The Book of James, Chapter 5: Read &/or listen from the Bible. This is the conclusion or last chapter of the book of James.
Outline for Chapter 5
1/ Rich oppressors will be judged– James 5:1-6
a) Misuse of wealth (5:1-3)
b) Oppression of workers (5:4-6)
– b1) The cries of the oppressed reached the ears of the Lord
– b2) Examples of self-indulgence & sin of the rich .
2/ Be Patient & Persevering – James 5:7-12
a) Patience in Suffering (5:7-11)
– a1) Be patient until the Lord’s coming (5:7-8)
– a2) Examples of patience: the prophets and Job (5:9-11)
b) Truthfulness (5:12)
– b1) Do not swear by anything; let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no (5:12)
3/ The Prayer of Faith & Meeting Specific Needs – James 5:13-20
a) Praying in all circumstances (5:13-14)
b)The power of the prayer of faith (5:15-16)
c) Example of Elijah’s powerful prayer (5:17-18)
d) Restoring the Wanderer (5:19-20)
– d1) Turning a sinner from their error saves their soul and covers a multitude of sins (5:19-20)
1/ Rich oppressors will be judged– James 5:1-6
Come now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 2 Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasures for the last days. 4 Indeed the wages that you kept back by fraud from the laborers who harvested your fields are crying, and the cries of those who harvested have entered into the ears of the Lord of Hosts. 5 You have lived in pleasure on the earth and have been wayward. You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and killed the righteous man who does not resist you.
James was instructing believers as to their attitude and actions in a world full of injustice.
As we approach this passage of the Bible we should understand that James was not condemning riches. Riches, in themselves, are not moral or immoral. They are simply amoral. The Bible does not condemn money, but the love of money (1 Tim.6:10), the love for material things or covetousness is idolatry because it consists of worshiping material things.
Jesus gave us 3 parables about money & riches that helps us understand better what James is saying here. These are :
1/ The Parable of the Rich fool, Luke 12:13-21, Is about a man trusted in riches & stores up treasure for himself, but is not rich toward God, and God calls him a fool because that night his soul would be required and all his provisions will stay & be spend by others.
2/ ‘The Parable of the Unjust Steward’ Luke 16:1-13, here Jesus taught about the wise use of money. God holds man accountable, not only for the way he gets his money but also for the way he spends it. Jesus tells the “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” In vs 14 says the Pharisees, were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they mocked Jesus. And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”
3/ ‘Lazarus & the Rich Man’, Luke 16:19-31. This parable had to do with the way the rich man expend his money in fine clothing & giving banquets every day having a good life with excesses, and there was a beggar named Lazarus covered with sores placed at his gate feeding from the crumbs that felt from the rich man’s table, both dye one day and shows the way God judged both men, the rich man was tormented in hell, but Lazarus was being comforted in the presence of Abraham, indicating Lazarus was an old testament believer.
2/ Be Patient & Persevering – James 5:7-12
7 Therefore be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Notice how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it until he receives the early and late rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is drawing near. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, lest you be condemned. Look, the Judge is standing at the door.
10 My brothers, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. 11 Indeed we count them happy who endure. You have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the purpose of the Lord, that the Lord is very gracious and merciful.
12 But above all things, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by the earth or by any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes” and your “No” be “No,” that you do not fall into condemnation.
In the book of Psalm we read about King David that was troubled by the prosperity of the wicked. In Psalm 37:35-36 we read:
35 I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a luxuriant tree.
36 Yet he passed away, and he was not; I sought him, but he could not be found.
At the beginning of this same Psalm 37, King David gave the same advice as James, saying, in verse 7, ” Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. .’ David was upset by this situation until he went to the temple and saw that God would eventually take care of these people.
Also on verse 7 we read:’Behold how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the ground, waiting patiently until he receives the former and the latter rain‘. In other words, when the farmer sows the seed, he does not come in a short time, anxiously and impatiently, to see if he can obtain fruit, but he knows he has to wait. James’ advice is, then, “Be patient, for the harvest will come.”
Believers had to be patient under those unjust circumstances, knowing that God would deal with those wicked rich in eternity and with many also here on this earth.
3/ The Prayer of Faith & Meeting Specific Needs – James 5:13-20
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone merry? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your faults to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much.
17 Elijah was a man subject to natural passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit.
19 Brothers, if any one of you strays from the truth and someone corrects him, 20 let him know that he who converts the sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Here the great importance of the prayer of faith was emphasized. Recall that at the beginning of his epistle in chapter 1: 6, he said, “But ask in faith, doubting nothing.” & the Lord will raise him up.
The coming of Christ will correct the errors and injustices of the world’s system. Christ Himself made it clear in the Sermon on the Mount, where He says the less fortunate, the poor, and the marginalized will be treated fairly and equally.
While this happens we have the Holy Spirit, and also the Church, our brothers & sister in the Lord, so if we are sick we call the elders, we can also pray for one another, and in general we live our lives with our eyes fixed on the Lord.