A Faith That Works (12)
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Last week we talked about overcoming conflict by humbling ourselves and seeking God.
James wants us to understand…
A Faith That Works is a Faith that is Unified in Humility.
(write that down!)
Understand — Humility is the very CORE of the Christian walk!
Think about that!
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
We cannot even “believe” without humility.
— Humility is what “accepts” the FACT that we have a NEED to be Saved!
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
26 For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
27 “For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done.
It takes humility to “take up our Cross”… because we MUST (first) ADMIT that we have a Cross to bear.
— What is that Cross? Humility.
16 Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.
17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But it is to fulfill the scripture, ‘The one who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’
and in Matthew…
24 “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master;
25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!
Humility is the Cross we bear!
Paul says:
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
and in…
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.
And Solomon says:
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
We are called to carry the same cross that Christ did… That Cross was not a beautiful ornament… It was not a fine gold neckless… or an ornament to decorate the sanctuary…
The Cross was shameful! It was humiliating! It was violent and disgraceful!
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”—
The Cross is the ultimate symbol of humility!
And Christ bore it for us!
Yet… We struggle to bear it for Him!
Humility is the basic building block of God’s Children…
This is what James is speaking about… over and over again…
For James, humility is CENTRAL to the Christian walk!
9 Let the believer who is lowly boast in being raised up,
Humility breeds righteousness…
Literally everything James has talked about so far — from chapter 1-4 — involves humility.
For James, humility is how we “do not merely listen to the Word, but do what it says!”
— It is how we face trials and temptations...
— It is how we avoid favoritism…
— It is how we look after the needs of our neighbor…
— It is how we tame the tongue…
— It is where we find wisdom…
— It is how we overcome conflict…
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Now, look at verse 10:
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Humility places us in a position where God can lift us up!
14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Do you need to be lifted up?
Do you need to be restored?
Do you need God’s touch… His Mercy… His Grace… in your life?
Then, Christian, you MUST humble yourself!!!
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another, speaks evil against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
12 There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbor?
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.”
14 Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.”
16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.
17 Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin.
Reminder — James is speaking to Christians… to the Church!
— None of what he says here applies to anyone who does not have FAITH!
James is speaking directly to us — to you, and I — to those of us, who call ourselves “christian”… Who think of ourselves as “God’s children”…
We have to understand that.
To follow Christ is to put our FAITH in Him!
— Faith is “complete trust in God’s ability — and willingness — to do what He says He will do!”
That means that we recognize that “WE CAN’T” but “GOD CAN!”
BUT… now here’s the caveat… that means that we have to humble ourselves and seek Him.
James gives us 3 sins here that reveal a lack of humility in our lives.
(If you want to know if you lack humility, then listen to these)
I. Criticism.
Look at vv 11-12:
James says
James 4:11 (NRSV)
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another, speaks evil against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
because
James 4:11 (NRSV)
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another, speaks evil against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
Why? How do we — how can we — judge the Law?
Because the Law says that we are ALL equal and in need of the same thing!
23 since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;
Now look at this:
James 4:11 (NRSV)
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another, speaks evil against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
Now, here’s the problem…
James 4:12 (NRSV)
12 There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbor?
And guess what?
You Are Not Him!
You are not God!
Only God can judge… Only He knows us well enough to judge fairly…
James 4:12 (NRSV)
12 There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbor?
To “judge” others… and we do that when we are critical of them… is the complete opposite of humility.
It means that we see ourselves as, somehow, better then them and therefore “justified” in being critical of them.
But… James says, “Do not speak evil against [or slander] one another [my] brothers and sisters.”
We ARE NOT God… therefore, we have NO RIGHT to judge!
1 “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.
2 For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.
3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?
4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye?
5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.
and
24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
We are not to judge… but to PRAY for each other.
15 “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.
16 But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
17 If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
Nowhere in that verse does it tell us to judge them! Instead… it insinuates that we continue to pray for them...
1 My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted.
2 Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Our responsibility is not to judge, but to humble ourselves and stand together… holding each other up… praying for each other… strengthening each other…
29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.
II. Carelessness.
This is the sin of always saying “Tomorrow”… “Tomorrow we’ll do this, or Tomorrow we’ll do that...”
These are both the procrastinators and the boastful planners…
Look at what James says to them:
James 4:13–14 (NRSV)
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.”
14 Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring....
(Listen)
None of us are in control of the future — we don’t know what will happen!
But… We do know who does!!!!
Jesus told us to plan…
— He told us to “count the cost”…
— He told us to plan for the future by “laying up treasures in Heaven…”
BUT… notice… He did not say “lay up treasures here on earth.”
WHY?
Because, life is fleeting…
James 4:14 (NRSV)
14 Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
10 The days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong; even then their span is only toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.
Then in verse 12, David says:
12 So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.
James says:
Life is short… Amen?
So… we should not waste it!
James is not saying that we should not make plans,… He is saying: “Be sure to include God in them.”
You see… far too often we make our plans, without God!
We exclude Him, other than to ask Him to bless the plans we already made…
Why? Why do we do that?
— a lack of humility.
We think we know what needs to be done… and that our plans are better than God’s… (or anyone else’s for that matter!)
Look at vs 13-14 again:
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.”
14 Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
A lack of humility leads us to PRESUMPTION and BOASTING.
Presumption — is “assuming” outcomes…
— may be an arrogant, or not so arrogant, display of pride.
— It can cause us to flaunt our wealth, or… to think that we have all the time in the world to do the things we know need to be done....
2. Boasting — is based in the idea that we are in control.
1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.
Look at what James says:
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.”
We are not God… We are not in control…
When we think we are, that leads us to the third sin.
III. Omission.
17 Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin.
Douglas Moo says: “James has urged us to take the Lord into consideration in ALL our planning [and actions]. We, therefore, have no excuse in this matter; we know what to do. To fail to do it… is sin.”
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.
Matthew Henry — “He that does not the good he knows should be done, as well as he who does the evil he knows should not be done, will [both] be condemned.”
8 This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful.
15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.
We know what God wants us to do… amen?
What does He command us to do? (the Great Commandment)
When we do not do what God wants us to do — WE LOSE!!!
Margaret E. Sangster writes:
It isn't the thing you do dear one,
It's the thing you leave undone
That gives you a bit of a heartache
At setting of the sun.
The tender word forgotten,
The letter you did not write,
The flowers you did not send, dear one,
Are your haunting ghosts at night.
The stone you might have lifted
Out of a brother's way;
The bit of heart-some counsel
You were hurried too much to say;
The loving touch of the hand, [held] dear,
The gentle, winning tone
Which you had no time nor thought for
With troubles of your own.
Those little acts of kindness
So easily out of mind,
Those chances to be angels
Which we poor mortals find,
They come in night and silence,
Each sad, reproachful wraith,
When hope is faint and flagging,
And a chill has fallen on faith.
For life is all to short, dear one,
And sorrow is all too great,
To suffer our slow compassion
That tarries until too late;
And it isn't the thing you do, dear one,
It's the thing you leave undone
Which gives you heartache
At the setting of the sun.
Jesus commands us:
12 “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.
That command is ACTIVE, not PASSIVE.
— It is not enough to just “not do wrong.”
— We must “do right” to “be right” with God!
A Faith That Works — Humbles itself and Acts in complete Obedience to God.
To “DO RIGHT,” we musty “be HUMBLE and OBEDIENT” to God.
Pastor Ron Clark tells this story:
“Many years ago a youngster who lived in a rough area of town was having a hard time at his new job in the factory. He was brave enough, or foolish enough (depending on your view) to hang on to his ideals, even his Christian beliefs…
His workmates did not approve of that, so he got his daily dose of ridicule and abuse. One day, one of the men said to him: ‘You’re a fool! Can’t you see that is there is a God who cares anything for the likes of you, he would tell someone to come along and give you what you need — a good meal, a comfortable home, and at least the chance to make something of yourself.’”
Listen to what the young man said:
“I reckon God does tell someone, only that someone always forgets.”
How many good things have gone undone because we “forget”?
We forget the prayers of others… the needs of others… the hurt of others… the suffering of others… the loneliness of others…
How many things go undone?
How many people have we neglected over the years because we know what to do, but we have failed to do it?