Prayer Warriors and Truth Wanderers

Elder Kevin Wood preaches on James 5:13-20, the tenth and final sermon in our series of sermons this fall from the Book of James under the theme “Wisdom for Spiritual Maturity”.

[sermon text is found below the image]

Introduction

Today marks the tenth and final week of our sermon series from the book of James which we have called “Wisdom for Spiritual Maturity”.  We will wrap it up by considering the final eight verses and then doing a quick review of the whole book.

By now you should be familiar with James’s style, and so it should not surprise you that he will bring up two subjects in these final verses which don’t seem to have much to do with the previous verses, or with each other.  Our speaker last week noted how his text brought to mind the phrase “the long and the short of it” – with five verses on one subject followed by one verse on a different subject.  Today’s text is rather similar: six verses on one subject followed by two on another.  And all of this jumping around takes place without obvious transitions; James was apparently absent from his writing class on the day they covered the importance of transitions.  It’s no wonder that Chuck Swindoll said of the book of James that it “looks a bit like the Old Testament book of Proverbs dressed up in New Testament clothes”.

[Reminder: OUTLINE]

I. Making the Most of Prayer

Let’s consider first verses 13-18 of chapter 5.  Here James turns to the subject of prayer, but he introduces it with a concept he has already discussed at length, that of suffering:

Is anyone among you suffering?  Let him pray.  Is anyone cheerful?  Let him sing praise.  Is anyone among you sick?  Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.  And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.  Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.  Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

In these few verses, James makes several important points about prayer, points which are consistent with the teachings of Jesus and of Paul, both of whom talked a lot about prayer.

A. Pray in all circumstances

First of all, we learn that to make the most of prayer, we should pray in all circumstances.  We should pray in all circumstances.

“Is anyone among you suffering?”, asks James.  Then “let him pray.  Is anyone cheerful?  Let him sing praise.  Is anyone among you sick?  Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him.”

Do you find that you pray only in times of sickness and other kinds of trouble, and don’t feel the need to pray when everything is going well?  James warns us to not let times of cheerfulness lead to complacency in prayer.  Remember, praise and adoration are one form of prayer.

Conversely, do you find that you praise God when things are going well but avoid approaching him in prayer when you’re experiencing troubles, perhaps feeling that he doesn’t care or isn’t able to help?

Or perhaps you’re not in the habit or praying at all.

In any of these cases, James’s admonition is to pray in all kinds of circumstances.

In Luke 18, Jesus told a parable of a widow who finally received justice through her persistence in pleading her case.  Luke tells us that he told his disciples that parable in order to teach them “that they ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1).

Paul gave similar admonitions in various of his epistles.  He told the Thessalonians that they should “pray without ceasing [and] give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18), the Romans that they should “be constant in prayer” (Romans 12:12), the Ephesians that they should “[pray] at all times in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18), and the Colossians that they should “continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2).

To make the most of prayer, we should pray in all circumstances.

B. Pray as a body

We should also pray as a body.  To make the most of prayer, we should pray as a body.

James says here: “Is anyone among you sick?  Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”

This is not to say that we should not pray individually; we should do that.  But we should not neglect praying corporately.

Jesus spoke of the additional power which comes when believers come together in unity to pray.  We read in Matthew 18:19-20: “If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

This is one reason why we gather together each Wednesday evening for Bible study and prayer.  We come together as the body of Christ to lift up to our heavenly Father the needs of the members of our body and to praise him for his working in our lives.

Perhaps you are wondering about the anointing with oil.  Mark 6:13 tells us that when Jesus sent his apostles out two by two to preach and to heal, that “[they] anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them”.  It is something that we as elders of this church are sometimes asked to do – to anoint the sick with oil and to pray over them – and we are privileged to do it.

But we should not conclude that there is some magic power in the oil.  There are far more cases of healing by Jesus and the apostles in which no mention of oil is made.  It is not the oil which heals; it is the power of God.  As James wrote, the sick person is anointed with oil “in the name of the Lord”.

To make the most of prayer, we should pray in all circumstances, and we should pray as a body.

C. Pray in faith

We should also pray in faith.  To make the most of prayer, we should pray in faith.

Faith is one of the major themes of James’s epistle, and so it is no surprise that he brings it up here in the context of prayer: “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up”.

Time and again we read in the Scriptures of faith being a prerequisite for God to work.  Considering just the gospel of Matthew, we see that Jesus healed the Roman centurion’s servant, noting, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith” (Matthew 8:10).  He healed the woman who touched the fringe of his garment in faith that this could heal her, noting, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well” (Matthew 9:20-22).  He healed two blind men, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you” (Matthew 9:29).  While in the region of Tyre and Sidon, he healed the daughter of a Canaanite woman who begged for his mercy although she was not a Jew, comparing herself to a dog eating the crumbs that fall from his master’s table; Jesus said to her, “O woman, great is your faith!  Be it done for you as you desire.” (Matthew 15:21-28).

And when his disciples marveled that he could curse a fig tree and it would immediately wither, Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen.  And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” (Matthew 21:20-22).

Conversely, Jesus could do few miracles in his own hometown – which, let us remember, was also James’s hometown, he being Jesus’s half-brother – because of the peoples’ unbelief (Mark 6:6).

Faith is the great prerequisite for God to work in our lives.  And if we feel that we do not have sufficient faith, may we call out like the father of the demon-possessed son, to whom Jesus said, “All things are possible for one who believes”; may we likewise cry out and say, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:23-24).

To make the most of prayer, we should pray in all circumstances, we should pray as a body, and we should pray in faith.

D. Confess your sins

We should also confess our sins.  To make the most of prayer, James tells us, confess your sins.

In reference to the sick person seeking healing through the prayer of faith, James says, “And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.  Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”

In earlier parts of his letter, James has mentioned certain things which could certainly fall under the category of sins: the display of favoritism, allowing our tongue to control us and create all sorts of trouble, allowing our passions to bring about quarrels and fights, slandering and judging each other, boasting, making plans without taking God into consideration, and so on.

All of these things, and many more, can impede our prayers.  They damage the proper relationships we should have with each other and with God.

We all love the beautiful simplicity and heartfelt feelings expressed in what we call the Lord’s prayer, including the plea: “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12).  But perhaps we aren’t so fond of what Jesus said immediately after the prayer, as we read in Matthew 6:14-15: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Seeking reconciliation when needed is vitally important for the church body to be all that God intended it to be.  At times it must even take precedence over worship.  As Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount: “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go.  First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24)

In the place of damaged relationships, James envisions a reconciliation which can only take place if we are willing to confess our sins and forgive one another.

We should make a note here about the relationship between sickness and sin, for James seems to be saying here that sin causes sickness.  Well, sin can and does cause sickness; this is taught in other parts of the Scriptures and is attested by our own experiences.  But not all sickness is the result of sin; the story of the man born blind in John 9 is just one example refuting this.  Nor does all sin cause sickness.

Finally, we should note that God does not always heal sickness, even when we pray in faith.  Paul was certainly a person who prayed in faith, and yet God chose not to remove his so-called “thorn in the flesh”, which was likely some kind of physical ailment (2 Corinthians 12:7–10).  God may have far greater purposes for our sickness that we simply can’t understand.

To make the most of prayer, we should pray in all circumstances, we should pray as a body, we should pray in faith, and we should confess our sins.

E. Live a righteous life

Finally, we should also live a righteous life.  To make the most of prayer, James tells us, live a righteous life.  [By the way, make sure that you spell that carefully; I said a righteous, not a riotous, life!]

James writes (beginning in the middle of verse 16): The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working [or, as you will read in the footnote, The effective prayer of a righteous person has great power].  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.  Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

James is apparently making the case that the prayer of a righteous person will be more powerful or more effective than the prayer of a person who is not righteous.  And what does it mean to be righteous?  It does not mean self-righteous, of thinking of ourselves as good and upright and better than others.  It means that we have a right relationship with God, that we are living for him, and that we are committed to doing his will in our lives.

James provides us with an example of a righteous person who prayed with this power and effectiveness.  You may recall that in our introduction to this series ten weeks ago, we talked about who James was – the half-brother of Jesus – and who his intended audience was: Jewish believers.  When James wanted examples of people who expressed their faith through works, in chapter 2, he cited Abraham and Rahab.  When he wanted examples of people who endured through suffering, in chapter 5, he cited the prophets and Job.  And now, when he wants an example of a righteous person whose prayers were effective, he turns once again to a historical Jewish figure, Elijah.

You can read the story of the three-and-a-half-year drought and subsequent return of the rain, and Elijah’s prominent part in that, in I Kings 17–18.  These chapters also include other miracles done by Elijah during this time: the supply of food for the widow at Zarephath; the bringing back to life of the widow’s son; and the confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel in which God brought fire down upon the water-soaked altar.  Elijah’s prayers were certainly powerful and effective!  And the miracles which resulted were clearly beyond Elijah’s human capabilities.  They were unquestionably the work of God in response to his prayers.

Despite the extraordinary nature of the story of Elijah, James’s point here is not to show how different he was from us, but just the opposite: he says that “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours”.  We should not feel that we can’t pray if we don’t reach the righteousness of Elijah.  But we should be striving to live righteously.  And we should follow Elijah’s example of praying fervently.  This phrase “prayed fervently” in the Greek is actually a verb and noun both from the same root word for prayer.  It could literally be translated “he prayed in prayer” or “he prayed with prayer.”  The intention to is to suggest a greater intensity and/or frequency.

And again, James did not include the example of Elijah to make us feel bad about our own prayer life.  It is rather to encourage us to engage in an active prayer life, to show us that the power of prayer is available to all.

To make the most of prayer, we should pray in all circumstances, we should pray as a body, we should pray in faith, we should confess our sins, and we should live a righteous life.

II. Coming Back to the Truth

In the final two verses of James’s epistle, he introduces yet another subject, that of those who wander from the truth.

James 5:19-20: My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

We find here two basic lessons.

A. A believer can wander from the truth

First, a believer can wander from the truth.  A believer can wander from the truth.

We can wander from the truth by believing something which is false or by not believing something which is true; that is, we can wander in terms of doctrine.  Or, we can wander from the truth by living in a way which is not consistent with the truth we supposedly believe; that is, we can wander in terms of practice.

This presupposes, of course, that there is an absolute truth which we can know and find.  And this places us in confrontation with the world, which in our times is moving more and more in the direction of saying and believing that there is no absolute truth.

A believer can wander from the truth.

B. We should be ready to help people come back to the truth

Therefore, we should be ready to help people come back to the truth.  We should be ready to help people come back to the truth.

And why should we be ready?  Because the consequences are extreme.  James doesn’t tell us that by bringing a person back to the truth we will make their life a little happier, although that may be true.  He tells us that we will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins!

The person who wanders from the truth is facing a life-threatening danger, specifically a danger to their eternal life.  True faith means repenting of our sins, trusting in Christ for salvation, and making him the Lord of our lives.  The person who wanders from this truth places his or her life in danger.  Again, this places us in confrontation with the world, which would have us to believe that there is no such thing as sin, and therefore no need of repentance, and certainly no need to make Jesus our Lord.

Do we love our brothers and sisters in the faith?  Then that love should compel us to help them come back to the truth when they wander from it.

A believer can wander from the truth.  We should be ready to help people come back to the truth.

III. Final Thoughts on the Book of James

With this, James ends his epistle.  There is no obvious conclusion, or salutation, or closing exhortation, as in the letters of Paul, John, Peter, and even Jude.  It just ends.  Again, this reminds us a bit of the book of Proverbs of the Old Testament and other so-called “wisdom literature”.

*major themes

We can end, however, by recalling some of the major themes which James has talked about.

Most importantly, there is the grand theme of faith.  From chapter 1, where he talked about the testing and perfecting of our faith, to chapter 2, about the relationship of faith to works, to the verses from today about praying in faith, the subject of faith has been the closest thing to an overall theme for the book.  Let us heed the warning of James: true faith should produce fruit in keeping with that faith.

Some of the other themes James has discussed include those of suffering and trials; riches and humility; taming our tongue; warnings against worldliness; and perseverance.

*an “epistle of straw”?

In our opening message, we noted that Martin Luther referred to the book of James as “an epistle of straw” compared to some of the other books in the New Testament.  Did you find it to be “an epistle of straw”?  It is a very different book, that is true, but I still found much of value in it.

*wisdom for spiritual maturity

Most of all, we found it to be full of wisdom, of wisdom for spiritual maturity.  Remember, spiritual maturity is not a matter of age; nor is it a matter of accomplishments and awards; nor is it a matter of appearances, of seeming “spiritual”.  Spiritual maturity is, instead, a matter of character and attitude.

We hope – we pray – that these messages have had their intended effect: that each one of us will better understand what spiritual maturity is, that we will have a true desire to grow toward spiritual maturity, and that we will develop more of that character and attitude which define spiritual maturity.

Conclusion

More Wisdom for Spiritual Maturity

Visiting preacher Jim Shedd speaks on James 5:7-12, the ninth in our series of sermons this fall from the Book of James under the theme “Wisdom for Spiritual Maturity”.

“Lord Willing”, “Do the Right Thing”, “In God We Trust”: Mottos or Mockeries?

Elder Kevin Wood preaches on James 4:13 – 5:6, the eighth in our series of sermons this fall from the Book of James under the theme “Wisdom for Spiritual Maturity”.

[sermon text is found below the image]

Introduction

We have spent the last eight weeks going through the Book of James in a sermon series we are calling “Wisdom for Spiritual Maturity”.  We are now nearing the end, with only two weeks to go after this week.  We hope – we pray – that these messages are having their intended effect: that each one of us will better understand what spiritual maturity is, that we will have a true desire to grow toward spiritual maturity, and that we will develop more of that character and attitude which define spiritual maturity.

By the way, if you missed a message or just want to review one again, remember that you can find an audio recording, and in some cases also the text, of these messages on the church’s website.

You can find a lot of other things on our website, too, such as our mission statement: “The mission of Forest Park Baptist Church is to glorify God, encouraging everyone to know and follow Jesus wholeheartedly”.  We include the final part of that mission statement on the front cover of our bulletin each week: “Encouraging everyone to know and follow Jesus”.  It’s a sort of motto.

A World of Mottos, Slogans, and Sayings

It seems like every organization and institution has a motto of some sort, whether official or unofficial.  We live in a world full of mottos, slogans, sayings, and the like.  Companies have them: Just do it! (Nike); “You’re in good hands” (Allstate); “I’m lovin’ it!” (McDonald’s).

States have them; here in Illinois we are, of course, “The Land of Lincoln”.  Cities have them, too; Chicago’s is “Urbs in horto” or “City in a garden”, although these days it’s sometimes hard to find the garden.  Forest Park’s motto is “Big City Access, Small Town Charm”.

Politicians have them: “She has a plan for that” (Elizabeth Warren); “Make America Great Again” (Donald Trump); or my personal favorite, from Harry Truman, “The buck stops here”.

As a boy in the Cub Scouts, I learned: “Do Your Best”; I never made it to Boy Scouts, but I still know their motto: “Be Prepared”.  I also never joined the U.S. Army nor the Marines, but I still know “Be all you can be” and “Semper fidelis” (“Always faithful”).

Some sports teams have mottos; when we lived in Spain, where soccer (futbol) reigns, we would hear “Hala Madrid y nada más” – “Let’s go, Madrid, and no others” – or from the Barcelona fans, “Més que un club” (“More than a club”).

They are ubiquitous even in the religious world.  The motto of the United Methodist Church is “Open hearts, Open minds, Open doors”; sometimes a bit too open-minded in my opinion, but, “to each his own”.

And how about sayings such as “Let go and let God” or “Hate the sin; love the sinner”?

And, today, with social media and hashtags, mottos and slogans are even more present in our lives.

A motto when truly believed and truly followed can be a powerful thing.  It can motivate people to do important things: “Carpe diem … Seize the day”; “No pain, no gain.”  Even extraordinary things: “Give me liberty or give me death”; “All for one and one for all”.

But a motto can also easily become a farce, a mockery.  If it morphs into a mere slogan or saying which is no longer truly believed and truly followed, it becomes hollow words.

Our text today – James 4:13 – 5:6 – brings to mind three mottos which are well known in our modern culture.  Two are very obviously religious in nature, and the third also has religious connotations.  The question for us today is: are these mottos that we truly strive to live by, or are they just empty words?

[Reminder: OUTLINE]

I. A warning against trusting in ourselves (4:13-16)

The first of these mottos in inspired by verses 13-16 of chapter four:

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit” — yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.  What is your life?  For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.  Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”  As it is, you boast in your arrogance.  All such boasting is evil.

“If the Lord wills”; “Lord willing”; “God willing”.  I suppose that every one of us here today has uttered this at some time in our lives.  Some of us say it quite often.

Down south they’ve added a colorful twist to it: “Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise”.

It was the same in Spain when we lived there.  Spaniards, both believers and unbelievers, are fond of saying “Si Dios quiere” – “if God wills”.  And I know Spanish believers who won’t finish a letter or e-mail without adding a “D.m.”: “Dios mediante”, “God willing”.

Is it appropriate for Christians to say “Lord willing”?  It certainly is if we truly mean it.  But if we say it simply out of habit, without thinking, then it loses its significance.

In the verses immediately preceding our text for today, James has been talking about the importance of having a humble attitude before God.  He continues with this theme in these verses by issuing a warning against those who would arrogantly trust in themselves rather than in God.  If we toss around “Lord willing, this” and “God willing, that” while at the same time trusting in ourselves instead of in God, this is pure arrogance.  As James puts it here, it is boasting in our arrogance, and that, he says, is evil.

To avoid such arrogance, we must do three things.

A. We must not presume to know the future.

Firstly, we must not presume to know the future.  We must not presume to know the future.

Proverbs 27:1 gives the same advice: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”

And Jesus told a parable along these lines in Luke 12:16-21:

[And he told them a parable, saying,] “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’  And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’  But God said to him, ‘Fool!  This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’  So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Note that these passages don’t teach that we shouldn’t plan for the future.  This man wasn’t called a fool simply for planning for the future; he was called a fool for presuming to know the future and for thinking that he was in control of it.

We must not presume to know the future.

B. We must accept that our earthly lives are fleeting.

We also must accept that our earthly lives are fleeting.  We must accept that our earthly lives are fleeting.

James’s metaphor here is striking: “What is your life?  For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”  Our lives are like a mist, a vapor.  It’s like when we go outside on a cold morning and breathe out and see our breath like steam rising, and then just like that … it’s gone.

Other biblical writers used similar metaphors.  Job speaks of his own life like this in Job 7:7-10: “Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good.  The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more; while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone.  As the cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up; he returns no more to his house, nor does his place know him anymore.”

And Psalm 102:3-4 reads: “For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace.  My heart is struck down like grass and has withered; I forget to eat my bread.”  And then v.  11: “My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass.”

Likewise, Psalm 103:15-16: “As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.”

And David in Psalm 144:3-4: “Lord, what are human beings that you care for them, mere mortals that you think of them?  They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow.”

Abraham Lincoln’s favorite poem was by a Scottish poet named William Knox.  It is entitled “Mortality” and it begins like this:

Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?

Like a swift-fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud,

A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,

He passes from life to his rest in the grave.

The next 12 stanzas speak similarly of the brevity of life, and then the final stanza goes like this:

‘Tis the wink of an eye — ‘tis the draught of a breath —

From the blossom of health to the paleness of death,

From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud —

Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?

No, the spirit of mortal man should not be proud.  Again, as James has said, boasting in our arrogance is evil.

We must not presume to know the future, and we must accept that our earthly lives are fleeting.

C. We must subject our plans to God’s will.

Thirdly, in the face of the brevity of human life, it only follows that we must subject our plans to God’s will.  We must subject our plans to God’s will.

To make plans in this transient, changing world while ignoring an eternal, unchanging God is pure foolishness.

As Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:24-25, quoting from Isaiah 40:6-8: “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.”

God doesn’t take kindly to people making plans which go against his own plans.  Remember the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11?  Remember the countless other persons in the Old Testament, even faithful people like Abraham and Sarah, who tried to follow their own plans instead of trusting in God’s plans?  Remember the rich man of the parable we mentioned earlier, who planned to build bigger barns?

Instead, we ought to follow the advice of Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight [or will direct your paths]”.

“Lord willing”: whether or not we say it, may it be like a motto to us.  May we not trust in ourselves but in God.  May we not presume to know the future.  May we accept that our earthly lives are fleeting.  May we subject our plans to God’s will.

II. A warning against sins of omission (4:17)

The second motto is inspired by the final verse of chapter 4.  James 4:17 says: “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

“Do the right thing!”  This is not necessarily a religious motto, of course.  In fact, “Do the right thing” is now the official motto of Google, or more specifically, Google’s parent company Alphabet.

But it can certainly have religious connotations, as in James’ exhortation here: “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

This verse is the most succinct statement in the Scriptures of the idea of sins of omission.  When we think of sins, we most often think of sins of commission: of those actions, thoughts, and attitudes which we in some way actively commit and which are against God’s will: murder, lustful thoughts, envy, etc.  Sins of omission, on the contrary, are those which result when we don’t do something which God’s Word teaches us that we should do.  They likewise might involve actions, thoughts, and attitudes, but this time they are omissions: a failure to act, a failure to think a certain way, a failure in our attitude.

A. Not doing good is just as much a sin as doing evil.

It is very important that we recognize and understand that not doing good is just as much a sin as doing evil.  Not doing good is just as much a sin as doing evil.

The Apostle Paul certainly understood this.  In Romans 7, he bemoans the great conflict within his own body between his old fleshly self and his new godly spirit, noting his tendency toward both kinds of sin: those of commission and those of omission.  Verses 15-19 read as follows:

“For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.  Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.  So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.  For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.  For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”

In these verses, Paul, wanting to do good, struggles against both kinds of sin – doing what he doesn’t want to do and knows to be wrong – sins of commission – and also not doing what he wants to do and knows that he should do – sins of omission.

Paul also encourages us to do the right thing in Galatians 6:9-10: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.  So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

King Solomon in Proverbs 3:27 wrote something very similar: “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it”.

Jesus, too, spoke of the importance of doing the right thing.  In fact, the best-known example of this idea in the Scriptures comes from his story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10.  Two men, a priest and a Levite, both pass by a man who had been robbed and beaten and was in great need; a third man, a Samaritan, stops to help the man.  We find Jesus’ conclusion in verses 36-37:

“‘Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?’  He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy’.  And Jesus said to him, ‘You go, and do likewise’.”

Jesus also talked about this in his parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46.  In this parable, the sheep represent the righteous and the goats the unrighteous.  Picking up in verse 33, we read:

“And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’  Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’  And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’  Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’  Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’  And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Note that the people called unrighteous here had not committed any sins of commission against the people in need.  They hadn’t stolen their food or clothing, nor physically harmed them.  Rather, their sin was the sin of omission, of failing to help when they were given an opportunity to do so.

This is one reason why we as a church have been persistent in pursuing ministry opportunities with Housing Forward.  There are needy in our own community; people in need of shelter and food among other things.  May we not be among those who say in the judgment: “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?”

B. The root of sins of omission is arrogance.

By the way, it might seem that James 4:17, the warning against sins of omission, is a new topic unconnected to the previous verses, the warning against trusting in ourselves.  Yet it is clearly intended to be connected because it begins with the adverb “so” or “then”.  Perhaps the connection is that in verses 13-16 James is condemning arrogance in thought or attitude, while in verse 17 he is condemning arrogance in behavior, in not acting according to how we know we should.

In this sense, we might say that James’ point is that the root of sins of omission is arrogance.  The root of sins of omission is arrogance.

For James to here make the point that our outward actions are somehow related to our inward thoughts and attitudes is consistent with the rest of his letter.  In chapter 1 (verses 22-25) he made the point that we should not be simply hearers of the Word, but also doers of it.  And in chapter 2 (verses 14-26) he made the point that faith without works is dead.  And do you recall the illustration which James gave to show that faith without works is dead?

James 2:15-16: “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?”  Yes, James was talking about sins of omission there, too.

“Do the right thing!”  May we strive to avoid sins of omission as much as we do sins of commission.  May we recognize that not doing good is just as much a sin as doing evil.  May we not be controlled by that arrogance which is the root of sins of omission.

III. A warning against seeking worldly riches (5:1-6)

We turn now to chapter five, where James introduces another subject but with the same words of caution as in 4:13: “Come now”.  We will find our third motto inspired by verses 1-6, which read as follows:

“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.  Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.  Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire.  You have laid up treasure in the last days.  Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.  You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence.  You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.  You have condemned and murdered the righteous person.  He does not resist you.”

Some trust in riches.  We, of course, would never say that.  We would say that we trust in God.

But a lot of people say that; it’s another motto after all: “In God We Trust”.  In fact, “In God We Trust” is the official motto of the United States of America, adopted by Congress in the year 1956 to replace “E pluribus unum” (“Out of many, one”).  Among other things, it is inscribed on every bill and coin of U.S. currency in circulation.

In the light of this text from James, this could be seen to be rather ironic.  I would submit that the vast majority of money which passes hands in financial transactions every day in this country is passed around with absolutely no thought of God.  Some of it is used for things which not only ignore God, but even dishonor him.

And we can say for certain that those whose primary purpose in life is to seek riches are not seeking God.  Jesus put in rather abruptly in Matthew 6:24: “You cannot serve God and money”.

And Paul put it this way in his first letter to Timothy (1 Timothy 6:6-10):

“Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.  But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.  But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.  It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

But is James even talking to believers in these verses?  Many biblical scholars make the case that he is actually referring to people outside of the church, to unbelieving rich oppressors.  Even if this is the case, however, it can still serve as a warning to us, to avoid going down the same path of materialism and oppression.

A. We must accept that worldly riches are fleeting.

We earlier made the point that we must accept that our earthly lives are fleeting.  In thinking about worldly riches, we must likewise accept that worldly riches are fleeting.  We must accept that worldly riches are fleeting.

James had already spoken of this in chapter 1 (verses 9-11): “Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.  For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes.  So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.”

Proverbs 11:28 gives a similar message: “Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.”

Here in chapter 5 James uses even more descriptive language to show that riches and material possessions can be quickly lost: “Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.  Your gold and silver have corroded.”

The problem isn’t so much in having riches, of course.  Paul did not say, as he is sometimes misquoted as saying, that money is the root of all evil.  He said that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.  The problem is that we are inclined to trust in our riches, and therefore in ourselves, rather than in God.  We are inclined to believe that we will always have our riches, that we will always be able to count on them.

B. We must subject our riches to their proper use.

Another problem is that we are inclined to use our riches for our own use.  But just as we must accept that worldly riches are fleeting, we must also subject our riches to their proper use.  We must subject our riches to their proper use.

Both the Old and New Testaments are full of admonitions about the proper use of wealth and material possessions.  We might summarize them as follows: God is the source of all riches; he blesses us with riches, but he expects us to use them in ways which honor him; they are never to be used to oppress others or take advantage of them; and they are never to become an end to themselves, but rather a means to a greater end.

Here in these verses, James has strong words for those who would misuse their riches; let’s read them again:

“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.  Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.  Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire.  You have laid up treasure in the last days.  Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.  You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence.  You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.  You have condemned and murdered the righteous person.  He does not resist you.”

“In God We Trust”; if this be true, we of all people should be striving to put our riches to their proper use, to those uses which honor God and help others, not harm them.  If not, perhaps we are trusting more in ourselves than in God.

“In God We Trust”.  May we heed James’ warning against seeking worldly riches.  May we accept that worldly riches are fleeting.  May we subject our riches to their proper use.

Conclusion

“Lord Willing”, “Do the Right Thing”, “In God We Trust”: are these mottos that we truly strive to live by?  Or are they mockeries, just empty words?

As I said in the beginning, a motto when truly believed and truly followed can be a powerful thing.  It can motivate us to do important things, even extraordinary things.  If we are truly subjecting our lives to God’s will, and doing the right thing, and trusting in God, then we are well on our way along the path to spiritual maturity.  And that, of course, is the point of these sermons from the Book of James, to acquire wisdom for spiritual maturity and to see our lives transformed as a result.  May we not resist God in this holy and wonderful work but cooperate fully with him.

Passion Fruit

NAB Regional Minister Jim Renke speaks on James 4:1-12, the seventh in our series of sermons this fall from the Book of James under the theme “Wisdom for Spiritual Maturity”.

Distinguishing Voices

Visiting preacher Dennis Conner speaks on James 3:13-18, the sixth in our series of sermons this fall from the Book of James under the theme “Wisdom for Spiritual Maturity”.

[sermon text is found below the image]

James 3:13-18

I. God-given Wisdom Is Observable In Actions (13)

II. God-given Wisdom Is Observable In Attitudes (13)

III. God-given Wisdom Is Observable In Abundance of Fruit (17-18)

ESV

James 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Introduction:

Over the course of nearly 25 years of ministry, more than half of that lived in the world of church planting, I’ve frequently had other pastors, church planters, and aspiring church planters ask for advice on some matter or another. 

One of those many conversations stands out in my mind, now some eight years later.

A man who had spent most of his life ministry - and arguably all of it, since he was a PK - was struggling as a church planter in the West Valley of Arizona, the western suburbs outside Phoenix.

Like every other church planter I’ve known, he had encountered some challenges he didn’t expect, conditions he didn’t anticipate, and a lack of response he never considered a possibility.

He had talked to a multitude of other men, searching for “the answer:” that one event, tactic, or formula that would produce the breakthrough he needed, resulting in a rapidly growing core group that would set him on the trajectory toward the large launch he had envisioned as he and his family drove across country from NC to Peoria, AZ.

As he recounted to me the words of advice he got from dozens of people, much of it contradictory, he said, exasperated just recounting it all, “I don’t know who to listen to!”

Despite the temptation to say, “You mean you don’t know to whom you should listen,” I knew that he needed something more than correct grammar in that moment.

So my counsel was this: “You have discovered what I discovered when I first moved it Arizona to plant Crosspointe, the Church at Tartesso. In church planting, there will never be a shortage of people who are willing to tell you what you should do. So you need to determine which voices you will heed, and ignore the rest.”

Friends, most of us realize, that church planters are not the only people who have a multitude of voices clamoring in our ears.

It is true in the workplace. It is true is the classroom, in our neighborhoods, and homes.

Blogs, Facebook groups, Twitter, and countless podcasts have only multiplied the number of voices and the volume of clamor.

And it is even more true for those who hold positions of responsibility. A cacophony of those who will face no consequences of their counsel are those who give it most freely.

So what do we do?

How do we determine which voices to trust?

How do we discern which voices are worth hearing and heeding?

The text we have before from James gives us some practical insight on just how we can reliably discern which voices are trustworthy; which voices that offer us genuine, Godly counsel that comes from God-given wisdom.

Background:

James, I’ll remind you, is something of an open letter to Christians, most of them ethnically Jewish, living scattered about in various places beyond Jerusalem.

Not unlike Christians in 21st America, believers in the Roman world of the first century had many influences.  There were many philosophies and belief systems clamoring for their attention.

In this portion of James’ letter he gives those 1st century believers guidance in discerning which voices offer genuine wisdom and are worth our trust.

And the same Holy Spirit who prompted him to write to those 1st century believers offers that same counsel to us this morning.

Three characteristics of God-given wisdom.

I. God-given Wisdom Is Observable In Actions (13)

James 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Exp: Many may consider themselves wise. Those who do will typically tell us how wise they are.

In fact, James addresses this tendency of humanity with the rhetorical question, “Who is wise and understanding among you?”

A coupe of details I would call your attention to:

First, the question James poses is about those who would claim to be wise and have “understanding. “

Wisdom, of course, is the skill application of knowledge.

Ill: I think of Daniel Burnham when I think of wisdom. There were other architects in the late 19th century, many of whom may have possessed greater technical knowledge than Burnham, but Burnham demonstrated the wisdom to pull together resources and develop an organizational plan that resulted in the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

That word translated as, “understanding” comes is the word from which we get our English word: “epistemology.”

In the context of the first century, it would refer to that high level of knowledge, or conceptual understanding in a particular field.

Ill: For example we have a neighbor in our building who is a retired electrical engineer. He has a doctoral degree in engineering and led the technical aspects of AT&T’s expansion into two European counties.

My understanding of electrical currents is just enough to know not to stick a metal object in a wall socket. I learned that as a youngster in my family’s home, not in a college classroom.

This neighbor can talk far over my head in the matter of electrical engineering, because he has that specialized knowledge or what James labels, ”understanding.”

James calls on us to recognize that we can get some clear indication of the truth of a person's claim of wisdom and understanding by simply watching their actions.

“By his good conduct let him show his works.”

As James has already noted about faith that is demonstrated, he says wisdom - real wisdom, true wisdom, God-given wisdom - will also be demonstrated by actions.

App: So how do we apply this truth?

Like church planters, when we face a challenge or uncertainty in life, we will find there is no shortage of people willing to give us advice. Some can be downright insistent.

But rather than make some decision based solely on the volume or velocity of someone’s advice, let us look at their life and ask, “how have their actions demonstrated wisdom and understanding.”

And that doesn’t simply mean we look for signs of success as the world would measure it.

But how have their actions demonstrated both the understanding of biblical principles and the courage of conviction to live by them?

We need not place stock in mere academic achievements, as they may signal a capacity to write and test well in an academic environment.

We need not place our hopes in prominence or position, for those have sometimes been gained or maintained by crafty means acceptable and sometimes expected in corporate America, but incongruent with Kingdom values.

That’s not to suggest that everyone who is seen as successful has done so unethically.

However, James calls on those who purport to be wise to show evidence of that wisdom.

And his call to us is simply to observe the actions of those who purport to be wise.

For God-given wisdom is observable in actions.

II. God-given Wisdom Is Observable In Attitudes (13)

James 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Exp: James calls the first century followers of Jesus and us to recognize that God-given wisdom is not evidenced merely by outcome, but also in attitude.

God-given wisdom does not parade itself in pride, with the chest thumping and animal-like roars that have become so commonplace among the celebrated of our current day.

No, God-given wisdom is displayed in gentleness.

John MacArthur notes: the Greek word here does “not connote weakness but rather power under control.”

He goes on to note that in the time of James, it “was often used of a wild horse that was broken and made useful to its owner.”

The image I see in my mind is that of Jesus before both Pilate & Herod: the Gospel writers tell us that when asked about the various charges from the religious authorities, He offered them no answer.

One of the reasons God-given wisdom is so recognizable in attitudes is because the humility displayed in wisdom is in such stark contrast to the unbelieving world. And it has been thus from the time of the first century.

Douglas Moo notes that in time and place that James wrote, “ “Humility, or “meekness” (Gk. prätēs) was not usually prized by the Greeks. They thought it signaled a servility unworthy of a strong and confident person.”

Arg: It should not surprise us that Paul wrote to the Galatians that this humility or meekness is a fruit observable in the lives of those walking in, controlled by, living under the direction and authority of the inkling Holy Spirit:

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Ill: Some years ago when I was serving in a denominational role, a denominational executive told of one his team members that his affable nature was seen as a sign of weakness.

Now affable and gentleness are not necessarily synonymous, but the comment reveals how easy it is for the redeemed to take on the mindset of the fallen, unregenerate world.

App: So often people are drawn to the men and women who make headlines. It is particularly true in 21st century American life. We suffer from a celebrity obsession.

Locally, we have seen in this region in just the last couple of years, a some of those celebrity pastors who had gathered multitudes not only in their local churches, but in conferences, and events all over the globe who demonstrated no meekness James tells us is evidence of God-given wisdom, but rather the carnal ambition and selfishness that James says is earthly, even demonic.

As we endeavor to discern which voices we should hear and heed, let us:

• not listen for the long list of accomplishments and the praise of people, but let us listen for that quiet voice that says something substantial when it does speak

• not watch for the one who is surrounded by a crowd or drawn to the powerful people in the room, but the one whose attention is focused on the one who is being ignored

• let us not watch for the one whose instagram feed is filled with selfies they have taken with famous people who don’t know their names

• rather, let us watch for the one who gets to know the names of those who will never appear on anyone’s social media account.

• Let us not gush over the words of those who tout themselves as wise.

• Let us give heed to those voices that have demonstrated their humility.

My friends, in doing so, we will find that we are, indeed, different from the unbelieving world.

III. God-given Wisdom Is Observable In Abundance of Fruit (17-18)

James 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Exp: God-given wisdom can be identified, not only by the way it behaves and the attitudes it displays, but also in the fruit that it produces.

If you have ever memorized the fruits of the Spirit  something that sounds so familiar about verse 17.

Not surprisingly, the wisdom given by God through the person of the indwelling Holy Spirit, will produce fruit similar to that Spirit-controlled life about which Paul wrote.

James also points out that God-given wisdom produces “a harvest of righteousness” that has been sown in peace.

In stark contrast to the chaos or “disorder” that selfish ambition and jealousy produce, God-given wisdom results in an abundance of peace, gentleness, mercy, sincerity, and righteousness.

ill: Several years ago, a struggling church in Chicago had eroded to just 15 members.

Many blamed the drastic demographic change in the neighborhood that had taken place since the early 1970s when the church bought the property they owned.

However, like many churches in decline, they had, in recent years, descended into battles over competing personal agendas. They had called a pastor who had no previous experience. He had come out of a congregation with an authoritarian pastor. Emulating what he had known, he had walked in 10 months earlier expecting to bark commands and see the church jump as he had witnessed in his home church.

The youth pastor, a Moody student in his 20s admitted without apology or shame that he had bee actively undermining the leadership of the Pastor.

A non-denominational multi-site church had begun to exercise some influence, with the expectation that they would soon take ownership of $2 million dollars of property.

The pastor, who eventually realized he was way in over his head, resigned.

The church, on a narrow vote, common in their current state, called an experienced interim pastor.

Rather than descend into and take sides in the various battles, his primary mission when he started was to cultivate a culture of peace among the people. He called on them to remember their kinship in Christ was more important than that property and what either faction wanted to do with it.

It required consistent and persistent insistence on that. He called out members who even hinted at disparaging comments about other brothers or sisters in Christ.

It took a few months, but the culture of that small congregation eventually changed. And six months after he assumed the responsibility, the church voted unanimously to disband and give the property to a church plant of 2nd generation, English speaking Latinos - a church that reflected the community that could reach the community.

No-one could remember the last time the church had a unanimous vote on anything.

But it was only possible because the interim pastor focused on sowing peace and reaping a harvest of peace.

Exp: it may be instructive to know that the biblical concept of peace is more than just the absence of battle or hostility. It includes a sense of being safe, secure, and wholeness.

This is the fruit of God-given wisdom.

App: When uncertainty afflicts us and voices compete for our attention or attempt to influence us, if our desire is to benefit from God-given wisdom, let us observe the fruit of their counsel.

Does it produce chaos or peace?

Does their presence and influence produce strife and clamor, or a sense of wholeness and calm?

Is their counsel producing people who exhibit sinful selfishness and self-promotion?

Or do those they influence display a practical exhibited, expressed righteousness that is at the call of James to his readers?

Close:

When we hear the competing voices that clamor for our attention, let us not simply listen for the personal benefit we may gain, but let us listen with a discerning ear. Let us observe with a discerning eye, the fruit or results of their influence.

Let us observe their actions. Do they demonstrate more than mere knowledge or are they applying biblical truth to their lives?

What sort of attitudes do we observe evidenced by what they say and how they interact with other humans?

Bottom Line:

➡     God given wisdom is recognizable

➡     God given wisdom is practical

➡     God given wisdom produces fruit in our lives

Pray

More Than Words

NAB Regional Minister Jim Renke speaks on James 3:1-12, the fifth in our series of sermons this fall from the Book of James under the theme “Wisdom for Spiritual Maturity”.

Faith Authenticated

Visiting preacher John Yi speaks on James 2:14-26, the fourth in our series of sermons this fall from the Book of James under the theme “Wisdom for Spiritual Maturity”.

The Sin of Favoritism

Visiting preacher Dr. Ron Norman speaks on James 2:1-13, the third in our series of sermons this fall from the Book of James under the theme “Wisdom for Spiritual Maturity”.

[sermon text is found below the image]

INTRODUCTION

1.      The famous Indian leader, Mahatma Gandhi, considered becoming a Christian.

a.     He read the Gospels - was moved.

b.    Perhaps Christianity offered a solution to the caste system that plagued the people of India.

2.     So, one Sunday, he went to a local church.

a.     Decided to see the pastor - - - salvation.

b.    But the ushers refused to give him a seat.

c.     Told him to go - worship with his own people.

d.    Left and never went back “If Christians have caste differences also,” he said, “I might as well remain a Hindu”.

3.     That tragic story illustrates the sin that James writes about in our text.

a.     His focus is on the sin of showing favoritism to the rich and despising the poor, but his words apply to all types of prejudice.

b.    This was a terrible sin that plagued the early church in James’ day.

c.     But what about the church today?

4.    The sin of favoritism has persisted in perhaps subtle ways in evangelical churches as well.

a.     Church Growth movement (30 years ago) – the Homogenous principle – “Birds of a feather, flock together.”

b.   So, with that introduction, let’s take a closer look at the text of James 2:1-13 this morning.

ADMONITION/ ILLUSTRATION/EXPLANATION/APPLICATION

(1.)           (v.1) ADMONITION -

a.) James is the half-brother of Jesus but calls Him “the Lord of glory.”  Reminds those with a Jewish background of the Shekinah glory, which was on display as the Israelites were led in the desert.

b.) John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

c.)  So, we are who are saved by this glorious Lord Jesus, are admonished to “show no favoritism.”

d.) Maybe we need to define some terms (pretty similar).

• Favoritism is giving unfair preferential treatment to one person or group at the expense of another.

• Discrimination is the practice of treating one person or group of people less fairly than other people or groups.

• Prejudice comes from the words, pre-judge and refers to discriminating against people solely because of outward appearance or skin color.

• Racism is a belief or practice that distinguishes or values one race over other races.

e.) Simply put, to show favoritism is incompatible with our faith!

a.     1 Peter 1:17 God is the ultimate umpire because He is the “Father who judges impartially (that is without favoritism).” As ones who claim His name, He expects us to treat people fairly.

b.    Warren Wiersbe nails it when he says: “The way we behave toward people indicates what we really believe about God.”

c.     If you want God’s favor, don’t treat people with favoritism.

(2.)         (v.2-4) ILLUSTRATION. James then gives a vivid illustration.

a.     The text literally reads, “gold-fingered and brilliantly clothed.”  Each finger had a ring and his clothing was often bright and flashy, sometimes with silver sewn into the fabric so it glistened in the sunlight.

b.    If someone came in here wearing this, we would all take notice.

i.      J. Vernon McGee liked to say, “Some go to church to close their eyes, and others go to eye the clothes.”

ii.      In contrast, how would you feel and what would you notice if a poor person came in the doors wearing the only set of clothes he owns?

c.     James points out that we’re prone to show favoritism to the man sporting some bling.

i.      Verse 3 uses the phrase, “if you show special attention”….

ii.      The flashy guy gets the best seat (which in our case would be where?) = the softer seats in the middle?); the filthy guy gets the floor.

iii.      One reason they favored the rich man is they thought he could increase their offerings or would do something special for them.

d.    Let’s face it....We tend to judge the better off as better. We’re prone to give preference to those who make us look good or can do something good for us.

i.      Proverbs 14:20: “The poor is disliked even by his neighbor, but the rich has many friends.”  

ii.      Since everybody matters to Jesus, everyone should matter to us.

(3.)         (v.5-11) EXPLANATION.

a.     Beginning in v.5 James asks four lively questions to get them/us to see the contradictions that resides within them. Each question expects a ‘YES’ answer.

• “Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he has promised to those who love him?” Yes.

Ø  Though it is easy for man to be partial to the rich, God isn’t partial to them.

Ø  In fact, since riches are an obstacle to the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24), there is a sense in which God specially blesses the poor of this world.

Ø  They are chosen… to be rich in faith because the poor of this world simply have more opportunities to trust God.

Ø  Therefore, they may be far richer in faith than the rich man. 

Ø  The poor are chosen in the sense that the poor more readily respond to God in faith, having fewer obstacles to the kingdom.

• “Are not the rich the ones who are exploiting you?” Yes.

Ø  James reminded his readers that the rich often sin against them.

Ø  This is often because the love of money is the root of every kind of evil (1 Timothy 6:10).

• “And they not the ones who are dragging you into court?” Yes.

Ø  History shows that the rich can indeed oppress the poor.

• “Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of Him to whom you belong?”  Yes.

Ø  If he’s referring to the rich who are Christians, then by the way they act, they cause others to slander Christ’s name.

Ø  But if he’s referring to rich unbelievers the rich men of those times being generally great enemies to Christianity.

b.    James now turns to Scripture as the standard. (v.8)

• James anticipated that some of his readers might defend their partiality to the rich as simply loving the rich man as their neighbor in obedience to the law.

> The problem isn’t that one is nice to the rich. The problem is that one does show favoritism to the rich and is not nice to the poor man!

> So, you can’t excuse your favoritism by saying, “I’m just fulfilling the command to love my neighbor as myself.”

* Our God is a great King, and His law is a royal law.

> Jesus put special emphasis on this command (Matthew 22:36-40) from the Old Testament (Leviticus 19:18).

> James is reminding us that the poor man is just as much our neighbor as the rich man is.

c. Don’t miss how repugnant favoritism is to the Almighty.

i.      In verses 9-10, favoritism is a perversion of justice and is referred to as “SIN”!

ii.      Racism/Prejudice/Discrimination/ Favoritism are not just social problems in our world; they are sin problems within.

(4.)         (v.12-13) APPLICATION.

a.     Watch your words and adjust your actions. Remember judgers will be judged. 

i.      We’re to speak and act.

ii.      We need to watch what we say and what we do because we’ll be judged accordingly.

iii.      Jesus said it like this in Matthew 7:2: “For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.”

b.    Make mercy your message. (v 13b).

i.      Mercy is the aspect of God’s character that causes Him to minister to the miserable…to feel something deeply.

ii.      Jesus was the ultimate model of ministering with mercy while not giving preference to people.

1.      He recruited Matthew, a despised tax collector….

2.     He gave grace to the woman caught in adultery.

3.     He celebrated the little the widow gave, while allowing the rich young ruler to walk away when he wouldn’t turn his love of money.

4.    He held up the Good Samaritan, a hated half-breed as the hero in a story about compassionate neighboring.

CONCLUSION:  Here’s the bottom line: If you want God’s favor, don’t treat people with favoritism. So, what can we do if we know we often show favoritism?

1. Repent of prejudicial attitudes, words and actions. Let’s own our pride, our partiality and our favoritism. Confess it and turn from it. No more. No longer. Not here.

2. Listen and love. Let’s pray and go out of our way to connect with someone who looks different from us.

3. Let’s allow the glorious Lord to help FPBC to become more ethnically and racially diverse and yet harmonious and united.

v. Mercy must be our message.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

Elder Sean Blaylock preaches on James 1:19-27, the second in our series of sermons this fall from the Book of James under the theme “Wisdom for Spiritual Maturity”.

The Trouble with Troubles

Elder Kevin Wood preaches on James 1:1-18, the first in our series of sermons this fall from the Book of James under the theme “Wisdom for Spiritual Maturity”.

[sermon text is found below the image]

Introduction

Last week, we finished our journey through the first 12 chapters of the Book of Acts, under the broad theme of the Spirit-led church.  This week, we begin a new sermon series we are calling “Wisdom for Spiritual Maturity”, based on the Book of James.

God desires his children to grow to spiritual maturity.  One of the purposes of the church is to help believers grow to spiritual maturity.  But what is spiritual maturity?  It is not a matter of age; nor is it a matter of accomplishments and awards; nor is it a matter of appearances, of seeming “spiritual”.  Spiritual maturity is, instead, a matter of character and attitude.  And the Book of James happens to be a sort of manual on spiritual maturity.  Our hope is that through this sermon series, God will speak to us through this epistle and the rest of his Word, and nudge each of us further along the path toward true spiritual maturity.

Background on the Book of James

Whenever we begin the study of a new book, it is always appropriate to review the background of it to help us better understand the historical context: who wrote it, when was it written, to whom was it addressed, and so on.

In this case, the epistle begins with the words: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.” (James 1:1)

[Reminder: OUTLINE]

Authorship

We see right off the bat that the Book (or epistle) of James was written by – no surprise here – James.  But then comes the question: which James?  James was a very common name at the time, and in fact there are three prominent men named James in the New Testament.

There is James the son of Zebedee, also known as James the Greater, one of the twelve apostles, and brother of the apostle John.  But you may recall from our brother Sean’s sermon last week that this James was put to death by King Herod Agrippa, probably around 43 or 44 A.D. (Acts 12:2).  This makes it nearly impossible that he was the author of the epistle, which is dated a little later.

Then there is James the son of Alphaeus, also known as James the Lesser, another of the twelve apostles.  He does not appear in the New Testament except in the lists of the apostles, and it does not appear likely that he was the author of this epistle.

This leaves us with the third James, also known as James the Just, who was not one of the original twelve apostles but later become very prominent in the church at Jerusalem.  He is the James referred to at the end of incident related by Sean last week, when Peter was miraculously released from prison and told the believers, once they finally let him into the house, to “tell these things to James and to the brothers” (Acts 12:17).  He is the James who will play a prominent role in the Jerusalem council related in Acts 15.  It is this James to whom early church tradition ascribed the Book of James.

Although this James was not one of the original twelve apostles, he knew Jesus very well.  In fact, he knew him in an intimate way; he grew up with Jesus!  He was none other than one of Jesus’s brothers, or more accurately, one of his half-brothers, since Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit while James was the biological son of Joseph.

Remember when Jesus returned to his hometown and the people were astonished at his teaching?  Matthew 13:54-55 tells us that they said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?  Is not this the carpenter’s son?  Is not his mother called Mary?  And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?”

The Judas in this list we know as Jude, another of the Lord’s half-brothers, who begins his own epistle with the words: “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James” (Jude 1:1).

And then we have Paul’s recounting of the major events in his life in his epistle to the Galatians, where he relates that “after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.  But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother” (Galatians 1:18-19).  Later in Galatians he refers to James, along with Cephas and John, as the “pillars” of the congregation at Jerusalem (Galatians 2:9).  [See also Acts 21:18 and 1 Corinthians 15:7.]

[By the way, the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and some Anglican and Lutheran traditions hold that Mary remained a virgin her whole life, and therefore teach that James and the other “brothers” of Jesus must have been either cousins or perhaps half-brothers from a previous marriage of Joseph, as related in the apocryphal Gospel of James.]

I find it interesting that at least two of Jesus’s half-brothers, and perhaps all of them (see Acts 1:14), later became devoted followers.  Remember that earlier in his life, they had ridiculed him on at least one occasion, and John tells us plainly that they did not believe in him (John 7:2-5).  These are people who knew everything about Jesus.  We all know how easy it is to maintain pretentions out in public, but at home our real nature tends to come out.  Although Jesus may or may not have had the long hair he is often depicted with, we can say for certain that it was at home that he really let his hair down.  And yet these men, knowing everything about Jesus’ life from his childhood onward, became devoted followers of him as Lord and King, apparently by the time of his post-resurrection appearances according to Acts 1:14.  They, of all people, would have had reasons not to believe, if Jesus had not been who he said he was.  But they did believe.  I find this to be a great testimony to Jesus’ claims about himself.

The Book of Jacob?

By the way, we should probably really call this epistle the Book of Jacob.  If you read the Greek text, you will see that his name, along with the names of the two apostles named James, are all given as Iakobus (Yakobus), a slight variation on the Old Testament name Iakob (Yacob).  But when the New Testament name was rendered in English, beginning with John Wycliffe’s translation in 1380, it was as James, while all the Old Testament references still used the name Jacob.  There is no good explanation for this, other than the theory that medieval Europe was highly anti-Semitic, that the Jewish patriarch Jacob had a negative reputation due to his deceitful character, and that modifying the names of the New Testament characters to James would also serve to honor some English monarchs of that name.  By the time the King James Version of the Bible was published in 1611, there was no turning back; they certainly couldn’t remove the name James from the Bible that the king by that name was sponsoring!

Does it matter?  Well, something is clearly lost when one misses the connection between these names.  You no doubt know that the Old Testament patriarch Jacob had a son named Joseph.  But did you know that the Joseph of the New Testament, the betrothed of Mary, was also the son of a man named Jacob?  We are told that in Matthew 1:16.  When this Joseph had a son – his first biological son – and named him Jacob, he was no doubt naming the boy for his grandfather.  But this point is totally obscured by changing his name from Jacob, or Jacobus, to James.

Date

When did James, or Jacob if you prefer, write his epistle?  Most scholars suggest a date in the mid- to late 40’s, making it the earliest of all the New Testament writings.  This would be shortly after the time of the persecution of Acts 12, the subject of last week’s message.  Thus, is it very fitting that we should take it up now.

This date is based on various factors: references to Jewish Christians having been scattered; no mention of the Gentile controversy, including the Jerusalem council of Act 15 which took place in about 49 A.D.; a reference to an assembly of the congregation as a “synagogue” rather than a “church” (James 2:2); and in general, its overall “Jewishness”.

Audience

Its Jewishness also gives us a clue as to its intended audience, although we hardly need one since verse 1 tells us that James addressed his epistle “To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion”.  James, living in Jerusalem, wrote this letter to the Jewish Christians who had been dispersed to neighboring lands, whether due to persecution or other reasons.

An epistle of straw?

Before we take up the rest of today’s text, we need to make one more preliminary note.  Martin Luther did not think highly of the book of James.  In his Preface to the New Testament, he referred to it as “an epistle of straw” when compared to other books such as the Gospel of John, Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, 1 Peter, and 1 John; compared to these, he said, James “has nothing of the nature of the Gospel about it”.  Luther removed this critical statement from later editions, and he did also have some positive things to say about James, but in his Preface to the Book of James he still concludes that the author “was unequal to the task”.  At best, Luther was ambivalent about James, and many who have come later have shared this opinion.

So, is the Book of James “an epistle of straw”?  I personally disagree and would call it at least “an epistle of stone” if not “an epistle of gold”.  But I will leave it to you to form your own opinion over the next 11 weeks as we work through it together.

I. The Trouble with Tribbles … and Troubles

James begins his epistle talking about trials, tests, and temptations.  Or we might just say: troubles.

If you are a Star Trek fan, you probably know about a classic episode from the early years entitled “The Trouble with Tribbles”.  Tribbles are cute, little purring balls of fluff, living beings which, it turns out, reproduce astonishingly quickly.  This is what causes them to be of great trouble to the Starship Enterprise and her crew.

I don’t suppose that anyone present here this morning has ever been troubled with tribbles.  But I bet every one of us has been troubled with troubles!  We face financial troubles, health troubles, job troubles, relationship troubles, and so on.  Sometimes we face two kinds of trouble at the same time: double trouble!  We might even face three at once: a treble of troubles!

The fact is, we probably can’t imagine some of the troubles that others of us have faced.  As the old negro spiritual puts it, perhaps most famously rendered by Louis Armstrong:

Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen

Nobody knows my sorrow

Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen

Glory, Hallelujah

A. Troubles in this world are inevitable (v. 2)

Yes, we will all face troubles in this world.  In fact, that is our first point to note: troubles in this world are inevitable.  Troubles in this world are inevitable.

Take a look at verse 2.  James says: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds”.  He says when we meet trials, not if we meet them.  Oh, and ladies, don’t think you are exempt; that word translated “brothers” can just as well refer to both men and women, to brothers and sisters.

Yes, we will all face troubles in this world.  The apostle John records Jesus telling his disciples in John 15:18-20: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’  If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”  And later in John 16:33 he says: “In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

The apostle Paul likewise warned the believers in various cities during his first missionary journey, as noted in Acts 14:22, “that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God”.  And in his second letter to Timothy he noted that “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).

Troubles in this world are inevitable, especially for one trying to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ.  It’s not entirely clear whether James is referring here only to troubles which are the result of persecution for our faith or just to the regular troubles of all human beings.  The immediate context – the persecution which had broken out as related in Acts 12 – would suggest the former.  But since he qualifies them as “trial of various kinds” we might surmise that he means to include both kinds.

B. But troubles in this world are purposeful (vv. 3-4)

The tribbles which caused such troubles for the Enterprise crew later prove to be of great usefulness.  They begin dying off after eating the grain from a large shipment which the Enterprise had been asked to guard; this led to the revelation that Klingons had contaminated the grain with a life-threatening virus.  Thus, the tribbles turn out to be purposeful to the Enterprise crew and their mission.

The same is true of our troubles; they are actually purposeful.  And that is our second point: Troubles in this world are inevitable.  But troubles in this world are purposeful, too.  Troubles in this world are purposeful.

Let’s re-read verse 2 but this time continue on: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Let that soak in for a moment.  Our troubles – those trials which test our faith – actually have a positive, not negative, result.  They produce steadfastness.  Other translations use words such as perseverance, endurance, or patience.

But there’s more: this steadfastness, this perseverance, has its own result.  It builds within us a perfection, a completeness, a maturity.  Our troubles in life – which we might think would have the end result of breaking us down, of destroying us, of keeping us from reaching our fullness – can and should have just the opposite effect.  They can and should create within us a “stick-to-it-iveness” which in turn will cause us to grow to full spiritual maturity.  Here we see our theme already: the Book of James will give us wisdom for spiritual maturity.

We all know believers who have aged physically but haven’t grown much spiritually.  In the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians, and also of the writer of Hebrews, be he Paul or someone else, spiritually speaking they are like infants still in need of milk when they should have moved on long ago to solid food (1 Corinthians 3:2; Hebrews 5:12-14).  Maybe some of us here today fall into this category.

If so, perhaps this has been in part the result of allowing our troubles in life to beat us down rather than build us up.  Satan would love to destroy us through our troubles; have you allowed him to do that?  Or have you instead allowed God to refine you, to mature you, through those troubles?  “Let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

C. Thus we can find joy in facing our troubles (vv. 2)

Troubles in this world are inevitable, but they are also purposeful.  And for that reason, we can actually find joy in facing our troubles.  We can find joy in facing our troubles.

Note that I did not say “find joy in our troubles”; I said “find joy in facing our troubles”.  Our troubles, our trials, may not be joyful in and of themselves.  In fact, they will normally be just the opposite.  They will bring us pain and sorrow.  A diagnosis of cancer, the loss of a job, a broken personal relationship, the passing of a loved one, an empty bank account, persecution for our faith; none of these are joyful experiences in and of themselves.

In the midst of our troubles, we may not have a smile on our face.  But we can still feel God smiling in our heart.  We may not feel like dancing in the streets, but we can still experience God dancing in our soul.  We are not talking about happiness here.  Happiness is typically rooted in circumstances, which are ever changing between good and bad; it is found at the level of feelings and emotion.  Joy is rooted much deeper, in our character, in our attitude, in our thinking, in our very being.  James doesn’t tell us to “feel the joy”; he tells us to “count it joy”, or as other versions word it, to “consider it joy”.

May we, like Paul, learn to be content no matter the circumstance.  And if you think you face troubles, consider the life of Paul.  Yet whether facing plenty or hunger, abundance or need, Paul told the Philippians, he had learned to be content (Philippians 4:12).  And to the Corinthians he wrote: “I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

And not only be content, but to actually “count it all joy”.  As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).  And to the Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (Philippians 4:4).

You might remember from our series in Acts, in chapter 5 when all of the apostles were arrested and thrown in jail, and later beaten before being released; and it says, “then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” (Acts 5:41).  This was of course just a fulfillment of what Jesus had said would happen to them, for example in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 when he said: “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)

We can find joy in facing our troubles.

II. How We Can Triumph over Our Troubles

One reason we can find joy in facing our troubles is that God has promised to help us through them.  He will help us triumph over our troubles.  Remember, however, that this is all in the context of reaching spiritual maturity.  I’m not saying that in an earthly sense we will always come out on top.  Cancer, or some other disease, may conquer our earthly bodies.  We may never get that dream job we think we deserve.  We may never, in this world, experience the restoration of a relationship we so much desire.  But this doesn’t mean that God isn’t working in us to help us triumph over our troubles.  Remember the goal: spiritual maturity.

In the subsequent verses, James tells us five things that are required for us to overcome our troubles.  Each one of these could be a sermon on its own.  We don’t have time for that, however, so these will be somewhat in summary form.  But don’t worry; it just so happens that James will return to all five of these themes in the remainder of his epistle, so you’ll be hearing more about all of them over the coming ten weeks.

A. Overcoming troubles requires wisdom (v. 5)

The first thing that we need should come as no surprise given the theme of our series, “Wisdom for Spiritual Maturity”.

Overcoming troubles requires, first of all, wisdom.  Overcoming troubles requires wisdom.

In verse 5, James tells us: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him”.  At first, it might seem that James is moving on from talking about trials to another subject.  But since he will soon return to the subject of trials, I believe that it better to understand these intervening verses in that context.  I think that James is saying: “If any of you lacks wisdom when confronting trials, let him ask God…”.

Let us remember the difference between knowledge and wisdom.  A lot of people in this world have knowledge.  Some have incredible knowledge.  But they don’t all have wisdom.  Knowledge doesn’t require wisdom, or necessarily lead to it.  Wisdom, however, does require knowledge, at least some knowledge.  Wisdom, we might say, is using knowledge properly.

Why do we need wisdom when confronting troubles?  On the one hand, we are generally at a loss when faced with a trial, especially an unexpected one.  Did the doctor really say “cancer”?  “Oh my God!”  And, let’s be honest, we didn’t necessarily say that in a reverent tone.

But that’s exactly what we should say, only reverently: “Oh, my God, help me in this trial.  Give me the strength to face it.  Give me the wisdom to understand what greater purpose you have in allowing this trial to come upon me.”

We need wisdom when facing a trial so that we will not miss the opportunity God is giving us to mature, to become more spiritually whole, through it.  Wisdom helps us to use these situations for our own good and for God’s glory.

It actually goes both ways: we need wisdom to overcome our troubles, and our troubles in turn cause us to grow in wisdom.  The following quote is attributed to both John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim’s Progress, and also Martin Luther: “No man, without trials and temptations, can attain a true understanding of the Holy Scriptures”.

James will have more to tell us about wisdom in chapter 3.

By the way, speaking of wisdom, I should point out here that the Book of James is considered by some to be of a genre of writing called wisdom literature.  In the time of both the Old and New Testaments, there were collections of wise sayings found in many cultures.  These were generally brief, sometimes pithy, sayings dealing with practical life.  They were often couched in the idea that the person who followed the advice was wise, whereas the person who didn’t was foolish.  In the Old Testament, the most obvious example is the Book of Proverbs, but it would also include Ecclesiastes, Job, and even some of the Psalms.  In the New Testament, some of Jesus’s teaching would fall into this category; think of the Sermon on the Mount which ends with the wise man who builds his house on the rock and puts Jesus’s sayings into practice versus the foolish man who builds his house on the sand and doesn’t put them into practice.

While some have identified the Book of James as another example of wisdom literature, however, others have rejected this.  They point out that James does not exhibit some of the peculiar literary features of this type of literature, including particular structures, forms, and vocabulary, things such as rhetorical questions, poetic parallelism, or the comparisons often given in couplets.  For our purposes, it probably doesn’t matter much where we come down on this.  Regardless of whether we consider James to belong to the category of wisdom literature, one thing is certain: it contains the wisdom of God, and is therefore useful for our instruction.

And, as we have already concluded, having God’s wisdom is especially important when facing the troubles of life.  As we have learned from James, overcoming troubles requires wisdom.

B. Overcoming troubles requires faith (vv. 6-8)

Overcoming troubles also requires faith.  Overcoming troubles requires faith.

In verses 6-8, James tells us: “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.  For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

The word translated “double-minded” means literally that: of two minds; James will use it again in Chapter 4.  A double-minded person has divided loyalties.  Sometimes he has faith, while other times he doubts.  In the context of facing troubles, what will this mean?  Each trial, each test, each temptation, will cause such a person to waver, to doubt whether God is really there.  Isn’t that what happens to all of us, at least to some degree?  When faced with a serious trial, we begin questioning God: why?  Why me?  Why now?

I don’t believe that it is wrong to question God like this.  After all, if we are of the mindset that God has a greater purpose for our troubles, then maybe such questioning can help us understand and therefore better face the situation.  But we must remember that God will not always give us the answer, especially in the midst of the situation; it may be later when we look back when we begin to understand.  Even if he never gives us the answer, however, we can trust him, because we know that he loves us and has a purpose for our lives.

James will have much more to say about faith in Chapter 2, especially about the relationship between faith and works.

Overcoming troubles requires wisdom, and it requires faith.

C. Overcoming troubles requires humility (vv. 9-11)

Overcoming troubles also requires humility.  Overcoming troubles requires humility.

James go on in verses 9-11 to say: “Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.  For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes.  So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.”

Again, this might seem to be a whole different topic, but if we interpret it in the context of facing troubles, it makes some sense.  We generally think of the rich person as having a trouble-free life, while the poor person is continually beset with troubles.  But the rich person can lose his wealth, whether in a moment or over time.  And the rich person is inclined to trust in his riches, and therefore in himself, rather than in God.  When troubles come, and we know that they come on the rich as well as the poor, the rich person, if he is trusting in himself, will most likely find that he is wholly inadequate to face the trouble.  He has never learned to trust in God to see him through his troubles.

May we not be so proud as to trust in ourselves; may we have the humility to recognize our own frailties and trust in God.  When troubles come, we will be much the better for it.

James will have more to say about humility and about riches in Chapters 4 and 5.

Overcoming troubles requires wisdom, faith, and humility.

D. Overcoming troubles requires perseverance (v. 12)

Overcoming troubles also requires perseverance.  Overcoming troubles requires perseverance.

In verse 12, James returns to the subject of trials, although as I have suggested, I don’t think he ever really left it.  Verse 12 reads: “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”

We saw earlier, in verses 2-4, that our troubles – those trials which test our faith – produce steadfastness or perseverance.  And this steadfastness, this perseverance, builds within us a perfection, a completeness, a maturity … a spiritual maturity.  Here in verse 12 we see a particular aspect of that maturity.  James says that we will receive a reward, the “crown of life”.  This is obviously not referring to a physical crown nor to our earthly life, but rather to a spiritual reward, to eternal life, the enjoyment of God’s presence through eternity.

Paul puts it this way in Romans 8:16-18: “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

[And in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18: “So we do not lose heart.  Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.  For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”]

James will have more to say about perseverance later on in Chapter 1.

Overcoming troubles requires wisdom, faith, humility, and perseverance.

E. Overcoming troubles requires integrity (vv. 13-18)

Overcoming troubles also requires integrity.  Overcoming troubles requires integrity.

James goes on in verses 13-15 to say: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’, for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.  But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

Up to this point we have been talking more about trials and testing than about temptations.  But there is a very fine line between the two.  In fact, the line is so fine that the Greek word used for “tempt” in verse 13 is actually from the same root as the word translated “trials” in verses 2 and 12.  This is why some versions, such as the King James, use “temptations” in verses 2 and 12.

This variety in meaning has caused headaches for translators.  In verses 2-12, James tells us that God allows trials, but now in verses 13-15 he tells us that God does not tempt us.  The fact is that the word can, and does, have both shades of meaning.  Thus it is used by Peter to refer to the “fiery trial” through which we pass (1 Peter 4:12; also 1:6), but in the gospels to refer to Satan tempting Jesus in the wilderness, and in the Lord’s Prayer – “lead us not into temptation” (Matthew 6:13) – and in Jesus’s admonishment to his disciples to “watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation (Matthew 26:41).

Here in verses 13-15 of James chapter 1, it clearly refers to temptation, and is therefore translated thus.  And the message is clear.  We must not blame our sin on God.  We must not even blame it on Satan.  The devil didn’t make you do it, and God certainly didn’t make you do it.  We must have integrity to know who to blame.

Note that James doesn’t say if we are tempted; he says when we are tempted.  Make no mistake: we will be tempted.  We will probably be tempted in some way every single day of our lives.

Note also that being faced with temptation is not a sin.  It is our response which can be sinful.  Temptation is more a process than an event, as James makes so clear here.  It begins with our own sinful desire; that’s already within us, that comes from our sinful nature.  But it is only when we act upon that desire – in the words of James, when it has conceived – that we sin.  And if we allow sin to reign in our bodies and control us, it will eventually bring about death, spiritual death.  Just as God’s wisdom can help us grow to spiritual maturity, ignoring that wisdom, allowing sin to control us, will lead us to spiritual death.

It’s a choice that we make.  And we have God’s promise that he will enable us to resist sin.  James himself will later say: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).  Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:13: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.  God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”  And Peter says in 2 Peter 2:9: “the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials”.

To overcome trials, and in particular to overcome temptations, we must have integrity.  We must recognize the situation for what it is, and not blame God, nor Satan, nor other people.

There are simple things we can do to help us: we can fill ourselves with God’s Word.  We can pray.  We can avoid compromising situations.  We can gather regularly with our fellow believers in Christ.  We can make ourselves accountable to other people.

At this point it should come as no surprise when I tell you have James will have more to say on this subject later on.

Overcoming troubles requires wisdom, faith, humility, perseverance, and integrity.

God’s good and perfect gifts

James finishes this section with verses 16-18: “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.  Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”

What a wonderful close!  God, the Father of lights, the unchanging ruler of the universe, showers us with gifts: good and perfect gifts.  And the greatest of all these gifts is that we will “be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures”.  We are a harbinger of things to come.  Through the new birth, God makes us alive again.

Conclusion

At the end of the Star Trek episode we talked about earlier, Chief Engineer Scotty transports all of the troublesome tribbles from the Enterprise onto a Klingon vessel, where, he says, “they’ll be no tribble at all”.

I would love to be able to tell you that God will magically or supernaturally transport all your troubles to some distant place.  But God has a better plan.  He will take those troubles, and he will use them to help us grow to spiritual maturity.  May we not resist him in this holy and wonderful work but cooperate with him.