Just a Reminder
Notes
Transcript
James 1:19-2:26 jk;
I love to learn!
Does anyone else love to learn!
Anyone get distracted with rabbit trails when they learn?
I was just joking with Sean and Josh the other day about not looking at my YouTube history because you will see how weird I actually am..
I believe it was Sean who said “yeah a bunch of random things” as we know YouTube uses the algorithm to recommend videos...
So, you start on one video and then before you know it, how do you end up here?
That happens to me all the time, even in research!
I get started on one topic and then I end up going down several rabbit trails…and before long, I am lost as to what I was actually studying...
Sometimes, I know that I can get caught up on learning things, that I forget to live out what I have been learning...
This week, the Lord reminded me of some things.
He reminded me that I can know all there is to know, but if I don’t really live it out, do I really know it?
The message that I was going to preach was about the parable of the sower, which ties in nicely with the sermon I preached a couple of weeks ago about rain...
However, God had other plans.
I usually spend most of the week researching and thinking through the message and then begin writing Thursday or Friday.
Usually, by the the time that I start writing, it goes pretty quickly because of all of the prep work.
So, this week my plan was to talk about the parable of the sower...
Then, I came in Friday and set down to write...
I got a phone call of someone needing help, and then another, and another, another, and another...
Before the day was finished, I received 5 phone calls to help others...
Although I enjoy helping others when I can, I was of course frustrated that I didn’t get the message written, meaning I would have to spend time on Saturday doing it...
Then it hit me....God reminded me that helping others is a huge command of God....
1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
Paul is mentioning that we can do all these great things, but if we lose sight of the love that we are called to, it is worth nothing...
And, as we know, love is a verb…to love others means to take action, to do something...
Before I dive deep into the message I want to remind you that James is not talking about salvation here...
Paul makes it clear that salvation is not about what we do, but what we receive...
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Thus, there is absolutely nothing that we can do to earn our salvation!
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Clearly stated here, to be saved is to declare, or confess, and to believe....
Just wanted to hammer that down a bit before we dive into what James is talking about...
James is speaking to already saved people…
He is talking about how to live out faith and people who are already saved...
So, this morning, I thought it would be a good reminder to run through some practical ways of living out our faith...
1. Listen
1. Listen
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
Be quick to listen....
It has been said that God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason: that we are to listen twice as much as we are to speak...
My friend Rob Schmutz says: “I love to listen to people, because when you listen to people, they tell you things.”
Seems obvious and oversimplified, but it is so true..
If you want to learn about others, their passions, and who they truly are, listen to them!
2. Be Slow to Anger
2. Be Slow to Anger
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
Anger is something that we should not quickly jump to...
We are doing a study on Sunday mornings at 7:30am about how to rid our selves of anger....
Brant Hansen drives home the point that we are not entitled to anger!
Yes, anger is an emotion that comes from God…He gets angry, and we are created in His image...
But, scripture is clear that anger is not something that we should hold on to!
James points out here that anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires!
There is no such thing as righteous anger, at least when it comes to humans!
God can be angry and righteous at the same time…we can’t, at least according to James..
3. Be Doers of the Word
3. Be Doers of the Word
The Greek word for “word” here is logos...
We have defined logos as God’s revelation to us!
When God reveals Himself to us, we are to listen to it, but also to do it!
23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
So, what good is it to look into a mirror, but then forget what you look like?
There was no point in looking in the mirror in the first place!
And likewise, he ties in
25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
What law is James talking about here…well, we have the indicator “perfect” here.
There is a little debate about what law James is referring to here, but most would land that he is talking about the law that Christ fulfilled...
This is the new law…the fulfilled law, summed up in Christ...
So, when you hear about Christ and the freedom found in Him, you are to continue in it!
4. Watch Your Tongue
4. Watch Your Tongue
I won’t dive too much into this, but James loves to talk about keeping your tongue in it’s right place...
The truth is our tongues have power...
21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
If you want to read more on that, jump down to chapter 3
5. Look After Orphans and Widows
5. Look After Orphans and Widows
27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
The word for religion here means “external religious practices”
Christians in this time didn’t really have any external things that would set them apart...
The Jews had their temple and all of their laws to follow and the Romans had temples all over the place...
The Christians were meeting in homes and really didn’t a way to “show” their religion...
So, what James is saying here is this: this is how you show that you are religious, take care of the orphans and widows...
Actually love others, particularly the “least of these”
Do the things that you have heard and put them into practice!
6. Faith Without Action is Dead
6. Faith Without Action is Dead
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
The final reminder this morning is that works should accompany our faith..
Now again, this is not about salvation…we are not saved by works,
but, because we are saved, we should do good works!
This is the reminder this week...
I can have all of the knowledge in the world, but if I don’t actually minister to others, I have failed in my call
So, this morning, how are you living up to these reminders?
Do we listen?
Are we slow to anger?
How is our tongue?
Are we doers of the Word?
Do we look after the widows and orphans?
Do we have actions that accompany our faith?
Challenges
Salvation