James 5:1-6
Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.
Oppressors are responsible for the whole situation. We would put the whole blame on the oppressors and not anyone else. We are in this situation because of these oppressors. Each of them would have to give an account of what they have done to the Lord Almighty. He rules the heavens and the Earth. He who hears the worship and the cries of the people. The "rich people" mentioned in the verse above are rich oppressors. The following verses tells us how they became "rich oppressors". Hoarding wealth is a great sin as mentioned here. Failure to pay wages is another. Why did they do all these? Firstly, they have no fear of God. Secondly, the very reason they wanted to be rich was to live in luxury and self indulgence. Now the situation is, the oppressors of the poor have fattened themselves. They don't know that the "day of slaughter" has come. What is the day of slaughter? The "day of slaughter" is the day of God's vengeance? Why did the need for the day of slaughter arise? God is a just God. He watches everything that happens on Earth. He hears the cries of those being oppressed. Remember, His people's cries in Egypt. He heard them. He sent for a deliverer of His people. The "day of slaughter" has now become necessary because these rich oppressors have begun to take the laws into their own hands. They start condemning men and women, murdering them as they wished even though these people were not opposing them but they were just asking for what is due to them. For this honest plea, they resort to merciless oppression, murders and destroying innocent lives. They only had asked for what was due to them. In doing all these, you clearly have shown that you do not fear God at all. Now is God's time to be merciless to you. You have been bullying God's people all these years. Now is God's turn to bully you.
You may not have heard of how it is when God returns the bully. Let us warn you of the ten plagues He brought on Egypt. He is a very patient God, very long-suffering at that. He gave ample of warnings through Moses, His prophet, to be very fair with the oppressor, but Pharaoh, the king of Egypt took no heed. He was stubborn. Well, the Bible tells us that Pharaoh was stubborn for a reason because he was meant to be an object of God's wrath. God knew in the end that He would have no other choice but to unleash His wrath on Pharaoh and all his evil men. He did just that. What about today? Do you think God will unleash such wrath to oppressors of His poor and innocent people on Earth? Do you know that He is watching everything that happens on Earth, the same way like He did 6000 years ago? Do you also know that He does not change or shift in his nature? Unlike men, when we read the book of 1 and 2 Kings in the Old Testament, we notice that each king that that took over Israel or Judah to rule, changed in their way of rule. Some were just, others were evil. Some feared God, many didn't. We learnt of the consequences of their rule, whether it be just or evil. God is a fair God. He treats everyone with fairness, no matter who you claim to be or 'wear' on the "outside" to show your authority. He is also the God who created the "inside", and you must fear that and give the due reverence to Him. Look at the fore-warning given below by the Lord Jesus Christ. It's for the New Testament times and that means for now, these times before He returns to Earth to judge everyone justly.
Luke 11:39-41
Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside [the dish] to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.
"Give what is inside of the dish to the poor", what "dish" was He talking about here in this passage? Was He talking about the 'beggars dish' here? No! He was warning you about your "dish" that is inside of you. What was that dish and what was in it, how do you give that to the poor? You see, you are not clean before Him until you do this. in fact, when you do this, you will be perfectly clean. What is "this" in the "dish"? Have you ever asked yourself this question or, have you turned around and asked Him who gave out this commandment? Did you bother asking Him what did He mean by that? You were not bothered, right? Now, you are about to face the consequences of your own carelessness! You didn't care as long as you were happy, right? Are you really happy now? Who is on the losing end? Your heart was only the money, right? You forgot that there is a just and righteous God watching you, right? If you did, then how come there are so many people around you who feel oppressed? What have you been doing all this while? Living in luxury and in self-indulgence? Is that what God told you do? You keep telling others that's what God wants. Truly, is that what God wants? Did you ask Him about this? Did He tell you to carry on with what you have been doing thus far? We don't think so! Are you clean inside? How do you give and become clean? If you give from the sinful nature of the Devil in you, you are still unclean before Him. No wonder, you are still full of greed and wickedness inside? Give with obedience to Christ and everything He had commanded and then only the divine nature of Christ will be formed in you. When the divine nature of Christ is formed in you, greed and every wickedness that was mentioned above about the way you treat others would have been put to death with the help of God the Holy Spirit who dwells in you. You see, what is inside that dish? Is it still the sinful nature of the Devil in you or the divine nature of Christ? If you have been giving out of the sinful nature of the Devil in you, then don't boast. It will all be in vain, because you will mature with greed and every wickedness related to this and you will be destroyed in the end too. Remember, the sinful nature in you is self-destructive by it's evil nature. It will eat you up eventually. Can't you see what's written in the verses above? "Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire". What "fire"? Fire from the Lake of Fire! Isn't all that you have done in vain in the end? Wake up!
Luke 12:15-21
Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." ' "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself ?' "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
You can only be rich toward God when the divine nature of Christ formed in you. You can never be rich toward God with the sinful nature of the Devil still found in you. Let us warn you with this. Don't unnecessarily fall into God's hand of judgment! No one knows what will happen to anyone at any time. You should never lead a selfish life, even if you find everyone on your street doing just that. You should be different. You can only be different when Christ's divine nature is formed in you. This involves obedience to everything Christ had commanded. Do you know that oppressors do not have the divine nature of Christ formed in them, even if they were to claim that they belong to Christ? How can they oppress the poor and yet believe in Christ? Sheer nonsense! These oppressors live in mansions and bungalows in maximum comfort. Just take a drive along any of the housing estates, you'd find these large houses with large luxury and expensive cars parked in front of their houses. They have all the comfort they want. But for a change, just take a walk into all the slums nearby and you'd be able to see the vast difference. How is it so? To whom do these mansions and bungalows belong to? Check the records. How come there are very, very poor people living around the rich oppressors? Where has the conscience of the rich oppressors gone to? Are their consciences dead? This is not what the Lord Jesus Christ meant. He meant, you were not suppose to have plenty of good things laid up for many years. you are not suppose to take life easy, eat, drink and be merry. He never did those things while He was on Earth. His life did not consists of the abundance of his possessions. He did not amass wealth or store up things for himself. Where did you get this false teaching from? The disciples or the apostles (minus off Judas Iscariot) did not do these things. Where did you get this idea from? Definitely from the sinful nature of the Devil in you. How was it stirred up in you? Someone who still worships idols (Money as their god) must have taught you this. They must have convinced you that it is alright to obey the sinful nature of the Devil in you, in order to amass wealth. We must rise up against these oppressors who go around representing the sinful nature of the Devil! The poor of the Lord must rise up against them. Even the only tiny two or three-roomed flat or apartment of the poor bought through hard labor and savings are taken away so easily, even when their reasons are legitimate like illness or sicknesses. They are so merciless to take it away from them, leaving them with nothing to live on. This is not fair! Now, God should be merciless to them. Now is God's time for vengeance against these oppressors. He ask us these questions. Are you willing to respond? You should take back from them what has been stolen from you. He asks you these questions now......are you willing to respond to Him with courage?
Psalms 94:16
Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?
