Four Essentials to Faithful Living

Four Essentials to Faithful Living

(James 5)

Logan Peters

Introduction:

1) What kind of life is a Christian to live?

2) Paul writes to walk honestly or decently (Rom 13:13-14). If one puts on Christ, there is an expectation on how one ought to live.

3) Should one live confusingly? Should he live a life only concerned with his agenda and desires?

4) From Romans 13:13-14, there is an expectation on how the Christian should live

5) In James 4:17, it is noticed that if one wants to live an orderly life, one must keep God in His plans.

6) This is an area where the chapter break messes up the flow of the letter. To the one reading, he perceives that chapter 5 of James will be separate from chapter 4.

7) There are essentials to living an orderly life.

8) If God is at the forefront of the mind of the Christian (as He should be), James offers some essentials to living a faithful, orderly life.

Discussion:

I. Earned Riches (James 5:1-6)

A. James begins this section by condemning those who evilly earn riches.

i. Those who earned riches deceitfully will begin to weep and howl because of the misery they will face (Pro. 11:28).

ii. Your riches and possessions are corrupted and rotten (Matt. 6:19-20).

iii. Their silver and gold are rusted due to the deceitful nature of how they earned their riches.

1. This deceitfulness will come to light on judgment day, and it will cause you to go to hell where you shall be tormented with fire.

2. You have piled up riches against yourself.

B. Verse four describes the sin of these rich men James is writing about.

i. This fraud refers to these men not being paid enough for their labor.

ii. Those who are rich victimized, tricked, and beguiled these men.

1. The word “crieth” here is not the same as weep in verse one.

2. These people are crying out for vengeance.

iii. James goes on to make sure those he is writing to know that although these men got away with fraudulently obtaining their riches.

1. “Wanton” states that they had everything they wanted and more (1 Cor. 6:9-11).

2. They have fattened themselves up for the spiritual slaughter (Amos 6:1-4).

C. He closes out this section with the fact that God will have something to say on the day of judgment (1 Tim. 5:6).

D. The first thing we can learn is that we ought to earn our living honestly.

i. Just because a job wants you to lie to customers, or smudge the numbers, does not mean you should. From James, we see that their reward is awaiting them.

ii. If you are fired for being honest and refusing to do sinful things, you can rest in the fact that God takes care of His children (Phil. 4:19).

iii. It is more important to keep your soul than to do something that would cause you to be lost for eternity (Matt. 16:26).

II. Enduring Patiently (James 5:7-12)

A. Patience is a virtue that is oftentimes overlooked.

i. God is longsuffering, and we ought to be thankful for it (2 Pet. 3:15)

ii. The book of James is not the only time patience is mentioned as an attribute for the Christian to have (2 Pet. 1:5-8; Col. 3:12-13).

iii. Think about the whole Book of Job!

B. The Christian ought to live every day like it is his last; not in the sense that the world believes, but in a steadfast manner.

i. One must be patient and steadfast in his waiting for the Lord to return. He must live as if he will die tomorrow.

ii. The goal should be to reach just one more person, one more soul.

iii. The coming of the Lord is quick, and the Christian must establish his mind (heart; KJV) to think of souls (2 Cor. 5:10).

C. Christians must not grudge or murmur against one another (Jas. 5:9).

i. Christians are not the judges of each other (1 Cor. 4:5).

1. What kind of attitude should one have with his fellow Christians?

2. Should one complain or groan against another, or should brotherly love abound in times of strife and friction (Heb. 13:1)?

D. Job is a great example of patience (Jam. 5:10-11).

i. James references Job and that those he is writing this letter to would know the affliction, pain, and suffering Job endured patiently (Heb. 11:35).

ii. The Lord is pitiful (full of pity) and full of mercy.

iii. Continue in steadfast patience even in the difficult times of life.

E. Mean what you say (Jam. 5:12).

i. How can one live an orderly and faithful life if he does not do what he says?

ii. Let your yes be yes and your no be no.

1. If you say it, mean it!

2. Some emergencies arise that could keep one from fulfilling his promise.

iii. If I cannot keep my promise to one who is not a member of the Lord’s body, what kind of impression does that leave with that person?

iv. What is our attitude when it comes to this?

III. Effectiveness of Prayer (James 5:13-18)

A. How important is prayer for the Christian?

i. It seems to be important if mentioned here by James.

1. Whatever sort of difficulty one faces, he needs to pray about it.

2. Christians must stay in constant prayer (1 Tim. 2:2).

ii. The anointing referred to in this section would have been a source of medicine that was used back in the 1st century (Luke 10:34).

1. This is not something that would be practiced today.

2. The lesson from this section would be that the elders knew the flock and sought after physical needs as well as spiritual needs.

B. James also points out that a man with faith would confess his sins to God (Jam. 5:15).

i. Not only that, but if the sin is public, or if there is a requirement for more prayers on behalf of the one that sinned, that is available to the Christian as well (Jam. 5:16).

ii. A man devoted to God confesses his faults and seeks forgiveness.

C. The prayer of the righteous.

i. The prayer of the righteous man works (1 Sam, 12:18; 1 Kings 13:6; Psa. 34:15).

ii. God does not hear the prayer of the sinner if he continues in iniquity (John 9:31; Psa. 66:18).

D. Amid success, struggle, health problems, spiritual struggles, and throughout all of life, the Christian ought to pray (1 Thes. 5:16).

i. If one seeks to be faithful, he must pray. If you devote time to prayer, you will see a change in your life.

ii. Not just those quick prayers on the drive to work, but a special time set aside when one goes into a solemn place and speaks to God the Father.

iii. If this is done seriously, these things will change:

1. Attitude

2. Life

3. You may become a new and better person

4. Your heart will become healthy

IV. Evangelizing the Lost Brother (James 5:19-20)

A. First, James shows that one can fall away (2 John 8; Heb. 10:24-31).

i. This would be a case of a sinner needing to be converted because he is a sinner. He does not need to be baptized again but needs to go repent just as the second law of pardon allows (Acts 8:22).

ii. Do these brethren who have abandoned the faith need saving too? Absolutely. The Hebrews writer warns about the fire that awaits them (Heb 10:24-31).

B. Are we doing our part?

i. If these brethren need to be reconciled with God, then they need to be evangelized and encouraged to come back to God.

ii. We desire to have new converts. What cannot happen is that we allow those who are wayward to get lost in the cracks. Their soul is just as important as another; no more, no less.

iii. Are we willing to leave the ninety-nine and go after the one just as our Savior does (Luke 15:1-7)?

Conclusion:

1) Living a faithful life is not something that Christians should simply talk about. Back in high school, a coach once told me that if you want to be great at something, you need to be about it!

2) We must be about living a faithful life for God.

3) We must learn how to handle and earn our money; how to endure this life with patience; pray without ceasing; and evangelize our lost brethren.

4) Throughout the book of James, we see works of obedience that complete our faith. Not works of merit (Eph 2:8-10).

5) One must continually live in a way pleasing to God that is obedient to His will.

6) What about the one who has never obeyed the Gospel?