Look at verse 4. You thought hoarding was bad, you thought being selfish was bad, Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen... Back in biblical times, workmen were hired and they were paid by the day. No legal contracts. No teams of lawyers here. It was just a daily thing. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The wages are crying out. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord almighty.
They were cheating people out of money and, because they were cheating their workers out of money, they were robbing the workers family from even eating at night. The rich people were doing that. So, if you are materialistic, you are sinning against others and against God. Let me define materialism. Materialism is not about how much you have. People think, Oh, she is so materialistic because she has got a lot of money. Or, He is so materialistic because he has been so successful.
Thats not necessarily true. You can be on the materialistic trip and just be middle class or even lower middle class. Materialism is having a wrong attitude about your possessions. Being a materialist means that your possessions possess you. You dont possess your possessions. So another wealth warning is dont use people up.
See, again, we have misery happening. We are hoarding. Now, because we are hoarding, we are using people up, and here is the fourth wealth warning: Money May Cause A False Sense Of Security. Do you think money can give you a false sense of security? I believe so. Check out James 5:5-6, You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence.
Ed Young Jr states that God wants us to enjoy blessings. Its not a sin to enjoy the fruits of your labor or of my labor. Thats cool. There is a difference between enjoyment and living extravagantly. There is a difference between enjoying the blessings of God and just going out and doing recreational shopping because you have got the bank to do so. Yes, Ill buy this and Ill buy that. Its a triplicate of what I already have but, because I have money, Ill just go ahead and buy it. That is living in luxury and self-indulgence. A lot of times you talk to someone who really has a lot of money, and they think they are bullet proof. They think they are autonomous.
