Destination: James | Skip Heitzig

[Music] the faith we saw in the book of Hebrews must be matched with practical application this is one of the highlights we will find a miss flight we'll need to fly at a low elevation because the book of James is a down-to-earth block it shows how to walk and to work your faith out in real life [Music] well I don't remember where I read this little poem but I got it somewhere about a little boy named Jimmy Brown and it says say a prayer for Jimmy Brown poor Jimmy is no more for what he thought was h2o was h2so4 h2o being water h2 so4 being sulfuric acid so poor Jimmy didn't have the right stuff and it killed him and tonight we're gonna look at another Jimmy if you'll let me call James that this James this Jimmy tells us that Christians need to have the right stuff and take the right stuff and B the right stuff because faith without works is dead and that's what this book is all about it's a very practical book about growing up I heard that while I was growing up by my three older brothers I heard it every week grow up and of course the answer is well I'm doing that it takes time to do that but that's what James would say to a group of believers we don't exactly know where they were located he just simply says James to the 12 tribes that are scattered abroad these would be Jewish believers that were scattered all around the Roman Empire but the theme of this book is mature Christianity and if James were here he would say that we should live what we know what we know is good it's foundational it's important okay now it's time to live what you know time to grow up birth is exciting how many of you are parents tonight and if ever had children anybody raise your hands up okay that's a lot of people so you know what that's like when a baby's gives its first sounds it's exciting first words especially daddy exciting the first time a baby spits up as it's riding I'm just kidding that would not be exciting at all take that back but as exciting as birth is you would expect that as a child grows physically there would be a correspondent maturing that takes place and when I first heard my son say Dada it was like the greatest day of my life but if at this age of his life he came to me and talked that same way I'd be very disappointed it would show no growth well Christian birth is exciting we love seeing people come forward at Ultra calls we love seeing them respond to the gospel it's a brand new start but it was John who will say I have no greater joy than to see or hear that my children are walking in the truth and so we need growth and James is talking about that here the book of James is a part of a section of the New Testament so now we're in a whole new section of the New Testament called the general epistles the general epistles because they're not written specifically to a group or an individual or a church in a particular city but these are general epistles they could be to any group because we don't exactly know to whom they're addressed so they're called general epistles or the old term Catholic epistles not Roman Catholic epistles but Catholic in the true sense of the word general epistles and so the book of James first Peter second Peter first John second John third John and Jude are all in that category of general epistles now this book is not a doctrinal book so it's very different from say the book of Romans or the book of Galatians it's very practical book not a doctrinal book here's an example Jesus Christ has only mentioned twice in the book of James there is no mention of a cross or the resurrection or the Holy Spirit really what it's addressed to is Christians who know stuff already and James is just saying it's great that you know it now you got to do it you got to put it on and wear it so there's five chapters and each of the five chapters I formed an outline with based on the theme Christian maturity chapter one mature Christians are robust that is their patient in Trials chapter two mature Christians are real they practice the truth chapter number three mature Christians are restrained they have power over their tongue James chapter four mature Christians are reserved they're poor in spirit in other words they're humble they're not prideful and then at James chapter five the mature Christians are resigned they persevere in trials they they're resigned to going all the way through no matter what they persevere in trials so the main theme of the book is Christian maturity and if you were to expand on that just a little bit it's this genuine faith will produce evidence of genuine faith genuine faith will produce evidence of genuine faith and there are two key verses in this book James chapter 1 verse 22 where he says be doers of the word not hearers only lest you deceive yourselves and then James chapter 2 verse 26 faith without works is dead those are the two main component key verses of the book so verse 1 James chapter 1 James a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad greetings so we know it's from James the question is which James there are for James that you can choose from in the New Testament number one there was James the father of Judas not Iscariot but another Judas he probably wasn't the author he really is not noteworthy and he's never mentioned really anywhere else except that one place that's one number two there was James the son of Alphaeus also called James the less one of the disciples of Jesus mentioned in mark chapter 15 but he never was in consideration as the author of this book their leaves to other James left James the brother of John the son of Zebedee who was a fisherman in the Sea of Galilee among that's tight-knit group of disciples that follow closely with Jesus Peter James and John it probably wasn't him because he died too early to match the language of this book in fact it was Acts chapter 12 that records that it was Herod that wanting to do the Jews a favor had a sword taken to James and he was martyred he was killed so that leaves us with the last possibility and it seems to fit this is James the brother of Jesus or actually the half-brother of Jesus one of the children that Joseph and Mary had together in the scripture declares plainly that Jesus had brothers and sisters and they're even named in the gospel and one of those brothers or half-brothers the oldest half-brother was this guy named James at first the brothers of Jesus including James did not believe Jesus was the Messiah it wasn't until after the death and resurrection of Jesus that they started to believe this is the one now can you imagine having the only perfect older brother in the world so just imagine what that would be like to grow up with such a person I mean he never gets in trouble he's always / it going time he gets in trouble is when he's in Jerusalem and he comes back with well I have to be about my father's business and you're not like a normal child in dealing with somebody like that that's what James had to grow up with but later on he came to believe that his half-brother Yeshua was indeed his Messiah as well well this James this author of the book appears in Acts chapter 1 and he's in the Upper Room with a hundred and twenty of the disciples before Pentecost and they're gathered together in prayer his name is mentioned also Mary the mother of Jesus by Acts chapter 15 this James the half-brother of Jesus is already in charge of the church in Jerusalem it wasn't Peter Peter was not the first pope if anybody fit that description it would be James because Peter will take orders from James in fact James is the one who writes the letter and deliberates at that great council of Jerusalem in Acts chapter 15 now according to Josephus James the author of this book the oldest half-brother of Jesus died in AD 61 when there was a Jewish revolt after the death of a guy named porcius Festus you'll remember him from Acts 25 well after he died the Jews revolted and according to tradition the Jewish leader so hated James that they threw him off the temple and then after he fell to clubs and beat him to death and that's how he died that is this James who writes this letter so in chapter 1 then mature Christians are robust they're patient in trials notice that James writes to 12 tribes that are scattered abroad the reason they're scattered is because people don't like them they're persecuted they're hassled they're hounded they're hunted and so they have to leave Jerusalem and they have to leave Judea and leave where was their home and find different places in the Roman prior to hideout they suffered a lot which leads us to the theme of the chapter there's really a couple of different factors in Christian maturity ready you're not gonna like either one of them number one trials number two temptations or you might say testings that come from God temptations that are sent from the devil trials or testings are sent from God as tools to mature us whatever bad happens in your life God will use it as a tool so Romans 8:28 all things work together for good to those who love God but Satan sends temptations as a trap not a tool a trap to ensnare the believer so look at verse 2 my brethren count it all joy when you fall into various trials first of all notice not countered all joy if you fall into trials but win you can be assured you will the Christian life is not easy so counted all joy now who is he talking to and what is he thinking to tell a group of suffering Christians count it all joy why whatever for well here's one of the paradoxes of the Christian life is true joy in the midst even of suffering and why is that it's because of what they will do to you for you notice it says in verse 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience but let patience have it's perfect work that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing the word patience coupon money means to bear up under or to endure it's the ability to stick to something trials or temptations and keep going on now here's the twist patience is what helps you endure trials but patience is also produced by the trials so if you want to grow as a believer and you want to become a very stable rooted patient individual don't we all want that you don't get it by reading the latest Christian book or turning into Christian television or radio and listening to truth though that is important for you and for me you'll get it through trials hardship it will produce patience if you go by a shore of a lake or the ocean you'll notice that where it's calm the quiet coves the rocks are sharp where the rocks are round and smooth is where the waves have the ability to pound and beat that shore and by that incessant upheaval and motion it produces the smooth round beautifully shaped stones I think it's that way with us verse 5 if any of you lack wisdom I always raised my hand when I read that verse that describes me let him ask God who gives to all liberally and without reproach and it will be given to him now notice that this asking for wisdom is in the context of going through trials so the idea is when you're in a tough spot you're going through a testing or attempting that's when you ask God for wisdom you stop and you pray god I don't get it give me wisdom now usually we don't pray for wisdom what do we pray for deliverance get me out of this mess I says when you're going through these trials you should be asking God for wisdom because God will freely give that but verse 6 let him ask in faith with no doubting for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind now why is that we need to ask for wisdom and trials I think it's simply because we need to know what to learn from that particular trial instead of saying Lord I want to get out of this say Lord what can I get from this I don't want to get out of it I want to get something out of it I want to learn from it there's an example you lose your job and for some that's more than an example I realize that for some you have lost your job so the question is in that trial what do you do how do you respond there's a number of ways you could respond number one you could go ahead and get drunk to wash your sorrow away number two you could figure out a way to get back at the boss like beat him up or perhaps a better way would be to ask God for wisdom lord help me to learn from this what can I get out of this give me your wisdom what is the wisest thing true story there was a pastor who had an assistant and she had some kind of an episode I think it was a stroke around the same time her husband went blind and had to be admitted to the hospital the pastor saw her a church one Sunday and went right up to her and said I want you to know I'm praying for you and she said exactly what are you praying for me pastor so while I'm praying for strength for you and your husband and I'm praying for comfort as well she said that's good and I appreciate it but would you ask God for one more thing ask God to not let me waste any of this that's wisdom Lord what can I learn from this I don't want to waste this very difficult time because frankly I don't want to go through it again and learn the lesson all over again I want to learn it now and graduate and go to the next grade and the next grade verse 12 blessed or oh how happy is the man who endures temptation and again temptation different from testing different from trials has its source in the devil for when he has been approved he will receive the crown of life which the Lord is as to those who love him let no one say when he is tempted I am tempted by God for God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he himself tempt anyone but each one is tempted when he's drawn away by his own desires and enticed then when desire has conceived it gives birth to sin and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death this is an interesting statement and it causes us to wonder why would James feel the need to tell believers who are suffering that when there's temptation that comes their way which most of us would automatically know comes from the devil why would anyone be be even brought to the brink of saying this must be from God I think it's because James knows the human tendency to want to blame someone else and ultimately God gets the blame it's never my fault it's always somebody else's fault or when somebody is dealing with some kind of behavior they'll say well God made me this way I can't change the way I was born as part of my genetic code so James is very careful to state that God doesn't get the rap for our propensity proclivities of the flesh or our behavior patterns you can't blame God and yet more and more our entire culture has become a culture of victims it's never my fault it's always my parents fault it's always something that happened to me fault or it's the way I God made me fall it's gotten so out of hand that there's one magazine in Britain called the British economist that in looking at American culture wrote a little commentary about us the magazine article says if you lose your job you can sue for the mental distress of being fired if your bank goes broke the government has insured your deposits so you can sue them if you drive drunk and crash you can sue someone for failing to warn you to stop drinking there always somebody else to blame so James says can't do that here temptations don't come from God they come from within us from our very desires and he describes how that process works so chapter 1 mature Christians are robust they're patient in trials and the trials take the form of testings from God or temptations from the enemy takes us a chapter 2 James would say mature Christians are real they're authentic because they practice the truth mature Christians don't just talk they walk they live or is wearing words we put it in mature people talk about their beliefs the mature person lives out his faith now the example that James gives in this chapter is to visitors going to a church service one's rich one's poor and let's now see how the church members receive and respond and deal with these two individuals will they show favoritism will they show partiality to someone who can give them more benefit ie a wealthy person or will all be treated the same and takes us down to verse 8 after he brings up that example by saying if you really fulfilled the royal law according to the scripture you shall love your neighbor as yourself you do well but if you show partiality you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors why is this called the royal law why is love called the royal law well the easy answer is because the King gives this law to his subjects it's as if God is saying it's my kingdom and the law of my kingdom will be the law of love the one thing that will make unbelievers attracted to your whole enterprise as people of faith be the love that you have for one another as well as for them and it really sticks out there's a great author one of my favorite thinking men he's now in heaven Malcolm Muggeridge he was right when he said the biggest disease today is not leprosy nor is it tuberculosis but rather the feeling of being unwanted uncared for and deserted by everybody the greatest evil is the lack of love and charity the terrible and difference toward one's neighbor who lives at the roadside assaulted by exploitation corruption poverty and disease remember that truth that's tucked away in Romans chapter 5 where Paul says the love of God has been poured out into our hearts by his Spirit so if here we are and the Holy Spirit's been poured out into our lives it means that nobody around our lives should be starved of love because now the love of God is poured into us and we thus have a great capacity to show love not just receive it so no one around us should be love-starved that's the royal law that's like the ultimate law love God with all of your heart mind soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself James calls that the Royall love verse 14 what does it profit my brethren if someone says he has faith but does not have works can faith save him a better way to translate it can that kind of faith save him now he's gonna mention three types of faith dead faith it's not real it's not alive it's just in the mind only dead faith number two demonic faith you believe all the right things you might even be convicted about all the right things but didn't go any further than that or dynamic faith that's the real faith that he's talking about that's belief put into behavior these three are highlighted here verse 15 of a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food and one of them says and one of you says to them pardon peace be warmed and filled but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body what does it profit thus also faith by itself if it does not have works is dead now some suppose a contradiction between the theology of Paul the Apostle and the theology of James who wrote this book because Paul in the book of Romans and Galatians makes a huge deal out of the fact that we're saved not by works but by faith and he uses the example of Abraham who believed in God and it was counted to him for righteousness and he believed in God before there was ever the giving of the law now we have James who says this man says he has faith can faith save him and he says faith without works is dead and he too uses Abraham as an example but this is what I want you to notice James is not saying that we're saved by works in fact in chapter 1 verses 17 and 18 he says salvation is one of those gracious gifts given to us by God the Father the Father of lights this the works part this is a test of faith this works is how you can really tell the difference between dead faith demonic faith and dynamic faith does the faith actually work hey I got a car do you really does it work no what do you mean no don't you drive it around do you have an engine in it no so you really don't have a car that you drive around in you really don't have a legitimate transportation you have the shell of a car so faith without works is dead works is the test that shows that the faith is real you see anybody can say they have faith and that's what he says look at point of verse 14 if someone says that he has faith that's dead faith it's just faith that person is claiming without really actually having what they claim to have oh yeah I believe in God I've always believed of God believe in Jesus really you can say that and not necessarily have that well how can you tell the difference because dynamic belief produces dynamic behavior faith produces work real faith will work it'll function and that is not a contradiction that's exactly what our Lord Jesus Christ said the latter part of the Sermon on the Mount he declared not everyone who says Lord Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven but the one who does the will of my father same truth verse 18 but someone will say you have faith and I have works he continues show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works see if you can show me your faith without works then I will say it's illegitimate it's dead it's just words but I on the other hand can show you my faith by the demonstration of my faith which are the works that he mentions here verse 19 you believe there is one God you do well well let me rephrase that you say that you believe in one God whoopty-doo because notice the next little phrase even the demons believe and tremble think about that do you think that tonight Satan believes there is one God absolutely he's dealt with them does Satan believe in Jesus Christ sure he believes in him he knows there's a Jesus he's dealt with him does Satan believe Jesus is the only way to heaven only way to salvation absolutely he is as Orthodox in his belief as anyone he knows the truth but he's still the devil he's still in moral personal practical Bell e'en against God he's really a practical atheist he claimed something he knows other things but he's not living in submission to him and so James concludes this in verse 20 but do you want to know Oh foolish man that faith without works is dead so here it is obedience proves relationship don't misunderstand that I didn't say obedience produces relationship but it proves it it demonstrates it it shows that it works jesus said in Luke chapter 6 something very penetrating so why do you call me Lord but you don't do the things that I tell you to do now that's actually a very good question isn't it because the word Lord in firs that I will do whatever you as my Lord tells me to do okay master says to the slave jump I don't want to but what would you like me to do Lord whatever you want I want you to jump I don't forget it okay I want you to go get me some food no I don't feel like it okay eventually the master would say why do you call me master or Lord if you don't do what I say that's the point of James as well it was Irma Bombeck who cleverly wrote never go to a doctor whose house plants have died there's just some good conventional wisdom in that in there I mean if that doctor can't just keep a plant alive you're going to entrust that doctor with your life and so where you gonna trust somebody who claims to have all the right knowledge right belief system but has no matching lifestyle so mature Christians are robust their patient and trials mature Christians are real they practice the truth in Chapter three mature Christians are restrained they have power over the tongue nobody that I know likes this chapter let's just get that out in the open it's a sensitive issue it's something we all struggle with there's an interesting list and I bet you know where it is it's in proverbs chapter 6 there's a list of seven things God says he hates and whenever there's a list where God says I hate this I hate that I want to know what that is 3 in that list three out of the seven have to do with sins of the tongue God says he hates a lying tongue God says he hates a false witness and God says he hates one who sews discord among the Brethren and so here we are and the average human being the average person spends one fifth of his or her life talking it's the average it can go above or below that that's the average you will spend one fifth of your life uttering words in your language in a single day you will speak enough to fill a 50 page book some people I know can fill a 150 page book but this is the average the average person in one year will speak so much so as to fill a hundred and thirty-two volumes each book having 400 pages so that in your lifetime you could fill 3,000 volumes with what you say so verse 1 my brethren let not many of you become teachers knowing that we the teachers shall received stricter judgment there were no doubt then as there are today people who saw the teachers of the early church saw and heard and the prophets utter what they uttered and thought now that's what I want to do because that's a place of notoriety James is saying listen it's a place of accountability you're accountable for what you say because if you lead the wrong way with the wrong truth it's not true that all you're accountable to speak truth into people's lives and use your tongue for that reason and he develops the thought for we all stumble in many things if anyone does not stumble in word he's a perfect man able also to bridle the whole body indeed we put bits in horses mouths that they may obey us and we turn their whole body look also a chips although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things see how great a forest a little fire Kindles just like a forest fire words can spread very quickly and destroy a life very rapidly just get enough people talking about something even if it's not true or if it has a little bit of truth and you can destroy a whole reputation and an entire character the verse X and the tongue is a fire a world of iniquity now watch this he gets really heavy the tongue is so set among our members that is the members of our physical body that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of nature and is set on fire by hell you know if you think about it more sins are committed with the tongue than any other single member of our bodies I just came up with a short list this afternoon profanity lying angry words flattery gossip boasting verbosity the tongue can destroy my dad was in the Army Air Corps in World War two so he told me about all these sayings that they had and one of the sayings going around a world war two put on posters everywhere was this loose lips sink ships loose lips sink ships don't talk about what you know as an American because it might get in the wrong hands and you might be responsible for the outlay of many other lives by what you say loose lips sink ships loose lips also sink churches sink individual Christians and we send with our tongue that's why he says if you can control your tongue if you don't send with your drunk you're a perfect person now there are some people and you don't even have to rub any buddies shoulder right now or whisper somebody's name in your ear but you all know of people who have a reputation for this they just can't keep a secret they just can't hold their tongue they just have to say something or spin something or have a little edge to it so it's biting some people have such a reputation they live a whole lifetime like this I've heard that there's a tombstone somewhere in England over the grave of a woman named Arabella young it says this beneath this stone a lump of clay lies Arabella young who on the 24th of May began to hold her tongue get it she died on May 24 she was a blabbermouth her whole life the only thing that saved her from being a blabbermouth was her death that's how bad she was so beneath this stone a lump of clay lies Arabella Young who on the 24th of May began to hold her tongue and James would say brethren these things out not to be so verse 7 for every kind of bird or beast and bird reptile creature of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by mankind but no man contained the tongue it is an unruly evil full of deadly poison with it we bless our God and Father with it we curse men who've been made in the likeness or the similitude of God out of the same mouth precede blessing and cursing my brethren these things are not to be so several years ago on a radio call-in program somebody called in and said I think the problem with the church today is that so many are disrupted by this gift so called in the Pentecostal church the gift of tongues where people will stand up and speak in tongues and disrupt a service I remember another caller called in and said I think that the problem with the church today isn't that but where Christians don't operate in the fullness and gifts of the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues and they were arguing back and forth finally I don't know if it was myself or somebody else said you know I think the real problem within the church is that we're not controlling the tongue we have we bite we devour we gossip we do things with just our tongue in our normal language that is enough to ruin things and make problem for people James continues his diatribe does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening can a fig tree my brethren bare olives or a grapevine bear figs answer rhetorical No thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh who is wise and understanding among you let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom now in Greek mythology there was a story a myth a mythical character named Proteus who could morph into different different forms different beings different entities and he could easily and quickly become a rock or a serpent or a lamb or a lion or a tree because of that he was very unpredictable the human tongue is a lot like the ancient mythical God Proteus seems that we can quickly morph and change and one hand we can bless God and the other hand we can get out in the parking lot and curse man and you know we can on one hand express loudly our worship to God on the other hand we can whisper gossip and slander same source to different things these things he says ought not to be so so to sum up where we've come from a man mature Christians are robust chapter one their patient in Trials chapter 2 but tour Christians are real they practice the truth chapter three mature Christians are restrained they have power over the tongue it takes us to chapter four mature Christians are reserved they're not quick to act and when they act they do so with reservation with humility not in Pride they're poor in spirit verse one were two wars and fights come notice from among you the chapter opens up on a battlefield and the battlefield isn't the wars that are going on in the Roman Empire or in our culture Iraq or Gaza but where do Wars and fights come from among you as God's people he answers it do they not come from your desires or your cravings for pleasure in other words you want what you want when you want it that war in your members you lust and you do not have you murder and you covet and you cannot obtain you fight and you war you yet you do not have because you do not ask in two verses in just two verses the word war or Wars and fight or fights appear five times that's the thrust of it so this dispersed group of Jewish believers must not only be facing persecution from the world but perturbance from inside the church itself fights and disagreements that are splitting it you ask and you do not receive verse three because you ask amiss that you might spend it on your own pleasures now once again notice the source is selfishness you ask you want your desire your pleasure all the personal pronouns that are used so conflict wars fights it's a fact of life no matter where you work no matter where you fellowship no matter who you live next to you and I are gonna have conflicts question is what do we do about them how do you solve a conflict how do you cure a conflict by being a mature Christian and how does a mature Christian solve a conflict and the answer isn't well he he fights harder and he wins the argument he pushes harder he just kind of asserts himself in the name of the Lord no he doesn't do that he think back to proverbs a soft answer does what turns away wrath how about when somebody lashes out it should go I'm sorry not well I'm sorry that you're so wrong and so blinded how about just I'm sorry I'll work on that would you forgive me you will defuse that right then and there so you ask you to not receive verse three because you ask amiss that you might spend it on your pleasures down to verse six but he gives more grace therefore he says God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble I'm haunted by that little word resists God resists the proud what that means to me is that if I want to be at odds with God the quickest way to be in conflict with God is to be a proud man in an argument with my family if I'm a proud man God will be against me if in the business world I'm a proud person God resists the proud it's a military worm the word means to fight against you want to fight with God be a proud person remember you can't come to Christ unless you're humble blessed are the poor in spirit theirs is the kingdom and that attitude of humility and poverty of spirit is one of the great marks of the grace of God in our lives he gives more grace therefore number seven submit to God resist the devil and he will flee from you don't carry on long conversations with the devil now Satan I want you to know that I bind you don't even talk to him don't talk to him so many people talk to the devil about God talk to God about the devil don't talk to him says resist him and what will happen he will flee from you don't stop there you don't just turn from you got to turn to something if you're running from Hamlet here's who you run to draw near to God and He will draw near to you aw Tozer is a little saying it was enough one of his chapters of one of his books a little paragraph it says nearness is likeness once again nearness is likeness and he explains the more were like God the nearer we are to God an example if I'm in the living room of my house and my dog is sitting right next to me and my wife is 25 feet away in the kitchen actually that would never happen cuz wherever she is the dog is it's like her dog but let's just hypothetically say the dog is actually sitting next to me while she's in another room though the dog is right next to me I much nearer my wife than I am the dog we really have nothing in common except we're breathing and our hearts are beating but her and I are alike we have a lot in common so nearness is likeness the more were like God the nearer we are to him resist the devil draw near to God he will draw near to you verse 10 humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up so the way up is down you want God to exalt you we want God to lift you up then don't you lift yourself up ever hear somebody say in a conversation you could be doing something or I've done something I'm will you know I did that once in fact what I did and they kind of try to up one you that's ready to make you know that they're also really good at that they should be recognized for such-and-such they're always trying to push themselves up now the Bible says the way up is down you humble yourself and God will raise you up you don't have to be your own promotion agent let God do it promotion comes down from the east to the west the Bible says but from the Lord verse 13 come now you who say this is all part of the boasting part you who say today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city and spend a year there and buy and sell and make a profit whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow for what is your life it is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away instead you ought to say if the Lord wills we shall live and do this or that but now you boast in your arrogance all such boasting is evil see the whole theme of this section is pride as opposed to humility boasting as a posed to bowing pride it was pride think of it pride took Lucifer out of heaven it was pride that took Adam and Eve out of paradise it was pride that took Saul the king out of the kingdom it was pride that took Nebuchadnezzar out of the Babylonian court it was pride that took Haman out of the Persian court it's pride that divides friends back then and still does today humility however is rewarded God will resist the proud but he will bless and reward the humble now just a word about these last few verses James is not saying it's bad to plan in advance it's bad to take out the little book and pencil and say okay Tuesday I'm gonna do this Wednesday I'm gonna do this that's not what he's talking about it's the arrogant boasting of trying to plan my life as if I really know what's gonna happen tomorrow where next week apart from God apart from God's intervention see God's infinite I'm finite he knows the whole story I don't I don't have that knowledge and how many times have we made plans and they get changed like that by any kind of incident that happens or accident that happens somebody once wisely said God speaks to us through the regularity with which he disappoints our plans something happens in your life you didn't plan on that you planned for the other thing and now you're being taken in this direction and you go oh God speak to me and God may be saying I just did I just did I'm not letting you go in that direction those aren't my plans that isn't in my little planner it's in yours but I put something else in it so arrogance is and really what he's describing here is a practical atheist I believe in God man I believe in God but they they live and they plan their life as if God didn't exist they're not praying about it they're not submitting their plans to God they're just living their life checking in with God once a week or once a month but they're practical atheists there's no plan or no thought of God so before we get into chapter 5 review mature Christians are robust their patient and trials chapter 2 mature Christians are real they practice the truth chapter 3 mature Christians are restrained they have power over the tongue chapter 4 mature Christians are reserved they're poor and spirit takes us to the fifth and final chapter five mature Christians are resigned they persevere in troubles they won't pick up their little football and go home no matter what happens to them they're resigned to do the will of God whatever it is and however it comes there persevere in troubles now chapter five remember James is addressing persecuted suffering believers so in the first part of chapter five he addresses the rich who typically in that culture oppressed the poor by their practices and by the laws and now in verse seven he speaks to the oppressed who are oppressed typically by those who are rich verse seven therefore be patient our better translation long bird be patient brethren until the coming of the Lord see how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and a latter rain now farmers have to persevere for one simple reason they cannot control the weather whatever comes comes and they have to take what they get and they have to work around it and so a farmer once you own or buy a farm you have to persevere I'm gonna be in this for the long haul come what may I'm gonna have good years we're gonna have bad years I'd be very diligent at fertilizer and how I water this field etc a farmer is a good example of patience and perseverance and growing something takes time so verse 8 you also be patient establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand verse 10 my brethren take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering and patience indeed we count them blessed to endure you have heard of the perseverance of job and have seen the end intended by the Lord that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful a job is a classic example of somebody who persevered right because what job went through he didn't understand job did not have the advantage of going behind the curtain and listening to the conversation that Satan and God had together about Joe he's just living in real time and not knowing what's really going on behind the scenes what happened to him was just horrible but he persevered in fact boy did he persevere when he lost his children and his home and his health the Bible says he fell down on his face and he worshiped he said blessed be the name of the Lord the Lord gives and the Lord takes away that's perseverance and better than a farmer this faithful man named Joe becomes an example well the chapter goes on and comes to an end there's beautiful promises that he shares with us if you're happy he says sing out loud if you're sad if you're sick have people pray for you especially the elders of the church verse 16 for the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much and Elijah is the example in the last two verses 19 and 20 brethren if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins this then is a mature Christian and this is exactly what James is hoping that his audience will turn into they're shaped by trials and by their temptations they remain humble they're patient they persevere that's a mature believer now just a couple things about spiritual growth okay number one spiritual growth should happen okay this is real obvious spiritual growth should happen it's the natural supernatural result of having a life connected to God you and I should grow I love seeing people come to Christ but Christianity is a whole lot more than obstetrics it's Pediatrics all the way up to geriatrics growth growth fruit productivity mentorship discipleship growth should happen second spiritual maturity has really little if anything to do with age with age I have met relatively young men and women who are very spiritually mature and I've met relatively older men and women who are relatively infantile in their spiritual faith there's nothing to do with age number three spiritual growth is a process it's not instantaneous an absolute you can be a spiritual person a lot of people these days say there are without being spiritually mature person it's a process you you need patience and perseverance to come to maturity and I'll close with this you can grow it's the best part you can grow as much as you want nothing is restraining anyone here from growing to a mature Christian mature man or woman in the Lord nothing you and I have the controls and I'll tell you what they are it's like you tell a human being how do I become physically mature diet exercise James would say the same thing along with Peter diet feed on truth exercise do what it says faith without works is dead but faith with works is dynamic so keep going keep growing keep going keep growing in the Alps somewhere on one of the mountain peaks is a monument to a guide who died while trying to rescue somebody who was up there he failed in the attempt died in the attempt and was buried his monument is up there in the Alps and his name is written on the front of the tombstone the simple epitaph he died climbing that's how I want to die not literally climbing a mountain but figuratively spiritually climbing growing going moving not stagnating now what Paul said did Paul ever say I beseech you brethren veg out in the spirit I beseech you brethren cruise in the Holy Ghost now but walk in the spirit walking denotes going growing climbing maturity let's pray for that Heavenly Father we pray whatever level we are tonight and many here tonight in this church that has been well taught and well fed for 26 years I know that I'm addressing father's in the faith men and women who are mature others who are on their way toward maturity others who were just recently born again but all going the same path with the same goal having the same spirit and all having the same ability as Peter said to add to our faith patience and to patience self-control and to self-control perseverance and to perseverance love I pray that we'd always be in the process of growing adding going climbing not stagnating and finally Lord that last bit of information in James were if anybody turned someone back who has wandered from the truth that he saves a sinner turns the sinner from the error of his way and saves his soul from death and father we pray that if anyone here has thought about becoming a Christian toyed with the idea of seriously devoting their lives to Christ but hasn't done it that they would do it tonight that this would be the night where they begin the walk or they are born again and they begin that growth spiritually in Jesus name Amen well now we come to the last part of our service and that is the communion part so take out that little cup that you have near or at your seat and we'll take the elements together I'm going to be joined by a few friends I'll tell you why I'm having other people come out is every Sunday it's been my practice the last few months to take the Lord's Supper to take the elements of the communion every single week every single Sunday so up in my office between one of the services we'll get a group of guys typically pastors and we get together and we share and we break bread together I got inspired by that by reading the biography of a of a great man of God has become an inspiration to me for many many years his name was Henry or Harry a Ironside a che Ironside and when he was pastoring moody church he had communion with his eldership every Sunday and so I get to do it with typically these guys and a few more Nixon on it and Kenny isn't on it and sometimes Jay is in on it and we get a few of us but here's what this represents what this represents is that no matter what level we are at tonight in our walk whether we're spiritually immature or spiritually very mature when it comes to the cross we're at the same level we're all at the same level at the foot of the cross at the foot of the that's that's a good thing yes at the foot of the cross we've all come the same way we're all sinners who've been saved by a gracious God through a gracious act and so whether you're spiritually mature or you're just a babe in Christ you take these elements tonight with great confidence none of this well I'm not worthy to take communion tonight that's the whole purpose of it the whole point of communion is nobody's worthy of it and we're receiving his worthiness his work and God will ascribe that and apply that to our own life so we're at the same level now um when Jesus was on the cross for six hours he uttered seven statements seven sayings on the cross and these become windows into the heart of God the first statement that he made perhaps the most important relevant to us tonight was Father forgive them because they don't know what they're doing and really that's what we're attesting to tonight as God's forgiveness of us that God would reach down and forgive us through his son Jesus Christ so we're gonna be worshipping and taking communion before we do I know you brought a microphone does anybody here have anything that they'd like to add or share as I was uh as we were listening to the sermon on James I noticed that one phrase that was frequent was come now and one of my favorite come now passages is in Isaiah 1:18 where it says come now let us reason together though your sins are like scarlet they will be white as snow and it's through Christ's blood and Christ's body that was broken for us that our sins can be made white as snow and that's a beautiful thing and it's a beautiful thing to revel in is God's grace and glory that washes us why does snow amen preach it Nick's gonna lead us in a song and it's just meditate upon how good God is to us and what God has planned for us not only as individuals but as a church as a body you know we're a family here this is the body of Christ this is a church one of many churches in Albuquerque meant to demonstrate love to each other here and to other believers in the community and to the community at large but God has a plan for us as a family a testimony in this community and let's just meditate on where God wants to take us as his representatives here and then we'll take the elements together of the world you stepped out into darkness open my eyes let me see beauty that made this heart adore her life it's been with you Here I am to worship Here I am to bow down Here I am to say [Music] I got shirts you get [Music] what you get [Music] what you get [Music] [Music] she answers [Music] see you get [Music] what you can [Music] you [Music] [Music] look Here I am to worship Here I am to bow down Here I am to say that you're my god you're together [Music] how'd you get [Music] what you get [Music] if in if in the last part of the book of James you felt like he was describing you maybe you have turned and wandered from the truth and your soul needs to be turned back from death if you have been wandering down roads that you have no business being down you've been living in a time of rebellion where your heart is rendered now and left desolate and empty and tonight you're crying out for forgiveness and for the reestablishment of intimacy with God relationship with his son and right now before we even take communion pray and say Lord forgive me I come to you I come back to you forgive me my sins as I turned from my sin I turn my life to you I trust you I believe you I believe Jesus died for me and rose from the dead I want to be your disciple Jesus name Amen if you prayed that prayer than when we're dismissed you come up and see one of us pastors or US counselors that'd be a whole slew of us right over here to your left at the prayer room but I'm gonna ask a chip and Dave that they would pray for the elements one for the bread and one for the fruit of the vine here the juice I love these guys and I love sharing communion with them and I'm gonna let I'm gonna let them take it well father we come before you very grateful or it reminded of all of the truths in your word Lord that we learned tonight you feed us so richly each week from your word Lord from your servants but Lord we want to thank you for your body which was broken for us we live in this tent this dwelling place and our desire Lord is to spill out our lives just like you did for us and we know that you give us opportunities but Lord you've given us such a divine example of what it means to really sacrifice yourself and we thank you for your body that was broken and we take this Lord in Jesus name and father I I wonder why you you chose the cross for your son because there must have been easier and quicker ways to accomplish his death and pay for our sins but you've given us this mystery to ponder Lord as we think about Jesus lingering and agony and suffering so so deeply for so long to the absolute maximum of human endurance Lord and I can't solve that puzzle but I know you want us to consider it you think long and hard and those minutes to stretch into ours Lord and ours is stretched into eternity of of Jesus's suffering and it wasn't simple and it wasn't clean it was was very very messy an awful death Lord and we just stand in awe of that and that that's why we're we're coming to the to the bread and the wine now to consider your blood and the terrific price you paid to redeem us your lord help us not to take it lightly in Jesus name [Music]

Channel: Skip Heitzig

Views: 11,491

Rating: 4.8561153 out of 5

Keywords: How to study the Bible, How to read the Bible, Jesus, Skip, Skip Heitzig, How to know God, James, grace through faith, cross, Jewish believer, faith, lifestyle, epistle, faith without works

Id: 4LF0PwzECII

Length: 71min 11sec (4271 seconds)

Published: Mon May 13 2019