Making It Real
Introduction
I would like for everyone to remain standing… (as a sign of honor for God’s Word).
And we will take turns reading the Scripture that will come up on the screen… (I will go first, then you).
“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow,
producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.
11 It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
12 You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!
13 Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.” - Isaiah 55:10-13
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:16,17
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. – Hebrews 4:12,13
Prayer
OKAY – today we are beginning a brand new message series (an in depth study of the book of James, and as always I am pretty pump up about it…
AND – if you have been around MGCC you know that I not only get pretty pumped up about every series that we do…
BUT THAT – I believe that every series has the potential to lead us to radical life change…
AND LISTEN – I have good reason for feeling this way.
AFTER ALL – every series that we do, every conversation that we have on Sunday is grounded in the living and active word of God.
OKAY – it’s June 28, 2015 and like I said we are kicking our new series on the book of James, a conversation we are calling ‘Making It Real…’
NOW - to be honest, I have no idea how long it will take us to get through these 5 living and active God-breathed chapters made up of over 2,400 words…
Making It Real
Making (verb)
1. to bring into existence by shaping or changing material, combining parts, etc.:
2. to produce; cause to exist or happen; bring about:
3. to cause to be or become
4. to put in the proper condition or state, as for use; fix; prepare:
5. to bring into a certain form
Present tense – implies continuous ongoing activity.
Real – (adjective)
1. true, existing
2. being an actual thing; having objective existence; not imaginary:
3. genuine; not counterfeit, artificial, or imitation; authentic:
FRUIT…
MGCC – James is a book about,
making ‘it’ real…
AND – the ‘it’ (in ‘making it real’) is faith…
YEAH - James is a book about making our faith real…
Touch 5 people and tell them… let’s make it real.
AND LISTEN… if we real Scripture we will find that
FAITH - is like a really big deal and that having ‘real’ faith is something that we all should desire because…
• Faith even as small as a mustard seed can move mountains (Matthew 17:20)
• Many times it is by faith in the name of Jesus that we are healed… (Acts 3:16)
• It is through faith that a righteous person has life (Rm 1:17)
• The promises of God are received by Faith (Rm 4:16)
• Through our faith Jesus brings us to a place of undeserved privilege. (Rm 4:16)
• We are saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8)
• As we see in Hebrews 11… by faith people overthrew kingdoms, quenched the fury of the flames, became strong in battle, their weakness was turned to strength and they received what was promised.
QUESTION…
SO – are you convinced that faith is something we should all desire? Awesome!
AND – here’s the deal… in the coming weeks we are going to see that REAL FAITH (among many other things) according to James
• Turns trials into triumphs
• Defeats and overcomes temptation
• Does not merely listen to the Word, it does what it says
• keeps us humble, not proud.
• directs our tongues to bless and encourage, not to slander and curse.
• causes us to show mercy, not judgment.
• leads us to true religion, not its empty substitute
• is patient in suffering and effective in prayer
YES MGCC – during the summer of 2015 James is going to challenge every single one of us to make our faith real…
AND LISTEN – as we dig into this book we are going to see that…
• James message is bare-knuckled and his style is bare boned. I mean - this guy does not play around.
• Understand, to James our talk is cheap and our walk is the thing that really matters.
• Now, we must be careful not to misunderstand James.
YOU SEE – he is not saying that works save a Christian, but rather – that works, deeds and actions MUST mark a Christian.
YEAH – no doubt about it, we best buckled up and hold on because is going to be taking us on a serious ride this Summer.
NOW - one thing that helps in understanding a book better is to know a little about the author, the audience and why the book was written..
Okay so let’s talk about the author.
Q - Do you know who wrote the book of James?
Look at you guys! I'm so proud of you right now. If somebody would have gone, "Paul," I would have just dropped to the ground cried right here. SO - James wrote the book of James.
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Now – I am not sure if you know this
BUT – this James is not the brother of the apostle John but the half-brother of Jesus.
YOU KNOW - I wonder what their relationship was like growing up together. I MEAN - Could you imagine having Jesus as an older brother?
Why can’t you be more like Jesus
SO – James grew up with Jesus,
BUT – the Scripture tell us very little about their relationship other than a few quick snapshots that we find in the Gospels.
We know from John’s Gospel (John 7:5) that while Jesus was doing his three years of earthly ministry, James did not think his half-brother was the Son of God. No, he did not by that one at all. BECAUSE - that's what happens when you have a half-brother. You don't think they're Deity.
(anybody have a brother that you thought was God?)
AND – we know from Mark’s Gospel (3:21) that as Jesus began His ministry and as the crowds began to gather around Him, that his brothers and sisters traveled from Nazareth to Capernaum ‘to take charge of Him’ because they believed that he was out of His mind. THAT’S ALSO - what happens when your half-brother starts claiming that He is God in the flesh.
SO – we just have 2 snapshots in the Gospels and after this mention in Mark, do you know where the next place in Scripture is that we find James? In Acts 1 verse 14,
“They all joined constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers...”
QUESTION - what happened what caused James who didn’t believe in Jesus, who felt that his older brother had flipped his wig - to not only believe in him, but to be in the upper room praying with the disciples?
I MEAN – why did James (shortly after Jesus’ death) to push all of his chips in and say, "You know what, my half-brother, the one who I tried to have institutionalized… He really is God. I take it back. My brother is God! I'm going all in!"
AGAIN - what happened?
WELL - in 1 Corinthians 15 Paul gives us the answer…
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James,
LISTEN – what convinces you that your half-brother is God. Is when you see him die a brutal death, be buried, stay that way for three days, and then He shows back up and eat some fish with you on the beach.
UNDERSTAND – it was the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, that changed everything for James… IT’S – what brought his faith to life… and began making it real.
AND MGCC – we need to understand that the resurrection is not just something Jesus did 2000 years ago…
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. – John 11:25,26
LOOK UP – when we understand the magnitude of that statement we realize that the resurrection is not just something Jesus did, it’s who He is.
AND LISTEN, THIS MEANS… THAT - anything that Jesus touches has to get up and live again… AND THAT – any life that Jesus inhabits has to live again.
YEAH – we better be careful bringing dead things around Jesus.
BECAUSE – his touch can bring dead things back to life…!
Amen!
YOU SEE – the resurrection is more than a historical event (though it is) – it is also meant to be a personal experience…
One that changes everything!
For those who have lost hope
For those who have lost heart
For those who has put their dreams on a shelf
For those who are disqualifying themselves
For those who don’t have it all together
The Resurrection changes Everything!
(it did for James)
For the tired and broken
For the hungry and the thirsty
The lost and the found
The Resurrection changes Everything!
UNDERSTAND – right out of the gates….
James teaches us that…
Real faith is grounded in the resurrection of Jesus and it results in a new life, a new purpose and a new identity – as a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yeah the guy who wrote the book of James
is a guy who grew up in the same house as Jesus
is a guy who doubted Jesus
who thought Jesus was insane
until he saw Him die and live again
AND - he is also guy who would become a key leader in the church (it was James who took charge in the Jerusalem council in Acts 15, Paul in the book of Galatians refers to James as a pillar of the church)
And James is a guy who went so ‘all in’ for Jesus, that he was murdered for his faith.
YOU SEE - (according to church tradition) not long after James penned this letter, he was in Jerusalem at the Temple teaching about Jesus when a mob grabbed hold of him, forced him up to the top of the temple, and threw him off the Temple Mount.
He lands. He does not die. So they picked up clubs and begin to beat him. Still he refused to recant. In fact, tradition tells us he was praying for the mob that was attacking him as they literally beat him to death.
This is who wrote the letter we will be studying this Summer..
Q – does anybody think a guy like this may have anything worth listening too?
AND - who was the book of James written to?
“to the 12 tribes scattered among the nations...”
NOW - the book of James is meant for all Christians, but more than likely James specific (and first) audience where those Christians who had been members of the Jerusalem church with him and who had been forced to scatter throughout Judea and Samaria because of the persecution of Saul that began after the stoning of Steven.
In the book Acts (which recounts the story of the early church), you had 3,000 men saved at Pentecost. Then 5,000 men were saved just a couple of chapters later. SO - the Christian church in Jerusalem is running (let's be safe in our estimations) about 18,000 to 22,000 people in Jerusalem.
They're enjoying favor.
Men and women are becoming Christians every day until Stephen is stoned to death (the first Christian martyr).
Then Bible tells us and history tells us that a great persecution broke out against the Christians in Jerusalem, and they fled.
As they fled Jerusalem, they fled preaching the gospel to anyone who would hear and established churches throughout the ancient Roman world.
Written by James.
To the scattered and persecuted church.
One more intro questions…
WHY – did James write this letter?
To encourage Christians who were living in an increasingly hostile environment to live lives that demonstrated REAL FAITH and not give into the comforts and ways of the world.
OKAY - this is how the book breaks down.
In chapter 1, we'll see trials and Christian perseverance that will move us to be doers of the Word of God.
In chapter 2, we see the sin of favoritism and the relationship between faith and works.
In chapter 3, we are called to taming our tongue and to pursue the wisdom that comes from God.
In chapter 4, we are warned against worldliness, boasting in tomorrow and being arrogant.
In chapter 5, James warns against trusting in riches and comfort as a satisfier of the longings of our hearts. And he calls to be patient in suffering and effective in our prayers.
That's the outline of the book of James.
Now after James wrote the letter (that's what it is; it's a letter), a runner, would take the letter to a town where there was a church…
The runner would deliver the letter, and then the church would gather.
NOW - it would look nothing like this. It would be smaller. They would gather together in a house.
They'd probably share a meal, and then the pastor would open up the letter from James, understanding it is Scripture, it is authoritative.
He would open it up, and he would read it in one setting over the gathering.
They would eat a meal together.
They would pray.
They would sing songs.
Then they would open up the letter and read.
If we're honest, they would have it read to them.
I MEAN - he wouldn't say, "Open up your copy of the letter, because they didn’t have one.
SO - the letter would be read in a given context, in a given place, to a given people.
To people who were scattered and who are being persecuted, walking in tragedy in the margins of this society, hated by their own ethnic group, hated by the predominant culture, marginalized, disrespected, suffering. They would gather together.
AND LISTEN – we must fight the temptation to romanticize the early church.
I MEAN - all the issues that are present today were there.
• There were people in that congregation who didn't like each other, who backstabbed and gossiped all the time.
• There were people who were living lives of duplicity
• There were people battling bitterness and anger
• There were believers going wild and caught in immorality
I could keep going. But I think you get my point.
Don't over romanticize the early church.
They were a train wreck, just like we are.
SO - they would gather, and then they would just read the letter in one sitting.
YOU KNOW - I thought what we could do to kick off our study on James is we could go old school. Like old, old school. Like first-century old school.
AND – just read the whole letter together. All right?
NOW - here's what I want you to look for as we read throughout.
#1 - I want you to look for and see that suffering never surprises God. He does not promise that we will not suffer. but rather that he will be with us in our suffering, and that He will redeem it.
#2 - I want you to notice that our God is about is progress, not perfection. Where there is faith, there is movement forward. It might not be a hundred miles an hour forward, but it does move forward.
#3 - Lastly, the constant pull of this world, is that riches and comfort will satisfy, and that pull is always, always, always a lie.
It takes 15 minutes to read through the entire book of James. Now I know what all our televisions and iPads and smartphones have done to us. We can't hold any thought longer than for a second or two.
If you want to follow along and that helps your brain, that's great. If you want to just listen to me, that's great too. We're going to read it. It takes about 15 minutes.
Those are the things I want you to look for.
Then we'll pretty much be done for the day after we head to the Lord's Table and celebrate what Christ has done for us.
James 1-5
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:
Greetings.
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
9 Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. 10 But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.
12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
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. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 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. 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.
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 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.
2 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?
8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
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.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
3 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.
3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.
10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
4 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
5 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.
7 Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.
9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
10 Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
12 Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned.
13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
19 My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
AGAIN – the three things I wanted to draw our attention to in these five chapters. First,
Trials, suffering and difficulty are to be expected.
AND - they do not surprise the heart of God.
UNDERSTAND - God does not drive an ambulance.
Do you know what I mean by that?
An ambulance shows up after the accident and tries to put things back together. An ambulance shows up and goes, "Oh my god! We have to try to save this life." BUT - that's not how God operates. He doesn’t show up after the tragedy….
NO - He is there with us the entire time, working to redeem whatever hardships…
Q SO THEN - what are we to do with that truth, in light of our suffering?
Well, the way I will point you for the rest of my days as long as I have breath is I'll point you to the cross of Christ.
UNDERSTAND - there is no greater objective evidence that God is for you, not against you, than the fact Christ has come, he has died, and he has ransomed and rescued our soul from sin and death.
We have ever before us the public crucifixion of Christ and his resurrection as the objective evidence that regardless of hardship and suffering, God is for us, not against us. We have not been abandoned. “God is for us!”
NEXT -
We see in the book of James (and this is why I love the book), if you live to be 170 years old... First, I don't think anybody wants that, but let's just say you get there.
AND – you read the book of James after 150 years of trying to faithfully follow Christ, and you’re like...
"Dang it! Still not there."
James underscores the truth that we all still have a ways to go in this journey of sanctification (becoming Christ-like).
Man, even reading, even studying and getting ready for this series, I'm like, MAN…
• I still am not that great with my mouth. I still will jab and tear down and justify.
• I still listening before speaking and I still get angry too fast
• And I feel a pull in me. I feel a pull at times to show greater honor to those who can honor me back and not show honor toward those who can't and to define my faith journey by others things then looking after the less fortunate… I feel that pull. I have to fight it. God, why do I have to fight it? I know better than this!"
YEAH - I'm still pulled by these things, and the Holy Spirit James exposes it in me. It will expose it in you.
Not to condemn us but to convict us…
That's what's good about the book of James. We're going to see over and over again that this is about progress, not perfection.
YEAH - If God gave you a thousand years, the tongue will still be not tamed fully. You might get better at it, but it will still sneak up on you. It will still sneak up on you.
Then finally we saw that
The way to life will never be in the things of this world.
AND THAT – riches and comfort, and trying to fit in with the world will never satisfy the soul.
UNDERSTAND - the pull of the world to soft sell what the Bible teaches about life and practice will be ever present.
It will just be easier if I sell out.
It will just be easier if I kind of re-adjust what God said.
"God, you're making us look crazy down here. You're making us look crazy on how you define things, how you lay out obedience. Nobody thinks like that anymore, God. Throw us a bone here. We need a bit of a makeover. Help us out."
YES - the tendency to sell out for the world's approval will be a constant pull…
AND - an ever-increasing pull in the decades to come.
James will try to drop an anchor for us by giving us God’s take and God’s wisdom…
As a kid did you ever want to do something ‘stupid’ and one of your parents jumped in and stopped you?
The book of James is our heavenly Father going, "This way! This way! Come on! No, no, no. No, no, no! Don't do it.
Listen. I'm eternal.
You're like 16 – 20 – 30 – 50 - 80.
I’m Eternal...
This is the way to life. This is the way to meaning. This is the way to depth. This is way to purpose. This is the way to the fullest life possible."
