Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

Believers in Trouble

We began our study in James stating that the goal of faith in the Lord is maturity. But, as James indicated earlier, everyone stumbles in many ways. “In many ways, we offend all”

Previously we looked at the temptation of the churches being written to disrespect the poor and avoid the sick. James writes as if the same temptation exists to leave the wandering believer on their wrong path. Just as the church should:

• Treat the rich and poor the same.
• Pray for healing of the sick.
• We should try to restore the brother in sin.

James’ final words involve a ministry of bringing back, of restoration.

As a believer, we should never condemn. We should see the wayward and try bringing them to effective restoration through the mercy of God.

Believers who Help

James reminds his readers of the purpose of trials at the beginning of his letter. Here in the conclusion, he reminds them of the purpose of restoration. These believers were to help others who had strayed into sin.

As tough as a task like this is, it is one a believer should want reciprocated when roles reversed. We are all subject to Double-Mindedness. We are all subject to self-deception.

Much is at stake in the sinner’s need for restoration. His or her very life “shall save a soul from death”. Believers who wander from the truth have been led into sin by their own evil desires, and the end of this process is death.

Death. What did James mean by this? He may have been thinking about the Lord ending the life of the backslider as a punishment for sin. We don’t like to hear it, but there is such a thing as sin that leads to death. “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.” (1 John 5:16-17) All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

When we go about the business of restoration, we don’t always know what we are achieving. We may be saving that person from an early grave! Death. James might have had something else in mind. He might have been suggesting that a backslidden condition is like a spiritual deadness in the heart. In this case, the one who reclaims a backslider is rescuing him or her from that deadness. Whatever James had in mind, it’s apparent that backsliding is a very serious thing indeed. It is also apparent that anyone who helps the backslider is doing a wonderful thing.

Like Elijah, who put himself out there to bring Israel back from their sin, the brother who restores another lays aside self for the sake of the other’s life. If backsliding is turning from the truth, to convert the backslider is to turn them back towards the truth.

Hide a multitude of sins. One author suggests that the word ‘hide/cover’ takes us back to the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat of the Old Testament. The ark was a box in which the Law of Moses was placed. Above the box were stationed cherubim, who represented God himself. If the ark consisted of nothing more, it would have done nothing but give testimony to an awesome reality, namely, God taking note of our disobedience to his holy law.

But there was another part of the ark. Thank God it was there! The mercy seat! The mercy seat was a flat gold plate that sat between the box and the cherubim. When the high priest of Israel made atonement for the sins of the people, he would take the blood of a sacrifice and sprinkle it on the mercy seat. The blood of the mercy seat covered the broken law! It was as if God could not see the sin because of the blood!

All of this was designed, of course, to picture the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus. The blood that he shed on the cross covers the sins of all those who believe in him. But that same blood also covers the sins of Christians who sin.

This same work is accomplished when believers practice biblical restoration and hide a multitude of sins.

Conclusion: This brings us to the end of our study of James. His emphasis has been spiritual maturity. This would be a good time for us to examine our own hearts to see how mature we really are.

Here are a few questions to assist you:

1. Am I becoming more and more patient in the testings of life?
2. Do I play with temptation or resist it from the start?
3. Do I find joy in the Word of God, or do I just study and learn it?
4. Are there any prejudices that shackle me?
5. Am I able to control my tongue?
6. Am I a peacemaker rather than a troublemaker? Do people come to me for spiritual wisdom?
7. Am I a friend of God or a friend of the world?
8. Do I make plans without considering the will of God?
9. Am I selfish with money? Am I unfaithful in the paying of my bills?
10. Do I depend on prayer when I find myself in some kind of trouble?
11. Am I the kind of person others seek for prayer support?
12. What is my attitude toward the wandering brother? Do I criticize and gossip, or do I seek to restore him in love?

Pastor Chance Strickland

Harpeth Baptist Church
Kingston Springs, TN

http://www.harpethbaptist.org

Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

The Potential of Prayer

James uses Elijah as his illustration of what prayer can accomplish. Elijah pronounced for the Lord that rain would cease until he said it should rain again. Elijah, 3 years later, is told by God to call for rain.

You and I may never cause the rain to cease. Using Elijah as our example here we should note that his prayer was a prayer for his nation. He wasn’t praying for personal gain or preference. Of course, his prayer would directly benefit him. But, it would also benefit all others in the land. “If the Lord will…” (Cf. 4:15)

It probably isn’t God’s will for us to perform this exact same work today. We probably shouldn’t march into Nashville to tell the Governor that it isn’t going to rain again until we pray for it. This was a very useful tool in it’s time that gives us the modern church a better understanding of the potential power of prayer.

Even if we wanted this or something as powerful to happen, God would have to will it. Notice, Elijah’s prayers were powerful. But, He was simply praying as commanded by God. God’s will was for the rain to cease in this case.

To determine the potential of our prayers, we must be in tune with the will of God through His Word. We could pray and fast until the day we die for something outside God’s will and accomplish no more than the prophets of Baal.

What is it that God wants you praying for? It may not be for the rain to cease. But, no matter how small a thing it seems to us right now, we should always be aware of the potential of our prayers. Just because our prayers may not stop rain doesn’t mean we cannot change the world. Our cries to a heavenly father have the potential to have Him intervene on our behalf.

Especially given in a situation like Elijah’s with a national prayer. What powerful national prayers could we have right now? Abortion, Economy, Pornography, etc.

Elijah was not only believing in his praying, but he was persistent. “He prayed … and he prayed again” (James 5:17–18). On Mt. Carmel, he continued to pray for rain until his servant reported “a cloud the size of a man’s hand.”

Too many times we fail to get what God promises because we stop praying.  It is true that we are not heard “for our much speaking” (Matt. 6:7); but there is a difference between vain repetitions and true-believing persistence in prayer.

Our Lord prayed three times in the Garden. Paul prayed three times that his thorn in the flesh might be taken from him. Elijah was determined and concerned in his praying. “He prayed earnestly” (James 5:17). The Greek here is “and he prayed in prayer.” Do you pray in your prayers? Or do you just some say religious words?

A church member was “praying around the world” in a prayer meeting, and one of the men present was growing tired of the speech. Finally, the man cried out, “Ask Him something!” That is what prayer is all about: “Ask Him something!”

The potential power in prayer is the greatest power in the world. History shows how mankind has progressed from manpower to horsepower, and then to dynamite and TNT, and now to atomic power. But greater than atomic power is prayer power. Elijah prayed for his nation, and God answered prayer. We need to pray for our nation today, that God will bring holiness and revival, and that “showers of blessing” will come to the land.

Pastor Chance Strickland

Harpeth Baptist Church
Kingston Springs, TN

http://www.harpethbaptist.org

Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Afflicted

Those afflicted should seek God’s comfort through prayer.

• Psalm 27:14 “Wait on the LORD: Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: Wait, I say, on the LORD.”
• Psalm 55:22 “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”
• Jonah 2:7 “When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: And my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.”
• Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
• 1 Peter 5:7 “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” 

This private prayer would keep them from public grumbling. This prayer of the sufferer should be a prayer for wisdom and wholeheartedly asking in faith.

Also, James asks is anyone merry? Normally a happy perky person would anger someone afflicted. The solution is to sing psalms. No matter the mood, singing praises together keeps harmony among believers.

Sick

James directs those who are “sick,” to call for the elders of the church for strength, support, and prayer. Those of these churches had the temptation to:

• Show disdain for the poor.
• Ignore their needs for food and clothing.
• Threaten their physical survival by withholding their fair wages.

This is the same temptation to neglect fellow believers who are sick. Believers who are sick should receive special attention from the whole congregation. This verse presents a simple three-part pattern that can be followed on behalf of the sick.

• First, the sick one should call the elders. The elders can’t help if they aren’t told! Also, the elders aren’t instructed to make the first move, the sick is.
• Second, the elders anoint the sick with oil. Probably rubbing oil into wounds of those physically bruised and battered by persecution. Could be a reference to ceremonial anointing. Either way, the point is the elders would be encouraging, comforting, and strengthening the believer.

Does the oil heal?  Why then use it? Ceremony. Sometimes humbling oneself to the point of following a Bible ritual outwardly shows faith in God to heal and utter selflessness to help.

The elders do this. Elders? In the churches James is writing to this would have been those put in charge by the apostles. What about the modern church? Would this be Deacons, Stewards, Ordained, Leaders?

• Third, they should pray over the sick for healing. During anointing, the elders should pray. Of course, regularly anyone in the church can pray for anyone who is sick. This should more often be the case. Rather than a healing line.

Some prefer to pray for healing, others prefer to pray for “God’s will”. In 4:15 James instructs to operate, “If the Lord will…”. “Lord, if it be thy will, heal….”. Being cautious of the fact we shouldn’t obligate God to do something he hasn’t promised.

This would all be done is who’s name? The name of the Lord. This explains the order of the process. If I go to a sick man and pray and he is healed, I may get some of the glory for going to him. However, if the sick comes to the church to pray and we pray and he is healed, God gets all the glory.

Prayer of faith

The prayer offered on their behalf by the elders. Save is very confusing in this verse. Sodezo, the same word is used here and in verses 5:20, 4:12, 2:14, and 1:21. Sodezo means save, heal, and preserve. Leaving a multitude of uses for this one word.

Some would argue that the author is saying that physical healing if off the table here and that the goal is to be sure a sick person is saved. Others would ignore salvation altogether here and deal only with physical healing.

Also, we have to notice there are two parts to James’ writing here, Prayer and Faith. We pray to be healed, we have faith for Salvation is another take on this verse. James answers both.

• The Lord shall raise him up.
• Sins shall be forgiven him.

The easy error to make here is elders can pray over you and forgive your sin. If you are healed your sin was also forgiven. The most effective application is we pray to be healed when sick. For this to be effective our sins must be out of the way first. Therefore, a sick person coming to be healed would also ask forgiveness for sin during the process.

Confess your faults

The “confessing” that James wrote about is done among believers. He was not suggesting confessing our sins to a preacher or priest. We confess our sins first of all to the Lord. We also confess them to those who have been affected by them. We should never confess sin beyond the circle of that sin’s influence. 

Private sin requires private confession. Public sin requires public confession. “It is wrong for Christians to “hang dirty wash in public,” for such “confessing” might do more harm than the original sin.”.

Mutual honesty, openness, and sharing of needs will enable believers to uphold each other in the spiritual struggle. Go to each other and confess faults.  This is a time to pray, not prey. “The confession of sin entails humble honesty about the fact of having committed sin, not a public retelling of the details of the act.”

Effective prayer comes via energetic and passionate prayers of godly people and can accomplish much.

Pastor Chance Strickland

Harpeth Baptist Church
Kingston Springs, TN

http://www.harpethbaptist.org

But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

The Passage

Above all things. Or “especially.” Notice he leads in with “but” leaving us to attach this to previous commands. James stresses again that our speech provides the most revealing glimpse of our spiritual state.

Swear not. The Jews were known for using various oaths to back up their statements. They were ever careful not to use the name of God in their oaths, lest they blaspheme. So, they would swear by heaven, or earth, or Jerusalem, or even by their own heads! But Jesus taught that it is impossible to avoid God in oaths.

• Neither by heaven. Heaven is His throne.
• Neither by the earth. Earth is His footstool.
• Neither by any other oath.

Jerusalem is the “city of the great King.” Your head…“Thou canst not make one hair white or black” (Matt. 5:36).

Let your yea be yea. Mean yes when you say yes. Mean no when you say no. True Christian character requires few words. “The person who must use many words to convince us, has something wrong with his character and must bolster this weakness by using words.” “If you are a true Christian, with integrity, then all you have to say is yes or no and people will believe you.”

James warns that anything more than this is evil. “Lest ye fall into condemnation.”

The Principle

James’ teaching is simply a resounding of what he experienced Christ teaches.

Proverbs 22:1 “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, And loving favour rather than silver and gold.”

Ecclesiastes 7:1 “A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.”

Basil Miller reported that at the end of the American Civil War, General Robert E. Lee was broke, as were many of his countrymen. Money was scarce. About that time a state lottery offered him ten thousand dollars a year for the use of his name. He replied, “Gentlemen, my name is all I have left, and that is not for sale.” Your name is all you have: character, integrity, honesty.

The Practical Use

J. Vernon McGee wrote of his father: “I can remember when my dad went to the bank one year to borrow money to get his cotton gin started. The banker was busy and said to my dad, “Go ahead and take the money.” My dad said, “But I haven’t signed the note.” I never shall forget what the banker said, “If you say you will repay it, that is just as good as if you have signed a note. So come in later and sign up.”

The practical use for what James writes is just that. If we say we are going to do something, we should. J.P. Morgan was once asked what he thought was the best bank collateral.  He replied, “Character.” Even Andy was able to let prisoners out to plant trusting they would return to finish their sentence.

During the 1983 National Spelling Bee held in Washington, D. C., thirteen-year-old Andrew Flosdorf of Fonda, New York, eliminated himself from the contest when he informed the judges he had misspelled “echolalia”. The judges had failed to catch the error. When questioned as to why he turned himself in, he straightforwardly replied, “I didn’t want to feel like a slime.”.

Above all things, let you yea be yea and your nay be nay.

A little boy was asked by his Sunday School teacher to define a lie. He said, “A lie is an abomination to the Lord, and an ever-present help in time of trouble.” Like many in our day, he had his Scriptures as well as his moral values confused.

Pastor Chance Strickland

Harpeth Baptist Church
Kingston Springs, TN

http://www.harpethbaptist.org

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

The husbandman or farmer

The farmer plants the seed and prepares the soil but doesn’t reap a crop immediately. God sends the rain to water the soil and then comes the harvest. The farmers of those days were dependent on two ‘rains’. The ‘early’ rain came at planting time in October. The ‘latter’ rain came at harvest time in April or May. Without those rains, the farmer had no hope of raising a good crop.

But the farmer couldn’t force it to rain. All he could do was wait for the rains to come. He had to depend on the God who had ordained those rains to send them at the proper time.

Just as the farmer was to be patient, James instructs his audience to be patient. We too must trust God in times where we have no control. We can’t make it rain. But, we can trust God who created rain…to send the rain when the time is right. Until then we must be patient, knowing that “in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Gal. 6:9).

The judge

Their trials had made some of the Christians critical, and complainers emerged in the church. James reminds them that they are not to judge. Christ, the Judge, is at the door! He hears what is said. He will come quickly and make things right. Murmuring and complaining is a serious sin. If we would remember that Christ is coming, we wouldn’t complain and criticize.

The prophets

James refers these Christians to the OT believers, who suffered yet left their trials with God and won the victory. The prophets suffered when they had done no wrong. They were harshly treated for declaring the word of God.

Think about how these men suffered!  For over forty years, Moses had to endure complaining and grumbling people. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, was thrown into the mud of an empty cistern. Daniel was cast into a lions’ den. Zechariah, sealed his testimony with his blood, as he was put to death in the temple (2 Chr. 24:20–22).

James writes of the prophets to urge his readers to be patient when they themselves were suffering for doing good.

In verse 11, Job is his primary example. Job, was very devoted to the Lord, and very prosperous. The devil came along and suggested that Job was faithful only because he was blessed. If his blessings were removed, his devotion would vanish! The Lord allowed Satan to test Job. So he did! Job lost his family, his health and his possessions. In the end, Job still had his faith, proving the devil wrong.

Writing of Job and ‘seeing the end of the Lord’, James gives a wonderful testament for patience. In Job, ‘the end’ was to show ‘that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy’. By reminding his readers of Job, James was calling them to trust God. They were to have a good purpose even in the midst of circumstances that they didn’t understand.

Pastor Chance Strickland

Harpeth Baptist Church
Kingston Springs, TN

http://www.harpethbaptist.org

Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.

Depriving workers of their rightful wages

The Old Testament condemns the mistreatment of workers:

Leviticus 19:13 “Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.”

Deuteronomy 24:14–15 “Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the LORD, and it be sin unto thee.”

Proverbs 3:27–28 “Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, When it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; When thou hast it by thee.”

This would have been taught in their churches, and also to them as children. But some were ignoring those commands.

The rich would not have been hurt by paying the wages. This was not a mandated rate, the rich set their own pay rate and were still not paying. This could have been viewed differently had their government mandated a minimum wage they could not afford. I have been on minimum wage and hoped for more. I have paid out minimum wage and struggled to. They had plenty from which to pay! And wouldn’t.

The workers, who lived from day to day and from hand to mouth, were hurt tremendously by not getting paid. James depicts the seriousness of the matter in terms of two cries going up to God:

• The first is the cry of the unpaid wages. James pictures the money sitting there in the bank and crying out to because it has not been sent to the workers. That seems silly, money crying. Perhaps James is trying to show how silly they’re holding back the pay is.
• The second is the cry of the workers themselves. It is the cry of anguish, as they sit down with their families to eat a crust of bread or nothing at all when they could have been eating a decent meal. Nothing plays on the emotions better than a family, with children, going without food.

James then reminds them that these cries do not go unnoticed. They are heard by ‘the Lord of Sabaoth’. The Bible uses many names for God. He is such a glorious being that no one name can do justice to him. The name James uses here means ‘Lord of hosts’. It tells us that God is surrounded by hosts of angelic beings and that he is greater than all of them. He is their Lord.

The God who is greater than all the hosts of heaven is certainly great enough to mete out justice to the cruel wealthy who inflict such pain and misery on their workers!

This leads us to the third misuse of wealth: hoarding, holding back wages, and…

Living in luxury and self-indulgence

Now there is nothing wrong with living in luxury when done honestly. Not too many years ago “indoor plumbing” was a great luxury! Perhaps a better way to put James’ tone here is not so much “living in luxury” as “wallowing in luxury”.

I think of the Rich Man in Luke. Here fared sumptuously every day. While poor Lazarus laid at his gate full of sores wanting just the crumbs from his table. He could have easily fed Lazarus a meal.

Here James is talking about people who use their wealth to pamper themselves while needs are on every hand. Needs that could be easily alleviated by some generosity.  But these people are oblivious to their needs.  Thinking only of themselves and their comfort, they go on buying and buying.

James has a devastating picture for them. “Ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.” They are fattening themselves for God’s judgment. A calf eats and eats without realizing that it is fattening itself for the day of slaughter. These wealthy are misusing their wealth and gorging themselves without realizing that there is ‘a day of slaughter’ coming.

They’ve hoarded, withheld pay from the poor, self-indulged instead of helping the poor, and finally…

Murdering the innocent

James tells them they have condemned and killed the just! We shouldn’t picture any of James’s readers going out with swords to murder. James has something far more subtle in mind but just as deadly!

James is referring to judicial “murder”. Taking away the means of making a living. The landowners controlled the courts. The poor without land could not oppose them. They had no way to use the system. So they were helpless. “…and he doth not resist you.” James says by taking away their ability to earn a living you are murdering these just people.

James’s words about murdering the just who are not able to resist make me think about Jesus. Although He was just in every way, He was murdered. And although He had the power to resist, He opened not His mouth. He willingly submitted to unjust treatment so He could provide eternal salvation for sinners.

If we ever conduct business in a “shark”-like way, we will be doing just what James is warning against here. If the only way to the top is to step over someone else, I don’t want to be at the top. If the only way you can do business is by mistreating others, go out of business.

Pastor Chance Strickland

Harpeth Baptist Church
Kingston Springs, TN

http://www.harpethbaptist.org

Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

Listen Up

James introduces this chapter with a bit of a warning. He is writing to those with more than they need to live. James doesn’t condemn them for being wealthy. He condemns them for misusing their resources.

Unlike the believing rich in other congregations, these are the wicked wealthy. They profess the Christian faith. They have associated themselves with the church. But their real god is money. Furthermore, their love of money has led them to wrong the poor for more gain.

James writes in what seems like rage. He tells them to “weep and howl” at what is coming. James tells them to go ahead begin repenting as if the judgment has already arrived. Go ahead and repent now instead of waiting. He says that misery would come upon them. He writes to them as “ye rich men” not as “brothers”.

This “misuse” of wealth left James doubting their conversion. Whatever appearance these people had that suggested Christian faith, their actions were so worldly and destructive that the truth about them couldn’t be so. James here is willing to speak to believers as if they were not believers, their actions toward their brothers contradicted their own professed faith.

What does James’ warning mean if these people are still regarded as believers? Were they in danger of missing salvation? No. But they would learn that real believers do not act in the ways he lists ahead. James says, “Listen up…you claim to be saved, but your actions look otherwise.” “Judgment is coming for your actions.  If you are saved you should go ahead and repent and begin to get this right.” 

Your wealth is corrupted

This group was getting “ill-gotten gain” and hoarding it. We will discuss their methods, but just know it wasn’t through hard work it was fraudulent.  Showing their lack of trust in God and further their complete trust in self, riches, things they hoarded. They hoarded: money, clothes, precious pieces. These things are all fine to have. The issue here is twofold:

• How they got it.
• What their intentions were: “Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.”

James writes to them to say that their “gain” is already beginning to waste away. Riches are corrupted. Garments are moth-eaten. Gold & Silver is cankered.

James was angry: First, due to their trusting riches before God while claiming to be people of faith. Second, especially those in the church, due to their stepping on and over the poor, to continue their gain.

He writes here to say this gain is fading. Right then wealth and possessions were going. It could be that literally, the very things they were working so hard to get were just decaying away. Also, by saying their “wealth is corrupt” James is letting them know that he knows how they obtained it. This type of gain is never permanent.

More likely he was looking ahead. You all are building up great wealth that will do very little for you in eternity. “You have heaped treasure together for the last days.” In fact, due to the corrupt manner in which you’ve gained this wealth, it probably will do very little for you much monger in this life.

Pastor Chance Strickland

Harpeth Baptist Church
Kingston Springs, TN

http://www.harpethbaptist.org

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Disobeying God’s Will

When we don’t do the good we know to, we sin. We sin when we disobey God’s will. James is saying that those he is writing to know the will of God and are disobeying it. Disobeying God’s will shows even more pride than avoiding it. This says to God, “I know what You want me to do, but I prefer not to do it. I really know more about this than You do!”

Peter wrote of this mentality: “For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them” (2 Peter 2:21).

If we know God’s will, why would we disobey it? Pride. Man likes to boast that he is the “master of his fate, the captain of his soul.” Man has accomplished so much that he thinks he can do anything. Ignorance of the nature of God’s will. Man acts as though the will of God is something he can accept or reject.

The will of God is not an option; it’s an obligation. We cannot “take it or leave it.” We don’t get to “have it our way.” I know this isn’t popular, but it is the truth. He is Creator, I am the creation. We must obey Him. We will either willingly or unwillingly. He is the Saviour and Lord, we are His children and servants, so we must obey Him.

To disobey the will of God is to invite the chastening of God in our lives.  Many people have the idea that the will of God is a formula for misery. Just the opposite is true! Disobeying the Lord’s will leads to misery.

What happens to Christians who deliberately disobey the known will of God? They are chastened by their loving Father until they submit. God’s chastening is evidence of His love. There is also the danger of losing heavenly rewards.

In 1 Corinthians 9:24–27, Paul compared the believer to a runner in the Greek races. In order to qualify for a crown, he had to obey the rules of the game. If any contestant was found to have disobeyed the rules, he was disqualified and humiliated. The word “castaway” in 1 Corinthians 9:27 does not refer to the loss of salvation, but the loss of reward, “disqualified”. Disobeying God’s will today may not seem a serious thing, but it will appear very serious when the Lord returns and examines our works (Col. 3:22–25).

Obeying God’s Will 

We shouldn’t avoid or disobey God’s will. James says exactly what we should do. We should operate under the pretense, “If the Lord will…” It shouldn’t be “If the Lord will” as just a statement on our lips. It should be “If the Lord will” as the constant attitude of the heart.

What is God’s will?

• It is God’s will that we yield ourselves to Him (2 Cor 8:5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.)
• It is God’s will that we avoid immorality (1 Thes 4:3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:)
• It is God’s will for all Christians to rejoice, pray, and thank God (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18, 16 Rejoice evermore. 17 Pray without ceasing. 18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.)

Every commandment in the Bible addressed to believers is part of the will of God, and must be obeyed. Of course, God does not call everyone to the same work in life. God does not give us the same gifts and ministry. The will of God is “tailor-made” for each of us!

We must work to have the right attitude toward the will of God. Some people think God’s will is a cold, impersonal machine. God starts it going and it is up to us to keep it functioning smoothly. If we disobey Him in some way, the machine grinds to a halt, and we are out of God’s will for the rest of our lives. God’s will is not a cold, impersonal machine. You do not determine God’s will in some mechanical way, like getting a soda out of a machine.

The will of God is a living relationship between God and the believer. This relationship is not destroyed when the believer disobeys, the Father still deals with His child, even if He must chasten. Rather than looking at the will of God as a cold, impersonal machine, see it as a warm, growing, living body. If something goes wrong with my body, I don’t die: the other parts of the body compensate for it until I get that organ working properly again.

There is pain and weakness; but there isn’t always death. When you and I get out of God’s will, it is not the end. Think about Abraham, Moses, David, or Jonah. You may be thinking, to obey it don’t I have to know God’s will? With an obedient motive, God will reveal His will. In fact, in our obedience God works His will in our life. Asking, “How do I determine God’s will for my life?” may be announcing that you have never really tried to do God’s will.

Start with the things you know to do. Then God will open the way for the next step. You prove by experience what the will of God is. We learn both from successes and failures. We must obey God’s will from the heart.

Have your heart in obeying God’s will. Begin each day with excitement of what may be revealed to you today. Read each passage of scripture joyfully knowing that God is going to speak to you through it. Pray with an expectation of results.

Pastor Chance Strickland

Harpeth Baptist Church
Kingston Springs, TN

http://www.harpethbaptist.org

Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

Avoiding God’s Will

James addresses those here who are in business and might discuss their business plans around the church. Based off of James’ writing there is no evidence that they sought the will of God or prayed about these decisions. They measured success in life by worldly gain and successful plans. James wasn’t condemning their business planning, he was concerned because they left God out of it. They may or may not have been in the Will of God, but it is evident that this was not their concern. They were more concerned with life’s affairs than with God’s.

Instead of obeying God’s will or just flat out disobeying it, these folks were just avoiding it. James shows clearly why it is unwise to avoid God’s will:

Life is complex

Think of all that is involved in life: today, tomorrow, buying, selling, getting gain, losing, going here, going there. Life is full of people and places, activities, and goals, days and years. We all make critical decisions every day.  Apart from the will of God, life is a mystery. With Jesus life starts to make sense. The world around you takes on new meaning. You are no longer living in a mysterious, threatening universe. Life is too complex to avoid God’s will.

Life is Uncertain

Proverbs 27:1 “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”

See how confident they were:

• “We will go.”
• “We will continue there a year.”
• “We will buy and sell and get gain.”

It’s great to make plans, but remember life is uncertain especially outside the will of God. Remember the farmer in the gospels?  He had a great crop one year. He built bigger barns confident in his increase. God said, “Thou fool…tonight thy life will be required of thee.”

Life is not uncertain to God, but it is uncertain to us. Only in His will should we be confident of tomorrow, only there do we know that He is leading us. Life is too uncertain to avoid God’s will.

Life is Brief

Life seems long, but in comparison to eternity, it is just a vapor. Since life is so brief, we cannot afford merely to “spend our lives”. We certainly don’t want to “waste our lives.” We should invest our lives in things eternal.

Time is filled with swift transition,
Naught of earth unmoved can stand,
Build your hopes on things eternal,
Hold to God’s unchanging hand.

Refrain:
Hold to God’s unchanging hand,
Hold to God’s unchanging hand;
Build your hopes on things eternal,
Hold to God’s unchanging hand.

Trust in Him who will not leave you,
Whatsoever years may bring,
If by earthly friends forsaken
Still more closely to Him cling.

Covet not this world’s vain riches
That so rapidly decay,
Seek to gain the heav’nly treasures,
They will never pass away.

Life is too brief to avoid God’s will.

James gives one other warning in this area.

“ye rejoice in your boastings…all such rejoicing is evil…”

James says to those avoiding the will of God:

• • Life is too short to avoid God’s will.
  • Life is too uncertain to avoid God’s will.
  • Life is too complex to avoid God’s will.

Then he concludes this with the warning that if you are still going to avoid God’s will, at least don’t brag about it!

Pastor Chance Strickland

Harpeth Baptist Church
Kingston Springs, TN

http://www.harpethbaptist.org

From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

At War with Each Other

What causes fights among Christians?

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (Ps. 133:1).

We should live together in love and harmony. But, sometimes we don’t.

• Lot caused a quarrel with Abraham (Gen. 13).
• Absalom created a war for his father David (2 Sam. 13–18).
• The disciples created problems for Jesus when they argued over who was the greatest in the kingdom (Luke 9).

The early churches had their share of disagreements.

• The members of the Corinthian church were competing with each other in the public meetings, and even suing each other in court (1 Cor. 6:1–8; 14:23–40).
• The Galatian believers were “biting and devouring” one another (Gal. 5:15).
• Paul told the Ephesians to have unity (Eph. 4:1–16);
• The church at Philippi had two women who couldn’t get along with each other (Phil. 4:1–3).

James gives different kinds of disagreements within the church.

• Respect of persons (James 2)
• Employment wars (James 5)
• Church fights over leadership positions(Chap 1 & 3).
• Personal wars (4:11–12).

The saints were speaking evil of one another and judging one another. Here, again, we see the wrong use of the tongue. Christians are to speak “the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15); We are not to speak evil in a spirit of criticism.

It is a sad thing when the saints are at war with each other. Leader against leader, church against church, fellowship against fellowship. The world watches these religious wars. They see the church fight and use this to withstand Christ. Jesus prayed, “That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me” (Jn 17:21).

But, why were they at war with one another? They belonged to the same family; They trust the same Savior; They were indwelt by the same Holy Spirit—and yet fought one another. Why? James answers this question by explaining the second war that is going on.

At War with Ourselves

What causes fights among Christians? Don’t they come from your lusts that war within you? The war in the heart causes the wars in the church!

One of the bases of sin is selfishness.

• Eve disobeyed God because she wanted to eat of the tree and become wise like God.
• Abraham lied about his wife because he selfishly wanted to save his own life (Gen. 12:10–20).
• Achan caused defeat to Israel because he selfishly took some forbidden loot from the ruins of Jericho (Josh. 7).
• “We have turned every one to his own way” (Isa. 53:6).

Religious quarrels are hidden with the disguise of “spirituality.”

• Miriam and Aaron complained about Moses’ wife but really were envious of Moses’ authority (Num. 12).
• James and John asked for special thrones in the kingdom, when really they wanted recognition then (Mark 10:35–45).

Selfish desires are dangerous things.

• They lead to wrong actions (“ye kill, fight and war,”v.2)
• They lead to wrong praying (“ask and receive not” v.3).

“When our praying is wrong, our whole life is wrong.” The purpose of prayer is not to get man’s will done in heaven, but to get God’s will done on earth. “Thou shalt not covet” is the last of the 10 Commandments. Its violation can make us break all of the other nine! Covetousness can make a person murder, tell lies, dishonor parents, commit adultery, and in one way or another violate all of God’s moral law.

Selfish living and selfish praying always lead to war. If there is a war on the inside, there will be a war on the outside. People who are at war with themselves because of selfish desires are always unhappy people. They never enjoy life. Instead of being thankful for the blessings they do have, they complain about the blessings they do not have. They cannot get along with other people because they are always envying others for what they have and do. They are always looking for that “magic something” that will change their lives when the real problem is within their own hearts. Many wars would be solved if we would only look into our own hearts and see the battles raging there.

At War with God

The root cause of every war, internal/external, is rebellion against God. At the beginning of Creation there is perfect harmony; but sin came into the world, which led to conflict. Sin is lawlessness and lawlessness is rebellion against God. A believer declares war against God by being friendly with God’s enemies. James names three enemies that we must not friend if we want to be at peace with God.

The world

Abraham was the friend of God (James 2:23); Lot was the friend of the world. Lot ended up in a war, Abraham had to rescue him. We get involved with the world gradually.

• First, there is “the friendship of the world” (Js 4:4).
• This leads to being “spotted” by the world (Js 1:27).

Now areas of our lives meet the approval of the world.

• Friendship leads to loving the world (1 John 2:15–17).
• This makes it easy to conform to the world (Rm 12:2).
• The end is being condemned with the world (1 Cor. 11:32), our souls saved “yet as by fire”. The world is the enemy of God, and a friend of the world cannot be the friend of God. Neither can we befriend flesh, the next enemy in James.

The flesh 

The flesh refers to our old nature. When a sinner yields to Christ, he receives a new nature within, but the old nature is neither removed nor reformed. This leaves a battle within.

James says “your lusts that war in your members.” Living for the flesh means grieving the Holy Spirit of God who lives in us. Just as the world is the enemy of God the Father, so the flesh is the enemy of God the Holy Spirit. The Spirit within jealously guards our relationship to God, and the Spirit is grieved when we sin against God’s love.

Living to please the old nature is declaring war on God. To allow the flesh to control the mind is to lose the blessing of fellowship with God.

• Abraham had a spiritual mind; he walked with God and enjoyed peace.
• Lot had a carnal mind; he disobeyed God and experienced war.

The devil 

The world is in conflict with the Father; the flesh fights against the Holy Spirit; the devil opposes the Son of God. Pride is Satan’s great sin, and it is one of his chief weapons in his warfare. God wants us to be humble; Satan wants us to be proud. “Ye shall be as God,” Satan promised Eve, and she believed him. God wants us to depend on His grace (“But He giveth more grace”). The devil wants us to depend on ourselves.

Here, James gives three enemies that want to turn us away from God: the world, the flesh, and the devil. Christ has delivered us from them, but they still attack us. We can overcome them, James gives us instructions to follow if we would enjoy peace instead of war:

Submit to God

This is a military term for “get in your proper rank.” When a private acts like the general, there is trouble! Surrender is the only way to complete victory. If there is any area of life kept back from God, there will always be battles.

Resist the Devil

He flees like a bully.

Draw nigh to God

We do this by confessing our sins. “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.” God draws near to us when we deal with the sin in our lives that keep Him at a distance. He will not share us with anyone else; Abraham “drew near” and talked to God about Sodom, Lot moved into Sodom and lost the blessing of God.

Humble yourselves before God

It is possible to submit outwardly and yet not be humbled inwardly. We have a tendency to treat sin too lightly, even to laugh about it. “Sin is serious, a one mark of humility is facing sin and dealing with our disobedience.”

Pastor Chance Strickland

Harpeth Baptist Church
Kingston Springs, TN

http://www.harpethbaptist.org