FBC Morning Light – October 14, 2022

Well, 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, "...better is the poor who walks in his integrity than one who is perverse in his ways, though he be rich."

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're 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." Well, 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, 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, caring for others, and trusting you to bless and meet our needs.

And we pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. All right, 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.