James 5:3–11 Explained: Judgment, Patience, and the Coming of the Lord (Session 16)

In this episode of Reasoning Through the Bible, James 5:3–11 is explored with a focus on judgment, the last days, unjust wealth, and the believer’s call to patience. James warns that hoarded riches, withheld wages, and luxury gained at the expense of others will not be ignored by God. The cries of defrauded laborers reach the ears of the Lord, and Scripture makes clear that there is a coming day of reckoning for those who use wealth and power unjustly.  

This study also turns to the comfort James gives to believers: be patient until the coming of the Lord. Like a farmer waiting for rain, Christians are called to endure, trust God’s timing, and live in expectancy of Christ’s return. The passage highlights the nearness of the Lord, the certainty of judgment, and the need for steadfast faith in the last days.  

Topics covered in this episode:

•  judgment day in the Bible 
•  the last days in Scripture 
•  unjust wealth and unpaid laborers 
•  Christian patience and endurance 
•  the coming of the Lord 
•  living in expectancy of Jesus’ return 

Transcript

Glenn 0:15

The Bible tells us there's going to be a judgment day coming. In the book of James he emphasizes this because he talks about what some of the things are that we're going to be judged for. There's a very dire warning here, steve. In James, he talks about how we're going to be judged and on what in the end days. He does it in a context of how we live today and how we spend our money today. That is one of the things that I think is a very, very serious thing that people around us just don't seem to be too worried about.

Steve 0:48

Sometimes, the topic of money and wealth. People get nervous around it and people get offended by it. Sometimes it's over-emphasized in some churches. Other churches don't talk about it at all, and then a few times they do talk about it. The people get offended on it. Why is it? Because I think money is so close to us, it's what we live off of and we have to have it in order to survive. James here, though, is not shying away from it. He's been very direct with some of, apparently, the wealthy people that are there at these various areas where his Christian brothers are. He doesn't say to them brothers, he talks to them as far as a separate group, which we mentioned in our last session. But, yeah, wealth, for some reason, because it's so close to people, it's a very touchy subject sometimes.

Glenn 1:38

James is very direct, very blunt and he gets right to the point. That's the way he is again today In your Bibles. Turn to James, chapter 5. If you were with us last time, god, through James, was speaking to rich people that had taken advantage of poorer people. Here today we're still in that context.

Glenn 1:58

James 5-3,. He's speaking to wealthy people. Your gold and your silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure. He's saying here that, rich people, you've stored up this treasure, but we're really in the last days. Why are you putting your emphasis there? That's his concept, this idea of the last days.

Glenn 2:27

Of course, sometimes some Christians, steve, they get real mysterious and it seems to be so mystical. How are we going to figure out when the end times are? Well, that passage says we're in the last days. Now, you've stored up these riches in the last days. That idea supported other place in the New Testament. Hebrews 1-2 says that the Lord God, in these last days, has spoken to us through his Son. We are now in the last days, starting with the Lord Jesus In James. Here he's saying guys, we're in the last days and you're over here hoarding up money that seems to be very misguided. These riches are going to be a witness against you, steve. I think that's a very, very serious, very sobering thought. What?

Steve 3:16

brings to my mind here whenever he's talking about the last days is the teaching of Jesus's eminence, even though we're hundreds and even thousands of years later from whenever this was written. The early disciples, after Jesus's resurrection and in their epistles, along with what James is writing to them, they had an expectation that Jesus could return at any moment, at any time. So, yes, we've been in the last days since Jesus' resurrection and ascension to heaven. Why? Because we should be looking and expecting for him to return at any moment and at any time. That's why we can say that at that time was the last days, all the way up to the day in which we live today, or the last days.

Glenn 4:07

He continues that thought. Look at verse 4, behold the pay of the laborers who mow your fields in which has been withheld by you. In other words, these rich people weren't paying their workers. They cries out against you. The outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of the Sabbath. That, of course, is the Lord God, the Lord Jesus. What he's saying there, though, is that what people do today, how they treat their workers, how they pay people, whether or not they treat them fairly, god knows these things, and it's reached the ears of the Lord.

Glenn 4:43

There's going to come a time when we're going to have to answer for that. That's very sobering. I think we need to take this very seriously. The way we go about our daily lives, our daily business, God's going to hold us into account for that, and that's an idea that I just don't hear a lot of people teaching these days. He goes on even worse, I think.

Glenn 5:02

Look at verses five and six. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. Now, think of that phrase you've fattened your heart in a day of slaughter. Well, of course, he's bringing in the idea of fattening up a livestock prior to slaughter to be eaten. When you're in the livestock business, you would take the animals, make them fatter and heavier so that there'd be more of them. When you slaughtered them, the rich people had more food and were fatter. He says you're fattening your hearts for the day of slaughter. There's going to come a time where it's not going to do you any good. Why are you building up yourself when there's going to come a time here very soon, very imminently, when your soul is going to be needed of you? Steve, I just don't think we have that idea on the front of our minds on a daily basis like we should.

Steve 5:54

No, possibly this is also referring to well, it's definitely referring of not being honest with laborers and people who work for others In our lives today, maybe a person who might not be wealthy themselves but yet they work for a company that controls a lot of wealth, that pays a lot of people and has the livelihood of those people in their hands. I remember that one of the companies I worked for got a new CEO and he was known for being a cost-cutter. I remember him talking at one of his talks to the whole company and he said yeah, there's going to be some cost-cutting, that's going to go on, and it could just be that you're on the wrong side of a spreadsheet, meaning you might be a good worker, you might be doing a good job, but what might happen is, in the cost-cutting, that you lose your job. Now, why I bring that up? Because this person went overboard and he made rules that there had to be cutting to the staff across the board of a certain percentage in every department, and it didn't matter whether the person was doing a good job or not.

Steve 7:10

Obviously, you always have people that are not living up to what their expectations are, but a lot of people who were very, very good workers and they got caught up in the cost-cutting. That CEO was there at that company for, I think, about five or six years and he moved on. He affected all of those people's lives through his policies. I believe that James is also referring to that type of a person. God knows about that. You referred to it a while ago. It's reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. Be aware that maybe you don't have the personal wealth, but you're in a position of a company's wealth and how you treat the employees. There's going to be some accounting that might have to take place.

Glenn 7:55

Company I worked for at one point came to us one time and they said okay, we're changing our accounting system. When we change over this accounting system, everybody in the company's payday is going to get slipped by a week. Just this one time. Just this one time was the idea. Well, what ended up happening is nobody got paid for that week because now the payday was a week later. If you calculate that by, everybody in the entire company didn't have to get paid for a week. We put a pencil to it and figured out that was a vast sum of money that the company just got as a windfall by not paying the workers, because it was more work for them to have to have a special one-time payout to make that week's pay. Even they seemed to not care and they were basically not paying their workers for a week.

Glenn 8:42

James is quite practical and he gets even more direct. He keeps turning the screws here. Look at verse six you have condemned and put to death the righteous man. He does not resist you. Well, if we think of this in terms of the Sermon on the Mount, jesus lifted the principles higher and higher to the spiritual application. When he says there you have condemned and put to death. I think by their attitude they're guilty of murder, as Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. How?

Glenn 9:13

Here's what I think of Steve. Of course he's in this context of rich and poor. Everywhere I've lived, there have been wealthy and powerful people that seem to have an inside track on the money. There's politicians that seem to go into office poor and seem to come out rich. They have a way of taking advantage of people and they just think they're smarter. There's other people, maybe not politicians, but they're what I would call schemers. They sit up night and they figure out ways to make money off of unsuspecting people. Sometimes it's a straight out con job, sometimes it's just scheming. Politicians will figure out a way so that their private company gets more money or they've got stock in something that the government just happens to buy. They're schemers. They scheme people to the point that the people they're fleecing don't even resist.

Glenn 10:08

I think that's what he's talking about here is against this idea. You may think you're just okay, I'm wise, I'm smarter, I got up earlier than the next guy or it could be that you're just cheating people that are unsuspecting. That's what he's speaking against here. Nothing wrong with making money in business, but as long as the business is above board and the customers know what's happening to them, it's when you're scheming and coming up with these tricks in order to get money out of people that are unsuspecting. That's what he's talking about. God knows these things and he's going to hold us accountable. Steve, I think there's going to be a day of reckoning where there's a lot of people are going to be quite surprised.

Steve 10:47

The golden rule of the ultra-wealthy he who has the gold makes the rules. That goes with what? Verse six here, that the righteous man does not resist you, the man that is low on the ladder. They don't resist the wealthy men that are making all the rules. Why? Because their job is on the line. It can affect them. They don't speak out against wrong doing, sometimes because it's not taken the right way and they say, oh, you're not a team player. Before you know it they get laid off and they get pushed to the side. Maybe don't get promotions, so they don't resist. I think that's one of the things that James is talking about here. But the actual golden rule is what do unto others as you would have them do unto you. When you treat other people the way that you would want to be treated, Then you don't do things like what James is pointing out. You don't cheat people out of their wages. You don't scheme to try and get more money off of the backs of other people.

Steve 11:52

I think, glenn, you've mentioned in another session that we had another book that we were studying. I've also seen it too, where these politicians, they vote extra roads into their county and they're on the board and they know months, sometimes years in advance on where this road is going to go through. They end up buying property on one side or the other side of the road. Then, lo and behold, they also approve where this road is going. Oh, it just so happens, I have this frontage property here, and then they end up selling it for a great profit, whereas the person that they bought it from didn't know anything about it and didn't know that it was going to be a windfall to them if they would have held on to it for another five or six years. Right now, as we make this recording.

Glenn 12:39

Our government will not pass a law that makes it illegal for the government officials to buy stock in companies that they're about to pass legislation that will affect. It would just seem that that's a conflict of interest. If you're passing laws that's going to increase one company's value or decrease a company's value, that you ought to be prevented from making money off of that law that you're passing. Let me just summarize these first six verses, because there's a lot here. Verse one he says there's going to be miseries that are going to be coming upon you. He's talking to the people that, OK, I've gotten enough here to where I'm comfortable. Well, you're going to be miserable.

Glenn 13:19

At one point, Verse three the gold and silver that you have, the wealth, it's going to be a witness against you. Also, in verse three there's going to be last days, this money that you're holding such high value, that's going to cry out against you. When you don't pay people or you've managed to be so sly that you've taken advantage to others, that's going to be a cry out against you. Four, in verse seven God knows these things. He's going to come back and there's going to be a judgment day To me. We can be sure, from these passages, there will be a judgment day. The Lord knows he's keeping account of all these things and the Lord's going to make a judgment and meet out rewards and meet out punishments. And to me, Steve, that's just one of these messages that we just don't hear enough of from our pulpits.

Steve 14:04

Now I think that our listeners might be saying why is it that y'all are spending so much time on these first six verses of chapter five? I'm not wealthy and it's not talking to me, but what we're actually saying is, if you're in a position where you are over other workers and in a position where you might be controlling wealth from a company, then these things do apply to you. You need to be aware that maybe you personally aren't wealthy, but yet you need to treat laborers correctly. You need to know and understand that God is aware of whenever cheating or scheming or scheming goes on, that you're not going to be able to get away from it, that there is going to be a reckoning associated with it. God knows about it and he hears about it. If you have somebody that stands up, possibly in a position where you might be, and says, hey, wait a minute now, this isn't right, Maybe you need to listen to him. Maybe you need to understand and see their position.

Steve 15:05

As Christians, we need to be aware of how we affect other people's lives, not just on a personal basis, but also in our work life. I hear many times people as I talk to them about our podcast and about our teaching. I want to know how does this affect me? What does this mean to me? Why should I care about what particular section that you're teaching on? I think that James is clear here. While he's talking about wealthy people, he's also talking about the actions associated with what some of these wealthy people do. The application to the common man here is make sure that you're treating your employees the right way and the correct way, and especially if you're a Christian, because they're also watching and looking at your Christian witness.

Glenn 15:55

In this next section, james takes a bit of a turn and he gets a little softer. Thank goodness, starting in verse 7, he's talking to the brethren again, so his tone is a little softer and he starts to emphasize the need to be patient while we anxiously wait on the Lord. Steve, can you read James, chapter 5, verses 7 through 11?

Steve 16:18

Therefore, be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it until it gets the early and late rains. You too, be patient, strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged. Behold, the judge is standing right at the door. As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We count those blessed who endure. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

Glenn 16:57

With this. Starting in verse 7, he says be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. And then the next verse, verse 8, really repeats the same thing. He's returning again to talking to brethren and he's saying the Lord's coming. I notice here, steve, in three verses he mentions patience and waiting. Five times. Do you think he's trying to send us?

Steve 17:20

a message. I do With that patience and waiting, though he says the Lord is near, the Lord is at hand. It goes to that teaching of eminence that the Lord could come back at any time in return. But, yeah, I think he is trying to tell us and give us some hints here in these verses.

Glenn 17:38

Five times in three verses. Be patient, just wait, because there is this sense of eminence of the return of Christ. He's telling us the Lord's coming back. Meanwhile we need to wait. Here's a question, steve Are you good at waiting?

Steve 17:51

No, not always, Although I've been taught through the years that there needs to be time, that you have to wait and wait on the Lord's time, not your time. My time is pretty rushed, but the Lord's time is sometimes longer than what I would want it to be.

Glenn 18:09

In this idea of waiting too many times. We don't do that. That's why he's giving us the advice, obviously, but we often give up waiting and do something immature. When I think in the Bible there's at least two instances I can think of where people were supposed to wait and they didn't. There was Abraham, remember? Abraham was told by God I'm going to make a great nation of you, and he and his wife got tired of waiting and his wife said why don't you go into the maid and have another child? We see the problem that created.

Glenn 18:39

The other one I think of was the first king of Israel. King Saul was supposed to wait on the prophet to come and do the sacrifice before battle. He got impatient and did it himself, which was illegitimate. That created problems too. Those were at least two instances where they were supposed to wait and they were bad at it and they didn't. I think in my life, steve, there's times I should have waited and I got impatient and did something very immature and very dumb, because that's what happens when you get impatient. How can we be more patient? How can we trust the Lord and just do things in his timing.

Steve 19:15

That's it. You trust the Lord and you go to him and you pray to him. You stay in that relationship with him and you trust that he is going to bring about the good for you. If you've been called for a certain ministry, stick with it. Don't give up on it, because if God has truly called you to it, then he's going to bless it. Trust the Lord, trust His timing and don't try and rush it into your timing. That's whenever we usually run into problems and issues, is whenever we, on our own initiative, try and rush things versus just sitting, not sitting back, but trust the Lord and go with the leading of the Holy Spirit that you have within you.

Glenn 20:00

The illustration that he gives here in verse 7 is one of a farmer that is waiting for the rain. In farming there's, of course, dependent on water if you're a farmer, and so they will wait for the proper weather. It's rain, so the soil's moist. Now I can plant, or I'm gonna come time close to harvest, I'm gonna wait, watch the sky. I think a little rain then the crop of the fruit will look better, so I'm gonna wait and harvest after the rain. That's what he's talking about is waiting, waiting, watch the sky, watch the sky and wait for the proper time.

Glenn 20:38

Well, in the Old King James it's phrased the early and latter rains in a bit of a rabbit trail. Here Years ago there was a movement that came out of Pentecostalism called the latter rain movement, and it's got its name from right here in James 5-7, the early and latter rains. And what the latter rain movement did was it held that there was this special outpouring of the Holy Spirit that came in the church, brought physical healing, and the latter rain movement focused a lot. In fact, many of the early teachers of that taught that there was a guaranteed healing in this outpouring of the Holy Spirit and they held that. We were now, in these days of this latter rain, and that physical healing was guaranteed through this, and so if we just had enough faith? Well, the reason I'll bring that up is because all of the latter rain teachers have died of their last disease.

Glenn 21:35

The passage here that's talking about the early and latter rains is talking about waiting on the Lord with patience. It's not talking about physical healing. That's just wrenching a text from its context. That's just a little bit of a side note. If you ever heard of the latter rain movement, it came from here.

Steve 21:53

And that sounds to me like the teaching of I can do all things through a verse taken out of context, because what you just described there doesn't have anything to do with what James is talking about here.

Glenn 22:05

The clear teaching of the passage if we just read the passage and not just one phrase is that, just like a farmer waits and watches the sky for the rain to know how to harvest or plant its crops, that we should wait and watch the sky for the return of Jesus. It's real clear what he's saying Watch for the signs of the times so that we'll know when Jesus is going to come back. That's the passage that we need to be more focused on is watch for Jesus. Now we're told in verse 8 that the coming of the Lord is near and in verse 9, the judge is standing right at the door. Obviously, steve, who's the judge that they're talking about? The judge is Jesus Christ. Right, the judge is Jesus Christ. Do we normally think of Jesus as a judge?

Steve 22:55

It's often taught that Jesus is nothing but love and that he came here to save the earth and redeem the earth and redeem us, which is all true, but when he comes back, he is coming back in judgment.

Glenn 23:06

I think of the triumphal entry over in the Gospels. He was writing lowly on a donkey, and that was the first coming. The second coming Revelation 19-11 and following. Jesus is coming back, but he's coming on a horse, a war animal. He's coming to be a judge. He's not coming to do anything except take over. He's coming as the conquering king. That's the Lord Jesus.

Glenn 23:30

Next time, be patient, watch the sky. There's going to come a day when our king is going to come writing on a white horse and he's going to solve all these problems, all this economic imperfections and where people are taking advantage of poor people. The poor people are going to be given the just rewards they need. The people that are guilty of taking advantage of them are going to be taken care of and get their promise judgment, because that's what's going to happen next. He's saying here we're in the last days, just have patience. It's going to resolve itself. We should live in this sense of expectancy, knowing that the Lord could return any moment.

Living in Expectancy of Jesus' Return

Glenn 24:10

Jesus taught us this In Revelation 3-3,. Jesus told the church of Sardis, quote I will come like a thief and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. In Luke 12-39,. Jesus said, quote the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect. This tells us to look and watch and wait, because Jesus is going to come and it's going to be sudden and it's going to be upon us before we know it. That's good advice to us. The good news, steve, is that we have the comfort of knowing that we are His children. All we have to do is stay faithful until he comes.

Steve 24:47

I think that's something that's not taught all the times, glenn is that we should be living our lives in expectancy of Jesus returning. It's a subject that's overlooked many times, but we see it here. We've seen it in other epistles. I'm sure as we go through other books we're going to see it as well.

Glenn 25:03

There's more of that that we're going to pick up next time as we continue to reason through James.

Steve 25:07

Thank you so much for watching and listening. May God bless you.