Click here for the audio message of – James 5:12-20
We conclude our look at the epistle of James this morning. Over the past couple of months we have learned from James about several aspects of the Christian’s life. We are to stay faithful during trials and temptations.
We are to live out our faith with selfless love. We are to watch what we say, control our words, control our tongues. We are to be patience. We are to be humble. And we are to trust God rather than trust in our own abilities or riches.
In verse 12, James tells us to make our yes, yes and our no, no. When you say you are going to do something, then do it. When you promise someone something, then follow through and uphold your promise, uphold your word.
This also means to say what you mean. Speak the truth in love and you won’t ever have to worry about what the other person thinks. This idea once again reinforces the idea of controlling the tongue and having patience.
Think before you speak. Proverbs 15:1, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 29:8, “Scoffers set a city aflame, but the wise turn away wrath.” Be wise, be loving, be patient.
James then starts to finish up his letter by writing about prayer. Whatever your situation is, pray. Pray if you are happy. Pray if you are sad. Pray for healing or pray for continued good health. Pray for suffering, confessions, each other, petitions, praise, supplications, and thanksgiving.
No doubt most of you have had experience with prayer. We’ve discussed prayer here many times. Some people still only pray when they need something. They view God as some type of genie in a bottle or something. He’s there when you need something, but other than that you leave me alone.
I think to some extent we are all like that. Our prayer life kicks in to overdrive when we are in trouble, sick, or in need of help. But in those good times, maybe we don’t praise God enough for the wonderful things He does in our lives. What a great time to do it, now today. This week as we celebrate Thanksgiving, make sure to thank the One who makes it all possible.
Later on today or this week, read back over the scripture this morning and try to make at least one of these types of prayer more a part of your life. I know some people keep prayer journals and look back through them to see how God has answered their prayers.
Each week at our Bible study we close with prayer and prayer requests. I always write them down in my notebook and it is interesting to look back through them and see what has been done. Our prayers are not always answered the way we think they should, but God does answer them.
In verses 14-16, James discusses physical and spiritual healing. We are to tell other people about our physical needs, our spiritual needs and ask them to pray for us. We are to pray with passion and energy.
James tells us to call the elders and other church leaders together for anointing, prayer, and confession. If you remember we did that here for Joyce about a year ago or so. We gathered around her here at the alter and I anointed her with oil and we prayed for her healing.
Now, I didn’t do anything special. I don’t have any super powers and there was nothing special about the oil in this bottle up here. But God listened to us. He heard our prayers and He answered them in a way that we can rejoice in but He answered our prayers according to His will.
The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. These are the energetic, passionate prayers of godly people that activate the power of God to move in their lives or the lives of others.
James gives the example of Elijah from the Old Testament. This is probably once of the most notable illustrations of the power of prayer in the Old Testament. His prayers both initiated and ended a three and a half year drought. Now that is power. That is being in tune with God.
We are the same kind of person as Elijah was. He like all of the other Old Testament characters wasn’t a superhero or something. In fact, He was a man subject to similar passions as we are. But he was also a man who prayed with passion, and that is the kind of prayer we need today.
James closes his letter by telling us that we are responsible for each other. We are to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others. As they receive Christ into their lives, we are to help them grow and mature in the faith. This involves discipline and correcting them when they stray from the Word of God.
The closing words of James really express his primary objective of this letter. That is simply to confront those people that have a fake or dead faith. Rather than address these people and warn them directly, James tells the faithful believers to witness to those fellow believers that are not living in full obedience to God’s Word.
That is definitely something we need to continue to do today as well. Some believers have indeed strayed or wandered from the truth. This people are in danger and must be called back to a faithful life.
Maintaining open, sharing, praying relationships with other Christians will help keep us from getting stuck in a rut in our spiritual lives. These relationships help give us the strength that provides victory over our sin.
God has granted to all believers the ministry of reconciling wandering souls to Himself. When a so called believer’s life shows evidence that their faith is not real, it is our duty as a believer to witness and minister to them for genuine saving faith in God.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for our time studying the words of your servant James. We thank you for the many practical advice you gave us through him for our daily lives. Help us to truly implement them into our lives.
As we prepare to give our thanks this week, help us to remember to give thanks to you for all that you have done and for all that you will do for us. We thank you especially for sending your son into this world to save us from our sins.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
AMEN
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
What Awaits
Click here for the audio message of – James 5:1-11
James continues his tests of faith in Chapter 5. Now James focuses on money and the believer’s view of money. This portion of Scripture is really divided into two sections, greed and patience and is addressed to the rich and the oppressed people.
James condemns the people who profess to be Christians, but really worship money. He tells them to look at their hearts again. He isn’t condemning their wealth, simply how they are using their money.
James declares that judgment awaits rich people because of their crimes. What are these crimes? The rich have hoarded their wealth. They have committed fraud in order to get more wealth. They are greedy. They live a life of luxury while others do not even have enough to survive.
If James were writing this letter today, I don’t think he would be addressing just the millionaires here in the United States. Even the poorest people here have it much better than many places around the world.
I believe as citizens of the United States we have been blessed by God many times over, but I think as individuals of the kingdom of God we will be judge based upon what God has given to us and how we have used or abused those blessings.
Do you consider yourself rich? Most people here would probably say no and that may be true based upon American standards. However, if I describe rich as having more than you need, I suspect everyone meets that standard. That’s how James described the rich.
Piling up riches can be like not trusting God. Now, I am not saying we shouldn’t save for things like retirement or education or a home or car or whatever. God doesn’t tell us not to plan. He tells us to trust Him and make Him a big part of our plan.
God takes care of His people. Think about some of the things that Jesus said during His sermon on the mount in Matthew chapter 5 through 7.
“…do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink…. Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, or reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?” Matthew 6:25-26
“…your heavenly father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:32-34
James then speaks to the poor, they were the ones being persecuted and ruled over by the rich. He starts by telling them to be patient during their trials. This too shows where they place their trust. Trust God, not man. Trust God, not riches. Trust God, not works.
It is tough to watch everyone else around you getting stuff like new cars and big screen tv’s and such. It is tough not to want those things too. It is tough to see others live in luxury while you struggle to make ends meet. We need to be patient and trust in God and use whatever He has given us to further honor Him. Trust and obey.
But part of the problem is the fact that people don’t have patience. They want what they want and they want it now. That is partially why we are having this economic meltdown. People simply bought on credit more stuff than they could afford. They were trying to live a lifestyle beyond what their income supplied. The results are not surprising to me at all.
James gives several examples of patience in his letter. He says look at the farmer. He invests a bunch of money and time in seeds. He plants them and then pretty much trusts God and waits on Him to make the crop grow. Sure today, we have pesticides, fertilizers, and irrigation systems, but whether or not the farmer acknowledges it he is at the mercy of God to make his crop grow as well.
The farmer has to wait. He has to be patient because the crops don’t grow and produce fruits and vegetables overnight. It takes many months to produce a harvest.
James also mentions the patience of the prophets of the Old Testament. They proclaimed the arrival of the Messiah, but never actually saw the birth of Christ. Many of them were ridiculed and persecuted for their words, but they patiently endured and were proven right with the birth of Christ.
Finally, of course, anytime you think of biblical patience, I am sure Job comes to mind. He was being tempted by Satan, but he never gave in. He was patient and God showed he was not being punished for his sin.
Some of us can use some patience. Even if it is just the little things in life that get to us, like traffic or waiting in the checkout lines, we still need to trust God. Wait on the Lord, His timing is best.
The words of James speak to us this morning, not just about being rich or poor or being patient through our suffering, but they speak to us about the coming of Christ. The believer rejoices at the thought of Christ’s return, while the unbelievers are fearful of death. God will set things right when He returns, but it will be on His schedule and on His terms.
Wealth can be a blessing or a curse. It simply depends on the person’s relationship with God. A right relationship produces blessings whereas a wrong relationship will be like a curse. Are you blessed or cursed?
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this practical advice on being patient. Help us to be like the farmers who trust in you for their harvest. Give us the patience that we need in our everyday matters of life.
But most importantly, help us to be patient in our faith and wait for your timing as you work in our lives. Give us the things that we need for today and help us to trust in you to take care of tomorrow.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
AMEN
James continues his tests of faith in Chapter 5. Now James focuses on money and the believer’s view of money. This portion of Scripture is really divided into two sections, greed and patience and is addressed to the rich and the oppressed people.
James condemns the people who profess to be Christians, but really worship money. He tells them to look at their hearts again. He isn’t condemning their wealth, simply how they are using their money.
James declares that judgment awaits rich people because of their crimes. What are these crimes? The rich have hoarded their wealth. They have committed fraud in order to get more wealth. They are greedy. They live a life of luxury while others do not even have enough to survive.
If James were writing this letter today, I don’t think he would be addressing just the millionaires here in the United States. Even the poorest people here have it much better than many places around the world.
I believe as citizens of the United States we have been blessed by God many times over, but I think as individuals of the kingdom of God we will be judge based upon what God has given to us and how we have used or abused those blessings.
Do you consider yourself rich? Most people here would probably say no and that may be true based upon American standards. However, if I describe rich as having more than you need, I suspect everyone meets that standard. That’s how James described the rich.
Piling up riches can be like not trusting God. Now, I am not saying we shouldn’t save for things like retirement or education or a home or car or whatever. God doesn’t tell us not to plan. He tells us to trust Him and make Him a big part of our plan.
God takes care of His people. Think about some of the things that Jesus said during His sermon on the mount in Matthew chapter 5 through 7.
“…do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink…. Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, or reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?” Matthew 6:25-26
“…your heavenly father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:32-34
James then speaks to the poor, they were the ones being persecuted and ruled over by the rich. He starts by telling them to be patient during their trials. This too shows where they place their trust. Trust God, not man. Trust God, not riches. Trust God, not works.
It is tough to watch everyone else around you getting stuff like new cars and big screen tv’s and such. It is tough not to want those things too. It is tough to see others live in luxury while you struggle to make ends meet. We need to be patient and trust in God and use whatever He has given us to further honor Him. Trust and obey.
But part of the problem is the fact that people don’t have patience. They want what they want and they want it now. That is partially why we are having this economic meltdown. People simply bought on credit more stuff than they could afford. They were trying to live a lifestyle beyond what their income supplied. The results are not surprising to me at all.
James gives several examples of patience in his letter. He says look at the farmer. He invests a bunch of money and time in seeds. He plants them and then pretty much trusts God and waits on Him to make the crop grow. Sure today, we have pesticides, fertilizers, and irrigation systems, but whether or not the farmer acknowledges it he is at the mercy of God to make his crop grow as well.
The farmer has to wait. He has to be patient because the crops don’t grow and produce fruits and vegetables overnight. It takes many months to produce a harvest.
James also mentions the patience of the prophets of the Old Testament. They proclaimed the arrival of the Messiah, but never actually saw the birth of Christ. Many of them were ridiculed and persecuted for their words, but they patiently endured and were proven right with the birth of Christ.
Finally, of course, anytime you think of biblical patience, I am sure Job comes to mind. He was being tempted by Satan, but he never gave in. He was patient and God showed he was not being punished for his sin.
Some of us can use some patience. Even if it is just the little things in life that get to us, like traffic or waiting in the checkout lines, we still need to trust God. Wait on the Lord, His timing is best.
The words of James speak to us this morning, not just about being rich or poor or being patient through our suffering, but they speak to us about the coming of Christ. The believer rejoices at the thought of Christ’s return, while the unbelievers are fearful of death. God will set things right when He returns, but it will be on His schedule and on His terms.
Wealth can be a blessing or a curse. It simply depends on the person’s relationship with God. A right relationship produces blessings whereas a wrong relationship will be like a curse. Are you blessed or cursed?
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this practical advice on being patient. Help us to be like the farmers who trust in you for their harvest. Give us the patience that we need in our everyday matters of life.
But most importantly, help us to be patient in our faith and wait for your timing as you work in our lives. Give us the things that we need for today and help us to trust in you to take care of tomorrow.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
AMEN
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Getting Perspective
Click here for the audio message of – James 4:11-17
How many times have you been convinced that you are in control of your life? You are the captain of your own ship. You are the commander and master of your fate. Right? I think at times we all have this type of thinking.
Sometimes only a crisis type situation will enable us to see the truth. That we are not in control and never have been and never will be. God is in control as we have studied before. In this morning’s scripture James flat out tells us that “[We] are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”
This portion of James’ letter focuses on just that fact. He clues us in to realizing what our attitude is toward God, towards others, and towards our future. Then he helps us to make them what they really should be.
James starts by telling us that we are not the judges of other people. Do not speak evil of others. How many of you have ever done that? Yeah, all of us. How many of you have actually done that today! No doubt some of us.
We are not to speak evil of others. Why? Because those who speak evil of others set themselves up as judges. God is the only judge. He is the only one that knows our hearts. Now this speaking evil of others we would translate into slander today.
James is not talking about confronting other’s sin. We are commanded to do that, but we are not judging their sin by our own rules, rather we are confronting their sin based upon the word of God. If we do in fact judge others based upon our own thoughts then we are not respecting God who is the lawgiver.
At lot of times people speak evil of others or slander them to build themselves up. We see this especially with kids, but adults do it as well. As we are building ourselves up we actually start to believe that we are better than other people.
It reminds me of the parable Jesus told of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18. As Max Lucado retells the parable [Traveling Light p 74], the self righteous person prays like this,
“God, I thank you that the world has people like me. The man on the corner needs welfare – I don’t. The prostitute on the street has AIDS – I don’t. The drunk at the bar needs alcohol – I don’t. The gay [people] need morality – I don’t. I thank you that the world has people like me!”
That is the prayer of the self-righteous man. We really ought to be praying like the sinners we are.
“God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Like my brother on welfare, I’m dependent on your grace. Like my sister with AIDS, I’m infected with mistakes. Like my friend who drinks, I need something to ease my pain. And as you love and give direction to the gays, grant some to me as well. Have mercy on me a sinner.”
When we love and trust God, we will also loves others and obey God. We will know that we are no better than anyone else. We are saved by the mercy and grace of God just like others. When we truly realize and believe that, then we can more fully understand what God wants for us and from us.
That brings us back to the opening of this message. Are you living your life thinking you are in control or are you living life as if God is in control? The phrase here today, gone tomorrow is true. We have no control over how long we will live. We should be living each day for God.
Our earthly lives are only temporary, but as you receive Christ into your life you can start to enjoy eternity with Him.
Our life is like a mist, like a vapor, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t plan for things either. James is not saying that at all. Wise planning is very important and in fact is a gift from God. The idea here is to always make God a part of your plan.
The last thing I want to look at this morning is verse 17. I am not going to say much about it, but it really hits home to me and affects the way I live my life.
“Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (NASB) Think about it. Most of us are not “bad” people at least by societies standards. But how often did you not do the right thing, when you knew what the right thing was to do.
There are a great many people sinning today and they don’t even know it. If you know the right thing to do and do not do it, that is sin. Being a Christian is not just about avoiding the wrong things in life, rather it means focusing our lives on doing what is right according to God’s plan.
Our lives are very brief, 70 or 80 years says Moses. We should not spend our time arguing over things that really won’t matter for eternity. It ruins the joy of living. We need to come to Christ and then we will truly start living.
Living the will of God is another test of a Christian’s faith. We should want to carry out the will of God with all our heart. Trying to be in control of our own life is like rejecting God’s path for us.
In John 10:10, Jesus said “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” He wants to give you that life. The question is do you want it and are you living that life today?
Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you for giving us the knowledge of right and wrong. Help us to do what is right. Help us to love those around us rather than judge them. Make our plans align with your plan. Strengthen our commitment and faith to you.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
AMEN
How many times have you been convinced that you are in control of your life? You are the captain of your own ship. You are the commander and master of your fate. Right? I think at times we all have this type of thinking.
Sometimes only a crisis type situation will enable us to see the truth. That we are not in control and never have been and never will be. God is in control as we have studied before. In this morning’s scripture James flat out tells us that “[We] are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”
This portion of James’ letter focuses on just that fact. He clues us in to realizing what our attitude is toward God, towards others, and towards our future. Then he helps us to make them what they really should be.
James starts by telling us that we are not the judges of other people. Do not speak evil of others. How many of you have ever done that? Yeah, all of us. How many of you have actually done that today! No doubt some of us.
We are not to speak evil of others. Why? Because those who speak evil of others set themselves up as judges. God is the only judge. He is the only one that knows our hearts. Now this speaking evil of others we would translate into slander today.
James is not talking about confronting other’s sin. We are commanded to do that, but we are not judging their sin by our own rules, rather we are confronting their sin based upon the word of God. If we do in fact judge others based upon our own thoughts then we are not respecting God who is the lawgiver.
At lot of times people speak evil of others or slander them to build themselves up. We see this especially with kids, but adults do it as well. As we are building ourselves up we actually start to believe that we are better than other people.
It reminds me of the parable Jesus told of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18. As Max Lucado retells the parable [Traveling Light p 74], the self righteous person prays like this,
“God, I thank you that the world has people like me. The man on the corner needs welfare – I don’t. The prostitute on the street has AIDS – I don’t. The drunk at the bar needs alcohol – I don’t. The gay [people] need morality – I don’t. I thank you that the world has people like me!”
That is the prayer of the self-righteous man. We really ought to be praying like the sinners we are.
“God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Like my brother on welfare, I’m dependent on your grace. Like my sister with AIDS, I’m infected with mistakes. Like my friend who drinks, I need something to ease my pain. And as you love and give direction to the gays, grant some to me as well. Have mercy on me a sinner.”
When we love and trust God, we will also loves others and obey God. We will know that we are no better than anyone else. We are saved by the mercy and grace of God just like others. When we truly realize and believe that, then we can more fully understand what God wants for us and from us.
That brings us back to the opening of this message. Are you living your life thinking you are in control or are you living life as if God is in control? The phrase here today, gone tomorrow is true. We have no control over how long we will live. We should be living each day for God.
Our earthly lives are only temporary, but as you receive Christ into your life you can start to enjoy eternity with Him.
Our life is like a mist, like a vapor, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t plan for things either. James is not saying that at all. Wise planning is very important and in fact is a gift from God. The idea here is to always make God a part of your plan.
The last thing I want to look at this morning is verse 17. I am not going to say much about it, but it really hits home to me and affects the way I live my life.
“Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (NASB) Think about it. Most of us are not “bad” people at least by societies standards. But how often did you not do the right thing, when you knew what the right thing was to do.
There are a great many people sinning today and they don’t even know it. If you know the right thing to do and do not do it, that is sin. Being a Christian is not just about avoiding the wrong things in life, rather it means focusing our lives on doing what is right according to God’s plan.
Our lives are very brief, 70 or 80 years says Moses. We should not spend our time arguing over things that really won’t matter for eternity. It ruins the joy of living. We need to come to Christ and then we will truly start living.
Living the will of God is another test of a Christian’s faith. We should want to carry out the will of God with all our heart. Trying to be in control of our own life is like rejecting God’s path for us.
In John 10:10, Jesus said “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” He wants to give you that life. The question is do you want it and are you living that life today?
Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you for giving us the knowledge of right and wrong. Help us to do what is right. Help us to love those around us rather than judge them. Make our plans align with your plan. Strengthen our commitment and faith to you.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
AMEN
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Peace
Click here for the audio message of James 4:1-10
In today’s portion of scripture, James tells us where the sources of disagreement come from and where the source of peace comes from. He starts this at the end of chapter three and continues on into chapter 4. Of course, when he was writing this letter, he didn’t use chapters. Just like we wouldn’t use chapters in any of our letters to friends either.
James writes of earthly and heavenly wisdom. Wisdom is not simply intelligence or knowledge, rather wisdom in general is the effective application of the truths you know. Wisdom is yet another test of a believers faith.
There is man’s wisdom and there is God’s wisdom. The wisdom of man seeks his own and has no saving relationship with God.
“The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.” (Chapter 3 Verse 17)
Purity, that is something that many of us are missing today. This is spiritual integrity and moral sincerity. Having pure motives. This comes from truly loving others as you love yourself. Being gentle means having power under control. Reasonable, mercy, good fruits, unwavering: these are all traits of a person with heavenly wisdom. Wisdom that comes from God.
Earthly wisdom, on the other hand, is bitterness, selfishness, boastful, lying, envy, and deceitful. This is the harsh attitudes that you see in other people, maybe you even see it in yourself once in a while. This is seeking your own agenda, your own pleasure, and your own goals at the expense of others.
You can see then why earthly wisdom provokes people to conflict with others. It is focused on themselves, not the love and concern for others that God commands us to have. Think about this past week and about some of the different situations that you saw.
Did the conflicts happen because of heavenly wisdom or earthly wisdom? More often than not, the people operating with Heavenly wisdom do not get involved in too many conflicts, especially over earthly matters.
Now that doesn’t mean that Christians are to be a doormat for abuse either. For example, if a husband is physically beating his wife. The wife should not just take it and try to live at peace with him. She needs to protect herself and that may involve defending herself as needed.
However, we have the police and other agencies that are available to help. So maybe the guy goes to jail for his actions. The wife shouldn’t feel bad or sorry for that. Everyone has to suffer the consequences of their actions.
James continues in chapter 4 talking about the sources of quarrels. Here James is referring to conflicts within the church. Again, these disagreements come from our own selfish desires taking control. This is especially true when we cannot tame our tongue as we talked about last week.
James tells us to simply ask God to deal with our desires. If we are in tune with God’s will, then our desires will be His desires and he will give us what we want. It gets no clearer than Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
We need to ask God from a pure heart, not of our own selfish desires. See we always think we can do things on our own. We need to stop and ask God what He wants done and reflect and meditate on His answer to us as give to us in His Word.
James says that we don’t receive what we ask for from God when we ask with the wrong motives. When we seek God’s honor and glory, then we have the right motive. The people of this world have the wrong motives. They do not submit their lives to Christ. They do not even acknowledge their dependence upon Him.
Being a friend of this world is therefore being hostile to God. Christian living involves separation from the contaminants of this world. Christians need to live in this world but not be of it. That is a very hard thing for us to do. In fact, it is impossible for us to do by our own power. That is way we need to rely on the strength of God.
Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through [Christ] Him who strengthens me.” We must disdain the things of this world and not get caught in the deceptions of Satan. We must draw nearer to God and humbly submit our lives to Him. We must truly mourn over our sin.
This gives us the humble spirit that we need to continue our maturity in the faith and grow closer to our Lord. We realize the wrong sinful things that we do and we are truly sorrowful for them. We submit to God and it knocks our worldly ego’s out. It aligns our motives and will with God’s.
Some people get on James’ case here a little bit and say he sounds a little harsh or a little rigid with his writing here. I don’t. I think he is right on target.
Make no mistake about it, everyone gets into arguments. Sure some people more than others. But look at the sources of those arguments. They come from our ego’s. They come from our envy of others. They come from our own greediness.
The solution is to be humble before God and others. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God. To be a peacemaker, to be called a son of God, you need humility.
We are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. If you profess to be a Christian but your heart is still proud, arrogant, and self centered, then you are lying to yourself. You may have even fooled yourself and others around you. But you cannot fool God. He knows your heart.
Strive for a pure heart. Strive for peace. Be gentle and reasonable. Be full of mercy and good fruits. Be unwavering in your faith and attitude and of course, be without hypocrisy.
Ask the Lord, for heavenly wisdom and the strength to be his servant, his friend, and his son.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for our time in your word this morning. Help us to humbly come before you, filled with sorrow over our sin. Help us to turn from this world and its desires. Strengthen us to be pure like your Son.
Give us the humility to serve you each and everyday of our lives until you return again to us and for us.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
AMEN
In today’s portion of scripture, James tells us where the sources of disagreement come from and where the source of peace comes from. He starts this at the end of chapter three and continues on into chapter 4. Of course, when he was writing this letter, he didn’t use chapters. Just like we wouldn’t use chapters in any of our letters to friends either.
James writes of earthly and heavenly wisdom. Wisdom is not simply intelligence or knowledge, rather wisdom in general is the effective application of the truths you know. Wisdom is yet another test of a believers faith.
There is man’s wisdom and there is God’s wisdom. The wisdom of man seeks his own and has no saving relationship with God.
“The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.” (Chapter 3 Verse 17)
Purity, that is something that many of us are missing today. This is spiritual integrity and moral sincerity. Having pure motives. This comes from truly loving others as you love yourself. Being gentle means having power under control. Reasonable, mercy, good fruits, unwavering: these are all traits of a person with heavenly wisdom. Wisdom that comes from God.
Earthly wisdom, on the other hand, is bitterness, selfishness, boastful, lying, envy, and deceitful. This is the harsh attitudes that you see in other people, maybe you even see it in yourself once in a while. This is seeking your own agenda, your own pleasure, and your own goals at the expense of others.
You can see then why earthly wisdom provokes people to conflict with others. It is focused on themselves, not the love and concern for others that God commands us to have. Think about this past week and about some of the different situations that you saw.
Did the conflicts happen because of heavenly wisdom or earthly wisdom? More often than not, the people operating with Heavenly wisdom do not get involved in too many conflicts, especially over earthly matters.
Now that doesn’t mean that Christians are to be a doormat for abuse either. For example, if a husband is physically beating his wife. The wife should not just take it and try to live at peace with him. She needs to protect herself and that may involve defending herself as needed.
However, we have the police and other agencies that are available to help. So maybe the guy goes to jail for his actions. The wife shouldn’t feel bad or sorry for that. Everyone has to suffer the consequences of their actions.
James continues in chapter 4 talking about the sources of quarrels. Here James is referring to conflicts within the church. Again, these disagreements come from our own selfish desires taking control. This is especially true when we cannot tame our tongue as we talked about last week.
James tells us to simply ask God to deal with our desires. If we are in tune with God’s will, then our desires will be His desires and he will give us what we want. It gets no clearer than Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
We need to ask God from a pure heart, not of our own selfish desires. See we always think we can do things on our own. We need to stop and ask God what He wants done and reflect and meditate on His answer to us as give to us in His Word.
James says that we don’t receive what we ask for from God when we ask with the wrong motives. When we seek God’s honor and glory, then we have the right motive. The people of this world have the wrong motives. They do not submit their lives to Christ. They do not even acknowledge their dependence upon Him.
Being a friend of this world is therefore being hostile to God. Christian living involves separation from the contaminants of this world. Christians need to live in this world but not be of it. That is a very hard thing for us to do. In fact, it is impossible for us to do by our own power. That is way we need to rely on the strength of God.
Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through [Christ] Him who strengthens me.” We must disdain the things of this world and not get caught in the deceptions of Satan. We must draw nearer to God and humbly submit our lives to Him. We must truly mourn over our sin.
This gives us the humble spirit that we need to continue our maturity in the faith and grow closer to our Lord. We realize the wrong sinful things that we do and we are truly sorrowful for them. We submit to God and it knocks our worldly ego’s out. It aligns our motives and will with God’s.
Some people get on James’ case here a little bit and say he sounds a little harsh or a little rigid with his writing here. I don’t. I think he is right on target.
Make no mistake about it, everyone gets into arguments. Sure some people more than others. But look at the sources of those arguments. They come from our ego’s. They come from our envy of others. They come from our own greediness.
The solution is to be humble before God and others. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God. To be a peacemaker, to be called a son of God, you need humility.
We are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. If you profess to be a Christian but your heart is still proud, arrogant, and self centered, then you are lying to yourself. You may have even fooled yourself and others around you. But you cannot fool God. He knows your heart.
Strive for a pure heart. Strive for peace. Be gentle and reasonable. Be full of mercy and good fruits. Be unwavering in your faith and attitude and of course, be without hypocrisy.
Ask the Lord, for heavenly wisdom and the strength to be his servant, his friend, and his son.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for our time in your word this morning. Help us to humbly come before you, filled with sorrow over our sin. Help us to turn from this world and its desires. Strengthen us to be pure like your Son.
Give us the humility to serve you each and everyday of our lives until you return again to us and for us.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
AMEN
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Fiery Words
Click here for the audio message of James 3:1-12
James continues his look at the Christian life in our text this morning. He writes about something that probably hits close to home for most of us as well. That of course is taming the tongue. A person’s speech tells a lot about their heart. Through words is probably the easiest and most common way for people to make their sinfulness known to others.
There are some sins that we may not be able to commit simply because we don’t have the opportunity or the interest or desire to do so. For example, most of us here will probably never physically murder anyone. We may not have the strength to do it, we may not be willing to take the risk to do it, or whatever. Most of us will never physically murder another person.
However there are no limits as to what we can think and then say about that other person. Each of us is capable of saying anything and many of us have indeed said things we shouldn’t have.
James compares the tongue to several things in everyday life. He tells us that a little spark can start a forest fire and we know that to be true. The tongue is the same way. The power of words is tremendous.
Fire can get out of control quickly and rapid destruction occurs. What about words? Your words can get out of control quickly too and cause destruction of your relationships with the people around you as well.
Your words can hurt those people around you and make them bitter toward you. Compulsive liars for example begin to believe their own lives. They can no longer distinguish between the truth and a lie. That is why Satan loves it when we are talking.
He knows that the more we talk, the more opportunity we have to say something bad, mean, hurtful, or sinful. It has been estimated that the average person says about thirty thousand words every day. And I am sure we all know a couple of people that exceed that number.
Think about the destruction thirty thousand words can do. The tongue cannot be tamed except by the power of God.
The tongue can condemn, control, and corrupt. But your words can also bring your faith and works together as we shall see. If your heart is obedient to God then your words should demonstrate your love for God and for others.
Going back to the fire illustration. Our lives would be very different without fire. We would have no heat to keep us warm. We would have no way to cook our food. So fire is a good thing, when it is controlled.
Left unattended though a fire can get out of hand and cause massive destruction. The same applies to our words.
We as Christians may talk the talk, meaning we say we are faithful followers of Jesus Christ, but are we walking the walking? Are we doing what God wants us to do? Are we doing what Jesus did? Are you living the Christian life or just talking about it?
We are not perfect that is for sure. We as faithful followers of Christ are still tainted by sin in this fallen world.
But James also finds inconsistency with our words. We bless people and we curse them. It builds people up and it also tears them down. How can this be? This is quiet a conundrum!
We need to remember that only God can completely tame our tongue. We need to live our life in submission to the will of God and joyfully accept what God places into our lives.
One thing that I think we forget is the fact that each of us is made in the image of God. That is right, Saddam Hussain and Adolf Hitler were made in the image of God. That isn’t something we think about very often because we have labeled people certain ways by our standards.
But it is true we are all made in the image of God. So when you are degrading someone with your words it is like degrading God.
Your words can also show others what is in your heart. Do you have nice and kind words, even under pressure? Or are your words mean and nasty? It shows your true self. Think about your words to others and see if you can spot any inconsistencies with your words and actions this week.
Think about this past week, did you: brag and boast to others, lie, slander, gossip, curse, make off colored comments, spread rumors, yell, or argue? I suspect we all did. Maybe there is one of these things that trips you up more than others.
We cannot change our past. What we have done, we have done. What we have said, we have said. But we can change today and we can be the person God wants us to be.
Our words don’t have to tear down. We can in fact use our words to build up instead. As I said, the tongue has tremendous power and can be used for good or evil. We can encourage others rather then telling them they are a failure.
We can comfort them when they are sad. We can praise them when they have done well. We can be supportive when they are struggling. Most importantly, we can proclaim the word of God to them, telling them and teaching them about Christ.
We should make our speech focus on the positive things of life rather than the negative. We will in fact need to deal with difficult people every day of our lives, but we can deal with them with the power of God on our side as well receive Jesus into our lives and live in submission to His will.
A true believer will posses a sanctified tongue, yet they must maintain it.
Nowhere is the relationship between faith and works more evident than in a person’s speech. What you are will be disclosed by what you say. Your speech is a reasonable and reliable measure of your spiritual temperature. Are you burning with a heart for God or for this world?
Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you for our time in your word this morning. We ask that you will tame our tongues. Make them a source for life rather than a source of evil. Help us our hearts to be shown to others through our words and our actions this week.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
AMEN
James continues his look at the Christian life in our text this morning. He writes about something that probably hits close to home for most of us as well. That of course is taming the tongue. A person’s speech tells a lot about their heart. Through words is probably the easiest and most common way for people to make their sinfulness known to others.
There are some sins that we may not be able to commit simply because we don’t have the opportunity or the interest or desire to do so. For example, most of us here will probably never physically murder anyone. We may not have the strength to do it, we may not be willing to take the risk to do it, or whatever. Most of us will never physically murder another person.
However there are no limits as to what we can think and then say about that other person. Each of us is capable of saying anything and many of us have indeed said things we shouldn’t have.
James compares the tongue to several things in everyday life. He tells us that a little spark can start a forest fire and we know that to be true. The tongue is the same way. The power of words is tremendous.
Fire can get out of control quickly and rapid destruction occurs. What about words? Your words can get out of control quickly too and cause destruction of your relationships with the people around you as well.
Your words can hurt those people around you and make them bitter toward you. Compulsive liars for example begin to believe their own lives. They can no longer distinguish between the truth and a lie. That is why Satan loves it when we are talking.
He knows that the more we talk, the more opportunity we have to say something bad, mean, hurtful, or sinful. It has been estimated that the average person says about thirty thousand words every day. And I am sure we all know a couple of people that exceed that number.
Think about the destruction thirty thousand words can do. The tongue cannot be tamed except by the power of God.
The tongue can condemn, control, and corrupt. But your words can also bring your faith and works together as we shall see. If your heart is obedient to God then your words should demonstrate your love for God and for others.
Going back to the fire illustration. Our lives would be very different without fire. We would have no heat to keep us warm. We would have no way to cook our food. So fire is a good thing, when it is controlled.
Left unattended though a fire can get out of hand and cause massive destruction. The same applies to our words.
We as Christians may talk the talk, meaning we say we are faithful followers of Jesus Christ, but are we walking the walking? Are we doing what God wants us to do? Are we doing what Jesus did? Are you living the Christian life or just talking about it?
We are not perfect that is for sure. We as faithful followers of Christ are still tainted by sin in this fallen world.
But James also finds inconsistency with our words. We bless people and we curse them. It builds people up and it also tears them down. How can this be? This is quiet a conundrum!
We need to remember that only God can completely tame our tongue. We need to live our life in submission to the will of God and joyfully accept what God places into our lives.
One thing that I think we forget is the fact that each of us is made in the image of God. That is right, Saddam Hussain and Adolf Hitler were made in the image of God. That isn’t something we think about very often because we have labeled people certain ways by our standards.
But it is true we are all made in the image of God. So when you are degrading someone with your words it is like degrading God.
Your words can also show others what is in your heart. Do you have nice and kind words, even under pressure? Or are your words mean and nasty? It shows your true self. Think about your words to others and see if you can spot any inconsistencies with your words and actions this week.
Think about this past week, did you: brag and boast to others, lie, slander, gossip, curse, make off colored comments, spread rumors, yell, or argue? I suspect we all did. Maybe there is one of these things that trips you up more than others.
We cannot change our past. What we have done, we have done. What we have said, we have said. But we can change today and we can be the person God wants us to be.
Our words don’t have to tear down. We can in fact use our words to build up instead. As I said, the tongue has tremendous power and can be used for good or evil. We can encourage others rather then telling them they are a failure.
We can comfort them when they are sad. We can praise them when they have done well. We can be supportive when they are struggling. Most importantly, we can proclaim the word of God to them, telling them and teaching them about Christ.
We should make our speech focus on the positive things of life rather than the negative. We will in fact need to deal with difficult people every day of our lives, but we can deal with them with the power of God on our side as well receive Jesus into our lives and live in submission to His will.
A true believer will posses a sanctified tongue, yet they must maintain it.
Nowhere is the relationship between faith and works more evident than in a person’s speech. What you are will be disclosed by what you say. Your speech is a reasonable and reliable measure of your spiritual temperature. Are you burning with a heart for God or for this world?
Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you for our time in your word this morning. We ask that you will tame our tongues. Make them a source for life rather than a source of evil. Help us our hearts to be shown to others through our words and our actions this week.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
AMEN
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Faith and Works
Click here for the audio message of James 2:14-26
James provides us with practical tests of our Christianity. We have seen how a true believer responds to trials and temptations. We have learned about the reaction of a true believer to the Word of God. And last week we saw that Christians should be impartial because God is impartial.
This morning we continue our look at these tests of James. In particular we look at the test of works or the behavior of the Christian. We do need to keep in mind, however, that a person is not saved by their works. Christ has done all the work necessary for our salvation. But our works, or what we do, really shows who we are.
The genuineness of a believer’s claim that Christ is their Lord and Master is shown more by what they do than by what they claim.
James provides several examples of actions proving our beliefs. He gives one example that everyone would understand and that is of the physical needs of the body. The other two examples are from the Old Testament, Abraham and Rahab.
James starts to illustrate his point by comparing faith without works to words of compassion without acts of compassion. You can tell someone to warm up if they are cold, but unless you give them a coat or a blanket they will not warm up.
You may mean well and speak well, but if you do not do well then it doesn’t really help that person who is freezing. So professed compassion without action is fake, therefore, the kind of faith that is without works is simply an empty profession, not the genuine saving faith in Jesus Christ.
Abraham was willing to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to God. He didn’t just say he would do it, but he literally held the knife ready to perform the sacrifice when God stopped him. As we have talked about before when we were studying the book of 1 Peter, God didn’t give this test to Abraham so that God would know Abraham’s heart. Rather, God gave this test to Abraham to prove his faith to himself.
Abraham’s faith was made complete by his actions. He obeyed God and acted according to His will. I am sure he didn’t understand why God wanted him to do this, but he believed and he acted upon his faith.
This was not simply a one time act of faith either. Abraham lived a lifetime of faith. Sure, he wasn’t perfect. In fact, we are still seeing some of the ramifications of his actions today through his son Ishmael. He wasn’t perfect, but he was faithful to God.
The other example is from the book of Joshua, Rahab protected God’s messengers from harm even though it was at great risk to her own life. She could have listened to their story and simply said, “Good luck getting out alive.” But she didn’t. She was demonstrating her faith in God, even though she didn’t really know much about this God. She knew He was the God though and she placed her faith and trust into Him.
We have opportunities everyday to act on our faith. I do not believe any of us will be asked by God to sacrifice our son, but there are certainly many poor and needy people around the area that we can minister too.
Maybe you can’t get out much anymore. That doesn’t mean you are useless to God. We are blessed with many well run local agencies that will use your donation of money, food or clothing to help those in need.
Don’t have much money, food, or clothing yourself? That is okay too. You can pray for those organizations. You can pray for the poor. You can pray for the sick. You can pray that God will send someone to minister to those people since you cannot.
The idea here is that our faith is just not a simple intellectual agreement with God, but the idea is that you genuinely want to obey Him and do what He wants. James tells us that even the demons know God. They know who He is and what He can do, but that have no interest in believing in Him, following Christ, or obeying Him. They reject Him even though they know who He is.
James closes this section by writing in verse 26, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”
Our spirit is what makes us go. It is what makes us alive. When we die our spirits are no longer in our body. For a Christian our spirit goes to be in Heaven with the Lord. Our body lies lifeless here on earth.
In the same way, faith without works is dead. Our works show our heart. Our works show our faith. Again, our works do not save us, they simply show that we are saved. They show that we have received Jesus Christ into our life to be our Lord and Savior.
Think about your actions. How do they demonstrate the reality of your faith? Both Abraham and Rahab trusted God and demonstrated this with their actions. They passed the test! Do you?
We also need to respond in love when we see a fellow Christian not acting like one. We need to remember not to judge them or condemn them. Rather we need to support them and remind them of their faith.
There is always room for improvement in each of our lives. None of us is perfect. This week make a conscious effort to align you faith and your actions. For some of us, it may be a challenge, but it is guaranteed to bring you great joy and peace with your Maker.
All Christians sin, we are still human and imperfect creatures in this fallen world. But all Christians also obey the Word of God. While sin may be present in our lives, it is never the main character of the true believer. That is what we need to remember.
God will accept us when we humbly return to Him. He is waiting with open arms for each of us when we fail.
Closing Prayer
Lord we thank you for our time in your word this morning. We thank you for always being there for us, even when we are not worthy to come into your presence. You are there waiting for us. Waiting to offer your forgiveness when we ask for it.
We ask this morning that you will open our eyes to our actions this week. Help us to see what others see. Help us to see what you see. Help us to act upon our faith in tangible ways.
We do this not so that we can impress others or to even impress you. Rather we do it because we want to be obedient to you each and every day of our life. Give us the wisdom and the strength to do so.
In Jesus Name,
AMEN
James provides us with practical tests of our Christianity. We have seen how a true believer responds to trials and temptations. We have learned about the reaction of a true believer to the Word of God. And last week we saw that Christians should be impartial because God is impartial.
This morning we continue our look at these tests of James. In particular we look at the test of works or the behavior of the Christian. We do need to keep in mind, however, that a person is not saved by their works. Christ has done all the work necessary for our salvation. But our works, or what we do, really shows who we are.
The genuineness of a believer’s claim that Christ is their Lord and Master is shown more by what they do than by what they claim.
James provides several examples of actions proving our beliefs. He gives one example that everyone would understand and that is of the physical needs of the body. The other two examples are from the Old Testament, Abraham and Rahab.
James starts to illustrate his point by comparing faith without works to words of compassion without acts of compassion. You can tell someone to warm up if they are cold, but unless you give them a coat or a blanket they will not warm up.
You may mean well and speak well, but if you do not do well then it doesn’t really help that person who is freezing. So professed compassion without action is fake, therefore, the kind of faith that is without works is simply an empty profession, not the genuine saving faith in Jesus Christ.
Abraham was willing to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to God. He didn’t just say he would do it, but he literally held the knife ready to perform the sacrifice when God stopped him. As we have talked about before when we were studying the book of 1 Peter, God didn’t give this test to Abraham so that God would know Abraham’s heart. Rather, God gave this test to Abraham to prove his faith to himself.
Abraham’s faith was made complete by his actions. He obeyed God and acted according to His will. I am sure he didn’t understand why God wanted him to do this, but he believed and he acted upon his faith.
This was not simply a one time act of faith either. Abraham lived a lifetime of faith. Sure, he wasn’t perfect. In fact, we are still seeing some of the ramifications of his actions today through his son Ishmael. He wasn’t perfect, but he was faithful to God.
The other example is from the book of Joshua, Rahab protected God’s messengers from harm even though it was at great risk to her own life. She could have listened to their story and simply said, “Good luck getting out alive.” But she didn’t. She was demonstrating her faith in God, even though she didn’t really know much about this God. She knew He was the God though and she placed her faith and trust into Him.
We have opportunities everyday to act on our faith. I do not believe any of us will be asked by God to sacrifice our son, but there are certainly many poor and needy people around the area that we can minister too.
Maybe you can’t get out much anymore. That doesn’t mean you are useless to God. We are blessed with many well run local agencies that will use your donation of money, food or clothing to help those in need.
Don’t have much money, food, or clothing yourself? That is okay too. You can pray for those organizations. You can pray for the poor. You can pray for the sick. You can pray that God will send someone to minister to those people since you cannot.
The idea here is that our faith is just not a simple intellectual agreement with God, but the idea is that you genuinely want to obey Him and do what He wants. James tells us that even the demons know God. They know who He is and what He can do, but that have no interest in believing in Him, following Christ, or obeying Him. They reject Him even though they know who He is.
James closes this section by writing in verse 26, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”
Our spirit is what makes us go. It is what makes us alive. When we die our spirits are no longer in our body. For a Christian our spirit goes to be in Heaven with the Lord. Our body lies lifeless here on earth.
In the same way, faith without works is dead. Our works show our heart. Our works show our faith. Again, our works do not save us, they simply show that we are saved. They show that we have received Jesus Christ into our life to be our Lord and Savior.
Think about your actions. How do they demonstrate the reality of your faith? Both Abraham and Rahab trusted God and demonstrated this with their actions. They passed the test! Do you?
We also need to respond in love when we see a fellow Christian not acting like one. We need to remember not to judge them or condemn them. Rather we need to support them and remind them of their faith.
There is always room for improvement in each of our lives. None of us is perfect. This week make a conscious effort to align you faith and your actions. For some of us, it may be a challenge, but it is guaranteed to bring you great joy and peace with your Maker.
All Christians sin, we are still human and imperfect creatures in this fallen world. But all Christians also obey the Word of God. While sin may be present in our lives, it is never the main character of the true believer. That is what we need to remember.
God will accept us when we humbly return to Him. He is waiting with open arms for each of us when we fail.
Closing Prayer
Lord we thank you for our time in your word this morning. We thank you for always being there for us, even when we are not worthy to come into your presence. You are there waiting for us. Waiting to offer your forgiveness when we ask for it.
We ask this morning that you will open our eyes to our actions this week. Help us to see what others see. Help us to see what you see. Help us to act upon our faith in tangible ways.
We do this not so that we can impress others or to even impress you. Rather we do it because we want to be obedient to you each and every day of our life. Give us the wisdom and the strength to do so.
In Jesus Name,
AMEN
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Judging
Click here for the audio message of James 2:1-13
So far in the book of James, we have seen three tests of faith for the Christian. First we looked at how a Christian responds to trials. And we said that a true believer that is in tune with God will respond with joy and trusting obedience. Trials show us that we cannot do things on our own, we need to rely on God.
A trial can turn into a temptation for a Christian so we then looked at how a Christian responds to those temptations. God allows trials to strengthen us and He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can handle. God always provides a way out of our temptation, but we may not always choose it.
Last week we looked at the Christians reaction to the Word of God. When a true believer hears the Word that want to obey it and learn more of it. We said this isn’t just an intellectual knowledge, rather it is a heart desire to be closer to God.
This morning we look at another test of a Christian. That is of their partiality or favoritism. In particular, James mentions social or economic status.
At some point in our lives we have all showed favoritism to someone, so James gives us some of the results of doing so. He says favoritism brings about evil thoughts, dishonor, oppression, mercilessness, and sin.
We need to remember that God is impartial in His dealings with people. This is not something that we normally think about with God. So, we too need to be impartial in dealing with others. Christians are all equal with God and will one day be surrounded by His love for us.
We cannot show favoritism toward certain people. Jesus says in Matthew 22 to love your neighbor. Unfortunately, favoritism does happen too often among Christians and in the Church.
When someone new or different enters the church we as members of the body of Christ need to welcome that person in a way that is friendly and loving, but not pushy or weird.
I’ve been a stranger in churches where everyone comes up to greet you and ask all about you and it can be a little uncomfortable. I’ve also been in churches were no one comes to great you and that too is uncomfortable. So there needs to be a balance there.
In our society and again unfortunately in some churches, people with money or people that look rich seem to get better treatment. James saw it 2000 years ago and we still see it today. People want to be around other people with money for their own ego. It makes them feel important or maybe somehow they think they will personally benefit if they are around the rich people.
Now, there is nothing wrong with being rich and having money. The problem is the fact that often times the people with money forgot where the wealth came from in the first place and to whom it really belongs. Poor people tend to trust God to provide for them daily.
From a practical standpoint, it is foolish for the Church to ignore the poor. It was foolish in James’ day and it is foolish today as well. If our mission is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and make disciples for Him, then wouldn’t we want to do this to as many people as possible?
Do you think there are more rich people or poor people in this world? Obviously there are many more poor people around the world. In James’ day the rich people were actually ruling over the poor and oppressed them.
People often times think that having money makes life easier. No doubt it does make certain aspects of life easier but it also makes things more difficult too. Rich people are really no better than poor people. God treats us all the same and we are all sinners in need of a Savior.
Our treatment of others needs to be guided by the royal law that James writes about. The command is to pursue meeting the physical, emotional, and spiritual health and well being of others as we would look after ourselves.
We are to truly love our neighbor. James goes on to tell us that treating others unequally is sin. Breaking just one of God’s laws is like breaking them all. It breaks the unity with Him and with others. Murdering someone and stealing are the same in God’s eyes even though our society treats them differently.
It is still sin. We are to love God and obey Him and we are to love others as we love ourselves. We must show mercy to others because God shows mercy to us. For those who show no mercy to others, God will show no mercy to them.
Remember the parable about the unmerciful slave in Matthew 18? The king showed mercy to one of his slaves for a debt that was owed to him. That slave in turn was owed money from another slave and he showed no mercy to him. When the king found out he had the first slave tortured. Verse 35 says, “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”
Even in the Lord’s prayer we pray to God to forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. We are to forgive others. We are to show mercy to others. We are to love others as ourselves.
The cross of Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of mercy triumphing over judgment. Because of the sacrifice that Christ made, I know I am forgiven for my sins and I should forgive others for their sins against me. You should do the same.
This week think about some of the people that maybe you try to avoid or maybe even look down on. Think about ways in which you can reach out to them with love and kindness. Make a conscious effort to love others, especially when they aren’t too loving to you.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly father, we thank you for our time in your word this morning. We thank you for your unending love and your impartiality in dealing with each and every one of us. Help us to do the same.
Purify our hearts and our minds so that we may see others as you see them. Help us to care for others and love them as you love them. Enable us to be the people that you would have us to be. We do this all for your glory and honor.
AMEN
So far in the book of James, we have seen three tests of faith for the Christian. First we looked at how a Christian responds to trials. And we said that a true believer that is in tune with God will respond with joy and trusting obedience. Trials show us that we cannot do things on our own, we need to rely on God.
A trial can turn into a temptation for a Christian so we then looked at how a Christian responds to those temptations. God allows trials to strengthen us and He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can handle. God always provides a way out of our temptation, but we may not always choose it.
Last week we looked at the Christians reaction to the Word of God. When a true believer hears the Word that want to obey it and learn more of it. We said this isn’t just an intellectual knowledge, rather it is a heart desire to be closer to God.
This morning we look at another test of a Christian. That is of their partiality or favoritism. In particular, James mentions social or economic status.
At some point in our lives we have all showed favoritism to someone, so James gives us some of the results of doing so. He says favoritism brings about evil thoughts, dishonor, oppression, mercilessness, and sin.
We need to remember that God is impartial in His dealings with people. This is not something that we normally think about with God. So, we too need to be impartial in dealing with others. Christians are all equal with God and will one day be surrounded by His love for us.
We cannot show favoritism toward certain people. Jesus says in Matthew 22 to love your neighbor. Unfortunately, favoritism does happen too often among Christians and in the Church.
When someone new or different enters the church we as members of the body of Christ need to welcome that person in a way that is friendly and loving, but not pushy or weird.
I’ve been a stranger in churches where everyone comes up to greet you and ask all about you and it can be a little uncomfortable. I’ve also been in churches were no one comes to great you and that too is uncomfortable. So there needs to be a balance there.
In our society and again unfortunately in some churches, people with money or people that look rich seem to get better treatment. James saw it 2000 years ago and we still see it today. People want to be around other people with money for their own ego. It makes them feel important or maybe somehow they think they will personally benefit if they are around the rich people.
Now, there is nothing wrong with being rich and having money. The problem is the fact that often times the people with money forgot where the wealth came from in the first place and to whom it really belongs. Poor people tend to trust God to provide for them daily.
From a practical standpoint, it is foolish for the Church to ignore the poor. It was foolish in James’ day and it is foolish today as well. If our mission is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and make disciples for Him, then wouldn’t we want to do this to as many people as possible?
Do you think there are more rich people or poor people in this world? Obviously there are many more poor people around the world. In James’ day the rich people were actually ruling over the poor and oppressed them.
People often times think that having money makes life easier. No doubt it does make certain aspects of life easier but it also makes things more difficult too. Rich people are really no better than poor people. God treats us all the same and we are all sinners in need of a Savior.
Our treatment of others needs to be guided by the royal law that James writes about. The command is to pursue meeting the physical, emotional, and spiritual health and well being of others as we would look after ourselves.
We are to truly love our neighbor. James goes on to tell us that treating others unequally is sin. Breaking just one of God’s laws is like breaking them all. It breaks the unity with Him and with others. Murdering someone and stealing are the same in God’s eyes even though our society treats them differently.
It is still sin. We are to love God and obey Him and we are to love others as we love ourselves. We must show mercy to others because God shows mercy to us. For those who show no mercy to others, God will show no mercy to them.
Remember the parable about the unmerciful slave in Matthew 18? The king showed mercy to one of his slaves for a debt that was owed to him. That slave in turn was owed money from another slave and he showed no mercy to him. When the king found out he had the first slave tortured. Verse 35 says, “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”
Even in the Lord’s prayer we pray to God to forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. We are to forgive others. We are to show mercy to others. We are to love others as ourselves.
The cross of Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of mercy triumphing over judgment. Because of the sacrifice that Christ made, I know I am forgiven for my sins and I should forgive others for their sins against me. You should do the same.
This week think about some of the people that maybe you try to avoid or maybe even look down on. Think about ways in which you can reach out to them with love and kindness. Make a conscious effort to love others, especially when they aren’t too loving to you.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly father, we thank you for our time in your word this morning. We thank you for your unending love and your impartiality in dealing with each and every one of us. Help us to do the same.
Purify our hearts and our minds so that we may see others as you see them. Help us to care for others and love them as you love them. Enable us to be the people that you would have us to be. We do this all for your glory and honor.
AMEN
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Hearing the Word
Click here for the audio message of James 1:19-27
Last week we read about two tests that James gives us regarding a true believer. The first test was their inner response to trials. The second test was their response to temptations. In all circumstances we are to rely on God to strengthen us.
You can know a true believer by their response to the Word of God. Whenever a believer hears the Word of God, they want to hear more of it while trying to understand, live out, and obey what they have already heard. That is the natural response to the Word of God for the believer.
We must be careful though not to just have a scholarly or intellectual interest in the Gospel, but we must have that heart desire to obey it. This is not just a one time emotional feeling; rather it is a life long pursuit.
This morning James continues on the topic of hearing the Word of God. How many of you out there think you are a good listener? How many of you are listening right now?
Think about some of the conversations you have been involved with or have heard. Usually they go like this. One person is telling a story and even before that person is finished with their story the other person is telling their story and trying to one up the person with their tale.
Listening is a tough skill for most of us to master. James tells us that we need to be good listeners not only to each other, but to God as well. Unfortunately, most of us do not take the time to really listen to others or God today.
God desires for us to be obedient to His Word. That is why He gave it to us. He gave us His Word not only for His glory and honor, but for our own good as well.
James tells us to be quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to anger. I suspect when most of us here get anger we don’t start punching, kicking, or throwing things. We probably start with mean words and facial expressions.
So God tells us to listen rather than speak and it will tame our anger. “The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” Jesus taught His followers to love their enemies, not resent them.
God gave us two ears and one mouth right, so I suppose we should listen twice as much as we speak. You know when you are listening and I mean truly listening to someone you don’t always have to have an answer for them.
Sometimes people just need to talk and get the topic off their mind. They aren’t looking for criticism or a meaningless generic response. They just need to talk and that is ok. We need to listen to them and be there for them.
We as Christians have the Word of God planted in our hearts. But sometimes worldly things can grab hold of us and pull us from living out God’s Word. James tells us to put aside all filthiness and all wickedness so that we may continue to grow in our relationship with God.
As we grow in our relationship we will be doers of the Word, not just hearers. Meaning, we hear the Word of God and then we act upon it. Many people do indeed hear the Word of God, but never really act upon it.
They are those lukewarm believers. Like the church in Laodicea, Jesus will spit them out. Many people in this world think they are religious. In fact, I’ll bet everybody that I work with on a daily basis would identify themselves as Christians. But I’ll bet only a few actually practice their faith.
See many people hear the Word of God and say they are religious, but never act upon their faith. That is James’ point in this letter. God wants us to live out our faith each and every day. People who love and obey God show it in their lives.
It is indeed easy at times to fall into the traps of this world and become and easy believer, a hearer only. But as we saw last week with our trials and temptations we need to depend on God for help and our strength. He is in control. He is dependable. We can count on God to be there for us.
We need to continuously read, study, and apply God’s Word to our lives. Even though we will never get to that goal of perfection in this life, we need to continue to press on toward that mark like Paul.
One final note though. We must also be careful not to just do good works thinking that is what God requires of us to get into heaven. That is not the case. We do good works and live out our faith to show obedience to God. We do these things because we are saved, not because they will save us.
This week I would ask you to be doers of the Word and not just hearers only. Live out your faith and serve your Lord, not to be saved, but because He has already saved you through the sacrifice that He made on the cross for us.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word to help us live in this dark world. Help us to be your humble servants. Help us to listen to others and to listen to you this week. Strengthen us so that we may take what we hear from you and act upon it in a way that gives you the honor and glory you desire and deserve.
AMEN
Last week we read about two tests that James gives us regarding a true believer. The first test was their inner response to trials. The second test was their response to temptations. In all circumstances we are to rely on God to strengthen us.
You can know a true believer by their response to the Word of God. Whenever a believer hears the Word of God, they want to hear more of it while trying to understand, live out, and obey what they have already heard. That is the natural response to the Word of God for the believer.
We must be careful though not to just have a scholarly or intellectual interest in the Gospel, but we must have that heart desire to obey it. This is not just a one time emotional feeling; rather it is a life long pursuit.
This morning James continues on the topic of hearing the Word of God. How many of you out there think you are a good listener? How many of you are listening right now?
Think about some of the conversations you have been involved with or have heard. Usually they go like this. One person is telling a story and even before that person is finished with their story the other person is telling their story and trying to one up the person with their tale.
Listening is a tough skill for most of us to master. James tells us that we need to be good listeners not only to each other, but to God as well. Unfortunately, most of us do not take the time to really listen to others or God today.
God desires for us to be obedient to His Word. That is why He gave it to us. He gave us His Word not only for His glory and honor, but for our own good as well.
James tells us to be quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to anger. I suspect when most of us here get anger we don’t start punching, kicking, or throwing things. We probably start with mean words and facial expressions.
So God tells us to listen rather than speak and it will tame our anger. “The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” Jesus taught His followers to love their enemies, not resent them.
God gave us two ears and one mouth right, so I suppose we should listen twice as much as we speak. You know when you are listening and I mean truly listening to someone you don’t always have to have an answer for them.
Sometimes people just need to talk and get the topic off their mind. They aren’t looking for criticism or a meaningless generic response. They just need to talk and that is ok. We need to listen to them and be there for them.
We as Christians have the Word of God planted in our hearts. But sometimes worldly things can grab hold of us and pull us from living out God’s Word. James tells us to put aside all filthiness and all wickedness so that we may continue to grow in our relationship with God.
As we grow in our relationship we will be doers of the Word, not just hearers. Meaning, we hear the Word of God and then we act upon it. Many people do indeed hear the Word of God, but never really act upon it.
They are those lukewarm believers. Like the church in Laodicea, Jesus will spit them out. Many people in this world think they are religious. In fact, I’ll bet everybody that I work with on a daily basis would identify themselves as Christians. But I’ll bet only a few actually practice their faith.
See many people hear the Word of God and say they are religious, but never act upon their faith. That is James’ point in this letter. God wants us to live out our faith each and every day. People who love and obey God show it in their lives.
It is indeed easy at times to fall into the traps of this world and become and easy believer, a hearer only. But as we saw last week with our trials and temptations we need to depend on God for help and our strength. He is in control. He is dependable. We can count on God to be there for us.
We need to continuously read, study, and apply God’s Word to our lives. Even though we will never get to that goal of perfection in this life, we need to continue to press on toward that mark like Paul.
One final note though. We must also be careful not to just do good works thinking that is what God requires of us to get into heaven. That is not the case. We do good works and live out our faith to show obedience to God. We do these things because we are saved, not because they will save us.
This week I would ask you to be doers of the Word and not just hearers only. Live out your faith and serve your Lord, not to be saved, but because He has already saved you through the sacrifice that He made on the cross for us.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word to help us live in this dark world. Help us to be your humble servants. Help us to listen to others and to listen to you this week. Strengthen us so that we may take what we hear from you and act upon it in a way that gives you the honor and glory you desire and deserve.
AMEN
Sunday, September 26, 2010
God is Dependable
Click here for the audio message of James 1:2-11
This morning we start our study on the epistle of James. Now, everyone knows that James wrote this letter. The question is which James. Is it James the brother of John or James the half-brother of Jesus Christ.
Most scholars believe that it was indeed James the brother of Christ, because James the brother of John was executed for His faith shortly after Christ’s death and resurrection.
James of course would have first hand knowledge of the life of Christ and is writing this letter to the Christians that are scattered around the area due to the persecutions, much like Peter’s letters that we just finished looking at.
The main theme of the letter is the relationship between faith and works. This is a very practical letter for Christian living. James opens his letter by looking at the importance of perseverance when we face trials and temptations.
Right away, James mentioned several different situations that we as believers must get through in our lives. First, as we studied through out Peter’s letter, there will be trials for each of us. What the trial is will no doubt be different for us, but we will all have them throughout our lives.
Second, James mentions the rich and the poor of the world. Some people have more money than they need. Some people don’t have enough money to meet their basic needs. But when we come to Christ, either rich or poor, we are all equal. God is no respecter of people, he treats us equally.
Lastly, James mentions temptations. We all face temptation. The temptation does not come from God. God is Holy and has no capacity for evil. He is perfectly right and just. God allows us to be tempted though by the lusts and desires of this world.
God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our limits and he always provides an escape for us. The question is whether or not we take His escape or we give in to the temptation. That decision is up to each and every one of us in all circumstances.
In verse 2, James tells his readers to consider these things pure joy. A human or worldly response is not joy when we are faced with trials. Think about it. The last time you had a flat tire did you rejoice? Yeah, me either. Although afterward, I thank God that he kept me safe and I was able to get through the situation.
But the idea is to make a conscious commitment to face trials with joy, knowing that God is indeed in control. And that He is there with you, guiding you, and strengthening you. God doesn’t send us these trials just for His fun and amusement. He has a plan and purpose for allowing them to occur in our life. We may not understand it of course, but God knows.
As we face these trials and we persevere through them our faith, our maturity, our closeness to God increases. It gives us a deeper commitment and trusting relationship with our Lord. It brings us closer to God.
Going through trials also shows our weaknesses and things that we need to work on in life. In verse 5, James said we need wisdom from God. How often do you pray for wisdom or thank God for wisdom? This wisdom is the practical skill that is necessary to live life to God’s glory.
When we have that and do that everything else doesn’t really matter because everything just falls in to place as God has prepared it for us. The faithful believer asks for wisdom and other needs through prayer.
The person described in verses 6 through 8 is a weak or wishy washy believer. They are the rocky soil. They readily accept the word of God but when tough times come fall away. They do not have a strong faith. They do not have that solid foundation. Their roots are shallow.
When a trial comes to you, and it will, you can either ask God for the wisdom and strength to get through it, or you can allow the trial to turn into a temptation and turn from God and back to your sin nature.
For example, a recovering alcoholic or drug addict. Things are going pretty well. They have their life turned around. They are working and have been sober for a while. But then something happens. A trial comes. Maybe it is a bad day. Maybe they get fired. Maybe they run into one of their old buddies.
Whatever it is, a trial comes to them. The issue is how do they handle that trial. Do they ask God for the wisdom and strength to get through the trial. Or do they give in to that trial and turn it into a temptation to open the bottle or go party with that friend.
It is tough. We all face these kinds of trials in our lives. And sometimes we do fail. Sometimes we do let that trial turn into a temptation. But we must remember that God is still there for us, even after we fail.
God is the ultimate example of goodness and dependability. God is the same. He does not change and He will not change. We can depend on God for what we need, no matter what your situation is, no matter how bad you have been. God is there to extend His forgiveness and strengthen you for the journey ahead.
Think of the trials and temptations you are currently facing. Think about how this passage of scripture this morning applies to your life right now. How can you be encouraged and increase your dependence on God during those tough times.
Sometimes during a trial or temptation that is tough to do. Think back to times when you were in trouble and see how God’s hand was indeed at work in your life. See how God has always been there doing what He does. Providing comfort. Providing peace. Providing strength.
God is dependable. He is faithful. Remember that the next time trouble comes your way. We are tested to prove our faithfulness. Our testing produces enduring patience in our lives. That is something I think we all need.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for our time in your word this morning. We thank you for giving us this practical guide to living a Christian life through your brother James. Help us to face our trials with joy, knowing that you are there waiting for us to come to you for our strength, for our endurance, for our patience.
We thank you for your unending and unchanging presence in our lives. Give us the wisdom that we need to face each day’s adventures in our journey through this life. Guide us so that we may live to glorify you in all that we say and do.
AMEN
This morning we start our study on the epistle of James. Now, everyone knows that James wrote this letter. The question is which James. Is it James the brother of John or James the half-brother of Jesus Christ.
Most scholars believe that it was indeed James the brother of Christ, because James the brother of John was executed for His faith shortly after Christ’s death and resurrection.
James of course would have first hand knowledge of the life of Christ and is writing this letter to the Christians that are scattered around the area due to the persecutions, much like Peter’s letters that we just finished looking at.
The main theme of the letter is the relationship between faith and works. This is a very practical letter for Christian living. James opens his letter by looking at the importance of perseverance when we face trials and temptations.
Right away, James mentioned several different situations that we as believers must get through in our lives. First, as we studied through out Peter’s letter, there will be trials for each of us. What the trial is will no doubt be different for us, but we will all have them throughout our lives.
Second, James mentions the rich and the poor of the world. Some people have more money than they need. Some people don’t have enough money to meet their basic needs. But when we come to Christ, either rich or poor, we are all equal. God is no respecter of people, he treats us equally.
Lastly, James mentions temptations. We all face temptation. The temptation does not come from God. God is Holy and has no capacity for evil. He is perfectly right and just. God allows us to be tempted though by the lusts and desires of this world.
God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our limits and he always provides an escape for us. The question is whether or not we take His escape or we give in to the temptation. That decision is up to each and every one of us in all circumstances.
In verse 2, James tells his readers to consider these things pure joy. A human or worldly response is not joy when we are faced with trials. Think about it. The last time you had a flat tire did you rejoice? Yeah, me either. Although afterward, I thank God that he kept me safe and I was able to get through the situation.
But the idea is to make a conscious commitment to face trials with joy, knowing that God is indeed in control. And that He is there with you, guiding you, and strengthening you. God doesn’t send us these trials just for His fun and amusement. He has a plan and purpose for allowing them to occur in our life. We may not understand it of course, but God knows.
As we face these trials and we persevere through them our faith, our maturity, our closeness to God increases. It gives us a deeper commitment and trusting relationship with our Lord. It brings us closer to God.
Going through trials also shows our weaknesses and things that we need to work on in life. In verse 5, James said we need wisdom from God. How often do you pray for wisdom or thank God for wisdom? This wisdom is the practical skill that is necessary to live life to God’s glory.
When we have that and do that everything else doesn’t really matter because everything just falls in to place as God has prepared it for us. The faithful believer asks for wisdom and other needs through prayer.
The person described in verses 6 through 8 is a weak or wishy washy believer. They are the rocky soil. They readily accept the word of God but when tough times come fall away. They do not have a strong faith. They do not have that solid foundation. Their roots are shallow.
When a trial comes to you, and it will, you can either ask God for the wisdom and strength to get through it, or you can allow the trial to turn into a temptation and turn from God and back to your sin nature.
For example, a recovering alcoholic or drug addict. Things are going pretty well. They have their life turned around. They are working and have been sober for a while. But then something happens. A trial comes. Maybe it is a bad day. Maybe they get fired. Maybe they run into one of their old buddies.
Whatever it is, a trial comes to them. The issue is how do they handle that trial. Do they ask God for the wisdom and strength to get through the trial. Or do they give in to that trial and turn it into a temptation to open the bottle or go party with that friend.
It is tough. We all face these kinds of trials in our lives. And sometimes we do fail. Sometimes we do let that trial turn into a temptation. But we must remember that God is still there for us, even after we fail.
God is the ultimate example of goodness and dependability. God is the same. He does not change and He will not change. We can depend on God for what we need, no matter what your situation is, no matter how bad you have been. God is there to extend His forgiveness and strengthen you for the journey ahead.
Think of the trials and temptations you are currently facing. Think about how this passage of scripture this morning applies to your life right now. How can you be encouraged and increase your dependence on God during those tough times.
Sometimes during a trial or temptation that is tough to do. Think back to times when you were in trouble and see how God’s hand was indeed at work in your life. See how God has always been there doing what He does. Providing comfort. Providing peace. Providing strength.
God is dependable. He is faithful. Remember that the next time trouble comes your way. We are tested to prove our faithfulness. Our testing produces enduring patience in our lives. That is something I think we all need.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for our time in your word this morning. We thank you for giving us this practical guide to living a Christian life through your brother James. Help us to face our trials with joy, knowing that you are there waiting for us to come to you for our strength, for our endurance, for our patience.
We thank you for your unending and unchanging presence in our lives. Give us the wisdom that we need to face each day’s adventures in our journey through this life. Guide us so that we may live to glorify you in all that we say and do.
AMEN
Sunday, September 19, 2010
God is In Control
Click here for the audio message of 2 Peter 3:1-10
We finish up our study of the book of 2 Peter this morning. Last time we looked at Peter’s warning to the people about false teachers. He said that we need to pay close attention to what the preacher/teacher says and evaluate their statements and lifestyles based upon Scripture.
False teachers may look and sound good on the outside for a while, but they cannot hide their true feelings on the inside. They are really only interested in themselves. They are greedy, they want the power, the prestige, and money.
Sure they may start off with the word of God, but eventually they soften their message to tell the people what they want to hear, and of course the people need to send them money. This type of thing was happening in Peter’s day and it continues today.
Peter tells us that God has judged the wickedness of the world in the past and gave the example of Sodom and Gomorrah. He also gave the example of the flood in Noah’s day. This leads right into the conclusion of Peter’s letter today. And that conclusion is don’t lose hope. God is in control.
When you think about your own life, maybe there was a time when you were feeling a little down or little let down or disappointed in God. Maybe you felt as though He didn’t come through for you. He didn’t answer your prayer the way you expected.
This can happen to us, especially when we start listening to what the world says. But at some point you had to realize that God’s answer was best for you at that particular time. It may not have been what you wanted to happen, but God knows best and gave you what you needed.
The people of Peter’s day were expecting Christ to return and take them all to Heaven any day. In fact, the people of Thessalonica were actually quitting their jobs and just hanging out waiting for the return of Christ. Paul wrote them a letter and said you can’t do that. You have to continue living your life today, but prepare for Christ’s return tomorrow!
The world was mocking the followers of Christ, saying “Where is this Jesus. He said He was coming back for you, but where is He?” So, Peter encourages his listeners to stay strong in the faith.
He also tells them what to expect in the last days, the days that we are still living in today. The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Christ will return when the world does not expect Him.
He is not slow. He did not forget about us. Rather He is patient with us and the world, waiting for all to come to repentance. He is giving the world the chance to change their ways and He uses us and wants us to go out and tell the world about Him so they will indeed change.
Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. We as believers need to be out their telling the world about the One true God and how to come to salvation through Jesus Christ. And we tell people about Jesus Christ not jus through our words, but our actions as well.
Peter is telling his readers these things so they do not become disappointed with God. It still applies to us today as well. God has not abandoned us as some people think. We cannot believe these false teachers or the deceptions of Satan. We must continue believing and serving God.
God is in control. It may not seem like it at times, but He is. When we doubt this we must just accept it on faith. As we mature and our eyes are opened we will see God’s hand at work, not only in our life, but in the lives of others around us. We can see God answering our prayers.
God is in control. He will keep His promises. He says He will return for us and He will. Until then, we need to continue to serve Him. We must separate ourselves from sin and let God’s love rule in our hearts. We need to live a Christ-like life and serve Him while waiting for His return.
We must guard our faith. The world, the false teachers, and Satan all want us to turn from God. They want us out of fellowship with Him. So we need to be strong in our faith as we follow Christ. We need to continue to grow and mature as Christians and truly know Christ.
Peter talks a lot about the knowledge of Christ. This isn’t just an intellectual knowledge of Christ. Rather this is an intimate knowledge of who He is, what He’s done, and what He will do. And not just knowing it in a factual way, but believing it and living out your life accordingly.
It is challenging, no doubt about it and the temptations of this world do not make it any easier. The world seems to know when you are down and out, feeling stressed, upset, sad, angry or whatever. And he world is ready to help you out with its solutions, not God’s.
We all experience times like this. I think partly because of our unrealistic expectations that we place on ourselves and others and honestly even on God. This is when you need to be on your guard and truly come to Christ for your strength.
We need to remind ourselves that God is in control and He has a plan for your life and He has a plan for others as well. And all of those plans fit together somehow even though we don’t know it or can’t understand it.
Sometimes though there are lessons we need to learn and God allows certain “bad” things in our lives to happen so we learn those lessons and we can be strengthened through those trials for the future.
God is not slack in His promises. He will return again for us, we must live our lives accordingly.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the many blessings in our lives. We thank you for being there and answering our prayers. We ask for your forgiveness when we feel that you have not answered our prayers the way we wanted.
Open our eyes so that we may see the plan and purpose You have for each and every one of us. Help us to be patient and remember that you are in control. Thank you for taking care of us and doing what is best for us.
AMEN
We finish up our study of the book of 2 Peter this morning. Last time we looked at Peter’s warning to the people about false teachers. He said that we need to pay close attention to what the preacher/teacher says and evaluate their statements and lifestyles based upon Scripture.
False teachers may look and sound good on the outside for a while, but they cannot hide their true feelings on the inside. They are really only interested in themselves. They are greedy, they want the power, the prestige, and money.
Sure they may start off with the word of God, but eventually they soften their message to tell the people what they want to hear, and of course the people need to send them money. This type of thing was happening in Peter’s day and it continues today.
Peter tells us that God has judged the wickedness of the world in the past and gave the example of Sodom and Gomorrah. He also gave the example of the flood in Noah’s day. This leads right into the conclusion of Peter’s letter today. And that conclusion is don’t lose hope. God is in control.
When you think about your own life, maybe there was a time when you were feeling a little down or little let down or disappointed in God. Maybe you felt as though He didn’t come through for you. He didn’t answer your prayer the way you expected.
This can happen to us, especially when we start listening to what the world says. But at some point you had to realize that God’s answer was best for you at that particular time. It may not have been what you wanted to happen, but God knows best and gave you what you needed.
The people of Peter’s day were expecting Christ to return and take them all to Heaven any day. In fact, the people of Thessalonica were actually quitting their jobs and just hanging out waiting for the return of Christ. Paul wrote them a letter and said you can’t do that. You have to continue living your life today, but prepare for Christ’s return tomorrow!
The world was mocking the followers of Christ, saying “Where is this Jesus. He said He was coming back for you, but where is He?” So, Peter encourages his listeners to stay strong in the faith.
He also tells them what to expect in the last days, the days that we are still living in today. The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Christ will return when the world does not expect Him.
He is not slow. He did not forget about us. Rather He is patient with us and the world, waiting for all to come to repentance. He is giving the world the chance to change their ways and He uses us and wants us to go out and tell the world about Him so they will indeed change.
Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. We as believers need to be out their telling the world about the One true God and how to come to salvation through Jesus Christ. And we tell people about Jesus Christ not jus through our words, but our actions as well.
Peter is telling his readers these things so they do not become disappointed with God. It still applies to us today as well. God has not abandoned us as some people think. We cannot believe these false teachers or the deceptions of Satan. We must continue believing and serving God.
God is in control. It may not seem like it at times, but He is. When we doubt this we must just accept it on faith. As we mature and our eyes are opened we will see God’s hand at work, not only in our life, but in the lives of others around us. We can see God answering our prayers.
God is in control. He will keep His promises. He says He will return for us and He will. Until then, we need to continue to serve Him. We must separate ourselves from sin and let God’s love rule in our hearts. We need to live a Christ-like life and serve Him while waiting for His return.
We must guard our faith. The world, the false teachers, and Satan all want us to turn from God. They want us out of fellowship with Him. So we need to be strong in our faith as we follow Christ. We need to continue to grow and mature as Christians and truly know Christ.
Peter talks a lot about the knowledge of Christ. This isn’t just an intellectual knowledge of Christ. Rather this is an intimate knowledge of who He is, what He’s done, and what He will do. And not just knowing it in a factual way, but believing it and living out your life accordingly.
It is challenging, no doubt about it and the temptations of this world do not make it any easier. The world seems to know when you are down and out, feeling stressed, upset, sad, angry or whatever. And he world is ready to help you out with its solutions, not God’s.
We all experience times like this. I think partly because of our unrealistic expectations that we place on ourselves and others and honestly even on God. This is when you need to be on your guard and truly come to Christ for your strength.
We need to remind ourselves that God is in control and He has a plan for your life and He has a plan for others as well. And all of those plans fit together somehow even though we don’t know it or can’t understand it.
Sometimes though there are lessons we need to learn and God allows certain “bad” things in our lives to happen so we learn those lessons and we can be strengthened through those trials for the future.
God is not slack in His promises. He will return again for us, we must live our lives accordingly.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the many blessings in our lives. We thank you for being there and answering our prayers. We ask for your forgiveness when we feel that you have not answered our prayers the way we wanted.
Open our eyes so that we may see the plan and purpose You have for each and every one of us. Help us to be patient and remember that you are in control. Thank you for taking care of us and doing what is best for us.
AMEN
Sunday, September 12, 2010
False Teachers
Click here for the audio message of 2 Peter 2:1-10
Last week in Second Peter chapter 1 we read of Peter telling his people, his fellow Christians around the country to maintain themselves. They are to live out their faith by adding the characteristics of Christ to their life.
Some of those attributes are virtue, self control, knowledge, patience, godliness, kindness, and love. We are supposed to practice these things so we are faithful and fruitful servants of God.
At the end of chapter one Peter mentions that all Scripture comes from God. It was not invented or dreamed up by men. And that leads right into today’s discussion of false teachers in chapter two.
Peter describes false teachers in detail throughout this chapter. He realized the importance of Christians recognizing false teachers by their characteristics and their methods.
Peter knew that nothing was more wicked than for someone to claim to be speaking for God or from God, but really are servants of Satan. Satan’s goal has always been to infiltrate the true believers and to corrupt them with his wickedness.
Satan has been in the business of deception since Eve in the Garden of Eden. But Satan does not win the war. God does prevail and God’s justice is carried out. Peter gives a couple of examples from the Old Testament about this.
He mentions the angels falling from Glory. He mentions Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah. He mentions Noah and His family. God is not asleep. He sees and knows what goes on and His wrath and His justice will be poured out upon false teachers and the unbelievers someday according to His plan and purpose.
It can be difficult at times to discern a false preacher or teacher. They look like good bible believers and teachers, but they teach heresies. The basic error of most false teachers is the fact that they will not submit their lives to Jesus Christ.
Their motive is not love of God or love of others, but rather they are motivated by their greed. The love themselves and they love money. They love the power over others or the title of their position. They are controlled by the desires of their flesh.
The question becomes, “Why do people follow false teachers?”
Many of these false teachers have very charismatic personalities. They are able to charm people with their looks and with their words. Mainly, because they say the things people want to hear.
Think about it, nobody wants to hear, “You need to repent or stop doing that sin and you need to dedicate your life to the service of God.” People don’t want to hear that. Instead people want to here, “Send me $100 and your sins will be forgiven.”
I do not think most of the false teachers start out as false teachers. I think they really do start out with the intention of proclaiming the Gospel, but the power and the money gets to them. They are overwhelmed with the deception and lies of Satan.
After a while, they determine they need to do whatever it is they can do to keep people following them, so even though they know the truth they stray from it just to keep the people happy. That is how it all starts.
After a while they even begin to believe their own lies. They are able to fool others and they are even fooling themselves. But they cannot fool God. There will be a more severe punishment for those people, because they knew the truth, yet they taught these lies and deceptions.
I think the false teachers are becoming more popular today because they bring an easy believism gospel and prosperity gospel. A gospel that the people want, not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They tickle the ears of people rather than delving into the Word of God and explaining it.
While I do believe technology has helped proclaim the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, I also believe that many false teachers have benefited from it as well. You don’t like what one pastor says, log on to another website or simply change the channel.
So many Christians are looking for a show each week. They are looking to be entertained rather than being taught the Word of God and disciplined by the Word of God as needed. We too, like the people of Peter’s day, need to recognize false teachers.
We need to test the things that the pastor or teacher says against what the Word of God says. Now, none of us is perfect. Once in a while I say something that is incorrect, like saying Peter said this when it was really Paul who wrote that. But the incorrect statements that I make are not meant to be deceptive.
Whenever I do say something that is incorrect I would hope that someone would correct me, especially on doctrinal issues. Or at least give me the opportunity to further explain what I was saying and if I am wrong then you show me based upon Scripture how I am wrong.
False teachers won’t do that. They don’t what to discuss the bible. They simple want to say what they want to say and have no questions about it.
When dealing with false teachers we also need to look at their lifestyles and see how they live. Do they live by biblical standards? Do they practice what they preach? We need to evaluate things and think for ourselves rather than just trusting the so called experts.
God holds true to His Word. These false teachers will be judged according to their actions someday. We cannot fall into their trap, the deception of Satan. We must prevail with the Truth of God’s Word.
In order to do that it must be written on our hearts. We must know the Word, so we can evaluate what others say. We must live like Christ to set an example for others.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly father, we thank you for your word. We know that the things you say, you will hold true. We know that judgment is coming upon all who reject you. We ask for the wisdom and knowledge to withstand the influences of evil in this world today.
Fill our lives with your word so that we may easily recognize those false teachers and expose them as such.
AMEN
Last week in Second Peter chapter 1 we read of Peter telling his people, his fellow Christians around the country to maintain themselves. They are to live out their faith by adding the characteristics of Christ to their life.
Some of those attributes are virtue, self control, knowledge, patience, godliness, kindness, and love. We are supposed to practice these things so we are faithful and fruitful servants of God.
At the end of chapter one Peter mentions that all Scripture comes from God. It was not invented or dreamed up by men. And that leads right into today’s discussion of false teachers in chapter two.
Peter describes false teachers in detail throughout this chapter. He realized the importance of Christians recognizing false teachers by their characteristics and their methods.
Peter knew that nothing was more wicked than for someone to claim to be speaking for God or from God, but really are servants of Satan. Satan’s goal has always been to infiltrate the true believers and to corrupt them with his wickedness.
Satan has been in the business of deception since Eve in the Garden of Eden. But Satan does not win the war. God does prevail and God’s justice is carried out. Peter gives a couple of examples from the Old Testament about this.
He mentions the angels falling from Glory. He mentions Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah. He mentions Noah and His family. God is not asleep. He sees and knows what goes on and His wrath and His justice will be poured out upon false teachers and the unbelievers someday according to His plan and purpose.
It can be difficult at times to discern a false preacher or teacher. They look like good bible believers and teachers, but they teach heresies. The basic error of most false teachers is the fact that they will not submit their lives to Jesus Christ.
Their motive is not love of God or love of others, but rather they are motivated by their greed. The love themselves and they love money. They love the power over others or the title of their position. They are controlled by the desires of their flesh.
The question becomes, “Why do people follow false teachers?”
Many of these false teachers have very charismatic personalities. They are able to charm people with their looks and with their words. Mainly, because they say the things people want to hear.
Think about it, nobody wants to hear, “You need to repent or stop doing that sin and you need to dedicate your life to the service of God.” People don’t want to hear that. Instead people want to here, “Send me $100 and your sins will be forgiven.”
I do not think most of the false teachers start out as false teachers. I think they really do start out with the intention of proclaiming the Gospel, but the power and the money gets to them. They are overwhelmed with the deception and lies of Satan.
After a while, they determine they need to do whatever it is they can do to keep people following them, so even though they know the truth they stray from it just to keep the people happy. That is how it all starts.
After a while they even begin to believe their own lies. They are able to fool others and they are even fooling themselves. But they cannot fool God. There will be a more severe punishment for those people, because they knew the truth, yet they taught these lies and deceptions.
I think the false teachers are becoming more popular today because they bring an easy believism gospel and prosperity gospel. A gospel that the people want, not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They tickle the ears of people rather than delving into the Word of God and explaining it.
While I do believe technology has helped proclaim the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, I also believe that many false teachers have benefited from it as well. You don’t like what one pastor says, log on to another website or simply change the channel.
So many Christians are looking for a show each week. They are looking to be entertained rather than being taught the Word of God and disciplined by the Word of God as needed. We too, like the people of Peter’s day, need to recognize false teachers.
We need to test the things that the pastor or teacher says against what the Word of God says. Now, none of us is perfect. Once in a while I say something that is incorrect, like saying Peter said this when it was really Paul who wrote that. But the incorrect statements that I make are not meant to be deceptive.
Whenever I do say something that is incorrect I would hope that someone would correct me, especially on doctrinal issues. Or at least give me the opportunity to further explain what I was saying and if I am wrong then you show me based upon Scripture how I am wrong.
False teachers won’t do that. They don’t what to discuss the bible. They simple want to say what they want to say and have no questions about it.
When dealing with false teachers we also need to look at their lifestyles and see how they live. Do they live by biblical standards? Do they practice what they preach? We need to evaluate things and think for ourselves rather than just trusting the so called experts.
God holds true to His Word. These false teachers will be judged according to their actions someday. We cannot fall into their trap, the deception of Satan. We must prevail with the Truth of God’s Word.
In order to do that it must be written on our hearts. We must know the Word, so we can evaluate what others say. We must live like Christ to set an example for others.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly father, we thank you for your word. We know that the things you say, you will hold true. We know that judgment is coming upon all who reject you. We ask for the wisdom and knowledge to withstand the influences of evil in this world today.
Fill our lives with your word so that we may easily recognize those false teachers and expose them as such.
AMEN
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Self Discipline
Click here for the audio message of 2 Peter 1:4-11
We start our look at Peter’s second inspired letter to the believers scattered around the country. If you remember we said that Peter’s first letter was to encourage his readers during times of persecution. He told them to watch out for the trials that come from outside the church.
In his second letter, Peter warns his readers from trials that occur inside the church. Whether it is from laziness on the believer’s part or actually heresy from the leaders, Peter says to watch out. To be on guard.
Peter tells the people to be disciplined. That was a problem they were apparently experiencing way back then. You know what? It is still a problem we face today as well. For the most part we have become an undisciplined society and unfortunately it has rubbed off on us Christians as well.
God has given us so many good things, so many blessings each and every day. He gives us what we need. And He has given us the greatest gift of all, eternal life through Jesus Christ. How much better can it get? But yet, with all the blessing He gives us we often times become a little lazy if you will in our lives, especially our spiritual life.
God has instilled in us certain characteristics or attribute that all Christians have, it is just a matter of how much we let those attitudes show in our lives. God gives us what we need. He gives us faith.
Peter tells us to add to our faith certain things. He is telling us to practice our faith by demonstrating these attitudes in our life and each attitude builds up to the next one.
First, Peter says to add to your faith virtue. Virtue is a tough word to place into our society today. But Peter is talking about moral excellence. This is the God given will power to live a life of excellence, thinking about others and acting upon those thoughts.
This is the stranger who runs into a burning building to save a child. It takes courage and strength to be this type of person. Like all of these attributes it takes practice.
Next, Peter says to add knowledge. Here he is referring to not book smarts about any subject. Rather he is referring to knowledge about Jesus Christ. Not just Bible knowledge, because there are many people who know the Bible well. This knowledge is that intimate knowledge of a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Peter says as Christians living an excellent life for Jesus Christ, we must have self control. We must be disciplined. A Christian must control their flesh, their worldly passions, and bodily desires. We must control our desires or else our desires will control us.
Adding to our self control is perseverance or patience. We must endure whatever it takes when we are doing what is right in God’s eyes. We cannot give in to our temptations or turn away from God during our trials.
With our perseverance comes godliness. To be godly is to live reverently, loyally, and obediently toward God. God has given us everything we need. Rather than asking Him for more, we need to ask Him to enable us to use what we have in order to serve Him.
Godly people want to be like God, even though we will never see perfection in this world. They want to live out their life like God lives. It is dependence on Him and a life that is devoted to Him.
When we are living a godly life with others then we will automatically add brotherly kindness to our life. This is the love of other believers. We are to love each other and should make sacrifices for one another.
Finally, Peter says not only do we love other believers, but we have a love for others in general. We are to love our enemies. We are to love the sinners as God loves them. God wants them to come to saving faith in Jesus Christ and that should be our mission as well.
As you read through these attributes they are all descriptive in the English language. We would probably refer to them as adjectives in many cases. That is how a lot of these words translate from the original Greek.
But when you actually study the original Greek, many of these words were not descriptive adjectives at all. Rather they were action words, verbs as we call them. And that is what Peter is getting at.
Peter tells us that when these characteristics are active in our lives, then we are useful to God. It takes practice to include these things in our lives, but it is what we are supposed to be doing as faithful believers and followers of Jesus Christ.
It takes discipline to live the Christian life today. It takes an effort. Faith is not something we say we have, it is something that we show in our life style. We practice and live out our faith. Being disciplined shows your love for God.
As believers pursue these qualities in their life they will see a difference. They will find they will have a meaningful, useful, and fruitful life. When tough times come, and they will, they will not struggle with doubt, fear, or despair. Because they know that God is there with them and that His Word can be trusted.
Think about your life this week. Think about the spiritual areas that you need to be more disciplined in. Think about some of the areas where you have been disciplined and how it has helped you, especially during those tough times.
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank you for coming into our lives and enabling us to live fruitful lives for you. Help us to use the gifts that you have given us to serve you better so that we may bring sinners to you so that they may also come to know you and find forgiveness.
AMEN
We start our look at Peter’s second inspired letter to the believers scattered around the country. If you remember we said that Peter’s first letter was to encourage his readers during times of persecution. He told them to watch out for the trials that come from outside the church.
In his second letter, Peter warns his readers from trials that occur inside the church. Whether it is from laziness on the believer’s part or actually heresy from the leaders, Peter says to watch out. To be on guard.
Peter tells the people to be disciplined. That was a problem they were apparently experiencing way back then. You know what? It is still a problem we face today as well. For the most part we have become an undisciplined society and unfortunately it has rubbed off on us Christians as well.
God has given us so many good things, so many blessings each and every day. He gives us what we need. And He has given us the greatest gift of all, eternal life through Jesus Christ. How much better can it get? But yet, with all the blessing He gives us we often times become a little lazy if you will in our lives, especially our spiritual life.
God has instilled in us certain characteristics or attribute that all Christians have, it is just a matter of how much we let those attitudes show in our lives. God gives us what we need. He gives us faith.
Peter tells us to add to our faith certain things. He is telling us to practice our faith by demonstrating these attitudes in our life and each attitude builds up to the next one.
First, Peter says to add to your faith virtue. Virtue is a tough word to place into our society today. But Peter is talking about moral excellence. This is the God given will power to live a life of excellence, thinking about others and acting upon those thoughts.
This is the stranger who runs into a burning building to save a child. It takes courage and strength to be this type of person. Like all of these attributes it takes practice.
Next, Peter says to add knowledge. Here he is referring to not book smarts about any subject. Rather he is referring to knowledge about Jesus Christ. Not just Bible knowledge, because there are many people who know the Bible well. This knowledge is that intimate knowledge of a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Peter says as Christians living an excellent life for Jesus Christ, we must have self control. We must be disciplined. A Christian must control their flesh, their worldly passions, and bodily desires. We must control our desires or else our desires will control us.
Adding to our self control is perseverance or patience. We must endure whatever it takes when we are doing what is right in God’s eyes. We cannot give in to our temptations or turn away from God during our trials.
With our perseverance comes godliness. To be godly is to live reverently, loyally, and obediently toward God. God has given us everything we need. Rather than asking Him for more, we need to ask Him to enable us to use what we have in order to serve Him.
Godly people want to be like God, even though we will never see perfection in this world. They want to live out their life like God lives. It is dependence on Him and a life that is devoted to Him.
When we are living a godly life with others then we will automatically add brotherly kindness to our life. This is the love of other believers. We are to love each other and should make sacrifices for one another.
Finally, Peter says not only do we love other believers, but we have a love for others in general. We are to love our enemies. We are to love the sinners as God loves them. God wants them to come to saving faith in Jesus Christ and that should be our mission as well.
As you read through these attributes they are all descriptive in the English language. We would probably refer to them as adjectives in many cases. That is how a lot of these words translate from the original Greek.
But when you actually study the original Greek, many of these words were not descriptive adjectives at all. Rather they were action words, verbs as we call them. And that is what Peter is getting at.
Peter tells us that when these characteristics are active in our lives, then we are useful to God. It takes practice to include these things in our lives, but it is what we are supposed to be doing as faithful believers and followers of Jesus Christ.
It takes discipline to live the Christian life today. It takes an effort. Faith is not something we say we have, it is something that we show in our life style. We practice and live out our faith. Being disciplined shows your love for God.
As believers pursue these qualities in their life they will see a difference. They will find they will have a meaningful, useful, and fruitful life. When tough times come, and they will, they will not struggle with doubt, fear, or despair. Because they know that God is there with them and that His Word can be trusted.
Think about your life this week. Think about the spiritual areas that you need to be more disciplined in. Think about some of the areas where you have been disciplined and how it has helped you, especially during those tough times.
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank you for coming into our lives and enabling us to live fruitful lives for you. Help us to use the gifts that you have given us to serve you better so that we may bring sinners to you so that they may also come to know you and find forgiveness.
AMEN
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Shepherds and Sheep
Click here for the audio message of 1 Peter 5:1-11
As we finish up our look at First Peter this morning, we find Peter is addressing the Church. He addresses the issue of suffering from the perspective of an elder and that of a member of the church.
We have found so far in Peter’s letter that we are to expect suffering in our lives as we follow Christ. God uses that suffering to make us the kind of people He wants us to be. Our suffering produces service, hope, humility, and patience. It strengthens us as followers of Jesus Christ.
During these times of suffering, we as sheep, as members of the church, as members of the body of Christ need faithful leaders. Peter refers to these leaders as elders. The term elder simply refers to the spiritual maturity of the person.
Each elder of the Church must be able to teach, to explain the gospel of Jesus Christ. They must also demonstrate a faithful lifestyle, meaning practice what they preach. We need to also keep in mind though, that the flock belongs to God, not the pastor or elders of the Church. Those people are just put in place by God to lead and care for them.
Being an elder or leader in the Church means more than just teaching the word of God though. It involves providing for the needs of the people. It involves protection from harmful things and that may include discipline if needed.
This ministry is to be performed in a positive manner. You are to be a leader in the Church for the right reason and in the right spirit. You should not be a leader in the church if you are coerced or forced into the position. You must be willing to do it because you feel God calling you to lead.
When you do accept a position of leadership you must do it faithfully. You cannot be lazy in your work for God. You cannot want the position just for the title or for the money or for the power. You must have the right attitude. You must truly want to serve God joyfully.
False leaders are almost always interested in the money or the power of the position. This is nothing new to us today. You can turn the television or the radio on and hear people saying send me money and God will solve all your problems.
Peter saw the same thing almost 2000 years ago. It is nothing new. Satan is still at work in this world. Don’t fall into his trap. Don’t let the title get to you. When you are a leader of the Church you certainly do have a responsibility to lead the people of God, but remember they are God’s people and you too are still a follower of Him as well.
We as leaders, as ministers of God, will be judged for our faithfulness when Christ returns. Many people forget that. They think, I am saved so therefore since God no longer holds my sins against my I will escape judgment.
While that is true that God forgives sins, as believers going on to eternal life with Christ, we still have a job to do on this earth. God gave us that great commission to go into all the world and proclaim the gospel.
Finally, Peter addresses the members of the Church. He says the younger are to submit to the elders. The members are to submit to the leaders of the Church. The members of the church are to respect the leaders and give honor to them.
Submission is a key aspect of the Christian life. We submit to authority with the government, at work, at home, and in the church. We are to humble ourselves and serve others. This is how God is honored and glorified.
It is during these times when we are submitting to others and humbling ourselves, that we will suffer. It is challenging to have this mindset today, but we must. We must trust God to truly live in peace.
God not only allows us but encourages and even commands us to cast all of our anxiety onto Him. He knows this life won’t be easy. He knows we will struggle. He knows we will suffer. But He cares for us.
He wants to take all of the bad stuff from us. He will take our discontentment. He will take our discouragement. He will take our despair. He will lift us up when we fall. He does it because He loves us.
God knows and allows Satan to continue to operate in this world today at least for now. Satan and his forces are always active and looking for opportunities to attack the believer. It might start as a minor temptation and then grow from there, but Satan will continue to attack us, Peter says, like a roaring lion.
We are told to resist Satan. How do we do that? By standing firm in our faith. This means to continue to live according to the Word of God. Satan’s goal is to separate us from fellowship with God and out of the service to God.
When we stand firm, we are not by ourselves. Not only do we have the rest of the body of Christ standing with us, but we have God Himself right there too.
And that is the point of Peter’s letter. We will struggle and suffer with all kinds of things in this world. But always remember that when we stand firm in our faith, we stand together with each other and with Christ.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for these encouraging words from your servant Peter. We thank you for standing with us and seeing us through our trials and temptations. Help us to be the people you want us to be.
Help our elders of this church to lead according to your Word. Guide them in their service to you and to the other members of your body.
In Jesus Precious name, AMEN.
As we finish up our look at First Peter this morning, we find Peter is addressing the Church. He addresses the issue of suffering from the perspective of an elder and that of a member of the church.
We have found so far in Peter’s letter that we are to expect suffering in our lives as we follow Christ. God uses that suffering to make us the kind of people He wants us to be. Our suffering produces service, hope, humility, and patience. It strengthens us as followers of Jesus Christ.
During these times of suffering, we as sheep, as members of the church, as members of the body of Christ need faithful leaders. Peter refers to these leaders as elders. The term elder simply refers to the spiritual maturity of the person.
Each elder of the Church must be able to teach, to explain the gospel of Jesus Christ. They must also demonstrate a faithful lifestyle, meaning practice what they preach. We need to also keep in mind though, that the flock belongs to God, not the pastor or elders of the Church. Those people are just put in place by God to lead and care for them.
Being an elder or leader in the Church means more than just teaching the word of God though. It involves providing for the needs of the people. It involves protection from harmful things and that may include discipline if needed.
This ministry is to be performed in a positive manner. You are to be a leader in the Church for the right reason and in the right spirit. You should not be a leader in the church if you are coerced or forced into the position. You must be willing to do it because you feel God calling you to lead.
When you do accept a position of leadership you must do it faithfully. You cannot be lazy in your work for God. You cannot want the position just for the title or for the money or for the power. You must have the right attitude. You must truly want to serve God joyfully.
False leaders are almost always interested in the money or the power of the position. This is nothing new to us today. You can turn the television or the radio on and hear people saying send me money and God will solve all your problems.
Peter saw the same thing almost 2000 years ago. It is nothing new. Satan is still at work in this world. Don’t fall into his trap. Don’t let the title get to you. When you are a leader of the Church you certainly do have a responsibility to lead the people of God, but remember they are God’s people and you too are still a follower of Him as well.
We as leaders, as ministers of God, will be judged for our faithfulness when Christ returns. Many people forget that. They think, I am saved so therefore since God no longer holds my sins against my I will escape judgment.
While that is true that God forgives sins, as believers going on to eternal life with Christ, we still have a job to do on this earth. God gave us that great commission to go into all the world and proclaim the gospel.
Finally, Peter addresses the members of the Church. He says the younger are to submit to the elders. The members are to submit to the leaders of the Church. The members of the church are to respect the leaders and give honor to them.
Submission is a key aspect of the Christian life. We submit to authority with the government, at work, at home, and in the church. We are to humble ourselves and serve others. This is how God is honored and glorified.
It is during these times when we are submitting to others and humbling ourselves, that we will suffer. It is challenging to have this mindset today, but we must. We must trust God to truly live in peace.
God not only allows us but encourages and even commands us to cast all of our anxiety onto Him. He knows this life won’t be easy. He knows we will struggle. He knows we will suffer. But He cares for us.
He wants to take all of the bad stuff from us. He will take our discontentment. He will take our discouragement. He will take our despair. He will lift us up when we fall. He does it because He loves us.
God knows and allows Satan to continue to operate in this world today at least for now. Satan and his forces are always active and looking for opportunities to attack the believer. It might start as a minor temptation and then grow from there, but Satan will continue to attack us, Peter says, like a roaring lion.
We are told to resist Satan. How do we do that? By standing firm in our faith. This means to continue to live according to the Word of God. Satan’s goal is to separate us from fellowship with God and out of the service to God.
When we stand firm, we are not by ourselves. Not only do we have the rest of the body of Christ standing with us, but we have God Himself right there too.
And that is the point of Peter’s letter. We will struggle and suffer with all kinds of things in this world. But always remember that when we stand firm in our faith, we stand together with each other and with Christ.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for these encouraging words from your servant Peter. We thank you for standing with us and seeing us through our trials and temptations. Help us to be the people you want us to be.
Help our elders of this church to lead according to your Word. Guide them in their service to you and to the other members of your body.
In Jesus Precious name, AMEN.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Trusting God Through Trials
Click here for the audio message of 1 Peter 4:12-19
Peter returns to the main theme of his letter in our Scripture reading this morning. That is the idea of trials that come about in the Christian’s life. When Peter wrote this letter, Christians were just starting to be persecuted. This horrible persecution and attack of Christians would last another 200 years or so.
Persecution against Christians has never really stopped and continues to this very day around the world. So in this letter Peter gives four attitudes that are necessary to persevere through persecution.
The first thing Peter says, is to expect it. He says, “do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you.” We must not be surprised by the suffering that will come our way because we follow Christ.
This suffering is not accidental. That is not the way God works. There is no chance or luck with Him. He controls all and He allows suffering to test, purge, and cleanse the believer.
Think about suffering in general for a moment. When something “bad” happens, most people think, “Why me!” Or they get so down and out depressed saying, “Why do these things always happen to me.”
We feel as if nobody understands, as if nobody else has ever gone through what we are going through. I don’t mean to belittle anyone’s pain here this morning. There is something unique to each of our own experiences, but whatever you are suffering through I am sure there are others out there who have gone through the same thing or at least something very similar.
Feeling alone? Feeling depressed? Have you lost a loved one? Trouble with your job, marriage, or children? Trouble with the law or the IRS?
You are not alone in this world. Even when you feel like the world is against you, God is still there waiting with open arms for you. Suffering is a normal Christian experience. God has a purpose in our suffering.
The second attitude to have regarding suffering is to rejoice in it. “Rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s suffering.” Why are we to rejoice through our trials? Because the Christian who suffers FOR Christ suffers WITH Christ.
Suffering prepares us for the coming of Christ. When we are persecuted for righteousness in this life, we can rejoice knowing that our rewards await us in Heaven. There is no shortcut when living for Christ. There is no easy way.
Suffering is a part of the Christian’s life, it develops us. We should rejoice in our sufferings for righteousness sake. When you endure through suffering God “rests on you.”
This means that when a believer is suffering for Christ, God is there with them, strengthening them and enabling them to endure the suffering. The greatest proof that you are a true believer is your God given ability to endure through suffering. And that is something to rejoice over.
But sometimes we suffer because we did wrong and that is the third attitude toward suffering that we are to have. Peter tells us we are to evaluate the reason why we are suffering.
If we sin and suffer for it we cannot glorify God for our suffering. But we can glorify God through our witness during our suffering. For example, a Christian sins and kills someone. They are sent to prison and will no doubt suffer the consequences of their actions in prison.
This is not suffering for Christ. God is not gloried because they are suffering for their sin. However, if the person lives out their faith in prison and witnesses to the other inmates, then God can be glorified through that person’s life.
You see the difference and the distinction there. We should take responsibility for our actions and suffer the consequences when we do wrong. When we suffer for Christ, God will get the glory He rightly deserves and we will be rewarded eternally.
Notice some of the sins Peter lists there: murder, theft, crimes, or troublesome meddler. When you murder someone, steal something, or commit any type of crime you should be prepared to suffer the consequences of your sin. But notice that last item, the troublesome meddler, the busy body, the gossiper.
Peter makes no distinction between that and murder. Sure, you probably won’t go to prison for gossiping, but it is still sin and you should be prepared to suffer for your actions.
The final attitude of godly suffering is trusting it all to God. God is the creator of all. When we commit our lives to God, we are simply giving back to Him that which He already created and owned.
As the Creator, God knows what His creation needs, better than we do. When you entrust your life to God, He will take care of you and will supply all your needs according to His riches.
Think about your sufferings this week. Have you suffered because of your sin, probably. Have you suffered for Christ, possibly.
Although, most of us have probably never really experience violent physical persecution for Christ, but we should still expect it and rejoice in it and entrust God with our lives.
Maybe the suffering for Christ that we have experienced is simply being excluded from the crowd, maybe we were called names, or ridiculed for our beliefs. Whatever our suffering may be, we need to simple trust God and ask Him for the strength to persevere through it all.
Closing Prayer
Lord, you never said this life will be easy for us. Yes, we will all be invited to that Heavenly feast one day, but life is no picnic. We ask for your strength through the troubles and trials that come our way.
Teach us to rely on You so that we may persevere through to the end, all so that you may be honored and glorified.
AMEN
Peter returns to the main theme of his letter in our Scripture reading this morning. That is the idea of trials that come about in the Christian’s life. When Peter wrote this letter, Christians were just starting to be persecuted. This horrible persecution and attack of Christians would last another 200 years or so.
Persecution against Christians has never really stopped and continues to this very day around the world. So in this letter Peter gives four attitudes that are necessary to persevere through persecution.
The first thing Peter says, is to expect it. He says, “do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you.” We must not be surprised by the suffering that will come our way because we follow Christ.
This suffering is not accidental. That is not the way God works. There is no chance or luck with Him. He controls all and He allows suffering to test, purge, and cleanse the believer.
Think about suffering in general for a moment. When something “bad” happens, most people think, “Why me!” Or they get so down and out depressed saying, “Why do these things always happen to me.”
We feel as if nobody understands, as if nobody else has ever gone through what we are going through. I don’t mean to belittle anyone’s pain here this morning. There is something unique to each of our own experiences, but whatever you are suffering through I am sure there are others out there who have gone through the same thing or at least something very similar.
Feeling alone? Feeling depressed? Have you lost a loved one? Trouble with your job, marriage, or children? Trouble with the law or the IRS?
You are not alone in this world. Even when you feel like the world is against you, God is still there waiting with open arms for you. Suffering is a normal Christian experience. God has a purpose in our suffering.
The second attitude to have regarding suffering is to rejoice in it. “Rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s suffering.” Why are we to rejoice through our trials? Because the Christian who suffers FOR Christ suffers WITH Christ.
Suffering prepares us for the coming of Christ. When we are persecuted for righteousness in this life, we can rejoice knowing that our rewards await us in Heaven. There is no shortcut when living for Christ. There is no easy way.
Suffering is a part of the Christian’s life, it develops us. We should rejoice in our sufferings for righteousness sake. When you endure through suffering God “rests on you.”
This means that when a believer is suffering for Christ, God is there with them, strengthening them and enabling them to endure the suffering. The greatest proof that you are a true believer is your God given ability to endure through suffering. And that is something to rejoice over.
But sometimes we suffer because we did wrong and that is the third attitude toward suffering that we are to have. Peter tells us we are to evaluate the reason why we are suffering.
If we sin and suffer for it we cannot glorify God for our suffering. But we can glorify God through our witness during our suffering. For example, a Christian sins and kills someone. They are sent to prison and will no doubt suffer the consequences of their actions in prison.
This is not suffering for Christ. God is not gloried because they are suffering for their sin. However, if the person lives out their faith in prison and witnesses to the other inmates, then God can be glorified through that person’s life.
You see the difference and the distinction there. We should take responsibility for our actions and suffer the consequences when we do wrong. When we suffer for Christ, God will get the glory He rightly deserves and we will be rewarded eternally.
Notice some of the sins Peter lists there: murder, theft, crimes, or troublesome meddler. When you murder someone, steal something, or commit any type of crime you should be prepared to suffer the consequences of your sin. But notice that last item, the troublesome meddler, the busy body, the gossiper.
Peter makes no distinction between that and murder. Sure, you probably won’t go to prison for gossiping, but it is still sin and you should be prepared to suffer for your actions.
The final attitude of godly suffering is trusting it all to God. God is the creator of all. When we commit our lives to God, we are simply giving back to Him that which He already created and owned.
As the Creator, God knows what His creation needs, better than we do. When you entrust your life to God, He will take care of you and will supply all your needs according to His riches.
Think about your sufferings this week. Have you suffered because of your sin, probably. Have you suffered for Christ, possibly.
Although, most of us have probably never really experience violent physical persecution for Christ, but we should still expect it and rejoice in it and entrust God with our lives.
Maybe the suffering for Christ that we have experienced is simply being excluded from the crowd, maybe we were called names, or ridiculed for our beliefs. Whatever our suffering may be, we need to simple trust God and ask Him for the strength to persevere through it all.
Closing Prayer
Lord, you never said this life will be easy for us. Yes, we will all be invited to that Heavenly feast one day, but life is no picnic. We ask for your strength through the troubles and trials that come our way.
Teach us to rely on You so that we may persevere through to the end, all so that you may be honored and glorified.
AMEN
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Joyful Service
Click here for the audio message of 1 Peter 4:1-11
The end of all things is near says Peter about 2000 years ago. The idea of near means that the end is imminent. It is the next big thing or major event that God is going to do. The return of Jesus Christ could be at any moment, so we need to be ready and that is what Peter is telling his readers.
We are to maintain our eternal perspective on life. We are not to be carried away with the cares, desires, fears or emotions of the world. On the other hand, we are not to be so focused on our future heavenly life that with miss out on the opportunities to do what God wants us to do while on earth.
While here on earth we are given certain things to do, such as proclaiming the gospel, because we won’t have that opportunity when we are in Heaven. We are to pursue holiness.
Yes, we are citizens of Heaven, but our current travels are on earth. One day we will need to given an account of the things that we have done for God while on this earth.
God has given each of us certain spiritual gifts to use for His glory. As we use these gifts they will bring glory to God, but also joy to use and for those around us. 1 Corinthians 12 goes into more details about Spiritual gifts, but for today we can simply say that all Christians, all members of the body of Christ have certain God given gifts that they can use to building up the Church.
How do you know what your Spiritual gift is? Well today there are many computer programs that will ask you a bunch of questions and help you identify which gift or gifts you may have.
However, I think there is an easier way to figure it out. Simply identify what you enjoy doing the most to serve God, based upon the Spiritual gifts that are identified through the bible! That’s it. That’s your gift.
You should enjoy using your gift while glorifying God. You will look forward to the opportunity to use your gift to serve God. If you haven’t figured out your gift yet, get involved in a variety of ministries and you will eventually figure out what you like and what you don’t particular care for.
You should enjoy using your gift and it should bear fruit. We are to be fruitful. The Holy Spirit wants you to know your gift. Follow His lead.
In order to strengthen ourselves and our gifts we need to use them at every opportunity. In order to do this, we truly need to know God’s Word. We get our strength from Him to do everything that we do, so we need to align our will with His and focus our lives on Him to serve Him.
Part of serving Him means serving others. We do this out of love, not just for God, but love for others as well. Peter tells us to “keep fervent in your love for one another.” This kind of love requires a believer to put another person’s spiritual health ahead of their own desires.
This is true even if they are being treat poorly and especially during times of trouble and persecution as many of Peter’s readers were. Why do we do this? Peter continues, “because love covers a multitude of sins.”
This is one of those scripture that people get a little confused about sometimes. They think it is ok for a person to sin as long as they show love.
For example, lets say there is someone who really loves the church and serving the body of Christ. Let’s say their service is taking care of the lawn. He takes pride in the work that he does and he does it to glorify God.
Now, lets say some kids are out riding their bikes and decide to take a shortcut through the Church lawn. This man sees this and starts running after the kids yelling and screaming at them for riding on the lawn. And maybe he used a few choice words and really lost his temper because these kids were messing up his lawn.
People would say, oh that is just the way he is. He is passionate about his work and gets angry when somebody comes along and messes it up. His love covers that sin.
This is not the point of this scripture. Yes, love does cover sins, but not like this. We as believers cannot overlook sin in our lives. It must be confronted and removed. The meaning of this scripture is that if you love someone it will “cover” their sins against you.
In other words, if that guy was yelling and screaming at you for walking across his lawn, you won’t hold that against him. You will always be ready to forgive insults and unkind acts against you.
When we do show this type of love we are at peace with others. We do not seek revenge. We seek love and peace. As Peter says, we will be hospitable toward one another. We will open our homes to one another and care for the needy.
Think about your service to God this week. What motivates you to serve Him. What gives you joy while serving Him. Think about the blessings that you have received and will receive for your service to Him.
Rely on God to strengthen you and express your thanksgiving for the many things that He has done for you, is doing for you, and will do for you in the future. We need to radiate God’s love for us.
Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you for our spiritual gifts. Help us to use them for your glory. Help us to show our loves for others. Give us the strength, the wisdom, and the perseverance we need to carry out your will for our lives.
Help us to serve You joyfully today and every day, “so that in all things You may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion for ever and ever. AMEN
The end of all things is near says Peter about 2000 years ago. The idea of near means that the end is imminent. It is the next big thing or major event that God is going to do. The return of Jesus Christ could be at any moment, so we need to be ready and that is what Peter is telling his readers.
We are to maintain our eternal perspective on life. We are not to be carried away with the cares, desires, fears or emotions of the world. On the other hand, we are not to be so focused on our future heavenly life that with miss out on the opportunities to do what God wants us to do while on earth.
While here on earth we are given certain things to do, such as proclaiming the gospel, because we won’t have that opportunity when we are in Heaven. We are to pursue holiness.
Yes, we are citizens of Heaven, but our current travels are on earth. One day we will need to given an account of the things that we have done for God while on this earth.
God has given each of us certain spiritual gifts to use for His glory. As we use these gifts they will bring glory to God, but also joy to use and for those around us. 1 Corinthians 12 goes into more details about Spiritual gifts, but for today we can simply say that all Christians, all members of the body of Christ have certain God given gifts that they can use to building up the Church.
How do you know what your Spiritual gift is? Well today there are many computer programs that will ask you a bunch of questions and help you identify which gift or gifts you may have.
However, I think there is an easier way to figure it out. Simply identify what you enjoy doing the most to serve God, based upon the Spiritual gifts that are identified through the bible! That’s it. That’s your gift.
You should enjoy using your gift while glorifying God. You will look forward to the opportunity to use your gift to serve God. If you haven’t figured out your gift yet, get involved in a variety of ministries and you will eventually figure out what you like and what you don’t particular care for.
You should enjoy using your gift and it should bear fruit. We are to be fruitful. The Holy Spirit wants you to know your gift. Follow His lead.
In order to strengthen ourselves and our gifts we need to use them at every opportunity. In order to do this, we truly need to know God’s Word. We get our strength from Him to do everything that we do, so we need to align our will with His and focus our lives on Him to serve Him.
Part of serving Him means serving others. We do this out of love, not just for God, but love for others as well. Peter tells us to “keep fervent in your love for one another.” This kind of love requires a believer to put another person’s spiritual health ahead of their own desires.
This is true even if they are being treat poorly and especially during times of trouble and persecution as many of Peter’s readers were. Why do we do this? Peter continues, “because love covers a multitude of sins.”
This is one of those scripture that people get a little confused about sometimes. They think it is ok for a person to sin as long as they show love.
For example, lets say there is someone who really loves the church and serving the body of Christ. Let’s say their service is taking care of the lawn. He takes pride in the work that he does and he does it to glorify God.
Now, lets say some kids are out riding their bikes and decide to take a shortcut through the Church lawn. This man sees this and starts running after the kids yelling and screaming at them for riding on the lawn. And maybe he used a few choice words and really lost his temper because these kids were messing up his lawn.
People would say, oh that is just the way he is. He is passionate about his work and gets angry when somebody comes along and messes it up. His love covers that sin.
This is not the point of this scripture. Yes, love does cover sins, but not like this. We as believers cannot overlook sin in our lives. It must be confronted and removed. The meaning of this scripture is that if you love someone it will “cover” their sins against you.
In other words, if that guy was yelling and screaming at you for walking across his lawn, you won’t hold that against him. You will always be ready to forgive insults and unkind acts against you.
When we do show this type of love we are at peace with others. We do not seek revenge. We seek love and peace. As Peter says, we will be hospitable toward one another. We will open our homes to one another and care for the needy.
Think about your service to God this week. What motivates you to serve Him. What gives you joy while serving Him. Think about the blessings that you have received and will receive for your service to Him.
Rely on God to strengthen you and express your thanksgiving for the many things that He has done for you, is doing for you, and will do for you in the future. We need to radiate God’s love for us.
Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you for our spiritual gifts. Help us to use them for your glory. Help us to show our loves for others. Give us the strength, the wisdom, and the perseverance we need to carry out your will for our lives.
Help us to serve You joyfully today and every day, “so that in all things You may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion for ever and ever. AMEN
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Loving People
Click here for the audio message of 1 Peter 3:8-17
Peter has wrote about how Christians should act toward the government or other authorities. Peter has wrote about how Christians should act with their spouses. In both cases we are to submit to those over charge of us.
Finally, this morning we see Peter writing about our conduct with other believers. He says we are to be like-minded. We are to be sympathetic, tenderhearted and courteous toward each other. We are to be united with each other through Christ. This should not only be our attitude but our actions as well.
No doubt there are times when this is difficult for us to do. Believers are still human and at times fall prey to the ways of the world. But we are to turn the other cheek when someone is saying or doing something evil to you.
We should return good to them for their evilness. We can try to find ways to serve that person. We can pray for them, maybe for their salvation or just their spiritual growth. We can express our thankfulness to that person. Or we can simply speak well of them and honestly desire their well being.
This is how we are to live. We are indeed to enjoy our lives. God put us here for a reason and we should live life to its fullest, but we can only do that as we are living the life God wants us to live.
Peter tells us in no uncertain terms how to enjoy life here, even while living in a dark world that is out to get you. We have already seen in verse 8-9 that he says to have a humble loving attitude toward everyone. Do not seek revenge against those that hurt you.
In verse 10, he continues and says, quoting from Psalm 34:12-16, refrain from speaking evil, use pure and honest speak only. We are to hate sin and pursue peace as much as possible. We are to have a right motive to seek righteousness and please God with our lives.
That is the type of life God wants for us. When we are living like that then we will truly be able to enjoy our lives, even when our situation looks pretty bad from a world perspective.
That is what Peter delves into next. He says when people do good, the world is slow to attack those people.
Look at politicians for example. When they are routinely doing good for their constituents, bringing money and jobs into the area or whatever the people are happy. If the politician does something a little bad, the people are willing to over look it because of all the good stuff that they have done.
But it can happen and Christians should expect it and be ready for it. We as Christians should be focused on being and doing good. Then when we do speak out against sin, the world won’t attack us immediately. Peter does go on to say, that it will happen though.
He uses the example of Christ to show suffering. Suffering for doing good should bring us joy. When you suffer for doing wrong it should be expected that you will be punished and suffer. But God knows when we are being persecuted for doing good.
When the world is attacking us we should be ready to given a defense of our actions. That means we should know the Word of God. We should have it locked in our hearts. As we live in submission to God, loving and obeying Him, we will have no fear of what will happen.
You must understand what you believe. You should understand why you are a believer and be able to given an explanation to others in a dignified and respectful way.
You must also have a clear conscience. If someone is speaking evil of you and what they say is true, then you do not have a clear conscience. You need to clean up your act. You need to eliminate any ongoing sin in your life and confess them to God. Ask for the strength to remove those thoughts or actions from your life.
We must always remember who we are. We belong to Christ and we represent Christ in this world. We need to remember the life of Christ and mimic His actions.
Jesus was always there for others, even when He wanted to be alone. If someone was in need, He was there for them. Why? Because He loved them. He was compassionate toward them.
The next time you are feeling overwhelmed. Everybody wants a piece of your time and attention and you have a million other things to do. You heart is starting to race because you just can’t handle it.
Think about the life of Christ. He gave Himself to others because He loved them. We should do the same. Whether we are giving ourselves to family members, friends, or strangers, it doesn’t matter. We are to love them all and give ourselves to them.
After all Christ gave His entire self to this world. “Christ died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.” (1 Peter 18)
Closing Prayer
Lord, help us to love others as You have loved us. Even when we are exhausted and feel as though we have nothing else to give, strengthen us and fill us with your grace and mercy.
Help us to demonstrate that love of Yours in this world. Enable us to be like Christ, compassionate, caring, and merciful. Use us to be an example to the people of this world and help us to bring sinners to You.
AMEN
Peter has wrote about how Christians should act toward the government or other authorities. Peter has wrote about how Christians should act with their spouses. In both cases we are to submit to those over charge of us.
Finally, this morning we see Peter writing about our conduct with other believers. He says we are to be like-minded. We are to be sympathetic, tenderhearted and courteous toward each other. We are to be united with each other through Christ. This should not only be our attitude but our actions as well.
No doubt there are times when this is difficult for us to do. Believers are still human and at times fall prey to the ways of the world. But we are to turn the other cheek when someone is saying or doing something evil to you.
We should return good to them for their evilness. We can try to find ways to serve that person. We can pray for them, maybe for their salvation or just their spiritual growth. We can express our thankfulness to that person. Or we can simply speak well of them and honestly desire their well being.
This is how we are to live. We are indeed to enjoy our lives. God put us here for a reason and we should live life to its fullest, but we can only do that as we are living the life God wants us to live.
Peter tells us in no uncertain terms how to enjoy life here, even while living in a dark world that is out to get you. We have already seen in verse 8-9 that he says to have a humble loving attitude toward everyone. Do not seek revenge against those that hurt you.
In verse 10, he continues and says, quoting from Psalm 34:12-16, refrain from speaking evil, use pure and honest speak only. We are to hate sin and pursue peace as much as possible. We are to have a right motive to seek righteousness and please God with our lives.
That is the type of life God wants for us. When we are living like that then we will truly be able to enjoy our lives, even when our situation looks pretty bad from a world perspective.
That is what Peter delves into next. He says when people do good, the world is slow to attack those people.
Look at politicians for example. When they are routinely doing good for their constituents, bringing money and jobs into the area or whatever the people are happy. If the politician does something a little bad, the people are willing to over look it because of all the good stuff that they have done.
But it can happen and Christians should expect it and be ready for it. We as Christians should be focused on being and doing good. Then when we do speak out against sin, the world won’t attack us immediately. Peter does go on to say, that it will happen though.
He uses the example of Christ to show suffering. Suffering for doing good should bring us joy. When you suffer for doing wrong it should be expected that you will be punished and suffer. But God knows when we are being persecuted for doing good.
When the world is attacking us we should be ready to given a defense of our actions. That means we should know the Word of God. We should have it locked in our hearts. As we live in submission to God, loving and obeying Him, we will have no fear of what will happen.
You must understand what you believe. You should understand why you are a believer and be able to given an explanation to others in a dignified and respectful way.
You must also have a clear conscience. If someone is speaking evil of you and what they say is true, then you do not have a clear conscience. You need to clean up your act. You need to eliminate any ongoing sin in your life and confess them to God. Ask for the strength to remove those thoughts or actions from your life.
We must always remember who we are. We belong to Christ and we represent Christ in this world. We need to remember the life of Christ and mimic His actions.
Jesus was always there for others, even when He wanted to be alone. If someone was in need, He was there for them. Why? Because He loved them. He was compassionate toward them.
The next time you are feeling overwhelmed. Everybody wants a piece of your time and attention and you have a million other things to do. You heart is starting to race because you just can’t handle it.
Think about the life of Christ. He gave Himself to others because He loved them. We should do the same. Whether we are giving ourselves to family members, friends, or strangers, it doesn’t matter. We are to love them all and give ourselves to them.
After all Christ gave His entire self to this world. “Christ died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.” (1 Peter 18)
Closing Prayer
Lord, help us to love others as You have loved us. Even when we are exhausted and feel as though we have nothing else to give, strengthen us and fill us with your grace and mercy.
Help us to demonstrate that love of Yours in this world. Enable us to be like Christ, compassionate, caring, and merciful. Use us to be an example to the people of this world and help us to bring sinners to You.
AMEN
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Holy Living
Click here for the audio message of 1 Peter 3:1-7
Last week we started to look at some obligations that Christians have to this world. When we make Jesus the cornerstone of our life, we live for Him and we live like Him. So we get these examples from they way He lived His life.
As we have said, Christ is the perfect example of life. He did not seek revenge when He was wronged. In fact, He loved His enemies and prayed for them. We too should do the same.
Christ endured the suffering that came to Him to carry out God’s will. That too is something that each of us should be prepared to do. Christ also submitted to the authorities of this world so far as their laws didn’t violate God’s laws.
In our Scripture this morning, Peter continues the theme of holy living. Now he switches from the perspective of citizen, to that of a family nature.
First, he says, “Wives, submit to your husbands.” No doubt this is one of those Scriptures that has been abused throughout the centuries. Notice it doesn’t say, “Wives, let your husbands beat and abuse you.” It doesn’t say that nor does it mean that nor does it imply that at all.
Women are not inferior to men in any way. So how are women to be submissive to their husbands. That is an easy answer, but sometimes tough to do. You are to love them, even and especially if they are not Christians.
In fact, Peter even says, you can win your unbelieving husbands over to Christ by simply submitting yourself to him. Submission is tough for all of us, because we all want to be in charge, but part of being a Christian is submission to others.
Submitting yourself to another person means serving them. I know it sounds kind of sexist these days, but you know what. When you have a kind, loving, caring, and compassionate spouse, serving them is a wonderful thing.
If your spouse isn’t so kind, caring, or compassionate, then serving them will show them what holy living is like. A Christian brings the blessings of Christ to their entire household.
Peter then tells the women to focus on their inner beauty. Inner beauty is precious to God. It shows your heart to others. It is having a gentle, kind, meek, humble spirit. These are some of the characteristics of Christ.
It is challenging today to develop that inner beauty. The world pulls us in all kinds of directions and we rarely make time to focus on growing in our faith and changing our lifestyles to reflect our Christianity.
Think about your morning routine of getting ready for your day. It probably takes most of us about an hour to get ready to do whatever is on our agenda. We shower, shave, fix our hair, pick out our outfits and so on.
Now think about the amount of time you spend on God and focusing on your inner beauty each day.
There are many examples of this inner family throughout the Bible. We have studied Ruth who definitely showed that inner beauty. She was submissive, she was faithful, she was loyal. We’ve looked at Esther as well. She too was submissive and faithful. She stood up for what was right, not just for her or her family, but for her entire race.
These people were examples to others of a holy life. A holy pure life, doesn’t simply benefit us, but the blessing pour from us to others. The people around us get to see an example of life that isn’t focused on worldly stuff. It lets them know and see that there is something more to life.
Becoming holy is a process. It takes a lifetime to become holy and even at that we won’t know perfect holiness until we are with our Lord. We are not perfect and will never be while on this earth, but like Paul, we press on toward the mark.
God sanctifies us. He sets us apart from sin. He forgives our sin. But we have a responsibility too. We must flee from the temptations that try to trap us. Of course, we can only do this consistently by relying on the strength that God gives us.
Our actions speak louder than our words and we seem to learn this at a very young age. Children can sense when something is wrong, maybe by the tone of our voice, or the look on our face and we don’t even realize what we are doing.
Our lifestyle and our love for others can open the eyes of others to see that there is more to life than just stuff.
So Peter gives the first six verses to women, but it applies to men and all Christians as well. Finally, in verse seven Peter gives the men, the husbands some advice.
He says, “You husbands in the same way live with your wives.” In other words, husbands you too are submitting to your wives. You must love your wife. You must be sensitive to her needs, to her fears, to her feelings.
Husbands, you are to make her needs your needs. Marriage is the best earthly relationship that life has to offer. Our wives are our companions and we are to cultivate that relationship.
Not only is it what God wants, but Peter tells us this so that our prayers are not hindered. How about that? Husbands, if you are not treating your wife right, do you think God is going to listen and answer your prayers?
Submission is a requirement for all Christians. We are to submit to the authorities over us. We are to submit to each other. Next time we will see our submission requirements in the Church.
Of course, above all of this we are to submit to God. We are to make His will our will. We are to live the life that He wants us to live and He gave us that example of life through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you for that perfect example of life that you have given to us to model our lives after. We want to be holy and we want to live that life, but we are weak and we fall into temptation in this dark world.
Make your presence known to us so that we may live the holy life you have for us. Help us to give up our selfish desires and focus our attention on others. Help us to live by your spirit and not by our flesh.
Use us to bring others to you.
AMEN.
Last week we started to look at some obligations that Christians have to this world. When we make Jesus the cornerstone of our life, we live for Him and we live like Him. So we get these examples from they way He lived His life.
As we have said, Christ is the perfect example of life. He did not seek revenge when He was wronged. In fact, He loved His enemies and prayed for them. We too should do the same.
Christ endured the suffering that came to Him to carry out God’s will. That too is something that each of us should be prepared to do. Christ also submitted to the authorities of this world so far as their laws didn’t violate God’s laws.
In our Scripture this morning, Peter continues the theme of holy living. Now he switches from the perspective of citizen, to that of a family nature.
First, he says, “Wives, submit to your husbands.” No doubt this is one of those Scriptures that has been abused throughout the centuries. Notice it doesn’t say, “Wives, let your husbands beat and abuse you.” It doesn’t say that nor does it mean that nor does it imply that at all.
Women are not inferior to men in any way. So how are women to be submissive to their husbands. That is an easy answer, but sometimes tough to do. You are to love them, even and especially if they are not Christians.
In fact, Peter even says, you can win your unbelieving husbands over to Christ by simply submitting yourself to him. Submission is tough for all of us, because we all want to be in charge, but part of being a Christian is submission to others.
Submitting yourself to another person means serving them. I know it sounds kind of sexist these days, but you know what. When you have a kind, loving, caring, and compassionate spouse, serving them is a wonderful thing.
If your spouse isn’t so kind, caring, or compassionate, then serving them will show them what holy living is like. A Christian brings the blessings of Christ to their entire household.
Peter then tells the women to focus on their inner beauty. Inner beauty is precious to God. It shows your heart to others. It is having a gentle, kind, meek, humble spirit. These are some of the characteristics of Christ.
It is challenging today to develop that inner beauty. The world pulls us in all kinds of directions and we rarely make time to focus on growing in our faith and changing our lifestyles to reflect our Christianity.
Think about your morning routine of getting ready for your day. It probably takes most of us about an hour to get ready to do whatever is on our agenda. We shower, shave, fix our hair, pick out our outfits and so on.
Now think about the amount of time you spend on God and focusing on your inner beauty each day.
There are many examples of this inner family throughout the Bible. We have studied Ruth who definitely showed that inner beauty. She was submissive, she was faithful, she was loyal. We’ve looked at Esther as well. She too was submissive and faithful. She stood up for what was right, not just for her or her family, but for her entire race.
These people were examples to others of a holy life. A holy pure life, doesn’t simply benefit us, but the blessing pour from us to others. The people around us get to see an example of life that isn’t focused on worldly stuff. It lets them know and see that there is something more to life.
Becoming holy is a process. It takes a lifetime to become holy and even at that we won’t know perfect holiness until we are with our Lord. We are not perfect and will never be while on this earth, but like Paul, we press on toward the mark.
God sanctifies us. He sets us apart from sin. He forgives our sin. But we have a responsibility too. We must flee from the temptations that try to trap us. Of course, we can only do this consistently by relying on the strength that God gives us.
Our actions speak louder than our words and we seem to learn this at a very young age. Children can sense when something is wrong, maybe by the tone of our voice, or the look on our face and we don’t even realize what we are doing.
Our lifestyle and our love for others can open the eyes of others to see that there is more to life than just stuff.
So Peter gives the first six verses to women, but it applies to men and all Christians as well. Finally, in verse seven Peter gives the men, the husbands some advice.
He says, “You husbands in the same way live with your wives.” In other words, husbands you too are submitting to your wives. You must love your wife. You must be sensitive to her needs, to her fears, to her feelings.
Husbands, you are to make her needs your needs. Marriage is the best earthly relationship that life has to offer. Our wives are our companions and we are to cultivate that relationship.
Not only is it what God wants, but Peter tells us this so that our prayers are not hindered. How about that? Husbands, if you are not treating your wife right, do you think God is going to listen and answer your prayers?
Submission is a requirement for all Christians. We are to submit to the authorities over us. We are to submit to each other. Next time we will see our submission requirements in the Church.
Of course, above all of this we are to submit to God. We are to make His will our will. We are to live the life that He wants us to live and He gave us that example of life through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you for that perfect example of life that you have given to us to model our lives after. We want to be holy and we want to live that life, but we are weak and we fall into temptation in this dark world.
Make your presence known to us so that we may live the holy life you have for us. Help us to give up our selfish desires and focus our attention on others. Help us to live by your spirit and not by our flesh.
Use us to bring others to you.
AMEN.
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