Moth Eaten Garments; Cankered Gold And Silver

MOTH EATEN GARMENTS; CANKERED GOLD AND SILVER

JAMES 5:1-6

Text: James 5:3

James 5:3

3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

Introduction:

The subject of our text is a subject that is on the minds of many, and when spoke on at church makes many nervous.

We've heard a lot about money these last several days and the things that have been happening in the stock market. I know that many you are interested in money. If you say that you are not I have a tendency to believe that you are not telling the truth. All people are interested, most all people I believe to some degree.

You can tell a lot about a man's character by his reaction to money whether it is in plenty or whether it is in poverty.

Illustration:

I heard about a man who came into a large inheritance, several hundred thousand dollars. It was such a great amount of money that the man was old and had a bad heart they thought they better not tell him that he had so much money just bluntly because they thought he might have a heart attack. They said, "Well, the preacher is good with words, we'll ask the preacher to tell him." And, so the minister went over to tell him. The minister thought rather than telling him just straight out he'd kind of ease into it. So he put, rather than a statement, he put a question to the old man, and he said, "Grandpa, what would you do if you had two hundred thousand dollars?" He said, "Pastor, I would give it all to the building fund." The pastor fainted.

Before we get it to the heart of this message let's consider some faulty ideas that some have regarding their treasure.

You can tell what a man's attitude is and a lot about his character by his relationship to money. There are a lot of deceptions about money. A lot of people have some wrong ideas about money.

„X Some Think It Brings Happiness

Some people think that money brings happiness. It doesn't. It can buy almost anything but happiness. Take you almost anywhere but Heaven.

„X Some Think It Brings Security

Other people think money brings security. It doesn't.

„X Some Think It Is Sinful

The Bible doesn't say that money is the root of all evil contrary to popular opinion. "For the love of money is the root of all evil..." (1 Timothy 6:10).

There are a lot of deceptions about money. There are a lot of disagreements about money and you can get criticized more over money matters than almost anything else.

They say money is the source of 89% family arguments.

I read not long ago and a marriage counselor stated "Money is the source of 89% of all family discord and arguments.

If you can't manage on little you wouldn't be able to manage on much.

Let's see what the Bible has to say about wealth today because it is very relevant today.

Somebody once said that, "Stewardship is that area of life that tells how men make money and how God makes men." So, we are going to be talking about a man and his money today.

Notice:

1. HOW A MAN SAVES HIS MONEY

James 5:1-3

1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. 3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

Here James is talking about how a man saves his money. There are some people who just treasure up money.

It actually means "a collection."

Some people collect money like other people collect stamps. I mean, they have money--not necessarily money that they are going to need for retirement, or money they are going to need for the future--but money that is kept for money's sake.

Notice this is:

A. Stagnant Wealth

What James is talking about here is stagnant wealth. Wealth that has been heaped up, wealth that has been salted down, wealth that has been hoarded, the Bible condemns.

I don't think that the Bible condemns saving money, but it does condemn hording money.

Luke 12:15

15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

Colossians 3:5

5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: