James 3:1-2

Here in chapter three James calls our attention to the tongue as another example of authentic faith.

First, as believers we should be careful who we follow.

1. Second, as believers we should be careful of what we teach.
2. Third, we should be careful that our speech and actions match

1. Before a person can be a teacher, he or she must be a learner. We must be learners and indeed we are learners. We are being taught everyday whether we are aware of it or not.  Therefore we must not presume to be teachers before we have been learners and we must be careful to follow the true shepherd.

Jesus said in John chapter 10,:2-5

“The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own he goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice but they will never follow a stranger, in fact, they will run from him because they do not recognize a strangers voice. “

We are the watchmen and if we fail to teach others of the true shepherd’s voice, or if we teach a false gospel that leads others away from reconciliation with God. We will be judged stricter (Mark 9:42)

Furthermore a quote by John Macarthur will make it clearer for you.

“James is not restraining the genuinely gifted, qualified, called, sincere, or knowlegable, but he’s saying take great pains to ascertain the seriousness of the position of teacher before you step into that role.”

So James is saying whether you are official or unofficial in your teaching capacity at the church you should be careful.

vs 2

We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

There are 2 interpretations for the word perfect in this verse.

First, the idea is not that we retreat from our responsibilities as Christians but that we start first guarding our hearts through our speech.  This strategy for self control starts with the tongue, and then everything else will fall into place.  Also we know Jesus was the only perfect man and we all fail however James is possibly saying in this verse that we should be encouraging each other to follow Jesus example and in doing so, be sanctified unto perfection.

The second interpretation would read this way. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a mature man, able to keep his whole body in check. This implies that as we grow in self control of our tongue, we grow in Christian maturity. This acts as a guard for the teacher against accusations and a guard to the name of Christ against slander that may be brought to it on our account.

Finally, what you need to hear is that God takes words seriously. He takes hearts and attitudes, which are really the sins that the tongue reveals seriously. He wants you to know that he forgives you. You can become one who deals graciously with others. Remember, that the first life was spoken into existence by the mouth of God. He just spoke and there it was – the earth. He just spoke and there was a garden with animals and plants and Adam and Eve. Take hold of the word of God and bridle that tongue so that you may show yourself mature and able to stand against sin the world and the devil. Then you will be a watchman. You will be a teacher. You will be, a mature Christian.

This Sunday, we will be having holy communion so prepare your hearts to receive and remember what the Lord has done for us. See you on Sunday.

James puts the issue of faith at the Christian life and its works, there are no Christians at birth because we must be born again in faith.  There are 2 examples of real faith, Abraham and Rahab (One is the father of faith and the other is a prostitute) which show that faith has nothing to do with your background, your heritage or how you were born.

Four aspects of faith

1. Faith originates in a call, or promise from God (Romans 10:17)
2. Faith responds to the word of God with hope against all hope (Romans 4:18-21)
3. Faith continues in obedience (Hebrews 10:39)
4. Faith looks forward to a reward or inheritance (Hebrews 11:6 & 10)

Faith endures any hardship now as worth the surpassing greatness of Christ and his glory.  There is no pain on earth so great that it won’t melt away like marshmallows in hot chocolate when we get to heaven and this should be remembered daily because we have such an easy lif as believers in free countries.  There will come a time when a real trial will befall us; either personally or collectively as a church through persecution or war.  We must look forward to another city, a city whose architect and foundation is God himself.  We cannot be people of faith if we love this world more than the next.  We must not despise this life, but we must not cherish it more than God either.  We are new creations meant for citizenship in that city of God.

Authentic faith must be followed by deeds because if we claim to have faith, will that save us?  A false claim can be characterised by

• being all talk

1. action-less
2. compassion-less

• all knowledge

1. relies on orthodoxy
2. refuses to be taught

James says it takes more than words to show that you have faith – A poor person cannot just say “I’m rich” and buy a multi-million dollar home or we can’t say “I’ll help you” with words when the person needs food or shelter and we don’t provide for them.

Furthermore, you can know the bible and that God exists but the demons know that too so that can’t save you.  Also a foolish man is unwilling to be taught and change, see Acts 8:9-25 about Simon the sorcerer.  If you have authentic faith, there will be works but it is not a bargaining chip with God, because God gives us faith and it changes our hearts from dead to alive.  Jesus said “I am the vine and you are the branch, if you remain in me, you will produce fruit”.  Think about it, if you plant an apple seed, you’ll get apples, if you plant the word of truth, you’ll get authentic works of faith:

• The first work will be that of repentance 2 Timothy 2:19
• There will be works of obedience Ephesians 2:10
• There will be works of separation from the world and our past life Romans 12:1-2
• There will be works of compassion and love

Finally test yourselves in faith – 2 Corinthians 13:5 (let it be in your heart and your head)

Sin can disorientate us towards God and his law and we find ourselves sometimes on two extremes; for example, either being too lazy or being a workaholic and being super-organised versus being very messy.  The problem is God commands us to love one another and we as Christians feel like we are walking wobbly on a balance beam where if we fall off on one hand we are being selfish and proud and on the other, we feel judgment and discouragement under the law.

What is the Law of Freedom? Being forgiven and found in Christ makes us free to choose to love as he loves but how do I speak and act as a person who is going to be judged by the law that gives freedom?  Jesus said the one who was forgiven much will love much, so get to know the mercy of God. Only Jesus intercedes for you and pays your debts, leave your life of sin, repent and turn to Christ.  A key thing about the law, it is reflections of God’s character (the lawgiver) and it cannot be separated into parts. If we break one part of the law, we are guilty no matter how minor.  Imagine driving across a long bridge and in the distance you see a gap of 20 metres and think how will I cross that?  Then you come across a 3 meter gap that is also impossible to get across in the car.  Well it is a mute point that there is a bigger gap ahead when you can’t even get past the first section.  The gaps are like our sin and if we miss the first minor section like showing favoritism to people which is a sin, there is no way across. We need to obey the royal law that gives us freedom to glorify God as he intended us to. The reality is that God has shown you mercy and it triumphs over judgment.

Think of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) and condemned adulteress (John 8) and how God showed mercy.

The situation (They had a form of religion or an object of worship)

The solution (common ground)

The result

These days, people judge preachers by how much emotional feelings are generated when they listen ie. crying/laughing/elation

Two types of people

l  Epicureans – pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain

l  Stoics – believed that God was there but didn’t know how to apply that knowledge v.23

At that time, people belonged to a religion through

l  Family

l  Culture               ( Socialization)

l  Geography

They had to be careful how they talked to people about having a relationship with Jesus but remember God is not made of gold/silver or stone but he is the God of mountains/sky/sea (v.24 & 29).

v.27 We must have no compromise with sin but be flexible with ways and methods because God doesn’t look at the external ways.  We should look at how we apply the knowledge of God as he is in the heart of every man, (Romans 1:20).

The result at the time in v.34 was some believed.

James 2:1-13

I’ll take Jimmy. Give me Bobby says the other boy. One by one the spots on each team were chosen. The talent of each student in the line was being carefully assessed by each of the team captains. And with each player plucked from off the gymnasium wall, the dregs of poorer players was getting reached. The tall, the strong, the stylish, the popular, and the

so called “GOOD” players were picked first. Inevitably there would have to be one player that would be picked last. The real horror came when there were not even players to be chosen and the last boy on the wall, the uncoordinated one, the overlooked and weak one, the least       of these, would become the odd man out. We are taught at a very young age to put our money on the strong and the powerful. We are told you better be part of the haves, because if you don’t get with them, you’ll be a have not. They have money. They have education. They have status. They have what everyone around them want. These people are fun. They’re the life of the party. When they talk others want to listen. We all love to hang around them. They are a little taller, stronger, prettier, and generally happier and healthier than the rest of us. And there’s the rub. Did you hear it? Did you catch what we as people are so prone to do? Did you hear what gets revealed out of the hearts of sinful people when we speak of others and what they have or have not. It’s a heart that compares and forgets the goodness and mercy of God. We all have a place we feel we fit in this hierarchy of having and not having. A hierarchy is like a ladder. It’s a ladder with many rungs and we put ourselves somewhere on that ladder. We see some people above us and some below us.

This is what James calls partiality, and it is described only one way. James calls it plainly and simply a SIN.  Proverbs 24:23 and Proverbs 28:21 also show partiality is not good.

The practice of Partiality  VS. 2-3 can be seen here in James’ example of the rich man and the poor man who came into the church. The rich man is clothed in fine clothes, we see their means and we want to use those means for our own end. We see their status and we welcome it, just as those in James’ parable here do. You see they offer him a good seat. We might notice that the people here are paying special attention to this man. Their attention is completely drawn to the man’s outer display. His face only, not his heart. In reality the rich man has a heart every bit as poor and in need of the gospel as the poor man, But the PRACTICE OF PARTIALITY keeps those (who are fawning over him) from even seeing that. They are too preoccupied with his outward appearance to look on his heart.  The poor man is received quite differently. The poor man is described as having on poor clothes who would obviously be incapable of offering anything to the community in the way of status, charm, intellect, and least of all money. Upon his entrance to the worship service he is told to “stand over there”.

Philippians 2:3 Paul tells us to do nothing out of selfish ambition but rather to do what? …”consider others better than ourselves” This is the only true partiality permitted by the Bible for the believer in Christ. Consider others better than yourself. They are not lower than you. Rather you are always to be the one in the humble circumstance.

You’re not too strong that God could not use the weakest of the brothers to take you down from your proud place. We are to judge as Christ judged. Therefore one practice of partiality is to make others lower than ourselves.

Second, we keep them far off and in the back ie. “over there”. Sometimes they make us feel uncomfortable because they talk strangely or they don’t seem so socially with it. I think if you were honest with yourself, you may see how easy it is to practice partiality.

Verse four. Have you not discriminated among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? You see we have a problem when it comes to our practice of partiality. Our partiality exposes the sin in our hearts. It shows us that we have really not understood grace. We are not walking in the glory of Christ.  The problem of Partiality is that we cannot hold, display, or walk in the glory of Christ and       practice partiality at the same time.  Remember verse 1 – Partiality is a sin and God is impartial

Evidence

2 Chron 19:7  (in his character)

“There is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons.”

Deut 10:17

“For the Lord your God is a God of Gods and a Lord of Lords, a great God, a mighty and an awesome God, who regards not persons.”

Mal 2:9    (in his ways)

I also made you contemptible and base before all the people because you have not kept My ways but have been partial.”

Lev 19:15  (in his law) and (social justice)

You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, you shall not respect the person of the poor nor honor the person of the mighty but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor.”

Also Rom 2 & 1 Tim 5

GOD is no respecter of persons no matter how old they are. We will all die and be judged according to our lives. We must all find ourselves in Christ. James tells us that we cannot hold favoritism or be partial to any man and still be faithful in displaying Christ and his glory. That is why this is a sin. SIN is any deviation from the character of God. As you have seen from the Bible here today, GOD is impartial. His  impartiality is as much a part of who he is as his love, his mercy, his goodness.

1 Cor 1:26-29 Do you see what you risk when you show favouritism, you risk your very life in Christ.

If we are to be that kind of follower we must put away our partiality and love as he loved. We must find our impartiality in the example and promise of CHRIST.

The promise of God’s Impartiality verse. 5

‘Listen brothers, has not God chosen the poor in the eyes of the world, to be rich in faith, and to inherit the kingdom he promised to those who love him?

Aren’t we thankful today that God is no respecter of persons. Aren’t we glad that he looks on the heart and not on our money, our fashion sense, or our intellect. The Practice of Partiality is a sin.  The problem of partiality is that we are guilty of it. The Promise is that God is impartial and judges not on external qualities, but rather on who we are in Jesus Christ. Let us love one another the way Christ loved us.

What do you need to get onto God’s team?

No pre-existing skills or talents, Free membership, No background experience, Little training

Can start immediately, Desire to learn more, No medical examinations &

Accept Jesus as your lord and savior and ask for forgiveness of your sins

How can we be effective on God’s team? ANSWER Strategy

• Acknowledge that God can do it and act in obedience to his word.
• Note what God says in the bible and what has happened in the past.
• Say it in prayer.
• Wait and meditate (individual).
• Encourage one another (community).
• Remind yourself daily of God’s promises (thru the Bible, answers to prayer, prophecies and community input).

God wants us to do things based on our attitude and personality but to not let our ego get in the way with what he has planned for us. Romans 12:3-8

Mission Conscious – what is the big picture – (Eternity)

Committed – there are no half-hearted champions. (Priorities)

Relational – if you get along, others will go along. (Being friends)

Selfless – there is no I in team. (Sacrifice)

1. Romans 12:1-2
2. 1 John 5:4-5
3. Colossians 2:8-10

 If you don’t have Jesus as your tag team partner, you don’t have anyone to call on when you are getting beat up or making the wrong choices – in wrestling, it is called a handicap match. Jesus has come to earth and been on the team and went through the same struggles as us.  Only you are able to ask Jesus to join with you and be Lord over your life, you need to ask him for forgiveness of your sins and to be your life coach, tag team partner and father.  Finally don’t forget about the final outcome as it has eternal consequences and it is the wrong thing to be wrong about.  

Two farmers desperately needed rain to save their crops and both prayed to God.  However only one went out and prepared his fields for rain, tell me who has more belief in God?  What do you need to prepare to contribute to God’s team?

James wants to talk to the believers who think that they are doing just great. He wants to discuss religion with those who presume to be religious.  Three distinct points – the first point has to do with the tongue and the heart. The last two points follow Jesus’ teaching to love God and to love our neighbors. He wants their faith, to be useful.  God’s eyes see and determine what is pure and faultless. God determines what religion is acceptable to him or not. James wants the believers to be mature and complete.  3 Categories

l  The taming of the tongue.

l  The care of those in need.

l  And the moral purity of the believer.

1. Pure and faultless, worthy religion is honest and humble
2. Pure and faultless worthy religion is helpful
3. Pure and faultless worthy religion is holy

v26 has everything to do with our hearts as they are made new in Christ. The heart that is deceived, is one that cannot control his tongue.  If we become judgmental rule makers we are at risk of being much more like the pharisee than the tax collector. It is clear that what came out of the heart in the Pharisee’s prayer was pride. It was clear that his religiosity meant more to him than the very God he was praying to. In contrast the tax collector, or the sinner, prayed humbly. He knew there was no merit to his prayer if it were not acceptable to the one he was praying too.  Furthermore, people such as widows and orphans had no way of providing for themselves and so James points out the role of the church in helping to provide for them. The point of loving others really has everything to do with displaying God’s glory, his mercy, his love, his tenderness, his compassion to the world. We ask that God would receive all blessing and glory from the work being done. We take care of others so that the light and love of Christ would make it into their hearts. Keeping oneself unstained by the world has something to do with your behavior and where you go, but it has a whole lot more to do with what shirt you decide to put on this morning. Are you putting on the new life of Christ. Or are you going back to the dirty pile of clothes in the back corner of your closet.  You are clothed in Christ’s righteousness so there is no room to boast.  Help others in need with a purpose bigger than your good feeling.

Summary

Here are 5 things from the verses to correct our thinking about those who are blessed.

These things encourage us to engage in God’s word:

1. James says those who hear and do God’s word will be blessed.

2. James says that those who look intently into God’s word will be blessed.

3. James says that those who continue in God’s word will be blessed.

4. James says that those who remember God’s word will be blessed.

5. James says that those who know themselves by God’s word will be blessed.

1. The Word of God is true
2. The Word of God is implanted
3. The Word of God is able to save
4. The Word of God is God’s tool for regeneration
5. The Word of God accomplishes God’s righteousness

1. The significance of God’s Word being true for believers is three fold.

FIRST: It reveals the character of the giver of the Word.  As believers, we know that it accurately represents our Creator and his intentions for us, his creation. That’s why James adds in vs. 18 of the text that we were born again to be first fruits of God’s creation.

SECOND: It is able to save the hearers of the Word.  Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for all those who believe. It is no small thing to take a dead heart and make it alive to Christ. You need more than light to make a blind man see. You need more than sound to make a deaf man hear. There is big supernatural TRUTH with a capital T needed to do what this is describing in the text.

THIRD: It accomplishes God’s Righteousness. If you spend time in the word of truth it can and will accomplish God’s righteousness in you. The problem is that we like the students in my class are not particularly predisposed to accepting the Word of Truth.

Now what does James have to say to us and how we are to receive this word.

We are to understand, We are to be quick to hear, We are to be slow to speak, We are to be slow to anger, We are to be prepared and We are to be humble.

First we are to understand God’s word. We don’t just come here week after week with notintention of grasping, or receiving what it is God would have us learn about our new life in Christ. We are to grow in our understanding of Grace. We are to grow in our awareness and understanding of our own sin. We are to grow in our understanding of God’s calling on our lives as we receive his Word, we grow in our understanding of what our DUTY and DIGNITY in Christ are.

We are quick to listen to God’s word because without it we would stray. We must remain in God’s word, and receive God’s word readily. We come here on Sunday ready and waiting to hear God’s word. Socializing is great. Singing is awesome. I don’t want to diminish the value of those things in our meeting, but the Word of God must be chief among our purpose of coming together. It must inform how we talk to one another, it must lead in what we sing, it must be on our lips in how we pray. We must come with hearts that are quick to listen to God’s word.

Being slow to speak does not mean ‘don’t evangelise’ but it means to be careful about distorting the Word of God be it from the pulpit or between friends.  This can also help relationships as we should hold our opinions until we figure out what God wants us to know and share.  Furthermore, being slow to anger has different meanings but the one focused on today is anger boiling under the surface – a grudge. Don’t be dissuaded from hearing God’s Word because of your personal feelings for the one who is telling you about it.

Be prepared to receive God’s word. We do this by actively seeking conformity and submission to his word in our daily lives. It says get rid of all moral filth and wickedness that is so prevalent. I John 1:5-10 says very expressly that the word of God cannot abide where sin is. We must be active in confessing and turning from sin as we come to hear God’s word. We do this when we prepare to receive the body and the blood. We should do it when we come to receive the bounty of the truth of God’s word as well. Prepare your heart to receive God’s word continually by spending time confessing and praying before you come to hear from him. How can we expect to receive anything from him if we are not actively ridding ourselves of the evil in our hearts when we come here.

Finally, we come to receive God’s word Humbly.  We recognize it is a gift from God unto new life.  We admit our lack of understanding and pray for God’s wisdom. We are eager to hear, we need to hear. We are slow to speak or cause disagreements. We don’t hold a grudge against those teaching us. We prepare ourselves by confessing and getting rid of habitual sin in our lives. Humility describes the whole man who is under the control of God’s word.  Amen

5 observations about temptation and what they say about God and us.

1. They don’t come from God
2. They lead us away from God
3. They give birth to sin
4. They deceive
5. They are common

Firstly, temptations are as common as weeds in a garden. You can pull them up, but you’re inevitably going to see another one soon. They are common, not only in how often they happen but in who they happen to.  1 Corinthians 10: 13. Paul says “no temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it”.

1. The problem with temptation is sometimes we blame God and others for it and say I wouldn’t have done this if God hadn’t put it there first – case in point ‘Adam and Eve’ when he had eaten the apple and God found them hiding in the garden said words to the effect that “This woman YOU put here with me told me to eat.” You put her here God.

2. Temptation itself is not a sin. Jesus was tempted and he was without sin. We must acknowledge that temptation works in conjunction with our will to lead us to sin. And as you may already know, God cannot abide sin because he is holy.  This is why we associate the truth that God is unchanging, with the truth that he does not tempt us.  God cannot do anything that would detract from his own glory.  If God had one thought or one deed that detracted from his glory he would be guilty of the very thing we are guilty of, that is to be guilty of departing from God’s will.  Imagine if we tried to change the chemical composition of water from h2O to H2P or H1O, it would cease to be water and it is the same with God, if he tried to change part of him and his glory, he would cease to be God.

3. Remember that the wages of sin is death and a thought to consider is when we think we have a harmless temptation, it can unfortunately lead us to exchange the truth of God’s glory for much lesser things.

4. The deceptive part of temptation is that it seeks to distort what God has called good, that which should bring God the most glory. It seeks to distort created things and make them ultimate things.  In the 21st century, we put feelings ahead of obediance and can sometimes turn our desires into idols.  Even the mighty can fall, just look at the story of David and Bathsheba.

5. The problem we have as people is not that we are tempted. It is that we actually desire the evil that is tempting us. Adam wanted the apple more than he wanted God. David wanted Bathsheba more than he wanted the Lord.  Only Jesus was able to turn down the temptations of the deceiver (Satan – the father of lies).  He could triumph, not just because he was God, because we know that he was also a person like us. He triumphed because he desired God and his will above anything else. His heart and God’s heart, his will and God’s will were one. When you see the totality of Jesus’ life and all his decisions you see how truly remarkable it is that he is said to be WITHOUT sin. That means there was never a moment that his and His Father’s will were not one.

Finally, the only way to combat the tempter, the deceiver, is through the victory won for us at the cross.  Cultivate a heart that is in love with your savior.  You must love Jesus more than you love anything in this world. The new heart has already been given to you. This is not another command of the law being given to you.  This is an invitation to encounter the living God your creator.  To be wrapped up in his love.  He chose to give us birth through the word of truth.  Respond to that truth with joy.  Joy that causes you to take pleasure in the gift giver more than the gift itself. This kind of heart and mind will prevail in the truth over temptation.  The truth for you is that God has given you a new birth, a new life, and a new heart.  Walk in the truth.  God bless you.