker 1:You're Christians who come to know Christ. You have new hearts, and you've been commanded to take care of the poor, yet you are abusing them for your own gain. How dare they? How dare they do that? And to you, you're thinking to yourself perhaps, hey, don't have a business.
Speaker 1:I'm not abusing anybody. We abuse each other more than we think. There's perhaps someone here or someone you know who's lent you a little money and you forget to pay it back. Or perhaps you have a friend who does a favor for you, who just bless you. And the right thing to do is what?
Speaker 1:Return the favor. Not to, like, one up them, but that's what you do in a friendship. You reciprocate. If Lewis buys me lunch, what am I gonna do? Buy him lunch.
Speaker 1:And then if he buys me lunch again, well, I'm gonna buy him lunch again. But what happens, sometimes we abuse each other and we'll bless each other and then we'll milk each other for everything that they're worth. Friend let you borrow something from them. You're doing a service for them, and you should maybe be blessing them and giving away a little bit extra because they're helping you, yet we wanna keep it all for ourselves. We like to squeeze people and get as much out of them as we can.
Speaker 1:We abuse others in some way or fashion. And the cries of those people who've been abused have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. I tell you what, I don't wanna be on the wrong side of people who are crying out. I don't wanna be on the side where God says, hey, these people cried out to me and I heard it. Another translation says, the Lord of heaven's armies.
Speaker 1:And you get that imagery of God and his heavenly armies. How terrifying that would be coming against you because you have abused others for the sake of financial gain. How terrifying that would be. This is why in the old testament and and what's even worse is that these Christians knew God's word. Way back in the bible, one of my favorite books in the bible, the book of Leviticus.
Speaker 1:Leviticus nineteen thirteen says this, do not defraud or rob your neighbor. Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight. This idea of taking care of people have been well integrated into this community. Yet, they are now taking lessons from the world and abusing others and getting as much as they can out of them and keeping as much as they can for themselves. And those cries reach God.
Speaker 1:So these rich folks, or us, have hoarded wealth. We've abused others. And then let's look at James five five. They've indulged fancily. Look at your neighbor and say, indulged.
Speaker 1:James five five says this, you have lived on earth in luxury and self indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. Instead of giving what they can to the poor and to the needy and to the homeless and to those without shelter and to those who need just basic needs, they have fattened themselves. That imagery of these Christians are just getting fat. And some of them were probably were literally fat.
Speaker 1:Back in in in I guess in history, over times of history, it's actually really weird. But the fatter you were, like represented, the richer you were. See all these, you know, pictures and busts of these old kings? And they're huge because they were wealthy and they fattened themselves on their wealth. They indulged themselves.
Speaker 1:Now look. Is it okay to have some luxurious items in your home? Look at me. Everybody knows me. I am bougie.
Speaker 1:I'm a little bougie. Okay? I have a nice coffee pot. I have a coffee grinder. I have a little bit of luxury there.
Speaker 1:Okay? And maybe it's too much. I don't know. It's not what he's talking about. It's how this excessive spending on yourself.
Speaker 1:That when you could give it to others, instead of you're just hoarding up for yourself. You got someone right next to you who hasn't had a bite to eat, and you're on your four hundredth bite. Not even the thought, hey, you want you you wanna nibble? Not even that. They have indulged and fattened themselves.
Speaker 1:And he says, the day of slaughter. Kinda like a fattened calf, a fattened cow, beef getting ready to be produced, and they get fat, and then you you then you kill them then because they're fat and they're yummy and they're delicious. Thank God for beef. Amen? And he's giving us the same imagery.
Speaker 1:That is you. And when I come, when I return in the last days, you have been fattened for the day of slaughter. That's not good language. That's not, oh, good job. You're real fat.
Speaker 1:Woo. No. This is, I am going to slaughter you. That's the imagery he's trying to communicate, which should instill in us a sober again, a soberness and a fear of God. That I don't wanna be on the tail end of when God comes in his wrath to make all things right.
Speaker 1:I don't wanna be on the tail end of when he brings justice swiftly to the earth. I don't wanna be like a fattened calf just standing there ready to be slaughtered. You've indulged yourselves. And this is completely contrary to what Jesus told us to do. Matthew six nineteen through 21, probably Jesus' most famous words on money.
Speaker 1:Here they are. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. You're hoarding your wealth.
Speaker 1:That shows me where your heart is. You're abusing your wealth and your money and your possession. That's showing where your heart is. You're indulging in yourself. That show me showing Jesus where your heart is.
Speaker 1:Saying, look, don't don't store up these things. Don't hoard it. Don't abuse others. Don't indulge in it. Store up your real treasures in heaven.
Speaker 1:So the question A couple questions I wanna ask you is, at what level are you participating in these things? You here today. Whether you have little or a lot. Are you hoarding your wealth and you know it? Are you abusing others?
Speaker 1:Even something as small as not paying a friend back because you wanna just keep it for yourself, maybe they'll forget. I've unfortunately done this to my mother too many times. And y'all can laugh. This is a little funny. But I know there's been a few times in my I know mom will buy my meal if I just smile real big.
Speaker 1:Mom, you wanna go to lunch? I know she's gonna buy. And I took advantage of her. I took advantage of her kindness and her generosity. And that's not right.
Speaker 1:Now, my mom loves to bless me. That's one thing. But I have thought to myself, I know she'll pay for this. I don't want to. And that's not right.
Speaker 1:Or, thirdly, are you living and indulging in luxuries because they make you feel special or something? Make you feel pretty and safe. Oh, I got this luxurious life I love to live. And this is what happens. Most of us, they if we make more of this in our life, we're not like John Wesley and give more.
Speaker 1:We usually just spend more on ourselves. You know, lifestyle creep. Anybody know what lifestyle creep is? Ever experienced it? You make a little bit more more money, but instead of living on what you just had, you just end up spending it somewhere?
Speaker 1:It just flies out the door. Emily and I have experienced this subtly in our lives. You know, Emily and I didn't make a lot of money when we lived in Texas. I think we made, like, $18,000 our first year of marriage. I don't know how we made it.
Speaker 1:By God's grace, I guess. But as we made more money over the years, we can feel lifestyle creep. We make a little bit more money. I guess, you know, we can we can go out to eat a few more times, or we can do this a few more times. Oh, we can buy this item for the house a few more times when we really don't need it.
Speaker 1:Right? So how are we doing how are we how are we dealing with our wealth? Lastly, very importantly, as Keaton comes up, worship team, or just just Keaton come up in the keys. Oh, he got called into work. You're up.
Speaker 1:James five six. This is the last verse that you need to pay attention to. James says this. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one who is not opposing you. Another translation says, you have condemned and murdered the righteous ones who are not opposing you.
Speaker 1:And again, there's debate over what this means. There's one side that says, hey, you rich people, you are condemning and abusing. You are murdering these people around you wealth wise by the way you're treating them. My righteous ones, who you who you say you love, who you say your brothers and sisters. These righteous ones, you're abusing and murdering them, and they're not even opposing you.
Speaker 1:They can't even afford to oppose you. They can't even take you to court to take you for something. They're not that wealthy. But what other translators or what other commentators say, they think it's this. James five six, again, listen closely.
Speaker 1:It says, you have condemned and murdered the innocent one, or the righteous one who was not opposed you, or who did not oppose you. Singular. Not plural. It's singular. And if it's singular, then it means the innocent one.
Speaker 1:The righteous one. Who is the righteous one? Jesus. He's saying, by the way you are living and by the way you're treating your wealth and your money and your possessions, you are condemning and murdering the innocent one all over again. You remember Jesus not long before this literally died for all their sins, including knees.
Speaker 1:And when Jesus died, he didn't go away kicking and screaming. He went willingly to the cross. He did not oppose them. He did not fight back. Even when Peter pulled out a sword, he said, put that up, and then healed the guy's ear that fell off.
Speaker 1:Like a lamb sent to be slaughtered, he didn't fight. Yet, by the way, these Christians are living. You are condemning and murdering the innocent one all over again. You're killing Jesus again by the way you're living. You are abusing his grace.
Speaker 1:Yet, James says, who was not opposing you? What great grace is that, Kenny? That even when we messed it up long ago, even while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And he has so much grace for us, even after we come to know him and walk with him, even when we begin to sin or mess it up before him, he still doesn't oppose us. He still gives greater grace.
Speaker 1:He's saying, guys, you rich people, you have messed this up, and you should get serious about the way you're living your lives. I'm giving you another opportunity because I love you, and you are mine. When Semi doesn't listen to me, I don't kick her to the street the first time she doesn't listen. That would be awful. Right?
Speaker 1:But I show her grace. She's a little girl. She's learning to obey her father. She's learning to listen to her parents. And I give her grace after grace after grace.
Speaker 1:I discipline, yes, but I give grace. And that's what Jesus is saying at James is saying at the end of this passage, there's grace available for you. My friends, I do not wanna be caught on the tail end of this harsh rebuke and the judgment that will come when Jesus returns. Rather, I would run to him. I'd rather get things right with him, and I would rather start using this for kingdom purposes, every opportunity that I have.
Speaker 1:Would you stand with me this morning? We're living in the last days, my brothers and sisters. The days are evil. We have no idea what tomorrow holds. We don't know what next year holds.
Speaker 1:If you have wealth, whatever degree that is, don't hoard it. Don't abuse others, and don't just spend it on yourself. I challenge you, however this resonates, however the Holy Spirit's speaking to you, store up your treasures in heaven. One of the biggest pictures of this in the New Testament is Judas and Mary. You remember Mary who brought her oil before the Lord?
Speaker 1:Preached this sermon a few months ago. Right before Jesus would be crucified, Mary pours out a year's worth of wages of this special oil on the feet of Jesus. She says, I don't care about this money. I'm using it on the king. But at the same time, that upset Judas so much that not long after that, he went and sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
Speaker 1:So will we be like Judas, or will we be like Mary? Will we be like how the world is, or will will we will we be like John Wesley and just give it away? I can live on this little here, and I just give the rest away. And just I want you to know, just just communicate and be transparent. Emily and I give away about 20% of our income.
Speaker 1:10% goes to tithe, 2% is an offering, and about 8% goes to just generosity in our monthly budget. And I tell you what, I don't make much. But we feel called to do it, and we love to do it. There's nothing like getting to meet a need. There's nothing like it, and I challenge you to do the same.
Speaker 1:Let us pray today. Lord, we thank you for your word, though it is a tough word. This topic of money makes us feel funny. Makes us feel weird because we know how much money, wealth, and possessions has a hold on us. But, Lord, help us to just give it to you.
Speaker 1:Lord, help us to be wise with what we have, not suggesting that we just get rid of everything. But, Lord, you're challenging us to not indulge or just gorge ourselves on our money and wealth. But challenging us to live simply so that we can accomplish kingdom purposes. Lord, I pray and maybe just speak a word over this church and this community, but help us to become radically generous to the point where we can begin eliminating and meeting needs in our Roanoke community, in the Roanoke Valley, like never before. Lord, you say that you stored up the wealth of the unrighteous for the righteous.
Speaker 1:And so, Lord, help us to steward and do things radically for you. Help us to trust you more than we trust our money. Perhaps you're here today as well, and you haven't trusted the thing that is more precious in your life, your soul to the Lord Jesus. Perhaps you're wondering if there's something in the eternal storehouse for you, if there's hope for you, that if you could access the blessings of heaven, if they're for you, my friends, they're for you. If you don't know Jesus, and you can sense in your heart, wow.
Speaker 1:I feel convicted about my sin in my life, that I would encourage you to run to Jesus and to the cross, and to become his disciple.