Sermon Notes and Family Devotion – James 3:13ff

Big Idea:  Being wise is much than knowing stuff.  Much, much more.

 James 3: 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.

 

• What does it mean to be meek in wisdom?
• How can you be arrogant in 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.

• What would it look like to have truth but be bitter, jealous, and selfish?
• Why is wisdom that is bitter, jealous, and selfish unspiritual and demonic?
• Is it possible to have Biblical wisdom but also be bitter, jealous, and selfish?

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.

• What does jealously and selfish-ambition produce?
• What does wisdom from God look like?
• Describe a community that has that Godly wisdom?

18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

• How does the church produce a community of righteousness?
• What does it mean to sow in peace?

Is the church asking the wrong questions?  Maybe a better question is, “Is the church answering the wrong questions?”  Here is what I mean.

I value a deep and correct theology.  In fact, I have given much of life to pursing a deep and correct theology through personal study, elder training, seminary, and preparing for ordination exams.  Every single sentence I say up here is an attempt to communicate God correctly to you – essentially, every sermon is theological.  But to be honest, I fear the church, this church, our denomination, and many others are just trying to further sharpen our theological pencils instead of loving God by engaging hearts and engaging the world as Christ did.

Think about the way Jesus did “ministry”  To the self-righteous religious scholars, Jesus busted up their incorrect theology and subsequent incorrect practices.  But to the world around Him, Jesus presented Himself in word and deed.  Jesus said, “This is who I am,” while demonstrating who He was by healing them, feeding them, and serving them.

Yes, of course Jesus always addressed incorrect thinking, but His point was to point others more to Himself.  For example, when the woman at the well questioned Jesus, he corrected her thinking but even more so presented Himself to her.  She was transformed by the interaction with the person of Jesus and then ran back to everyone in her world about how she had met the man, Jesus.

So, what questions is the church asking?  I know we actively discuss the questions of our part in sanctification, what ultimately is our justification based on, the proper order of worship service.  These are not unimportant questions.  But our denomination, in which I love, has or is arguing such issues as whether women can serve the military, whether intinction is a proper form of partaking the Lord’s Supper and whether the Federal Vision is an accurate portrayal of the Gospel.  While all of those issues are of some merit, I fear the church often strains at gnats while we swallow camels.

I think the questions that need to be answered right now sound like this:

·    How do I keep my family together?
·    How do I help my daughter who hates her body so much?
·    My son is so angry, what do I do?
·    How can my wife and I forgive each other?
·    How do we make a living?
·    How do I live with such poor health?
·    Take all of those questions and tell me how or why God cares.

The church can debate whether our spirit is dichotomous or trichotomous all it wants, but I don’t know if the church is accurately speaking to how the gospel meets practical needs.  Right now, the church needs to address issues like how the Gospel speaks to

·    Families struggling financially
·    Couple fighting and having a hard time forgiving
·    The single who is lonely and the parent struggling to raise their kids.
A deep and rich theology is important.  I believe that and still pursue that.  But that theology should lead to a deep, rich practical theology.  It should also lead the church to getting off their butts.  A deep and rich theology should move a church to an active loving of one another, of serving those in need, and a passionate loving of those who don’t yet know Jesus.  But knowing what to say and knowing how to say it and knowing when to say it is matter of wisdom.  Fortunately, wisdom is the issue that the book of James takes up this week, so with that in mind, let’s pursue this Big Idea:

Big Idea:  Being wise is much than knowing stuff.  Much, much more.

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.

For just a matter of brief review, let’s remind ourselves what happened just before verse 13.  We have spent the last two weeks looking at James’ warning surrounding the use of our tongue – how we speak.  We have heard such warnings as:

·    The tongue is small but boasts of great things.
·    The tongue is a world of unrighteousness.
·    No one can tame the tongue.
·    The tongue is a restless evil, full of poison.
·    We should not bless God but curse one another with the same tongue.

Along the way we looked at how we redeem the use of our speech by speaking of the mysteries of Christ and the beauty of a reconciled relationship with God.  So now, James decides to pursue other areas in which we do not represent our relationship with God well.

14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.

What we find in verse 14 is a specific command against jealousy and selfish ambition.  Now here is part of the problem surrounding jealousy and selfish ambition:  Very few people will admit to having either which means that a lot folks are blind to the dangers of this sin.  You see, to admit that you are jealous means you have to admit that someone has something you want or you have to admit you want what someone else has achieved or owned.

But typically, we have too much pride to admit jealousy.  You see how these sins just get intertwined.  We sin in jealousy because we aren’t content with what God has given us, and then our pride keeps us from admitting our jealousy.

Ask yourself, where are you secretly motivated because you want something others have?  Is your work lifestyle based upon a desired amount of ease and desired comfort at home?  Is that desire of ease and comfort based upon what you have seen others have and so you want it to?  If so, that is jealousy.

Are your desires and efforts to look a certain way based upon a desire to care for your body as the temple of God?  Or are those desires based on wanting to look like someone or better than someone?  If the latter, that is jealousy.

Are you efforts in raising your kids as Godly or raising them to be talented or smart, are those efforts based on making sure your kids don’t grow up to be untalented, dumb, and ungodly kids like your neighbors?  Or are you efforts to raise your kids based on a desire to glorify God?  If the first, that is jealousy.

Let me try this one on for size.  Are my efforts to grow this church based on a desire to have a bigger church than the one next door or the one across the street or the other PCA churches that I think don’t deserve to have as many people sitting in their as they do?  Or are my efforts to build this church based on a desire to glorify God?  If the first, that is jealousy.

And what fuels our jealousy is selfish ambition?  Wanting and working for what you want for your own purposes and your own reasons.  Motivated by self, the satisfaction you get from getting what you want.

Let me tell you a story about perhaps the first adult conversation I ever had.  In my freshman year of college, I had a friend who was a junior.  He was dating a lovely girl, but he didn’t always speak to her gently.  In fact, I think he spoke to her pretty harshly.

So I confronted him.  Now what I was confronting him about was right.  He should have spoken more gently to his girlfriend.  He wasn’t harsh or terrible, just too gruff.  My friend heard me, admitted he should speak more gently to his girlfriend.  But then he said, “Okay, Gordon.  You are right.  But this is not what all of this conversation is about.  You’re jealous aren’t you?”  You know my response.  “Pssh, no I’m not.”  But he was right, and I eventually had to admit it.  I was 19 and figured out that the human heart is pretty complicated.  Rarely are things simple.  And even when it looks like you are doing something good, it can still be mixed with jealousy and selfish ambition.

You know James is telling us we are really doing when motivated that way?  Verse 14 tells us that we are boasting and being false to the truth.  When we act out of jealousy, we are boasting of our skills, our own talents, and our own will.  We are saying, “I will do what I want, when I want, and for whatever reason I want.”  Boasting is idolatry – the worship of self.

If you are a Christian and boast and work out of jealousy and selfish ambition, then what you are also doing is being false to the truth.  As a Christian, you have declared that God alone is worthy of praise.  You have said, “Not my will but thy will be done.”  You have also said, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light for path.”

When you and I are motivated by jealousy and selfish ambition, when you do what you want for what you want or even do what God wants for what you want, you have denied all of those truths.  You are saying, “I am worthy of your praise.”  You are saying, “My will be done.”  You are saying, “My word is a lamp unto my feet.”  When we as followers of Christ deny the truths we know and pursue our efforts or even God’s efforts for our own glory and our own desires, verse 15 tells us what we are doing.

15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

Jealousy and selfish ambition are not motivated or controlled by the wisdom of God.  Jealousy and selfish ambition are demonic, unearthly, and unspiritual.  Does that seem harsh to you?  Maybe a bit melodramatic?  And what does it mean for jealousy and selfish ambition to be demonic?

What do the scriptures were Satan’s motivation for rebelling against God and leading a host of angels from heaven?  Isaiah 14:13 You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God      I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’  Satan desired greatness apart from God, desired acclaim and praise apart from God.  In fact, he desired the acclaim and praise of God.

Seeking your own fame, fortune, praise, and even leisure apart from God is seeking a wisdom apart from God and it is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.  You see, the difference between wisdom that is from above and wisdom that is from God typically comes down to motivation and always demonstrates itself in a Christ-like fashion.  Let me explain.

Take the truth that we celebrate here – the Gospel – the truth that every single thing necessary for your salvation was secured by Jesus.  Jesus dies for your sins:  John 3:16  Jesus rose again to give you life:  I Corinthians 15:20  Jesus gives you His goodness:  Romans 4:6  Jesus even gifts you with the faith you need to believe:  Ephesians 2:8

Now this is incredible wisdom for us.  These are undying, unchanging truths.  How in the world might this wisdom become earthly and selfish?   Oh, it’s very easy.  In fact, it is the cancer of the church.  This wisdom becomes earthly and selfish in at least two ways.

One way is you hear that Jesus has secured everything for you and you respond in a slovenly, lazy fashion assuming that since Jesus secured everything for you, you will not pursue worship, scripture, prayer, service or any other acts of obedience.  This is exactly the type of faith that James has been preaching against when he told us that “faith without works is dead”   The human heart can take the wonderful truths of the gospel and make it earthly and unspiritual by not being transformed by it.

The second way however is probably the one that is the largest temptation for SK Church.  As we celebrate the Gospel here at SK, celebrating all that Christ has secured for us in His life, death, and resurrection, we will be tempted to make our entire Christian nothing more than a selfish pursuit…of ourselves.  We take the truths of the Gospel and just make sure we and our families are more Godly, but don’t care about anyone else.  Oh we judge, mock, and make fun of those other folks wow we get more Godly, but we don’t do any more than give lip service to serving others and sharing the Gospel with others.

Now you might say, “Gordon, that’s not us.  We’re SK.  We create and engage community.”  And pastorally, I will say that God has blessed us with a better than average desire and effort to love folks beyond ourselves.  But we aren’t ready to start patting ourselves on the back yet.

Ask yourself:  How many of your relationships outside of your family are designed for selfless service?  How many non-Christians are you presently befriending?  How many people are serving as Christ has served you?  How many people are you comforting with the comfort of Christ, and I’m not just talking about other Christians?  Who are you comforting?  Godly wisdom should move you to spend more time w/ people who need Jesus, not less.  If we struggle to answer these questions in any way that demonstrates that your wisdom has benefit outside of your household, you need ask yourself if your wisdom is heavenly or earthly?  If we pursue wisdom, even scriptural wisdom only for our sake, making it earthly and not heavenly, there is a consequence that is inevitable.  Listen to verse 16.

16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

James reiterates that knowledge for personal gain and even a selfish holiness ultimately leads to jealousy, selfish ambition.  Without relentlessly pursuing knowledge of our own jealousy and selfish ambition in our hearts, we will ultimately be tripped up by own desires and we will walk into the conflict of disorder and every other vile practice.  Before I go into this any further, I will say this is one of the things I like about SK.  Not that we have every vile practice.

Your elders do this well.  When we see these verses, these warnings, we don’t immediately start talking about how all of those people out there are so evil and vile.  We challenge you to look at your own heart.  That is one of the reasons we have a time of repentance – so we can confess our sin.  You can tell a lot about a church by the way we talk.  When talking about sin, do we talk about “us” and “we” or do we talk about “them” and those” – dangerous territory to  spend more time talking about “them” and “those” because that type of language implies we are worrying about every else’s sin more than ours and that is evil and vile in and of itself.  So let’s hear these commands and warnings from James.

If we pursue anything, even personal holiness and obedience, out of jealousy or selfish ambition, it will lead to every vile practice you can imagine and ultimately to disorder and conflict among us right here.  That means we need God’s help to show us our motivations and aspirations.  Just why do you want to make the amount of money you make?  Just why do we work so hard to raise Godly children?  Hey, Gordon why do you work so hard to try to build this church?  Gang, ask God to fearlessly examine your heart in every area asking the Holy Spirit to show you why you do or don’t do what you do or don’t do.

If we pursue wisdom and godliness for selfish ambition, for our own purposes and our own glory and our own satisfaction and not the glory of God, then we are just going to fall into great sin and great conflict.  Oh we might find a way to keep it quiet and look Godly but if we don’t ask God to show us our motives, we might outwardly pursue the most Godly of actions for the most selfish of reasons.  That’s why churches have conflict, anger, splits, and every other manner of disorder.

But there is great hope here.  We can hear this warning and walk in hope.  God can work in us to forgive us and transform us.  Look at verse 17.

17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

If we are enjoying, pursuing, bathing in and walking in Godly wisdom, which is the knowledge of God for His glory and not ours, then there is wonderful promise for us in the scriptures.  What God gives us when we pursue His wisdom for His glory instead whatever other motivation we have is this glorious list.  When we pursue God for His glory, He gives us Godly wisdom.  That wisdom about what we know and how we should live is pure.  It leads to peace for yourself and peace with others.  It’s gentle which means we learn the ability to communicate even difficult truths gently without provoking hostility.

The wisdom of God makes you open to reason – your mind hears and process logic and reason reasonably.  You become full of mercy.  This might be the real test of whether we have the wisdom of God.  Hey church, if you possess the wisdom of God, then you will be full of mercy to each other and to others outside these doors.  Full of mercy to those with whom you disagree and even full of mercy to those who have made every mistake but stand in great need.  Godly wisdom leads to being full of mercy to those who are actively sinning and making every mistake possible.  We will be impartial and sincere.

Gang, this is how we can see God working within our hearts, our families, at SK and even our community.  Are we becoming more like this?  You see here a clear difference between knowledge and wisdom right?

We can become incredibly theologically astute.  We can quote the church fathers.  We can quote the Westminster Confession of Faith.  We can quote the catechisms.  We can even quote the Bible.

But those things can just be knowledge if we aren’t careful.  For them to be wisdom, to be Godly wisdom, this has to be happening.  You, me, your family, my family, SK, our denomination and any that claim Jesus as Christ, this will be evidence of Godly wisdom.  We will be described then as peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.  If you are pursuing wisdom for God’s glory and not just knowledge for your own sake, these things will become who you and I are.

Peaceable, full of mercy, man those sound like wonderful qualities for a church.  I want that so bad for us.  If we aren’t seeing it, if we aren’t seeing ourselves grow in gentleness and peace, and mercy, we might just very well need to repent of even how we pursue God.  Praying, dear God help me to serve you and know you for your glory.

St Augustine used to talk about this.  He would talk about the different types of loves.  He said, “You know some folks love themselves for their own sake.  Some work, eat, rest, and play all for their own sake.  Eventually some see a good and gracious God, and what happens is that we begin to love God, but often at the very beginning, we love God for our own sake.  We think, “Jesus died for me?  Okay, well I love you Jesus for all you have done for me.  It is a love of God but it is a selfish love.  But we are intended to grow in that love.  Maturity is moving towards loving God for God’s sake.  Oh,God, you are beautiful and good and loving.  Yes, Jesus died for me, but I love you for who you are no matter what benefits I receive.

That is Godly wisdom and the transformation of knowledge.  And James lets us know, as we grow in that Godly wisdom, you know what happens?  God does another amazing work among us.  Listen to verse 18.

18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

I can barely understand, much less contemplate that verse.  When we seek God for God’s sake and His glory seeking to know Him so that our knowledge becomes real wisdom, this is what God does among us.  A harvest of righteousness is God producing more and more obedience and goodness among us.  Seeking Godly wisdom produces Godliness and righteousness.

We make peace by sowing in peace.  What does that mean?  I’ll tell you, it is the very commissioning that Jesus gave the disciples and us.  You see, we often miss this, but let’s not miss it now.  When Jesus returned at His resurrection, He appeared to Mary, the disciples and other followers, and this is what He said.

John 20:19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.

Gang, this is how we pursue Godly wisdom.  Jesus, our Savior, has not only lived for us and died for us, but He rose to new life so that we might live.  As He returned, He gathered His followers together and declared, “Peace be with you.”  This is a real pace earned by Jesus so that you will be at peace with God.  Apart from this blessing, you and I and everyone else is at war with God.  Jesus earns our peace with God.

And then Jesus commissions His church to go out in the same way that God sent Jesus out.  As Jesus was sent to bring about peace between God and man, we the church are sent out in the same way.  Go declaring that there is now peace possible between sinful men and women and God.

Sew in peace James says.  Go pursue the wisdom of God found in the scriptures.  The wisdom will lead you to know that Jesus has made peace between you and God.  In fact, Jesus was sent by God to bring you back to God.

So now lead others to make peace with God by sewing the peaceful work of Jesus and what will happen is God will produce a harvest of righteousness or a harvest of goodness.  You yourself will grow in Godliness and righteousness.  And God will use you to grow others in Godliness and righteousness.

Gang, let’s just not be that church that cares so much about theological knowledge but yet we don’t grow in mercy, wisdom, and gentleness.  Because if we theologically correct but we aren’t growing in mercy, wisdom, and gentleness, James says we are seeking those out of selfish ambition.  If we need to repent, let’s repent, but let’s pursue God for God’s sake.  Let’s walk in the peace that Jesus  has earned for us so that we can sew peace among each other and any that God gives us audience with so that there might a great harvest of goodness and righteousness brought about by what God is doing among us.

Sermon Notes and Family Devotion for James 3:6-11

Big Idea:  Godly control of your speech will lead to glorifying God in many areas.

James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.

·    How does James describe the tongue?
·    When you first hear that, does that description sound accurate or overblown?

The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

·    How does your speech affect your entire body?
·    Can you think of an example where you said something and it directly affected how you acted towards someone?

7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

·    To what does James contrast the tongue?
·    Have you ever considered James warning about the tongue at the end of verse 8?
·    Can you think of situations where you allow yourself to let your speech get out of hand?

9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

·    What are two things we do with the tongue?
·    Why should this not be?  What then should we be doing instead?

There are literally hundreds of verses in the Bible about our speech.  We are commanded when to speak, and we are commanded when not to speak.  We are commanded how to encourage one another with words.  We are commanded how to speak to our parents, to our kids, to our spouses, and even commanded how to speak of God.

And despite George Carlin’s famous rant that there are 7 cuss words, the Bible does not give us a list of words that we cannot say.  We are told not to take the Lord’s name in vain, and some people take that so far as to say that you should not even say God’s name out loud.  But believe it or not, the Bible does not give us a list of words not to say.

The bible does tell us that the heart behind our speech matters.  Jesus said in Matthew 15:18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

It is the heart the makes one word beneficial or hurtful.  It is the heart that makes a word sinful or obedient.  Typically innocuous speech can be sinful depending upon what our heart motive is.  And the smallest word can be glorifying to God when given wisely with a desire to glorify God.

I remember when I first learned the wisdom of the properly timed word.  I had become an RA at ECU which the Resident Adviser or the guy in the dorm that supposedly would help guide the younger students.  Well, I went to our first training session and I met the coordinator for the whole campus.  She had completely gray hair and I just couldn’t gauge how old she was.   I was a naïve 19 years old at the time.  So all of a sudden, this little girl runs up to her and jumps in her arm, and this is when I get it really wrong.    I said, “Oh, is this your granddaughter???”  I should have said, “Oh, is this your sister?”  The RA Coordinator dryly said, “No, this is my daughter,” and I never got a promotion in the 3 years I served as an RA.  One question, without a lot of wisdom behind, and probably ruined her day.

It appears that most folks either I know though fall into one of two camps.  Either they are so scared of saying something wrong that they are practically silent or folks talk so much they are practically white noise.  Too much or too little.  Too crude or not honest enough.

If you have read the Hunger Games, we’re either Caesar Flickerman or a bunch aphoxes.  Too much talk or not enough.  I must talk too much because when I fall silent, people start getting worried about me.  But James this week is going to make some incredible promises about how we speak, so with that in mind, let’s pursue this Big Idea

Big Idea:  Godly control of your speech will lead to glorifying God in many areas.

James 3: 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Now as a brief reminder, last week we saw James speaking about speech as well.  However, he couched that conversation into a warning about not many people being teachers.  Everyone wants to be a teacher, no one wants to be a student.  And last week, he let us know that it is impossible to completely tame our tongues but then he encouraged us that it only takes a little bit of Godly speaking to make a big difference.  So that brings us to verse 6.

James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.  The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

Now, look at how James describes the tongue.  He says the tongue, meaning speech is a tongue of fire, a world of unrighteousness.  When you first hear that, does that description sound accurate or overblown?  I imagine it would only seem overblown if you have somehow fooled yourself into thinking that you have yours under control, but more than likely, all of us realize just how dangerous our words can be.

You see, one of the reasons that the tongue is a world of unrighteousness is that one simple phrase given or delivered or spoken at the wrong time can mess up someone for the rest of their life.  Errant words are so powerful.  I know of one girl who was caught by her parents messing around with her boyfriend.  Her father’s response was, “Well dirty girls do dirty things.”  After that crushing response, that girl just decided, “Well I guess dad thinks I’m a dirty girl so that what’s what I’m going to be.”

I know one young man who no matter what he did, he’s couldn’t find a way to encourage him or praise him.  5 A’s and B meant one big failure.  He could bat .400 in baseball but his dad could only point out how he failed to turn that double play in the second.  If he studied his Bible, his parents would say, “Well that what you should do every day.”  And though we are responsible for ourselves, this young man figured, “Nothing I ever do is going to be good enough, so I’m checking out.”  And today, he is a coke addict.

James says that when we use our words to hurt, to maim, to demean, those words are literally set on fire by hell itself.  Those words cause bodily harm.  They hurt the one speaking as they reinforce and embitter.  They hurt the one receiving those words as they reinforce and damage and dredge up hurt.  Words are set on fire by hell when those words are seasoned with the truth of scripture and the grace of Jesus.

Gang, those stories are not hyperbolic – I haven’t exaggerated anything.  James says, the tongue is a world of unrighteousness. Words are so powerful that there is a temptation to just never speak but that is faithless response.  Jesus redeems speech just like He redeems our souls, so the faithful response to the dangers of speech is to peak words of life, words of truth, and words of hope.

James really wants us to get this point, and I want you as an individual, you as families, and we as SK get church to get this.  I want my heart to get this.  So James goes in verse 7

7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

James says, “Look around.  Any animal in the world can be tamed.”  Take for instance the Askew house – their 100 +lb dog, Benji.  Mike will tell you that he could survive in the woods with that dog.  Big, giant, strong, and completely trained.  If they tell him to get in his bed, he gets in his bed.  If they tell him to quiet down, he quiets down.  It didn’t just happen.  They trained him, but the point is, here is this massive, animal that could rage and hurt, but is completely tamed by the Askew’s.  He responds to everyone from Mike all the way down to Noah.

James makes that point to make this one.  You, alone, no manner of self-control or self-exertion is going to control your tongue.  No one can tame it.  The tongue is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

Have you ever had that person in your life, and no matter how hard you try, they just irritate you so badly that you just say things you know you shouldn’t say?  Maybe it is someone at work.  Maybe it is one of your family members.  Maybe it is someone here.  Huh, maybe it’s me.  Maybe just the sight of my face tempts you to want to start cussing.

And no matter how hard you try.  At some point, that person or I just frustrate you to no end.   And you think you are not going to say what you want to say but you say it.  And oh, what you have to say is good and juicy and sarcastic and hurtful and it just makes you feel great say it.  Until then you are convicted that you are hurting someone, you are disobeying, you are sinning.

James says, “On your own, you cannot tame the tongue.”  But you are thinking, “Well Gordon this is when you are going to preach the gospel to us, right?  This is when you are going to tell us about Jesus?”  Yeah, but probably not how you think.  Listen ot verse 9.

9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Right now, we have sung songs of praise and worship to God.  Just a minute ago, we sang this line:  O Love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee; I give thee back the life I owe.  We sang to God, “Your love is so great to me that you will never let me go.  And because of that love, I am going to find rest for my weary soul.  And I give you every part of myself.  I leave nothing to me but give all to you.

Now, that is good and right and glorifying to God if we mean it.  James’ point is that right now you use your tongue to sing those words.  But when you leave this place, you are going to use that very same mouth to mock people, judge people, and curse people.  You might think its okay because you just say it to yourself or because your trolling on your computer or because some passive/aggressive Facebook thing, but James doesn’t give you an out or a rationalization.  James says, “We should not use the same tongue to bless God and curse one another.”  You can’t bless God and then curse someone made in the image of God.

Gang, let’s get this right now.

·    You can’t bless God and then make fun of homosexuals.
·    You can’t bless God and then mock whichever politician or political party you don’t like.
·    You can’t bless God and then run your wife or husband into the ground when they are not around.
·    Huh, you can’t bless God and then run your wife or husband into the ground to their face.
·    You can’t bless God and then cuss your parents out.
·    You can’t bless God and then cuss your kids out.

And before any of us start to get self-righteous and start pointing at others and saying, “Yeah, you talk to better,” James has already made the point, nobody can tame the tongue.  We have to pray to do more of the first and none of the second.  Dear God my tongue is raging fire.  I enjoy sinning with the way that I speak.  Please enable me to praise you with my mouth here as I sing about you and sing to you, and please enable me to praise you by the way I speak to others and the way I speak about others.  God’s enabling you to speak words of truth with words of grace to someone is as glorifying to God as when you right here and now sing your praise song.

James makes a very helpful analogy here.  He says, “When you find water flowing down stream, you don’t get an hour of fresh water and then an hour of salt water.”  You either get one or the other.  When you go to a fig tree, you don’t find olives.  You get one or the other.  You get either one or the other.

Now here is the dilemma this passage presents.  James makes it very clear that no one can tame the tongue.  Every single person is guilty of using their tongue for evil.  But then, James specifically goes after Christians and tells points out the hypocrisy in our lives.  This isn’t a teaching where we are supposed to self-righteous and go, “Yeah, I can’t stand when someone says  cuss word around me,” or “Can you believe how so and so speaks to their children.”  “Oh we don’t say, “Hate or fool or stupid,” or whatever speech laws you make.

James is going to have none of that.  He has a specific rebuke for anyone who claims the name of Christ.  We shouldn’t spend all of this time attempting to praise God with our words and then walk away from here and start judging, gossiping, and condemning each other and anyone else with our words either.

But we’ve covered that.  It is James’ third point that is troublesome to me.  He said you can do both.  Bodies of water either produce salt or fresh water.  They don’t switch and do one and then the other.  Trees produce one type of fruit but not another.

So where does that leave us?  Which one are we?   Are we those that bless God or are we the ones that condemn, hurt, and judge with our words?  Are we blind to how we use our words assuming that we do just fine even after all of these admonitions.

Well as always, we have got to use all of the scripture to understand any of the scripture.  Turn with me to 1 Thess to help us understand where to go with this.  How can we redeem our speech when we just fail?  We bless God and curse me.  We bless God and lie.  What are we going to do?

1 Thessalonians 5: 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.

For those who have faith in Jesus, you are no longer destined to experience the wrath of God.  God has destined His children for salvation through Jesus.  Have we all forgotten that?  Is not enough to give us joy?  I’m telling you, this pastors flesh is being stripped from Him right now.  So many thing upon which I depend on count on for joy, things I never knew I assumed, but did.  God is removing them away, not because He is mean or harsh, but because in love He wants me to recognize our powerful and fundamental and assuring and loving is the work of Jesus Christ.

I am not destined for God’s wrath but destined to obtain salvation.  That is my hope.  That is your only hope.  Whether we’re talking about Moses waiting for Jesus return, the disciples and what they’ve done or you and me waiting for Jesus, our only hope is the Gospel.  Jesus has secured forgiveness for us, secured God’s love for us, removed God’s wrath and brought us into salvation.  If you notice, we always end each sermon with the Gospel.  There is no application, change, repentance, or hope without it.  So, Paul feels same way and after reminding us of the Gospel, he tells us how to redeem this problem with have our speech.

11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Get this gang.  Please.  It is foundational for the transforming work God is doing at SK right now.  One of the results of your guaranteed assured salvation earned by Jesus Christ should be that you use your words to encourage one another and build up one another.  If you claim faith in Christ, but your speech is characterized by harsh criticism, sarcasm, judgmentalism, disapproving tone, hatred, anger, and ridicule, why do you think you can claim faith in Jesus?   Godly speech doesn’t save you.  Godly speech is evidence that you have been saved.

Paul is commanding them to do the same thing that they already doing.  You redeemed folks, you folks who have been spared God’s wrath, you folks who know the love of the Father and forgiveness, you know what you are doing, encouraging and building one another up.  So keep doing that.

What does that look like?  Paul tells us.  It is two specific things.  Encouraging one another.  Building one another up.  Let’s look at each one of those as Paul intended.

What does it mean for us to encourage one another?  There are a myriad of ways but I would like focus on two.  The first is we can encourage each other silently.  We can just be with people.  In Job 2, we find that Job had lost all of his wealth and his children.  His body was covered in sores and his wife was telling him to deny God.  At that time, Job had 3 friends and you know what they did?  Listen to Job 2

Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. 12 And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. 13 And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

I love the end of vs 11.  They made an appointment to come together and who sympathy and comfort him.  How did they do that?  By being with him.  Words weren’t necessary.  Presence comforts.   Who right now do you know that is discouraged?  Who feels alone?  Who needs your presences?   Remember Jesus came to us.  The presence of the Holy Spirit is described as a comforting presence.

But of course, you can speak words of encouragement.  They don’t have to be words that tell people how tough they are or blow a bunch of smoke that tries to get people to depend on themselves.  Encourage them with the Gospel.  Encourage them with the truths of scripture.  Jesus tells His children they will never leave them or forsake them.  Paul tells us that God is so great that we can do everything through His strength because God strengthens those that trust in Him.  Make that your goal:  know the scriptures to be encouraged and to be able to encourage others.

Just last week, I was holding a grown man while he cried and was coming down from a terrible high of drugs and alcohol.  He struggles as he has never experienced the approval of love of his earthly father.  I told him of John 17 where Jesus says, “Father, loved them as you have loved me.”  The truth that Jesus’s life and death and resurrection secures the undying love and approval of the Father gives hope and encouragement.

But in addition to encourage folks, we can build them up.  Speak to folks about either who they are in Jesus Christ or who they can be in Jesus Christ.  Here is brief description.  And hear these as comfort to your soul and encourage words to build up others.

In Jesus you are a

·    John 1:12             Child of God
·    John 15:15         Friend of Jesus
·    Romans 8:14, 15         Son/daughter of God
·    Romans 8:17         An heir with Christ sharing His inheritance with Him
·    1 Corinthians 12:27     A member of the body of  Christ’s body
·    Ephesians 1:1         A saint
·    Philippians 3:20         A citizen of heaven
·    Colossians 3:3         Hidden with Christ in God

And the promises go on.  You can build people up by reminding them that they partake in Christ, they are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession and on and on.  The promises of God to build people up are great.  And what will happen when we do that?

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24  He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

God will sanctify you completely.  That’s a great promise, but what does that mean?  Sanctification means becoming more and more like Jesus Christ.  Verse 23 tells us that as we use our speech to encourage one another and build each other up, God uses that process to sanctify us.  You want me to encourage.  Speak to me about Jesus and it will make me more like Jesus.

And God is the one doing this ultimately.  He has ordained you as part of this process.  Your whole spirit, soul and body will be protected and kept blameless by God until Jesus returns.  God calls you.  He is faithful.  He will do this in your life.  And God has chosen you to be part of this process.  Be with people.  Speak the truths of scripture to them.  Remind them who they are in Jesus.

And God will keep and protect you and them and all the future believers who come to know Jesus by your faithful words

Sermon Notes and Family Devotion for James 3:1-5

Family Devotion

Big Idea:  It is the small things that make a difference

James 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

• Why does James warn against many people being teachers?
• In what areas do you imagine teachers will be judged?

 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.  3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.

• James lets us know that perfection is not required to be a teacher.  What area of obedience does he use to show us how hard obedience is?

 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.  How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!

• How does the way we speak affect other areas of our lives?
• What are ways in which our speech can help?
• What are ways in which our speech can hurt?

Sermon Notes

Many of you have heard this story before, but I swore I would never be a pastor.  In fact when Amy and I got married we made a deal.  I literally said, “Sweetie, I am never going to be a pastor,” and she said, “Good, because I’m never going to be a pastor’s wife.”  And jokingly I have said, “We should have said we will never be millionaires.”

Gradually, our hearts were worn down by the Gospel.  Amy and I saw that the beauty of Jesus and the incredible joys of sitting under the affection of the Father won by Jesus and they called us to say, “Whatever you want for us God, we are willing.”  Our hesitancy wasn’t the weight of teaching or being accountable for my words up here, Amy and I just didn’t want to entrust our lives to you folks.  We saw both of our Fathers be pretty abused a couple of times by congregations, and both of their ministries ended pretty bitterly, and we wanted none of it.

But as we gave away our will to God to accept His, a new reality faced me.  There are strict and severe warnings about being a teacher.  You see the scriptures are of two minds here yet entirely consistent.

Let me give you a few examples.  In Numbers 11, Moses says “Are you jealous for my sake? I would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”  And of course, the Great Commission, under which every Christian sits, commands this:  Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  And 1 Timothy tells each of you, “Study to show yourself approved of God, a workman rightly dividing the word of truth.”

So what we get in those verses is a clear desire from both from the leaders of scripture and more so from God Himself that it is not only good but commanded to teach and proclaim the truths of God.  But as I walked further into seminary and study, I stumbled upon the truths of the book of James this week.  There and this week, James going to tell us that not many of should strive to be a teacher and he is going to issue an incredible warning and consequence surrounding teaching error.  And I thought, “Wait a minute, you’re telling me that I am accountable for every single word I say?  Who can do that?  You mean every little word?  Even the jokes, even the phone calls, even the texts?”

So now as I stand here each week teaching and as many of you teach in Sunday School or you teach your children or teach your spouses, what do we do?  Do we teach or not?  Do we desire to teach or not?  So to figure this out, this week we are going to pursue this:  Big Idea:  It is the small things that make a difference

Now we have been away from the book of James for the past 3 weeks.  What we need to give ourselves is a refresher, especially as we move into this new section of the book.  The last two chapters have really had one primary emphasis with two applications.  The primary emphasis of James so far says that when you have faith in Jesus, that the work that happens as you cast your life onto Jesus is that you are guaranteed to be transformed.  You have absolutely no choice but to be transformed as Jesus takes you from dead to sin to alive to Jesus.  James makes this point so strongly that he tells us that if you say you have faith in Jesus but you are not transformed and not being transformed, then your faith is dead or non-existent.  This is both hopeful knowing that Jesus is going to do this, and it is also a call to examine our hearts to see if we can find that transforming work of God occurring.  James says that we can really see this transformation take place in two areas.

The first area that we should see transformation is in the area of our speech.  James tells us that we should be slow to speak, slow to anger, and quick to listen.  And if we are not doing that, if we are not bridling our tongue, if we are not exercising self-control in what we say, then our religion is worthless.  The second area that we should see transformation is in the area of showing mercy to others.  James tells us that perfect religion, undefiled worship of God is showing mercy to those in need.  If you have known the mercy of God, you will have no choice whatsoever but to show mercy to others.  So if your primary MO is to judge people in need, then what you know is judgment not mercy.  But if your heart has been transformed by the mercy of Jesus, then you will show mercy to others.  So with that recap, we find ourselves at the beginning of James 3.

James 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.  How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!

Now what does verse 1 say again?  That not many of you should be teachers.  Can you imagine me ever saying this to you guys?  I cannot ever imagine me telling you guys not to go teach and preach Jesus to anyone.  I mean, I’m doing everything I can to get you to share the Gospel, to preach the Gospel, to teach the Gospel.  Why in the world would James tell us that not many of us should become teachers?  His simple answer is this:  be careful if you want to be a teacher of the things of God because the teachers of God will be judged with greater strictness.  What does all this mean?  Well, let’s give it a shot.

Well, remember every single Christian is commanded to proclaim Jesus, and if you are proclaiming Jesus, then you are teaching and instructing.  No person who has faith in Jesus gets to opt out on teaching.  If you are part of a family, Dads teaching their families, Moms are teaching their kids.  If you are a boss, you are teaching your employees.  If you are older, you are teaching the younger.  And if you are a Christian, you are to do all of those things by teaching of Jesus.

So again, I ask with that, what does he mean “to become a teacher,” what kind of teacher is he talking about?  The word for teacher here is didaskaloi and because of that, many of your translations will say, “many of you should not be masters.”  That was a common term for a recognized teacher of God’s people.  Here that would include myself, the ruling elders, and anyone else that has been appointed and approved to teach God’s people.  That word is the same word that Rabbi’s would use among the Jewish community.

As one author pointed out, “James is not restraining the genuinely gifted.  He is not restraining the genuinely qualified.  He is not restraining the genuinely called.  He is not restraining the sincere and knowledgeable.  But he is saying take very great pains to ascertain the seriousness of the role of teaching before you…to put it in the vernacular…shoot off your mouth.” John MacArthur.

Bruce Theilman said, “There’s no special honor in preaching, there is only special pain.  The pulpit calls those anointed to it as the sea calls its sailors.  And like the sea, it batters and bruises and does not rest.   To preach, to really preach is to die naked a little at a time and to know each time you do it that you must do it again.”

It is wise for each and every teacher of scripture, and at this point, I’m speaking to all of you but specifically to our ruling elders to listen well to these warnings.  Elders, you are to be a shepherd who shepherds by being a teacher of scripture.  You shepherded people yes by what you say here each Sunday, but if that is the limit of your shepherding instruction to these people, you are in danger, just as I would be.  To think that you and I have fulfilled our shepherding teaching of these folks by teaching a Sunday School class and writing a time or repentance or prayer for the kingdom is foolish.  That would be like a parent saying they fulfilled their duties to their kids they feed them once a week on Sunday mornings.  Not many of you should be teachers James says because not many can actually fulfill the office.  I don’t say that to scare off our elders to remind their hearts and my hearts of what we are called to do.

I remember in an officer training program (not for elders here at SK or anything) that I took part in a long time ago, there was a candidate who heard the requirements and expectations of office.  And at the moment he said, “That isn’t me.  I can’t do that.  I don’t think I can give myself away such as the Bible describes,” and he stepped down and didn’t seek the office.  I have much respect for that man.

At the same time, there were others in that group that heard the call and requirements of being an officer.   They said, “Yes, it is my heart’s desire and I want to make that sacrifice for God and make that sacrifice for my family.”  Praise God for both those who took the office and those who walked away.

But in case you think these words don’t have anything to do with all of you out there, know that the words of James are a warning to both teachers and the students.  First of all, it is a warning to me to speak correctly and rightly about Jesus and the words of life.  It is a warning to each and every one of us who do so.  But it is also a warning to you as well.  Ask yourself:  who do you listen to, whose teaching do you put yourself under?  I amazed sometimes that some of the smartest, brightest people I know listen to some of the most heretical and unbiblical teaching.  Weigh well the teaching of Jesus.  And one more for free?  Remember James tells us all in chapter 1, “Be a doer of the word and not a hearer only.”  We are commanded to teach Biblically, listen Biblically, and obey Biblically.

Now why James tell us few should seek to be a teacher?  James simple says that teachers will face stricter judgment.  What in the world does that mean?  And I’ll be honest, anyone who can say exactly what that means is pushing the boundaries of what the scriptures teach because the scriptures don’t teach much on this.  I mean we know that every believer in Jesus will sit at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb as coronate Jesus as king and us as His children.  We will all enjoy the unwavering affection of Jesus because we will stand before God on Jesus’ righteousness and not ours.  There won’t be the heavenly ghetto where the Christians who barely make in live.  There isn’t a nose bleed section for the folks whose clothes are still smoldering because they barely escaped hell.  There isn’t a front row VIP section for Billy Graham and John Calvin either.

So what does this mean?  Well, I will walk gently here while at the same time trying to give as much of a warning as James does.    For the teachers of scripture who are unbelievers, and oh yeah, there are many teachers of the scriptures who have no faith in Jesus, their future judgment is when Christ returns, separates the sheep from the goats and Jesus casts every non-believers into the lake of fire where they are judged for their unforgiven sins.  For the believer in Jesus who is a teacher, I guess that judgment would be as we stand before the judgment seat of Christ.  As one author says, “First Corinthians 4 says at that time the Lord will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, make manifest the counsels of the heart and then shall every man have praise of God.  And Paul basically says, “Look, I’m going to wait till that time to have my ministry evaluated.  It’s a small thing what you think.  It’s a small thing what I think.  It’s a big thing what God thinks and I minister in view of what is coming ahead.”   John Mac Arthur

Now when we hear these commands of James, we should take the Bible more seriously.  We are accountable for whether we teach or not as we are all command to proclaim Jesus.  We are accountable if we are a teacher of God’s people.  And James say, “You better be careful if that is what you are shooting for.”  I had one seminary professor who tried to empty a classroom one day.  He looked at us and said, “If there is anything else you can do this world other than be a pastor, go do it.  But if this is all you can do, if this is the one thing that will give your heart peace and satisfaction before God, walk lightly, gently, and in humility as you undertake being a teacher.”  Now having said that, James goes on to show all of us the challenge of living before God

2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.

James says, “Listen we all stumble in many ways.  We all sin.  None of us are going to be perfect.”  This is James ways of giving us the warning but not keeping us from actually walking in obedience from God.  He is saying, “Listen, it is not that God is not gracious.  He is.  But He is also holy and calls you to a holy life, specifically in how you handle the word of God.

Now for any who might argue and say, “Well, I’m not that bad; I’ve got nothing to worry about,” James offers the second half of verse 2.  It is like James says, “If you think sin is not a struggle, give it a shot.  I’ve got a test for you.  If you don’t stumble in what you say, then you are perfect.  You can exercise self-control over your whole body.”  James is a gambling man which is easy because is playing with house money.

He is saying, “We are going to sin.  Even the most Godly among us.  We are forgiven but we have not left this sinful world and a sin nature remains in us.  And if you think differently, if you think either our problem is not bad or if you think you can conquer it, take on this challenge.  Speak perfectly.  Never utter a mean or harsh or sarcastic or hurtful word.  If you can do that, then I imagine you can be perfect and control yourself every other way.”

And when we hear that, you should say, “No sadly, I can’t do that.”  So James is saying, “Be careful as a teacher.  We are sinful, and the tongue is too powerful to conquer but it can be tamed.”  Since James has made this illustration he decides to broaden it to remind all of us how important it is to speak in Godly fashion with our words and this is a commandment that we each need to weigh carefully and well.   He says in verse 3.

3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.

James’ words are simple but profound illustrations for us all to follow.  A tiny bit in the mouth of a horse will control the entire body of the horse.  A tiny rudder can control the direction of a ship even if it faces strong winds.   So in the same way, your tongue, though very small, can control your whole life.  “Nowhere is the union of faith and works more visible than in your speech…and my speech.”  John MacArthur.

This is how the Bible describes the speech of a person who has been transformed by the forgiveness of Jesus.

o    Proverbs 10:32 – Godly speech knows Biblically what God calls good.
o    Proverbs 15:7 – Godly speech only says what is wise.
o    Ephesians 4:24 – Godly speech only says the truth and not lies.
o    Ephesians 5:4 – Godly speech doesn’t speak foolishly, doesn’t joke coarsely, and speaks always with thanks to God.
o    Proverbs 25:15 – Godly speech is gentle and patient.
o    Colossians 4:6 – Godly speech is always sprinkled with grace.
o    Proverbs 15:23 – Godly speech is timed and given at the right moment.
o    Ecclesiastes 3:7 – Godly speech is as much about knowing when to be quiet as it is about knowing when to speak.
o    Colossians 3:17 – Godly speech is always done to the glory of Jesus.

And gang, this is nowhere near close to all the commands of scripture.  James is telling us, “Hey you don’t have to be a teacher to be accountable for your words.  Teachers are doubly accountable, but we are all accountable for what we say.”  And it doesn’t take much to either build up or destroy, to either encourage or crush.

You know Psalm 64:3 describes the use of the tongue as being an arrow.  Because of that rabbis always described the tongue in that way and they explained that the tongue is an arrow because kills from a distance.  The tongue can kill without being anywhere near its victim.  It can be said from far away.  It can be said in an email.  And it doesn’t even have to be present to kill because words stick in our minds and hearts.

Parents, please hear me on this.  I know that it is hard to raise children.  I know that within a family, it is easier to use words to hurt than pretty much any arena of our life.  Spouses, I know it is easy to say things that immediately come to our minds when we are mad.  Siblings, it is so easy to destroy your brother or your sister with a word.  But we hold so much of our children’s lives, our spouse’s lives, and our brothers and sister’s lives in our hands when we speak.

I overheard this conversation one time, and even now I regret not speaking to this stranger when I heard it.  A teenage girl was speaking with her father, and she was struggling.  They were having a conversation about the girl’s acne.  The girl said to her father, “But Dad, I’m just so ugly with all these pimples on my face.”  Now right now, I can think of a few things to say that might be encouraging, and unfortunately, I easily think 50 things not to say.

But sadly, I didn’t use my words correctly that day either.  What was the dad’s response?  What did this dad say to the girl who thought she was ugly because of her acne?  He said, “Well if you had enough, God would heal you of those pimples.”  I still to this day regret not saying anything.  The dad had a chance to let his daughter know that she was beautiful.  He had a chance to let her know that beauty is not defined by her appearance.  And he also had a chance to give her a correct view of God.

Unfortunately, he failed in every area; he got all of those wrong.  By the way his daughter shrank when he said those things, you could tell she was crushed.  He didn’t affirm her beauty, and he didn’t affirm what real beauty should be.  And He didn’t affirm much right about God either.  There is no way in the world that he or anyone else could know whether that girls acne was attached to her faith and claiming so was arrogant and ignorant.

Simple words folks.  Husbands, give you wives a break.  Whatever is on the table is the greatest meal you have ever eaten.  Wives, however your husbands help, you must be appreciative.  Siblings, be the one person your brother or sister can count on to defend them, not defeat them.  Tiny bits control the horse.  Tiny rudders control the ship.  That’s the point of verse 5.

5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

The tongue, every tongue is going to boast of something.  The words may be few or they may be great, but the tongue boasts.  If you are constantly criticizing, then your tongue boasts of superiority.  If you are constantly referring to yourself, then your tongue boasts of self-righteousness.  If you constantly provoking, then your tongue boasts of a selfish joy that loves to bathe in other people’s misery.  If you are constantly quiet, then your tongue boasts that Jesus is not worthy of being mentioned.

However, your tongue can boast as well of good things.  If you are constantly speaking of Christ, then your tongue boasts of a true faith and beauty found in Jesus.  If you are constantly speaking of others and not yourself, then your tongue boasts of humility and seeing others as better than yourself.  That might be the only time the phrase, “boasting in humility” is used today.  If you are constantly speaking of lessons learned from your own mistakes, then your tongues boasts of gratitude for God’s grace.  If you are constantly speaking of the forgiveness of God, then your tongue boasts in your only hope, Jesus.

1 Timothy 4 tells us these simple commands about how the small things matter.  Verse 6 says to train your tongue in “Trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine.”  Verse 7 says that we should, “Not speak about “Irrelevant, silly myths.”  Verse 12 says to set an example, “In speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”  Gang, as we wrap up this section of James, let’s try to take this teaching away in a few very specific areas.

One:  Teaching the word of God is not something to be entered into lightly.  No Christian gets the option to opt out of proclaiming Jesus, so each of should seek to know Him from scripture as well as we possibly can because are called to go.  We are called to share the Gospel with spouses, our children, each other, and the entire world – no options.  But if you are an officer or seek to be a teacher in some official capacity, know that James instructs you to enter into and weigh that commitment heavily because in one or another, teachers are judged more strictly before the throne of Jesus.  Parents, spouses, elders, Christian, I wish like Moses you were all prophets and you are commanded to study the scriptures so you can rightly explain them, but walk carefully when you speak of understanding the Bible.

Second:  the reason we should be careful in how we handle the scriptures is because we are commanded to be wise with our words.  I don’t care what your personality type is.  I don’t care if you are an introvert or an extrovert.  I don’t care if you are a no-nonsense kind of guy or gal.  We are commanded in this way.

Colossians 4:2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.  5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

We can only about these things wisely in prayer giving thanks to God always.  Knowing that these prayers should be prayers for whatever God calls us to and also to enable other people’s ministries as well.  What we should hope for in every single conversation we have is something very simple, something very small.  In each conversation, we should hope for that one small thing that will make a difference in people’s lives.  We should pray that God opens a door for you and me to speak about the beauty and mystery of Jesus Christ

When we pray for that opportunity to speak of Jesus, verse 4 tells us that God makes it very clear to us what we should have to say.  It makes us open to speak to people who don’t know Jesus, and it even teaches us how to use our time wisely.  Then we pray that God would enable us to make our speech always gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Always speaking graciously means that no matter the topic, no matter the gravity of the situation, essentially no matter what, we are calling people to know of and get to know Jesus Christ and His grace and mercy better and when we do that, we will find ourselves being more gracious and forgiving with our words.  All we have to do is add the one simple thing to our conversations:  Jesus Christ.

 

Celebrating SK’s Anniversary and My Father’s Legacy

The planning for Sovereign King Church’s Six Year Anniversary began about a month ago.  We thought through invitations, the service, the meal, and a myriad of other details.

As I thought through many of those things personally, one of my expectations was that my mother and father would be in the crowd.  As I considered the sermon text and the themes of thankfulness and legacy, I found myself feeling very nostalgic.

So two weeks before my father died, I wrote tomorrow’s sermon.  In it, without having any idea of what my family was about to go through, I wrote an introduction that gave tribute to my father as a pastor and how his Godly legacy played a huge part in launching me into ministry and ultimately SK into existence.

So in our service tomorrow, we will celebrate all that God has done at SK, I will get to give tribute to my father, and we will get to dream together about what God might do next.  See you then.

So, again I invite all of you to attend our worship service tomorrow at 1030am.  You can find directions here.

Come as you.  No dress code required

Easter 2012 Family Devotions and Sermon Notes

Big Idea:  God’s voice of pardon and grace is greater than our voice that shouted “Crucify”

Luke 23:39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed against him, saying, “Are you not the Christ?  Save yourself and us!”  40 But the other rebuked him saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same condemnation?  41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due rewards of our deeds.”  42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

• Why did the second criminal rebuke the first?
• How did the second criminal ask for mercy and what did Jesus promise him?

 44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 while the sun’s light failed.  And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.  46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.  47 Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!”  48 And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breast.  49 And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.

• What impact did Jesus’ death have on the centurion?
• Why do you think the Centurion felt that way?

Luke 24:1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.  2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.  5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?  6 He is not here, but has risen.  Remember, how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”

• What hope do the angels give the women visiting Jesus’ grave?
• To what do they attached Jesus’ resurrection?
• Why is that important?

Luke 24:44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”  45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  48 You are witnesses of these things.  49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you.  But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

• What does Jesus do here that is similar to what the angels did
• Jesus’ resurrection means what to the nations?

50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.  51 While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.  52 And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple blessing God.

• What effect did Jesus’ ascension have on His followers?
• What effect does it have on you?

The story of Jesus and His mock trial and death would be very little to be inspired by.   In fact, without the celebration of this day, the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, you might even look at the life of Jesus and say to God, “Why didn’t you speak up?  Why did you allow this?  What were you thinking?”  But on this side of the cross, in the reality of and in the shadow of the cross, we find great hope for celebration and truly the only thing by which we can cast our life and find peace.

However along the way, we find great heartbreak as our beautiful Savior suffers on our behalf.  I mean, listen to Luke 22:63 Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him.  64 They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy!  Who is it that struck you?”  65 And they said many other things against him, blaspheming.  As Jesus was being prepared for trial, the guards decided to loosen up a little. Punch Him.  Mock Him.  Even spit on Him.

The entire trial was such a sham that when Jesus came before Pilate, even he realized Jesus innocent.  Pilates says things like:  Luke 23:13 “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people.  And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him.  And later on he says, “Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him.”  But oh now.  The crowd wanted Jesus to die.  They had bloodlust in their hearts and minds and they would not be satisfied until Jesus died.

Pilate had the freedom to release one prisoner per year and he appealed to the crowd to let Jesus go, but instead they wanted a guilty man named Barabbas released.  The just kept crying, “Crucify, crucify him!” Luke 23:23 But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified.  And their voices prevailed.

Notice that last phrase:  And their voices prevailed.  That is the theme and thought I want us to keep in our mind.  We are going to celebrate Jesus resurrection and it we are going to find true hope for our souls.  But first we need to understand that it was our voices that prevailed.  It was our voice, our sin that shouted “Crucify, crucify.”  And thankfully we are going to be met in response by a loving and gracious Savior.  Towards that end, let’s pursue this Big Idea:  God’s voice of pardon and grace is greater than our voice that shouted “Crucify”

So to help us walk through thought this week, we are going to examine the voices that surrounded the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Let’s start with all the voices heard while Jesus hung on the cross. Look at Luke 23:39

39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed against him, saying, “Are you not the Christ?  Save yourself and us!”  40 But the other rebuked him saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same condemnation?  41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due rewards of our deeds.”  42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Even at the moment of Jesus’ highest agony, as He suffered innocently and in great suffering, there are still voices railing against Him.  And who rails against Him?  Whose voice prevails?  A guilty criminal being rightfully punished.  But his cries of “Save yourself and us” are not just his.  This is the voice of any one of us who choses sin, death, and un-repentance instead of Jesus Christ.

When we hear the clear truths of our Holy God proclaimed and when we see our beautiful Savior dying on our behalf, yet we remain in our sin, our hearts echo this same mocking cry.  Save yourself Jesus.  But the other criminal is a voice of hope to us.  He says, “Hey, we are guilty.  We are receiving the just punishment of our sins.”  And that criminal doesn’t stop with a mere conviction of sin.  He cries out Jesus.  He says, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Our being drawn to Jesus is just this:  We rightfully see our sin.  We see our deserved punishment of death and hell.  And then we see Jesus as our hope in light of that sin and just punishment and we cry out for mercy.

And Jesus, ever the gracious Savior, even while in agony on the cross, speaks mercy.  He says that the rightfully punished and guilty sinner will enjoy heaven with him even on that very day.  Faith and repentance meet grace and mercy.  The voice of our sin is either going to lead us to mock and accuse Jesus or move us to cry out for mercy and forgiveness.  The scriptures show us next what happens and we hear another voice around Jesus.

Luke 23:44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 while the sun’s light failed.  And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.  46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.  47 Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!”  48 And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breast.  49 And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.

Jesus’ death is at hand.  His agony is complete.  He has drunk the cup of God’s wrath to its very dregs and finally He gives up His spirit.  Darkness covers the whole land when it should be bright.  The curtain in the temple that separated sinful men and women from a Holy God is ripped in two – there is now no barrier between sinful humanity and a perfect Holy God.

And in Jesus’ death, does He shout bitterness that He would die while innocent of sin?  Does He shout out in anger that the Father abandoned Him?  No, Jesus’ voice is the voice of trusting His father in what appears to be gross injustice.  He simply and beautifully says, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”  What a wonderful picture of trust.  What hope it should give us and what an empowering example.  None of us will experience any act of abuse like Jesus.  None of will suffer innocently as He did.  None of us will have as just cause to cry out in anger to God.

Oh, we’ll have pain, experience injustice, and hurt, but nothing like Jesus’.  And Jesus so trustingly says, “Your will is hard my Father, but here I am.”  You know the other day I had a chance to ponder this.  I was working through some anger and hurt.  I felt like someone I loved was being seen in a false light.  They were being diminished and put down and criticized for stupid self-righteous reasons.  I was angry.  I asked myself, “What is the Gospel answer to this anger because if I don’t find one, I’m going to verbally hurt this person and enjoy doing it?”

And I was reminded that Jesus was falsely accused for my sake.  In light of that I knew that the offense that bothered, what this other person had done, was nothing compared to what Jesus went through.  I knew the Gospel to comfort my heart and I had to pray, “God, I still don’t know how to do this.  Please help me.  This picture of Jesus is intended to give us hope for our sin and patience for others.

And that Gospel, that trust in God, is a testimony to the world.  Because when Jesus dies with such trust, faith, and dignity, it has an impression.  The Centurion who was tasked with making sure that Jesus died on that cross looked at Him as He died and said, “Surely this man is innocent.”  The Gospel, the trust in God that says you provide for me even in difficulty, the trust in God no matter what, makes impression in this world.  God uses it to soften the heart.  The voice of trust in God when everything around you tells you to trust yourself has a huge impact and testimony.  But this Easter where we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.  Let’s look at the voices at that wonderful glorious moment.

Luke 24:1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.  2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.  5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?  6 He is not here, but has risen.  Remember, how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”

The women who cared for Jesus go to His tomb to care for His body which was a common practice in that day.  When they get there, the stone has been rolled away.  They are confused.  Has His body been stolen?  Has been disgraced in some way?  What happens now?

But then a voice speaks comfort to them.  Two dazzling angels appear, and their appearance is so amazing that the ladies just fall to the ground as they recognize that they are in the presence of the heavenly.  And the angels offer a gentle but hopeful rebuke.  They ask, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?  Jesus is not here.  He has risen.”

This is the voice that we must keep in our hearts today.  Jesus is not dead though He died.  Jesus is not humiliated though He was.  Jesus is risen.  His resurrection means hope, forgiveness, salvation, and glory for all who have faith in Him.

You know for silly slogans or reducing Christianity to buzzwords, but I will this would be helpful for us to get used to saying in some meaningful way.  And I’ll be careful not to over spiritualize this passage either.  But when we are discouraged or we don’t understand exactly what God is doing, when we are in similar confusing times like these ladies, we need to remind ourselves of this truth.  Ask your heart, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here.  He is risen.”

The resurrection of Jesus means that all injustice will one day be done away with.  Everything will be made right.  Jesus will be glorified.  His children will experience God the Father’s affection face to face with no fear.  All tears will be wiped away.  No hunger.  No pain.  No doubt.  So why seek the living among the dead?

But there is one voice that is even more comforting than the voice of an angel and that is of course the voice of Jesus.  Later on in Luke 24, Jesus appears to the tiny, faithful group of people who actually missed Him.  This is what He said to them.

Luke 24:44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”  45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  48 You are witnesses of these things.  49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you.  But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Jesus’ words of comfort should settle into our hearts so we can remind ourselves of these truths over and over again.  Jesus shows up and says, “Listen Gang, the entire OT, the law of Moses, the Psalm, the Prophets, they all spoke of my life, death, and resurrection, and God has been faithful to bring all of those things to life.”  And then He opened their minds to understand the scriptures.

Now before we go any further, let’s pray that.  Let’s make that true of us.  Dear God, open our minds to understand the scriptures.  Forgive for not even knowing where our Bible is have the time.  Make this wonderful gift that you have given us, have preserved over thousands of years, make those scriptures the very words of life and help us understand them.

And what does Jesus tell them?  Jesus had to suffer, die, and rise again on the third day, that day in which we celebrate right here in this moment.  And what should we do with this wonderful truth?  We should proclaim it to the nations.

We should proclaim that repentance (real change away from sin) is met with real forgiveness (the absolute restoration of your soul before God).   And Jesus told them, don’t worry, power from on High will enable you to proclaim this message.  The Holy Spirit, which fell on believers in Acts 2, is the power that God will use to make these truths real to our hearts and empower us to tell the nations.

The voice of the resurrected Jesus wanted them and you to know a few things.  All that Jesus did shows God’s faithfulness to His promises.  Jesus fully satisfies the payment of your sin.  His resurrection is the guarantee of all of God’s promises.  And as you proclaim repentance, God gives you that forgiveness.  Then you have to get off your butt about it.  That job is hard and scary but the Holy Spirit will enable you to do it.

Let me offer all of us a few encouragements from these promises.  Everything that Jesus did in His life, death, and resurrection gave God glory because they were a part of fulfilling God’s promises.  And everything that you will ever need to please God has been undertaken and accomplished in Jesus.  Our part to play in this is to cry out in faith in Jesus and repent of our sin.

Now, let me make a broader application.  Jesus appeared to this tiny group of people.  They hadn’t been incredibly faithful but now they faithfully waited; most of them abandoned Jesus in His moment on the cross.  But Jesus graciously appeared to them anyway.

We are much like they were.  We are not that big of a group, and we haven’t been incredibly faithful – at least not enough to pat ourselves on the back or anything.  We too like them have the hope that the power of the Holy Spirit has come upon us.  In fact, we sit on this side of the story enjoying the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

But we might fall short in obedience in the latter part of Jesus’ promises.  We run the risk of not proclaiming repentance and forgiveness of sins to the nations.  We run the risk of not proclaiming it to our city.  We run the risk of not proclaiming it to our neighborhood.  And some of us run the risk of not proclaiming it to our kids and ourselves.

But that is our call.  That is our commission and that is our job.  We proclaim Jesus to our hearts, our kids hearts, to each other, to this city, and to the world.  Sometimes the church takes on maybe one of those ideas to the exclusion of the others as if God can’t enable us to obey what He has commanded.

For example, some churches become slaves to merely becoming Godly children progenerators.  We so fear that are children are going to grow up and be ungodly that we become slaves to them fearing that if we miss a prayer or if we let someone other than ourselves have influence on them, then they are going to grow up and fall into sin.  We think we are in control instead of God.  And though we are commanded to raise Godly children, we can do that and proclaim Jesus to the nations.  God doesn’t give us an 18 year break from proclaiming Jesus to the nations so we can raise our kids – both can happen simultaneously.

Sometimes the church becomes obsessed with right theology.  We can quote dead theologians to no end, we can root out the heretics and insure ourselves of being theologically safe and astute, and not proclaim Jesus to the nations.  If you take more joy in the smell of an old book than you do the company of your neighbor or co-worker who needs Jesus, repent.  If you place yourself above others, even other Christians, because your theology is correct and theirs off, repent.  You can have correct theology and still proclaim Jesus to the nations.

I could use a myriad of other examples:  We become obsessed with our own perfection and become graceless to those who fall into sin.  We become obsessed with order and cleanliness or health and beauty, correct worship, and on and on.

But we are to do what Jesus commands here.  He is risen, all the scriptures assured it and He brought about our salvation.  So just as that tiny group heard Him, now this tiny group should hear Him.  You have the Holy Spirit.  He enables you, empowers you, and changes you.

We can do this here, we can grow in obedience, we can raise Godly kids, we can have good theology, and all of that.  But let’s get off of our butts and go tell the nations about Jesus.  As one good friend here at SK said, let’s not be as evangelical as mimes.  Open your mouth, say the name of Jesus to someone who desperately needs to know His grace.  And to guide us in that mission, let’s hear one last voice from Luke 24

50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.  51 While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.  52 And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Jesus lifted His hands up and blessed His children.  And while He did that, He was lifted up into heaven entering God’s presence as the victorious Son who obediently proclaimed the glory of God to sinful mean and women going so far as to win salvation for them.  I would love to know what words Jesus spoke here but He blessed them nonetheless.

And what did they do in response?   What is the proper response to being blessed by the resurrected Savior?  Worship.  They worshipped Him, return to Jerusalem with great joy and continually blessed God in the temple – the temple btw that no longer had a curtain separating them from God.  That is what we are called to do here.  We are called to worship and bless God in light of the resurrected Jesus.  Think of the voices that we have heard here and find yourself among them.

Are you the cynical voice that cries to Jesus, “You can’t save me; you couldn’t save yourself”?  If so, the gracious resurrected Jesus offers you grace and forgiveness.

Are you the faithful voice that cries to Jesus, “Remember me when you come into your glory”?  If so, Jesus meets that cry of your heart with, “You will be with me in paradise.”
Are you totally confused, not understanding what God has done looking for the living among the dead?   If so, the angels cry to your heart that Jesus is risen and you can be forgiven and have great hope again.

Are you the few who need to be reminded of the church’s mission again?  Have you become distracted by singularly focusing on one good thing to the neglect of God’s command to tell the nations of Jesus?  If so, the voice of Jesus tells you that repentance and forgiveness are available for your sin and the Holy Spirit will enable you to do more than just one thing – you can raise Godly kids, have correct theology, AND tell the nations about Jesus.

But know, Jesus is risen and has ascended into Heaven and if you have faith in Him, He blesses you in this moment.  He will gift us faith and repentance, perhaps some of you for the very first time.  He will enable you to proclaim this wonderful message to the nations.  He will bless you.  Jesus will do these things for His glory and the glory of the Father.  Hear this wonderful voice:  John 10:10 I have come to give you life and that life will be more abundant than any other life you can imagine.”

Family Devotion and Sermon Notes for Palm Sunday 2012

Big Picture Question:  What would it look like for you, your family, this church, and this city to unreservedly serve and glorify Jesus Christ?

John 12:1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

• How did Mary serve Jesus?
• What was Judas’ problem with Mary’s act of service?
• Why does Jesus receive Mary’s gift?

 9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

• Why were the crowds looking for Jesus?
• Why did the Chief Priests want to put Jesus to death?

 12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

• How did the people worship Jesus?
• How did this moment fulfill a promise of scripture?
• What do the crowds and Mary have in common?

 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

• Why did the people glorify Jesus?
• How did the Pharisees react?
• How do these verses demonstrate the deferent responses people have to Jesus?
• Have you ever worshiped Jesus?  If so, why and how?

20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

 

Palm Sunday is celebrated each year one week before we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We don’t have too much of a religious calendar here in America, but we do have a few tried and true celebrations.  I mean, we know Jesus wasn’t born on December 25th, but we take that time each year to celebrate Jesus’ birth.  We know Jesus wasn’t resurrected on April 8th, but we take that time each year, somewhere around there to celebrate the resurrection.  Some churches celebrate Palm Sunday and others don’t.  We do and for this reason.  Palm Sunday gives us a chance to see one of the few times that Jesus was glorified and praised here on earth.  You see Jesus spent most of His ministry being rejected, lied about, and even spat upon.

Palm Sunday shows Jesus being glorified – not just by His disciples but by an entire city.  And if we pay attention, we will see a call to our hearts to glorify Jesus and we will also see a vision that our entire city might do the same.  So this is not going to be a typical sermon with 5 verses and then an explanation.  I want to walk us through an entire chapter of the book of John so that we can see both the context of Palm Sunday and the application of Palm Sunday.  Towards that end, let’s shoot for this

Big Picture Question:  What would it look like for you, your family, this church, and this city to unreservedly serve and glorify Jesus Christ?

To understand what happens in John that would move an entire city to stop and give praise to Jesus while He rode into town on a donkey, we have to see what happened just prior to all of that.  At the beginning of John 12, Jesus came to a town called Bethany.  That was the city where Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, so Jesus is famous there.  The city knows that He performs miracles.  They were at Lazarus’ funeral and were at His tomb.  Lazarus was smelly and dead.  His friends still mourned but the city had moved on, and Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

So Jesus returns to that city, and of course has a meal with His friends.  Mary, Martha and Lazarus provide an oasis for Jesus in the midst of world where people are either violent hostile to Him or violently curious about Him.  While Jesus is chilling at their table, something interesting happens.  Listen to this:

John 12:1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

What we see here is an act of mercy, service, and glory to Jesus.  Mary shows mercy to Jesus by anointing His hard, dirty, tired feet.  Remember, Jesus travels with no luxuries.  We get mad if the AC breaks.  Jesus had nothing, so Mary anointing His feet is an act of mercy.  Washing Jesus’ feet is an act of stark, honest worship.  Women didn’t unbind their hair public and they certainly didn’t give away expensive perfume, but Mary reserves nothing in her worship.  She will give everything away to worship Jesus:  her dignity, her appearance, and her money.It is an act of service because there are so few who appear to want to serve Jesus.  Everyone wants something from Jesus.  Mary wants to give to Jesus.  And it is also an act of giving Jesus glory.  He alone is worthy of praise, and Mary demonstrates that by worshiping Jesus in the humble act.

This is a supreme example of our Big Picture Question.  How do we give glory to Jesus?  We serve Him.  He is our master.  We are His servants.  We submit ourselves to Him.  We offer praise and glory to Him alone.  Now, you would think that Jesus disciples and followers would like what’s going on here.  But another lesson to be learned is that anytime you boldly serve Jesus, someone is going to be boldy offended.  This time, it is from one of Jesus’ disciples.

4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

Judas doesn’t see what Mary is doing as worship.  He doesn’t see the reckless abandoning heart cry that is Mary’s anointing of Jesus.  No, he sees fiscal responsibility.  He says, “Are you kidding me?  That perfume is worth 300 denarii, that’s a year’s worth of money.”  What would Dave Ramsey say about that?  Then he gets pious probably when he realizes that he should have kept his mouth shut.

He says, “I mean you could have fed the poor with that money.”  But the real reason for his anger was that Judas was a thief.  He used to steal money from the disciples money bag and had he known that Mary had that kind of money, he may very well have tried to steal that too.  Jesus’ response is this:  He says, “Let her worship me and you don’t bother her.   There is going to be plenty of time to do the work of the kingdom which is caring for the poor.  Now is the time to worship me because I am about to leave.”

We should notice a couple of things from the examples of Mary and Judas.  The simplest of which is worship Jesus and not money, right?  But that is not how I want to challenge us today.  As desperately as we need to talk about that as a congregation, I’m not going to do that.  Jesus calls you and me for unreserved, abandoning worship and adoration of Him.  There will always be things that will call our attention away.  Some of those things will be good and will be our responsibility like caring for the poor.  Some of the things that will call our attention away will be sinful like the useless things we do to fill our time.  But in that moment and in that very hour, and in this moment and in this very hour, we are called to worship Jesus.

Let’s follow Mary’s example and abandon all reserve and worship Jesus.  Now right after this, people begin to show up.  Remember Jesus is famous in this city so when they hear that He is near, they show up.  The think, “The Circus is in town.”

9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

So everyone is running and flocking to Jesus.  The Jews want to see and touch Him and ask questions of Him.  I’m sure some who have heard of this story want also to see and hear Lazarus and make sure that the rumors they have heard are true.  The Chief Priest doesn’t really like it though.  They were the religious leaders of the Jews and they don’t want the Jews running to anybody but them.  They offered a shell of worship, a mockery of what true adoration of God looked like.

All they want to do is re-secure their power base.  So the chief priests plan to kill Jesus AND Lazarus because so many people are leaving them and following Jesus.  How in the world could anyone think this is Godly?  The chief priests are plotting murder.  Gang, one lesson to be learned here is this:  Cold, dead, lifeless religion that doesn’t change the heart will ultimately move to hatred of Jesus Christ.   Oh the form of religion may use His name, but if your worship isn’t like Mary’s abandoning of the soul, you will eventually hate Jesus and anyone else who loves Him.  The Town of Garner littered with the casualties of such hollow worship.

The Chief Priests hated Jesus so much that they were willing to kill Him and willing to kill His living example of power, Lazarus.  On side note:  Have you ever considered how ridiculous their plan was to kill Jesus?   I mean if He can raise the dead…I mean, what do they hope to accomplish?  If Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, why do they think killing him would help?

You see again, in our understanding of what whole-hearted, unreserved worship of Jesus looks like, we need to learn from opposite example.  No, I don’t think any of you conspired to kill Jesus this week, but the question is, “Was your heart drawn to Him as the wellspring of life?”  “Did you see Jesus and Jesus alone as the sole hope for joy or do you see it coming by your own hand, your own efforts, or your own accomplishments?”  Is where Jesus takes you the only place you want to go whether or not you know or even like where He leads you?

Well, let’s found out again what worship should look like.  Jesus leaves Bethany and heads to Jerusalem.  Jesus isn’t running away from His enemies.  Jesus knew all along that Jerusalem was where He was going and this is where He would ultimately be tried and crucified.  So, look at verse 12.

John 12:12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

What we are seeing here on Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem is a picture of the work of the church.  We are to worship Jesus.  And we are to play a part in bringing our city to worship Jesus.

Look at how Jesus is worshipped here – Jesus is so rarely worshipped.  This picture is so refreshing.  Here, finally in this moment, Jesus is proclaimed as King and Savior.  The waving of palm branches in that day was a royal coronation that declared Jesus as King.  The crowd is yelling “Hosanna” which is a word that we can so easily know and sing and say but easily miss the emphasis of.

Hosanna is a proclamation of the heart that declares that God has done something.   The opportunities for Hosanna in your life are countless and endless.  You might have to look for them sometimes, but the work of God is at least displayed in the heavens.  It is displayed whenever you sit and eat.  It is displayed right now and you hear the words of grace preached.

For Jerusalem that day?   God was worthy of a Hosanna because He has brought the King of His people, the God of this World, the Savior of sinners and wrapped Him in the humility of a man riding on a donkey.  And not one ounce of beauty, deity, or power has been lost.  We are to say, Hosanna Jesus has come in the name of the Lord.

Now, there is another way that this Triumphal Entry is a picture of the church.  The church proclaims Jesus as the Savior riding on a Donkey.   The church is to draw in people to worship Jesus.  We are to play a part in gathering in this city, our neighborhoods, and our workplaces to do the same.

And just like in that day, I’m sure some are going to proclaim Jesus as King because He is the answer to their heart’s cry.  Others are going to gather to see the show.  Yet, either way, we are to proclaim Jesus.

In this moment, you should consider ways in which the Kingdom might be advanced by your living out a life of crying “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel”  Renew your heart now.   Remind and rehearse how great God.  Command your heart to praise Jesus and declare Hosannas.  Ask God to give you an infectious desire to praise God that catches with every single person you bump into so that others in this city might do the same.

Now in this moment, this incredible mind-blowing example of an entire city coming out to worship Jesus, you know who doesn’t get it?   The very people who should have gotten it:  the disciples.  Look at verse 16

16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

What the disciples don’t understand here is Jesus being praised for being King.  Oh, they want Him to be king alright.  They still have desires of Jesus being a political king that will overthrow the pagan Roman government that is occupying Israel.

The book of John, being the last Gospel written, explains though that once Jesus died, rose again, and showed Himself glorified, they understand the true nature of Jesus’ kingship.  But at that moment, they didn’t understand the palm waving.  What’s going on here in this passage is larger and greater than any human inauguration the world has ever seen.  The King of Sinners has arrived.  Praise Him.  Overthrowing hostile Romans is too small of a picture for this king.  He is going to overthrow sin and death.

Now verse 17 tells us that the crowd with Jesus and His disciples have been with Him since He raised Lazarus from the dead, and they continue to tell everyone what Jesus has done.  What might they be saying?  Is this the one who was promised?  We know he has the power over death.  Guys, this has got to be the one who we have waited for for so long.  He is the cry of our hearts.

And their testimony is effective.  People are flocking to hear this message.  Gang, what would it look like if your heart valued and treasured Jesus like this?  What if you thought of Jesus as the hope of your heart?  What if you couldn’t help but speak of His majesty and beauty?  I can tell you what would happen and what might happen.  What would happen would be Jesus lifted up, glorified and God praise.  What would happen is that you would have more peace than you could ever imagine.  What might happen would be your home, this church, and this city might just be transformed.

And as always, when Jesus is praised, opposition arises.  So many people are responding that the Pharisees are losing hope.  They say to one another, “Great.  We’ve been fighting this guy for 3 years, and we’ve gained nothing.  It looks like whole world has gone after Him.  You see what is effective here?  People aren’t running around speaking about their subjective experiences that can be argued and disputed.  Though there is a time and place for those types of testimonies, the people of Jesus’ day keep it simple.  They speak about who Jesus Christ is.  They are speaking about what He has done.

They don’t let the conversation change subjects because the subject is Jesus.  They don’t get caught up in political discussion.  They speak about Jesus.  This is powerful testimony.

Gang, if you have wondered why more people don’t come to know Jesus around you.  If you have ever wondered why people disregard your testimony.  If you have ever wondered why you love drama and have to create crisis to feel important.  If you have wondered why you love your sin so much.  If you have ever wondered why this church doesn’t grow faster, I can tell you in least in part.

In the part, the answer is that we aren’t talking about Jesus enough.  Jesus is always the main thing, and we must keep the main thing the main thing.

20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

Obviously, all of this talk about Jesus is attracting attention, and not just from curious Jews looking for a King or Messiah.  The Greeks with their entire pantheon of gods have heard of Jesus.  Even, they want to know who He is.  So they ask Philip, and Philip gets Andrew and they went to tell Jesus that I guess the Pharisees were right.  Maybe the whole world is asking about Jesus because even those pagan Greeks are here.

But Jesus, as always, surprises.  He doesn’t run to tell all the Greeks about Himself.   No, He makes a declaration:  He says, “It is time.  Now is the hour for the Son of man to be glorified.  Jesus uses the title “Son of Man’ here to identify Himself with us.   The Redeemer of fallen men and women, His time has now come to be glorified.

Now, when we hear that, perhaps we think, ‘No longer will Jesus be humiliated or rejected,” but that is exactly the means by which He will be glorified.  To explain that Jesus casts a powerful image.  I can imagine Jesus looking out at a wheat field.  He says, “The only way you get that kind of harvest is if the grain seed falls to the ground…and dies.”

Now before we go any further, Jesus uses the very workings of nature to illustrate that if He is going to truly reign as King, then He must die.  For Jesus ultimately to be glorified, He must die.  But I don’t think Jesus’ point is merely to illustrate the nature of His Rule.  It is also to point out the nature of  how YOU should live.

I mean Jesus tells us that we must pick up our cross and follow Him doesn’t He?  According to Jesus, if you love your life here in this earth?  Then you are going to have to lose it.  But if you hate your life here on this earth?  Then you will have eternal life.

Jesus’ point is so radical I dare say I don’t know very many human beings who come close to living it out.  Your desire to follow Jesus, your affection for Him should be so great, that it should be the central interest of your life.  And the degree to which you follow Him should make it look like you don’t give a damn about your own personal life.

Does that mean you don’t care for yourself or raise your children?  Of course not.  Does that mean you don’t care for yourself?  Of course not.  The thing is, you care for yourself, you raise your children, you do all of these things, but you don’t do those things for personal, selfish reason.  But we aren’t slaves to raising our children, we aren’t slaves to our body…we aren’t slaves to anything or anyone but Jesus.  You raise your kids, take care of yourself, etc, you do those things because you are hopelessly attracted to, devoted to, and in love with the Son of Man, Jesus Christ.

The central frustration of many of your lives though is that God has not made your life what you want it to be.  You want easier, simpler, healthier, richer, and on and on.  That is not what we are called to.  We are called to follow Jesus to such an extent that those worries don’t measure up to the concern we have for proclaiming and giving affection to Jesus Christ.  It should look like we hate this life because we love the next.  It should look like we have died and been reborn.

Have you ever seen the movie “The Shawshank Redemption”?   In that move, the main character Andy Dufrense offers this wise advice to us:  “Either get busy living or get busy dying.”  If you want to follow and serve Jesus, if you want your family and this church to follow and serve Jesus, if you want this city to follow and serve Jesus, then you have to follow and serve His example:  You have to crucify your life for the Glory of God.

Where Jesus would have you go with the message of the Gospel, that is where you go to the sacrifice of every other personal desire.  Home, school, work, neighborhood, city, church.  You say, “Gordon, that is too hard.  Jesus demands too much.”  And sympathetically but honestly I’ll tell you, “Since when did you think that Jesus demanded less, that He didn’t demand everything?”

Here is what I think is going on here at SK right now.  I think most of us are going through the very painful process of our lives falling to the ground and we are painfully watching ourselves die.  Some of you have dreams of greater work and employment.  Some of you have dreams a healthier life.  Some of you have dreams of more children.  Some of you have dreams of a better lifestyle.

And you know what, those dreams are not inherently bad.  In fact, they can be pretty nice.  But here is the thing.  Do you want Jesus more than all of them?  Are you satisfied with Jesus alone?  If you never get a better job, if your health never improves, if you never get married, or never have kids, or your lifestyle never improves, is Jesus alone enough?  If the answer is, “No, He is not enough,” then I imagine you are going through the very painful process of watching those dreams die.

So, you might ask, “Well, what then?  What is the solution?”  I will make very clear for you.  Take every desire you have in this world, good bad or indifferent.  Lay them at the feet of Jesus Christ.  And pray you can say this, “Jesus you are enough for me.  I love you so much that if I never get desire one in this world, I resolve to live happily because I have Jesus Christ as my Savior.  If you bless me with even one of these desires, I’ll say thanks, but if you bless me with none, my heart is satisfied in you.”

Until your heart can pray that prayer, your effectiveness as a child of God in terms of loving Jesus, proclaiming Jesus, and serving in the name of Jesus is going to be diminished.  In fact, I’ll will say until Jesus is ALL you want, you will not be effective.  The beautiful thing is this:  we aren’t giving up anything if we give our earthly desires to Jesus.  He is more than our souls could ever dream of and more beautiful and gracious and wonderful than our hearts desires.  The way up this Palm Sunday is the way down.  The way to life this Palm Sunday is death.  The way to know joy and happiness is to kill the competing idols in your heart that would take Jesus’ place on the throne.

Family Devotion and Sermon Notes for James 2:19ff

Big Idea:  Obedience completes faith

James 2:20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

•  Foolish is a word we don’t use very often.  The Bible uses it to make very strong points.  Why does James think it is foolish for a person to have faith in Jesus but not have obedience (works) as well?

 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?

• Read Genesis 22 together as a family.
• What was Abraham commanded to do?   Think of all the reasons it was hard for him to obey.
• How did his obedience demonstrate his faith?

 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”-and he was called a friend of God.

• How do works complete faith?
• What does God count as righteousness?
• How does verse 23 show us we are saved by faith alone?

 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

• Justified means “proven to be true” in this case.  How is a person justified by works?

 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

• Read Joshua 2, 6 to understand the story of Rahab.  How was her faith made clear by works?

26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

• Can a body live without the spirit?  Can a faith live without works?
• How connected are faith and works in your life?

In a marriage, or really any other relationship, you move ahead on faith and trust.  You find yourself, at some point and time, just saying, “I think I know these things to be true.  I think he loves me or I think she loves me.  I think I can trust my thoughts, feelings, and time with this person.  But when it comes down to it, you really have to faith that they will care for you and that they love you.  That step of faith is one of the reasons people refuse to commit to a marriage and one of the reasons why people hop out of marriages when they are hurt.  Once trust is trust is broken, it is hard to reestablish.

But everyone now and then you have the opportunity to witness some incredibly selfless act by that person and you know they truly do love you.  Maybe they forgive you when you really don’t deserve it.  Maybe they make some great sacrifice for your good.  Maybe they put up with your stupid junk over and over again so that you can go to work or to go school or meet some other commitment.  When folks do that, when they selflessly love you, it is like that moment completes and confirms the faith you have in them.  In the best of situations, it should move you to want to love and serve that person in return.  Why are those things true?  Simply, they pattern the Gospel.

2 Corinthians 4: We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10  always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

Jesus faithfully obeyed to the point of death.  Now we faithfully obey to the point of death if necessary.  That obedience completes our faith, brings it to its fullest and most sincere sense.  Let’s see if we can understand more deeply as we approach the Book of James this week with this Big Idea:

Big Idea:  Obedience completes faith?

James 2:20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?  21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?  22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”-and he was called a friend of God.  24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.  25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?  26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

As always, let’s try to set these things into their proper context.  James is making the point to everyone person who claims faith in Jesus that true faith in Him will result in obedience.  Faith in Jesus is such a powerful thing that you have no choice but to obey.  Your faith in Jesus is a result of God transforming your heart from death to life.  You are gifted with a love of Jesus and a desire to serve Him and obey Him.  James has made the point in the past few weeks that if you don’t find a desire to serve and obey Jesus going on, then you should check and make sure that you have a genuine faith in Jesus.  Faith in Jesus is not just “save me” but also “change me.”  Any person who claims faith in Jesus but does not find their heart changed is told by James, that faith is dead; its non-existent.

So we ended last week trying to present a glorious picture of Jesus knowing that the great saints of the scripture were transformed by that glory, that cried out in faith and God enabled them to obey.  Moses saw the glory of God and was transformed from murderer to the leader of the people of God.  Isaiah saw the glory of God and cried out “Here I am, send me.”  Peter saw the glory of God and went from a denier of Christ to the preacher whose sermon led thousands of people to Christ.  So now, we return to James who continues to give even more examples of what it looks like to be transformed by faith.

James 2:20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

James is using some pretty harsh language here.  Language that would merit some form of discipline in my house.  I mean if James said that at my house, he would lose polly pockets or lose computer time or something.  Why does James get to use such harsh language as calling someone foolish?  Well, James is very much a NT prophet calling people to faith and repentance, which is always really the same thing.  He is asking this question:  Do you really want to find out if you can have faith in Jesus without obedience?  Because if you think that you have faith in Jesus and you don’t see Jesus transforming you, then you are a fool.  Faith in Jesus is that powerful and that transformative.

Trusting your own way, your own works, your own life thinking that faith in Jesus doesn’t transform is foolish.  Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.  James doesn’t want you, me, or anyone else to think that they can have faith in Jesus and not be changed to grow in obedience and gradually become more like Jesus.  So with that in mind, James declares one of the most controversial passages in all of the scriptures in verse 21.

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?

James declares that Abraham was justified by works.  What in the world?  Well, let’s understand the example so that we can understand the application.  In Genesis 12, God made a bunch of promises to Abraham.  You see, Abraham and his wife Sarah were old and had apparently given up any hopes of having kids.  God promised not only to give them a child but to make an entire nation of people to worship God out of the child they would have.

An amazing promise:  to an old, infertile couple, God promises not only a child but to do great things through that child.  Well through a series of twists and turns and even a few gross acts of disobedience, God gives them that child, and his name was Isaac.  And then God really decides to test Abraham’s faith.

In Genesis 22, God commands Abraham in this way.  “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
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Abraham obeyed, and just before he sacrificed Isaac, God spared Isaac and even provided a sacrifice in Isaac’s place.  Abraham proved his faith in God by obeying, especially when he no idea what God was going to do.  James say that Abraham was justified by works when he offered up Isaac.  So what does that mean?  And doesn’t Paul say that Abraham was NOT justified by his works.  I mean listen to Romans 4

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”

So Paul says that Abraham was not justified by his works and James says he was.  What are we going to do?  Doesn’t this contradiction pull apart so much of the truth of scripture and if it a contradiction, shouldn’t we all just go home here because we are wasting our time?  Fortunately, James explains what he means by saying Abraham was justified by his works.  Listen to verse 22.

22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;

James is not using the word “justified” in the same sense that Paul talks about being justified.  Paul is talking about the legal justification of Abraham’s faith and relationship before God and James is talking about the outworking justification of Abraham’s life and faith before men.  Paul is saying, “Faith in Jesus alone assures justification or the repair of relationship between God and Abraham.  James is saying the justification or the proof that those things have happened comes by the evidence of Abraham’s works and obedience before the rest of the world.

That is why in verse 22, James tells us that Abraham’s faith was active along with his works.  His obedience completed his works.  Gang, a ton of people profess faith in Jesus.  A ton of people have had “experiences” or walked an aisle or raised their hand with their eyes closed and they are counting on those moments of faith to save them or forgive them.  James is trying to make the point that you don’t count on that moment.  If you want to be sure, then look at your life and examine to see elements of an active faith like Abraham’s.

Do you see your faith actively moving you to obey?  Do you see your faith completed by your works?  Do you see your faith justified by a real transformation that is taking place?  None of those these replace the fact that you are forgiven and justified by God by faith in Jesus alone.  Obedience just shows that a real faith in present.  That is why James goes on to say in verse 23

23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”-and he was called a friend of God.

You see, James is making it clear.  God counts our faith as righteousness.  He gifts it to us, and Abraham’s declaration of faith in God and our declaration of faith in Jesus is counted as righteous by God.  By faith, we become the friends of God, not by anything we do but by the outward declaration of faith that God gifts us with.  And as soon we start to get it, then James goes schizophrenic on us in vs 24

24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Okay, James, which one is it?  How are you using the word justified and what are you trying to tell us?  Well, remember, James is explaining to us that our works complete our faith.  Another way of saying that is that our works bring our faith to maturity.  Our obedience is the outward justification of our inward faith.

Oh, you are justified before God by faith alone.  James just said that when he quoted and said “Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness.  So you are justified or made right before God by faith.  Your faith is justified by obedience in the here and now.  Do you have saving faith?  Then James says and has said, “Prove it.”  Love others.  Show mercy.  Demonstrate you know mercy by showing it to others.

Follow the pattern of Abraham.  Trust God in what He commands even when you don’t understand how or what God has called you to do in obedience.  Right now, I know several folks who are in situations that are completely contrary to what scripture has commanded.  They know this.  They admit this to me.  The reason they don’t obey?  Obedience would be hard.  It would be hard financially to obey.  It would be hard relationally to obey.  James would say, “Hey demonstrate you know transformative faith by obeying.”  Your faith justifies you before God.  Your obedience justified you before man.  To help us understand that, James gives another example and this one is much more radical than the example of Abraham.  James gives us the example of a prostitute and how her faith was made evident by her obedience.  How’s that for an example?  Listen to verse 25.

25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

You guys familiar with this story?  If not let me give you a refresher.  Joshua 2 tells the story of Rahab.  Here’s the skinny.  God is about to send the people of God into the land that He promised them way back to Abraham in Genesis.  Joshua, the leader who took over after Moses died, sends a few spies into the land to see what it is like.  Well, obviously if you are spy looking at a land occupied by other people, you can’t just show up and say, “Hey God gave me this land, can you guys pack up and head out?”  You are going to need a place to stay, and what better place to hide out in than, oh I don’t know, a whorehouse?  When soldiers come looking for the spies, Rahab hides them on her roof and thus saves their lives.  The next thing we know, Rahab is completely pagan and from a foreign land begins to speak of Yahweh and faith in Yahweh.  In Joshua 2, she tells the spies this:

“I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. 11 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. 12 Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign 13 that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” 14 And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”

Rahab’s professesion of faith has some very key elements.  She recognizes God’s sovereign right to do as He will (vs 9)  She admits submitting to God (vs 11)  She asks for mercy (vss 12-13)

She then shows great faith and care in these spies entrusting not only her life to them but the life of her family.  She then enables the spies to flee and she sets up a scarlet cord that hangs from her window.  When the raid on the land happens, that cord will be sign of her faith and she and her household will be saved.

Rahab’s faith was made complete by her actions.  Of course she didn’t want her home raided and her family put to death.  It would have been easy for her to say “Oh yeah, I believe in Yahweh.”  But she evidenced that she had faith.  Her actions of care for the spies and the risk she put her family through to spare them justified her declared faith.  Her faith in God was thorough and had thorough, complete, and sufficient actions to show that she truly believed in God.  And James says, “Yep, her works showed that she had faith.  So once again, James wants to tell us that very same thing in verse 26:

26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

James makes one more analogy to help us understand his point.  And I want us to get this well because next week, James going to us in a brand new direction.  It is like the end of chapter 2 here is the end of complete thought:  one that we at least need mentally master before going forward.  James says, Look at the body.   What makes the body alive is the spirit of a person.   When a person a dies, the spirit departs – the body is just empty flesh.  Unfortunately, and as popular as they are right now – there are no zombies.

There are not inhabited bodies walking around with no spirit.  So just as that is true, so if you claim to have faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sin, and you don’t see God transforming you and making you more like Jesus through obedience, then you faith is dead.  Its non-existent.  This is explained for us really well in Romans 6, so let’s pull up a chair and spend the rest of our time there.  You see what James is telling us about the surety of obedience, Paul explains for us in Romans 6.  Paul explains the engine that makes your transformation in obedience sure.

Romans 6:5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Theologically, this teaching is called our “Union with Christ” and it is the engine by which every promise of God comes to you.  Verse 5:  when Jesus died as a penalty for disobedience and sin, you die.  Your payment for sin is paid by faith.  When Jesus was resurrected and brought back to life, your life with God was promised; you have gone from death to life.  But the promise of transformation continues.  Look at verse 6  Not only is your payment for sin completed in Jesus’ death, your old self, the one that was a slave to sin before Jesus, that old self dies as well.  Through Jesus’ work and your faith in Him, you have a new nature.  You are no longer a slave to sin; you are slave to righteousness.  Your faith in Jesus guarantees that you will obey.

So verse 9 explains to us that Jesus’ death for sin is sufficient for everything you need.  Jesus will never die again and you will never have to die for sin again.  Your faith in Jesus insures that you will never ever have to pay the penalty of your sin because Jesus sufficiently paid for it.  As a result, when you think about sin, disobedience, and temptation, tell yourself verse 11:  I am dead to sin.  I am alive to God.  I am in Jesus Christ.  These are hopes, these are more than promises, they are assurances.  They are true of every believer in Jesus.

You can see why James is adamant.  If you have faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sin, you will have no choice, you can have great hope, you will obey and be like Jesus.  Dead to sin.  Alive to God.  Look at verse 12

12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Paul makes this command to us.   When you see sin in your life, don’t let it reign, don’t let it run rampant.  Don’t obey the temptation that come with your passion.  Verse 13 reiterates that thought.  It tells us, now that you are “in Christ Jesus” now that your penalty for sin is His and His goodness is yours, don’t present your self to sin anymore.  Present yourself to God.   Walk before God has one who has been brought through death and now walks in life.  Present your body as an instrument – a tool – to be used for righteousness – a means by which God will show forth His glory to you and to the world.

Literally, spend your moments presenting yourself, in every moment of every day, as instrument of righteousness.  When you wake up and get in the shower, present your body as an instrument of righteousness.  When you take your kids to school or get your gets ready for school, present your body as an instrument of righteousness.  When you walk into work, present your body as an instrument of righteousness.  When you do laundry, go for a run, check your email, get a cup of coffee, present your body as an instrument of righteousness.

According to this passage, sin isn’t supposed to reign, righteousness is.  You are no longer helpless.  God can enable you to obey.  You will obey.  So wake up each day and present yourself in each of your circumstances as instrument of righteousness to be used by God.  No agenda other than God’s.  Gang, this is a concluding point in the book of James.  Chapter 3 isn’t disconnected but it is a new point, so let’s take a second to recapture what James has emphasized to us.  So much of Christianity has gotten these verses wrong for so long.  I’m not saying we are the ones who get it right.  I’m saying we are the ones who have the opportunity to get it right.  Not because we are special but because we are sitting here right now looking at the truths of scripture that can and will transform us.

Galatians 3: It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4  Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

Sermon Notes and Family Devotion for James 2:17-19

Big Idea:  Jesus wants more for you than you can imagine.

James 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

·    James describes a conversation between two people about the nature of their relationship with Jesus.  How does each describe their relationship?
·    Verse 17 says that “Faith without Works is Dead,” which side do you think James is on?

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.

·    How does James says we should demonstrate our faith?
·    What is the difference between demonstrating your faith and speaking about your faith?
·    What then is the place of talking about your faith?

19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

·    How do demons believe the same thing that a Christian does?
·    Why doesn’t their belief save?
·    How then does your belief save?

How in the world does the world know you have faith in Jesus Christ?  With Biblical commands like “Go into the world and make disciples” (Matthew 28), “Let your light so shine” (Matthew 5), and You are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5), you and I, and anyone else who claims faith in Jesus Christ, are not given the option of having a private faith.  Faith in Jesus is an outward demonstration and active proclamation of faith before the world with the intention of bringing attention to and glory to Jesus.

So how then does the world know that you have faith in Jesus?  Do you hope that they will know you know Jesus by all the things you don’t do anymore?  Don’t drink; don’t smoke; what do you do?  Do you hope that they will know you know Jesus because you are an expert at pre-suppositional apologetics or you that you memorized the book “Evidence that Demands a Verdict”?  You can argue with the best of them.  Do you hope that they will know you know Jesus because you go to work everyday, work hard, live a quiet life, and you hope that your “witness” will be enough to make people wonder?  Or do you just not give it a second’s thought.  Maybe you just want to be forgiven and you desperately hope no one ever asks you about Jesus.

I think in my life I have swung from pretty much all points on the pendulum.  When I was 16, I lost pretty much every friend I ever had because I was so confrontational about Jesus.  I wanted everyone to know what I believed, and I wanted everyone to know what I thought was sin and what I thought was wrong.  That didn’t work out too well for me.

At one point, I swung all the way to other side of the pendulum.  When Amy and I were married, somewhere along our second year of marriage, we just took a year off.  We went to church sporadically.  We didn’t really study our Bible, didn’t really pray.  I was much more concerned with making money than I was about making disciples or telling people about Jesus.

When I went to seminary, I’m afraid I fell into the academic trap.  If you didn’t have an intellectual, theological response to my questions, I would belittle you.  Even if you did have an intellectual, theological, response to my questions, I would still belittle you if you didn’t agree with my view point.  I still have regrets about the damage some relationships took during that time.

Where am I now?   Whew.  I still have theological discussions, but they aren’t my first line defense any more.  There are times when I’m silent about Christ and times when I’m vocal.  I’m much more concerned with establishing a relationship with a person long before I begin preaching to them.  Is this the best way to go about sharing the Gospel?  I don’t know.  We’ll figure it out.  I just don’t want to belittle or demean anyone anymore.

And Jesus doesn’t give me the option of being silent about my faith either.  Fortunately, James this week is going to speak about what it should look like for us to share and demonstrate to the world that we know Jesus Christ.  It is one of those passages of scripture where both extroverts and introverts will think James is stating their case.  Extroverts are going to hear and think, “Get out there and show Jesus,” and introverts are going to hear and think, “Get out there and show Jesus.”

No matter where you fall personality wise, James wants us to know this:  This whole sharing of Jesus is not easy.  It is not just trying to convince someone to think differently or believe differently.   Reducing faith in Jesus to mere belief is fallacy, it is error.  And sharing Jesus is a heck of a lot more than just trying to get someone to walk an aisle and make a decision for Christ.  God can use those things, but faith in Jesus is much more than that.  So with that in mind, let’s pursue this Big Idea this week:  Big Idea:  Mere belief in Jesus is not enough to save.

James 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”  Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

Let’s set all of this into context.  Over the last few weeks, you can summarize James’ argument this way.  James says that the worship that God accepts is for us to reflect the mercy we know by showing mercy to others and doing it in a way that you don’t comprise Biblical convictions.  How do we do that?  James says, “Simple.  Love others as much as you love yourself.  That’s how God did it.  He gave you Jesus, so you go give yourself to others.”  And last week, James went so far as to say if you aren’t doing that, your faith won’t save you.  Faith without the evidence of obedience and works is a dead faith that won’t save.

That’s how powerful faith in Jesus is.  Once you completely cast your life onto Him, He promises to change you.  You have no other choice.   Look for real Gospel change and find real faith.   Look for real faith and find real Gospel change.

So this week, James continues with the theme of what the transformed life in Jesus is supposed to look like.  In verse 18 he says, James 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

What we find here is James imagining a conversation between two people who claim to be Christians.  He wants to set the context of his point and he does it by creating a hypothetical argument between two people who say they have faith in Jesus.  One person is saying that they merely have faith in Jesus, and another is saying, “Well, I have works because of Jesus.”

What’s going on here?   Well James is trying to place two choices in front us.  Essentially, James is describing what different people think salvation looks like.  So we definitely need to make sure we understand the distinction that James is making.  First of all, James is not saying that the two options are salvation by faith alone verses salvation by works or earning your way before God.  We know that because the passage we looked at last week was talking about a faith that must evidence itself in a changed life.  James has made it clear:  Faith alone in Jesus saves, but if you have faith in Jesus, you will be changed.

So the two people in this rhetorical conversation are arguing this way.  One of them says that they have faith in Jesus but that faith is not really showing any evidence of a changed life.  Basically, they believe in Jesus but that belief has not grown in obeying Jesus.  And they are okay with this.  This is the “Yeah, I became a Christian when I was a little kid.  I walked the aisle, confessed my sins and asked Jesus into my heart.  I got baptized the next Sunday.” Person.  But, there is no real evidence or any real significant change where this person is actively trying to obey, actively trying to worship, and actively trying to grow in Godliness.  The second person has faith in Jesus as well.  However, the difference between this guy and the other is that their belief in Jesus has changed them and is changing them.  They now obey, do good works and good deeds.  They actively seek to know Christ in a deeper way and they actively seek to have that knowledge change them in obedience.

James wants us to wrestle with these two perspectives on knowing Jesus.  Why?  Because this is a real issue.  It was real issue in James’ day & it is in our day as well.  And eternity hangs in the balance.  You see, a lot people will say, “Well I believe in Jesus.  I walked the aisle when I was a kid or I asked Jesus into my heart,” or they will have some experience that they are counting on to count as security for their relationship with Jesus.  And many of those very same folks will not evidence a transformed heart or a transformed life.

What’s going to happen to them?  Are they resting on a real, sure foundation of faith or have they been duped?  James does not want anyone to be duped or anyone to trust something that is unsure.  Salvation and forgiveness do come by faith alone, but as James has said, that faith, if it is a genuine faith, never remains alone.  Faith in Jesus must and will and is guaranteed to change you.  You must be different than you were before knowing Jesus and you must be different from people who do not know Jesus.  Not because you are incredible and powerful but because Jesus is.  It is not a matter of self-righteous or of saying, “I’m better than you.”

Faith in Jesus just changes you.  There is not choice in the matter.  The transformation in scriptures is described in this way.

·    Romans 6 – You were buried in death before you had faith.  You are raise to life after you have faith in Jesus.
·    Romans 6 – You were a slave to sin before you had faith.  You are a slave to righteousness after you have faith in Jesus.
·    2 Corinthians 5 – After you have faith in Jesus the old passes away and you become a new creation
·    2 Corinthians 5 – You were outside and away from God before you had faith.  You are in Christ after you have faith in Jesus.
·    2 Corinthians 3 God’s glory was veiled to you before you had faith.  God’s glory has been revealed to you after  you have faith in Jesus.
·    Galatians 2:  You lived for yourself before you had faith.  You live for Christ after you have faith in Jesus.

And Biblically we could go on and on with the difference that having faith in Jesus makes.  James’ point is that you cannot say, “I have faith in Jesus but no works.”  That isn’t faith because faith in Jesus must results in works.  He makes that abundantly clear in the second half of verse 18.

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.

One way or the other, real genuine faith in Jesus is going to be made clear and evidence itself in some way.  And if someone is saying they have faith in Jesus without growing in obedience, James puts them to the test.  He is saying, “Well, if you want to tell me you have faith in Jesus, great, but what I’m counting on is that I can demonstrate my faith, and I’ll count on that.”

Now, how is this not the most arrogant conversation ever presented in scripture?  Well, remember James is making a rhetorical argument.  He is not suggesting any of us go around have debates like this.  He is however recommending to us that we examine our own hearts in light of this hypothetical discussion.  James is asking you and me this question.  If the world were to look at you, would they know that you are a believer in Jesus Christ?  By what would they make their judgment?

Well, I would offer there are a couple of very practical reasons why James is offering this line of thinking.  First, he intends for Christians to be absolutely assured of their salvation.  He doesn’t want anyone to be deceived into thinking they have genuine faith and found out that they don’t when it is too late.  And secondly, he intends for the world that does not know Jesus to have a clear picture of who Jesus is and he wants to that to happen through the changed lives of Christians.  Let me walk you through each one of those purposes.

Jesus tells a story in Matthew 25, one that came up for us just a few weeks ago, but it bears on this portion of James as well.  In that story, Jesus is describing His return and how all the world will eventually be sifted before Him.  He says that He will return in glory which means that Jesus will return as the exalted Savior   And this is what Jesus says He is going to do.  He is going to take all of humanity, every human being in the existence of the world, and divide them on his left and on his right.  He will look at those on His right and say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 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, 36  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.”

They of course will ask, “When did we do all of these things for you?”  And Jesus will say, “Any time that you have cared for someone, you have by default cared for me.  Then Jesus will look at everyone on His left, and He will say, Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 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.’

And they of course will say, “When did we see you in need and pass you over?”  And Jesus will say, “Whenever you didn’t care for people in need, you didn’t care for me.”  Now how in the world can Jesus demand such things of His servants?  So you know how many needy people there are in this world?  If I spent that much time taking care of people, I wouldn’t have any time for…I don’t know, I wouldn’t have time to worry about my own problems.  Hmm.  Maybe you are on to something.

You know I had a conversation the other day, and this time it was with someone at SK.  He and I were doing a couple of projects together and pondering just what it takes to see the Gospel of Jesus grow.  These were his thoughts.  He wondered, “Maybe we have backwards.  Maybe we spend so much time running back and forth our kids, taking them to dance and sports and everything else, that we really miss out on serving folks and telling them about Jesus.  He admitted that there is absolutely nothing wrong with kid extracurricular activities, but then in one of those absolutely revolutionary moments he thought, “What if we tried to help our kids grow and mature by serving others instead of signing up for every single thing in the world?”

Its daunting isn’t it?  You hear that, and I bet there is more than one of you who goes, “Huh, maybe that would be better than running mom’s bus service for multiple kids doing multiple sports, dance, drama, whatever.”  But then American guilt kicks in and you think, “Well, we’ll make time for that but I want my kid to get into a good school…”  And the idea of serving others trails off just like that sentence.  Gang, there is nothing wrong with extra-curricular activities (please hear me on that), and hear me, “There is nothing wrong with hobbies and interests.”  But Jesus in Matthew 25 and James in this week’s passage says this:  You should know you have faith and the world should know you have faith in Jesus by the fact that the mercy you know is evidence in the mercy you show.  That is THE most important thing.   THE most important thing.

James is saying, “You will know if you are saved, and other people will have a sense that you are saved by the fact that you evidence a transformed life.”  You will evidence a transformed conscience.  You will show a desire to know Jesus more intimately.  Studying the Bible and praying will become part of your life.

Those things will be part of your new life, but those things aren’t the examples that Jesus gives and those are the examples that James has been giving either.  No, they emphasize showing mercy as evidence of a transformed life.  Feeding the hungry.  Visiting the lonely.  Clothing the naked.  And lots of other faith stretching activities.

Now at this point, we might all be squirming a bit.  Like I said last week, I’m not trying to make anyone doubt their salvation.  I want people to look at their heart and look at their faith, and ask, “Is God changing me?”  Don’t ask, “Am I perfect,” or “Am I more Godly than the person beside me?”   Ask, “Is God slowly but surely changing me to be like Jesus?

But even then, the heart struggles a bit.  You say wait a minute.  I know I’m growing because look all the theology I know or I can quote lots of old dead guys or the Westminster Confession of Faith (which a work of theology not a dog show btw).  And let me say this carefully and try not to be a hypocrite.  You see our denomination rightly values theological depth.  You can’t be a pastor in the denom without a Master’s Degree and you have to have studied Greek and Hebrew.  You can’t be an elder or a deacon without passing theological exams.  We value getting it right.

But we can have the most orthodox doctrine in the world and completely miss out on Jesus if we are not careful.  James tells us that exact thing.   Listen to verse 19

19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

James says, “Oh you believe in God and that He is one?  Great.  Demons believe that too and they shudder because they know that they will ultimately and one day suffer punishment in hell.  Now, this is odd.  Why does James pick this particular statement of belief?

Well, this quote about God being one?  It’s taken directly from Deuteronomy 6 where God announces Himself to the people of God surrounding the presentation of the 10 Commandments.  God said this:  “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

The Israelites called this announcement of God, “the Shema”.  They would pray “The Lord our God the Lord is one,” at least twice a day.  And the truly devoted would make it the first and last words that their children would hear in a day.  It was the height of religious expression and the height or orthodoxy.  The really devout and religious Israelites of the day would use the Shema, the pronouncement that “God is one” as the theological standard of Godliness.  This is like the banner of saying, “I’m a 5 point Calvinist” or “I’m Reformed” or “I’m confessional” or whatever other theologically precise category that folks like to claim.

Well James says, “Don’t pat yourself on the back because you are theologically sound.”   Demons have correct theological thoughts.   The most evil spawn of Satan, the most evil demon you can imagine in all of existence, doesn’t have a theology or a belief problem.    As some of have said, “The Devil thinks more right thoughts about God in a day than you will in your entire life.  They know who God is.  They believe who He is.  Their problem, Satan’s or any demons, the problem is not their theology.  It is not their orthodoxy.  It is their orthopraxy.  It demonstrates that they do not have a saving faith but a belief that leads them into greater sin.

James is essentially asking you, “Who cares how incredible your theology is if it doesn’t result in a transformed life?”  And James specifically wants you to know that your faith must evidence itself in a transformed life beyond yourself.  He has spent all of chapter 2 so far telling us that the expression of your faith must result in showing mercy to others.

Listen, I love theology.  I have given years of my life to the study of theology and reading guys whose names can barely be pronounced.  But none of that matters if I don’t grow in loving the Lord with all my heart soul and mind and loving my neighbor as myself.  Forgive the running analogy, but theology is like water.  You have got to have water to survive.  Some studies say that the overwhelming majority of people today walk around dehydrated because of the amount of caffeine we all drink.  But you can drink all the water in the world and that does not mean you can run a marathon. Oh if you run a marathon, you better drink water, and lots of it.  You have to water.  But water itself is not going to cause you to run 26.2 miles.

Theology is water.  Theology is about belief, and you have to have correct faith and belief in God – all eternity rests on it.  If your faith is in someone or something other than how God has presented Himself in the scriptures, then you are trusting someone or something other than God.   But know this:  it is possible to have a correct belief in who God is and not have salvation.  James says a saving faith in Jesus will result in obedience, works, and acts of mercy.  James say, “Take that water, train, and run a marathon.”  Test and see if your faith is real by putting into action.

Now this is typically the point in the sermon when I try to get you guys to focus in specifically on a direct application of the sermon.  I like direct application.  I think they lead to direct results…but not always.  Sometimes, pastorally, I think either I’m not clear or you guys don’t believe what I’m saying or maybe God is preventing us from going forward.   And other times, I just don’t know.  In discussing this, the lovely talented Amy gave me an article to read on just that topic.  It was so clear that I have just copied a part of it and am going to use it as our conclusion.  Pull up a seat and listen in on this article from Trevin Wax.

A pastor recently asked this question: “We’ve got people getting together who study the Scriptures but aren’t involved in reaching out to their community with the gospel.  “How can I get them motivated?”  In response, I mentioned how our natural tendency as church leaders is to reinforce the commands related to our mission, to tell people again and again what they should be doing. We think, “If they aren’t reaching out to represent and proclaim Christ, they must not know what to do” But is this really the case? In my experience, the problem isn’t that we’ve forgotten our responsibility to love our neighbor and share the gospel.  The problem is that even when we know what our duty is, we still don’t do it.  That’s why I’m convinced that focusing most of your teaching on our missional duty isn’t the best way to motivate people to serve Christ long-term.  It may result in some initial fruit, but it doesn’t affect the heart-change necessary for long-lasting obedience.

So what to do?  Exalt God. Magnify His holiness. Praise His greatness. Exult in His grace.  Set the magnificent, majestic God of the Bible before your people week after week, and pray that they will encounter Him for who He is. Why? Because it’s an encounter with an awesome God that motivates us to mission.

Case in point: our biblical heroes. As you read through the Bible, you’ll notice that whenever people come face to face with God’s greatness, the next scene often shows them on mission.  Moses trembles before God in the burning bush. Next he is standing before Pharaoh saying, “Let my people go!”  The majesty of God displayed before Moses’ eyes on a faraway hillside is the same majesty God displays before the greatest empire of the day.  Isaiah caught a vision of the Lord in His temple that was so staggering that he fell on his face like a dead man.  Notice God didn’t even have to tell him what to do.   God simply asks, “Who shall go?” and the awestruck Isaiah volunteers: “Here am I. Send me!”  The Samaritan woman at the well was amazed at the supernatural knowledge of Jesus.  Next we see her running into town telling her friends and family about His greatness.  The women at the tomb are the first to witness the resurrection power of God.  Next we see them telling everyone, “We have seen the Lord!”  Peter denies Christ and hides., but then he encounters the greatness of King Jesus.  Afterwards he proclaims Christ as Messiah and Lord before thousands of people.  Saul is a murder but then he encounters with the risen Jesus.  Afterwards, he spends the rest of his life seeking to help the Gentiles see the very One who initially blinded him.  Why should it be any different with us?

Missional fruitfulness comes from a heart gripped by God’s greatness and enthralled with His grace.  May we be so mesmerized by the glory of Jesus Christ that we count it as nothing to lose our lives for the spread of His fame!  Let’s get on our faces before God and then get on our feet for His mission.

 

Family Devotion and Sermon Notes for James 2:14-17

Big Idea:  Faith without works is Dead

James 2:14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

• Should someone be concerned if they say they have faith in Jesus but they don’t have any desire to evidence of obeying?
• How does Romans 6:17-18 encourage us to obedience?
• Give an example of a place where you desire to obey and a place where you have seen God help you obey?

 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 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? 

•  Why do you think James uses the example of showing mercy as evidence of having a saving faith?

• Why is just wishing people well not an act of genuine faith?
• How did Jesus do more for us than just wish us well?

17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

•  Pray with your parents for an assurance of faith and the opportunity to demonstrate to others in need.

This week, the Book of James is so blunt, it is scary.  He is so straightforward and his clarity is meant to cause each and every one of us to examine our hearts.  James is going to tell you and me that the faith we have in Jesus Christ is a guarantee that we will be changed.  Having faith in Jesus is so life-changing that you will be completely different after professing faith in Him.  You will become more Godly if you have faith in Jesus, and if you do not see that change in your life, you have a real reason to examine your heart to see if you actually have a life changing faith or not.

Now this kind of conversation is incredibly dangerous while simultaneously being incredibly true.  Let me explain the dangerous part.  Christians loves to beat up other Christians and we like to use language like, “Don’t be a fake Christian” or “Be the same Christian out that you are at home”.  And though I do encourage us all to be the same person out and about that we are at home, often that kind language is used by scared parents to control their kids or it used by the  self-righteous to make other people feel bad.  Instead, the truth that real faith causes real change should be a cause for hope.

Biblically, we see tons of examples of that change.  Moses from murderer to leader.  Paul from murderer to missionary.  Peter from arrogance to preacher.  And there are tons of other examples both biblically and there should be those around us in the day to day as well.

Your faith in Jesus’ goodness is a promise that He will gradually and continually conform your life to look like His.  That’s what salvation is.  It is not just, “forgive me.”  It is “change me.”  If we are struggling with a temptation or a sin, don’t think, “Oh no.  I’m not a Christian.”  Instead think, “There is a real, promised hope from God that I am going to grow in trusting Jesus and overcome this sin.  I have a real and lasting hope.”  Getting to that point though is hard.  And not struggling with or abusing people with self-righteousness ain’t easy either, so let’s walk gently, but trust God in great faith.  Towards that end, we are going to pursue this Big Idea this week.  Big Idea:  Faith without works is Dead

James 1:14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 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?  17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

As always, we need to be reminded of where these verses fall in the overall context of James teaching.  Last week, we looked at two commands that were circling around the idea of what pure, undefiled religion and worship look like.  James has been telling us that the religion that God accepts is demonstrating mercy in the midst of a sinful world and doing it without compromising Biblical convictions.

James reiterates the teaching of Jesus in that and tells us, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  And if we respond with a host of reasons why we don’t do that, reasons like, “I’m not a gifted evangelist” or “I’m an introvert” or “I’m focusing on my kids right now” or “I’ve pulled my time already”   James tells us this:  Mercy triumphs over judgment.  Mercy triumphed over judgment when you were forgiven and you should get over yourself and all the rationalizations that you give for not obeying God and show mercy to the people that you otherwise are judging with your silence and inactivity.  So that brings us to verse 14.

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

Well, what good is it?  Is your “faith” any good at all if you aren’t activiely transformed and obeying God?  James says, “Nope, it’s no good at all”.  You see, this is the point and the conversation that I have had a million times and I’m going to have it a million more in the town of Garner.  The scriptures tell us that apart from faith in Jesus Christ, we are dead in sin and a slave to to sin.

This is vividly demonstrated for us in the book of Romans:  Romans 7:5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.  6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

Romans 6:17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

The promise of scripture of the life that has faith in Jesus is that before faith, you and I were a slave to sin.  Our will was given over to our self and our desires and our desires were sinful.  But now through Jesus Christ, we serve in the power of the Spirit and are a slave to goodness, rightreousness and obddience.  Our will is to do the will of our father in heaven.

If you have faith in Jesus Christ, your will is to do the will of your father in heaven and a promised transformation is to take pace.  The Holy Spirit indwells, transforms, and enables the followers of Christ to obey.  If YOU have faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit indwells, transforms, and enables the followers of Christ to obey.  If that work is not taking place, then the Holy Spirit is not indwelling, is not transforming, and not enabling you to obey.

This is both a proof and a promise.  Let me explain.  The promised trasnformation of faith is proof that you are saved and it is a promise that God is going to work in your life to make your more like Jesus.  Notice what James asks, “Can a faith that doesn’t show evidence of change in a person’s life actually be a real, genuine faith?”  Rhetorically, the answer is, “No it can’t”.  Now, I’m going to be really, really carefully here because this has been one of the most messed up, mis-abused passages in all of the Bible.  Before we move into applying this passage in our own lives, I want us to be careful to understand how not to use.

So when I say that James declaration that proof of faith is works, here is what this passage is not saying.  James is not saying that you and I are supposed to walk around trying to decide who is and who is not a Christian by people’s works.  We are not the judges of the human heart.  God alone is.  The absolutely wrong thing for you and me to do here is to take this verse and say, “Well, they aren’t obeying enough or they aren’t Godly enough or they aren’t generous enough, so they aren’t Christians.”

Or more specifically, you hear about someone doing something and then you make your judgment.  So and so moved in with his boyfriend?  I always knew he wasn’t a Christian.  He got drunk?  Yep, I always knew.  You voted for Obama?  Oh, now everything makes sense.

The only thing that is proved when you have thoughts like that is that you are incredibly good at being judgmental.  This is going to be one of the things that we get right at SK.  We are not going to be the church on the corner that owns the moral microscope and uses it to burn the immoral ants that we deem as being unworthy of God’s grace.

When we read a passage like this one that says that a genuine faith in Jesus Christ must evidence itself in faithful works, the only inspection that is going to take place is introspection.  No judgment, no trolling, no gossip, no, “Did you hear?”  When we say that this passage shows us proof of salvation, we look into our own heart because that is the only one that you can assuredly know anything about.

If you have faith in Jesus Christ, you can look into your heart and see whether Jesus Christ is there making any difference or not.  Why can we do this?  Because 2 Corinthians 5:17 echoes this verse in James.  It says:  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

With Jesus, the old you is gone and the new you is present.  Let me give you a few examples or evidences that you can look for in your life, and though there are literally dozens of passages that will speak to how you will see change in your life when you have faith in Jesus, let me just focus on what is called the Fruit of the Sprit.  The Fruit of the Spirit is the promised work of what will happen in your heart when you have faith in Jesus and are empowered by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 6:22 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.

Ask yourself these questions about this promise made in scripture:  Do you evidence the fruit of the indwelling Spirit of God from Galatians?  Do you see in a way that was not evident before you became a Christian, genuine displays of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?  Do you see those qualities not only present where they once weren’t before knowing Christ but do you also see them gradually growing in your life?  According to James, do you see mercy and a desire to help others in need as a reflection of gentleness and love?  Do you see that your life is a movement towards making peace and not conflict?  Are you becoming more kind or more judgmental?  Do you see your heart turning more and more away from selfish desires and becoming more faithful the work of God’s kingdom?  When you see people in need, do you help, do you walk away, or do you flippantly say, “Go in peace and filled; I’ll pray for you”?

If you don’t see those qualities glaringly or you know God is working but you are wanting to see them grow, don’t worry, Philippians 1 tells us this:  6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

This is one of those verses that we got to go into a bit more depth in at Sunday School and if you are attending SS, I’m telling you that you are missing out on a real opportunity to grow together as a church family and to grow closer to your Savior.  But the point James and Paul and Jesus all make is this:  if you have a genuine faith in Jesus Christ, you will be changed.  It might be slow.  It might be gradual.  But you will be growing in Christ-likeness.

Now this teaching of James is also a promise in addition to a proof.  If you are struggling with a sin, let’s say its masturbation or gossip or laziness or being judgmental or whatever your struggle with sin is, the promised work here is that God is going to work in you to help you grow in obedience.  We see this promise made vividly for us in 2 Thessalonians 2

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.  16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word

God has chosen you to be saved, has promised to sanctify you, which means God will make you more like Jesus, and those promises are intended to comfort your heart and establish you in every good work that God commanded.  The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all play a part in making sure that God’s children are transformed and enabled to obey.

That means when you begin to lose hope that you are ever going to change or when you lose hope that someone you love is ever going to change, the hope you have is only this:  Jesus in your promises to change you.  I would love for us to grow as a community in sharing this hope with others.  I would love for people we work with or our neighbors or anyone that we have contact with to think, “You know, I don’t have my questions answered about this whole Jesus think, but I see real change, a real difference in _______ and I want to know more about it.  In that, you are not offering self-righteousness or your goodness or your witness, none of that junk.  You are offering the hope that comes from knowing Jesus.  You can say, “I was this and now I’m that.  I was harsh judgmental B but I confess my sins to Jesus and he softened me.  I was an arrogant SOB, and Jesus is humbling me.  I had no hope but now I have hope.

As we move back to the text in James, he also gives us an example to what that promised transformation should look like.

15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 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?

Now, there are a hosts of evidences to show that the Holy Spirit is working in the heart of a believer.  I mean, James could talk about how you now obey scripture in a host of ways now that you know Jesus Christ.  He could tell us how you quit getting drunk every weekend.  He could tell us how you quit looking at porn.  He could tell us how you quit gossiping.  He could tell us how you now read your Bible, pray, and teach your children about your faith.  And all of those would be good proofs to show that the Holy Spirit is working in your heart and changing you and transforming you.

But that is not the evidence that James uses.  As has been his theme for the past few verses, James uses mercy as proof that the Holy Spirit is working in your life.  And if you wonder why, like I do that James chose this example, I can only speculate but here is my two cents.  Showing mercy is harder than stopping gossip, quitting porn, and quitting getting drunk.

If God can change you to actually love others, then God can do anything and that is exactly what God has promised to do in you.  He says, Listen, if you know of a brother or sister in need and you just wish them well but don’t actually do anything to help them, what good is that?  Now notice, he says “Poorly clothed and lacking food” – if they don’t have a coat for the winter or their kids don’t have the clothes they need or if they are hurting trying to feed everyone.  If you just wish them well, what good is your faith?   Will that faith save?  Nope.

You see, James just got done telling us that it is a sin if we show favoritism or partiality to the wealthy.  Ignoring the physical needs of others is by default showing favoritism to the wealthy.  Ignoring the physical needs of others is by default saying to the needy “buck up little camper improve your lot in life and be like me or be like them”

And what James really can’t stand is superficial Christian responses to those in need.  Oh go and be well or in our vernacular “Ok I’ll be praying for you”  Forgive my cynicism but I bet more words are uttered in promising to pray than actual words of prayer are offered to God.  What James is telling us is this:  If you know Jesus, if you have faith in Jesus, you are going to move that faith into action to those in need.

This kind of teaching typically illicits a couple of responses and what I mean is this:  when a person hears this kind of teaching, one of two things typically happens.  You can either go to a church where nothing like this is demanded of you.  Actively caring for those in need is only talked about but not really expected.  And there a million churches just like that on pretty much every corner of Garner and the world.  That is not nor will it be this church btw.  The scriptures command that our faith be expressed in obedience, specifically in areas of showing mercy to those in need and that has been the expectation here, it is now, and it is going to be going forward.  Another response is you can just check out and say “I don’t want anything to do with that at all.”  If that is what expected of me, forget it.  I work hard for my money, I’ve made good decisions, and I’m not going to go munk in the life of people who are a mess.  Make better decisions like I did.   And to be honest, that response, checking out, shows more integrity than just pretending to be Godly while not being merciful.

What we pray for is that when we hear James telling us that genuine faith must result in obedience, specifically to those in need, we pray that God would help us respond with hearts that know mercy and grace and therefore want to show mercy and grace.  You know why?  You know why we pray for the response of mercy and grace?  Verse 17 tells us

17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

James is telling you that you are saved by faith alone but that faith will never be alone.  Your faith in Jesus will transform you and as a result you will obey and do good works.  Remember, faith in Jesus is not just crying “Forgive me.”  Faith in Jesus is crying out, “Change me.”  “Get in the middle of life, messed it up and make it what you will.”  And one of the things that God promises to do is to move you towards good works that are beyond self-serving and are an extending of grace and mercy to those in need just like when grace and mercy were extended to you when you were in need.

Gang, when confess faith in Christ, some things become instantly clear.  We are convicted of sin like we have never been before.   We begin to see that our lying and our gossiping and our lusting are wrong.

By God’s grace and his indwelling Spirit, God is going to make us like Jesus.  He might do it through a wonderful succession of what looks like worldly blessings but more than likely the process by which we walk away from our sin and move towards obedience is going to be painful.  I mean think about it.  If you are going to start helping folks as they walk through poverty and need, and you are not just handing out a dollar to make yourself feel good but you are actually trying to help people get jobs, take care of their family and basically re-orient themselves towards a life that is full of work and family and worship and service, you are going to find yourself inconvenienced.

You are going to give people access to your time, your money, your talents, and your wisdom.  And for some of us, that will be the tearing away of what is probably the biggest idol in all of our lives:  comfort and ease.  And you might say, “Gordon, that sounds awful.  I just want to go to work and raise my family in Godliness or I just want to go home and chill.”  And I would say, “That is not a Biblical life; not according to James it’s not.”

Living out these commands, really doing this, is about simplicity and recognizing our continual need on Jesus.  The simplicity portion is this:  Mercy shown is evidence of mercy known.  If you know God’s mercy then you are going to show God’s mercy.  The extent to which you outwardly and purposefully show mercy is in direct proportion to how your understanding of how God outwardly and purposefully showed mercy to you.

And this is the promise of James:  you don’t have a choice in the matter.  If you have faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, you will evidence obedience and you will grow in obedience, and specifically one of the areas in which you will show that obedience is you will show mercy to other folks in need.  Now, listen, it is not salvation by faith alone plus showing mercy to others, however it is if you have salvation by faith alone you will be changed to such an extent that you show mercy to others.  You and I have to wrestle with the depth and nature of the forgiveness that we have received if we are ever going to be merciful to others.  In fact, in manner of obedience as James put forward here finds its motivation and depths in understanding the nature of our forgiveness.

Let me shape this story for you in a way that I hope will bring these things home for us.  I was talking to a local pastor the other day.  He was telling me that he had to preach a sermon on forgiveness.  So I asked him how he was going to approach it.  He said that in his sermon, he was planning on walking the congregation through three stages:  forgiving people who have offended them, asking for forgiveness from people they have offended, and then he said came the hard part:  forgiving self.   Now I don’t tell this story to demean this pastor or to speak ill of his church.  I tell it because it is going to demonstrate a few things for us.

My pastor friends point in walking his congregation through this sermon is that the hardest forgiveness is forgiving self.  He was saying that we really don’t move forward in love and service until we forgive ourselves.  And I won’t argue that it is difficult to walk away from guilt and condemnation that we heap upon ourselves for things that we have done or should have done.  But that is not the point of the gospel.  The problem with my friend’s exercise is that Christ wasn’t necessary for anything that he asked congregation to do.  It might as well have been a self-help seminary or the counsel of a local psychiatrist.

James is offering this to us.  There is not forgiveness for your sin apart from Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection on your behalf.  The nature of our sin is not a mixup in our character or a slip up in our self-discipline.  It is foolish, rebellion that desires our will to be God and desire God to step down from His throne.

And as we see how deep and nasty and pervasive our sin is and how rich and beautiful and thorough the love of God is in forgiving us, we become mesmerized, awed by the grace of God and we reflect that in obedience to God.  We are so awed by the mercy of God that we then have no choice but to desire to show God’s mercy to others so that they might know it as well.  It is not that we just need to muster up forgiveness of our selves so we can forgive and love others, it is that God Himself has forgiveness us and shown us mercy and we just don’t have any choice but to do the same.  Let me demonstrate this biblically.

Titus 3: 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

What were we before we came to know Jesus Christ according to Titus?  Foolish, disobedient, led astray, we were a slave to our sin, and spent our days in malice, envious of others, and hating God and hating others.  But look what happened?  The goodness and loving kindness of Jesus, our God and Savior appeared.  Jesus saved us, not because you did anything good or righteous.  He saved us simply because He wanted to show us His mercy.  He did it by regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.  That means it was all God.  Regeneration is making something alive that was once dead.  We can’t do that.  Dead people don’t regenerate themselves.  But God being rich in mercy wanted to show His mercy by forgiving and transforming you.

Now, as you are made alive and profess faith in Jesus you are justified or made right by God by one reason:  the grace of God.   You go from rebellions sinner to an heir with Jesus inheriting all the glories of heaven because of Jesus alone.  Okay, that is the Gospel.  Now what happens in light of all of God doing all of that?  Listen to verse 8 of Titus 3.

8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.

The work that God has saved you, forgiven you, made you alive and gifted you with heaven is trustworthy.  You can count on it.  And light of those things you can now devote yourself to obedience and good work.  Mercy known becomes mercy shown.   And demonstrating that mercy is excellent and profitable for you.  The greater degree to which you embrace the depths of forgiveness and transformation that God has done on your part, the greater degree you will show mercy to others.  You will be willing to endure people’s ridiculous stupid decisions, their judgmentalism, their poor financial situations, even their judgment, because you know that Christ forgave you of those very things.  And when you start showing mercy to people and you find it really, really hard to keep going because they frustrate you so badly, you’re probably getting pretty close to understanding the depths of your sin and you’ll be thankful and obedient.

Now, as I close up here, some of you might start to get worried.  You might start thinking, “I believe in Jesus but I’m not where near obedient as I should be and I don’t really want to get out of my house and show mercy to folks.  Am I really a believer?  And I would offer this hope to you.

When you say, “Yes I believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of my sins and I want to obey, I really do,” I would offer that is the cry of a Christian.   People who don’t know Christ don’t have pricked consciences about obeying and glorifying Jesus.  If you have that conscience, then that is an evidence of faith.  But let me end with this verse to give you hope.  This is what God promises to His children when they fail:

2 Timothy 2:13:“If we are faithless, he remains faithful- for he cannot deny himself.”

Sermon Notes and Family Devotions for James 2:8-12

Big Idea:  Mercy triumphs over judgment.

James 2:8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

·    How does this command enable you to fulfill the law?
·    Why would obeying that mean you are doing well?
·    Have you ever, in even one instance done this?  Give an example.

9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

·    How does partiality violate the command to love your neighbor as yourself?
·    Where are areas where your favor certain people over others?

10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.  11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

·    What about God’s character makes this statement true?
·    How does this truth protect us from partiality?

12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

·    How does the law of liberty judge those who have faith in Jesus?
·    What is the connection between knowing mercy and showing mercy?
·    How does mercy triumph judgment and God still be holy?

Once an expert in Biblical law tried to trick Jesus, so he asked him this question.  Matthew 22:36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  We guess that what the teacher was trying to do was trick Jesus into emphasizing something that would get him into trouble.  I guess the lawyer hoped that Jesus was state something Jesus Himself was not doing.

But as always, Jesus is wise in understanding the human heart and wise in the scriptures.  37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus takes all of the scriptures and reduces them to two commands.  Love God with everything in you.  Love others as much as you love yourself.  You would think with Jesus’ emphasis here that the church would overwhelmingly concerned with loving God and loving others.  You would think that every church that has ever hung a shingle anywhere in the world would have incredible ministries and actions of care within the church and especially outside the church.  Remember, Jesus defined who our neighbor is in the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10.  Basically your neighbor is any single person in this world in need.  See each person as your neighbor and be a neighbor to them by extending both physical mercies and spiritual mercies.

Unfortunately, the church, even this one, falls woefully short in obeying these verses.  We skip the neighbor part or at least we just focus on certain areas in which we want to be neighborly.  Love the Lord God with all your heart soul and mind and love your church as yourself.  Love the Lord God with all your heart soul and mind and love your family as yourself.  Love the Lord God with all your heart soul and mind and love your college friends as yourself.  But my neighbors?  Those people that I don’t really know well and don’t really want to let in my house?  Well, let me just work on my family and friends first and then I’ll get around to loving my neighbors.  And there lots of reasons we don’t love our neighbors as ourself – time, worry, money, but the biggest issue we face is that we just judge them and their lifestyles.

Our heart and minds are bad as TMZ’s.  We either know who they are and declare them out of bounds by the mere fact that we don’t interact with them  or we assume we know who they are and just declare that we don’t have the time.  We judge them as unworthy to hear the Gospel by the fact that we just don’t care enough to actively love them.  But our hope this week, and it is going to be a challenging hope is this.  Despite how bad our judgment is, there is something greater than our judgment. There is something more powerful than our lack of care and our indifference.  And that is our Big Idea this week:  Big Idea:  Mercy triumphs over judgment.

James 2:8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

As always, let me remind our hearts where we left off last week so we can see these verses in their proper context.  Last week, we saw the daunting proclamation from James that the God hates favoritism.  He cannot stand it when someone is treated better than another for such silly, trivial things as their appearance and how much money they make.

God himself is unimpressed with these things.  Every creature has value in God’s eyes as they are created in the image of God.  Yet, every creature is a sinner justly deserving God’s displeasure.  No one earns their way before God.  No one is good enough.  But God pours His grace out even to His enemies so that they may be forgiven.  So when we hear the daunting command to not show partiality and favoritism, the correct thing for us to do is to figure out when we do that so we can repent and obey.  Verse 8 is going to show us just how we might know if we commit the sin of partiality and favoritism.

James 2:8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

Loving your neighbor as yourself means wanting the same thing for others that you want for yourself.  Any Godly hope that you have for yourself, you should want for your neighbor.  Do you want to have family devotions?   Then want it and work for it for your neighbor.  Do you want to have peace in the home?  Then want it and work for it for your neighbor.  Do you want to have marital faithfulness?  Then want it and work for it for it for your neighbor.  Do you want to have Godly children and safe home?  Then want it and work for it for your neighbor.  Do you want your family to worship as a family at SK?  Then want it and work for it for your neighbor.

If it is a good and Godly desire and you want it for yourself, then you are to want it and seek to make it happen for your neighbor.  The amazing thing is that the true worship of God means wanting those good and Godly things for your neighbor just as badly as you want them for yourself.  You are not given the freedom from James or Jesus to just want a private life that just happens to make inroads into the world that then run back to safety of your home.

I was thinking about this command this week and wondering why its application is so difficult for the American or the church in general or just for our church.  Part of it I think is when we hear a command like “Love your neighbor as yourself” we feel enlightened and say, “Well I don’t love myself that much,” when we actually do.  So let phrase it in such a way to get the impact that perhaps is intended by the passage.  And love your neighbor as much as you love your child.  Love your neighbor as much as you love your down time.  Love your neighbor as much as you love running.  Love your neighbor as much as you love your spouse.  Love your neighbor as much as you love playing video games.  Love your neighbor as much as you love making money.

These aren’t options.  These are the commands of God.  Love Him.  And love everyone else, and I mean your neighbor, co-worker, that person with whom you disagree with politically, love everyone else as much as you love whatever it is you love a lot.  Now, James says that obeying that verse enables you to fulfill the law.  How does obeying this command enable you to fulfill the law?

Well, every command in the Bible, everything you do for personal holiness and worship is about these two things.  Worshiping God with everything in you and reflecting that love to others, especially to your enemies and those folks you just can’t stand.   That obedience fulfills the law because that is how God shows you His love.  I John 4:9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

God showed His selfless love by sending Jesus to love us when we didn’t love Him.  We worship God when we do the exact same thing.  We love others, not just each other or our spouses or our kids, but we love others as Christ has loved us.  How do you know if you are doing this?  Well if your life is not presently upside down in actively loving someone who is hard to love and actively loving someone who does not know Christ, then you are not obeying this verse.  If you are, James says “good job”  If you are not, you and I found ourselves in the verse 9 category.

9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

This was the emphasis of last week’s passage.  Showing partiality and favoritism is forbidden because it does not reflect the character of God.  God is not impressed.  None of us have been good enough to earn His favor.  He loves us as we are His creation born in His image.  Partiality literally means “to judge one’s face” so when we show favoritism what we are doing is pointlessly showing favor towards some to the neglect of others.  We are making superficial judgments based on what we like and not based on anything of actual eternal value.  It’s just what we like.

You see Jesus is the only one who should receive glory and honor.  When we show favoritism for the arbitrary reasons that we do, we are giving Jesus’ glory and honor away.  If you choose not to get to know your neighbor or your co-worker or fellow student because you disagree with them politically or you are offended by their sexual orientation or because they just seem so damn needy, you have shown favoritism and partiality to those with whom you do associate.  You have judged one as unworthy and made your circle of friends the worthy.  And in doing so, you have giving Jesus’ glory away and James says, “You have not loved your neighbor as your self, you have shown partiality and are found guilty under the law.

Can you imagine the revolution that would take place in this church, this community, your neighborhood and this world if we got even close to loving our neighbors as we love ourselves?  The temptation in the church is to think, “Well, listen I’m going to work, I’m doing all I can to raise my kids in Godly home, I just…just…don’t have time to for this loving of my neighbor.  You might ask in more Godly way, “Well, what does God want me to do?  Spend less time with my kids?  You know how hard it is to raise Godly children in this world?  I’ll just let those people who are gifted with evangelism do all that love your neighbor stuff.”

Well verses 10-11 addresse that line of thinking.

10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.  11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

This is hard teaching and Gang, I promise you it cuts me just like it cuts you.  Verses 10-11 explain to us why we never get to be self-righteous or judgmental against anyone.  If we fail in any one part of God’s commands, then we have failed in all of it.  You might ask, “Well why does God have to be so exacting and so hard?”  Well, it is not because God is the most strict grading teacher that you have ever had.  It is not that you either make a 100 or a zero.

The reason one sin makes us culpable for every sin is this.  The commands of God are not arbitrary.  They are the expression of God’s character.  Our sin is not a slip up; our sin is cosmic treason that demands that God leave His throne so that we can sit on it.  One act of obedience doesn’t cover another act of disobedience.  So if you commit one sin, you have transgressed the character of God.

This is why we so desperately need Jesus Christ.  Our only hope is that Jesus obeys perfectly on our behalf, gives that goodness to us and that He pays the penalty of our sin.  Oh we can pay for our sin just fine, but we can’t earn the goodness necessary before God.  So Jesus says, “I’ll do both.  I’ll pay your penalty of sin, and I’ll give you my obedience when you have faith in me.”  So, through Jesus, you can now obey as the Holy Spirit indwells in you, and that obedience is a glorious offering of thanks to Him, but you and I never get to feel like we have arrived or that we are better than anyone else because we are always interacting with God on the basis of Jesus’ obedience, not ours.

Understanding that nature of the Gospel enables us to obey and care about God’s command.  We don’t get to say, “That loving your neighbor as yourself stuff is just too hard.  I’m going to go to work, hang out with Christians, you know the ones I like, and I’m going to leave the investing of my life into the rest of the world to those extroverts like Gordon or whoever you think is going to do it.”  James doesn’t give us that option.  Do not show partiality.  Do not only hang out with people that are like you or only with people who can help get you what you want and call that Christianity because it is not.

Let me tell you a story about a rebuke I once received.  Sometimes I find the stories about me messing up are more helpful than any story I can tell you about me getting it right.  First of all, if you are a sinner like me, I have more messing up stories, so let me show my error so that you see the Holy Spirit help you avoid it.

When I was in college, I was part of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship.  I was the large group coordinator, which meant that once a week I would organize what was essentially our worship service and then I would assist in organizing things like retreats and such.  Well, we went on our annual beach retreat, me and 100 other folks.  During the retreat, I was having a great time.  3 of my best buds were there and we spent the first day just having a blast, playing football on the beach, and that kind of thing.

Well, that night our staff worker pulled us aside, but focused on me and gave me a pretty strong rebuke.  He began by asking me, “What do you think you are doing?”  I said, “Having fun at the beach retreat, what does it look like I’m doing?”  Well, he went onto explain this verse.

There were 100 people, many of which I didn’t know and many of which didn’t know Jesus.  My purpose there was not to take a personal vacation with my buddies.  I was to love and serve every person there whether I related to them or not whether liked them or not.  There would be time to hang my friends, but do not squander the opportunity to love this other people and ultimately share Jesus with them.

I know analogies can be rough but bear with me.  We are hard wired to love the folks we love and spend time with the folks that we like to spend time with.  We also love justifying our actions basing them on things like our personality and our commitments and our skill sets.  God does give us those outs.  No partiality.  Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Now, I hope at this point and time you and I are struggling a bit.  If we are not wrestling with the challenges of this passage, it is my fault, it is this poor pastor’s fault because the scriptures are clear.  Most of us, probably all of us should be moving towards repentance right now.   Saying something like, “God I love my job, my wife, my child, and my hobbies all much more than I love my neighbor and I don’t quite honestly know if can change that, and to be honest, I don’t know if I really want to change.”

Reckon in your heart where you are now with this.  Many of us have made idols out of things that we love and serve.  The order is, according to Jesus and James, is “Love God, love your neighbor”.

Now, you might push back and say, “But Gordon, my love of my wife and kids is part of my loving God,” and I won’t argue with you, but that doesn’t mean that you get to leave the loving neighbor part out.  It is the fulfillment of the royal law of God, and the church is weak because we think obedience to it is an option or we have mollified our conscience to it by rationalization.  Verses 12-13 help us know what to do light of these truths.

12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Speak and act as one judged under the law of liberty.  What does that mean?  Are we those judged by the law of liberty and if so, what does that mean?  Well, there have been rivers of ink spilled on this one.

The idea of being judged by the law of  liberty should be contrasted with the law of death.  Apart from Jesus’ goodness, each person stands before God on the merit of their own goodness.  The law condemns us if we are trusting on our own goodness.   The law of God becomes the law of death to us.

But if you have faith in Jesus Christ, it is His goodness by which you stand before God, and you now have the enabling power of the Holy Spirit that helps you obey.   The law is actually freedom because you are not enslaved to sin but alive in Christ.  You are freed up to obey.  We see this illustrated for us in Romans 8

7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.  8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.  9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.  10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

The Spirit of God enables the believer in Jesus to obey.  You have life in your body.  The impossible commands of God are now possible because Jesus Christ has made you alive and His spirit gives you that life to obey.  Ligon Duncan, no relations though I wish, speaks to how all of this works together.

He says, What is, “The law of liberty. The fact that when you stand before the throne you won’t be judged according to your works, because if you’re judged according to your works, you’ll be condemned. But you’re judged according to Christ’s works, and you’re accepted according to Christ’s works, and you’re declared righteous according to Christ’s works. And you’re invited into the kingdom of heaven because of Christ’s works. That’s the law of liberty. And he says, now, if you’ve received that mercy from God, if you’ve received that liberty, that freedom from the bondage to sin and condemnation through the mercy and grace of God, how are you going to treat other people? Isn’t your heart going to overflow with mercy?”

This transformation from death to life in Jesus is so sure that your demonstration of love and mercy to your neighbor is in some measure guaranteed.  How do we know that?  James says that there will be no mercy for those who don’t show mercy.  That’s because it is a guarantee that if you know mercy, you will show mercy.  Your mercy doesn’t save you.  Your mercy shows you have been saved.

You and I may not be loving our neighbor well now and we may not be innocent from showing partiality, but the Spirit of God in you is the promise that you are going to be moving in that direction.  That should give you hope; it should give me hope; it should give this church hope.  Let’s be honest.  We’ll all say that we enjoy time with our spouses and our children and our friends more than our neighbors, and we’ll make every justification from DNA to providence to explain why we don’t love our neighbors well.

But the hope I offer to you and to me and to this church is that the Spirit of God dwells in you and change is not only promised but to some degree in your life, assured.  If you are a neighbor here, you might say, “Well I’ve never seen anyone act like this to me.  And if you are a Christian, you might say, “I don’t see how I’m going to do that, Gordon.”  Well, part of the way to address that is to focus on James’ last statement “Mercy triumphs over judgment”

Well, what does that mean?   Does that mean that God just chooses to forgive people instead of judge them for their sins?  Well, the answer to that is no.  God is going to righteously judge every sin ever committed as sin is an afront to God’s character and holiness.  So if you don’t have faith in Jesus, you will be judged and pay the penalty of your sin.  But if you have been forgiven by God, it is not because He just chose not to judge you.  If you are forgiven by God, your sins have been judged and placed on Jesus.  God’s mercy triumphed in placing the judgment of your sins on Jesus and not you.

Mercy always triumphs over judgment.   That doesn’t mean that judgment was just done away with.  It just means that in the face of judgment, someone took the penalty for someone else.  So when James commands us to speak and act as those judged by law of liberty with mercy triumphing over judgment, he is echoing the command of Jesus.  In Matthew 18, Jesus tells a parable about a man who was forgiven a massive debt, one so large that he could never hope to repay it.  And then that man went out and refused to be forgiving to another man who owed him very little.

The command of Jesus as this Matthew 18 “And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?”  Gang, I’ll say it again and I’ve quoted the scriptures and every person smarter than I that I can find.  The extent in which you move out of your comfort zone and love your neighbor is in direct proportion to the extent of mercy you think you have received from Jesus.  If the sum of your Christian looks like the building of Christian enclave away from a sinful world, then you know little of Jesus’ mercy though should know much.  The mercy of Jesus towards you should burden your heart for others.

I implore you and I beg of the Holy Spirit to make this true of SK.  Show us how Christ has been our neighbor is His obedience, death, and resurrection.  And then implore you and beg of the Holy Spirit for God to give us a burden that moves us to share Jesus Christ with our neighbors.