FBC Morning Light – October 14, 2022

Well, a good Friday morning to you.

We've come to the end of another week and looking forward to the Lord's Day this coming Sunday.

And I trust you are, and I hope you're making plans to join together with God's people to

worship and to serve Him in God's house.

We studied God's Word in the adult Sunday school class Sunday morning, looking in the book of

Isaiah.

And then also in the morning service, we have been in the book of 2 Peter, and in the

evening service in the gospel of Mark.

And all these sections of the Bible have been a great blessing to us and an encouragement.

Hope you'll gather with us on the Lord's Day.

Well, remember yesterday we read this verse in Proverbs 28, 6.

It says,

It's better to be a poor man with integrity than a rich man who has built his

wealth with perversion.

Now, in James chapter 5, a passage that we read for today's Bible reading,

the passage opens with James addressing those perverse rich,

those filthy rich.

And look at what he says.

He says, Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are

coming upon you.

They may not be experiencing them now in their wealth and their prosperity.

They are living in luxury.

They are enjoying plenty to eat luxuriously.

They have beautiful surroundings.

They are able to take exotic vacations and enjoy spectacular places and all the rest.

Of that stuff.

They have wonderful clothing, expensive clothing.

But he says,.

Your riches are corrupted.

Your garments are moth -eaten.

May not look like it right now, but why does he say that?

What's the matter with these rich people?

They've gotten their wealth by perversion.

Listen to what he says.

He says, Your gold and silver are corroded and their corrosion will be a witness against you and

will eat your flesh like fire.

You have heaped up treasures for the last days.

Why?

How?

What have they done?

Indeed, he says in verse 4, 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.

Now here, James is referring to an agricultural society where there are

wealthy people who have been able to take advantage of day laborers, people who just,

their income is to go out and work in the fields, get paid at the end of the day, and that's what they have to live.

Off of.

They're day laborers.

And these wealthy people who have great land holdings and great

harvests and all the rest of that stuff, they take advantage of the day laborers.

The wages are kept back by fraud, and they cry out.

They find some excuse for shorting them in their pay, and

the writer of James is saying, you rich who have taken advantage of the poor in that way,

you're going to suffer for it.

You're going to suffer greatly for it.

He says that because their cries have reached the Lord of Sabaoth, they've reached the Lord's.

Ears.

He says, you've lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury.

You have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.

But the day of slaughter is coming.

There is going to be a reckoning.

And this is why James goes on to say to God's people, therefore, be

patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.

Be patient until the coming of the Lord.

You think about all of the vicissitudes of life, all of the challenges of life.

There are heartaches, there are hardships, there are days that are very, very difficult to get through.

There are days when we grieve over the kind of oppression that the first five verses

have talked about, where wealthy people take advantage of those who are

poor and underprivileged, and we grieve over those things.

And it seems like no matter what happens, it doesn't change, nothing gets better.

Be patient.

Be patient until the coming of the Lord.

When the Lord comes, he will rectify all of this.

When the Lord comes, those who are filthy rich,

those who have gained their wealth through perversion, through

injustice, through exploitation, and so forth, they are going to

suffer for.

It.

They are preparing themselves for the day of slaughter, even though they don't know.

It.

So, the encouragement to us is to be patient until the coming of the Lord, when he sets

all things right.

And there's also the encouragement to us to make sure that we're not part and parcel

of those who take advantage of others in this way, that we pay the laborer what he

is worthy, what he deserves.

We don't look for excuses to short them in their pay, but give

them their due.

They're relying on it, and we want to be faithful and generous to make

sure that they get what they deserve.

So, may the Lord encourage us today to be a people of integrity again.

So, Father, thank you for this challenge from your Word, and I pray that you would encourage us

to be a people of integrity, caring for others, and trusting you

to bless and meet our needs.

And we pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Alright, well have a wonderful Friday, a wonderful weekend.

Again, I hope that we'll see you joining together in God's house on the Lord's Day.

Good day.