Playing God - Part 9
Faith that Works: A Study on the Book of James • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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My thoughts about Pentecost 2023:
This holy convocation is the culmination of the Spring Feasts
We are to countdown in expectation (how many have counted down?)
Get ready for a move of the Holy Spirit!
Recap from Last Time
Recap from Last Time
Faith that Works Part 8: The Cure for War - James 4:1-10
1) War with others is a symptom of war within - James 4:1
2) Pleasure = Hedone
a. Pleasure, delight, enjoyment
3) The desire for pleasure will lead us to run over others who get in “our way”
4) True freedom is the ability to enjoy life without the continued rat race of finding meaning in empty things
5) Murder is an act of the heart - James 4:2
6) Why are our prayers not answered? Because we are operating out of the wrong spirit
7) Praying with wisdom: Holding the line between what you want and what God wants
8) Throughout Scripture covetousness and idolatry are equated to adultery
Covetousness - Idolatry - Adultery
9) Our God is zealous for us and He desires for us to seek wisdom only from Him
James gives a harsh rebuke but provides the way out. We’ve got to humble ourselves!
10) What does it mean to humble ourselves? - James 4:7-9
a. Submit to God
b. Resist the devil
c. Draw near to God
Karav: Draw Near
d. Cleanse your hands and purify your heart
e. Lament, mourn and weep
11) The war within is due to the pain we are in, the sense of brokenness and loneliness we carry until we submit fully to the Lord
Finding our identity in the right place
There is great power in humility!
12) Humility and contentment equal fulfillment
Application
1. The choice is simple, humility, which proceeds from gentleness and the meekness of wisdom, or pride, which results from bitter envy and selfish ambition.
2. Our heavenly Father gives us our sense of purpose and identity. When we fully submit to Him, we stop running desperately trying to feel valued and accepted.
3. Corporate fights and internal struggles are symptoms of demonic wisdom and the world’s values in our midsts.
4. Unanswered prayer can be largely based upon our requests being made with the wrong intentions.
5. We need to actively resist the enemy! This means we identify and fight against the source of temptation and demonic wisdom.
6. Humbling ourselves before the Lord and others, releases true authority, and peace and strengthens our relationships with one another.
Let’s open to James 4:11
Let’s open to James 4:11
Faith that Works Part 9: Playing God - James 4:11-17
James 4:11 (NKJV)
11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
James begins this section with a command, “Do not speak evil of one another.”
1) Katalaleo = Speak evil
1) Katalaleo = Speak evil
a. To speak degradingly, defame, or slander
a. To speak degradingly, defame, or slander
Slander and a critical spirit are the practical outworkings of pride, selfishness, and ambition. Everything we have been talking about leads to this portion.
A. Don’t be judgy
A. Don’t be judgy
2) Evil speech is incompatible with being a disciple - Lev 19:16
2) Evil speech is incompatible with being a disciple - Lev 19:16
16 You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.
3) It’s more than libel, it includes gossip, rumors, sarcasm, and critical speech
3) It’s more than libel, it includes gossip, rumors, sarcasm, and critical speech
6 The law was not made for you to judge, but that you might be ruled and judged by it.
Richard Baxter
A Call to the Unconverted, to Turn and Live (17th century)
Richard Baxter
4) Judging a fellow believer = judging the law = judging God, the giver of the law
4) Judging a fellow believer = judging the law = judging God, the giver of the law
5 Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, Him I will destroy; The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, Him I will not endure.
5) When we speak evil of another we are not seeing them as an image bearer of God
5) When we speak evil of another we are not seeing them as an image bearer of God
The judging that James is talking about here is not discerning right from wrong. James’ epistle is filled with this kind of judging. What he is addressing is the idea of condemning.
If all judging is wrong, then the person who says judging is wrong has made a judgment.
What the Scriptures forbid is judgmentalism, a critical and censorious spirit that judges everyone and everything, seeking to run others down.
R. Kent Hughes
James 4:11 “Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and CONDEMNS his brother, speaks evil of the law and CONDEMNS the law. But if you CONDEMN the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.”
James 4:11 “Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and CONDEMNS his brother, speaks evil of the law and CONDEMNS the law. But if you CONDEMN the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.”
12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?
24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
6) How do we Discern/Judge Rightly?
6) How do we Discern/Judge Rightly?
1. We understand that we don’t have the right to condemn anyone
1. We understand that we don’t have the right to condemn anyone
The person that condemns rises about the law, both criticizing the law and making himself higher than God’s law, which prohibits this kind of behavior.
2. Judging righteously requires gathering all the evidence, hearing a matter out, and then making a righteous judgment
2. Judging righteously requires gathering all the evidence, hearing a matter out, and then making a righteous judgment
13 He who answers a matter before he hears it, It is folly and shame to him.
3. It should be done without hypocrisy, meaning that we don’t call out the behavior we ourselves have not dealt with first
3. It should be done without hypocrisy, meaning that we don’t call out the behavior we ourselves have not dealt with first
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
7) We all make judgments, let’s make sure that they are the right ones!
7) We all make judgments, let’s make sure that they are the right ones!
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”;
Now James attacks another form of evil speech arrogant speech.
8) People acquired wealth in the Roman world by being:
8) People acquired wealth in the Roman world by being:
a. Landowners
a. Landowners
James will address them in the next chapter
b. Merchants
b. Merchants
14 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.
What is being judged is not their desire to acquire wealth but the attitude that it is being done with. An attitude of “I’m in control.”
B. Don’t assume you have tomorrow
B. Don’t assume you have tomorrow
9) A presumptuous attitude: thinking you are in control
9) A presumptuous attitude: thinking you are in control
We always have to bring our plans humbly to the Lord, not just for blessing, but for clarity and direction.
Are you following God’s will or your own?
Are you following God’s will or your own?
The point is that you’re life is NO longer yours, and we need to live like that is a reality. Doing the will of God, and not our own, is one of the most important character traits of the believer.
Dressing our own will in religious clothing
Dressing our own will in religious clothing
Some people dress up their own will in religious clothing by saying things like, “God told me or God spoke to me...” This is especially dangerous because first off, it is blasphemy to speak a word that God did not say as though he said it, and second, it brings a false sense of security that ultimately leads to a whole lot of deception.
10) If life is like a vapor, how much vapor do you have left?
10) If life is like a vapor, how much vapor do you have left?
How much vapor do you have left?
Life as vapor or mist.
The Hebrew translated as ‘vanity’ is hebel, which literally means ‘breeze, breath or vapour’.
Jim Winter
11) Hebel in the Psalms: Ps 39:5, Ps. 39:11, Ps 62:9, Ps 144:4
11) Hebel in the Psalms: Ps 39:5, Ps. 39:11, Ps 62:9, Ps 144:4
5 Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah
11 When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity, You make his beauty melt away like a moth; Surely every man is vapor. Selah
9 Surely men of low degree are a vapor, Men of high degree are a lie; If they are weighed on the scales, They are altogether lighter than vapor.
4 Man is like a breath; His days are like a passing shadow.
This brings to the forefront the importance of being intentional in fulfilling your destiny and purpose in God. We don’t have time to waste!
12) God gives us the start and He holds the end but we get the privilege to fill in the in-between
12) God gives us the start and He holds the end but we get the privilege to fill in the in-between
Let’s not fill it in with lousy stuff.
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
13) This is more than saying “if the Lord wills” after every plan you make. It is about an attitude of the heart
13) This is more than saying “if the Lord wills” after every plan you make. It is about an attitude of the heart
14) What are three areas of life you need to bring God into the center of? List three
14) What are three areas of life you need to bring God into the center of? List three
17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
C. Don’t neglect to do good
C. Don’t neglect to do good
15) The presence of knowledge + the absence of obedience = sin
15) The presence of knowledge + the absence of obedience = sin
Your heavenly Father does not want you to conform to this world, but He does want you to conform to the image of His son.
Your heavenly Father does not want you to conform to this world, but He does want you to conform to the image of His son.
Application
Application
1. Speaking critically about or to a fellow believer is to transgress God and His law.
1. Speaking critically about or to a fellow believer is to transgress God and His law.
2. Speaking against another believer is to sit in judgment of God and His law and to usurp His authority.
2. Speaking against another believer is to sit in judgment of God and His law and to usurp His authority.
3. Life is unpredictable and not under our control, therefore we need to stop playing God.
3. Life is unpredictable and not under our control, therefore we need to stop playing God.
4. We need to acknowledge God’s sovereignty by humbly bringing our desires, plans, and will to Him and allowing Him to realign things for us.
4. We need to acknowledge God’s sovereignty by humbly bringing our desires, plans, and will to Him and allowing Him to realign things for us.
5. Knowing truth is not enough, we must conform our lives to the truth we have received.
5. Knowing truth is not enough, we must conform our lives to the truth we have received.
AMEN!
AMEN!