James 5

Bible study with Dr. Chuck Missler

BEING RICH IS NOT A SIN BUT IT CAN LEAD TO SINFUL CONSEQUENCES (James 5:1-6)
The Bible does not discourage the acquiring of wealth. Abraham, Job, David, Josiah, Philemon etc. are all examples of how God's people were blessed with materialistic riches.

The rights to private property and personal freedom is thus inseparable. We can't have one without the other.

The Bible does, however, condemn the acquiring of wealth through illegal means or inappropriate practices (Amos, Isaiah, and Jeremiah all spoke against stolen wealth and abuse of the poor by the rich and selfish luxury).

Wealth is not bad. Money itself is natural. The MISUSE of wealth and money is bad. And although wealth is not bad, it can become a spiritual handicap, because material possessions tend to focus one's thoughts on the world. Having said that, the point here is, the problem is not in the currency. It's in the heart. It's always about the heart.

Money is not the root of evil. The LOVE of money is. This is addressed by James here.

James 5:1-2
The rich men James is addressing achieved their wealth through evil means.

James 5:3
Gold and silver don't rust. So, what is rusting? Their heart. And that is why they are misusing their wealth.

2 Corinthians 12:14
Matthew 25:27
1 Timothy 5:8
There is nothing sinful about saving. There is, in fact, a call to provision, to some estate planning for the next generation!

James 5:4
It is, however, sinful to store up on money when we owe others. And that's what the people in James 5:1-4 are doing.

"Hoarding" is the acquisition of something by denying it from others. Setting up something for future need is not sinful. Yet, when we are storing up money while we owe credit card bills or have mortgage to pay, then we are effectively stealing, because we are withholding what rightfully belongs to others. Obviously, it is a thin line to walk, determining how much to save before it becomes hoarding. And so, again, it's all in the heart.

Deuteronomy 24:14

Leviticus 19:13
Proverbs 3:20
Jeremiah 22:13

These passages speak against withholding money when we owe others. We may not have servants, as illustrated in these passages, but we do have bills to pay.

"Thou shalt not steal" is a command to the rights to private property and the respect of private property. Not paying our bills is stealing.

Why do we really pay off debt? Because our BEHAVIOR is a part of our witness! Not because it's the law!

Psalm 50:10
All wealth belongs to the Lord.

We are mere stewards of what we have been given.

James 5:5
Luke 12:15
Be aware of being greedy for anything. Abraham was a rich man, but he maintained his character. Lot became a rich man, but wealth ruined his character.

Psalm 62:10
Set not our heart on our riches, even if they grow. God may bless us, but what we do with that blessing is key. Blessings may very well turn into a test of whether our heart can remain focused.

Proverbs 22:1
Love favor rather than riches and gold.

James 5:6
God is against taking advantage of the poor and the needy.

Luke 16
This is a vivid illustration of the rich misusing their wealth.

Deuteronomy 17
Obstruction of justice is not condoned, especially not in the highest office of the land.

Exodus 18:21
Judges should not be greedy.

Leviticus 19:15
Judges should not be partial to the rich.

Deuteronomy 19:16-21
Judges should not tolerate perjury.

Isaiah 33:15
Micah 3, 7
Amos 5
Bribery is condemned.

Bottom line, James 5 addresses the rich misusing their wealth.

PATIENCE IS KEY TO SPIRITUAL MATURITY (James 5:7-12)

James 5:7
Farmers know patience. They do the work, and they know they cannot hurry the fruit along. They know that the fruit will be provided as long as they remain patient and diligent. They know that they do not make the fruit; God does. They do the work, remain patient, and God will provide.

There are two meanings for the Greek word patience:
1. Long-suffering: patience with respect to people
2. Endurance: patience with respect to circumstances

Psalm 37:7
David was troubled by prosperity of the wicked. Solution? Be like the farmer and patiently wait for the harvest when the time comes.

Habakkuk shared the same view.

Here, in James, the Christian is analogous to the farmer, one who knows the seasons, who diligently sows, waters, etc.

James 5:7-8
By keeping our eye on the second coming of Christ, we can remain patient. The secret to farmer's patience is that the harvest is worth waiting for. Similarly, our harvest is worth waiting for and thus we have patience. Or, we ought to anyway!

James 5:9
When we are impatient with people, we betray the patience with God.

James 5:10
Like James here, Jesus also used the prophets as an example of victory over persecution (Matthew 5:10-12). There are plenty of such examples, many listed in Hebrews 11:32.

James 5:11
Why do people who believe in the Lord go through trials? One reason is so that their lives can back up their testimony.

Job didn't know what we know (Job 1:1-12) when he went through those trials. He just trusted God. And because of his unshakable trust in God, his testimony is one of the best of God's prophets.

Impatience in Christians is a weapon in Satan's hands:
1. Moses's impatience robbed him of his opportunity to enter the promise land.
2. Abraham's impatience led to the birth of Ishmael.
3. Peter's impatience in the Garden almost made him a murderer. When Jesus healed the high priest's ear, he was saving peter's life!

James 5:12
Matthew 26
Leviticus 19:12
Numbers 32
Deuteronomy 23:21
Breaking vows is forbidden. The Scripture never tells us to take vows. But, if we do take a vow, God expects us to keep it.

PRAYER IS ALWAYS OUR FIRST RESORT, NOT OUR LAST! (James 5:13-20)

James 5:13
Prayer can help us through our troubled and glorify God. We pray not to make the troubles go away, but that we may perform in a manner that would glorify God. This is what it means to pray in God's will. Times of our troubles are our opportunities to perform.

Remember that Jesus prayed to have the cup removed 3 times in the Garden of Gethsemane, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."

1. Jesus didn't pray in His own will. He prayed to have God's will be done. Anything we face, especially trials, we should always seek to fulfill God's will, because it is God's will that can truly redeem us!

2. When we pray, we may not always get what we want. And the reason for that is simple: What we want do not always reflect God's will.

We pray, therefore, not for the trial to disappear but to be equipped to accomplish God's will! 

Job 35:10
Acts 16
The mature Christian knows that God can help us through anything.

James 5:14
There are two Greek words translated as "anoint":
1. Anoint in the religious sense, where we get sealed by the Holy Spirit
2. Anoint in the medicinal sense (Matthew 6:17), to rub with oil to work the medicine in

Hence, here, James could be talking about anointing with oil (representing the Holy Spirit) or medicinal oil.

My view: both. I have discovered that God speaks literally and metaphorically.

God heals miraculously, but God also heals through medicine!

It is important to note that God does not heal in every case. Here are some examples:
1) 2 Timothy 4:20 -- Trophimus was left sick in Miletus.
2) Philippians 2:27 -- Epaphroditus almost died.
3) 2 Corinthians 12 -- Paul prayed at least 3 times for the removal of the thorn in his flesh and had to endure it to the end.

It is thus unscriptural to say that God heals everyone, every time. We do not know why some are healed and some are not. But we do know that as long as we are in Christ, we will all be united in Christ.

Do not lust for the flesh. Maintain God's perspective on our journey here in this life.

James 5:15-16
"Prayer of faith" are prayed in His will.

1 John 1:9
A Christian's bar of soap: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

James 5:17-18
1 Corinthians 5
1 Kings 17-18
Revelation 11:6
Here, James is using Elijah as an example of the amazing power of a "prayer of faith."

(As a side note) Elijah called for no rain for 3 1/2 years. We don't learn that it was 3 1/2 years from Elijah himself. We learned it from Jesus and James, who both confirmed it to be that length of time.

James 5:19
Luke 22:32
Matthew 18:15-17
When we are back in fellowship, THEN strength our brother! Notice the order of things: We must first right ourselves.

Furthermore, here, James is referring to strengthening our BROTHER/SISTER, aka, fellow Christians! We often focus so much attention on the non-believers that we sometimes forget to help those closest to us.

As much as we try to walk with Jesus, Christians are not perfect. We slip and backslide sometimes, and we need to be there to support one another.

Speaking from experience, it can be difficult to distinguish between rebuke and judgement. We need to be careful that when we see something that is sinful in the eyes of God, we do not judge as if we are God. Yet, we also need to be careful that we close one eye and let sin slip just because we do not like confrontations and hope that things will just work itself out. I think we all need to find the right balance, and I aim for loving rebuke.

The concept is easy. There is the popular slogan, "Friends don't let friends drive drunk." Similarly, friends don't let friends sin. We don't let our loved ones drunk because we care about them, not because we're judging them. We tell them it's wrong, and we hope they listen. What we should not do is let them do whatever they want because we don't want to aggravate them, because they could very well hurt themselves and other innocent people.

Satan is gunning for our souls. Just because we are saved does not mean Satan no longer targets us. As we continue to go out there and spread the Gospel, we should also protect the backs of fellow Christians.

James 5:20
1 Peter 4:8
Proverbs 10:12
Love shall cover a multitude of sins.