In The Last Days

James 5:1-6
August 8, 2021
Abraham Hong

Sermon Script

There is something special and significant about days that are last. Days that for better or for worse bring about the end of something old and the beginning of something new.

For example, students and teachers get certain kinds of feelings during the last days of school. And then students and teachers get other kinds of feelings during the last days of summer. Battered and broken soldiers go through the last days of a war joyfully eager to go home, while up-and-coming young professionals cherish their last days with their hometown friends before moving far away for work. There can be so much anticipation in the last days right before a beautiful wedding. There may not be the same kind of anticipation in the last days of a nice vacation. And while there are few words that can describe the last days of a pregnancy, there are also few words that can describe the last days of life before death.

But I tell you the truth, there is a set of last days that is greater than all others. The last days of salvation history. The last days of this old and fading earth. The last days before the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Jesus took on human nature and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus lived a perfect and righteous and sinless life as your representative. Jesus suffered and bled and died on the cross for your sins. Jesus rose again for your future resurrection and glory. And Jesus ascended into heaven. That all happened. That is all finished. And so now where are we at? What is the time that we are living in? These are the last days. And the only thing left is judgment. That judgment is being delayed right now so that sinners can repent and believe in Jesus. But soon and very soon, that time will expire. And these last days will become past days. Jesus will return in power and in glory. There will be no more mercy and grace. The doors of salvation will be closed and shut. And the promise of judgment and justice and wrath and hell will be fulfilled. Jesus will usher in his kingdom of the new heavens and new earth. And you will be there.

Thanks be to God that when the day of the Lord, when the time of final judgment comes, you will be covered by Christ. You will be counted as belonging to him. There is nothing more important than this.

Highland, we are living in the last days. Old things will soon end. And new things will soon begin. These days are special and significant.

And since we are living in the last days, don’t live like you are a rich person who doesn’t know Jesus.

Today’s passage is about rich people who do not believe in Jesus. This passage is about them. But make no mistake, while this passage is about them, this passage is for you. For you to hear. For you to think about. For you to grow in wisdom and holiness and repentance and faith in Christ. This passage is meant to warn you and be a wake up call for you. So please listen. Listen to your Master and your King who loves you and speaks to you now.

Today’s passage tells us what certain unbelieving rich have done and what these unbelieving rich will get for what they have done. And it is not good.

They unjustly defrauded and kept back the wages of laborers and harvesters who mowed and worked their fields. They lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. They condemned and murdered certain righteous people who do not resist - certain believers in Christ who cannot resist because they are poor. And, all in all, they have laid up the wrong type of treasure in the last days. This is what certain unbelieving rich people did in James’ lifetime. This was sin. It was sin because they broke the 8th commandment: “You shall not steal.” It was sin because they also broke the 10th commandment: “You shall not covet.” It was sin because they ultimately broke all the commandments: “You shall not murder” or “You shall have no other gods before me” or “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” or “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” It was sin because they just didn’t live in accordance with these last days. It is very foolish for them to have done all of this. And it is very sad for those who suffered because of them.

But James declares that the Lord will bring judgment upon them. There will be miseries that come upon them. Their riches are really rotted. Their garments are actually moth-eaten. Their gold and silver are truthfully corroded. They will see at the end that all that they loved on this earth will amount to nothing. And they themselves will be slaughtered. They will see at the end that they were never in control and that they cannot avoid or run away from their Creator and Judge who will bring them to the justice that they deserve. And it will be all their fault. The cries of the laborers and harvesters will cause the lord of hosts to hold them to account. Their wealth will be the official legal courtroom evidence against them. And because of what they did and what they loved, Christ will rule that their flesh shall burn forever in the fire of hell, where there will be eternal weeping and howling and gnashing of teeth. This is the judgment that will fall upon the rich in James 5.

I’m willing to bet that no one in James’ church was happy to hear this. I doubt that any believers who cried out to the Lord were happy to hear that the unbelieving rich would receive judgment. I do not think it would have been good for them to say to God, “Thank you God that I am not like the unbelieving rich!” The best response for us as the church is to be humble and sober-minded as we strive to be the opposite of everything here in today’s passage.

Like the unbelieving rich person, we also can be worldly and unjust and murderous and unloving and forgetful. We go through many spiritual trials and tests and we often fail and look not much different than them. We like to have things of luxury. We enjoy self-indulgence. We attempt to serve both God and money. We covet and we covet hard. We rationalize our sinfulness with money by converting preferential wants into absolute needs. We are in danger of hearing the word of God but being choked by the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things (Mark 18). We lay up the wrong type of treasure in these last days. And then on top of all of this, there’s the fact that, in one sense, many of us here at Highland are rich when compared with others, and, in another sense, every single one of us here at Highland is rich when compared with the rest of the world. Dear brother, dear sister, I ask you to think very carefully about what you are doing in your life right now. Do you presume on the grace of Christ that you are good with money? Do you believe that you’re not a thief? Do you think that you are doing a pretty good job with the temptations of Satan and the temptations of the world? Do you think that you would never fall into grievous sins because of money or profit or material possessions? Do you think that you would never grieve the Holy Spirit or incur God’s displeasure? Do you think you would never hurt and scandalize others and bring temporal judgments upon yourself (#wcf17)? That is not the meekness of wisdom that comes down from above. Believers in Christ can still make horrific mistakes with money. Believers in Christ can still offend the God that they love.

So therefore do not be like the unbelieving rich person here in James 5. Check yourself. Check your checking account. Check where you intentionally or unintentionally parked all of your money. Check where your treasure is, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21). And if you find that you are like the unbelieving rich person here in James 5, then repent. Draw near to the Lord once again. Grow in wisdom. Remember that these are the last days. These are not the first days, nor the middle days. And these are certainly not your days, as if this were your timeline.

And that means that every last day is opposite day. Praise the Lord that we have treasures in the kingdom of the new heavens and new earth, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal (Matthew 6:20). Instead of earthly gold and silver that corrode, you have an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you (1 Peter 1:4). Praise the Lord that we are compelled to be generous to others and to the poor. Instead of living in luxury and self-indulgence, we live in modesty and self-sacrifice. We are like Boaz who happily welcomed Ruth to glean from his fields. Instead of fattening your hearts for a day of slaughter, empty your hearts - as you suffer as pilgrims and as you lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely - empty your hearts for the coming Day of the Lord. We lay up a different treasure in these last days. We are the opposite of the unbelieving rich person. Every last day is opposite day.

I guess that is why we have these words in 1 Corinthians 7:29-31. “This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.”

And if you are a believer in Christ who is rich, then please heed the call of 1 Timothy 6:17-19. As you live in this present age, do not be haughty. Do not set your hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides you with everything to enjoy. In this present age, you are to do good - you are to be rich in good works. You must be generous and ready to share. In doing this, you will store up treasure in heaven for yourselves. You will take hold of that which is truly life. And you will be well prepared for the age that is to come.

Highland, these are the last days. There is something special and significant about these last days. Days that are the end of something old and the beginning of something new. I hope you have the right kinds of feelings during these last days. Like a good solider, I hope you are joyfully eager to go home. Let us rejoice and exalt and give God the glory now, for the marriage supper of the Lamb that is Christ will come, and his Bride, which is the church, will be made ready (Revelation 19:7). These last days are days of anticipation. There are few words that can describe these last days.

Jesus is coming back soon. Jesus says in Revelation 22, “Surely I am coming soon.” Join with all of us pilgrim saints in these last days as we say, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”

Soli Deo Gloria