Consistent Teaching For God's Glory
James: True Faith • Sermon • Submitted
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Good morning!
It is good to see all of you this morning!
We are continuing our study on the book of James.
We are learning about True Faith.
A faith that never stops growing and is revealed to the world around us.
Last week we finished up chapter two in James, which is the famous section on faith and works.
We covered quite a bit of ground, and if you weren’t here last week, I would ask that you go back and listen to the podcast.
In short, we saw that James and Paul both agree that we are saved by faith alone.
It is our faith in Jesus, His life, death, and Resurrection that brings salvation.
So faith alone justifies, but the faith that justifies is never alone; it never exists without love and good works.
James and Paul would both agree that if we really believe that Jesus is who He says He is, and if He did what the scriptures say He did, that knowledge would bring about works.
The things you do in obedience to Jesus reveal your faith and God’s glory to the world.
Jesus said it, and Matthew records it in his gospel.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
We can say with confidence that if love and good works don’t accompany your faith, your faith isn’t true.
On the same note, we are not to try and just conjure up good works to prove our faith.
Love and good works are the fruit produced as we abide in the vine.
It is the result of the sanctification that comes only through a relationship with Jesus.
When we give our lives to Christ, we become a new creation.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!
That means that our activity has the potential to change IF we are intentional in seeking God’s direction and obeying what He says.
In fact, if you go look at the broader context of what Paul is saying to the church in Corinth, we are not only new creations but ambassadors for Christ.
14 For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion, that one died for all, and therefore all died.
15 And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.
16 From now on, then, we do not know anyone from a worldly perspective. Even if we have known Christ from a worldly perspective, yet now we no longer know him in this way.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!
18 Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”
21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
God has reconciled us to Himself and has given us the charge to bring that message of reconciliation to the world.
The message that we were separated from God by sin, but Jesus, who knew no sin, took the burden of our sin upon Himself.
Responding in love, because of the love that was lavished upon us, we are ambassadors for Christ.
We share His love and redeeming work with the world.
God put this passage in front of me this weekend, and it is such a good transitional thought for us as we move from thinking about our faith, works, and now our words.
The only way that the world can understand what Jesus had done for them is by us telling them.
We must use our tongues to convey the greatness of what Jesus has done.
Which leads us to James’ words on how we use our tongues.
Look at the first couple of verses in James 3 with me.
1 Not many should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we will receive a stricter judgment.
2 For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is mature, able also to control the whole body.
We have had conversations recently about how we are called to be disciple-makers, that is, teachers.
We are called by Christ to teach others all that we have learned about who God is.
This directive comes from the Great Commission.
With that knowledge, we ought to be taken aback by this passage.
We should feel the weight of what James is saying.
I ran across a sermon by St. Augustine of Hippo when I was studying this passage.
He wrote this sermon sometime between 393 and 396 AD.
Saint Augustine: Commentary on the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount with Seventeen Related Sermons Augustine, Sermon (Benedictine) 55.1
If we have faith, we have been greatly alarmed by the section of the holy Gospel to which we have just now listened while it was being read. But it occasioned no fear in those who have no faith.
The Letter of James James 3:1
Unlike the prophet, who transmitted to the community revelations received from the Lord (cf. 1 Cor. 14:30), the teacher had the task of expounding the truth of the gospel on the basis of the growing Christian tradition (cf., e.g., 2 Tim. 2:2).
He references 2 Timothy 2:2 where Paul is telling Timothy to do exactly what we are talking about.
2 You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.
God wants you to see that the same instructions that Paul was giving his disciples are the same instruction that James is giving the church and Jesus is giving you and me.
We are all given the same instruction.
Not just pastors, not just elders, not just life group leaders; this is for all followers of Christ.
We are all called to teach the gospel!
We are all called to teach the gospel!
The responsibilities of a teacher are tremendous.
I don’t think this is groundbreaking information for us, especially if you are in the teaching profession.
Teachers have the responsibility of communicating the materials they are given to the degree that the pupil can retain that information and then put it into practice.
My favorite teacher of all time is Tylitha Whatley.
Not because she is fun, because she definitely is.
She is my favorite because as I sat in her classes her goal was not for her students to be able to regurgitate the information for the test.
She wanted to know that you could apply that information to your life.
She taught a lot of classes on religious education and at the time I was a youth pastor.
It was so incredible to be in her class, learn something new, and immediately be able to put into practice.
It was almost as if I was cheating in ministry because I had this incredible wealth of knowledge pouring into me and helping me to see how it could make my ministry better.
While I was taking specialized classes on a specialized ministry area, the concept is the same for you in your life and the people you are discipling.
God has placed people in your life who need the wisdom you have gained through your life experiences.
Teachers of all kinds go to school to learn how to teach a subject or demographic.
That specialized training prepares them to teach the subject matter.
I’m not downplaying the time and effort that is required to accomplish that.
But, I am asking you to consider the experiences you have had in life and what they have cost you.
Consider how God has grouped some of the people around you who, not by accident, are dealing with things that you have dealt with in the past.
A great example of this is Bethany and Miki.
You may or may not be aware, but the long term health issues they have both experienced are the result of very similar immune diseases.
Because their experiences are the so similar, they are able to be there for one another in a way that no one else can.
God gives us opportunities to share our experiences with people who need to hear how God has worked in our lives.
That is an incredible honor and responsibility to have.
We must therefore be careful that what we say and how we say it are representative of God.
We are His ambassadors.
We have to be careful because it is easy for us to say hurtful rather than helpful things.
I would say that often this is not intentional but happens nevertheless.
I had a conversation with a friend this week in which he said something trying to be encouraging, but it was recieved in the opposite manner.
The result was a broken relationship.
Do you remember when James said in chapter 1:19 that we are to be quick to listen and slow to speak?
There will be many opportunities for you to speak life into people's lives, take the time to really listen, and rely on the Holy Spirit to speak through you.
Even by saying very little, we can have a powerful impact on people's lives.
3 Now if we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we direct their whole bodies.
4 And consider ships: Though very large and driven by fierce winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
5 So too, though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things. Consider how a small fire sets ablaze a large forest.
6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among our members. It stains the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
James gives these examples of how small “members” have control over things that are so much bigger.
He is making this comparison between them and the power that one of the most minor parts of our bodies has.
The greatest danger we face comes from within.
The greatest danger we face comes from within.
There are many things that can trip us up, but it is our own hearts that can cause the most trouble.
As we have talked about before, we are all in the process of being sanctified.
We are new creations, but we are still living in broken bodies in a broken world.
That is why there is a need for continued sanctification.
What we say, and equally as important, how we say it, has the power to bring life to brokenness or destroy it.
I’m sure that all of us in this room can think of a time when someone said something to us that completely broke us.
Something that still lingers in the back of your mind and we can’t quite shake.
We don’t have to think hard to remember a time when we were hurt by words.
The old adage, “Sticks and stones my break my bones, but words can never hurt me.”
Yeah, it’s a lie.
Words certainly hurt, and we talked about this when we were in chapter one, and the kid's videos talked about it three weeks ago.
Our words can inflict significant damage on someone else.
But it isn’t our tongues or our words that cause the damage.
If you look back at the illustrations James uses, it isn’t the bit that controls the horse or the rudder that controls the ship.
Both of those things are tools that are used by people.
We cannot blame anything but our hearts for the negative things we say.
We have all felt the effect of someone who has no regard for what they say.
I want to be clear that I’m not just talking about the things we say but also the way that we say them.
For example, for years, Bethany asked and pleaded for me to warn people that I have a dry sense of humor.
What can I say, I love awkward moments.
I find them to be hilarious and entertaining.
Part of it is my personality and part of is was the humor I grew up with.
Regardless, it made/makes people uncomfortable and that is not a good representation of Christ.
There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus loves a good joke, but at the same time, His ministry revolved around loving people.
His goal was to bring comfort, mine was to bring discomfort.
Do you see what I’m getting at?
The way we interact with others is a representation of Jesus.
We can’t blame how we make people feel on how we were raised.
We have to think beyond that and consider how our words are going to affect others.
I would also add that this isn’t something you can fix on your own.
If it were, then you wouldn’t still be doing it.
That new creation we are becoming can only be done by Jesus.
James goes on in vs 7
7 Every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and fish is tamed and has been tamed by humankind,
8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in God’s likeness.
10 Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.
11 Does a spring pour out sweet and bitter water from the same opening?
12 Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers and sisters, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a saltwater spring yield fresh water.
When people were saying things that weren’t kind, my grandpa used to say, “do you kiss your mother with that same mouth?”
It doesn’t matter if you are a brand new believer or have been one for the majority of your life; all of us have moments when we say something we shouldn’t.
The difference between what we profess and what we say is what James is addressing.
As teachers and ambassadors of Christ, our words and attitudes must match that of Jesus, or we are preaching a false gospel.
Taming our hearts is a God-sized task.
Taming our hearts is a God-sized task.
James isn’t pulling any punches on this one.
We can’t do this.
We have to rely on God to work in our hearts so that what flows out of us is pure and holy.
In the same way that a rider controls a horse or a captain controls a ship, we need the Holy Spirit to guide us.
James gives us a detailed list of what happens when we don’t let the Holy Spirit work in us.
He closes this section by saying it should not be this way.
10 Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.
Keep in mind how he started this section.
We are Christ ambassadors and what we say reflects the person we are representing.
We cannot say we are followers of Christ and talk like children of hell.
Do you remember Jesus calling the religious leaders that in his “woes” to the Pharisees?
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as you are!
When our hearts aren’t centered on Jesus, this is what happens.
We don’t want to lump ourselves in with the likes of the Pharisees, but what else are we?
If we say we are followers of Jesus, and yet we don’t consider what we are saying and how we are saying it, we are just like them.
They misrepresented God with their words and actions.
If we are people of faith, following Jesus and letting the Holy Spirit guide us, then our words and attitudes should reflect Him.
James addresses this issue so fiercely and gives so many illustrations because there is no room for us to get this wrong.
We are the way in which God has chosen to reveal Himself.
He has laid an incredible responsibility upon our shoulders.
Not just some followers, but all of us.
If we are trying to bear that burden in our own strength, it will crush us.
We will falter, and people will not understand the truth.
They will see our failures and equate that with God.
We are not asked to do this in our power.
In fact, we are told not to try because it is impossible.
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.
If we are not connected to the vine, it is impossible to produce fruit.
It is only in staying connected to the vine that the world can know God.
It is only as we live an abiding life that the world will get an accurate understanding of God and His love.
For generations, the world has experienced the inconsistency that comes from unconnected people teaching in their own power.
God has called us to teach the world.
If we stay connected to the vine, the world will experience Consistent Teaching For God’s Glory.
Our faith will grow as we abide, and it will open up opportunities for others to know Jesus.
Our True Faith will teach the world about the love of Jesus.
The world will see our good works and give glory to the father in heaven.
They will fall in love with the savior that we love.
Let’s pray.
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