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
Sunday, October 31, 2010
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
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