Payday is Coming

James 5:1-6

It is so good to be here; thank you for being with us. We look forward to another powerful and practical lesson in James. Today, we begin James 5, titled “Payday is coming.” The lesson teaches us to think long-term and realize that this life is not all there is. Most of us know what payday is, but have you considered a “payday” for your life?  

“Who could do that?” you ask. Well, it would have to be someone who knows everything you have ever done and understands all the reasons behind your actions. God is the only one able to do this, and we know he will get it right. As Abraham said, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Since God knows everything, it won’t be difficult for Him to be fair and give everyone the “payday” we deserve.  

Paydays are coming, but think about what this means in the long term, not just weekly or monthly. J Mark is here to share the rest of today’s lesson, so let’s go with him to James 5.  

Payday!  The word has a welcome sound. Most likely, every worker in every culture and country worldwide knows that word in their native language. The toil, the sweat, and the exercise of brawn or brains finally produce a reward. Now, you and I can provide for our needs and the needs of our families. Our labor has been rewarded, the necessities of life can be bought or bartered, and physical life will be sustained. 

Just for a moment, suppose you worked all week at your job, and at the end of the week, you DID NOT receive the paycheck you were promised. How would you feel? At the very least, you would feel cheated, all that labor and no reward.  

Interestingly, many who rise in indignation at withholding a person’s wages somehow think they can live their entire lives in self-gratification and not expect a proportionate reward. In today’s study, we want to examine such a group.  

Our text today is James 5:1-6. In this passage of Scripture, James speaks about a group of people with the problem I mentioned a moment ago. Because of their position in life and they’re accustomed to having their way, they are blissfully ignorant of the payday approaching. It will come on them unexpectedly. 

Again, our text is James 5:1-6.  

¹ Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!  

²Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.  

³Your gold and silver are corroded; their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last few days.  

⁴Indeed, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 

 ⁵You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.  

⁶You have condemned; you have murdered the just; he does not resist you. 

James reveals the promised WAGES that will come to unjust employers.  

The First Part of the Promised Wages 

Your Wealth Becomes a Curse 

James begins chapter five with his words in 4:13, “Go to now.” As I said last time, the modern equivalent would be to say something like, “Oh, come on,” or “Now wait a minute.” Both times are in a context where the result is different than expected.  

According to verse four, the wealthy men (employers) are told to weep and howl because misery is about to overtake them. Here are men accustomed to a life of ease, laughter, mirth, and celebration. They dress in expensive clothing and boast about their accumulated wealth. James says they should lament and wail in their wretchedness because of the calamities coming their way. Hardship and trouble are just ahead because, like those we talked about last week, they forgot the God factor.  

Many are like them today; sadly, some are in the church. This message probably came as a shock to them. They forgot the words in Ecclesiastes 5:13, “There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun; namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.  

The riches James in verse two are not monetary; those come later in verse three. He speaks of things that spoil or rot. If you look at verse four, you learn that their wealth was in their harvests, their agricultural produce. That makes sense. Produce from the soil, because it is organic, even if stored very carefully, will tend to spoil or rot. Their grain would get infested with bugs or exposure to moisture. The wine would sour and become worthless, and the olive oil would turn rancid. Their many changes of fine clothing would become moth-eaten.  

In verse three, the silver and gold of these wealthy men become a liability—their gold and silver, whether plate or coin, would become tarnished. I want you to see the connection between agricultural produce, clothing, silver, and gold. Why were all these things moving into a state of decay? Because these wealthy men were hoarding them!  

And God said that those things they’d hoarded up would become the evidence that would convict them in His court of justice. They were not sharing with people experiencing poverty because they didn’t have the resources. No, it was because they were selfish and greedy!  

They refused to honor God with the wealth He had given. If their crops had been used appropriately, they would have less spoilage. Silver and gold, passed from hand to hand during commerce, would not have tarnished as quickly as when hoarded in secret storage. 

The very thing they had set their hearts on as a source of blessing, comfort, security, and satisfaction would now become a curse to them. James becomes very graphic. He says the rust or corrosion of their riches would “eat their flesh as fire.” There is an obvious connection to the word cankered, which he used to describe what would happen to their riches. The modern term for canker is gangrene! It is a dreaded word today, how much more dreaded at the time James is writing. It struck fear into the stoutest heart, much like the word cancer does for us today. 

The last part of verse three is challenging to decipher, but here’s my understanding. When we began this study of the book of James, I pointed out my belief that this book was one of the earliest writings of the New Testament. Keeping that point in mind makes me suggest that the fiery judgment coming was the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.  

If you read the Old Testament prophets and their messages of judgment, one of the issues for which God judged His people most harshly was the oppression of the poor. That sin was taking place here in this text. According to Scripture, the sins of materialism and greed will also characterize the final days of history.  

If you are a person of wealth, especially an employer, take these words to heart. In the New Testament, Jesus and the apostles repeatedly warn about the danger of using riches selfishly. Neither you nor I want to receive the wages spoken of here. 

The Next Part of the Promised Wages, 

Your Workers Cry for Justice 

As a young man, I read “The Jungle,” a novel that detailed the horrible working conditions in the meat packing plants in Chicago, Illinois, at the beginning of the 20^th century. I do not support the author’s conclusion that socialism cured these problems. However, the book gives a glimpse into the rampant abuses of the workers employed in the slaughterhouses. Those abuses were partly responsible for establishing labor unions to protect the workers.  

Verse four introduces this part of the wages. James accuses the wealthy landowners of withholding the wages of their laborers. God had given clear instructions to his people regarding the treatment of employees. Leviticus 19:13 and Deuteronomy 24:15 contain a similar message. “At his day, you shall give him his hire; neither shall the sun go down upon it —lest he cry against you unto the Lord and it be sin unto you.”  

These landowners violated God’s clear commands, and the cries of the laborers would become evidence against them in God’s court of justice. They assumed they could be oppressed with impunity because the laborers had no earthly court to hear their case. But once again, these wealthy men forgot God.  

The cries for justice had come into the ears of the Lord of the Sabbath. Lord of hosts, or Lord of armies, is a frequent appellation of God in the Old Testament. It signifies his uncontrollable power and the infinitely numerous means for governing the world, defending his followers, and punishing the wicked. 

These verses warn all employers, especially those who call themselves Christians. There is no cause for oppressing employees. Proverbs 14:31 warns, “He that oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker: but he that honors him has mercy on the poor.”  

Many businesses today are bought and sold by speculators who have no compassion for their employees. Their only goal is to enrich themselves. If the employees suffer, these greedy men could care less. But they’ve made the same mistake as the wealthy men James wrote about, forgetting the God factor. The cries of the disenfranchised workers will ultimately come into the ears of the Lord of hosts. And payday for them will bring a curse instead of a blessing. 

The Final Part of the Promised Wages, 

Your Wantonness Comes to an End 

The things James mentions here outline a lifestyle based on consumption. Today, many church members live in luxury while church mission programs go begging. Many people pile up possessions, hoard financial resources, and have lavish wardrobes. While professing Christ, their lifestyle choices show they’ve given themselves to sensuality and gratification of their fleshly appetites. This is the very thing the Holy Spirit inspired James to condemn strongly. 

Many Christians are addicted to entertainment and pleasure. Sporting events draw huge crowds, but prayer meetings are poorly attended. Part of the indictment in these verses deals with uncontrolled eating. Obesity, heart disease, and other ailments make these verses especially relevant today.  People are literally killing themselves by their out-of-control appetites. 

And do you know what happens to people who become controlled by their appetites?  Though they may once have embraced Christ and the principles of His Word, now the end justifies the means if it leads to their sensual pleasure.  

But James warns those who live controlled by their passions that God will not permit this to continue forever. A day of reckoning is near, and the promised payday is coming. We will need to give an account of ourselves before God and then receive the just wages we have earned. 

What a sobering thought to end on. Thanks, J Mark, for this teaching. It is sobering, but it is by no means negative. If we live open, honest lives serving Christ with all we have, the “day of reckoning” will be like a payday—a good one, a really good one. The challenge is to stay focused and give God our all.  

Thank you so much for being with us. If you want to contact us for any reason or to hear more about our teaching, here is how you can do so. Our email is [email protected]. You can also find us online at heraldsofhope.org. You can also write to us; our address is Hope for Today, Box 3, Breezewood, PA 15533. Use any method you choose. We would love to hear from you. 

Thanks again for being there. Today reminded me of Jesus’ parable about the wise and foolish man. The wise man was wise because he heard and put Jesus’ words into practice. The foolish man didn’t, and his “payday” was destruction. Go and build on THE rock.  

*This episode is an exposition by J. Otis Yoder, re-recorded by J. Mark Horst, with an opening and closing by Arlin Horst.